Chapter Six: Another Piece Backs Away
"I'm sorry, you're complaining about what exactly?" Izzie asked Cristina to clarify at lunch one day.
"Things are going smoothly. Smoothly. For Burke and I? That doesn't happen for us, ever. There's always something going on. Does that mean we're in a rut?"
"I think it's cute you care."
Cristina fixed George with a glare. "You did not just call me cute, Bambi."
George just chuckled. "Look, he cares about you a lot. You're lucky."
"Don't let Callie find out you're in love with my boyfriend."
Meredith smirked, and George glared at her. Though his feelings for Meredith seemed to be subsiding, he was still touchy about her commentary on his budding relationship with Callie.
As they were scrubbing in for a surgery that afternoon, Burke glanced over at her. "Something on your mind?"
"Are we in a rut?" she asked abruptly.
He raised an eyebrow quizzically as he lathered his arms. "What would make you think that?"
"Things seem to be sort of…quiet lately. Routine. Nothing's really been happening."
She wasn't sure what he expected his response to be, but she didn't expect him to roll his eyes. "You mean, because we haven't been arguing lately? You think we're in a rut? It's so comforting to know that you only feel that our relationship's exciting if we're fighting."
"Burke, that's not what I-"
"Fine, I'll pick an argument with you later." He raised his arms to keep them sterile, and backed into the O.R without another word.
Cristina tied her mask on, rolling her eyes. Talk about being overly sensitive.
She was enthralled three hours later as they worked on the patient's lungs. "God, look at this," Alex said, motioning to the lining of the lungs. "What are her odds of survival?"
"Slim to none the moment you're stupid enough to stick a cigarette in your mouth, and refuse to quit for thirty years."
"Thank you for your running commentary, Dr. Yang. Please focus on the task at hand."
Cristina shot her eyes up to meet Burke's, and he met them coolly. "Yes, Dr. Burke," she replied through clenched teeth.
A little while later, Cristina swiftly moved her finger to clog a bleeder, when she let out a gasp.
"What was that?" Burke asked immediately.
"I thought I saw something…" the scrub nurse began.
Alex squinted. "Something just fell into the body cavity."
Cristina cleared her throat. "I think it was my watch."
"What?" Burke asked incredulously. "Dr. Karev, kindly remove Dr. Yang's watch from the patient. Immediately." Barely suppressing a smirk, Alex fished out Cristina's watch, and placed it in a surgical tray.
"I hope you weren't attached to that, Yang."
"Dr. Yang," Burke interrupted Alex as he began to close. "Remind me why it's important to remove all loose objects from ourselves before surgery?"
"Because it could potentially endanger the patient."
"Exactly, Dr. Yang. And today your carelessness endangered our patient."
Was this the argument he was picking? "But I always wear my watch in here. You wear a watch in here."
"Yes, and before every surgery I ensure it's secure. Do you think you can handle doing the same in the future?"
"Yes.Sir," she added with disdain. He shot her a look, but let it slide.
Cristina washed up quickly, and strode away without looking at Burke. "Trouble in paradise?" Alex chided as he followed her back to the locker room. It was past eight that night.
"Want do you want, Evil Spawn?" Cristina asked moodily as she grabbed her bag out of her locker, and went to the bathroom to change.
"Just let me see you naked, once, and I'll leave you alone."
Cristina rolled her eyes as she quickly changed from her scrubs into her jeans, and her favourite purple turtleneck.
She slammed her locker, and left without another word to Alex. Pulling on her coat, she strode across the road to the Emerald City Bar. She found Meredith, Izzie and George perched on stools at the bar. She moodily sat next to Izzie, and they glanced up at her.
"Well, aren't you a regular ray of sunshine?" Meredith observed.
"Joe, I need vodka!" she yelled.
"I thought you just got out of surgery," Izzie commented.
"I did, with Alex, and Burke. I'll say it again, way to go with dumping Alex, he's an ass. Maybe I should follow suit."
George smirked. "What happened to 'things are going smoothly?'"
"He didn't exactly react well when I tried to talk to him about it. And then he yelled at me in surgery, in front of everyone."
"Why?" Izzie pressed.
She took a gulp of vodka. "My watch fell into the body cavity."
Izzie and George did an awful job of not smirking. "And so he yelled at you? For that?" Meredith asked.
"Yes! How unprofessional can you get?"
"You lost your watch. Bummer," was Meredith's reply, as she downed a tequila shot.
"What happened to being sober because you're celibate?" George asked.
