A/N: I hope you all enjoy this chapter :D

Chapter Fifteen

Owen was meeting three different cardiothoracic surgeons for the head of cardio position. Out of the three, he was sincerely hoping he would fine someone – anyone, in fact – to affirm his decision to not choose Preston Burke. He knew there were many talented surgeons out there. One of them had to be good enough. Hell, he would even settle for one with promise.

"Who's coming in today?" Cristina asked, leaning against the doorframe to his office. He glanced down at his planner and told her, "I have Dr. Frikke coming in at ten, Dr. Warrens at eleven and Dr. Burke at one."

Cristina wrinkled her nose and said, "I don't understand why you're even interviewing those other guys. It's going to be Burke."

"You don't know that."

"I worked with the guy for three years," she reminded him. "I do know that. I've heard about those other guys, and none of them are even close to Burke in terms of skill and experience."

"I have to explore all of my options before I make a decision," Owen said in a measured voice. All the talk of Burke's skill and experience made him thinking of things other than medicine, and he clenched his fists beneath the table.

"You're just wasting your time," Cristina said off-handedly, glancing at her watch. "I need to start rounds. Let me know how your pointless search goes, yeah?"

Owen shook his head, smiling slightly. "Yeah. I'll let you know."

The door closed and he glanced back at his planner. In five hours he would be meeting the infamous Preston Burke. He prayed that those five hours would go very, very slowly.

Izzie Stevens was late. She was never late, but this morning her alarm didn't go off, and even though she only woke up ten minutes past her usual morning call it still threw off her entire morning ritual. She didn't even get coffee; and Izzie Stevens without coffee was not a pretty sight.

"Where are you power walking exceedingly fast to?" Meredith asked, following Izzie as she bound down the hall.

"I'm late to a consult," Izzie said, running a hand through her hair. "I can't believe I'm late. Dr. Gregory is going to kill me. Actually, no, he'll just look at me with that disappointed gaze of his and I'll want to go jump out the window."

"What time is your consult?"

"9:30."

Meredith glanced at her watch. "Iz, it's only 9:35. You know those things never run on time, anyway."

"Oh, no, see that's where you're wrong. Dr. Gregory is always on time. Freakishly on time. Which only serves to make my being late even worse!"

They stepped onto the elevator and the doors slid shut. Izzie pressed her lips together, staring at the blinking numbers above the doors and urging them to move faster.

"Izzie, you need to relax. Just say you got caught in traffic or something."

"This is my first month into the fellowship, Mer," Izzie said. "It's my first month and it will set the tone for my entire career. This is where people's perception of me is built. It's where my reputation begins, and now Dr. Gregory will think of me as the late girl."

The door slid open on Izzie's floor and Meredith said, "You're being ridiculous."

"I'm aware of that."

Meredith smirked and added, "Don't run, otherwise you'll be known as the sweaty and out-of-breath girl."

Izzie rolled her eyes, dryly retorting as she left the elevator, "Thanks for the advice, Mer."

Meredith grinned as the doors slid shut. "You're welcome."

The room was only a bit down the hall, and Izzie was relieved to see Dr. Gregory approaching from the other side of the hallway with a group of interns behind him. She let out a shaky breath. She wasn't late.

"Dr. Stevens," he said in greeting, gesturing for her to enter the room first. She walked in and he followed with the interns. There was a woman around Izzie's age in the bed, with whom she assumed was her husband beside her. Dr. Gregory stepped forward and said, "Hannah, how are you feeling today?"

"A little sick to my stomach, but other than that not too bad."

"Good." He turned back to the interns and Izzie before explaining, "Hannah is in her second week of chemotherapy. Dr. Stevens, why don't you tell the interns about the patient."

He handed over the chart and she flipped it open, scanning through the notes quickly before summarizing the patient's general condition. As she read further she felt her face grow warm.

"Dr. Stevens?"

Izzie looked up quickly, swallowing hard before saying, "The patient is Hannah Leery. 32. She was diagnosed with metastatic melanoma which spread to the liver, skin and brain one month ago and is currently undergoing aggressive chemotherapy. She is scheduled for a surgery this afternoon to remove a tumor from her liver."

"We have one of our best surgeons on the surgery," Dr. Gregory said. "You'll be in very good hands. Right now, we're going to have our interns here check your vitals. Make sure you're all ready for the surgery."

The patient nodded, closing her eyes as the interns shuffled around her and began to work. Izzie remembered what that had been like; the flurry of activity around you while you're practically chained to your bed. If the tubes and monitors didn't impede you enough, the debilitating weakness from the chemotherapy did the trick.

As the interns worked, Dr. Gregory stepped forward slightly and said, "I need to check on other patients while the interns finish up here. I'll see you this afternoon, though."

"At the surgery," Hannah said weakly, attempting at a smile. It didn't quite reach her eyes.

