Chapter 7

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

He sat in his car waiting for her to leave work. He had scoured the parking lot trying to find her motor cycle without any success. Maybe she had taken a cab to work that morning or had gotten a ride from someone. From where he parked he could see anyone who came from the hospital toward the parking lot. He saw her the moment she exited the doors but instead of coming straight toward him she turned in the opposite direction. Turning his car around, he followed her from a distance. She stopped next to a small car and was about to open the door when he pulled up. She turned around and on seeing him quickly went in the car. He pulled his car up behind hers blocking her exit. She got out of the car and came toward him, annoyance evident on her face. "What do you want?"

He didn't answer her question instead he said. "I see you finally got rid of the death trap."

She was losing her patience. "Look, Dr. Burke, I've had a real long day and I'm running late so could you please move your car so that I can leave."

"Do you have a date?"

"I'm sure you didn't come here to find out how I'm spending my evening."

He looked at her with raised brows. "Maybe I did." His calmness unnerved her. He didn't seem like a man facing the possible ramifications from leaving a towel in his patient's chest cavity. "Look this isn't funny, I really need to go."

"Not until you tell me what I did to upset you."

She threw her hands in the air, frustrated. "You didn't upset me ok."

He didn't believe her. "Don't lie to me. I thought we were getting to know one another. Was I wrong?"

"No . . . I don't know . . . Leave me alone, ok, just let me leave."

"What happened between this morning and now?"

She turned around to face him. "You don't know?"

"No, and I won' know until you tell me, so, the truth."

She laughed sarcastically. "The truth! Do you even know the meaning of that word?"

"Dr. Yang, we may be off duty but I am still your Attending." He hated to use the term boss to her.

"You're Dr. Bailey's boss"

He didn't comment, just inclined his head.

"Look, Dr. Burke, within the walls of that hospital you are my boss and I'll do almost anything you tell me. Out here, that relationship ceases to exist."

He cleared his throat "I see"

She could see the disappointment on his face and couldn't understand why that would bother her.

She tells herself that he didn't mean anything to her. He was just her boss. But what boss would bring her breakfast? What boss could make her feel so inadequate just by virtue of his presence?

"Please let me leave."

"Tell me." He was determined not to let her leave without telling him.

And so in frustration she blurted out " You yelled at Meredith today because she made a mistake, a mistake, that she came clean about. Who is yelling at you for your mistakes?"

"What are you talking about? I didn't yell at Grey because of her mistake. I did it because she confessed to something she didn't do, in the presence of the patient's husband. As for my mistakes, I have no idea what you're talking about." "You don't? Two days ago I spent the afternoon in a musty file room looking for the file of a patient who had surgery here five years ago. A patient who is currently in this hospital because a towel was left underneath her lungs. You operated on her, you forgot the towel and now you and Dr. Bailey are trying to cover it up."

Her outburst surprised him. Bailey didn't tell him that she had seen the file "Cristina. There's no cover-up."

She lowered her voice as there were people passing by. "I saw you and Dr. Bailey, I saw her give you the file and she told me to keep what I know to myself. But I do know, and if there is a cover-up then I'm a party to it."

"And so because you've seen us talking, and she gave me the file, you concluded that there must be a cover-up . . . Do you know what it would take to cover-up something like that? The chief, the hospital, everyone would have to be in on it. Now, can you see that happening?"

"So if there's no cover-up, why isn't anyone saying anything about it."

"Because it's two days, Cristina. This cannot be resolved in two days." He sounded hurt and angry at the same time. "Besides it's none of your business."

She wouldn't relent. "It became my business when Dr. Bailey asked me to find out who did that surgery."

For a moment he didn't say anything. He just stood there looking at her and when he spoke there was resignation in his voice.

"If what Dr. Bailey asked you to do make you uncomfortable, then don't do it. But you of all people should know that things are not always what they appear to be."

She held her head down, confused. He had a valid point and she realized that she may have jumped to the wrong conclusion. But if there was no cover-up why wasn't anyone saying anything. She knew she should apologize but couldn't bring herself to do it. "Look, what do you want me to do? I can't pretend that I didn't see her give you the file."

