CHAPTER TWENTY
blues for sister someone.
season two, episode twenty three.

          "SO, WHERE ARE YOU LIVING NOW THAT YOU'VE MOVED OUT?" Cassie asked George as they walked into the building together. After the big mess with him and Meredith, he decided he no longer could handle being so close to her.

"Why does everyone want to know everything?" George ranted. "Can't I just exist without having to explain everything I do to everyone?"

She gave him a deadpan look. "I'm going to go out on a limb and assume this doesn't have anything to do with me."

"You would be correct," he sighed. "Sorry. Anyways, I'm living with Callie. Well, not living, living, but staying with. I am staying with Callie."

"Callie?" Cassie raised a brow. "So it's official? You're seeing her?"

George blushed madly, giving her an answer. "Shut up," he grumbled as she laughed.

"Well as much as I miss you, and wish you would move back in, I really am glad that you have somewhere to go."

"Thanks, Cass."

"You really like her, don't you?" Cassie smiled cheekily.

"I do."

"Well, I'm happy for you. I think she's great," she said. "Despite what Izzie says."

"Oh, and speaking of Izzie—' he lowered his voice, "—not a word of this to her, okay? Actually, just don't say anything to anyone."

"Why?" she asked, lowering her voice to match his tone.

"Because."

Cassie nodded sarcastically. "Well, that's a good reason."

☆

"Obviously, I can't go out with him, right?" Meredith asked Alex and Cassie while they sat at the nurses station updating charts.

"Do I look like a chick to you?" Alex asked rhetorically. "Do I look like I care about yeast cream or tingling feelings? I mean, he's not in jail or on drugs or keeping body parts in his basement. You want to do him, do him."

"Not do him. Date him. I'm not doing anybody."

"She's knitting," Cassie informed him.

"I need Eugene Foote's chart," Cristina said as she walked up to the group. "Who are we talking about?"

"It's weird, right? I mean, he's Derek's vet, he's Doc's vet, he's my vet. He's McVet. It's weird to date him, right?"

"Wait, did you say vet?" Cristina and Cassie asked in unison.

Meredith nodded. "Mhm."

"Like, animals?" Cassie frowned.

"Oh, you can't date a vet. He's not even a real doctor," Cristina added.

"I need an intern. Now," Addison demanded, coming up to the group, clearly in a bad mood. "Cass, are you free?"

"I'm scrubbing in with Derek. Sorry, Addie," Cassie grimaced.

"I'm with Bailey."

"I'm with Burke."

"Karev?"

Alex frowned. "I don't do vagina. Not as a doctor, anyway."

Addison raised a brow. "Oh, back talk. You know what? You just bought yourself a case."

"You're with Bailey?" Cassie asked Meredith as she followed her down the hall.

"Yeah, I'm on Denny's case."

Cassie nodded. "I'll meet you there."

☆

"How are you feeling this morning, Denny?" Bailey asked as she stepped into the room with Meredith.

"Great. I'd be even greater if you'd get me off this machine," he smiled.

Bailey sighed. "Denny, you know I would, but then your heart would stop beating, Dr. Burke would yell at me, and Harper would have my head on a platter. That would make for a very bad day for both of us."

"Is he a candidate for the portable LVAD?" Cassie asked as she came into the room.

Denny pointed at her with a grin. "Now, see? That's what I'm talking about. Half the size, twice the fun."

"Dr. Harper, do I have to repeat the rules?"

Cassie shook her head. "I'm not here as a doctor. I'm here as family." She grabbed Denny's hand and gave it a squeeze, more for her own comfort than his.

"Alright," Bailey nodded and turned to Denny. "You've been doing your research on the LVAD, huh?"

"I have."

"I've already told him, he's not ready for it yet," Izzie said as she entered the room.

Cassie furrowed her brows, giving the blonde a once over. "That's not your decision to make, Izzie."

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Dr. Stevens, didn't I assign you to neuro this morning?"

"Yeah. I was— I'm on my way. But could you tell him about the complications?"

"I already told him," Cassie said, narrowing her eyes in both annoyance and confusion.

"Again?"

Meredith glanced at Izzie, before repeating the risks to Denny. "You'd be risking air embolus, v-fib—"

"Yeah, and the tubing could kink inside of your body, in which case, we'd have to rush you to emergency surgery," Izzie finished.

"Why are you even here?" Cassie snapped, relaxing slightly when Denny gave her hand a squeeze. "Not to be rude, but Denny already has all the information he needs. You don't need to be here."

"She can stay," Denny shrugged, earning a glare from the girl to his left.

"Dr. Stevens," Bailey cut in, "unless Mr. Duquette's heart has suddenly grown a brain, you are currently not doing your job."

"I'm going," Izzie held her hands up in defense, turning to Denny. "Just don't be stupid, okay?"

Denny grinned. "You're not the boss of me today."

Cassie looked between them, a bad feeling brewing at the bottom of her stomach.

☆

"What's going on?" Cassie asked later that day. "With you and Izzie. Why does she suddenly think she has the authority to help you make these kinds of decisions?"

Denny avoided her eye when he responded, "She's, uh, she's nice."

"She's nice," Cassie repeated incredulously. "Seriously? That's it?"

Rolling his eyes lightheartedly, Denny shrugged. "I don't really know what's happening between us, bubbles. What I do know, however, is that I like her. A lot."

