Sorry, sorry. sorry!!! A day late...

Anyway, please note that when I say Kurt I'm referring to Jamie (that's his last name...) and that I'm going to start expanding on my characters and maybe put Eli in surgery nxt chapter!

Enjoy!!!

First Days are Always Hell

Have you ever noticed that things aren't what you imagine?

Sometimes you dread something so much that when you finally get to it wasn't as bad as you thought, in fact, sometimes you might grow to love it.

But, sometimes, things are exactly the way you expected. It turned out that that voice talking to you wasn't just paranoia; it was real. Some sort of sixth sense telling you not to do it, like if you were a move and the watchers were screaming at you to not do that.

But, being high and mighty, we usually don't listen to these voices, unable to distinguish them from your garden variety paranoia, and we end up walking into just what that little voice was warning us about; pure hell.

Dr. Muffy Sheppard's radiant green eyes had turned into flashes of anger as she stared Eli down in the tiny elevator.

Muffy's words echoed in her mind: … I'm also his wife…

The man that Eli hadn't stopped thinking about since the night before was taken.

Had he led her on?

Yes, she had; at least she thought he had.

No, she knew that he had. He had talked to her; grinned at her, made casual conversation as if he were the most single, available man on the face of the earth.

I'm also his wife…

Where did she get off?

That thirty-something year old silicone filled cheap floozy, probably using all the money Tim made working to get face lifts and nose jobs and Botox…

…Chief of Neurosurgery…

Oh, God…

She had picked the wrong leaching, aging, silicone filled floozy to mess with… She was the freaking Chief of Neurosurgery, an attending; someone that could make her life at work miserable.

Back down Eli; he's just a two-timing ass that wanted you to be his latest affair…

Tim was talking to his wife in a stern voice when Eli fazed back to reality. "-what is it, Muffy? Is there something you forgot to inform me of the last time we spoke?"

Muffy sighed and spoke to Tim in a hushed, almost remorseful voice. Almost.

"We haven't spoken in a week Tim; what with the back-to-back surgeries we've both had to perform this week; tumors, cists, biopsies…" Muffy sighed in exasperation and ran a hand through her golden hair, "I'm exhausted… worked all day yesterday…" her eyes seemed to light up, "I'm going home… can you-,"

Tim shook his head, making Muffy look down at the floor, disappointment and bitter resentment on her face before Tim even spoke. "I can't," Tim said, not so sorry, face a mask of non emotion, "I have five surgeries today and Hardy's having me stay tonight and tomorrow until noon… I apologize…"

"Save it Tim," Muffy sighed, walking into the elevator, brushing past Eli as if she didn't exist, "I'm working the night shift tonight; maybe," she sighed again, deeper this time, "Maybe we can have dinner in the cafeteria if you're free…"

"We'll see," Tim said, walking out of the elevator, brushing past Eli as well, making her shiver, he turned back and looked at Muffy, a sad twinkle in his eyes, "It's… it's a date… Sleep well…"

Muffy nodded, made eye contact with Tim then looked away as he sped down the hall.

She then turned to Eli, the emotion that had just been in her eyes disappearing when she laid eyes on her again. "I thought you were an intern," she said coldly, "Don't you have to get going? Getting fired on your first day does not look good on your résumé," she smiled coolly, "Unless you're aiming for that of course…"

Eli bobbed her head respectfully and made her way out of the elevator just as the doors closed. She looked back, and she could've sworn she saw Muffy look… utterly defenseless and so totally sad.

Making her way down the whitewashed corridors as nurses sped past her, carrying out their duties, Eli tried to force the Tim-situation out of her mind…

The nursing station was adorned with high-tech computers, a few busy-looking young women sitting behind them, typing away as doctors in white lab coats stepped in and out from behind the desks; poking at charts or shouting orders.

To think; one day, she; Eli would be one of those doctors… Maybe one day she could be just like the doctors on TV; saving lives…

Even though she'd never wanted it; to be a doctor; she… she thought that maybe, just maybe she could grow to like this…

She stopped at the nursing station and talked to a young looking blonde with glasses. "I'm looking for a Dr. Kurt… I'm supposed to be meeting him… first year intern," Eli said proudly.

