Author's Note: Thank you all so much for your positive reviews! I will definitely keep writing, as long as people are enjoying the story. As far as pairings go, I'm still making up my mind, and I don't want to ruin things, so bear with me. But rest assured, I will do my best to make sure people aren't disappointed. Also, I don't think I've mentioned it before, but I'm sticking with the Grey's theme of naming episodes after song titles. This one is "A Sorta Fairytale" by Tori Amos, in case any of you were wondering. Here's the final section of the first episode. Please review!
Season FourEpisode One (continued): A Sorta Fairytale
(Surgical floor, nurses station. Bailey is standing at the desk making some notes. Cristina approaches, chart in hand)
Cristina: (Clears her throat) Um, hi Dr. Bailey, I was going through some charts and I noticed that you have a liver resection scheduled for this afternoon and I thought that maybe I could assist you…
Bailey: (Without looking up) Aren't you supposed to be manning the clinic, Dr. Yang?
Cristina: Well, there weren't exactly any surgical patients down there, and since I am a resident now and I…
Bailey: (Looking up at Cristina, interrupting) Dr. Yang…
Cristina: Technically…yes.
Bailey: Well then, technically, get your surgery-hungry behind back downstairs before Dr. Torres-O'Malley realizes you're gone. (Puts her pen down. Looks Cristina in the eye with sympathy) Look, it's been a tough couple of days. I am sure that everyone would understand if you needed some time to pull it together. Why don't you go home?
Cristina: (Thinks for a moment) Dr. Bailey, I was left at the altar. After I spent hours preparing for a wedding I didn't even want to have with a man who made me change who I am as a person in order to be with him. Nothing makes sense right now. I am questioning everything I believe in except this. I am a doctor. Helping people is what I do, it's who I am. Medicine and surgery are all I know for certain. And if I can't do that, I have nothing; there is no reason for me to go on. So please, I'm begging you. Let me scrub in; let me operate; let me make sense of my life, let me cope.
Bailey: (With a look of pity) Ok, go. Prepare OR 3, I'll be there in a few minutes to scrub in. (Cristina leaves, with a look of gratitude on her face. Miranda shakes her head)
(Callie approaches the nurses station)
Callie: Hello Dr. Bailey.
Bailey: Dr. Torres-O'Malley. I noticed you had three procedures scheduled for today. Pretty ambitious for your first day in the new position.
Callie: Gotta keep busy. Slow day gives you too much time to think.
Bailey: (Nods her head in agreement) How's George doing?
Callie: Well, I haven't talked to him yet. I'm sure he's busy with first day things over at Mercy West.
Bailey: (Confused) Mercy West? He decided to repeat his internship over there?
Callie: (Equally as confused) No, he transferred there to start his residency. Why would he be repeating his internship…(Bailey's face falls, Callie realizes) unless he failed his exam. He failed his exam?
Bailey: (Genuinely sorry) I thought he told you.
Callie: No, I…I haven't seen him since yesterday afternoon. (Putting the pieces together) Well, I guess that would explain why he didn't come home last night…
Bailey: Callie, I'm so sorry. If there's anything…
Callie: (Getting angry) No, you know what? Don't worry. It's fine. George and I…we will figure this out. Just a curve in the road, you know? (Pausing from her rambling) I should go…knee replacement. (She leaves abruptly. Bailey remains at the desk, pensive)
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(Surgery montage. In one OR, we see Sloan and Karev operating on a young boy. In the next, Bailey watching as Cristina takes a scalpel and slices. The third, Callie and Meredith standing over Julie's knee)
Callie: I'm going to need some more suction.
Meredith: (Placing a tube into the surgical field) You know, she came so close to getting the gold in Sarajevo. Her long program was flawless, but her knee gave out in the short, and she never recovered. (Shakes her head) You have this image in your head, about how you're going to get your happy ending, and in a second, it comes crashing down. Everything changes.
