𝙏𝙬𝙤

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗙𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁 𝗖𝘂𝘁 𝗶𝘀 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗗𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝘀𝘁

ᴀ/ɴ - ɪ ᴀᴍ sᴏ sᴏ sᴏʀʀʏ ғᴏʀ ᴛʜᴇ ᴡᴀɪᴛ! ɪ ᴡᴀɴᴛᴇᴅ ᴇᴠᴇʀʏᴛʜɪɴɢ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ᴘᴇʀғᴇᴄᴛ (ᴛʜᴇ ʙᴇsᴛ ɪᴛ ᴄᴀɴ ʙᴇ) ʙᴇғᴏʀᴇ ɪ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴛʜᴇ ɴᴇᴡ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ᴡᴀsɴ'ᴛ ғᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ᴜᴘ ᴛᴏ ᴡʀɪᴛɪɴɢ ғᴏʀ ᴀ ᴡʜɪʟᴇ ᴛʜᴇʀᴇ. ɪᴍ ғᴇᴇʟɪɴɢ ʙᴇᴛᴛᴇʀ ᴀɴᴅ ɪᴍ ɢʟᴀᴅ ᴛᴏ ʙᴇ ʙᴀᴄᴋ ᴀɴᴅ ɪ ʜᴏᴘᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴀʟʟ ᴀʀᴇ ᴅᴏɪɴɢ ᴡᴇʟʟ ᴀɴᴅ ᴇɴᴊᴏʏ ᴛʜɪs ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ!

√v^√v^√♥

"𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐃𝐎 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐔𝐏 𝐏𝐎𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐒 for roommates if you don't want roommates?" Holly cocked her head to the side, taking a sip of her hospital coffee.

"I do want roommates," Meredith clarified. "We're together 100 hours a week. You wanna live together, too?"

In all honesty, Holly liked the idea of roommates. Eventually she'd want her own place again, but her rent was increasing and her landlord was an asshole. Besides, she'd like the company, and who better than the people she sees every day, and mostly gets along with. Maybe it isn't the best idea...it would be fun though.

"I see you bring bribes now, huh?" Cristina appeared from the hall behind the small group of interns.

"My mom irons my scrubs." George finished cramming his baked good into his mouth. "I have to get out of there."

  Meredith leaned her head towards Cristina, then back at the others. "It's not a bribe. I don't think it's a good idea."

"I can put down last, first, and deposit." George tried to convince her but Cristina's words overlapped his.

"It's totally a bribe."

"I can cook, and I'm an obsessive cleaner." Izzie added.

"The only people I talk to are...you guys," Holly added. "So you wouldn't have to worry about extra guests."

"No! I just want three total strangers who I don't have to talk to or be nice to," Meredith exclaimed before taking off down the hall towards their resident, the others following beside her. "And it's not a bribe. It's a mocha latte," she clarified as they stopped at the reception desk.

"George, run the code team. Meredith, take the trauma pager," Bailey ordered. "Cristina, Holly, deliver the labs to the patients. Izzie, you're on sutures."

"Dr. Bailey!" Meredith urged, following after the resident that quickly found the flight of stairs. "I was hoping to assist you in the OR today. Maybe...do a minor procedure. I think I'm ready." Meredith held out the steaming cup from the coffee cart outside. "Mocha latte?"

"If she gets to cut, I want to cut, too," Cristina pushed her way on to the stairs, making her presence known, as if Dr. Bailey wouldn't have noticed her anyway.

"Yeah, me too."

"I wouldn't mind another shot," George shrugged, taking a bite of his apple. "I mean, if everybody else is."

"Stop talking," Bailey held up her palm. "Anyone else?" She eyed her intern, eyes stopping on Holly who was the only one who stayed silent. Holly knew better than to ask Bailey for a surgery at this point, it was too early. "Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiny."

She continued, taking a step toward them, down the stairs. "You know what will make me look happy? Having the code team staffed, having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered, and having someone down in the pit, doing the sutures."

Dr. Bailey grabbed the cup of coffee from Meredith's small hands before turning on the steps. "No one holds a scalpel till I'm so happy, I'm Mary freakin' Poppins."

"Mocha latte, my ass," Cristina mocked.

"Why are y'all standing there?" Bailey called from the top of the stairs. "Move!"

ꨄ

"Do you know what the code team does?" George grinned, palms against the reception desk. "Saves lives. I shock a heart, and someone lives to see another day. That's upbeat."

"What?" Holly stressed, flipping through a stack of lab results. "Sorry George. I'm...concentrating."

"It's, uh, glass half full," he continued.

"Bambi, don't say another word till after the hunter shoots your mother," Cristina snapped, eyes still on the papers in front of her.

