CHAPTER THIRTY TWO
wishin' and hopin'.
season three, episode fourteen.

          CASSIE AND BAILEY STOOD OUTSIDE OF THE DENNY DUQUETTE MEMORIAL CLINIC WITH SMILES ON THEIR FACES. Twirling the key in her hand, the former turned her head to face her resident. "Ten days and five million dollars later," she sighed. "Wow."

Bailey laughed. "Wow, indeed."

"Thank you for this," Cassie said gratefully. "Denny would have loved it. Well, I mean, he wasn't super big on medical stuff, but he would have been happy to contribute to something good."

"Thank me?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "Thank you, Harper. I couldn't have done it without you."

Taking the older woman's hand, Cassie grinned. "We did it together."

Bailey turned back to the building with sparkling eyes. "And we are open for business."

☆

In the lobby, Addison was watching Derek and Burke attempt to impress the Chief, while she sat back with a smug look on her face.

"Aren't you gonna get in there?" Mark asked, coming up behind her. "You wanna be Chief, you gotta fight with the big boys."

Addison shook her head. "You know, Cassie gave me some advice last night. Fight like a girl, and let them kill each other. Then, I'll be the only one left standing."

Mark scoffed. "And then there's me. There you go, underestimating me again."

"Oh, it's not that I underestimate you, it's just that I don't think about you. At all."

"Well, you should." He smirked, walking over to where Burke, Derek and Webber were standing. "I was heading down to the clinic. It's opening today, and I thought it might be nice to show Cassie and Dr. Bailey a little support."

"Very thoughtful, Dr. Sloan. Think I'll join you," Webber said. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me."

"Certainly," Derek smiled falsely. As Mark passed him, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Nicely done."

Mark smiled. "Mhm."

☆

Bailey perked up when Cristina, Alex, and Izzie entered the clinic. Izzie looked around nervously, feeling unwelcome in the building. And based on the glares she was receiving, she most likely was.

Cassie, however, payed her no mind.

"Welcome to the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic!" Cassie cheered, holding her arms in the air and doing jazz hands. "Yay!"

Bailey smiled as well, albeit less enthusiastic. "Barring any surgical emergencies, you will be working here today."

Cristina looked around with a slight frown. "Working on what, exactly?"

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Right now, Olivia will be familiarizing you with the protocol for the flu vaccine."

"Dr. Bailey," Cassie suddenly said, drawing their attention. "Can I speak to you and Dr. Stevens privately for a moment?"

Izzie froze. "Why?"

"Dr. Bailey?"

Hesitating for a moment, the resident nodded them over to a secluded corner by the desk. Izzie kept a good five foot distance away from the brunette. "What is it?"

"I love this clinic," Cassie said honestly. "This clinic is my baby. My five million dollar baby, to be exact. But since we're both surgeons, and I don't have a lot of free time, I think we need to pick someone to be in charge."

Bailey raised a brow. "And that would be—"

"Izzie will run the clinic."

The other two gaped at her in confusion and shock. "Why—"

Cassie turned directly to Izzie, placing the keyes in the palm of her hand as she cut her off. "Have fun!"

Smirking devilishly, she left to stand by Alex and Cristina. The latter raised a brow at her expression, tilting her head as she whispered to Alex.

"Oh, McAngel's got a McPlan."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cassie shrugged, aloof. She ignored Izzie's gaze burning into her back.

"She's totally plotting Izzie's murder or something," Alex added, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not," she denied. "The demise of her surgical career, maybe, but—"

"Woah, what?" Cristina laughed.

Cassie leaned in closely, making the other two do the same. "I gave Izzie the clinic."

"You're an idiot."

"No, I'm a genius. The more time she spends here, the less time she spends in surgery, getting in my way. Besides, she already sucks. This is just the extra push to finally get her fired."

Alex frowned. "You can't do that."

Cassie gave him a look. "She killed my pseudo father. I can do whatever I want."

Whatever Alex was going to say, was cut off by Mark and the Chief bursting through the doors.

"Dr. Bailey, congratulations on the opening of the clinic!" Mark beamed, spotting Cassie and making his way towards her. "Cass, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," she returned his grin.

The Chief looked around. "It is open, isn't it?"

"Patients will come," Bailey said assuredly.

"Okay then."

"See?" she pointed to the entrance. "Someone's coming."

George and Callie came through the door, giggling quietly to each other and speaking in hushed tones.

"George, you're back from vacation!" Cassie cheered, running up and tackling him in a hug. "I missed you! Hey Callie, how was the trip?"

"Actually—" Callie started, before she was cut off.

"O'Malley, welcome back," Bailey greeted dryly. "You're late."

Cassie noticed how George stood there smiling blankly, and had yet to say anything since he came in.

"George? You good?"

Mark frowned. "Is O'Malley all right?"

