Chapter 3

I have no interest in Grey's Anatomy and my use of the characters is done without consent. No copyright infringement intended.

Preston Burke pulled into the parking lot where only a few hours ago he had rescued the intern. He was late, a very rare occurrence for him. He had no surgery scheduled until much later in the day but had several post op patients to check on. He parked his car and just sat there thinking. For reasons he didn't understand he found himself not focused on work but on the intern he left at his apartment. He couldn't understand what possessed him to take her home. He didn't know her, had no obligation to save her from the predicament she found herself in. He wanted not to like her. She was an opportunist, she reminded him of someone, he just couldn't figure out who.

He thought about the night before and the circumstances that led to him taking a strange young woman to his apartment. The mixer was over and he was walking his date for the night to her car when he noticed the new intern wandering around the parking lot. There was something about the way she walked that led him to believe that she was in some sort of distress. After delivering his date safely to her car and watch her drive away, he got in his own car with the intention of going straight home. Instead of going straight ahead to the exit, he found himself turning left in the direction of where he last saw the intern. At first he didn't see her and felt relieved, at least he did what's right in coming back to make sure she was okay. He was about to speed up and head back to the exit when out of the corner of his eyes he saw her. She rose up from the ground holding her stomach. He pulled over to the side, parked his car and exited the vehicle quietly making sure not to slam the door as he didn't want to frighten her. She obviously did not hear him approach because when he spoke, it startled her and she turned around, retched and vomited all over his feet. That should have been his cue to take her to the emergency room, but he didn't. His intention was to take her to her own home but once she got in his car she quickly proceeded to vomit all over his front passenger seat and just as quickly, passed out.

The decision to take her to his place was made without much consideration. Once he decided to do so, there was no turning back. He wondered if there was anyone waiting for her at home who would be worried if she didn't show up. Once they got to his apartment, she was lucid enough to ask about her bike and to tell him that she lived alone. He spent the next hour getting her cleaned up and plying her with coffee before she finally fell asleep. While she slept, he went down stairs to clean his car. Even now, hours later the car still smelled of disinfectant. He wondered if she ate the breakfast he left her, or if she was well enough to work. As he would find out later that day, the little intern was more resilient than he ever imagined.

The day had progressed as he expected. All his post op patients were improving and he had completed the one heart surgery he had scheduled. His next surgery was a minor appendectomy, a procedure which was not his specialty but something he volunteered to do as a means of breaking in the new interns. His decision to select an intern for the procedure brought him to the room where they were all assembled. He walked in and selected George, an intern who exhibited very little confidence in his own abilities. She was there, looking nothing like the sick vomiting intern he picked up the night before. The colour was back in her cheeks and she was radiant, at least as radiant as anyone can look wearing scrubs. She was tiny, he never realized how small she was until now. The look on her face when he selected George was priceless. Without saying a word she clearly communicated to him that his selection was wrong. He never looked at her directly but he was seeing her clearly. He had done a bit of investigating once he got to the hospital and had come to find out, that his little intern was no push over. She was in fact the most accomplished of all the new interns, both academically and socially. She certainly didn't need, as she said, to kiss anyone's ass in order to succeed.

George O'malley, as he suspected, screwed up on the appendectomy. His mistake was not totally his fault but was a combination of nerves and intimidation. The interns watching from the gallery got really excited in the beginning and started to cheer George on but Burke looked up to indicate silence and of course locked eyes with her. She never looked away but stared back at him as if to challenge him, only he didn't know what the challenge was about. She mumbled something and her fellow interns laughed. He looked down at the patient and smiled, thankful that he was wearing a mask. He liked her, she had spunk and he knew it was going to be interesting watching her learn. The rest of the day went relatively smoothly. He didn't see her again that day. Dr. Bailey had them under her wings and he knew what that entails.

He went home deciding to spend a quiet evening. He entered his apartment and first went to see if she ate the breakfast he left for her. No problem there, she ate it all and left the dirty dishes on the table. From there he went to the bedroom, the sheets were hanging partially on the bed, mostly on the floor. One of his dresser drawers was partially opened with clothes hanging out. Another was fully opened with his clothes scattered every which way.

He was getting angry she rummaged through his drawers and left his place a mess. He wondered what she was looking for. He gathered the sheets off the floor and the bed. They smelled like her. He entered the bathroom to put the sheets in his laundry hamper. There were tiny puddles of water on the bathroom floor. The wet towel she used was lying on the floor. He had left her a new toothbrush. The wrapper was on the floor. On his counter were several strands of long curly black hair and next to the shower, lies the shirt she slept in the night before. He couldn't help but think that she left the place a mess on purpose. In his mind no one could be that messy.

He cleaned up his bathroom. Made his bed, refolded his clothes and closed his drawers. Afterwards he went to do his dishes, at least he thought, the kitchen was lucky. Hurricane Cristina missed it. She must hate cooking because the kitchen was the only place she left untouched. After clearing away the dishes he went in his living room and on his couch he found her shirt neatly folded and a note attached to it which read.

Dr. Burke,

I hope you feel as violated as I felt this morning when I woke up in your bed in your shirt. Since you had no regards for my privacy when you stripped me naked and put me in your shirt. I have no regard for yours.

It was very kind of you to wash and dry my clothes, only you should have read the instructions first. It clearly states on my blouse that it was to be dry cleaned only. Your little act of kindness has cost me a very expensive blouse which I am not able to wear today or any other day as it's now much too small.

So, I went through your drawers trying to find a T-shirt that I could wear. I didn't find anything in your drawers but I found one hanging in your closet. I hope you don't mind. I will return it as soon as I can.

Thanks for last night and for breakfast. It's a pleasure I hope never to repeat.

Cristina Yang

He read the note over again and found himself laughing out loud. She does have spunk he thought. Most of the new interns were immediately intimidated by him. She obviously wasn't.

He intended to spentd the night the way he usually does. Reading before falling asleep. This night however, was different. He couldn't fall asleep. He kept staring at the other side of the bed remembering that only a few hours before, someone else was laying there. Someone who was essentially off limits to him. The adult equivalent of jail bait. And yet, try as he may, he couldn't get her out of his mind. His pillow still smelled like her. Her hair was still everywhere. There was a toothbrush in his bathroom that now belongs to her. Her shrunken shirt was still on his couch where she left it. The note she wrote him was still on his dining table and on his night stand lay a single strand of pearl that he had removed from around her neck the night before. She was a contradiction in styles he thought, a girl who rides a motor cycle and yet were so comfortable wearing pearls. He had met her less that twenty four hours ago. She spent approximately six hours in his apartment, and though he didn't know it then. Their encounter that night would become the catalyst for changes that would affect every aspect of his life.