SKYLAR WAS EATING one of Izzie's chocolate cupcakes, listening to the blonde ask herself what was missing. Izzie stood in the kitchen, staring at a sink full of dirty dishes and cupcakes. For eight hours, she had been cooking cupcakes left and right, but still, something didn't taste right to her. To the other two, the cupcakes were gifts from heaven. Izzie combed her fingers through her hair, not knowing what she was doing wrong. "No, these are good. Martha Stewart would be proud," George replied with a mouthful of cupcakes, encouraging her to make even more.

"Yeah, look where it got her." Izzie looked at the piece of paper that held the recipe once more. Skylar watched her friend with her chin propped up in her hand. "There's something missing, some specific ingredient. Why can't I remember?"

"Look, just call her. Call your mother and ask," George suggested.

"He's right, Iz. It's better to just get it over with than spend another eight hours cooking with a missing ingredient," Skylar added as she sat down next to George with a glass of orange juice.

"I don't want to call my mother," Izzie moodily said and started cleaning up the counters. George and Skylar shared a look before continuing to eat their breakfast.

Then, Derek and Meredith entered the kitchen together, as they had done every morning for the last week. "Good morning!" Derek came into the kitchen, Meredith following. George offered him a cupcake but he declined.

"Who doesn't want a cupcake?" Skylar wondered, looking at the tray to see if she wanted another one or not. "They're so delicious."

"You're like a healthy nut, aren't you? You eat muesli every morning," George stated, agreeing with Skylar.

"No, I don't," he defended himself.

"Okay, the muesli thing…you do," Izzie pointed out, Skylar and George nodding along. "The last seven days, at least." Derek looked surprised at that notion.

"Oh, come on!" Derek approached his girlfriend, muesli, and milk in hand. "I haven't been here for a whole week…have I?"

"You have," the redhead said in a teasing manner.

"See, even they think it's weird," Meredith pointed out.


"This guy belongs in psych. What are you doing turfing him here?" Cristina and Skylar looked at their patient's chart, questioning the psychologist who decided he needed to be on the surgical floor.

"He's my gift to you," the doctor said, an attitude lying beneath his voice. "Had a seizure two days ago, and another one this morning."

"What are you talking about?" Skylar frowned, reading from the chart. "It says right here, he talks to dead people, his family thinks he's dangerous, they had him committed. That's psych, not neuro," she pointed out.

"Man, didn't you go to med school?" Cristina scoffed.

"Yes, and unlike the correspondence schools you two attended—" He insulted.

"Oh, that would be Stanford and Harvard, right?" Cristina shot back.

"Sorry, ladies. We can't take him back until he's cleared," the man informed.

"So you're dumping him on us?" Skylar questioned.

The doctor rolled his eyes. "He thinks his seizures are visions," he said and then turned around and walked away.

"Hello?" The patient called from his room. "They're not seizures, I'm psychic."

"Of course you are, and I'm a chicken," Cristina retorted, entering the room. She and Skylar both reluctantly examined him.

"Okay, Mr. Duff. We're gonna start your workup now," Skylar politely smiled.

"Work me up, work me down, I'm telling you, it's a waste of time," he said right back.

"I need you to grip my fingers," Skylar smiled down at him. Before he could follow her instruction, he seemed to stare at her—scratch that, he seemed to stare right through her. "Hey, Cristina," she called out.

The brunette looked at the man and immediately realized why she had called out to her. "Mr. Duff?" Cristina called out.

"Mr. Duff, are you okay?" Skylar lightly shook his shoulders and he looked right back at her.

"Someone…" he started. "Someone is gonna check out." At that, Cristina rolled her eyes, Skylar furrowing her brows. "Bye bye," he childishly waved.

"Man, he's nuts," Cristina muttered. Skylar lightly hit her in the torso.

"I'm dizzy, not deaf, lady. And I'm telling you someone on the fourth floor is gonna die."

"That'd actually be Dr. Yang, Mr. Duff, not 'lady,'" Skylar defended her friend with a smile on her face that told Cristina she was getting annoyed.

Before they could say anything else, a voice was heard over the hospital's speakers. "Code blue, fourth floor. Code blue, fourth floor." Mr. Duff raised his hand as if to say goodbye, in a teasing manner. A look of confusion and shock appeared on the redhead's face while Cristina remained impassive.

