THE WINDS OF CHANGE

FADE IN

SGH – LOCKER ROOM - MORNING

Cristina walks into the locker room and finds Izzie half dressed in front of her locker staring at the contents as if in a daze.

"Have you been here all night?"

Alex walks around the corner and Cristina laughs.

"Seriously…everyone around me is having sex except for me. Totally unfair."

Alex scoffs at her comment. "We didn't have sex…get your mind out of the gutter."

Izzie attempts to say something as well. "Oh…nevermind…I'm just too tired."

She pulls on her scrubs and lies down on the bench...crossing her feet at the ankle to keep them from falling off the sides.

Bailey walks in the room. "Ok…who was in the lab last night and left it looking like a tornado went through better get down there and clean up their mess or there's gonna be hell to pay."

Alex looks over at Izzie who turns onto her side showing no intention of moving. "I'll do it…I mean…it's my mess so why wouldn't I clean it up."

Alex tosses his things in his locker and leaves the room. Izzie watches him walk out and sits up. "The mess is mine…I'll clean it up." She gets up and trudges out of the room.

Bailey yells after her. "I don't care who cleans it up just as long as it gets done." She looks over at Cristina.

"So Cristina…how are you doing?"

Cristina brushes off her concerned tone by being aloof. "I'm good" she says as she stands up and slams her locker closed. "How are you?"

Bailey stands with her hands on her hips not letting Cristina get away with ignoring the fact that Burke came back to Seattle Grace. "Don't patronize me…you know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Patronize…I'm patronizing you…seriously…what does that word even mean?"

"It means you are blowing smoke up my butt in an attempt to create a diversion so that I let you leave this room without telling me how you are doing."

"Really" Cristina says on her way out of the room. "I'm good…really I am."

Bailey walks behind her as Cristina hurries to get away…pulling on her top and fastening her pager to the waistband of her pants when she looks up and sees Burke at the nurses station in front of her. She stops for a second and then walks off in another direction.

"Yeah…you're anything but fine" Bailey says as she watches Cristina walk away and then slowly walks up to the nurse's station. Burke looks up and smiles.

"Miranda…so good to see you again."

Miranda puts her hand up. "Don't give me that crap…why are you back here?"

"I would have thought that would be obvious. I'm back here because this is a world class hospital with top of the line equipment and the best doctors in…"

Miranda interrupts him. "Yeah…yeah…save it. You better not be back here to mess with my doctors and by doctors I mean one doctor in particular and by one doctor in particular I mean Yang. She's off limits…got it?"

"Miranda…I have no intention of messing with anyone. Although I hear that she's no longer married."

Miranda doesn't back down. "Don't even go there."

Burke laughs as he walks away. "You know…I think I missed you most of all…and all of your feistiness."

INT. – SGH LAB – MORNING

Izzie and Alex are in the Lab cleaning up the mess from the night before.

"So…how long before we get the results?"

"It'll be at least two days" Izzie says as she rubs her eyes.

"What is it you're looking for anyway?"

Izzie takes a deep breath. "The missing link."

"Yeah…that doesn't help me at all."

Izzie continues. "The link that's causing the breakdown between the injections and the cancer. Like Cristina said…maybe there's something in her genetic profile…like a mutation or something that's stopping the medicine from reaching the target. When the results come back it will tell us where the medicine is going if its being diverted from it's intended path and then that will give us an idea of what to look for."

"Geez Iz…that's pretty impressive."

She looks at him and tries to read his face. "Is that a slam…I'm too tired to tell."

"Wow…you must really be tired" he says. "It was a compliment."

Still unable to trust him…she doesn't respond.

"Look Iz…I know things have been tense between us since you came back."

"Alex…I'm in no frame of mind to have a serious discussion about anything…let alone having a discussion about us."

"It's not going to be a serious discussion. I just wanted to say that I'm sorry that I've been giving you such a hard time. But I want us to find a place where we are able to work together without getting on each others case all the time."

Izzie hesitates for a second…considering his comment and then decides not to respond...so Alex gives up.

INT. – SGH CHIEF'S OFFICE – MORNING

Cristina knocks on the door of Richard's office and he invites her in.

"Cristina…I think I know why you are here. Burke right?"

"How could you let him come back here…I mean after everything he did. He walks out without saying anything to anyone and then uses his work here to win a Harper Avery while working as an Attending at another hospital. You know what he did when he was injured and how he used me to cover that up and then he gets to walk back in here like nothing ever happened."

