CHAPTER EIGHT.
raindrops keep falling on my head

Vienna was drinking away her sorrows in Joe's bar when another one of the people she didn't want to see at the moment joined her. The two looked at each other, Meredith's face holding a mixture of anger and hurt. "Did you know?"

She sighed. "Okay, yes, but ━━ "

Before the blonde got a chance to finish her sentence, George and Cristina entered the bar. "All hail the champ!" Joe shouted, causing everyone in the to bar cheer, "So, my guy Alex finally got what was coming to him."

"George knocked him down in one punch." Cristina told him when they sat down next to the two blondes, "You should've seen it."

"I don't want to talk about it!" George exclaimed.

"Brag, champ, brag." Joe smiled, "You've earned it."

"Can I have a beer, please?"

"Let's play a game of whose life sucks the most." Meredith said dryly, "I'll win. I always win."

"No," Cristina denied, "You don't want to play with me."

Vienna silently and awkwardly played with the straw in her glass, eyes flickering between the two women. 

"I'll even go first." Meredith said, "Derek's married." George spat his beer out in surprise as Vienna choked on hers, not expecting her to be so forward. "And Vienna knew."

"George, beer is dripping from your nostrils." Cristina scoffed in disgust as she over exaggeratedly pat Vienna's back.

"Let me explain ━━ " Vienna attempted, only to be ignored and interrupted as George left to go to the bathroom to fix himself up.

"Told you I'd win."

Cristina shook her head, "No, you didn't win."

"Did you hear me? I said Derek is married." Meredith scoffed, "As in pigheaded, adulterous, liar married. Nothing you could say could top that."

"I'm pregnant." Cristina deadpanned as she drank a glass of water, ignoring Meredith and Vienna's shocked looks toward her, "I win."

"Holy shit." Vienna muttered, and as if on cue the sound of metal clashing together took their attention, and they looked over to see Joe had fallen over behind the bar.

"Maybe Joe wins."

The three women rushed over to him as Joe tried to get back up, prompting Cristina to tell him, "Joe, lie back down."

"The medics are coming." One of the bar patrons told him.

Joe groaned, "You called the gurney patrol?"

"Sit back and relax." Vienna told him, "We have to take you to the hospital to run some tests."

"Tests? I don't need tests." Joe complained, "I'm fine!"

"Dude, you collapsed! On the floor." Cristina exclaimed, "This is your bar. You know how filthy this floor is."

"Radial pulse is strong."

"Minor skull contusions." Vienna observed.

"You're sleeping with someone?" Meredith asked, looking at Cristina.

"What?" George questioned once he returned to the group, "Who?"

"Why is that such a shock?" Cristina fired back, "George managed to get some action. Vienna's probably sleeping with someone too."

The blonde in question ignored the raised eyebrows she was getting, silently asking if it were true or not.

"Correction." George interrupted, "George got some syphilis." He said dryly, causing Vienna to burst out into laughter.

"How could I not know, you were sleeping with someone?"

"Forget this," Joe said, once again trying to stand up.

"Joe!"

"The hospital is right across the street." He said through gritted teeth as he stood up, "I can sure as hell walk across the street by myself."

Vienna sighed, briefly looking at Meredith who was already staring back at her. "I'm gonna go with Joe."

♱

After she and Joe had arrived at the hospital, she'd taken him to get checked out by Derek, and she and the neurosurgeon were now standing in silence in an elevator together. Vienna's arms were folded across her chest as the attending hummed to himself.

"So, we're not going to address the elephant in the room?" Derek asked.

"We're not in a room."

The male sighed. "You know what I mean."

"Why is she here, Derek?" Vienna asked, turning toward him.

"A TTTS case. Apparently, Richard called her in."

The blonde frowned. "Right. . . Whatever. So she's leaving after the case?" Derek nodded. "Okay. We can tough out a few days of her being here. It'll be fine." She shrugged as the elevator came to a stop, the blonde getting off as Derek stayed on.

Vienna was at a nurse's desk with Izzie and George when she heard the voices of her friends nearing, looking up to see Cristina and Meredith who seemed to be having a serious conversation, mostly likely about the former's pregnancy, make their way toward them. This was the first time in the two months that she'd known them Vienna hadn't been included in the serious talks and she was currently hating it.

"Why are you back here tonight, don't you have a date with McDreamy?" Izzie asked Meredith.

"More like McMarried." George said under his breath.

Izzie gasped, sending a questioning look toward Vienna, "McWhat?"

"I came to check on Joe." Meredith said, ignoring them.

"You think he's gonna be ok?"

"You think he's gonna need an operation?" Cristina asked Vienna giddily.

"Operation, yes. Ok, hard to tell. Basilar artery's blown up like a balloon." The five interns heard behind them, turning to see Derek walking up to them, "Subarachnoid bleeding. Aneurysm the size of a golf ball."

