CHAPTER THIRTY NINE
a change is gonna come.
season four, episode one.

        "BLAIR, LENNON, PETERSON, XAVIER," A RESIDENT READ NAMES OFF OF A CLIPBOARD, STANDING JUST OUTSIDE THE DOORS TO THE LOCKER ROOM. He did a quick headcount once the four interns arrived in front of him, before pointing to a nurses station down at the end of the hall. "You four will be with Dr. Harper."

A lanky redhead spoke up, awkwardly raising a hand in the air as he asked his question. "Um, which one is Dr. Harper, exactly?"

The resident didn't bother looking up from his clipboard when he said, "The hot one."

The group furrowed their brows at the answer, once again looking to where the resident had pointed. Sure enough, in a sea of nurses and doctors, stood Cassie, writing in a chart with her head turned in the opposite direction.

"Damn," a tall Chinese man whistled under his breath, looking her up and down from afar. "I'd love to tap that."

An pretty Nepali girl scoffed at the comment, dramatically rolling her eyes in the process. "Men are pigs," she whispered to the blonde of the group, who vehemently nodded in agreement.

The group of four made their way to their resident, stopping directly behind her in silence and waiting for her to notice their presence. They'd stood there for about thirty seconds, before Cassie suddenly whipped around to face them, making them jump.

She narrowed her eyes, causing them to nervously gulp under the harsh scrutiny.

In the order of left to right, she pointed to each of them as she said their names. "Ryan Xavier, Rue Lennon, Lily Blair, Ollie Peterson."

The redhead, Ollie, tilted his head at her in surprise. "How, um, how did you already memorize—"

"Did I ask you to speak?" Cassie interrupted, stoney eyes meeting his own. He went to respond, but she cut him off once again. "Rhetorical question."

The interns shared an anxious look, slightly frightened by their new resident.

"Right," he apologized, "sorry."

Cassie crossed her arms over her chest, smirking confidently as she began her speech.

"I have five rules," she said. "Memorize them. Rule number one, don't bother sucking up. Kissing my ass may be great for my ego, but it won't get you surgeries. You need to earn them."

She pushed off from the desk, starting at a quick pace down the hall. She stopped at a neatly arranged desk, filled with multiple objects and packets of information.

"These are your trauma protocols, phone lists, and pagers. Answer every page at a run, not a walk, even if you think it's non emergent. Rule number two, don't be lazy."

The interns scrambled to grab a pager, bumping into each other in the process.

"Your first shift starts now and lasts thirty six hours," Cassie continued. "Interns are at the bottom of the surgical food chain, meaning that you run labs, write orders, work every night until you drop, and you don't complain. Nonetheless, if you ever feel overworked to the point of exhaustion that may interfere with patient care, let me know, and we'll work something out. That's rule number three."

The group rounded a corner, finding an identical nurses station to the one they had started at.

"This is a nurses station, where you'll be able to find patient charts and request assistance when needed. That brings me to rule number four, respect the nurses. They've been here longer than you, they know more than you, and their job is harder than yours. You're not better than them, so don't act like it." Cassie placed her hands on her hips, cocking a brow in inquiry. "Any questions?"

No one said anything, so despite being intimidated, Lily slowly raised her hand.

"Um, sorry, but you said five rules, right?" she wondered. "That was only four."

"Rule number five," Cassie smirked, just as her pager went off. "When I move, you move. Let's go."

☆

"You paged?" Cassie questioned as her interns followed her into a trauma room down in the ER. She froze at the sight of Mark, who she'd been actively avoiding for weeks. "Oh, um, hi. Everyone, this is Dr. Sloan, head of plastics."

"Oh god," Mark groaned from the other side of the room, not yet looking up from the patient. "You brought the babies with you?"

Cassie sent him a pointed look. "They may be babies, but they're my babies, therefore I'll be held responsible if I set them loose and they decide to kill someone."

He shook his head at her, doing a double take when he glanced up to her face.

"Your hair," he said blankly, staring at her with a strange look on his face.

Cassie frowned at the simple statement, her interns doing the same. "What?"