"Alright, uh, we'll be back soon, Mr. Duff. Get some rest," Skylar told him, backing away toward the door.

"Anything for you, Dr. Skylar Kepner," he cheekily replied, a smirk on his face.

As she and Cristina left the room, it took her a few moments for his words to sink in—Skylar never told him her name. Sure, her Dr. Kepner was sewn onto her jacket but she never said her name was Skylar. This is gonna be fun, she thought.


"Botox would do wonders on those frown lines," the self-proclaimed-psychic told Cristina as she and Skylar examined him.

"Okay," Cristina sweetly said. It was almost too sweet for Cristina and Skylar shot her a bewildered look, but that quickly left her face when the brunette said, "Shut up."

"Are you allowed to talk to me like that? Is she?" Mr. Duff asked Cristina, then moving on to Skylar.

"No, but if I pretend I wasn't here there are no witnesses," she jokingly said, a smirk on her face. Cristina just answered him with a hiss.

"God, you're hot…in a Mrs. Livingston kind of way," he said to Cristina. Skylar just raised a brow, looking between the doctor and patient with confused eyes.

"See these spikes on your temporal lobe?" Cristina asked, holding up a CT scan of Mr. Duff's brain. "It means you have epilepsy. Not visions, seizures," she pointed out, pointing to the specific part of the brain she was referencing.

"You think I'm epileptic? That's so not right," he answered, putting his hands behind his head.

"We don't think anything unless it's proven, Mr. Duff," Skylar explained. "We're going to get you an MRI to get a closer look at your brain, okay?"

"Yeah, there's no way…" he started, wanting to deny the MRI scan, but he trailed off, entering a trance-like state once more.

"Mr. Duff? Can you see me, can you hear me?" Cristina examined his pupils with her light. "Stay with me."

"Wouldn't have picked you for the mommy track, Nurse Betty," he bluntly said.

Cristina backed away from the patient, shock on her face. Skylar's eyes widened, immediately picking up what Mr. Duff accused her friend of. She knew she and Burke were sleeping together, but she had no idea that her friend was pregnant, she couldn't believe that Cristina was. Cristina had to be the most responsible one out of the friend group and wouldn't let a mistake like that happen. But as Skylar's friend left the room, she spared Mr. Duff one last glance before jogging to catch up with her friend.

She followed her to the closest on-call room. "Cristina!" She called as the woman entered the room.

When she got inside, she saw her sitting on a bun bed. "What?" she answered, somewhat hostile. Skylar didn't mind it, she knew that she would be, Cristina doesn't like when her secrets get spilled and she has way too many walls up.

"Just wanted to check on you. I knew you and Burke were sleeping together…is he the father?" Skylar asked, getting straight to the point as she sat down next to her on the bunk bed.

"Yeah," she reluctantly answered.

After a minute of them sitting in silence, Skylar was the first one to speak up, "I'll help," she bluntly said. When Cristina gave her a look of confusion, she elaborated, "Whatever decision you choose. If you choose to keep the baby, or if you choose to get rid of it, I'll be by your side. And I may be terrible at lying, but I'm pretty damn good at keeping secrets. I mean, I've known about you and Burke for weeks now, and even you didn't know I knew," she jokingly added.

Cristina cracked a small smile at that. "Thanks, Red," Cristina said, looking at her friend. "I made an appointment on the 16th. George is covering my shift." When she saw Skylar's face, she quickly added, "No, he doesn't know."

"Do you mind if I ask…" she trailed off, unsure of how to phrase her question. "Are you gonna tell Burke?"

"No."

"I won't either." The two friends sat in the darkness of the on-call room for a while, finding comfort in each other. And maybe Cristina found comfort in knowing that she had someone to turn to if something went wrong.


After Cristina convinced Dr. Bailey to take her off the psych case and switch with Izzie, the blonde and Skylar got their patient into the CT machine.

"Your nostrils are flaring," he pointed out, smiling at Izzie.

"They are not," she quickly disagreed.

"You're into me. I can tell," he said, making Skylar roll her eyes slightly. "Doctor small-and-angry was a hot appetizer, but you both are a smorgasbord of lust."

Skylar was trying her hardest to ignore the man as Izzie warned him, "Mr. Duff, you're pressing your luck."

"Would you press it for me?" He said with a smirk. Skylar shot him a reprimanding glare when he said that.

