Cristina looked up to the ceiling, her fingers pulling at her IV line absently as she ruminated on the words she'd let slip from her lips on a false pretense.

She'd pushed him away yet again, and she feared that one day she may push hard enough that he'd never come back. That he'd quit trying.

That he'd finally give up on her.

Silently she cursed herself for being so driven, but she'd come so far at this point that there wasn't any turning back now.

She'd just have to make it up to him somehow, any way she could after she got back into the program.

"Cristina?" his voice invaded her thoughts.

She turned to the doorway to find him standing there, a brown paper sack in his hands, "What are you doing here?" she asked quietly, then turned away from him, "I said I didn't need you."

He took a moment to watch her from the doorway, gathering his thoughts and steeling himself against her empty defenses. Then sat himself on the edge of her bed, and pulled her hand into his, "I don't believe it for a second."

She caught his eye for a moment, vulnerability flashing in them as he clasped her hand in his. She couldn't let him do this to her, not now. She was too tired and exhausted to fight his affections and if she caved now, she'd never be able to get the strength to finish what she'd set out to do.

She pulled her hands away, "I thought we already went over denial."

He grabbed her shoulders and pulled her towards him, wrapping his arms tightly around her, "I don't believe you, I won't believe you, and you're going to stop this." he continued.

She fought him for only a few moments and fell into his chest, her resolve shattering, "Burke, I can't do this with you..." she closed her eyes tightly, tears stinging at her eyes.

"You will do this with me."

He felt her body start to shake gently within his arms as she wept into his chest, and it took everything in him to remain strong for her. Too see her in such pain, to see her spirit so broken was too much.

It was easier seeing her after the accident than it was to see her like this now.

They sat in silence, him holding her quietly until her tears had run out, until she was strong enough to face him with tear stained cheeks and reddened eyes, "I can't..." she whispered, shaking her head.

"The Cristina Yang that I know doesn't give up. She's strong, stubborn, bull-headed. She puts passion into everything she does, and is the most amazing woman is the world." he mumbled, wiping a left over tear from her cheek, "You can do this."

Cristina's gaze dropped to Burke's chest, as she fought for a reply, something to say to him to make it all better, to make this nightmare end.

But there were no words.

Despite the fact that she was consistently afraid of commitment, despite the fact that she had ripped his heart out and put it in a blender time and time again, despite the fact that when she needed him the most, she pushed him away, he was still there.

Loving her.

Taking care of her.

He was still there.

She let out a long exhale, and just nodded slowly, unable to catch his gaze, for fear of losing control of her emotions again, chiding herself for crying in the first place.

She was tired of being weak.

"I brought you something." he finally spoke, breaking the silence, reaching for the bag that he'd brought with him and presenting it to her.

"What is it?" she questioned, her voice light.

He placed the paper sack in her lap and rose from the bed to close the door of the room as she took the brown paper sack in her hands.

"Are you going to open it?" he asked, returning to her side, studying her running her fingers over the rolled up top of the bag.

Cristina looked up to Burke, frustrated with him, frustrated with the fact that he was so irritatingly kind and loving to her even though she was cold and just plain cruel to him in the past two weeks.

"Why?" she finally asked him.

"Why what? Why do I want you to open it?"

"No...why do you stay?" her voice trailed off, barely audible. "I push you away...and say things that nobody would ever want to hear, and you stay."

He tipped her chin up so that she would look at him, "I stay because I love you, Cristina. I stay because I know you need me as much as I need you. I stay because when I'm weak, you're strong for me, and when you're weak, I can be strong for you."

"You don't have to be strong for me." she interrupted.

"Let me finish." he pressed a finger over her lips, "I stay because I would rather spend the rest of my life in angry silence with you by my side than be alone, and I know that one day, you'll stop being so stubborn and accept that." he finished, then pushed the bag towards her, "Now open the bag."

Her eyes dropped to the brown paper bag, and she tugged at the curled handle of it, pulling it open and reaching inside to grab the contents.

It was bananas and suture packets.