The chief calls all of the interns and second year residents together.
"As of today, I am redistributing all of the interns. For undisclosed reasons, Dr. Yang will not be advising any interns at this time. Therefore, I am splitting her interns up between the rest of you. I trust you will do everything in your power to ensure that they get the best education possible," he says.
Izzie between Alex and Meredith. Alex whispers, "I'm going to berate a few interns and see if I can get rid of them all too. Yang's got the right idea."
Izzie gives him a look. She can tell that Meredith is uncomfortable, and doesn't want to add to the discomfort.
Meredith turns to Izzie. "I didn't do anything wrong. I mean, she is responsible for her own actions. I just answered the chief's questions. I didn't do anything wrong…right?"
Izzie smiles supportively. "Of course not," she says, still staring straight ahead.
Lexie stares straight ahead and waits for her new resident assignment. She crosses her fingers and hopes it is George. She has long gotten over her desire for a romantic relationship with him, but feels like it would be so nice to come to work every day without being on edge. She would love to have a friend as her resident, and George is really the only person she can consider a friend.
"Lexie, Sadie, you're both assigned to Dr. Stevens," the chief says.
Lexie stands there, stunned for a moment wondering if this week could get any worse. She is horrified at the idea of being assigned to Dr. Stevens, who is quite possibly the last person she wants to face right now after her embarrassing revelation in the supply closet. She also wants to stay as far away from Sadie as possible.
"Dude. This sucks. You got the two smart interns. I got the slow ones," Alex complains to Izzie.
"She was wrong to bring up my mother. Wasn't she?" Meredith asks Izzie.
"What? Oh…yeah. Totally wrong," Izzie says distracted.
"No offense, Meredith, but you're not the only one with a crappy mother. I mean, seriously? It's not like the topic of your mother is so sacred that…" Alex points out.
"Alex!" Izzie whispers through clenched teeth. "Stop!"
"What? I'm just saying…" he says.
"I just think she should have understood. There was nothing I could do…I mean…I couldn't just…" Meredith starts thinking out loud.
"Meredith!" Izzie snaps, then tones down her voice. "You didn't do anything wrong. I'm sure it will all blow over or something," Izzie says, feeling guilty that she knows that Meredith's family history is circulating around the hospital in the hands of nosy interns, and even more guilty that Meredith's diary is in the hands of her nosy half-sister. She knows she should tell, but she senses there is more to the story. She senses there is more to Sadie's investment in Meredith's life, and something tells her to keep quiet for now.
"Residents, please take this time to brief your new interns on your policies and your routines. Thank you for your flexibility and cooperation in this matter," Dr. Webber says.
Izzie watches as Lexie and Sadie walk towards her. One of the other interns whispers to Lexie on the way out, "Lucky. I hear she's actually kind of nice to her interns."
"Sadie, you're not wearing scrubs," Izzie points out. "You need to be dressed for rounds when you get here."
"Sorry. You took a really long time drying your hair this morning, and I didn't have time to get ready," she replies with a smirk.
"Go get dressed, please," Izzie says, politely but firmly.
As Sadie leaves, Izzie stares at Lexie, wondering what to say. While she thinks Lexie's betrayal of her sister is awful and violates her moral code of right and wrong, there is something sad and pathetic about this young girl and Izzie knows better than anyone how it feels to be kicked when you are down, so she simply says nothing.
"Please…don't judge me. You don't understand," Lexie says.
"You're right. I don't," Izzie says.
"For what it's worth, I didn't read it. I didn't even look at it yet. I don't know what I'm waiting for, but I just can't…I mean…I want to…but…" Lexie stammers.
"Listen. I don't want to hear anymore. I am your resident. I'm going to teach you about medicine. From what I hear, you're a pretty competent intern. Let's leave it at that," Izzie says.
Lexie nods, nervously. "But you won't say anything…to Meredith…right? I'll tell her when I'm ready. Okay?"
"I won't say anything to Meredith. But don't tell me anything else," Izzie says, exasperated.
(Break)
Lexie sits in the on call room. Sadie enters and sits down next to her.
"Do you ever feel completely alone?" Sadie asks, as she sighs.