Mark pointed to her head, an odd glint in his eye. "You cut your hair."

Subconsciously running a hand through her shoulder length cut, she tilted her head reproachfully. "Yeah, I did. Do you... do you not like it?"

"No!" he exclaimed, causing the interns to send him weird looks. "No, I love it! I mean, you looked great with long hair, obviously, but this— I mean, it's nice. I like it."

Letting out an uncomfortable laugh, Cassie avoided making eye contact. "Uh, thanks." Mark didn't reply, just staring at her for several seconds. "So, did you need something, or—"

"Oh, right," Mark shook his head, snapping out of whatever daze he was in. "Uh, this is James Santiago, nineteen year old skateboarder who took a nasty fall and ended up with a deep laceration on his right temple. He's stable, and his head CT was clear, but he's sedated from the pain meds, and he'll need a butterfly suture on the open wound. That's where you come in."

"A butterfly suture on the face?" Rue repeated incredulously. "I mean, isn't that a little advanced for a second year resident?"

The attending shrugged. "Not when it's Dr. Harper we're talking about."

"Okay," Cassie sighed, walking over to Mark and herding him out of the room. "You can go now, Dr. Sloan. We've got this."

"No, you've got this," he corrected. "The incompetent babies aren't touching my patient, angel."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever," she smiled, watching with a fond expression as he left the room.

The interns each observed the interaction closely, automatically assuming that if the two weren't already a couple, they definitely would be soon.

"Okay folks," Cassie clapped her hands together, taking a seat by the patient's head. "This should be quick. Feel free to observe."

As the resident began stitching up the patient's face, the interns stood against the wall, quietly conversing as they watched her flawless technique in action.

"You know, my sister's a nurse here," Ollie whispered. "She told me that Dr. Harper's only twenty three years old, and she's like, a genius."

"Well, I heard that she died and came back to life. Twice," Lily supplied. "You know she has a nickname? They call her McAngel, or something."

"More like McHottie," Ryan said lowly.

Rue scrunched her nose. "Nicknames are stupid. But even so, if you're going to nickname someone, you should at least make it funny." She glanced at Ollie. "Ginger."

"Okay, rude."

"Cry about it."

Lily watched as Cassie effortlessly did a stitch meant for fifth years. "I can see it."

Ollie frowned. "What, that I'm a ginger?"

"No," she rolled her eyes. "McAngel. She might be a little scary, but she seems like a genuinely good person."

"You say that now," Ryan disagreed. "Just wait until she puts you on scut just because she likes the power. And trust me, girls like her need all the fake power they can get."

"Actually," Cassie interjected, spinning around after hearing their entire conversation. "I was going to ask you to tie the stitch for me, Xavier."

Ryan's eyes widened. "Oh, I—"

"But, since you so kindly gave me the idea, I think scut is the perfect option for you today." She gave him a sickly sweet smile, finishing the stitch and snapping off her gloves. "Mr. Yesnin in 3409 needs an enema. And since the last one didn't work, he's super backed up." She winked up at him as the other three snickered. "Have fun!"

☆

"I hate them," Cristina grumbled, sitting between Meredith and Cassie in the tunnels. Izzie and Alex sat to the trio's left on an empty gurney.

"You don't hate them," Meredith said. "You hate you."

Izzie sighed, leaning against the wall. "That was hideous. I feel like a fraud."

"I rocked it," Alex smirked. "I think I'm the new nazi."

Cristina scoffed. "Oh, you are not the new nazi."

Cassie looked between all of them, grinning to herself like a little kid. "I totally killed it. They worship me. Plus, I already made one of my interns give an old man an enema for being an asshole."

"Okay, her?" Cristina pointed to her person, making eye contact with Alex. "Now she could be the new nazi."

Cassie perked up when she noticed George enter the tunnels, having not seen him for three weeks or so.

"George! I was looking for you earlier, but—"

"Meredith," George cut her off without making eye contact, causing her to frown. "I need to talk to you."

Izzie sat up straighter in her seat with an odd facial expression. "George. Hi."

"How was your vacation?" Cassie smiled.