Dr. Gregory smiled kindly. "Yes, at the surgery. You rest up now."

He walked out, Izzie following him. She slid the chart into its place outside of the room, glancing at Dr. Gregory.

"This is her fourth surgery," Dr. Gregory said, shaking his head. "It's a wonder she's made it this far. A diagnosis like hers…"

A diagnosis like mine, Izzie thought.

"Is there anyone you would like me to round on?" she asked.

"Oh, yeah, ask for the room 403 and 412's charts. They should be quick ones."

Izzie nodded, turning on her heel. The surgery was scheduled for one o'clock. In five hours she would be facing the same cancer that nearly claimed her life three years ago. She prayed that those five hours would go very, very slowly.

"So, how do you feel about double dates?" Mark asked Jackson, waiting with an expectant smile.

Jackson looked at him warily and asked, "Why do you want to know?"

"I was just thinking, both of us are with some terrific ladies. They are with some terrific men. We'd make a pretty terrific double date, don't you think?"

Jackson laughed. "I don't think so, man."

"Why not?"

"For starters, you're dating my ex."

"Doesn't matter. You've moved on, which makes it no longer awkward."

"Still sort of awkward," Jackson said. "Plus, April and I just started dating. I don't know if we're ready for a double date."

"Not ready for a double date? I'm not asking you guys to sign up for some murder suicide pact or something. It's just two couples getting together and-"

"Why do I have a feeling I won't like what comes next?"

"Don't make it dirty now, Avery. Not everyone's mind is in the gutter like yours."

Jackson snorted. "Right."

"I'm talking about some good clean fun. What do you say?"

"I say no."

"Come on, Avery," Mark pleaded. "It'd be fun."

"It would be awkward and uncomfortable for all parties involved."

"You do realize that with you taking this plastics fellowship, I'm technically your boss," Mark said slowly.

"No way," Jackson said indignantly, seeing where Mark was going. "You cannot pull rank."

"What use is rank, if you can't pull it? If you do this for me, I'll let you take go solo on a pretty amazing facial reconstruction surgery later this week."

Jacksons stared at him. "Are you bribing me?"

"Is it working?"

Jackson considered for a moment and then said, "What time is dinner?"

Izzie sat in the doctor's lounge after rounds, absentmindedly eating a pudding cup. The door opened and she barely glanced up as Alex walked in and sat across from her.

"You got any more of those?" he asked, gesturing toward the pudding.

"Look in the fridge," she said, eyes still trained straight ahead at the unadorned wall. He got up and grabbed himself a pudding, settling back in front of her. He ripped off the top and dug his spoon in, shoving a large spoonful into his mouth.

"I don't understand how this stuff can taste so good," he said. "It's like it's special hospital pudding or some crap like that."

"Uh huh."

He looked at her oddly and said, "What's wrong with you?"

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. "I just...you know, it's nothing."

He could sense that something was off and said, "Come on, whatever it is you can tell me."

Izzie shifted in her seat, eyes looking everywhere but his face. She stared at a spot on the floor when she said, "One of my patients this morning has nearly the exact same diagnosis that I had. Everything…almost everything is the same. It's just bringing up some old memories."

"You could ask for off the case."

"No," she said quickly, shaking her head. She finally met his gaze and said, "This is exactly why I decided to go into oncology. I wanted to help people like me. I wanted to look them in the eye and say that there is hope. There is always hope. I am a living and breathing example of that."

"Then why are you in here huffing pudding cups?"

"It's harder being an example than I thought," Izzie admitted. "Because the truth is, hope only pans out for the smallest percentage of people who were like me. I'm the exception."

"Izzie-"

"How can I go in there and tell her that everything is going to be alright, when in all likelihood she'll be dead in two months?"

"Because that's the type of person you are," Alex said. "It's the type of doctor you are. You always believed in that one percent, Iz. You believe that the underdog can pull through. That they can win, even. Never lose that, Iz. Never lose that."

Cristina leaned against the desk, watching Owen take Dr. Warrens around the hospital. She turned to Meredith and said, "I don't know why he's even bothering to show these other doctors around."

"He's exploring all of his options. It's his job, Cristina."

"It's a waste of time. I know it's going to be Burke. You know it's going to be Burke-"

"I don't know that," Meredith said. "Neither do you."

"Seriously, Mer?"

"Do you really want him here, anyway?" Meredith asked. "I mean, this is Burke we're talking about. The guy who left you at the alter."

"Yeah, I was there, remember?" Cristina returned dryly.

"Why would you want him back in your life?"

"Not my life. My OR."

Meredith gave her a look and said, "That's practically the same thing to you."

"I just want someone good," Cristina said. "I decided to stay here because I knew that with Teddy I would grow as a surgeon. Now, though…"

"You think you'd grow with Burke?"

"Yes, I do," Cristina answered simply. "I know that our personal lives became a whole big mess, but in the OR it's different. We worked well together. I think we could again."

