Objects in the Rearview Mirror Chapter 6: Stuck in the Middle with You, a grey's anatomy fanfic

Objects in the Rearview Mirror

Chapter 6: Stuck in the Middle with You

Well I don't know why I came here tonight,
I got the feeling that something ain't right,
I'm so scared in case I fall off my chair,
And I'm wondering how I'll get down the stairs,
Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right, here I am,
Stuck in the middle with you.

Miranda stood at the nurse's station writing out the assignments for her interns. Although sometimes the assignments changed after rounds, Dr. Bailey still liked to keep an initial list of assigned interns because the attendings liked to request certain ones. As she was writing, Mark Sloan came into her peripheral vision. She looked at him briefly. Since his arrival here two weeks ago, he was a stereotypical surgeon; arrogant as all hell. But every time Caitie was around he tried everything to make her talk to him. He had even resorted to bribing her by letting in on a surgery. Miranda didn't approve but desperate times called for desperate measures. However, Caitie didn't bite. In fact she was so cold when she spoke to him that Miranda could have sworn the temperature around them went down several degrees. As she studied him now though, she saw that Mark looked slightly defeated and perhaps a little sad. It wasn't that noticeable, but to an observant person like Miranda Bailey it was still there. She looked down at the list of assignments again and hesitated. This was against her policy of not engaging in her interns personal lives. But something had to change. They were bound to work together at some point and a non emergent situation was better for working out any issues that they had.

With one final look at Mark and a new resolve, Miranda jotted down Taylor next to Mark's name.

Yes I'm stuck in the middle with you,
And I'm wondering what it is I should do,
It's so hard to keep this smile from my face,
Losing control, yeah, I'm all over the place,
Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Meanwhile, Caitie entered the intern's locker room with a tall bone dry cappuccino, her coffee drink of choice. Usually, Caitie enjoyed it at home. But a late start to the morning and her tired demeanor inspired her to buy coffee as she walked into the hospital that morning. Setting it down carefully on the bench in front of her locker, Caitie started to get dressed. Just when she thought she was alone, the door opened and Alex came in. While the other interns were busy gossiping about Caitie after her secret came out, he was the only one who had refrained. In fact he was the first and only person to offer sympathy in the wake of her destroyed family.

"Morning," Alex said going to his locker.

"Good morning," Caitie replied.

Just then Alex took in a whiff of a very familiar coffee smell. He turned and saw the tall coffee cup, "Is that a tall bone dry cappuccino?" He asked.

Caitie turned to face him surprised, "How did you know that?"

"I get that drink for your dad every morning."

"I see," She said and turned away

"You can't do this forever you know."

"I know."

"Look Caitie," Alex said going over to her. "He's an ass."

"Yeah."

"But he cares about you."

"Yeah, right," She snorted looking at Alex. "Hell hasn't frozen over yet."

"He does care though. I've seen the way he looks at you when you walk by. He's proud of you. He doesn't think anyone notices, but I do."

"You could have fooled me. We haven't really talked in 13 years."

"Maybe you should try again."

"Oh really and why is that Dr. Karev?"

"You only have one father Caitie. Even if he is an ass, he still cares."

"Yeah, but caring and having a relationship with someone is two different things. I've tried to have conversations with him, but it doesn't work," She said as she pinned her hair up into a bun. "We have nothing in common."

"Whatever, dude. All I'm saying is you should try."

"Thanks for the advice Dr. Phil," She quipped which earned an amused smirk from him. But before he could reply, Cristina and Meredith came in effectively ending their conversation.

Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,
Slap you on the back and say,
Please... Please...

After rounds 90 minutes later, Bailey stood in front of her interns outside of the last patient's room prepared to give out assignments.

"Yang with Grey, O'Malley with Shepherd, Karev with Montgomery, Grey with Burke, and Taylor with Sloan," Bailey said and the interns scattered. But Caitie remained behind.

"Dr. Bailey?"

"What is it Taylor?"

"I was wondering if I could trade assignments with someone."

"This isn't school Taylor. We don't trade assignments."

"I realize that but I feel that being with Dr. Sloan is a conflict of interest."

"You're related to the heads of three departments. I can't afford to honor your wishes all the time. I'm sorry, but you're going to have to get over what ever issues you have. Now go, Dr. Sloan is waiting for you."

"Yes Dr. Bailey," Caitie said and reluctantly walked away.

Trying to make some sense of it all,
But I can see that it makes no sense at all,
Is it cool to go to sleep on the floor,
'Cause I don't think that I can take anymore
Clowns to the left of me, Jokers to the right,
Here I am, stuck in the middle with you.

Mark was standing by the fourth floor nurse's station waiting for his intern. He looked vaguely annoyed.

"Dr. Sloan?" Caitie said coming up behind Mark.

Mark turned, his face surprised. But he quickly recovered, "Yes Dr. Taylor?"

"I'm your intern for today."

"My intern?" He said and then smirked. "I need coffee."

"Ok…" Caitie said, not really sure where this was going.

