Cristina smiled at Burke as he got back into the car, two coffees in hand, "Thanks baby." she mumbled, taking a sip of the hot liquid.
"You're welcome." he smiled back sipping his own, "I only have 2 surgeries today and a little bit of paperwork to catch up on, so either you could stay and hang out in the gallery maybe or you could just come back later and get me."
"Do you really have to ask where I'm going to go after I talk to Webber? Seriously?" she asked, her eyebrow raised.
The rest of their ride was full of the same chatter they always carried about before everything happened. His same routine of trying to get her to self-disclose, her same routine of dodging it.
As they pulled onto the street where the hospital was, a car pulled out in front of them and he threw his arm in front of her, "Watch where you're going!" he shouted unheard at the other car that pulled into the drive of the hospital.
She grabbed his arm, her fingers slipping down and interlacing with his, "It's okay, Burke...chill out."
He nodded, letting out a long sigh, "Sorry. Guess I'm just a little on edge today.
He pulled into a parking spot just a few spaces down from the careless driver and the two of them piled out of the car, and glanced towards the driver that cut them off.
A blonde head rose from the car, and they both immediately looked at each other, anger painted over their expressions, and their abnormally cheerful mood obliterated.
"Why doesn't it surprise me that it was her?" Burke muttered, looking away in disgust.
Cristina scowled at her, "Didn't they teach you how to drive or something in those classes you had to go to?"
Meredith looked at Cristina with wide eyes, hurt by the amount of anger the two of them carried for her, "Look, I'm sorry. I'm really late for rounds, I would love to stay and have the two of you be mad at me all day, but I have to go."
"Yeah, I have to go too, Mer. I have to go talk to the Chief and beg for my job back." Cristina continued, "You think about that while you're rounding on patients."
Meredith shook her head, "What is it going to take to get your forgiveness again? Huh? Because I've done everything I can do. I can't do anything else for you, I can't say I'm sorry enough obviously...and what happened to 'oh thank you for making me realize that I love my freakin' boyfriend'? What happened to that?"
Cristina glanced up to Burke and then back to Meredith, "Shut up." she muttered, reaching for Burke's hand, "Let's go...my appointment is in 10 minutes."
Burke nodded at her, curious about the comment that Meredith had made to Cristina, but said nothing.
As they entered the doors of the hospital, Cristina let out a long exhale, "I'm ready, right? I'm ready..."
"Your sutures are better than mine." he offered, trying to boost her confidence.
"I didn't say I needed false reassurances. I just wanted to know that I'm ready." she elbowed him lightly in the side, glancing up to the skywalk above them as they waited for the elevator.
"You're ready." he followed her onto the elevator which was conveniently vacant and pressed the button to let her off on her floor.
As the doors slid shut he leaned down and gave her a fleeting soft kiss, "You're ready."
"Okay. I'm ready. I'll see you in the gallery later? You got anything good."
"Your favorite. AAA repair."
"I'm there." she grinned, ready just to catch sight of the OR again, to smell the mix of povidone iodine and a sterile field, the bright lights, the shiny scalpels glistening in a dimmed OR.
She was ready.
Until she arrived at the door of Webber's office.
"Cristina, come in." he extended his hand, gesturing to the seat in front of his desk, "You look much better than the last time I saw you."
"I am better, Dr. Webber. At everything."
"Jumping right in, I should've expected no less." he placed his hands together in front of him.
"Let me come back, chief. I'm the best resident you have. I've busted my ass to get here, and I have worked out all my sutures, my health is not an issue, I'm ready to come back."
"And I've told you that you could come back in July with the other interns."
"But I'm not an intern.", she protested, her hands falling to her lap, "I'm a second year resident. Yeah, I've been off for almost three months."
"Over three months." he interjected.
"Okay, over three months, whatever, I've been off, but in those three months that I've missed, I guarantee you it's content that I already know. I've built my dexterity back up, I've built my muscle back up in my arms, I'm regaining muscle memory every day, my cognition is fine. I'm ready to come back chief. Put me on scut duty or have me follow Shepard around every day for 3 months, just let me come back."
Webber looked at her intently, "Yang, you know what's in the contract. You probably have it memorized. This isn't how it works with our surgery program here at Seattle Grace and you know that. We're one of the greatest in demand when it comes to the elite residencies, if I let my residents run amuck and come and go as they please..."
"I didn't ask to get in a wreck. I didn't ask to nearly get killed by a resident you have running around on one of your floors right now. I shouldn't be punished for that."
"You will not bring up Meredith Grey to me."
"Fine. But you say it's a program for the elite. The best. I am the best. I can do all the sutures, the reverse, the near-and-far, the mattress, the purse strings, the running whipstitch. I can do it all, and I'll prove it to you. Just let me prove it to you."
"You can prove it all to me next July." his voice was firm, and his tone was near-threatening. "Next July you can come back here and show up every one of the interns."
"I've already showed up one group, I don't need to show another up."
"We have an excellent cardiology program, with a 5 year residency. You'd be done next year, have a career, have time for a family."
"Cardiology is second best. Average. And surgery is my life, having a family is not one of my priorities in life, and you know that Dr. Webber, with all due respect." she shot back at him, resorting to blows.
Anything to get him to listen.
"All I want is for you to at least consider the option. Consider the option of letting me make my comeback. There has to be somebody you can talk to. The CEO, the Medical Review Board, somebody. There has to be a way for me to get back into the OR." Despair was starting to overwhelm her voice, and she wouldn't break her intense glare from his eyes, "You have to get me back into the OR as a resident, not as an intern."
"I may be able to approach them about at least getting you back in as a second year resident in July."
"Now."
Webber sat back and studied her for a long, silent, moment. The intensity in her eyes said it all to him, that she wouldn't accept no for an answer, regardless of the fact that there was nothing he would do to get her into the program, so he used a patented statement to get people off of his back, "Fine. I'll talk to them, Dr. Yang. We'll see what we can do."
She rose from her chair, "Good...that's good."
"It's good." he lied, "I have some other business to attend to."
"As do I, Burke is getting ready to do an AAA repair right now, and I'm going to go to the gallery and watch." she nodded, "Of course, if that's okay with you."
He paused for a moment, then gave her a half-smile, "I couldn't keep you out of there if I said no."
"Thanks, chief. I'll call you later this week?" she walked backwards towards the door, looking at him.
"Yeah...later this week." he mumbled, his eyes falling to her file in front of him.
"I won't disappoint you. Just give me a chance."
Webber rested his forehead in his hands, massaging his temples lightly, "Patricia?" he called out to his assistant.
"Yeah, Richard?"
He pulled the file from his desk and handed it to her, "Put this file in with the intern's 2009 files, please."
"Isn't this Dr. Yang's?"
"Did I ask you to ask me questions? Put the file away with the other interns for July, and I don't want to see it again until July."
A/N: Say it with me, "Stupid Chief!!"