"God, that look is just like the one my mother used to give me," he slightly shivered.

"Yeah, she tends to do that," Izzie chuckled.

"I hope you're not claustrophobic," Skylar said, changing the subject even though his mind was preoccupied.

"You're staring at me," Izzie glared at him. "Stop it." She tried to move away, but he stopped her by grabbing her wrist.

"I'm looking at you, but it's the strangest thing. I'm hungry for a chocolate cupcake." Skylar's eyes widened slightly at the affirmation.

"What did you say?" Izzie questioned him.

"A chocolate cupcake," Mr. Duff repeated. "Maybe one of those ones with the white squiggle on the frosting. Could you oblige?"

"What? Do I still have some chocolate on my face or in my hair or something?" Izzie incredulously questioned.

"What are you talking about?" He frowned.

"You. I know the drill, so keep it up. Next, you'll be reading my cards, telling me my dead uncle is in the room."

"Is he?" Mr. Duff sarcastically asked.

Izzie rolled her eyes at him. "Ha ha."

He then turned to intently look at Skylar, furrowing his brows in concentration as he studied her.

"Cocoa."

Skylar awkwardly laughed. "Excuse me?"

"Cocoa powder," he said as if it would explain everything.

Staring at him for a long second, she realized what he was talking about. It was the stupid nickname that her sisters called her—one that she absolutely hated. She must have blocked it out of memory or something, that's why it took so long to know what he was talking about. But how the hell did he know that?

Izzie shook her head in annoyance and confusion before pressing the button to move Mr. Duff into the MRI, glaring down at the smirking man. "I'm watching you."


Cristina and Skylar now sat at a desk, the former smelling her food and deciding if it was disgusting or if she would actually eat it with her pregnancy cravings. Skylar just happily ate her chicken sandwich while observing the staff in the hospital.

"If that's turkey, can I have some?" George arrived with Alex behind him, asking for Cristina's untouched food.

"It's soggy."

"Maybe it'll kill you and solve everything," Alex deadpanned.

"Hey!" Skylar hit his arm when he went to grab the bag of chips on her tray. He mouthed 'Ow' in response but Skylar just rolled her eyes, knowing he could take a little pain.

"I could have gotten that intubation," George defended himself. "I'm good at intubations."

"Why does everything in the hospital smell like a hospital?" Meredith asked them out of the blue, leaving right after as Izzie joined the group.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, George. Everybody makes mistakes," she tried to cheer him up.

"Just don't make the same mistake twice, Georgie," Skylar reasoned.

"You know, I'm good at a lot of things," he squeaked.

"We know you are, George," Skylar said, standing up and putting two hands on each of his shoulders. "You know what? I'm gonna tell you something. You need to get laid," she chuckled. George's eyes lit up somewhat, hoping they had the same person in mind, but he didn't want just a one-night stand with her, he wanted everything. But his hopes were diminished as quickly as they came. "See that nurse over there? She's single, she's got red hair, go ask her." Skylar had no idea why she was saying these things to George, she slightly hoped that he didn't take her advice on this.

"You know, that's actually really good, Red," Cristina said when Skylar sat back down next to her. They both high-fived each other, smiling.

"In case you forgot, I intubated an esophagus!" He slightly yelled.

"Dude, you're tweaking. Maybe you should go see that psychic…" Alex teased.

"Mr. Duff is not a psychic," Izzie yelled, annoyed.

"We are trying to help you!" Cristina told George. "Go buy her a latte, freshen up your gonad please!"

As Izzie stared at her phone, she noticed the looks her friends were giving her. "Shut up!"

"It's not too late to call her, you know," Skylar said.

"Yeah, moms like that—surprises on their birthday. You know, it's very hallmark," George encouraged, earning himself a slight smile. At the lack of an answer, both he and Skylar left to check on their respective patients.


"Izzie, he already said no, why do you keep insisting on this?" Skylar asked her friend who dragged her toward their patient's room.

"Maybe if you tell him the same thing he'll listen? I don't know, but please try?" She pleaded.

Skylar went silent for a moment, thinking through her options. "Fine."

"Yay, okay, thank you!" Izzie gave her a quick hug before they entered the room.

