When Cristina returned, bearing the ice chips, Meredith was upright in bed and looking significantly more awake than she had been previously.
"McDreamy didn't stick around?" Cristina wondered as she handed Meredith the cup and reclaimed her spot on the foot of the bed. Meredith scowled.
"No, he didn't." She poked idly at the ice chips with the tip of her finger. "Actually, I kicked him out. He was acting really weird."
Cristina arched an eyebrow and got comfortable. Obviously there was a story about to unfold. "Do tell."
Meredith covered her face with her hands and shook her head. "He got into the bed with me. Actually in the bed with me. Cuddling and touching my hair and everything married men aren't supposed to do to women who aren't their wives."
"But that's good, right?" Cristina asked. Meredith looked appalled. Cristina threw up her hands in a surrendering gesture. "I thought- I mean- Isn't that what you want?"
"No!" Meredith insisted shrilly. "I'm sick of being the slutty intern. Anyone could have walked in."
Cristina's gaze remained level. "Well, he wasn't undressing you or anything, was he?"
Meredith snorted humorlessly. "No. But if I wasn't hooked up to a dozen monitors he probably would have." She picked at a stray piece of lint coming off the sheets. "The wires get in the way," she mumbled.
A sly grin crossed Cristina's face. "Oh, you SO wish he did."
"Shut up!" Briefly forgetting the surgery she had just undergone, Meredith reached behind her head for a pillow to hurl in Cristina's direction. She stopped as soon as a fiery pain spread throughout her chest and gently lowered herself down again. Mental note: no sudden movements.
Cristina watched her with an odd satisfaction. "Are you kidding me?" Meredith hissed. "I thought you were supposed to be a doctor. You're supposed to help a patient when they're in pain, not… smirk at them."
Cristina dramatically jumped to her feet. "My apologies, Miss Invalid." She made a show of fluffing Meredith's pillows behind her bed.
"Get away from me," Meredith sighed, swatting at her. "Leave me alone. I want to brood."
"Ok, then we'll brood together." Cristina plopped herself down in the bedside chair and looked at Meredith expectantly.
Meredith searched her mind for a way out. "Actually, why don't you page Burke afterall," she suggested abruptly. "I'm, um, sore."
Cristina arched an incredulous brow. "You are? You're sore after undergoing an invasive surgery?" She touched a hand to her chest. "God Meredith, I don't know how to say this but… you're dying. You're dying of a highly unusual surgical complication: soreness."
"I'm abnormally sore."
"Well, in that case-"
"I think Burke should come and check on his sutures."
As she said this, Cristina's face changed. Her mouth twisted into a strange expression- hurt? No. That couldn't be it. Cristina Yang wasn't capable of feeling 'hurt'.
"Fine," she mumbled, reaching for her pager. "Just paged Burke." She got up and headed for the door. "See you later?"
"Mhmm," Meredith mumbled. "With more ice chips." Closing her eyes, she heard the soft click of the door as Cristina exited the room.