CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN.
staring at the sun.
season three, episode eight.

ALEX, IZZIE, CASSIE, CRISTINA, AND GEORGE WERE SITTING IN THE LOCKER ROOM. The five were staring at the chart in George's hands, and Cassie had a comforting arm around his shoulders.

"Today is the day, people," Meredith beamed as she entered the room. "Today is the day when dark and twisty Meredith disappears forever, and bright and shiny Meredith takes her place. You're probably not going to want to be friends with me anymore, cause the sheer intensity of my happiness will make your teeth hurt. That's okay, because life is good. Life is good."

Cassie cleared her throat. "Mer—"

"Wait, what's going on?" she asked, noticing the solemn vibe.

"George's dad was admitted last night," Izzie informed her.

"Oh my god, is he okay?"

"He's fine," George said simply.

"He passed out, hit the floor, and fractured his clavicle," Cassie finished.

"His clavicle is fine," George disagreed. "Callie said, uh, she said it's fine."

"Are those his AM labs?"

"He's complaining of severe abdominal pain," Cassie bit her lip in thought.

Cristina nodded. "He doesn't have peritoneal signs, that's good."

Bailey entered the room, looking around. "Has anybody seen—" she cut herself off when she saw the chart in George's hands.

George froze. "I was just looking at it."

"Don't you think me reading it is more important than you reading it?"

"Sure. Fine. He's going to be fine."

"You're on scut today. You'll be distracted."

"No I won't."

"Family members do not treat family members. Scut."

"I'm scrubbing in on a surgery with Dr. Burke this morning," Cristina perked up.

"Of course you are," Bailey rolled her eyes. "Karev, Harper, you're with Sloan. Grey, pit. Stevens, shadow Karev."

Cassie made eye contact with her resident, a pointed look crossing her features. "Dr. Bailey, may I speak to you?"

"In a second," she said, before looking at the blonde. "Let me remind you again of the rules of your probation."

"I think she knows the rules, Dr. Bailey," Alex scoffed.

"No touching patients, no talking to patients, no rolling your eyes at patients, or your superiors. Cassie, come with me."

Cassie followed Bailey into the hall with an annoyed expression.

"Look, Dr. Bailey, I'm trying. I really am, but I refuse to work with her. Absolutely not."

"Sloan requested you," Bailey shrugged. "You'll have to deal with it."

Cassie gave her an exacerbated look. "Deal with it? That's your advice?"

Bailey looked at her and sighed. "You're a talented intern, Harper. One of the best I've ever taught. You can do this."

☆

"Ah, excellent," Mark smiled sarcastically as Alex and Izzie came up to him. "Karev, my invaluable intern. Is it bring an insane hot blonde to work day? Nobody told me."

"Sexual harassment," Izzie coughed out.

Cassie rolled her eyes, approaching the group of three. "Shut up Izzie."

"Angel, my valuable intern," Mark grinned.

"Dr. Stevens is shadowing me today," Alex stated.

"Well, at least Cass is here," Mark mumbled as he handed Cassie the patient's chart.

Izzie ignored his comment. "What case do you need us on?"

"It's a really tragic one. Just this morning, I found out that I have over two weeks worth of dry cleaning that needs to be picked up, stat."

"That's it?" Alex asked, grabbing the dry cleaner's address. "Cool."

Mark smiled to himself. "See, we're like a well oiled machine, you and me. I also need you two to get me a sandwich from that pathetic excuse for a deli. Karev, you know the one I like. But go easy on the mayo this time. I think you're trying to kill me."

"Why doesn't Cassie have to go?" Izzie scoffed.

"Because unlike you," Cassie glared, "I'm actually allowed to practice medicine. Comes in handy, doesn't it?"

"And, because she's useful, trustworthy, and I like her more than you," Mark shrugged.

He beckoned Cassie to follow him down the hall, the brunette sending a nasty smirk over her shoulder to a bitter looking Izzie.