Richard lets her finish. "Are you done?"

Cristina doesn't know what else to say.

"First of all…I didn't hire him back. The board did…to replace Owen."

Cristina jumps back in. "But there were so many other people that we could have hired instead of him that would have made just as much if not more of a contribution to Seattle Grace."

He interrupts her this time. "Look…I know this must be hard on you. All I ask is that you give him a chance. He's a different person…and I know it's hard to believe that someone can change that much but just give him a chance ok."

"We have to work together" she says. "I'm basically being thrown into the situation and have nothing to say about it obviously and then I'm expected to just deal with it. It's unfair. Everything about him is unfair."

A knock at the door interrupts her. They look over to see Teddy standing in the doorway.

Cristina immediately walks over to hug her. "You came back. Thank God you came back."

Teddy looks over at Richard and waits for Cristina to gather herself. "Cristina…I'm not back…I just came to say hi to Richard while we pick up the rest of Owen's things."

Cristina can't believe that she's being betrayed by yet another person she trusted. She looks over to Richard and then walks past Teddy leaving the office.

INT. – SGH PEDIATRIC WING – AFTERNOON

George heads up to the Pediatric wing to check in on Koty. Now that he's moved out he doesn't get to see him as often. He looks around for him but doesn't see him anywhere and walks over to the nurse's station.

"Is Koty…Dr. Jeffries here today?"

"He called in sick this morning. Can someone else help you…I think Dr. Robbins is down the hall. Did you need a consult?"

"No…no thanks." George turns to walk away as his mind fills with all sorts of negative images of the things that could have happened to him and decides to call.

"Hey George how are you doing?"

"I hear you called in sick today and I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm good…we actually took a drive up the coast so I wasn't really sick. I was just playing hooky."

"Oh…ok" George doesn't know if he's even more disappointed to find out that Koty and Daniel appear to be getting along. "Well I'll see you at work then."

"Sure…thanks for checking in though." Koty hangs up the phone and sets it on the counter. He walks over to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water…straining to reach it on the lower shelf. He opens the freezer and grabs an ice pack, pulling off his shirt and placing it against his lower back…using an ace bandage to hold it in place. He grabs a bottle of Advil and takes 4 tablets…using the water to wash them down before crawling back into bed.

George doesn't realize Koty hung up until he hears the phone disconnect. Disappointed…he hangs up and walks away. Arizona sees him and says hello but he doesn't hear her and just keeps walking.

INT. – SGH CHIEF'S OFFICE – AFTERNOON

Bailey was concerned when she saw Cristina walk out of Richards office earlier…obviously upset so she went up to talk to him. The two of them are standing on the walkway to his office watching below as they see Izzie and Alex walk by from one direction not speaking to each other…Cristina still avoiding Burke as she turns to head off in another direction as soon as he approaches…Callie and Mark both avoiding each other as they exchange pleasantries and then quickly walk away…while Arizona watches from the nurses station.

Bailey shakes her head. "Who would have thought that Meredith and Derek would turn out to be the most emotionally stable doctors on staff?"

Richard looks at the group below over his glasses. "It wasn't always the case though. And the rest of them…well, they'll all find their way too."

Bailey breathes a deep sigh. "I guess you're right."

Richard looks at her playfully. "You're just realizing that now?"

Bailey smiles back at him.

"Come on…let's go grab some coffee" he says.

She looks back down below as Cristina watches from around the corner while Teddy and Owen leave the building after cleaning out his locker. She and Richard head down to the cafeteria.

BAILEY (V.O.)

Is it possible for people to change? I guess it depends on the circumstances. But even then the change may only be temporary before we all revert back to our own despicable behavior. When Tuck told me he wanted a divorce…I changed…or at least I tried to. I loved my family but I just couldn't find the strength to walk away from this hospital. In the end…I went back to being the same person I was...working 80 hour weeks and sleeping with my pager on the bedside table...and we ended up getting a divorce. Whether Burke has changed is something I question. I would never say it to his face but I called him pig-headed many times in my mind. I hope Richard is right…and he has changed. But in the end…time will be the determining factor…time and actions. You can say anything you want but if you don't back it up in what you do…it doesn't matter which way the winds of change are blowing. It all ends up being just a lot of hot air.