Callie: (Pain in her eyes, not responding) Alright. Everything looks good. Dr. Grey, we're all set, I'll close.
(Meredith nods and exits the OR. Meanwhile, Alex has finished scrubbing out. He walks swiftly down the hall and ducks into a supply closet, closes the door and runs his hands through his hair, exasperated. Meredith leaves the scrub room and approaches the nurses station. She pauses. To her left, Derek is walking down the hall, his face sullen. To her right, Lexie is breezing through the hallway, surrounded by other interns, chatting and giggling. Meredith turns around and runs into the nearest supply closet. She closes the door and sinks to the ground. Alex turns around and sees her)
Alex: Dude, I gotta find a better hiding spot.
Meredith: (Sobbing) I'm sorry…I had to get out of the hallway.
Alex: (Realizing how upset she is. He sits down in front of her) Did you see Shepherd?
Meredith: (Her chest heaving) And Lexie. Because clearly, one isn't enough.
Alex: Mer, take a deep breath. (He rubs her shoulder)
Meredith: (Sobs subsiding, her voice a little more angry) No. I don't get to take a breath for myself. (Wiping tears from her face) I have to pull it together and act normal, because Cristina is hurting, and I'm her person, and I need to pretend that I'm not all screwed up and whatever. This isn't about me.
Alex: Look, just because Yang is having a hard time, it doesn't mean that your problems magically go away. You gotta deal with your own stuff too or it's gonna be worse later on. Believe me, I know screwed up.
Meredith: It cannot possibly get any worse than having to work 90-hour weeks with my ex-boyfriend and estranged half-sister.
Alex: You realize that by saying that, you're tempting fate. And fate's pretty much giving you an ass kicking as it is.
Meredith: (Laughing, as she wipes the last of the tears) Screw fate. (She takes a deep breath, then looks at Alex) What are you doing in here anyway?
Alex: (Sighs) Let's just say you're not the only one getting your ass kicked.
Meredith: Is it Ava?
Alex: (Hesitantly) Yeah…something like that. (Gives her a hand up) You good? (She nods. Alex opens the door and peeks down the hallway) Ok. Coast is clear. You can go first, I'll wait. Don't want people thinking we're getting it on in the supply closet.
Meredith: Although you're no stranger to that scenario. (Laughs)
Alex: Well, I've never had my panties stapled to the bulletin board. (She glares at him) I'll see you at home. (She nods, then slips out the door. Alex lets it close, remaining in the darkness)
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(Night time. Outside the front doors of the hospital. George is sitting on a bench. Callie exits through the front doors, and sees him. She walks over)
Callie: How was your first day?
George: (Stuttering) It was, um, it was good. Long.
Callie: (Anger in her eyes) Did you like Mercy West?
George: Uh, yeah. I guess.
Callie: George.
George: (Sheepishly) Yeah?
Callie: I know your secret.
George: (Goes pale) Secret? What are you talking about?
Callie: (Indignant) I can't believe you didn't tell me about the exam! (George looks relieved…he was thinking of a different secret) I had to hear it from Miranda Bailey. I looked like an absolutely idiot, not to mention a terrible wife. Here we are, getting ready to start a family, and you are keeping these huge things from me.
George: I'm sorry, I'm so sorry. You were just so excited about getting Chief Resident, and babies, and I couldn't ruin it for you…I couldn't bring myself to tell you this awful thing, and I needed time to think. On my own.
Callie: (Sitting down) George, we're a team. This marriage thing, it only works if we're honest with each other, so we can work things out. I'm sorry you failed, I really am. I know how hard you worked, and how stressed you were. It's been a tough year, and you have dealt with so much.
George: I just…I don't know what to do. I can't just walk away from medicine. I'm a doctor. I'm supposed to be a doctor.
Callie: Well, I think the best solution would be to repeat your intern year. You can go to Mercy West first thing tomorrow and explain the situation. I'm sure they have room in their program.