"No way to clip something like that."

"Not without magic fingers." Cristina joked.

Derek nodded as he stopped next to Vienna, "Or a standstill operation."

"You're doing a standstill?" Cristina asked in disbelief, voice going a few octaves higher before she turned toward Vienna with a whisper as she slapped the woman's arm, "He's doing a standstill operation."

Vienna rolled her eyes, "I have ears."

"I'd like to try. First I need some additional patient history, overnight labs, and a cerebral angio." Derek says ignoring the death stares he's receiving from his now ex-girlfriend, as he attempts to hand Joe's chart to her.

"I'm drunk."

"Meredith ━━ " Derek attempted to get her attention, only for the blonde to walk away.

Vienna looked at him as she took the chart and cradled it against her chest, "You need to explain everything to her, she won't listen to me."

"Yeah, well, me neither apparently."

Derek attempted to follow after her but was stopped by Cristina and Izzie blocking his way. "McBastard."

The male sighed and continued walking only to be blocked again by George. Vienna opened Joe's chart and noticed Crisrina reading it over her shoulder, and decided to tilt it toward her so the woman could read it better.

"Ahem." Izzie coughed, trying to get their attention.

"What are you doing?" George asked, looking at the other two women.

"Uh, I am on her side, but we're talking a possible standstill here." Cristina shrugged, "Recognize."

Their eyes drifted to Vienna who shifted on her feet. "She'll forgive me. Probably."

♱

The next morning, the interns sat around the locker room, listening to Bailey give out their assignments for the day. "Ok, people, assignments. Yang, you're on discharges. O'Malley, Stevens, report to room E19. Grey and Clark, come see me, and who was on call last night?" Bailey asked as she handed Alex a stack of charts. "Sloppy, sloppy, sloppy. Redo these and return them to me before lunch, understood?"

"Understood."

"Karev, don't tempt me." Bailey deadpanned. Vienna and Meredith followed Bailey, the woman turning to them. "You two are popular today."

Vienna looked over at Meredith who avoided her eyes. "Meaning?"

"There's been a special request for you two." Vienna scoffed out a laugh, mumbling a small Oh my God. She had a pretty good idea of who had requested them and she was not looking forward to it. Bailey looked over her shoulder, "Problem, Clark?"

"Nope."

As they rounded a corner, Vienna sighed as she heard Satan's voice, "I was just checking to see if Dr. Burke secured the interns ━━ "

Meredith cut her off as she and Vienna approached Addison, Burke, and Derek. "Interns you requested? He did."

Derek turned to see the two women and looked at Addison with a disappointed look before looking at Burke who had a smug smile on his face as he walked off in one direction, Derek going in another which left Meredith and Addison staring at each other as Vienna stood awkwardly with her hands shoved in her scrub pockets.

The redhead finally shifted her gaze from Meredith, looking toward the woman she thought of as a younger sister. She grinned. "Vee. It's good to see you."

The blonde stared back at her with a dull look on her face. "I wish I could say the same."

Meredith looked over with a confused look as Addison's smile faltered, a slight pang in her heart at the younger woman's tone, one Vienna had never used with her.

The attending in pink scrubs cleared her throat, "Right. Let's go." She said, taking off down the hall without giving them a chance to respond. The interns followed after her, the hallway silent apart from the shuffling over their sneakers on the tile floor.

They were now in the patient that Addison had been called for's room, "Define TTTS." The attending told Meredith.

"Twin-twin transfusion syndrome. Conjoined fetal twins."

"Connected by?"

"Blood vessels in the placenta."

"Meaning?" Addison pushed, the room coming silent as Meredith hesitated, not knowing the answer. "Clark?"

Vienna huffed lowly, "One twin gets too much blood, the other too little, endangering the lives of both." The only reason Vienna knew that was because she practically lived with Addison and Derek when she wasn't in her dorm, and the redhead was always teaching her things regarding neonatal. Unfortunately for her, there were no Cardio or Ortho surgeons in their little clique back in New York.

Addison nodded. "Very good. I'd expect you to know that, Grey."

"They told me there wasn't much chance anything could be done." The patient, or really the patient's mom, Julie, spoke up.

The attending looked at her, "TTTS is usually impossible to correct. Unless you happen to be one of a handful of surgeons in the world who knows how to separate fetal blood vessels. Which, luckily for you, I am." She grinned. "So we're gonna get you into surgery tomorrow. If you have any questions at all please ask Dr. Clark or Dr. Grey. From what I have seen, Grey is one the hospital's most popular interns." Addison remarked before they moved into the hallway.

"Uncalled for," Vienna muttered to the redhead.

Meredith spoke up. "I could've answered your question had you given me the chance."