The nurse's face blanched and Eli heard an arrogant, haughty voice speak instead of her. "Let me guess? You're Miss Eli Grey, correct?"

Eli spun around and came face to face with a strange-looking, purple-haired doctor. Piercing, penetrating eyes burned holes into hers, and honestly, Eli didn't know if this doctor was a man or a woman.

"Yes," Eli said, smiling then read the doctor's name tag… and froze, "Oh… so you're Dr. Kurt…"

"Yes," Dr. Jamie Kurt said, eyes narrowing into slits as he appraised Eli quickly, he then spun on his heel and faced an assembled group of men and women that Eli had not noticed until now, "Miss Grey here has just made one of the biggest mistake any doctor can ever make. Can any of you tell me what that mistake was?"

There were no takers, save another arrogant looking young man whose eyes bore into Eli, total distaste in his demeanor. "She's late," the ginger haired man said. Eli's eyes flew to the clock; seven-oh-five… she was five minutes late.

Kurt nodded, turning back to Eli. "Suppose you were called into surgery, you're five minutes late and there are no other doctors available because it's Halloween and all doctors know that holidays are hell… Patient dies; it's on you," Kurt spat out every syllable, making Eli recede in shock, Kurt's ferocity did not diminish; it only seemed… partially sated, "Now that you 'interns'," he said the word mockingly, "Have learned your first lesson as doctors, we should probably give you your tour," he sighed and spun on his heel, "Lucky you; this one's free."

Eli, still shocked by Dr. Kurt's outburst, could only fall in line with the rest of the interns as Kurt sped through the building, giving short summaries on everything that would be relevant to first year interns.

As Kurt blabbed about the importance of the clinic, a pink-haired girl, unnoticed until now, crept ever so closer to Eli. Curious red eyes looked at the brunette in interest and finally, beside herself, she tapped her shoulder lightly, making Eli jump as she was torn out of her thoughts.

"Sorry," the pink-haired girl whispered, a friendly smile on her face, "I just wanted to say that before you got here, Dr, Kurt insulted all of us… well," the pink-haired huffed, "Everyone except that guy…"

She gestured towards the same ginger-haired boy that had so happily embarrassed Eli in front of everyone who was speeding right behind Dr. Kurt, looking at everything Kurt talked about.

Eli smiled in thanks, but the pink-haired girl wasn't done yet. "My name's Popuri," she said, cocking her head to the side, "Well… now its Dr. Popuri Thomas… but, well, you get the picture…"

"My name's Eli… Dr. Eli Grey, I guess…" Eli said, and Popuri nodded.

"Nice to meet you, Eli!" she whispered loudly so as not to interrupt Dr. Kurt's great ramblings on the patient charts.

"Likewise… Popuri…" Eli said genially, happy to have found someone that was actually nice among a gang of seemingly cruel and apathetic people.

Kurt made a sharp left and led them into a room lined with lockers. "This is the break room," Kurt said, pointing at the lockers, "All personal items go in there and stay there while you're on the job," he looked at a digital watch strapped to his wrist, sighed, and spoke, "You have five minutes to do that; find a locker you want; you're not choosing a husband!" he warned, staring at Popuri as she scanned the lockers, "No stickers, or posters! You're not in high school anymore, hear me!? You're doctors," he snapped, "Start acting like one!"

He then proceeded to speed out of the room, leaving the five interns alone, just like that.

Now that she actually had time to look at them, she took in a lot more than what was usual. Besides Popuri and the ginger-haired guy with issues, there were two others.

Inspecting one of the lockers was a gorgeous, model-worthy woman. She was a brunette, but her hair was streaked with surprisingly natural looking blonde. She had vibrant green eyes; yet they were so dull for some reason.

Beside the gorgeous blonde was a mousy looking raven-colored haired girl. She wore half moon spectacles that made her look like the classic librarian; had it not been for the white lab coat she was wearing, Eli would have thought that she was indeed a mousy librarian. She seemed to be hovering over the blonde, who didn't seem to bother at all.

"Hey, Earth to Eli," Popuri said, waving her hand in front of Eli's face, making her blink rapidly a couple of times before jumping back in surprise, "You need to get a locker before Dr. Kurt comes back!"