"Mr. Duff? We're here with the consent forms again," Skylar started. "You really need to sign them. Your surgeon scheduled the O.R." They noticed the man staring off into space. The girls both shared a look. "Mr. Duff, are you alright? Are you having another seizure?"

They approached him, looking at his monitor. "Yeah, I think, maybe I am," he answered with a little sadness.

"What is it?" Izzie frowned, wanting to hear the answer.

"It's me…" Water slightly filled the man's eyes. "I think it's about to be over."

"We know what we're doing, Mr. Duff," Skylar assured him with a soft smile. "You saw the angio results. We're catching the AVM just in time. You don't need to worry, we know what we're doing," Skylar tried to keep him calm, kindness in her voice.

"You don't need to be nervous, you're not gonna die. Promise," Izzie said. Skylar slightly glared at her. She knew that they weren't supposed to be promising life, even if the odds were favorable—anything could go wrong on the O.R.

"I'm not talking about dying." He went silent for a moment. "My whole life has been about what I see, about believing in myself, whatever people think. You're telling me there's a very good chance that will go away."

"You're a healthy guy. You're gonna live a long full life," Izzie said.

"And if your visions truly are real, then you have to believe you'll still have them after surgery. If you don't, then you'll have the rest of your life ahead of you, to discover this new version of yourself." Skylar looked at him, trying to give the best advice she could conjure.

Izzie passed him the paperwork and he signed it. He looked away, bringing a hand to his face. He was clearly scared for his future, but he had a slight hope that everything would turn out okay.


The interns, excluding George, were in a deserted hallway lying on the hospital beds—or in Alex's case, sitting on the floor against the wall. The four girls were all lying on separate beds reading through some medical books when Meredith sighed. "I tried to talk Shepherd out of that clot surgery. What is wrong with me?"

"Basically, you tried to kill the guy," Alex commented.

"Basically, you're an ass," Cristina remarked as she stopped writing something down in her notebook that was next to the medical books.

"Come on. You know you want it. Come to papi, baby," Alex stated.

"Mer, you couldn't have known. It's just something that makes us interns and Shepherd an attending: we don't have experience," she reassured Meredith, highlighting a sentence in her article.

George entered the hallway with a smug look on his face. "This, uh, this is George," he pointed to his hospital ID. "George has a hot date."

Skylar's head shot up at that. "Who? Olivia?" George nodded at his best friend's question. "That's awesome, George. I'm happy for you." She smiled, although she couldn't help but let a little sadness leak into it. Cristina looked at the exchange, noticing Skylar's expression. What is it with Cristina and noticing these things about who Red likes? It was strange.

"Yeah."

"Left pocket of my lab coat, Georgie," Alex revealed as he got up to leave. "No glove, no love." He walked past George who suddenly grabbed his arm and took a condom from Alex's pockets. The others were all looking at George with their eyebrows raised, Skylar watching with slight discomfort.

"I mean, if Alex has to be a manwhore at least he has protection," she chuckled and Alex playfully faked an offended look before walking away.

George sat in a wheelchair next to the group and Izzie sighed. "Our psychic had his surgery," she informed.

"Yeah?"

"I wonder what happened with his…gift," she finished.

"Come on, we all know he's crazy," Cristina commented, Skylar knowingly looking at her.

"I thought you said you didn't believe in that stuff," Meredith asked Izzie.

"I grew up in a trailer park. I waited tables, which was supposed to put me through college, but my mother was always calling these…psychics. All the time. And the bills started piling up so I had to use my money to pay them. When I turned 18 I left, never went back," she explained. "This guy has been saying things to me, things he couldn't possibly know anything about, so I just…wonder."

The group fell into a comfortable silence, but then Cristina spoke up once more making them all laugh. It seemed that even today when all of them went through something tough at least once, they always seemed to be happy with each other.


Mr. Duff's surgery went smoothly, just like they thought it would. Skylar headed to her patient's room once he woke up, just to check on him and make sure he was alright.

"Hey," she knocked on the open door, leaning against the doorway. "How are you feeling?"

"Good," Mr. Duff said with a genuine smile. "Really good."

"I heard that you freaked Izzie out again," she laughed. "So, I suppose you still have your abilities."

"Yeah," he absently said, looking off into space with a thoughtful expression.

"What is it?" Skylar asked, slightly skeptical.

"You like him, Dr. Kepner," he started. "Don't let him slip away."


Words: 3496

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