He pulled his money clip out of his pocket and peeled off a twenty before handing it to her. "Bone dry cappuccino and a blueberry muffin. Oh and get something for yourself too."

"I don't fetch."

"You do now. You're my intern and I want coffee. Go get it."

"I'm supposed to be learning something."

"And you are. You're learning how to get coffee. Now GO."

Caitie opened her mouth to retort but then closed it and walked away. 10 minutes later, she returned with the coffee and the muffin.

"Here's your coffee," She mumbled.

"Thank you," Mark said taking it from her before giving her his car keys. "My car needs to be washed and I have a suit that needs to be picked up at the dry cleaners. Oh and on the way back pick me up a sandwich from the deli around the corner."

Caitie was about to say something nasty, but thought better of it. She simply grabbed the credit card he offered her and left. But before heading out of the hospital she went back into the locker room and changed into her street clothes. While she hated being treated like she was the help, Caitie was going to be damned if she was going to wear scrubs while running errands.

Well you started out with nothing,
And you're proud that you're a self made man,
And your friends, they all come crawlin,

Caitie returned three hours later with Mark's dry cleaning and sandwich in one hand and bags from Louis Vuitton, Hermes, and Chanel in the other. She saw Mark waiting at the end of the corridor.

"Where have you been?" He asked, clearly annoyed. "I sent you out 3 hours ago and I've been calling you for the last 90 minutes and all I got was voicemail."

"Oh I found Louie," She said with a smile. "And Chanel too. I figured since I wasn't really learning anything I could get some shopping done."

"You were working Caitlin. It's not appropriate for you to use that time for your own personal issues."

"Oh really? And since when do washing cars, picking up dry cleaning, and getting lunch count as business matters?"

"I am your attending, you're supposed to do what I tell you, no questions asked."

Caitie tried to hold her tongue but couldn't, "How can I learn without questions? YOU are supposed to be my teacher."

"And I'm teaching. You're not being perceptive."

"Oh and the other interns are?"

"Yes, they certainly don't let their opinions of me interfere with their jobs. You could learn something from them."

"Is that so? Well then, go get one of them because I'm done," She said and started to walk away.

"Caitie, wait!" She turned, "That came out wrong."

"No, actually I think it came out just the way you wanted it to. You want me to fall at your feet just like everyone else. But I won't do it." Then Caitie turned on her heel and walked away.

Mark sighed heavily and leaned against the desk.

"Rough day Dr. Sloan?" said a voice from behind him.

He turned to see Ellis standing beside him, "Yes I suppose it is. Can I ask you something Dr. Grey?"

"Of course."

"How do you teach interns? I mean how do you have the patience?"

Ellis chuckled softly, "It is a learned art. I've taught many of them. Some of them are confident, some are not. Yes interns don't always know what they're doing. But it is our job to teach them to be good surgeons. It's not easy but when you see them put what you've taught them into practice it's very rewarding."

"Can I ask you a personal question?"

"About Meredith?"

"Yes. How do you work with her?"

"I don't know. At first it was hard to be objective around her. But I've learned that by treating her like everyone else, it makes things easier. But there are still other things. Consciously or not, Meredith does have a higher standard to meet. She works hard though and she does the best that she can. That's all I can really ask."

"Yeah, I suppose so."

"Caitie is a different story."

"Tell me about it."

"I don't think I've ever taught anyone like her."

"Really?"

"Yes. I've never seen anyone who likes to learn as much as she does. Caitie asks the most intuitive questions. She requires a challenge."

"A challenge?"

"Yes something to sink her teeth into. She'll do anything you ask of her. But she gets bored very easily. Caitie would never say so. But she has this voracious hunger to learn. It's unlike anything I've ever seen."

"So what do you do?"

"I let her interact with my patients. She's very good with them. And if I don't really have anything for her, I look at any surgeries that I might have that day or the next and even if I know exactly what I'm going to do I ask Caitie to research all the different techniques for a procedure and we discuss it."

"Isn't that boring?"

"Actually, no it isn't. In the conversations we've had, she's managed to teach me something that I might not have known or thought about. Don't try to control her, let her lead you."

Slap you on the back and say,
Please... Please...

Mark set out to find Caitie and found her walking back down to the 4th floor.

"Caitie!" She didn't turn around so he tried again, "Caitie!" He sprinted to catch up with her, "Caitlin."

"What?" She said softly.

"I was wondering if you could help me with something."

"I guess."

"Could you do some research on rhinoplasties? I have one on Wednesday and I want to know if there are any better techniques out there."

"Ok…when do you need it by?"

"The end of the day. Maybe we could discuss it over dinner?"

Her eyes narrowed, "You talked to Dr. Grey didn't you?"

"Caitie…"

"Didn't you?"

He sighed, "Yes. But I'm trying here Caitie. At least have dinner with me?"

"I'll consider it."

"That's all I ask."

"Mark! Caitie, darling," said a voice from behind them.

Mark turned, "Mom?"

Lyrics: "Stuck in the Middle with You," –Stealer's Wheel

That's the end for now! Stay tuned….oh and R/R please!