A/N: I am extending the contest fic I wrote in August. Reviews are appreciated .
"You know, George, 'I Love You's are reserved for your lover just as my back is reserved for mine. Stop looking at me!"
George O'Malley blushed. He was staring at his friend in the locker room only because he was curious and concerned.
"I was only uh…So, you and Dr. Burke, uh, you two…"
"—are going to be working hard on the surgical floor while you struggle in the pit." Cristina flipped her hair up into a bun.
"Cristina, I thought we are friends." George furrowed his brows in confusion.
"We are all friends, and we'll all get to scrub in. Don't worry, George. We're Bailey's happy and confident interns and we've to be on time to make our resident happy. Please go and tell her we're coming." Meredith smiled as she sent him off, "Thank you very much, George."
"Are you Ok, Mer? You're soothing pig boy as if you're his kindergarten teacher!"
"You are in a bad mood, Cristina."
"Thanks for reminding me that." Cristina paused, and then softened up a little, "Can you believe that everyone in the hospital is talking about me and Burke again?"
"That means things are back to normal."
"It's irritating. I don't think I can deal with that."
"Even after your hot make-up kiss and the I Love You?"
"You're my person, Meredith. You don't use what I told you against me." Cristina sighed before she continued, "I don't know. I'm not used to it. I'm not used to us, together, as a couple again. At least not at the hospital."
"But you love Burke."
Cristina looked up from her locker and nodded lightly. Of course I do, Cristina thought to herself. Yet, she felt different. She and Burke had been through so much in the past few months. Although they were now back on the same bed, eating off the same breakfast plate, drinking from the same tap again, she felt overwhelmed by an unfathomable sense of responsibility. She was scared of losing him again.
In a way, Cristina felt like she was 3 years old once more. She recalled vividly how her father was always away from home because he was a sailor. Nonetheless, whenever he was there, Cristina would be the happiest princess in the universe.
As a little girl, she was taught that bad things only happened to bad people. The day she learned that her daddy was gone forever, Cristina felt completely responsible for the loss. She was certain that she must have done something bad. After spending days and nights pondering on what she had done wrong, she came to the conclusion that it was because she once bragged about her wonderful and humorous daddy in front of her kindergarten pals.
That was why the more she was in love with Burke, the less Cristina wanted anyone in the hospital to mention it. In fact, she was not sharing as much with Meredith as she used to either.
It took Cristina many years to find out bad things could happen to good people. When the storm decided to wreck the cruise and threw her father into the deep ocean, it was not because she had done something wrong.
It all came back to her when Burke was shot. She was almost certain it was her fault. If she had to be penalized at all, however, it would be the fact that she loved those two men too much. And that, obviously, was nothing wrong.
"Enough about me. How are you and the two fools?" Cristina smirked as they walked down the hallway to meet Bailey.
"Monday is date night with Finn, Tuesday is with Derek, Wednesday Finn… Sunday the three of us hang out together. We're very organized."
"How organized! You're bringing polygamy to a whole new level."
"I'm giving all of us a chance," Meredith whispered as they saw Bailey.
"All of you are on time today, what a pleasant surprise!" Bailey licked her upper lip before handing out the assignments. "Grey and O'Malley, you'll work with me today. Karev, you're on a special mission. The Chief wants you for the entire week."
"Do I get a special mission too?" Cristina was thrilled by the complexity in the term.
"Yang, do you want to follow the brain or the heart?"
"Is that a trick question? Well… the brain."
"Go and run some labs for Dr. Sheppard's patients."
The tasks did not sound very exciting.
"What if I had picked the heart?"
"Then you'd be working with Dr. Burke. Someone scheduled a valve replacement last minute. I don't normally let my interns get out of what they already committed themselves to, but if you want to switch—"
"Oh no no no, I love the brain. It's rational, it's hardcore. I'll take it."
Cristina was probably the only person who did not realize she was trying too hard to avoid Burke.
"O-K," Bailey was surprised by Cristina's response. "Don't stand here, move! Not you Yang, I need to talk to you."
"Yes?" Cristina motioned towards the corner after her fellow interns had all become out of sight.
"Don't try to hide it. I know you two are an item again. That doesn't mean you can't scrub in with him, because you two are better at knowing the boundaries than some people."
"Dr. Bailey, actually I prefer cruising Sheppard's patients around for their MRIs and labs."
"Liar. I don't know why you two have to play hide-and-seek all the time, but if that's what you want, I'll make sure you never get assigned to him again."
"Thank you Dr. Bailey."
"If I ever catch you wandering off or sneaking into the gallery to watch him operate, I'll suspend you from the surgical floor for a week, understood?"
Clearly, Cristina was already regretting her own decision.