"And you don't feel at all uncomfortable about the fact that you two nearly got married?"

"No, I don't. That's in the past. The is now. I'm married. He's, well, whatever he is. It's a moot point."

"Is it?"

Cristina frowned at Meredith's tone. "Yes, it is."

"What about Owen? Is it such a moot point for him?"

"So, we're going on a double date with Sloan and Lexie," Jackson said, falling in step beside April. She glanced up at him and deadpanned, "A double date with Mark Sloan and your ex?"

"An ex that I am completely over," he said.

"I don't know…"

"It's already a done deal," Jackson said. April shot him a look and he said, "It's Sloan, April. I couldn't say no."

"You couldn't say no?" April said. Jackson was silent and she narrowed her eyes as she said, "What aren't you telling me?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"You're going in exchange for a surgery, aren't you?" He unconvincingly denied it and she said, "This is unbelievable. Is it at least a good one?"

Jackson hesitated before saying, "Facial reconstruction."

"That's pretty good," she relented. "Fine, what time are we going?"

"Seven."

"You owe me," she said, pressing a finger against his chest. "You owe me big time, mister."

One o'clock.

Preston Burke was exactly on time, and Owen expected nothing else. He had heard of the man before, but never knew what he looked like. In his mind, he was always older. A man of his distinction and reputation had to have a few years on him, but Burke looked barely older than Cristina. With smooth dark skin and blinding white teeth, he seemed more suited for magazine covers than the OR.

"Preston Burke," the man said smoothly, extending a hand. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Hunt. I've heard a lot about you."

"You have?" Owen said gingerly, wondering if any of what he had heard touched on his wife.

"You have an impressive resume behind you. I was surprised at first to hear that Richard chose someone so new to the hospital to replace him, but he clearly made the correct decision."

"I would generally give a tour of the hospital at this point in the interview, but I believe in this case that isn't necessary."

Burke laughed, shaking his head. "No, I'm quite familiar with the hospital."

"I'd like to discuss your previous-"

"There is a fellowship here for cardiothoracic surgery, yes?" Owen nodded. "Have any surgeons been selected?"

Owen thought to himself that this must have been a record. Not even five minutes into the interview and Cristina had already come up inadvertently.

"Yes, one actually."

"Anyone I would know?"

Owen cleared his throat and said, "Cristina Yang."

Burke laughed, rubbing his jaw. "Cristina Yang? Really?"

"Yes, uh, that's her."

"I'm very familiar with her," Burke said, smiling almost wistfully. Owen felt a kick of jealousy, but suppressed it. In all likelihood the man didn't know him and Cristina were married, therefore he couldn't hold his behavior against him. No, he would find something more concrete to hold against him. Or he would try.

Across the hospital, Izzie was checking in with her patient, Hannah, before she went in for surgery. Hannah was visibly nervous, running her fingernails against the inside of her palm.

"You okay?" Izzie asked with a sympathetic upturn of her mouth.

"I thought having cancer was bad and then they had to start cutting into me."

"This is the last one," Izzie said. "According to your scans-"

"I know what the scans say," Hannah said wearily. "They say that this is the last tumor. They always say that. But then they find another. And another. I'm like a big old tumor factory."

"You're going to pull through this."

"You have to say that," Hannah said. "You're the doctor. Doesn't positivity before a surgery lead to better outcomes or something?"

"I'm more than just a doctor," Izzie said. "I'm a cancer survivor. I had almost the same diagnosis as you a few years ago. People told me I had months to live. It was weeks of chemo and surgeries. I was miserable, but I tried to have hope. And when I couldn't – when it was too difficult – the people around me did it for me."

Hannah turned her head to the side, tears dripping down her cheek. "I want to believe. I really do, but…"

"I'll believe for you," Izzie said, taking her hand.

"Preston Burke," Callie said, shaking her head. "Him getting hired would really shake this place up."

"I heard he's a phenomenal surgeon," Arizona replied perkily.

"You know, it's been pretty boring here," Callie noted, leaning against the counter. "A little shaking up wouldn't be bad."

"I'm sure he wouldn't do anything. Cristina is a married woman now."

"Yeah, well she was almost his married woman. God, you should have seen her at their wedding. Standing up there in this big white dress. Completely alone."

"I can't imagine her in white."

"She also had no eye brows." Arizona gave her a look that begged for further explanation and Callie said, "Long story. Anyway, I'm interested to see how this plays out. I mean, obviously Burke is the strongest choice, but will Owen willingly hire the only man Cristina considered marrying before him?"

"If he is the best candidate, yes," Arizona said optimistically.

"Best candidate has nothing to do with it," Callie said with a humorless laugh, shaking her head. "This is Seattle Grace. It's always personal."

A/N: The double date will be in the next chapter. This was getting Tolstoy long so I decided to cut it off here. Hope you liked it!