He woke up, and she was gone.

Burke wasn't surprised.

He pulled himself out of the bed and reached for his shirt, finding a small yellow sticky note on top.

'B-

There was a surgery.

I'm on the call schedule tonight and tomorrow.

I'll come home on Friday.

I promise.

-C'

He rolled the note in his hand and threw it into the trashcan, then pulled on his shirt. "Two years..." he muttered under his breath, grasping his phone from his pocket and dialing her, only to receive her voicemail.

At least she was really in a surgery today.

He took in a breath before he spoke, taking a moment to contemplate his words, "Cristina, you need to get the night off. Trade with somebody, tell them you're not feeling well. Something. But you need to come home tonight." He paused for a moment, "You need to come home." He repeated emphasizing the word need before hanging up his phone as if it were a threat.

Maybe in his heart, it was.

x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x-x

"Dr. Yang." Bailey nodded at her as Cristina studied the board, "You've got a busy board today, why don't you let Dr. Grey take a surgery?"

Cristina held up a finger at Bailey, "I'm sorry, just a moment." Her eyes traveled over the board and she smiled to herself with satisfaction.

It had only taken a week for Meredith's name to be cleared from the board and for hers to be plastered all over it.

She was back, and she was already the best, once again.

"Sure. You can give Dr. Grey that small bowel resection at 2:00." She offered to Bailey, and spun on her heel to leave.

"Yang." Bailey called after her, following her towards the nurses station.

Cristina spun to face her, "Yeah, Dr. Bailey?"

"You need to let up."

"Excuse me, I'm sorry I don't know what you're talking about." Cristina picked up a chart on her next patient and scanned over the orders.

"You need to let up. You're pushing too hard. You've got your name on that board all over the place, you've put in way too many call hours, and you've got your job back. What else is there for you to do?"

Cristina looked at Bailey and realized that this was Bailey the mother, and not Bailey the Nazi, and silently wished it was the latter rather than the former.

She thought for a moment, and looked to the board, then back to Bailey, "Who's in the running for chief resident?"

Bailey looked bewildered for a moment, "Cristina, that's another four and a half years down the road, why does it matter?"

"Okay, let me ask you this...six months ago, who was a shoo-in for Chief resident, despite the length of time in the future it was?"

Bailey pressed her lips together, "I don't understand where you're going with this."

"She was the shoo-in...six months ago." Meredith interrupted, "And now I am...because I nearly killed her in an accident. So now, I'm the best. Or it's starting to look like I was the best, considering that I have no surgeries today, and that I had no surgeries yesterday. I have to pilfer from her."

Cristina crossed her arms in satisfaction, the corners of her lips curling into a cocky and malicious smile. "That's why I push."

Bailey shook her head and walked away, "You need to organize your priorities Yang." she muttered behind her.

It was a verbal slap in the face, it hadn't been the first time she'd heard it recently, and she was instantly reminded of the guilt she felt as she slipped from Burke's arms earlier in the morning to go check out the surgery board.

"You can take the resection at 2:00, Dr. Grey." She finally muttered, replacing the chart in the chart rack and looking to her.

Meredith nodded, and picked up an Expo marker to write in her name, "I'm transferring programs."

Cristina raised an eyebrow in question as she watched her write her name in on the board, "What program are you transferring to?"

"Mercy West." Meredith replied quietly, setting the marker back in it's place and looked at her.

"Mercy West is for doctors that graduated from medical school in Mexico." Cristina scoffed, "Why are you transferring to Mercy West?"

"Because I can't keep turning down surgeries so that you can get them." She replied quietly, "I can't stop trying just so you can be the best again."

Cristina swallowed hard at her words and narrowed her eyes, "You've been turning down surgeries so that I could get them?"

Meredith nodded quietly, avoiding her gazes, "That's what you wanted it, wasn't it?"

"I want to be the best again. I want to be the shoo-in for Chief resident." Cristina sighed, "That's what I want. And I don't want it given to me."

"It was given to me after the accident." Meredith sighed, "I was trying to give it back. If that's what it would take for you to forgive me, and at least try to remember that at some point, you were my sister, then that's what I'm willing to do."

Deep within herself, Cristina felt a shift from loathing and disdain to one of guilt and admiration bound into one. Then came foolishness, she felt foolish for ever believing that it would only take one week for her to climb back on top of the dog pile. For her to be the best again. Then came shame.

Perhaps she'd punished her old friend long enough.

"You can't go to Mercy West." Cristina mumbled, picking up an Expo marker from the tray and advancing towards the surgery board that was wrongfully plastered with her name all over it.

"Why?"

"Because I want to beat you fair and square. Now which of these surgeries do you want?"

"You don't have to give me the surgeries back."

"Which ones do you want before I change my mind?" Cristina snapped lightly.

"I want the appy...and the gallbladder." Meredith pointed out surgeries on the board, then stopped to pause at Cristina. "You're better at them."

Cristina flashed her a genuine smile, "I know."