"Um, fine," he waved her off. "Um, Meredith, can we talk?"

"I didn't do much," Izzie input, staring at him intensely. "I hung out alone...for seventeen days. Which is the last time that I saw you, the day of Cristina's wedding, which was, well. And then Mer, Cassie, and Cristina went on Cristina's honeymoon without me."

"Girl-on-girl-on girl honeymoon," Alex smirked. "Nice."

"And then Alex took a road trip to see Ava without me."

"I did not go to see Ava. And her name's Rebecca. And I didn't go see her. I just drove in that direction."

Cristina dramatically groaned, resting an elbow on Cassie's shoulder. "Oh, why is everyone so tingly and hurt? I mean, I'm the one who was left at the altar." Everyone went silent. "I'm fine, by the way. I honeymooned in Hawaii... and I snorkeled."

Cassie looked at her best friend, furrowing her brows as she tried to grab his attention. "George? What did you do?"

"Um, Meredith, I really need to talk to you."

Turning her head at the sound of voices drawing nearer, Cassie scrunched her nose as a herd of interns headed towards the residents.

Cristina did the same, making a shoo-ing away motion with her hands. "Hey, uh, this is for residents only. No interns."

"Yeah."

"Yeah, get outta here."

"Babies."

"Yeah, go away."

"007's in training."

"Seriously."

George watched them go, shifting uncomfortably in place. "I guess I should be going, too."

"No, George," Cassie shook her head, gesturing for him to sit. "We didn't mean you. Come on."

"No, I'm an intern."

"Wait," Meredith called after him as he walked away without looking back. "What did you want to tell me?"

"George!" Cassie shouted, earning no response.

Cristina scoffed, crossing her arms over her chest. "Uh, is this how it's gonna be all year? Because Bambi has got to learn how to cope."

Izzie shrugged. "At least he came back."

"Yeah, cut him some slack," Meredith agreed.

"Dude," Alex laughed, "he failed his exam and got left back in kindergarten."

Cassie stared at the place he was just standing. "He won't even look at me."

They all sat in silence for a moment, before Meredith turned to Cristina in question, making Cassie do the same.

"Have you seen Burke?"

"No. Have you seen Derek?"

"No."

"Wait," Izzie held a hand in the air. "You haven't seen either of them since the wedding?"

"Nope."

"And you're both fine?"

"Yep."

"Wow. You're either incredibly healthy, or completely messed up."

Cassie looked between the two, tilting her head in thought. "Definitely the latter."

Snorting to herself, Cristina elbowed her in the ribs. "Oh, please. You're one to talk."

☆

Callie, overwhelmed from her duties as the new Chief Resident, stressfully ran a hand through her hair as Cassie and her interns entered the ER.

"Thank you!" the resident exclaimed, causing Cassie to give her a questioning look.

"Uh, for what?"

"For actually answering your pager," she said thankfully, looking around for the others. "There's a massive trauma, where the hell is everyone?"

About twenty seconds after she finished speaking, Meredith, Cristina, Alex, Izzie, and their interns made their way into the room.

"You paged?"

"Where have you been?" Callie scolded. "We have multiple MVC's due any second."

Alex shrugged nonchalantly. "We're here, aren't we?"

"Just..." she sighed. "Just get ready, okay? And monitor your interns."

Cristina perked up, pointing to each of her interns as she ordered them around. "Okay, one, two, go get stat packs. Uh, three, four, go meet the ambulances."

Meredith and Cassie shared a look, raising a brow at Cristina. "One and two?"

"I can't remember their names."

Cassie laughed, turning around to face her interns, who were looking at her expectantly.

"Alright, who can tell me correct position for chest tube insertion?" The four of them stayed silent, tripping over their words and making her sigh. "If you're going to be trusted with the life of a trauma patient, knowing how to put in a chest tube is basic knowledge."

Slowly, Rue raised her hand. Cassie nodded at her to speak. "The tube should be put in while they lay at a supine position, with a quarter of an inch to an inch and a half incision."

"Correct," Cassie nodded, raising a brow at the others. "Good. Anything else?"

