...

The snow no longer falls from the sky, the sun has long since faded and the brilliant white snow is already turning dangerous but the world outside is completely forgotten to those within the OR. Only twelve hours into surgery, Cristina hasn't glanced at the clock in hours, she is unaware of the time and there is no need for her to know, she simply asks her residents interns questions and continues her work.

Her patient is no longer hanging by a thread; he is stable, but still critical. His smart idea to place Christmas lights up on the roof as quickly as possible before Christmas had kept Cristina hard at work for hours. She would never quite understand how people lost their minds at Christmas, too drunk, too stupid, too desperate to please. They did things that they wouldn't do any other time of the year, they did things that on some level they knew were dangerous and idiotic, but it didn't seem to compute that they shouldn't do it. The one silver lining for Christmas for her is she gets some of the best surgeries from Christmas involved injuries. Christmas can't be all bad when it brings in a steady supply of bodies that need to be mended, just like toys in Santa's workshop, an analogy that makes Cristina sigh and push her thoughts away.

Christmas carols seep through under the door, while Cristina tries her best to ignore them. She can and does block them out, but she still knows they are playing. Hours ago she had hoped her surgery would be done before Webber's started, as for the past seven days straight he had been playing a different Christmas cd throughout his surgeries, making Cristina eternally grateful that she wasn't on general.

The door opens but Cristina doesn't look up, she keeps suturing not noticing the figure approaching her, not noticing how to her left a nurse is smiling. The figure hesitates a few steps from the table, his fingers curling around the edge of the mask he is holding up, "Merry Christmas Cristina."

Cristina sighs, her eyes flicking to the clock before over at Jackson, she can't see the smile behind his mask but she knows it's there, she can see the way his eyes crease in the corners and way is whole face lights up. Shaking her head, her eyes meet Jackson as she says "it's 12.01."

"On the 25th of December." Jackson replies, still smiling behind his mask despite Cristina's reaction, her fingers are moving and her gaze is on her patients chest.

Cristina finishes off her sutures before her gaze shifts for a moment and she asks, "You interrupted my surgery for this?"

"Course."

A small laugh escapes her lips before she can clamp her teeth down, stopping herself, but she can't stop the smile that grows as Jackson grins back at her. The OR is silent for a few seconds, and Cristina forgets that anyone else is there as she stares at Jackson, her brown eyes meeting his greens as she breathes, "Merry Christmas Jackson."

...