"I don't like you," George mumbled quietly as he fumbled with his pager.

"I have a BA from Smith, a PhD from Berkeley and an MD from Stanford, and I'm delivering lab results," Cristina complained. "It will take all day to get through these."

"Then get started." It had only been a week but Holly had her voice memorized. Dr. Bailey.

"Oh, I-I wasn't complaining," Cristina assured her.

"Avery," the resident interrupted, the brunette's attention turning on Dr. Bailey and the doctor standing beside her. "Intern was reassigned, so he's mine now. Have him shadow you for the day. Show him how I do things."

Giving a small nod as Bailey disappeared from the area, Holly turned to the intern, smiling at the acquaintance. Her head tilted momentarily, remembering his confidence when they met, as if it wasn't his first day too. "Uh, Holly, Avery," she reintroduced. "And," she gestured to Cristina.

"I remember," he gave her a small nod before turning to Cristina. "Alex Karev," he held out his hand. "Nice to meet you." Cristina looked him up and down before speaking. "You're the pig who called Meredith a nurse. l hate you on principle."

"And you're the pushy, overbearing kiss-ass. I-uh, hate you too," he shrugged.

"Oh, it should be fun then," she remarked before fleeing the scene.

Holly rested her weight on her right foot, sucking lightly on her teeth before she spoke. "You called Meredith a nurse?"

"It was an honest mistake."

"Uh-Huh," Holly nodded, slamming a stack of folders from the reception's desk into his arms. "We're delivering labs," Holly gave him a sarcastic enthusiastic smile. "All day."

ꨄ

Dr. Avery and Dr. Karev stood at their next patient's bedside, giving the middle aged man his lab reports. His wife watched them with hopeful eyes, Holly was relieved she had no bad news to give.

"You have a disorder called multinucleate cell angiohistiocytoma," she started with the medical talk before explaining for their understanding. "It's not a cancer or sarcoma. It's very rare but minor...You'll be discharged today, okay?"

  Holly had great bedside manner. That was something she had over most of the other intern's, something some of them would never learn, no matter how hard they tried and it just came easily to her.

"I-I don't need a surgery?" The patient sighed, his body relaxing in relief.

"No," Holly gave him a small smile.

"I'm not gonna die? I'm fine?"

"Yes, you're fine," Holly nodded, eyes on his wife as she stumbled over to the brunette, tears falling down her face as she wrapped her arms around Holly's small frame. "Thank you, thank you," she exclaimed. Holly silently scowled as Alex smirked from the corner of the room.

The woman pulled away and Holly gave here one last smile, but was met with a kiss to each cheek. With widened eyes, Holly watched as the wife made her way back over to her husband happily.

Holly cleared her throat. "Dr. Karev will answer questions if you have any," She excused herself from the room before the other intern could protest. She was flipping through the next patient file when Alex finally escaped the thankful patient's room, with a newfound lipstick stain on his cheek.

The intern gave her an icy stare while she stifled a laugh. "Oh!" She exclaimed, eyes wandering behind him at Meredith in the elevator at the end of the hall.

Holly sprinted for her friend, gesturing Dr. Karev to come with her as she excused herself past nurses and passing doctors. The elevator doors slid shut at her arrival, Alex not soon after.

"Damn it, I wanted to see the penis," she whined.

"Well you should've just asked," Alex scoffed, beginning to untie the strings on his scrubs.

Holly let out a gasp, along with a quick "no", but her mind did wander momentarily. "No."

He looked up from his bottoms then down at Holly. "Many girls happen to like my penis," he furrowed his brows.

"I bet they do."

ꨄ

"Do you...ever...you know, slow down?" Alex pressed, his eyes wandering Holly's body as she walked ahead of him.

"Bailey pages us after morning rounds...gives us work," Holly explained, stopping at an east wing reception desk, with her back leaned against it. "A few hours later...she pages us again...to give us more work. She expects the other work to be done."

"Do you have a boyfriend?" He gave her a sideways glance.

"What?" She exclaimed.

"Or a phone number?"

"No!"

"You don't have a phone number?" Alex narrowed his eyes with raised brows and a mocking shake of his head.

"Of course I have a phone number," she gave him a sneering smile. "Can we get this done, please?"

ꨄ

  Holly made her way to the ground floor, staking out the coffee cart, but spotted Meredith in the waiting area instead.

"What are you doing down here?" Holly crossed her arms over her chest, stepping in front of the frowning intern with an ice chest gripped in her hand in the seat beside her.

"Just sitting here with my penis," Meredith sighed. "What about you?"

"Hiding from Alex...new intern." Holly looked around nervously. "Can I see it?" She thought for a moment before shaking her head vigorously. "Wait...no...never mind."