He looked at her. I want you to tell me that you won't jump to any conclusions until you know the facts, and . . . "

"And what?"

"I want you to tell me that the reason you're in such a hurry isn't because you're late for a date with some guy."

Taken by surprise by his comment, she simply stared at him. A moment passed before she answered. "I'm not late for a date with any guy."

He held her gaze, mentally struggling to control an overwhelming urge to hug her. One of his questions was answered. She did not have a boyfriend. He got back in his car and drove away allowing her to leave.

It was late in the evening when he arrived home. He had stopped at the cleaners to pick up his laundry and drove around just to clear his head. The mistake he made five years ago was weighing heavily on his mind and Cristina questioning his integrity made it worse. On the other hand he couldn't help but admire her tenacity. Most interns would have been too intimidated to confront him. But, she wasn't and in the midst of all the accusations and presumptions, he could see a twinge of something else. She cared. Trying to reconcile his feelings for her was becoming a challenge. He knew that there was something between them, something different and special. She knew it too, but she was scared and he realized that. What he couldn't figure out was what she was afraid of, or if he had done anything in their brief association to cause that fear. The day may have started out badly but to him it had the perfect ending. She didn't have a boyfriend.

The following day Cristina arrives at the hospital quite early. It had become a habit of hers to be there before any of the other Interns. The possibility of scrubbing in on the best surgeries was her main motivation. This morning she wanted to find Burke and apologize for yesterday. She didn't have to look very hard. After rounds she was standing at the third floor nurses station making notes, when he found her. He came up quietly behind her and placed a cup of coffee on the counter next to her. She looked up at him perplexed. He looked down at her. Neither one knew what to say to the other. Just yesterday they had argued in the parking lot and she had accused him of orchestrating a cover-up. Today she wasn't sure. " It's just coffee" he said reassuringly, as if anything between them were that simple. But it wasn't just coffee. It was his way of making peace with her. His version of the olive branch. Her accepting it would signify that they would be ok. He had spent a restless night thinking about her and decided that whatever challenges lay ahead, she was worth the risk. Caught totally off guard by his kindness, she forgot her reason for being there, and he left before she had a chance to apologize.

It was late in the afternoon and the interns minus Meredith was standing on the runway staring at the door of an office. Inside that office Burke and Meredith were meeting with the chief and the hospital's legal counsel. Not knowing what exactly was taking place inside the interns began to speculate on what was happening. They were nervous and concerned for their friend. To most of them Meredith was at a disadvantage. She was the intern, the one who confessed. Cristina was in the unique position of being concerned about both, but no one knew that. She disguised her fears with a smile and hoped for the best. After what seemed like forever, the door opened and Meredith appeared. She informed them that everything was ok. She was on one month's probation and that Burke saved her. Although extremely happy for Meredith, Cristina wondered what saving her cost Burke. But before she could ask Meredith anything. Bailey appeared and the interns scattered to their duties. While attempting to leave Cristina was held back by Bailey who informed her that Burke was always going to tell the chief about the towel. He just needed the right time. Before leaving she took one look back toward the door and he was standing there, talking to the chief. He saw her and for a long moment their eyes met and held. Again she could feel that strange connection between them. He looked weary. She had never seen him like that before and she wanted to comfort him.

He entered the On Call Room and closed the door. The day had been long and stressful, reminiscent of his days as an intern. His reputation had taken a beating but remains relatively in tact. He was still concerned about Mrs. Drake. The patient had spent five years complaining about chest pains and no one believed her. The fact that he had contributed to her pain weighed heavily on his mind. Still, he knew that dwelling on it would be pointless. It happened and they all learned from it. If he is to go on and save other lives, he had to be able to focus and not let one error negatively impact the way he cared for his patients. He removed his shirt and was in the process of taking off his shoes when the door to the on call room opened and she entered. She was the only person he wanted to see and the one person he didn't want to see him like this. He was vulnerable. He needed time to be Preston. To forget about his tremendous responsibilities at the hospital and just be himself. To her he was only Dr. Burke. He wouldn't have known that over an hour ago he became someone else to her. He was simply, Burke. He wouldn't have known that she had been all over the hospital looking for him. He wouldn't have known that she knew that he was hurt and that she wanted to be there for him. To comfort him just like he had comforted her.