Alas, she was right! That was all she needed, Dr. Kurt to embarrass her in front of her new colleagues again.

Quickly, Eli grabbed a lock and picked the locker right next to Popuri, sticking her cell and purse in the large space, then slamming it closed, ripping the combination off the lock, then slapped it right on; all with two minutes to spare.

Sighing in relief, Eli sank down into the bench next to Popuri, running her sweaty palms through her hair. "It's not brain surgery, you know?" the blonde asked her, looking at her from across the room, beside the mousy haired librarian/intern.

"E-excuse me…?" Eli asked in surprise.

The blonde sighed, a look of irritation on her face. "I said that choosing a locker isn't exactly the most difficult thing in the world," they made eye contact, and the blonde's expression softened a bit, "My name's Karen, Karen Lang."

"O-oh…" Eli said, fumbling with words because of the surprise at having Karen talking to her, "I'm E-,"

"Eli Grey, right…" Karen said dismissively, "I got that from the Nazi's ramblings…" she explained nonchalantly, then nudged the mousy girl, who jumped and looked at Karen, then at Eli and a curious, wide-eyed Popuri.

"M-m-my n-name is Mary… R-Romaine… N-nice to meet you…" the mousy girl stammered, avoiding eye contact.

"Popuri! Popuri Thomas!" Popuri exclaimed, throwing her arm up, "Nice to meet ya!"

Karen forced a smile while Mary just nodded a couple of times.

Kurt walked back into the break room, bearing gifts no less. Five black beepers were cradled in his arms, and he walked up to every one of them and handed a beeper tenderly. "These things are more precious than life itself," Kurt was saying as he handed a beeper to Eli, "You keep these on you at all times, are we clear?"

Everyone nodded quickly, afraid to set the ticking time bomb that was Dr. Jamie Kurt off. Seeming satisfied, Kurt held out four fingers. "There are four things that you have to remember if you want to live this out. First; you're interns; the lowest of the low; you have nothing, are nothing. Right now all you are is wallpaper; all you do is observe and do what I tell you, understand?

"Second; there is absolutely no personal lives part of the job. We're here to save lives, not see if that cute guy over in physical therapy likes you. Keep your pants up," Kurt made eye contact with everyone of them, making them thoroughly uncomfortable, "And your emotions in check. Third; there are absolutely no relationships with patients. First rule for doctors is to avoid attachments to everyone that walks through these doors. When they die; and trust me, a lot of them are going to die, it'll just end up crippling you as a surgeon; making you useless to your other patients and to this hospital.

"Last;" Kurt looked at Eli, making her shrink back within herself at his stare, "While you are my interns, you will always be here on time, will leave when I tell you to and will do nothing unless I expressly tell you too; you jump when I jump. Do you understand me?"

All the interns nodded, and Jamie Kurt sighed, ran a hand through his unusual purple hair, and turned around, then walked away. Seconds later, Jamie turned around. "Follow."

The bewildered interns followed him as he continued to speed down the maze off corridors that was Mineral Hospital.

The rest of the day was filled with a lesson on how to fill out charts and how imperative it was that they noted everything on the chart perfectly, the proper sayings to use when you needed something from the nurses, and other things that Kurt felt was very important to know.

At noon, Kurt led them to the cafeteria and dropped them off, warning, "If you were really on duty, then you wouldn't have time to eat lunch. Treasure this time; because it might be the only time that you can actually eat from our excellent cafeteria."

And with that, Kurt ran off, rambling a bit about how incompetent his interns were.

Exhausted already, Eli, accompanied by Popuri, Karen and Mary made the line to get food and paid then picked a table and sat down with them. They ate in silence, with Mary occasionally looking around the bustling cafeteria nervously.

Fifteen minutes later, they had finished eating and sat slouched in their seats, complacent with their lunches. Eli, however, was conflicted…

"Why the hell are you idiots still slouching around…?" came a nonchalant voice, filled with the same arrogance Eli remembered from that morning.

It was the guy from that morning; the guy that had embarrassed her…

"What do you want?" Karen asked snidely, sipping a bit of her tea, "We're on break…"

The guy snorted and ran a hand through his ginger hair, blue eyes as cold as arctic ice. "Well, that's why you idiots are never going to become good doctors…"

"Excuse me?" Popuri asked, childish face puffed out in annoyance.