"I just want you to really think about it before you start anything with her, you know? I mean, she's your doctor, and your sick. Don't let her take advantage of you."

"I won't," he promised, just as Bailey entered the room with the LVAD wires. "Doctor B!"

"Don't you have patients, Harper?" the resident cocked a brow upwards.

"Yeah," Denny agreee playfully. "Get outta here, bubbles."

Bailey looked between them. "Bubbles?"

Cassie let out a small laugh, explaining the origins of her nickname. "When I was four, my mom had to cover a shift at the diner, so Den was babysitting me."

"Eventually, she got bored," Denny continued the story, "and I didn't know what to do, so I just gave her a bottle of that liquid you use to blow bubbles to play with. Of course, she was only four, so she ended up just opening the cap and pouring it all over the carpet."

"I guess the nickname just kind of stuck," Cassie finished with a grin.

Bailey attempted to act indifferent, but let a small smile slip out at the sight of her intern happy. "Back to work, Cassie."

"You got it, boss," she nodded, just as her pager went off. "You think you can manage to stay alive until I get back, Den?"

"I'll do my best," Denny smiled. "Go. Save lives."

"Love you in case you die!" Cassie called out, a few seconds after she'd walked out the door.

"Love you in case I die!"

☆

While Cassie was dealing with a patient, Izzie, Cristina, and Meredith were eating snacks at a nurses station and chatting away.

"How's Denny doing?" Izzie asked suddenly, pretending to be nonchalant. "Bailey's not caving in on the LVAD thing, is she?"

Cristina shrugged. "Just ask Cass. I mean, he's her family, right?"

"Actually, about that," Meredith started. "I thought Alex was kidding when he said you dumped him for a heart patient. Did you really dump him for a heart patient?"

"He's not just a heart patient," Cristina interrupted. "If you date him, you'll basically be becoming Cassie's pseudo-step mommy."

"Ew," Meredith cringed. "She would, wouldn't she?"

Izzie attempted to play it cool. "I didn't dump Alex for Denny."

Meredith looked at her skeptically. "Denny's a patient. We can't fall for our patients."

"You're falling for a vet," Cristina joked.

Meredith scoffed. "I'm considering the possibility of maybe having a date with a vet."

Cristina shrugged. "That's all I'm saying."

"My point is, Bailey's on the warpath about you and Denny, and I wouldn't be surprised if Cass was too. So just be careful."

☆

Izzie checked her pager, frowning in confusion when it only mentioned a random on call room. Carefully entering, she turned on the light, and shrieked when she saw Cassie standing only a few inches away from her face.

"Hello, Isobel," the brunette said eerily.

"Uh," Izzie drawled nervously. "Hi?"

"Sit." Cassie motioned to a singular office chair in the middle of the floor. "Let's have a chat."

"Cass, what—"

"Sit."

Glancing around the room, Izzie begrudgingly sat in the chair. Cassie moved to stand in front of her, arms crossed intimidatingly.

"We're not friends," Cassie said, before breaking the mood for a moment by adding, "Well, I mean, we are. But not right now. Right now, we're not friends. Right now, I'm a close loved one to one of your patients, and you're the doctor. Got it?"

Izzie contorted her features. "Yes?"

"Good," Cassie nodded. "And I'm going to talk, and you're going to listen."

"Okay."

"I don't like what you have going on with Denny," she said bluntly. "He's vulnerable, and you're strong, and you're using that to shape his opinion of you. You may not realize it, but you are."

"Cassie, I'm not—"

"I'm not going to stand here and tell you what to do with your life, okay?" Cassie sighed, dropping the tough act. "But if you even so much as think about hurting a single goddamn hair on his end, you'll regret it."

Izzie looked up at her, shocked and a bit defensive. "Where is all this coming from?"

"It's coming from his only family," she answered sternly. "He means too much to me, for me to just let you mess with his feelings and then dump him like you do everyone else. Understood?"

The blonde nodded, a secret glint in her eye. "Sure. Understood."

☆

Before going home, Cassie made sure to stop by Denny's room on the way out.

"I'm so glad everything worked out with the LVAD," Cassie sighed, sitting on his bed and letting him throw an arm around her shoulders. "How does it feel to be a badass?"

"If you count having a metal device strapped to my chest badass... it feels pretty damn good," Denny grinned. "Did you have a good day, bubbles?"

"It was alright," she shrugged. "Scrubbed in with Derek this morning on an aneurism, threatened your girlfriend, had cheetos for lunch. Normal day."

"I'm sorry," he held a finger up in the air, "One of those things was not like the other."

Cassie smiled up at him. "Cheetos? Yeah, you're right. I usually go with Doritos, but the cafeteria ran out."

"Cassandra."

"Oh, relax," she waved him off. "It was nothing I haven't already said to you."

Denny heaved a sigh, giving her a confident look. "She won't hurt me, bubbles. She would never. I promise."

"I'm just trying to look out for you."

"And I love you for that, but I'm a grown man. I can make my own decisions and date whoever I'd like."

Cassie narrowed her eyes. "So you admit it? You're dating?"

Denny shoved her shoulder with a laugh, which she soon reciprocated. "Oh, shut up."

The pair spent the night talking, laughing, and reminiscing, both blissfully unaware of what the future holds.