"How could you guys leave me alone with Sloan last night?" Izzie whispered furiously, falling in step with George and Meredith during rounds and hurriedly tying her hair in a loose bun.
The rest of the interns began snickering, except for George who was fiddling with the bell of his stethoscope.
"Stevens, glad of you to join us. You're late," Bailey interjected, not looking up from the chart she was reading and entering a room. "Good morning, Ms. Bello." Bailey smiled at the lady seated on the bed.
Meredith took the chart from Bailey's outstretched hand. "Victoria Bello, 48 y/o, female, dermatologist, from New York, came in due to enlarging skin lesions on bilateral lower extremities for 2 years. Biopsy was done 4 mos. prior and was diagnosed with Melanoma. She has a history of prior use of tanning beds and a family history of Melanoma, first cousin. Vital signs are within normal limits. Physical examination of the lower extremities showed a 1.0 cm dark brown raised lesion with irregular borders on the dorsal side of right thigh and a 5 mm dark brown raised lesion with irregular borders on the lateral side of the left leg. Rest of the PE was unremarkable. She's scheduled today for nevus removal under Dr. Sloan."
Bailey nodded at Meredith. "What are the risk factors of developing Melanoma?"
"UV exposure and close family history of Melanoma."
"O'Malley, what are the signs you are looking for in a suspicious skin lesion," Bailey inquired.
"It's ABCD. Asymmetry, Border, Color, and Diameter," George replied, still avoiding Izzie's eyes.
Bailey raised an eyebrow at Alex. "Elucidate, Karev."
Alex smirked. "One side of the lesion would not be the same as the other half. Borders are irregular and notched. There would be different colors in the skin lesion. Diameter should be more than or equal to 1.0 cm."
Bailey turned to Izzie who was still glaring at George. "Stevens, would you like to add anything else?"
Surprised, Izzie suddenly smiled and forgot about George. "Risk factors are being Caucasian with fair skin, hair, and eyes, and constant rather than intermittent UV exposure. Only 10 percent of Melanoma runs in families. Apart from what Dr. O'Malley has said, I'd like to add that the sudden appearance of a skin lesion is the most important sign."
A dreaded voice cut in. "That's certainly a mouthful," Dr. Sloan emphasized, leaning on the doorframe with his arms crossed. All of the other interns watched as Izzie blushed furiously.
Impressed at Izzie and blissfully unaware of the tension in the room, Bailey gave a hint of a smile and handed her the chart. "Alright, she's all yours."
Izzie frowned at Dr. Sloan. Before she could protest, Bailey turned around and left the room with other interns in tow. Clutching the patient's chart, she jogged to catch up with Bailey. "Dr. Bailey, I'm still supposed to be shadowing someone, aren't I? Why am I being assigned to Sloan alone?"
Bailey suddenly stopped in her tracks which made the other interns collide into one another. "He requested me to assign him only one intern. So I gave him you." She looked up at Izzie and crossed her arms as if bracing for a fight. "You have a problem with that, Stevens?"
Backing off, Izzie threw her hands in the air in surrender. "Okay, Dr. Bailey. Thank you."
Returning to the patient's room, Izzie saw Dr. Sloan perched on the bed and busily regaling the patient with stories of his practice in New York. The patient was giggling and batting her eyelashes at the plastic surgeon.
Izzie rolled her eyes. "Ahem."
Dr. Sloan was still grinning as he got up from the bed and turned to look at Izzie who was eyeing him murderously. "Jealous?"
Ignoring the surgeon, Izzie went to the patient and held out the consent form. "Dr. Bello, I'm sure Dr. Sloan has already explained the procedure and the possible complications. Can you sign here please?"
The patient smiled and signed the form. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to, oh you know." She waved her hand. "Call me Vicki. Mark was my colleague in New York." She gave back Izzie's pen and chart.
Izzie plastered a smile on her face. "There's nothing going on between Dr. Sloan and I. He's just in the habit of talking like that." She turned on her heels and quickly left the room. Izzie felt someone suddenly grip her arm and she turned around.
Mark was grinning like a Cheshire cat. "You can't be jealous. Seriously?" He was mocking her.
Izzie cocked her head to one side. "I will not even acknowledge that you had the gall to ask me that, Dr. Sloan," she emphasized and went over to the nurses' station. She informed the nurse of the signed consent.
Apparently, Mark followed her to the station. "Can we talk?" He eyed his surroundings suspiciously. "Somewhere a lot less public. It's about last night."
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On hindsight, I guess you guys have been wondering where Derek or Addison are in the story. I will explain about their lack of appearance as the story evolves. I'm currently enjoying the cat and mouse routine between them. Too much MerDer angst in the real GA is beginning to bore me.
Please, please R & R! Thanks!