Ch. 9
"Good morning, Dr. Burke."
"Good morning, Dr. Bailey. Are you free tomorrow?"
"You're asking a woman with a husband and a 7-year-old if she'd be free before Thanksgiving? Your wife should know better." Bailey thought her boss was asking her to take extra shifts.
As if he could read her mind, Burke quickly explained, "Cristina and I thought you might want to come over for dinner tomorrow."
"Oh." The corners of Bailey's mouth curled up. "Too bad. We'll be at Tucker's family in Reno. Chief, you outta to head back to Alabama some day. Your mama must miss you. And Cristina. Why doesn't she ever go back to L.A.?"
"I'll give my mother a call. Maybe she could come to Seattle this Christmas. Cristina and I can't really take vacations."
"Workaholics." Bailey smirked. "You two are the perfect match, you know."
A brief flash of embarrassment crossed his brow as he scratched his head.
"Anyway, I got to check up on my patients. Happy Thanksgiving, Preston."
"You too, Miranda."
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When Burke went back to his office, he saw Cristina sitting on his sofa, placing her pen on a report she seemed to be struggling with. He still remembered this focused and serious expression of hers from 8 years ago when she started as an intern.
"Hey." Cristina shut the folder promptly and stood up when Burke walked to her side and kissed her neck.
"What brought you here?" Burke asked tenderly.
"Richard said they can't make it tomorrow." Beneath Cristina's matter-of-fact tone, Burke thought he caught something.
"Bailey will be out of town as well." Burke responded, "She reminded me to call my mom though."
"Really?" Cristina covered her mouth, just in time to tune down the surprise. Since making the promise the day before, Cristina had put behind the idea of telling Burke about Samuel. When he mentioned his mother, however, she couldn't help but feel uneasy again.
"I thought you love talking to Rose. What's wrong?" Burke never thought there were any in-law problems in the family, especially because Cristina never contacted her own annoying kin.
"It's just that I—" Cristina rolled her eyes and tried very hard to search for the right thing to say. "I have to go and pick up Asha now."
No more words, only silence.
Turmoil of the mind was hard to conceal in front of the person whom you loved so much, who knew you so well. Burke tried to gain a perspective of things bothering the woman he loved as she closed the door and left. She was closing the door again. He sighed.