"All the time," Lexie asks, agreeing with Sadie against her will.
"I never did before I came here. I was always surrounded by people when I did my work with the Peace Corps. It was like a built in family. I haven't felt this alone since..forget it…" Sadie says, her voice trailing off.
"I never felt alone either before I came here. My family was amazing. Now my mother is dead, my father is an alcoholic and my sister, Molly is halfway across the country. I thought I'd get to know Meredith and that would all work out perfectly, but here I am…holding a photocopied version of her diary in my room that I'm too nervous to read. Is there anything bad in it?" Lexie asks.
Sadie laughs. "You're not as bad as she makes you sound…"
"Meredith makes me sound bad?" Lexie asks, insecurely.
"She makes you sound like a priss. Like the girl who told the teacher he forgot to give homework," Sadie laughs.
"Can I ask you a question?" Lexie asks.
"Sure," Sadie says.
"Why did you give me the diary? You didn't need my signature that badly. Everyone else signed it. You could have just turned it in without me. What's in it for you?" Lexie asks.
"I just wanted to help you get to know your sister a little better. I'm Meredith's best friend. I want to see her happy. And you and I are friends too…right? I wanted to help. That's all. If it's causing this much stress for you, why don't you just give it back to me and I'll burn it and we'll pretend it never happened. Okay?" Sadie says, putting her hand on Lexie's shoulder.
Lexie shakes her head. "No. It's okay. I'm fine," she says, standing up.
(Break)
Derek grabs Meredith from behind. She screams.
"Oh! It's you. I'm sorry. I'm just jumpy today. And embarrassed. Was my fight with Cristina as bad as the time Izzie tried to fight Callie in the cafeteria?" Meredith asks.
"No. I'm sure everyone has forgotten it already. Why don't I make you dinner and then we'll take a long hot bath together and forget all about it. We can even sleep in the same bed with no one between us!" Derek says, stroking Meredith's hair.
"Big Grey!" Mark calls. "Are you and Yang going to mud wrestle? Because I think that would be hot!"
Meredith narrows her eyes at Derek. "Everyone has forgotten it? Thanks for trying. I'm just going to go hide until this all blows over. I love you for trying to make me feel better," she says.
As she walks away, Derek glares at Sloan. "What was that? Knock it off man!" he says.
"Come on…can't your girlfriend take a little joke? I think Little Grey's more fun," he says.
"Keep your Little Sloan away from Little Grey, Mark. I'm warning you…" Derek says as he walks away.
"How many times do I have to tell you…it's Big Sloan! Ask anyone!" Mark calls after him.
(Break)
Sadie and all of the interns sit in a circle down in the morgue.
"I still think it's gross that we eat down here," one of them says.
"It's the only place we can get any privacy. Who finished volume 1?" another asks.
Most of them raise their hands.
"Did you catch the part where she describes doing the running whip stitch in the dark when the electricity went out in the OR? That was awesome!"
"I think I could totally do a colon resection after reading the part about her saving that guy with severe Crohn's Disease."
"Did you guys read the part about how she never wanted kids? And how wanted to have an abortion when she found out she was pregnant with Meredith? What about the part where she was trying to overwork herself so she'd lose the baby?" Sadie asks.
Lexie has been standing in the doorway listening. She knows she should speak up, but she can't. Her voice seems lost. She turns and walks away, silently closing the door behind her.
Mark Sloan walks by her. "Little Grey, can I get some skin?" he asks.
"Excuse me?" she asks, surprised by the question.
"Oh, don't get all prude on me. I am doing a skin graft and I'm waiting for my skin. Can you run to the lab and see if it's ready?" he asks.
"Oh! Of course. I mean…yeah. I'm sorry. I mean…I'll go get it!" she says, flustered.
Mark watches her go down the hallway.
(Break)
Izzie sees Cristina sitting in the cafeteria picking at some fries. She puts her tray down on Cristina's table and says, "Hi. How are you doing?"
"I didn't do it. It wasn't true. Yes. I lost my temper at the girl…but I didn't do what it said in that letter. They all stood by her. They lied for her. They've known her like 2 minutes! Are they kidding? She's completely incompetent! She shows up late. She's unprepared. I wanted her to break and leave the program. I admit it. But I didn't do what she said. She's crazy, Izzie. Crazier than you ever were!" Cristina says.