"I've made such good progress with my knitting, I'm rewarding myself by drinking. But only a little," she justified.
Izzie glanced over to where Alex was playing darts with a nurse, and obviously flirting. "Oh, thank God I dumped that. So now he can go back to his syphilis spreading ways-"
"and you can screw a patient?" Cristina finished darkly.
"I'm not screwing Denny. Man, you're really pissed at Burke, aren't you?"
"Of course she is. She has a right to be. If any of our watches fell in a body cavity, he wouldn't have such an overreaction. Solidarity, sister," Meredith slurred. She was doing a terrible job of not looking at Derek and Addison in the corner booth.
"OK, there's too much estrogen here. I'm outta here." George stood up.
"Going to see Callie?" asked Izzie, still sore that her best friend wasn't sharing as much as she wanted about his new girlfriend.
"Maybe. See you later."
Izzie finished her wine, then announced she was going home. "You mean going to play dirty scrabble with Denny?"
Izzie just grinned at them, and left.
"Why is everyone so damn happy?" Meredith grumbled.
"I know why I'm not, but what's wrong with you? You and McDreamy are friends. You have your knitting, and your celibacy."
"Who are you kidding? I suck at knitting. I suck at being single."
"I love the dramas at Seattle Grace," Joe commented, leaning on the bar. "Everyone comes here to drown their sorrows. It's making me a very rich man."
Cristina saw Burke enter with Dr. Walker, another cardiothoracic surgeon from the hospital, Burke's 2ic of sorts. She groaned. "I need more vodka, Joe. Meredith, stay strong. Being in a relationship is overrated."
"Mmm. Want a cocktail?"
"God, you are depressed. What the hell. Joe, make that 2 pina colladas!"
Cristina's head was spinning after that. She was tipsy, but not drunk. She convinced Meredith to stop drinking then; it was hard enough to get through days at the hospital, without a hangover inhibiting them.
Glaring at Burke, who was laughing over a drink with Walker in the corner, she stood up, making a concerted effort not to stumble. "Let's go get a cab, Mere."
"Okay." She picked up her bag, her knitting needles, and followed Cristina outside.
"Promise me you won't knit tonight; it'd be a painful experience."
"Sure. Whatever. Where's the cab?"
"There." Cristina stuck her arm out.
"Cristina." Came the voice she least wanted to hear. Or maybe the most and the least. She wasn't sure. Cursing alcohol, she turned around. He was standing there by himself, hands buried in his coat pockets, exhaling mists of air. "What?"
"Are you ready to go?"
She turned back to where Meredith was opening the cab door. "It's ok, I'm taking a cab with Meredith."
Meredith moved to push her away, but only hit air somewhere over Cristina's shoulder. "It's ok." She maneuvered herself inside the cab. "I'll be fine. Go, take your free ride. And remind me tomorrow why being in a relationship is overrated."
Meredith pulled the door closed, and Cristina reluctantly followed Burke to his car. He opened the door for her, but didn't touch her.
"Being in a relationship is overrated?" he asked, breaking the silence on the drive home.
"Sometimes."
"When?"
"When it's the attending, not the intern in the relationship that acts completely unprofessionally in front of our colleagues," she snapped.
She saw him tighten his grip on the wheel. "I was not unprofessional. Your watch fell into the body cavity. It could have nicked an organ. We were lucky, but that doesn't erase the fact that I as your teacher needed to reprimand you for your carelessness."
"Carelessness? Please. It could have happened to anyone. You know I'm not careless."
"As your boyfriend, yes. Not as your attending!"
"Maybe it was your right, as my teacher, to reprimand me. But it was not your right to mix your personal and professional issues with me. You didn't compartmentalize them today, Burke. You wouldn't have had such a strong reaction if you hadn't."
"You do not get to judge my professional judgment," Burke replied icily.
"Oh great, and now it's the attending, not the boyfriend, coming home with us!"
Cristina rubbed her forehead tiredly, the alcohol still clouding her vision. Burke didn't answer, and they walked into their apartment in stony silence. Whilst he was in the bathroom, Cristina had some aspirin in the kitchen.
She changed into her pyjamas in the bedroom, and when Burke emerged from the bathroom, she went in wordlessly. She brushed her teeth and washed her face with excess force.
Coming out of the bathroom, she climbed into bed, and lay with her back to Burke. He switched off his lamp a while later. And he slept on his side of the bed that night.
A/N Yes, I know, it sucks when they fight. Just trust me, ok?
And again, reviewers, you rock. Seriously. I love seeing what you guys have to write.