Ch. 10

It wasn't easy for Cristina to forget about the conversation she just had with her patient.

"Samuel, are you sure you don't want to give the chemoembolization a try? It won't cure you, but it could buy you more time and reduce some pain."

"I've made up my mind, Doctor. I don't want to spend Thanksgiving in the hospital."

"But where will you go?"

"It's OK, Doctor. Don't worry about me. Now, a young and pretty woman like you should go and get ready. It's not easy to be a doctor and a wife, is it?" Samuel pointed at her wedding ring.

"A mother too." Cristina made it only audible to herself.

And so, to play the perfect wife and mother, Cristina swore to God, if there was one, she would throw that to the back of her mind. She thought a peaceful, quiet Thanksgiving spent with her family was all she needed.

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Cristina needed an umbrella. Burke sprang from his chair when he heard the thunder. Instinctively he ran down to the parking lot, only to find that their SUV was already gone. Dejected, he slowly motioned back to the hospital block.

It was unusually quiet. Most staff members were taking a few days off. Patients, even extremely frail ones, got the permission to spend time at home with their family.

Burke tried to recall how he spent Thanksgiving as a child. His mother used to prepare a huge turkey each year. His aunts and uncles would be there, as well as his cousins. Burke was a well-behaved young man, as his grandparents put it, and to reward him for his exemplary behavior of not pulling the hair of his female cousins as everyone else did, he always got as much cranberry sauce as he wanted.

Those were fond memories, but they were growing hazy, except that one year when his father was back in time to help with the turkey. Burke remembered his mother's hearty laugh when his father surprised her from behind. Burke decided one day he would also be making the best turkey for somebody he loved. The irony was that when he first started dating Cristina, it was with Izzie Stevens, not Cristina Yang, whom he made the first turkey. No wonder Cristina was so cranky that evening. It wasn't only because Cristina was not comfortable with touchy holidays back in those days, but also because he was cooking with another woman.

Maybe she was a little jealous? Burke shook his head and smiled at the thought.