Meredith quietly slipped into room 4185 of the surgical unit, her eyes falling upon Cristina and Burke, lying together in her bed, fast asleep.
She smiled to herself for a moment, then frowned, remembering that they'd be at home in their own bed if she hadn't made the decision to drive home from the bar.
Aching to talk to Cristina, she nodded her head, looking down then decided better than waking her, and turned to leave the room.
"Stay. She wants to talk to you." she heard Burke mumble, the bed sheets shuffling as he stood from the bed.
"I'm sorry. I know you told me not to come, but she's...she's my sister." she sighed, her hands falling to her side.
"I said she wants to talk to you...that didn't require a reply." he spat, leaning over to rouse Cristina with a kiss on the cheek. "Baby...Cristina. Meredith is here."
She opened her eyes for a moment and closed them again, "Just five more minutes..." she mumbled.
"No, you need to wake up. She's here now and I need to go get us some dinner anyway." he nudged her gently, "You have to eat."
She opened her eyes and let out a long yawn, "Okay." she turned to meet his lips in a quick kiss, "Come back soon?"
"Of course."
"Be careful?"
"Always." he nodded, turning to leave. He cast a sideways glance at Meredith as he strode towards the door, "If there's anything this has taught me it's to be careful because you don't know what kind of condition the idiots on the roads drive in, right, Grey?"
"Burke." Cristina chided quietly.
"No, Cristina. I deserved that."
"You deserve a lot more than that." he muttered and left the room.
"He's still upset. He'll get better."
Meredith sat on the edge of Cristina's bed, soft and slow as not to move the bed too much. "What about you?" she asked, her voice low.
"I'm fine." Cristina replied, her voice equally as quiet.
"Typical."
The two sat in silence for 15 minutes, not looking at or speaking to each other, wrestling with their minds over the words to say. What was there to say.
"What do you want me to say?" Cristina finally questioned, pushing a strand of hair from her face.
Her chest felt tight, but she pushed it away as having slept funny.
"Tell me that you hate me, tell me that you wish I was dead, tell me something. Cristina, I almost...I almost..."
"Killed me. I know. Burke reminds me of that everyday." she sighed.
"Well, I know how he feels about it, but what about you?" Meredith pressed, unsure of whether or not she wanted to hear the answers.
"I'm angry, upset...you're a doctor, for God's sake, Mer. You of all people should know about driving drunk."
Meredith stood from the bed, "I've learned my lesson, trust me."
"Why are you standing up? Sit your ass down. I'm not done talking to you." Cristina snapped at her, her voice characteristically cocky.
Meredith plopped back down on the bed, speechless.
Cristina grimaced, placing an arm over her right side, "Hi...I have broken ribs that are sore. Do you think you could be just a little bit more careful?"
"Sorry. I didn't know...well, I should've known, that's pretty duh, but whatever."
"Whatever." Cristina repeated. "Listen, I could spend the rest of my life being mad at you, or we could do that thing...where one of us says something and the other one cries and stuff...or we could just be over it."
"I almost killed you."
"I thought we were past that point." Cristina remarked dryly.
"Why?" Meredith asked, her face twisted by disbelief.
"Why what?"
"Why forgive me?"
Cristina bit her lip for a second, "Breathe a word of this and I'll kill you..."
"You can hit me with a car." Meredith joked, then realizing what she'd said her face grew red in embarassment.
"Not funny."
"I know."
"So this thing...that Burke and I have. Before you hit us, he was talking about wanting to get married, and I was thinking of ways of jumping out of the car without injuring myself while he was talking about it. I know that he cares about me, and I know that he says I love you, but I never knew it, knew it. You know?"
Meredith nodded slowly unsure of where the conversation is going.
"So, then you hit us, and I didn't have to worry about talking about marriage anymore, and I woke up here, and he was there for me. He was there and he was worried, and he was taking care of me and doing all this macho man stuff that I never thought I would want in my life."
"I don't get what this has to do with me, Cristina." Meredith frowned, crossing her arms over her chest.
"You made him live moment to moment, taking care of me...and me? I'm not afraid of our future now, because I know that I love him." she rambled quickly, averting her eyes from Meredith.
"So, you're thanking me for almost killing you?" she scoffed.
"I never said thank you. I'm just saying that...whenever Burke said things happen for a reason, maybe he might be right or whatever."
"So, you and me...we're okay?" Meredith was in disbelief. She expected to get kicked out of her room within seconds, and once again Cristina caught her off guard.
"I don't know...you okay?"
"Well, I have to pay a $10,000 fine, and go to an outpatient rehab program for 30 days, and I'm on suspension, and the medical review board let me keep my license as long as I pay them a huge fine too..." she sighed, her hands running through her hair. "So I could be worse."
"You could be worse...I could be to." Cristina choked on her own words as she broke into a coughing fit.
"Cristina, are you okay, like physically?" Meredith questioned as her friend was fighting to catch her breath.
"I'm fine..." she exhaled, "I just got a little choked up or something."
Meredith nodded, unsure of whether or not she should believe her. "So...do you think Burke will forgive me?"
"I can't speak for him." Cristina frowned.
"No, she can't." Burke spoke from the doorway, a bag of Chinese food in his hands.
Meredith stood from the bed, looking to Cristina, "Thanks..." she mumbled quietly and slipped past Burke and out of the room.
"What did she have to say for herself?" he asked, setting down some vegetables and noodles in front of her.
"That she was sorry."
"It's not good enough." he placed some chopsticks in the noodles.
"It is for me."
A/N: Deny, deny, deny.