4

A/N: I have a habit of creating non-GA characters for my stories. Sorry to those of you who cannot relate to them.

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The sweet aroma permeating every corner of the room was not as crisp as the ginger tea fragrance Cristina carried. Nonetheless, it did evoke in Burke a good amount of fond memories of his glorious youth. His eyes were heavy after hours of sedation, but the smell made him smile.

"How are you, Preston?"

Opening his eyes unhurriedly, Burke allowed the fine image of a woman standing by his bedside to fall into his pupils. "I'm surprised they called you."

"Who else would they call, Preston?" They both laughed.

Looking at the clock, Burke noticed it was already 10. In his heart, he kept wishing Cristina would drop by; but in his head, he was trying to extinguish that final flicker of hope. She had not been here since he pushed her away last night. He did not mean to upset her, but it was hard to be seen in a vulnerable light from the woman who believed he had the brilliance of God.

"How's the trip to Seattle?" Burke tried to shake off residual thoughts about Cristina by focusing on the present moment.

"Not bad. The heat wave's been pretty bad back home." Taking a piece of fluff off her Prada scarf, the woman continued, "But the nurse at your hospital, they're rude. That woman almost ran over me."

Walking closer toward Burke, the woman tactfully balanced her arrogance with sympathy, "This is bad, massively bad." She ran her fingers across his arm. "Those morons, hurting my golden boy so badly. Oh, my favorite, favorite boy!" She exclaimed melodramatically.

Burke's face darkened. He knew the damage was bad, but he did not want any other living soul to reinforce it—

Especially not when Cristina was entering the room. Judging from her slightly parted lips, Burke was pretty sure that she was about to run for her life.

"Here comes the nurse, Preston." The remark rubbed the rouge of embarrassment all over Cristina's face.

Very bad idea to listen to Bailey, Cristina thought. She should have hidden in the basement instead, no matter how hard it was to control her legs from taking her to Burke. She could not believe she had given yet another impression as a bad girlfriend to others. Worse, it was to his mother this time. Something had to be done before the problem escalated, Cristina swore to herself.

Burke thought they must have given him too much morphine when he saw Cristina suddenly lit up and rushed to shake Jackie's hand and introduced herself with much vigor, "Welcome to Seattle Grace! I am Cristina Yang, B— Preston's girlfriend."

"Is that something I should concern myself with?" The woman's shocked expression sent Burke into a transient whirl of laughter.

"Don't be so hard on Cristina. She's not a nurse, she's an intern."

Looking puzzled, Cristina wished she could find a cave to crawl into.

"Since when have interns been allowed to date their attending? No wonder Richard Webber said this is a madhouse. I won't allow that to happen if I were in charge."

"Wait, aren't you his mom? Why do you know Webber?" Cristina might be tired, but she was sure Burke's mother did not work at a hospital.

"Which part of me makes you think that I'd have a son as old as Preston?"

"But you call him your golden boy."

"Cristina, you've mistaken. She's my mentor at John Hopkins, Dr. Jackie Ames."

"The interim Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery while Preston's away, I shall add."

There was nothing more than looking bewildered that Cristina could do. It was a mystery why the world had yet another joke in store for her. "I see."

"Tell me, how long have you two been dating?"

"Six months," Cristina responded in a confused tone. She could not tell why answering that question made her heart beat in unsteady strides.

"Right," Jackie tapped on Burke's hand and said, "Preston, you really need therapy."

"Physiotherapy will start soon."

"Not that," said his mentor, shifting her searching gaze between her favorite student and his girlfriend, "Couple's therapy. You two have been dating for half a year and she doesn't even know how your mother is like?"

Feeling intimidated, Cristina starred at Burke, who was touching his brows nervously.

"Alright, Webber's expecting me. I'm glad I'll only be here for a few weeks. Get well soon, Preston."

"Thanks, Jackie."

"Try this number. It's my therapist. He's pretty good. Just moved to Seattle last month." Jackie smoothed her pants and put on her designer's hat. "Well, I left my husband in the end. Simply isn't half as fun as surgery. I'm sure you know what I mean. But you two have just begun. Might be worth a try, who knows?" Jackie's evil laughter hanged in the air as she disappeared into the hallway.

Holding the name card in her hand, it took Cristina a whole minute before she felt strong enough to speak again. "She hates me."

"Jackie is a little eccentric, but she's very smart. Will keep you busy while I'm gone."

"What do you mean?" Cristina tightened her brows with confusion.

"I'm going home." His matter-of-factness scared her. "My mother wants to come, but my great uncle is very sick and she has to stay in Alabama."

"So?" Cristina was not perceptive enough to understand why her chest was tightening and her breath was unsteady.

"So, I'm going home."

"Wouldn't it be too much for your mother to be taking care of both of you?" Nobody had warned Cristina that the question would infuriate Burke.

"What do you mean, Cristina? Nobody has to take care of me. I, I will take care of me."

"Right." Neither of them could find another syllable to fill the vacuum in the room.

Cristina walked up to his bedside, but retracted the kiss she was about to give as he shut his eyes. Another sign of rejection, she thought. She wondered how many more rejections she could take before she blew up like a bazooka. It would be too late for anyone to help then.