☆

Cassie found George sitting at the nurses station, staring into empty space. "Hey, Georgie," she smiled sympathetically. "How are you?"

"I'm, uh," George paused, not really sure how he was feeling at that moment.

"Do you want me on your dad's case today?" she wondered. He gave her a questioning look, prompting her to explain herself. "I know that you chose Cristina, but she doesn't exactly have the best bedside manner. I could just be in there to keep him smiling, if you want. Plus, I have the time, since Sloan's patient is already in post-op."

George looked at her for a moment, before standing up and giving her a hug. "That would be great, Cass. Thank you."

Cassie broke out of the hug and playfully punched his arm. "Anything for you."

"Sloan is right, you know," he grinned. "You're an angel."

"Shut up," Cassie laughed as she walked away.

George smiled, watching her retreating figure, before his eyes widened as he had a sudden realization.

"Holy crap, she's McAngel!"

☆

Addison was in the middle of catching up with Cassie, when they heard Mark's accusatory tone directed towards Alex and Izzie.

"There you are. Did you go all the way to New York for my pastrami?"

"Extra spicy, extra lettuce, low on mayo," Alex said, ignoring him.

Addison removed her glasses from her face. "Mark, what are you doing?"

"Lunch," he replied. "You want my pickle?"

"Seattle Grace is a teaching hospital. And part of your job is to teach. Your interns aren't your slaves," she scoffed.

"Fine. No pickle for you."

"Can I please have the pickle?" Cassie asked innocently.

Mark smirked. "You can have my pickle any day."

Cassie rolled her eyes and held her hand out aggressively. "Give me the pickle."

He set it in her hand, winking as he walked off. Addison looked to the Chief, who was suddenly standing right next to them. "Did you see that?"

"Hm?"

"Sloan!" she exclaimed. "He's using his interns to pick up his dry cleaning, and his lunch."

"I have to do an endoscopy," Webber mumbled, ignoring her and walking away.

Addison scoffed. "What the hell is going on with all of the men in this hospital?"

"What did you expect?" Cassie shrugged, taking a bite of her pickle. "They're men."

☆

"How you doing Mr. Jeffres?" Mark asked as him and his interns entered the patient's room.

"Hey Mr. Jeffres," Cassie smiled.

"Hi Dr. Harper," he said. "Frank's doing okay. He'd be doing a lot better if the twins were even."

"The twins?" Alex asked confused.

"Frank's new pecs," the patient said.

Izzie furrowed his brows. "Who is Frank?"

Frank smirked and gave her a wink. "You're looking at him."

"Frank, obviously you know Dr. Harper, and these are interns. Apparently, this is a teaching hospital. I'm supposed to be teaching them. Karev?"

"Frank Jeffres is post-op day three for pectoral enhancement surgery. There was a slight complication when a seroma formed."

"And what is a seroma?"

"It's a build up of blood and fluid under the skin," Izzie answered, earning a look. "Sorry."

Mark yawned. "That concludes today's teaching. Cassie inserted a tube into Mr. Jeffres chest to drain the fluid. Dr. Karev, I want you to monitor him, check the tube for fluid output and change his dressings. Dr. Stevens, I guess you can, uh, watch. Cass, make sure these two don't screw up."

Alex frowned. "Actually, Dr. Stevens is an excellent doctor."

Mark looked from Cassie, to Izzie, and back to Alex. "Yeah, that's what I've heard."

☆

"Oh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Look at you!" Frank grinned, looking at his pecs. "Do they still look lopsided? From the seroma?"

"No, it looks like most of the swelling has gone down," Alex shrugged.

"Yeah? Hey, Dr. Stevens, Dr. Harper, would you take a look at the twins? Frank would like a woman's perspective."

Izzie looked to Alex apprehensively.

"Technically, you're just looking, so whatever."

Cassie shrugged nonchalantly. "Well, Frank, they look good to me."

Izzie stepped forward. "Uh, yep. Looks pretty even to me. Very defined."

"The redness should go away in a couple of days," Cassie assured him.

