A Love That Will Never Grow Old

chapter 11 (Oh. My. God.)

by greyeyedgirl!1

a/n: I don't feel guilty. I don't. I spent almost an hour studying for my math test, I am ALLOWED to indulge in my fanfic.

So what if I haven't done my science worksheets or my Economics chapter or my English term paper? Doing homework makes my teachers happy, but that's only 4 people. Writing fanfic can make several people happy. And what's wrong with wanting to make people happy? Huh?

See? I don't feel guilty. :D

"Hey, Ash."

Ashley looked up with a start, snapping her book shut. "Cristina! Oh, hi. And hi, Dr...Burke, right?"
"Yes," said Burke smiling, staying towards the back of the room, gently guiding Cristina forward with his hand.

"So what's up?"

"Nothing much. Just wanted to see how you were doing." Cristina smiled at her sister but turned her head back to look at Burke pointedly.

"Oh. Well, I feel fine. I mean, I was a little dazed right after the surgery, but I'm fine now." Ashley looked up at them with a bright smile. "How are you, Cris?"

Cristina smiled, sitting down next to the bed. "I'm good. I got your tape."

Ashley grinned. "Did you see the part where Brooke said 'get your island on?'"

Cristina covered her mouth, bending her head. "What does that even mean?" She snickered.

Ashley shrugged, still smiling. "We're very quirky."

Cristina laughed.

"So how are you guys doing? I mean, since you live together and stuff." Ashley looked inquisitively at Cristina and Preston, her legs kicking restlessly under the blanket. She seemed oblivious to her movement.

"We're-Ashley, what happened to your shoulder?"

Ashley looked down, and frowned. "Just a bump," she said, moving her hair so it covered the bruise. "Dr. Shepherd mentioned it earlier. It's fine, though, I trip all the time, I have to coordination of a-"

She was prevented of having to think of an exact word to describe her uncoordination, the phone in her hospital room had suddenly went off. "Hellooo?" Ashley asked, holding the phone to her ear, rocking in her bed and laughing. "Hi, Katrina. How's up? No, it's dreary here in this big boring hospital, but they have cable so it's not so bad, I just watch Lizzie McGuire and Boy Meets World reruns all day long." She paused from her conversation. "Sorry, my friends keep calling me," she told Cristina and Burke. The two doctors nodded, moving to leave, but Ashley made a motion for them to wait, then continued to speak into the phone. "Did you hear Danielle broke her wrist? Brooke rammed right into her in gym class. They were all playing really rough, Brooke had a busted lip by the end of it and Caitlin got kicked in the windpipe."

A few yards away, Burke winced. "Hold on, Kay, I'm getting another call." Ashley paused, pushing a button on the phone, then stuck her ear back against it. "Hello?"

For a split second, Ashley's face transformed. Then a smile lit up it, and she grinned into the phone. "Jeremy! Hey! Yeah, I'm glad to talk to you, too." Cristina raised her eyebrows, catching Ashley's eye, and blushing, Ashley nodded. Cristina smiled slightly, taking Burke's arm, and leading him carefully out of the room.

"So, basically, Jeremy is coming all this way to visit me. Isn't that sweet?" Ashley grinned at Alex, who looked down at her and tried to grin. "He must be crazy about you, kid. But who wouldn't be?"

Ashley beamed. "That's nice, Alex. Yeah, Jeremy and me started to 'go out,' a few months ago, he's really cool, he's smart and funny and sweet. And he's got awesome parents, that's why his mom is taking him to visit me, on his dad's plane. Jeremy's dad is the big manager-something-or-other at this big airport in New York. He even owns a couple planes."

"Cool," Alex said, recording Ashley's BP on a small chart next to her bed. "So, is he the one beating you up?"

There was a silence in the room, and for the millisecond it lasted, it was almost deafening.

"What?" Ashley said, her voice mid-pitched.

Alex looked at her. "You have at least two major bruises. You claim to have hit your head falling down the stairs but didn't tell anyone when it happened. You-"

"I DID fall down the stairs! I trip all the time! It's no big deal, I'm just clumsy!" Ashley stared at him, frantic, as Alex nodded, knowingly, as he continued to write Ashley's stats on her chart.

"I DID, Dr. Karev. And if you don't believe me, I don't care. But I'm going to tell Dr. Shepherd that I would really prefer you being taken off my case. That's really horrible. No one's ever hurt me, I just fell. It's not that unusual, you know, I seem to be going through my teenage-awkward phrase. Wasn't the frizzy hair a big clue?"

"Your hair's not frizzy," Alex said absently, closing her chart. "I gotta go, see ya later kiddo."

He walked out of the room, leaving an angry Ashley behind, grimacing at her hospital blanket.

The apartment smelled good when she walked in. She looked around, curiously, as she slipped off her jacket, leaving it carelessly on the couch.

"Burke?"

He appeared almost immediately, slipping out of the doorway of their bedroom. She did a quick breath intake, taking in his cream-colored suit, finding a smile on her face.

"Hey, handsome."

Burke laughed, coming closer, kissing her quickly on the head. "I made us dinner. I thought you might like it. Filet mignon for you, but I opted for something different for my supper. Come on, in here," he said, signaling with a tip of his head.

Cristina looked down at her maroon shirt and dark jeans. "Should I change?"

Burke laughed, pulling her forward. "You look beautiful. Come on." He pulled her gently into the kitchen. Cristina paused, looking around through the dim light.

"There's candles."

Burke smiled. "Yes." Cristina looked at him. "Oh."

Cristina paused. "Why?"

Burke turned to look at her. "I thought we'd have a special, private dinner. Just talk."

"Oh. Okay."

Burke continued to smile, as he tugged on the corner of his jacket. "Here," he said, leaning forward across the table. "I'll cut your steak."

Cristina forced a smile, taking in Burke's appearance. "Thank you."

Burke grinned up at her.

"Mmmm. That was..."

"Yeah." Burke rolled over, kissing the side of her head as he wrapped his arms around her, and they slowly drifted off to sleep.