"Um," Ollie spoke up next, "the tube should be inserted at a, uh, forty five degree angle."

Smiling proudly, she placed her hands on her hips. "Exactly. Lennon, Peterson, you're with me. Blair and Xavier, I need you to finish up charting on Dr. Sloan's patients."

"Oh, you've got to be kidding me," Ryan groaned, making Lily send him a glare in warning. "More scut? Seriously?"

Stepping forward, Cassie narrowed her eyes at him, making him immediately regret speaking.

"Dr. Blair, could you please remind Dr. Xavier of rule number three?"

Lily gulped nervously, not wanting to be singled out. "Rule number three, don't complain," she said quietly.

"Thank you," Cassie grinned. "Blair, you're with me as well. Let's hope Xavier is compentent enough to fill out a few charts without someone holding his hand."

☆

It was chaotic in the ambulance bay, with four residents and fifteen interns scavenging for the good cases. As Cristina, Meredith, and Alex claimed their patients, Cassie turned around to speak to the three interns she'd brought with her.

"Normally, at times like this, it's first come, first serve. You see a patient, you get to the patient before anyone else, and they're yours." She spared a glance to the fighting residents, a small smile tugging at her lips. "Right now, there's only three ambulances here, but Torres told me there would be four."

"So, what?" Rue questioned. "We're waiting?"

Cassie nodded confidently. "We're waiting."

Sure enough, once the others had made their way inside, another ambulance pulled up with it's lights flashing.

"Nicole," Cassie greeted the paramedic, snapping on her gloves. "What do you have for me?"

"A mess," Nicole smirked, nodding back as a hello. "This is Sarah Mershow, 27. Leg went through the windshield during the crash, deep laceration starting at the tibia and filled with debris."

"Nasty," Lily mumbled, earning an elbow in the ribs from Ollie, who gestured towards the patient's open eyes.

"Shut up, she's awake."

Rue scrunched her nose, staring at the open wound in disgust. "That doesn't change the face that it's gross."

"All of you, shut it," Cassie ordered, rolling her eyes. "Page Sloan, have him meet me in trauma three."

☆

"We've got to get her up to the OR," Mark said, carefully inspecting the wound alongside Cassie. "With the amount of gravel lodged into her muscles, I'd be surprised if there wasn't already an infection."

"Infection?!" the patient repeated, breathing heavily. "Oh god, please get it out. Oh, god."

Cassie moved to stand by her head, squeezing her hand in reassurance. "Relax, Sarah. Dr. Sloan is very talented, and even if it does end up being infected, I promise we'll get to it before it can cause any real harm. Everything will be okay. You're in amazing hands."

Mark watched her interact and sooth the patient with a soft smile, taking off his trauma gown and moving to head out the door.

"Get her prepped, and page me when you're in the OR," he said, earning a nod and a thumbs up from Cassie as he left the room.

☆

While her interns were getting Sarah ready for surgery, Cassie decided it was time to track down George and find out what was going on with him.

She found him walking along in the hallway, looking down at a chart. Without further ado, she ran up to him, snatched his arm in her grasp, and pulled him into an on call room.

"Ouch!" George groaned, rubbing the spot she'd taken hold of. "Cassie, I have things to do today—"

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Cassie interrupted, staring him down.

Shifting in place, he shrugged nonchalantly. "Nothing is wrong with me."

Cassie rolled her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest and cocking a brow.

"That's bullshit, and you know it."

George sighed. "Cass, I can't—"

"You've been avoiding me for weeks, you failed your intern exam, and something is obviously up with you and Callie. So what the hell is it? I mean, you know I'd never judge you, so I don't get why you can't just tell me what it is."

"I can't," he emphasized. "I can't tell you. Of all people, Cassie, I cannot tell you."

She frowned, her posture loosening a bit. "George, I don't know what's going on, but you tell me anything. You know that."

Tripping over his words, George took a deep breath. He wanted, no, needed, to tell her, but he knew that the moment he did... all hell would break loose.

"Not this. I'm sorry, but not this."