George: (Incredulously) Mercy West? You want me to repeat my intern year at Mercy West?
Callie: If you stay here, you'll have all the same problems. The same…distractions. Mercy West would be a fresh start.
George: No, it wouldn't. (Getting mad) Look, I'm dealing with this huge, life-altering thing right now. I have to make a decision that's going to change the rest of my life, and you want me to go to some strange, new place where I don't know anyone and just start over, like this past year didn't happen?
Callie: George, I'm just saying, a new place could help you. It could be just what you need…what we need.
George: No. What I need is for you to stop deciding what I should do. I need to work through this without you planning my every move like some kid who needs step-by-step directions. (He gets up) I need space. (He walks away)
(Callie remains, her face a mixture of hurt and anger)
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(Night time. Meredith's house. Alex is sitting in the family room, reading a magazine. Meredith and Izzie enter through the front door and pass by the family room)
Alex: (Greeting both of them) Hey.
(Both ignore him. Izzie heads to the kitchen, Meredith heads upstairs)
Izzie: I need to bake something.
Meredith: I need to drink something.
(A few seconds later Cristina and George enter through the front door and pass by the family room)
Alex: (Greeting both of them) Hey.
(Both ignore him. Cristina heads up the stairs, George heads to the kitchen)
Cristina: I need to talk to Meredith.
George: I need to talk to Izzie.
(Alex shrugs, then returns to his reading)
(Kitchen. Izzie has started to pull ingredients. George enters, she turns to walk away, he stops her)
George: Wait. I need you to hear what I have to say. I need you to listen to me, and not get mad, and not walk away. I know that my behavior lately has, well…sucked, quite frankly, and that I don't deserve another chance, but I'm asking for it. I need you, Iz. I need my best friend.
Izzie: (Folding her arms across her chest) I'm listening.
George: What you told me yesterday…all the things that you said…took a lot of courage, I know that. You put it all on the line, because that's the kind of person you are, honest and brave. And there was nothing more in the world that I wanted to do than to go to that church and tell you exactly how I feel. I promised you I would. And then I broke that promise. And it wasn't because of Callie, or the baby she thinks is going to fix things between us. I didn't come because I failed. I failed my exam. And in those hours after opening that letter, I couldn't say anything, or think of anything, or do anything…I was lost. I'm still lost. Everything that I thought I knew is gone.
Izzie: (Walking towards George, then wrapping her arms around him) I'm not gone George. (They stand in the kitchen, embracing)
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(Meredith's room. Meredith is on the bed, with a bottle of tequila. Cristina enters and stands in the door frame)
Cristina: So I might be in denial. A little bit.
Meredith: Me too.
Cristina: I don't need you to be strong for me. You get that, right? It's ok for us to be dark and twisty together.
Meredith: It is? (Cristina nods) How do we deal with this, then?
Cristina: (Walking over to the bed, grabbing the bottle and taking a swig) Tequila helps. (She sits)
Meredith: Yeah.
Meredith V.O.: We all think that we're going to ride off into the sunset with our perfect prince to a perfect kingdom and a happy ending.
(Cristina and Meredith head downstairs and join Alex in the family room, turning the TV on)
Meredith V.O.: But maybe these obstacles and twists of fate are meant to show us that we're still in the middle, trying to navigate this life.
(George and Izzie break their hug, and join the group, plopping down on the couches Cristina grabs the remote from Alex, he throws popcorn to retaliate. George and Izzie laugh at him)
Meredith V.O.: We have to take these moments of pain and suffering in stride, and hope that the small glimpses of happiness we get are a preview of what lies ahead.
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Preview for next episode: Izzie enlists the help of the new residents to help George. But what will Callie think of all this? Can her relationship with George survive? Also, how will Meredith react when she finds out that Lexie was the highlight of Derek's week? And how will Alex cope with losing two prospects in one day? Find out!
TBC! Review!!!