"You good?" Holly bent forward, her head cocked. "You look a little..."

  Commotion from the drop off outside the hospital caught Holly's attention, along with everyone else's, but she was the first to arrive. Holly rushed over to the scrub nurse who struggled to catch the man collapsing from his car and onto the pavement. Blood soaked his pants as he threw himself around in pain.

"Hey Mer!" Holly yelled, knees dropping to the concrete. "I think I found the other end of your penis!"

  The man that was conscious seconds ago was now unresponsive as they lifted him on the gurney and rushed him into the hospital.

"What do we got?" Bailey probed, rounding the corner to meet Meredith and Holly who stood on the other side of the gurney.

"Take a look," Meredith gestured to the man. Bailey lifted up the sheet curiously before glancing at the two girls with wide eyes. "Alright. Let's get him to the OR. Meredith, you call the chief and let him know we got the rapist."

ꨄ

Holly wasn't particularly thrilled that the first time in the OR was under these circumstances, but it was one step closer to saving lives, so she was grateful for that. She could tell others in the room didn't want to be a part of the surgery, didn't want to help, but they took an oath, so they stayed.

  It would be the first of many. We don't get to play God. God chooses who survives under our scalpel, and who dies. It's our job to give them a chance.

Meredith glanced at the brunette beside her. "I saw Allison. You can't believe the beating that she took. And then to see this."

"It's like that old saying, 'you should see the other guy'," Holly replied.

"Why are we not attempting to re-attach the severed penis?" Bailey called from the other side of the operating table.

"Teeth don't slice, they tear. You can only re-attach with a clean cut. If she wanted to slice it off with a knife..." Holly explained before Meredith continued. "Besides, the digestive juices didn't leave much of the flesh to work with."

"Right. So what do we do?" Bailey asked.

"Sew him up minus a large part of the family jewels," Holly answered.

"And his outlook?"

"He'll be urinating out of a bag for a long time," Meredith dragged.

"Not to mention he'll never be able to have sex again," she reminded.

"Too bad," Meredith shrugged.

"Shame," Holly mourned sarcastically.

"Let's all take a moment to grieve...Clamp."

ꨄ

  Dr. Bailey's group of interns sat on their makeshift resting areas made of unneeded stretchers sat in the basement of the hospital, an alternative for the crowded on call rooms, but they had a bonus vending machine under the stairs.

"My head hurts," Alex let out a mumbly whine.

"Maybe it's a tumor," Cristina suggested.

"You wish I had a tumor," he mumbled, his head against the wall.

"Look, I'd rip your face off if it meant I got to scrub in," Cristina divulged bluntly, taking a sip of her coffee.

"I've been suturing all day," Izzie huffed, walking through the entry way and plopping down beside Cristina. "My hands are numb."

"At least you're helping people," George exhaled deeply from the vending machine.

"At least you get to practice freakin' medicine," Alex added.

"I had to send my Chinese lady away," Izzie sighed sadly. "She was, like, camped out down there."

"Oh, poor Izzie, turning away patients," Cristina mocked. "Boohoo."

"So the police say they can't send the crap crime-scene guy down for hours," Meredith informed, marching into the room and flopping down next to Holly. "So I have to spend the night with the penis."

"I wish I could spend the night with a penis," Holly mumbled. Eyes landed on her, and hers widened. "Did I say that out loud?"

Following a few laughs, it was silent for a moment. "Don't say it Karev." she warned.

"It was too easy anyway," he swayed his head.

  George sauntered into the room and hopped on the stretcher next to Izzie. "Who here feels like they have no idea what they're doing?" All hands raised except for Alex's. George continued, "I mean, are we supposed to be learning something? Because I don't feel like I'm learning anything."

"Except how not to sleep," Izzie said with a mouthful of food.

"It's like there's this wall," Cristina used her hands to explain. "and the attendings and the residents are over there, being surgeons, and we're over here, being..."

"Suturing, code running, lab delivering penis-minders."

"I hate being an intern," Alex grimaced.

Footsteps turned their attention to the doorway that led to the stairs. Dr. Bailey glared at the six interns, holding her hands up and shrugging lightly. After a moment, they scrambled to their feet, grabbing their snacks and studying material and found their way back to their assigned jobs.

ꨄ

"Okay, fine. You guys can move into the house," Meredith spoke suddenly, taking Holly's eyes off the newborn nursery that previously held her attention.

"Seriously!"

"Yes!" George celebrated.

"I can't believe you caved," Izzie giggled.

"Thank you, thank you, thank you," Holly exhaled with a warm smile.

"I can't believe I caved," Meredith's eyes returned to the babies.

"I blame the babies," Cristina concluded. "They make you toxic."