Beginning to tear up, Cassie moved so she was directly in front of him. "George, you're my best friend. You're my family. You can tell me anything." Running a hand through her hair, she shook her head, not noticing how he was about to cave. "I love you, so fucking much, and I miss you, and I promise that you can tell me whatever it is. Maybe I can help, you know? So please, just... just let me be your best friend, George. Please, just—"

"I slept with Izzie."

Cassie froze, her body moving backwards, almost as if she'd just been hit. Slowly, her features sharpened, a harsh glare taking over her face.

And then she brushed past his shoulder and walked out of the room without another word.

George stood there, all alone, questioning what the hell he'd just gotten himself into.

☆

Hours later, Cassie exited the OR with her interns in tow. She'd chosen to put aside her feelings, depite not knowing exactly what they were, until she was home and her patient was stable.

"Um, Dr. Harper?" Ryan called out anxiously. Cassie turned to face him, raising a brow in inquiry.

"What's up?"

"I just wanted to say thank you," he said honestly, more sincere than he'd been all day. "For letting me scrub in. I know I was kind of an asshole, it's... well, it's something I'm working on. Anyways, um, thank you."

"You were an asshole," she agreed. "But you're an intern, and it's my job to teach you."

"While we're saying thank you," Lily spoke up, her voice soft. "I appreciate you teaching me your suture technique."

"Yeah, and for not being mad when I dropped that scalpel!" Ollie added with a childish grin. "Sorry about that, by the way."

Cassie smirked amusedly. "It happens, Peterson."

Rue halfheartedly shrugged, basically in love with her resident but way too proud to show it. "Yeah. You're cool, I guess," she said in a very Cristina-like fashion.

"I'm glad you think so," Cassie nodded, looking between the four interns. "But rounds start at 4 a.m. tomorrow, and if you're even a minute late, I'll be sure to keep you out of the OR for the next week. At least." Her smile returned as she gestured towards an on call room. "Now go, get some rest. You did well today."

☆

Cassie ran a hand through her hair as she turned the corner, still getting used to the shorter length.

She smiled when she saw Mark, only to pause in her steps when she noticed him approaching Derek.

"I'm the one that could use a friend," Mark said, making Cassie frown in confusion. "I said that you could use a friend. I could use a friend."

Derek sighed, causing Cassie to realize that she had probably missed some type of arguement between the two. Really, she wasn't all that surprised.

"Look, Mark—"

"No," Mark cut him off. "I didn't come to Seattle for Addison. I didn't come to Seattle to be Chief. Hell, I didn't even come to Seattle for Cass! I came to Seattle for you, okay? I came to Seattle to get you back."

Cassie snorted into her fist, trying to keep her laughter quiet so they wouldn't hear her listening in.

Slowly, the two men broke into smiles, their cheeks reddening slightly. "I know. I want to take it back now, but I already said it, so."

Derek shook his head with a laugh. "Yeah, maybe we should have a drink."

Mark sighed. "We should."

"Yeah," he agreed, patting him on the back as he walked away. "Not today, though."

Cassie leant against the wall, standing directly behind Mark without him even knowing it.

"You two make a lovely couple," she grinned with a humorous glint in her eye.

Mark jumped in surprise, a hand on his chest as he quickly turned around. Seeing Cassie attempting and failing to hold in her laughter, he dramatically rolled his eyes.

"Ha ha, very funny."

She pushed off the wall, tilting her head as she giggled madly. "No, I'm serious! When's the wedding?"

"Shut up," Mark laughed along, jabbing her in the ribs with his fingers and making her laugh even harder than before. "I hate you."

She winked up at him. "You love me."

Looking down at her fondly, he sighed to himself. "Let's get out of here, yeah?"

Wordlessly nodding, Cassie took his hand in her own, pulling him towards the hospital doors and laughing the entire way.

INTRODUCING...
THE INTERNS!

sydney sweeney as
— DR. LILY BLAIR —

ambika mod as
— DR. RUE LENNON —

cameron monaghan as
— DR. OLLIE PETERSON —

ross butler as
— DR. RYAN XAVIER —