Frank sighed in relief. "Good. Frank got them for his girlfriend. He doesn't want her to see them until they're perfect."

"Your girlfriend asked you to get pec implants?"

"No," he scoffed. "Frank's girlfriend joined a gym and got a trainer named Lars. What kind of name is that, Lars?"

"So you got fake pecs cause you're jealous of a guy with a fake name?" Izzie asked.

"God, you're annoying," Cassie mumbled under her breath, resulting in a glare from Alex who unfortunately heard her.

"My last girl friend, Leena, left me for a guy with hair, so I got plugs. This time, Frank's not taking any chances. Frank sees the signs of discontent, Frank's fighting back."

"I don't know. I just don't get the whole fake boob thing, no offense."

"He's fighting back," Cassie defended Frank. "I respect it."

"Thanks," he grinned. "And these are top of the line. They look real, they feel natural." Izzie had on a disbelieving expression. "No, really. Feel them. Feel them."

"Don't touch—"

Cassie was cut off by Izzie poking his pecs.

"Ooh. Very solid."

"And real."

"I don't know about that."

"Well, compare them to his," Frank said, pointing to Alex.

Alex raised his hands in surrender. "I'm not involved with this."

"Oh, don't be such a baby."

As Alex began to lift up his scrub top, Cassie's eyes widened drastically. "Okay, yeah, no. I'm not doing this."

The brunette left the room, bumping into Mark as she was leaving.

"What's going on in there?" he asked.

Cassie smirked mischievously. "Why don't you take a look?"

He walked in the room, and saw Izzie with one hand on each guy's chest. "This... this... is why I don't work with interns."

☆

"I mean, why bother to have a kid if you're only going to see it on weekends and holidays? Might as well just get a cat," Meredith said while the interns sat in the tunnels.

"I talked to Burke, I think he's fine," George said randomly.

Cristina perked up. "You did what?"

"What's wrong with Burke?" Cassie and Meredith asked in unison.

"Nothing's wrong with Burke," Cristina immediately denied.

"You know he let her decannulate a heart this morning?"

"You decannulated a heart this morning?" Meredith asked.

"Bitch," Cassie playfully scoffed.

"No, not by myself."

"Now she's lying about it."

"Yang decannulated a heart. Why is Alex not surprised?" Alex said in the third person.

"Izzie isn't either. Last week she was digging through crap, this week she's fondling man boobs. No decannulating hearts for Izzie," the blonde continued.

"Why are you lying about decannulating the heart?" Cassie asked confused.

"I didn't."

"Izzie and Alex do not believe you."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "What are you two doing?"

"We have a patient who speaks about himself in the third person," Cassie replied. "It makes Cassie want to stab herself with a scalpel."

"Izzie and Alex thought it was annoying at first, but now they kind of like it," Alex smiled.

"Good. Is it going to stop soon?"

"Wow, what happened?" Cristina asked. "This morning you were all bright and shiny, and asking to be kicked in the face."

Meredith scoffed. "I am. I'm bright. I'm shiny."

"Yeah, sure," Cassie said sarcastically.

"Izzie thinks this whole bright and shiny thing is getting kind of old."

"Alex agrees."

☆

"I thought the cancer was in my gut," George's dad, Harold, frowned at his two doctors. "What are we looking at my heart for?"

"Your EKG showed some abnormalities," Cristina answered.

"We just have to make sure that your heart is strong enough to support you through surgery," Cassie explained further, smiling kindly.

Harold smiled back at her. "You're smart girls."

"Yes," Cristina agreed, at the same time as Cassie said, "Thank you."

"George told me you were the best interns I could have on my case."

"He said that?"

"He said you two were the best interns in the whole hospital. You keep everyone on their toes, even him."

Cassie grinned and went to reply, but was cut off by the man doing his echo.

"Doctors, you're going to want to take a look at this."

☆

Later that day, George was sitting in the stairwell holding Cassie's hand, while Meredith and Izzie sat near them.