"Thanks," Izzie says, sarcastically.
"Meredith had to know I wouldn't have done that. The girl freaked out! She started shaking and cowering in the corner like a scared puppy. I was just asking medical questions. Since when is a resident not allowed to do that? It was all an act. No one is that scared of a couple of questions. Then she lied. How could anyone believe I would throw a scalpel at an intern?" Cristina asks.
"She said you threw a scalpel at her?" Izzie asks, surprised.
"Yes! I dropped my scalpel when I was yelling at her. It came within like 10 feet of her. It wasn't anywhere near her. It didn't touch her. She claims I threw it at her and almost hit her. She convinced the other interns that this happened. But they were right there! They saw it. I swear Izzie. I've worked too hard to let this kind of stuff ruin my career. I'm not you. I can't be the laughing stock of the whole hospital. I just can't," Cristina says.
"Again…thank you…" Izzie says, sarcastically.
"And Meredith didn't even stand up for me. We all lied for you when you killed your fiancé. You cut his LVAD wire and we all said you didn't do it! Meredith couldn't even say that she didn't think I was capable of such an act? I mean, seriously!" Cristina says.
"Talk to Meredith. I'm sure it will all work out. You guys are best friends," Izzie says, knowing her words are trite.
"So were you and George," Cristina says.
"Point taken. I have to run. I'm scrubbing in with Sloan in 15 minutes," Izzie says.
As she leaves, Owen comes and sits down next to Cristina.
"Are you still upset about your little fight?" he asks.
"You know, if you're going to patronize me, you can leave. I'm not in the mood right now," Cristina says, defeated.
"Come on. You're not going to mope around all day about Shepherd's girl, are you? I mean, she's with Shepherd…how great can she be?" Owen asks.
"I'm not moping. Meredith's like my family, and yes…she is too good for Derek. We agree on that. But you don't have a monopoly on bad days just because everyone else's don't involve land mines," Cristina says.
"I'm just not used to the way you guys do things here in this hospital. Everything is a tragedy. I feel like no one here knows what a real tragedy is," he says.
"Umm…hello. Dead Dad. Held heart in my hands. I think that qualifies," Cristina says.
"I stand corrected. You're different," Owen says. "I hope tomorrow's a better day," he adds.
"Thank you." Cristina says, caught off guard.
(Break)
Sadie finds Meredith in the cafeteria.
"Feeling better, Death?" she asks.
"I don't know. But thanks for asking. How are you?" Meredith asks.
Sadie scowls. "I hate being an intern. You know how we don't do well with rules," Sadie asks.
"Well, I've learned that sometimes rules are here for our protection. And the protection of others," Meredith says.
"Careful…you're starting to sound old, Death. Where's your sense of adventure? You haven't lost it, have you? Remember that time we went hiking with that group, and…" Sadie begins.
Meredith finishes her sentence. "Yes! Oh my god! We found that cabin, away from the trail and we met those guys and…"
At the same time they say, "Hans and Franz!"
Meredith laughs. "We were so drunk! We couldn't even remember their names!"
"So we kept calling them Hans and Franz!" Sadie recalls.
Meredith continues to laugh. "I wonder what happened to them!"
"Me too!" Sadie laughs.
Meredith stops laughing and stares at Sadie. "Why did you disappear after that trip? You left so abruptly and then you never returned my calls or letters. What happened?"
Sadie pauses, uncomfortably. "You know how it is…life got busy. I was in a whole bunch of different countries working with the Peace Corps and sometimes by the time I got your letters and got around to writing back, it seemed like it was too late. I'm so sorry. I never meant to hurt you, Meredith. Please know that," Sadie says, earnestly.
Meredith smiles. "I know. I just worried about you. I mean, at that time…we were…"
Sadie smiles back. "I know."
***********
PLEASE REVIEW!!!! Thank you to all who reviewed last time! You guys are awesome and I can't wait to hear from you again! Let's band together for a common goal! I had 5 reviews for chapter 1. Not bad…but could have been more. Let's aim to double that this time!!! Please??? Thanks!
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