"We got married in Vegas!" George blurted. Everyone stopped what they were doing, staring at the newlyweds. "We're married."

Everyone stood with their mouths agape. Alex awkwardly laughed and broke the tension. "Dude, she's Callie O'Malley."

☆

"So, you and George are married?" Cassie asked the new bride once everyone had disbanded into their own side conversations.

"Yes. I'm Callie O'Malley. And before you judge, I know it was impulsive, but it was right. It feels, right."

"As long as you're sure it's the right decision and George is happy, that's all I care about," Cassie shrugged, faking a smile.

George brought Izzie over to them, making Cassie immediately move to stand by Cristina.

"Show her the ring," he all but demanded.

Callie put her hand out, showing off the jewelry. Cassie raised a brow from where she stood, holding back a laugh at the size of the tiny diamond. It's not that she judged George, considering he bought it on a whim and looks aren't everything, but the size was practically comical.

"It's beautiful," she said from across the room, trying to be supportive.

Callie smiled gratefully. "Thanks."

"Oh! That's so great," Izzie said with fake enthusiasm. "Tiny diamonds are great, because you know no one will ever try to steal it."

Everyone looked at Izzie with wide eyes. Cristina had to cover her mouth to keep in her laughter.

Cassie rolled her eyes. "Bitch."

"Okay, that's it," Bailey said loudly. "Yang, Harper, Burke needs you in Cardio. O'Malley, the Chief has a surgical patient coming into the pit. Stevens, Karev, go find me some patients. I don't care where you get them, just get them."

☆

Burke looked up from his notes as his girlfriend and Cassie approached. "Meredith's mother had some runs of SVT," he said, handing them Ellis Grey's chart. "I'm ordering an Echo. Oh, and she's lucid."

"What?" Cristina questioned.

Cassie frowned. "Lucid, as in fully aware?"

"It happens, but it won't last."

"Is Meredith okay?" they asked in unison, earning an odd look from the attending.

"Seems fine, but her mother's going to need the best care we have to offer," Burke said. "Dr. Harper, I want you on this case. You and Dr. Yang—" he looked at the latter with an evil glint in his eye, "—are the best."

Cassie looked between the two confusedly as they had an uncomfortable staring match.

"Okay," she said slowly. "You know, I kinda feel like I'm intruding on whatever weird passive aggressive argument you two clearly have going on, so I'm just, uh, I'm just going to leave now." She swiped the chart from Cristina's hands. "Bye!"

☆

Cristina and Cassie were in the middle of giving Ellis Grey an echo, silence taking over the room as they tried their best not to mess anything up.

"You two and Meredith are good friends?" Ellis asked with a knowing look. "I can tell, because you're afraid to look at me..." The two interns continued to focus on the procedure. "...as if I might ask you some personal question about her, and you'll accidentally slip. But you don't do anything by accident, do you?" They shared a subtle look, shaking their heads no in response. "Has Meredith chosen a specialty?"

"That's a personal question?" Cassie wondered.

Ellis nodded. "For surgeons, the most personal question you can ask. It tells you who they are."

"My mother would wanna know whether or not I had a boyfriend," Cristina scoffed.

"You're mother sounds like a frivolous woman."

"My mom wouldn't even know that there's more than one surgical specialty," Cassie added. "Not that it matters, since she's dead. But still."

Ellis gave her an odd look, but said nothing.

Cristina sighed deeply. "If I chose cardiothoracics, what would that say about me?"

"Heart surgeons are the know it alls," she mused. "They're the most ambitious, the most driven. They want it all, and they want it now. They don't want anything getting in their way." Cristina smiled softly at the answer as Ellis turned to Cassie. "And you?"

"Oh, I haven't really decided yet."

Ellis narrowed her gaze, eyeing Cassie up and down and making her shift in her spot. The woman really was intimidating.

"Neuro."

The intern tilted her head. "How do you—"

"Neurosurgeons are precise," she cut her off. "They pay attention to every little detail, never miss a thing. They often have inflated egos, but they're emotionally independent and don't rely on anyone to determine their success other than themselves."

Cassie looked at her in slight shock. "Damn, you're good."

"I know," Ellis agreed, smirking slightly. "Speaking of neuro, Meredith says I'm part of an Alzheimer's research study. I want a consult with the doctor who put me in the trial."

☆

Cassie and Cristina walked into the ambulance bay where Meredith was standing. "Hey, Mer, we've been looking for you. Burke has us on your mom," Cristina said. "Are you okay?"

Meredith sighed. "I'm avoiding her. I'm avoiding the gift."

"Yeah, well," Cassie shrugged, "your gift wants to meet Derek."

Meredith looked at her incredulously. "What? What did you say?"

"No, no, no," Cassie shook her head. "Not Derek your boyfriend, Derek the neurosurgeon. I mean, she's going to know that's he's your boyfriend anyway. She has ways."