But it was not the group that the guy was referring to; it was Eli, who could only stare back at him listlessly. "You're dragging me down, Miss Grey," the guy said, making eye contact with Eli, "You're dragging us all down."

"No she's not!" Mary snapped to the surprise of everyone.

He sighed. "There are five other intern teams on their first year. Only one team will be picked by Chief Hardy to progress to second year intern level. If my team sucks, then I suck," he looked at the others, "I'm doing all of us a favor by cutting out the weakest link," he explained, "If she can't even get to work on time, how do you think she's going to be able to save lives?"

"You can take your advice and shove it!" Karen snapped, and was then echoed by Popuri and Mary, who stared up at him defiantly.

The guy, who's name tag read 'Dr. Hawkins' sighed and skulked off, leaving Eli feeling worse than she ever thought possible.

Even as her new friends tried to reassure her, Eli knew that what he said was true; that in the end, she's just end up dragging everyone down.

She never wanted to be here… she did it out of obligation to the woman that had raised her; Ellen, her grandmother… If she didn't have that drive, how could she expect to succeed…?

The day ended slowly, and at nine at night Eli was in the elevator heading down to the Ground floor.

At two, the doors opened and in walked the last person that Eli wanted to see; Tim Sheppard. Over the course of the day, Eli had heard a lot about him; about how he and Muffy Stilwell had married while they were both residents and had sacrificed their marriage for becoming the best; Muffy the Chief of Neurosurgery and Tim the Chief of Cardiovascular Surgery; about how skilled Tim was in the operating room; about how he and Dr. Alex Boxer; Chief of Plastic Surgery, had been friends since med school…

"Miss Grey…" Tim greeted emotionlessly, stepping into the elevator and sighing, "How was your first day as an intern?"

"Fine, Dr. Sheppard," Eli lied coldly.

Tim looked at her in bewilderment at her attitude, but before he could ask what the matter was, the doors opened and Eli stormed off home…

Usually, the voices that tell you about impending doom are right on target.

Eli opened the door to her grandmother's house and ran up the stairs, checking on both Ellen and her little brother Stu. She hadn't called them all day; what had happened today? Had Stu done something new? Had Ellen's condition worsened? Why hadn't she been here?

Then, all at once, the day came crashing down on her, and Eli wept silently at her grandmother's bedside, trying not to wake her from precious sleep.

But when we figure out exactly what it is that went wrong, it's too late, and it crashes down on us like the tide of the ocean.

Muffy waited in the cafeteria, hoping that Tim had not been hit with surgery.

They needed this time… If they didn't have it then… then…

No, she wouldn't have another failed relationship under her belt. She loved Tim; wasn't that what mattered? Why was life making it so impossible for them to be together? Why?

The last doctors exited, leaving her all alone in the usually lively and bustling place… He… wasn't coming, was he?

And when you try to recover from what happened…

Tim rushed into the cafeteria, Muffy looked up.

Their eyes met from across the room…

It's usually too late to fix it.

They smiled; they'd made it…

There was hope after-,

Twin shrill beeps pierced the air, and as one, Muffy and Tim looked at the offending beepers.

Urgent surgery… One of Tim's patients had just had a massive heart attack; triple bypass. A man had just walked into the ER; he'd had a stroke; Muffy needed to remove the blockage ASAP.

They looked at each other again, eyes filled with sadness and regret…

And that's what the worst thing is after all… That when you really want something… you can't get it because you yourself burned that bridge while looking for success, and there's no turning back once you have it…

To be continued…

Sad, huh? That's drama for you...

Anyway, hope you liked it...

There's a lot more to be done; Jamie isn't as bad as you think, Muffy just wants to get her relationship straightened out; Karen, Popuri and Mary have backstories and will begin to become big parts of the story soon; Gray isn't as bad as you think even though he's made Eli his enemy; Hardy and Alex are going to become main characters soon, as Will Cliff...

Sigh... So much to say... Also, Where the Heart is fans, please PM me if you want me to begin again and tell me why. See my profile fr more details...

Hope you liked it!!! R&R!!!