"They're going to try to operate soon. This week, I think. It's stage three metastatic cancer. And my brothers are... and uh... Callie slept with Sloan," he rambled. "I just can't— I can't deal with any of it. I spent the entire day worrying about Burke... there's nothing wrong with Burke. God, my dad has cancer, and I can't even look him in the face. Cassie had to tell him what was wrong."

"Nobody gets it right with their own family," Izzie said.

Meredith shrugged. "I certainly don't."

"My family is dropping dead like flies," Cassie smiled wryly.

Izzie avoided her gaze.

"Yeah."

"Callie slept with Sloan?" Izzie suddenly asked, causing Meredith to laugh and Cassie to roll her eyes. She noticed how she seemed to be doing that a lot lately.

George shook his head. "I don't get you people."

"Us with the boobs?" Meredith smirked. "We make a lot of bad decisions."

Cassie leant her head on George's shoulder, and he did the same on her head. "I'm here for you, you know."

"Yeah," he smiled down at her. "I know."

☆

"Okay, I know that your all bright and shiny today, but I need you to listen to my dark and twisty," Cassie sighed, sitting down at the nurses station next to Derek.

"What's wrong?" he frowned.

"George's dad has cancer. His dad, who he loves, and who loves him more than anything, has stage three metastatic cancer."

"That sucks."

"Yeah. It sucks." Cassie agreed, smiling to herself after a moment. "You know, George has two brothers? And like, twenty cousins."

"I wonder if you have any brothers or sisters or cousins out there," Derek mused.

"I've never met my dad, I mean I don't even know his name, so I wouldn't exactly be surprised."

"Do you ever think about it?" Derek asked. "Meeting him?"

Cassie instantly shook her head. "He left my mom when she was pregnant without a second thought. I don't want anything to do with that man." She sighed. "George's dad is good. He's a good person. I just... I really want him to be okay."

"You really care about George, don't you?" Derek asked.

Cassie smiled softly. "Yeah, I do."

"Hey Cass," Mark smiled, coming up to the pair.

"And that's my cue," Derek rolled his eyes while walking away.

"I was actually looking for you," Cassie said, looking up at her best friend.

"What's up?"

Cassie closed her chart and stood up. "I'm helping on George's dad's case, so I need off your service today. Sorry."

Mark placed his heart on his chest in mock hurt. "I'm offended. Watching a man's fluid output all day isn't good enough for you?"

"It's more the whole spending the day with a murderer thing," she grimaced, "but yeah, that too."

☆

Cassie watched as George stood in his dad's room with his brothers, visibly holding in his feelings for the sake of his family.

George stepped outside, his muscles loosening when he saw her standing there. "Hey, what are you doing? It's late, you should be home."

"I wanted to talk to you. About your dad."

"I appreciate it, I do," he said genuinely, "but honestly Cass, I can't think of anything you could say to make me feel better. My dad is dying. Simple as that."

"I'm not here to make you feel better." Cassie looked down for a moment, before meeting his eyes. "I watched my mom die from breast cancer, George. I watched her fade away right in front of me, and there was nothing I could do about it."

George bit the inside of his cheek, trying to keep his emotions in check.

"How did you—" he paused. "What do I do?"

She shrugged. "It's a lot to handle. All you can do, is be there. Just be there. Before and after his scans, during lunch, whenever you have a free moment. Because if he dies — and I'm not saying he will, but if he does — you'll look back on those last few days, and you'll regret it if you weren't there when they needed you."

George did his best to hold back his tears. "Yeah, it is." Cassie tilted her head in confusion. "A lot to handle."

Cassie wrapped him in a bone crushing hug.

"I will be here every step of the way, alright?" she whispered. "He's going to get through this. Everything is going to be okay."

They stayed in that position for a few minutes; George crying into her shoulder, and Cassie rubbing his back comfortingly.

"Wow. You really are McAngel."

Cassie pulled away from the hug and raised her brows. "Did you just call me McAngel?"

author's note —
i live for platonic halley!!!