"I'm kind of in love with her, by the way," Cristina added.

Meredith scoffed. "She has that effect on people who aren't her daughter."

Izzie came up to them with a man in a wheelchair. "Hey! I heard about your mother. That's unbelievable."

"Yeah. It's a gift."

"She avoiding her," Cristina told her.

Cassie completely ignored her.

Izzie sighed. "Mer, she's your mother. And she's really here."

"This is your chance, you should talk to her," Cristina agreed.

"You should spend some time with her while you still can," Cassie sighed, thinking about her own mother. "Speaking from personal experience."

"She has a very long history of being disappointed in me."

"You're a doctor now, Meredith. Parental disappointment ends with a medical degree," Izzie said.

"Could we get moving? It hurts when I pee," the man in the wheelchair complained.

Cassie finally acknowledged Izzie's presence. "Are you stealing patients from the ER?"

"Yes."

"Good," she deadpanned. "Because I sure as hell did not spend millions of dollars on an empty room with empty beds. If I did, I might go crazy. Maybe beat you up. Again."

Izzie huffed. "Yeah, well George called dibs on all the crazy this week. Do you think Callie's pregnant?"

The man stood up. "I'm going back to the ER."

Cassie pushed him back down. "She was just leaving."

Meredith looked baffled. "What's going on?"

"Oh, yeah. George got married," Cassie said, unknowingly sounding bitter.

☆

"I need to lay down," George groaned, entering the clinic and heading straight for a bed. "I'm sick, shaky and sweaty. My mouth is dry, and my body aches."

"Uh, Karev," Bailey ordered, frowning at the sight of a sick George. "Replace O'Malley in the OR."

☆

"What's going on?" Cassie asked as she entered the gallery she had been paged to. Meredith, Izzie, and Cristina were watching intensely through the glass.

Apparently, the blood of George's patient was toxic, making him sick and resulting in an entire OR collapsing.

Now, Burke and Derek were operating on the patient alone in the OR, wearing air tight suits.

"Chief figured out the anesthesiologist didn't have time to drop an NG tube, so now they have to place one and decompress, and repack her intestines, and close," Meredith said.

"You really think they have enough air?" Cassie breathed out nervously.

"We have no idea."

"Preston, you'll need to milk the bowel to get out the excess fluid," Webber said through the intercom. "Pack her and wrap her, and get her stable for transport."

"How's George?" Cassie asked after a moment.

"Medically, he's fine. Emotionally, he's a little stunted if you ask me," Izzie shrugged. "You don't marry the rebound girl, am I right?"

"Shut up," Cassie rolled her eyes.

"You literally asked—"

"You don't marry anyone on a whim," Cristina interrupted, not in the mood to watch another fist fight between the two.

"I just think he's really vulnerable right now, and he should've thought it through," Cassie said, secretly agreeing but trying to be nice about it.

"He needs our support," Meredith interjected.

"I'm giving him my support," Cassie defended. "I mean, him and Callie, they need us."

Izzie scoffed. "He doesn't need us. He's got his Vegas show wife."

Cassie glared at her. "Why are you even here?"

Mark suddenly rushed into the room, looking as if he'd ran there. "Chief, they're at thirty two minutes, you gotta pull them out."

"How you doing on air?" Webber asked though the intercom.

In the OR, they both looked sick. "I'm out," Burke shook his head.

Derek nodded weakly. "You go. I'll be right there—"

All of a sudden, Burke passed out, Derek tried to help him, but passed out as well.

"Well," Cassie said blankly. "That's not good."

☆

"Okay, damage control," Webber said to the three interns in front of him. Izzie wasn't allowed in the OR, since she was still on probation, leaving Meredith, Cristina, and Cassie. "We still have to pack her and wrap her so that she's stable for transport. We work in shifts. One doctor at a time, no one stays in for more than twenty seconds. Dr. Sloan, do you want to go first?"

"I'm not going in there."

The four doctors look at him with disbelief. "What?" they chorused.

"Seriously, Mark?" Cassie asked. "Grow a pair."

Mark stayed confident in his answer. "It would be irresponsible for the remaining healthy attending to expose himself to the neurotoxin. A neurotoxin, whose long term effects we're still unaware of. So, I'm staying in here."

The atmosphere was tense, until Cristina raised her hand eagerly. "I can swim three lengths of my parents pool underwater."

Webber nodded. "All right, you're up Dr. Yang. Let's get her masked. Sloan, give her the lap pads. You're gonna wet them and pack the cavity. If you feel faint, get out."

Cristina nodded and quickly entered the OR. "Come on Yang, hurry." She did all that she could, exiting the OR dizzily.

"I packed the wound," she said, slightly delirious.

"Dr. Grey—"

"I couldn't get... I couldn't..." Cristina trailed off, leaning on Cassie for support. The brunette wrapped her arm around her, and gently lowered her so that she was safely sitting on the floor.