The door was still opened and he feared that someone may see them together but before he could say anything she closed the door and locked it.

He knew that she shouldn't be there. That he should ask her to leave. But she had taken the initiative to reach out to him and he didn't want her to feel rejected. She looked so small and unsure of herself. He let go the rails of the bunk beds he was holding on to and walked toward her. She stepped backwards and not knowing what to say she whispered "Thanks for the coffee." To her own ears it sounded so lame. The time to thank him for the coffee had long passed. The same fate that brought them together that first night was at work again and this time fate would not be denied. He reached out and cradled her head with both hands, she gasped just before his lips came down upon hers.

She shivered and closed her eyes but involuntarily her hands reached around and up his naked back. Clinging to him as if her life depended on it, she returned the kiss. Her mouth opened and his tongue entered. He shuddered, unable to control his own emotions. He had always imagined she would taste like this, feel like this. One hand left her face and circled her waist drawing her closer to him. If she had any doubt of how much he wanted her, that feeling was erased. He released her lips for a moment allowing her to breathe. She reached up and pulled his head down to hers, unwilling to be separated from him, if only for a moment. He kissed her again, this time deeper. She had never experienced a kiss like that before. Never know that it was possible for any man to make her feel the way he was making her feel. She had always wanted to feel those strong hands touching her. The same hands that were so precise during surgery were now working their way over her body with the same kind of precision. They struggled to remove her clothes. As he removed her scrub top and undershirt he realized that underneath she wore no bra. He tried to focus on her face in an unsuccessful bid to slow things down. She reached up and touched his face, tracing her fingers from his jaw line to the cleft in his chin then to his lips. She cradled his face, standing on her toes to reach up to his level. They were lost in their own world. The place and the time were irrelevant. Then abruptly he eased her away from him and whispered in her ear. "We can't do this . . . not here . . . not now."

She looked at him confused. Wondering if she had done something wrong. It never occurred to her that by giving in to her feelings for him she was opening up herself for possible rejection. He saw the fear in her eyes and tried to reassure her. "I want you more than anything but this place . . . I can't risk it . . . you have to leave."

She searched his face. He was serious. She was standing in front of him, stripped not only of her clothes but also of her pride.

She pulled away from him, trying to regain some control. "You leave."

He tried to resist the impulse to pull her back in his arms but couldn't, so he held her and whispered "You can't be here with me baby,. It's not safe . . . It's not right."

She pulled away and sat on the lower bunk. "Right for whom?"

"For both of us."

She fell back across the bed laying flat on her back. "Don't speak for me."

He started to pick up her clothes off the floor and handed them to her. "Get dressed."

She wasn't about to make it easy for him. "If you want me to leave then you get me dressed."

"Cristina!"

She stopped him. "No, you took my clothes off. If you want me to leave, put them back on."

He reached out and took the undershirt from her and started to pull it over her head. "You shouldn't be walking around here like this."

She pretended not to know what he was talking about. "Walking around here like what?"

"Without a bra on."

"I don't need a bra."

"Yes you do. Now, stop acting like a petulant child and hold your hand up so that I can get this shirt on you."

She lifted her hands above her head, and as he pulled the shirt down, his hand brushed lightly against her naked breast. He stopped momentarily, his hand frozen. She brought her hand up and covered his, holding his hand flat against her breast. He could feel her heart beat. His body's reaction to being in such intimate contact with her was immediate and uncontrollable. She was the one temptation he couldn't resist. Leaning in he replaced his hand with his mouth. She gasped again and brought her hands up to hold his head firmly against her breast. She groaned and murmured his name. Moments later he joined her in the bed. He had lost the battle and leaving was no longer an option.