"Remove the drape and secure the plastic along the sides. It's gotta be tight," Webber said to Meredith, who ran into the OR. "Hurry. Come on, Grey. Come on."

In the mean time, Cassie rubbed Cristina's back and shared an uneasy look with Mark.

"I couldn't, uh, the seal, it twisted," Meredith said out of breath when she came back in.

Webber nodded. "Okay, Harper. The seal needs to be as close to airtight as possible. It'll inflate, and then you'll know it's secure. Remember, be quick."

Mark went up behind Cassie, putting her mask and goggles on securely. He squeezed her shoulders, knowing that it calmed her down.

"You got this, Cass," he whispered in her ear when he felt her shaking. "You'll be okay."

Cassie turned her head slightly, gave Mark a small smile, and went in. She ran over to the table, and flipped over the sheet that Meredith twisted. She pulled it as tight as possible, already feeling the toxin's effects.

As she waited for it to inflate, she became increasingly light headed. She'd been in there for around thirty seconds, and because this was the most important part and there was no one else to finish it, she refused to leave until the patient was okay.

When she felt the pressure rise, since she could barely see through her blurry vision, she bolted as fast as she could out of the OR. Cassie came back into the scrub room and fell to her knees.

Well, she would've, but Mark reached out and caught her on her way down.

"Woah, hey. You're okay, Cass. You did a good job. You're okay," he soothed, taking off her goggles and mask and running a hand through her hair.

When she tried to stand, though, she immediately collapsed, and went unconscious in his arms.

☆

"What the hell," were Cassie's first words when she opened her eyes.

"Hey, you passed out after you went into the OR," Derek said, still holding an oxygen mask over his face, and handing her one of her own. "Feels good, doesn't it?"

"Amazing," she rolled her eyes. "Why did I pass out, though? I mean, I wasn't in there that long."

"Yeah I wanted to talk to you about that, actually," Derek frowned, making her worry. "Apparently, you're slightly dehydrated, have low blood pressure, and a water-electrolyte imbalance. That's why it affected you more than the others."

Cassie inwardly cringed. "Oh, yeah, uh, I forgot to drink water today. I was pretty busy."

Derek sighed, and sat next to her on the gurney with a serious expression. "Cass, have you eaten today?"

"This morning," she answered, a bit too quickly. "I'm fine, honestly."

"I just don't want you falling back into old habits," he said worriedly. "You know how bad it got the last time—"

"Leave me alone, okay?" Cassie snapped out of the blue, standing up and removing her oxygen mask. "I said I'm fine." She turned on her heel and began to walk towards the locker room, leaving a concerned Derek behind.

☆

"I'm super scrubbed. I'm minus my epidermis," Cristina groaned, sitting against the lockers when Cassie entered.

"I still feel all fumey," Meredith sighed. "Oh, there you are, Cass. Did they figure out why you collapsed?"

"It was no big deal," she waved her off. "I was just a bit dehydrated. That's it."

"Hey. It's the little woman," Izzie said, drawing the three's attention to Callie and George walking into the locker room.

"Hi guys," Cassie smiled politely, waving at the couple despite only being a few feet away from them. She figured that even though she knew George had made a mistake, there was no reason to be rude to Callie.

Izzie, however, had other thoughts.

"So what are your plans now? You're not moving in are you?"

"Nice," Callie scoffed, turning around to leave.

"Wait, Callie," George shook his head. "Unbelievable. You people— the only one of you who's being supportive is Cassie, but just barely. You're all supposed to be my friends, my closest friends. Callie is an important part of my life now. If you want to drive her away, and you're masters at it, you'll do it. But if she's gone, I'm gone. She's my wife. Calliope Iphegenia Torres is my wife."

☆

Later that night in his hotel room, Mark smirked as he trailed kisses up and down Cassie's stomach.

"Wait, hold up," Cassie said breathlessly, gently pushing him up.

"What's wrong?" he furrowed his brows, stopping his movements. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah," she nodded distractedly. "I'm just thinking about Addison."

Mark raised a brow suggestively. "I mean, if you're into that—"

"Mark! Not like that!"

"Then what about her?"

"I don't know," Cassie shrugged. "Aren't you, like, in love with her or something?"

"Technically," he corrected, "I said that I thought I loved her. Different things."

"What changed?" she asked, ignoring his playful tone. "I don't want to do this if it's going to hurt her."

"She's doesn't think about me," Mark said as if it were obvious. "Why would I think about her? Besides," he pulled her closer, making her giggle. "I'd rather think about this."

Cassie thought for a moment, and ended up shrugging it off. "Fair enough. But if she hates me, it's on you, deal?"

"Deal."

a/n -
what are your predictions
for the ferry boat accident
next chapter?