"Chin up, Grey. I'm this tough on everyone, not just the women my husband sleeps with. Order an ultrasound for her and pre-op labs in full." Vienna rolled her eyes, attempting to follow after Meredith only to be stopped by Addison who grabbed her elbow lightly. "Can we please just talk?"

Vienna stared at the hand on her elbow before looking back up at Addison. "We have an ultrasound machine to get."

After the two interns had retrieved the machine, they were back in Julie's room as Meredith poured gel onto her stomach, Vienna monitoring the screen.

"What does it take to go after another woman's husband?" Julie suddenly asked, looking at Meredith.

Meredith froze, briefly sending a glance to Vienna who was staring at Julie with an angry look. "Excuse me?"

"It happened to me. Jeff moved in with a long-legged miniskirt who answered his phones, three weeks into my pregnancy. By the way, that gel is really cold."

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry about your husband."

"Are you sorry about Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd's husband?" Julie pushed as Vienna aggressively typed information into the computer.

"Okay ━━ " Vienna began, fed up with the woman already. Honestly, if it wasn't going to her fired and possibly sued or jailed, Vienna would have hit her.

Meredith interrupted her with a shake of her head, "We're going to be checking a few things today."

"I bet she asked to work with you. It's what I would have done."

Vienna grinned fakely. "You know, Julie? We're all done here. Excuse us while we go check on your labs."

The two interns now stood in an uncomfortable silence as they waited for Julie's pre-op labs. The younger blonde rocked back and forth on her feet as she clicked the button of a ballpoint pen repeatedly.

"Can you stop that?" Meredith asked abruptly, Vienna pursing her lips as she shoved the pen into her pocket.

"My bad."

They stood in another awkward silence for a few more moments before Meredith spoke again. "What's the deal with you and She-Shepherd?"

Vienna looked at her, "She-Shepherd?"

"Addison."

"Yeah, I got that. And there's no deal."

Meredith grabbed the labs from the tech in front of them before the two moved to walk away. "So, she's your old friend from New York. Why aren't you excited to see her?"

"You should talk to Derek first," Vienna rubbed her palm against her neck as they walked to the elevator. "If I tell you what happened between me and her, it also tells you what happened between her and Derek. It's not my place."

Meredith let it go for the time being, as they looked at the labs. "Do you see that?" She pointed at one of them, "That doesn't look right, does it?"

"Nope," The younger blonde agreed. "We have to get Addison. She'll know what it is."

On their way to the elevator, they passed George talking to himself, Meredith stopping briefly. "What are you doing here?"

"Well. . ."

"Come on, O'Malley. Out with it."

George sighed. "Okay. Can you think of any reason, any reason at all, really, why Cristina would be kissing Burke?"

Vienna and Meredith shared a look with each other, the younger blonde scoffing before leaving without a word, continuing her path to the elevator. Meredith stared at George for a moment longer, before she followed after Vienna.

The elevator doors then dinged open, the two blondes looking to see Cristina inside. They stepped in and pressed their floor before standing in silence until Meredith broke it.

"After all this time. All your warnings about me sleeping with my boss, and you're doing the same exact thing?"

Cristina shook her head. "It's not the same."

"It's the exact ━━ "

"No, it's not. You and McDreamy are in a relationship."

Vienna scoffed, "And what are you and Burke are in?"

"Switzerland. It's very neutral there. And they make very nice watches."

Vienna rolled her eyes. Cristina wasn't wrong about the watches. The one she was wearing at the moment was actually a Swiss brand. Cartier, to be specific. She'd gotten it as a gift when she was back in New York. It had a black leather band, the frame being rose gold and rectangular, with a black watch face, the Roman numerals and clock hands being in the same rose gold as the frame.

As a surgeon, she probably shouldn't be wearing something as expensive as that watch to work, but it was one of her most prized possessions, so she was going to wear it no matter what.

"Have you even bothered to tell Burke about the baby?" Meredith asked. "Are you going to?"

"Look, Meredith, can we not go there?" Cristina pleaded. "Can everyone just accept the fact that there are some things I like to keep to myself? I don't discuss everything to death."

"Well, why even confide in me at all ━━ If you're so intent on not discussing it? Why even tell me?" Meredith asked as the elevator came to a stop on their floor, the woman exiting as soon as possible.

Vienna hung back for a few seconds, "Just so you know, I don't think there's a problem with you not discussing everything. I get it," She nodded. "There's a lot of things from my past I don't talk about it. So, if you ever need anything you know where to find me." She grinned, sending awkward finger guns to Cristina before catching up with Meredith.

"Dr. Shepherd." Meredith interrupted the two who were in a heated conversation as the interns approached them.

Addison and Derek both looked at them and spoke at the same time: "Yes?"

Vienna snorted in amusement as the male Shepherd gave Addison a look. "Labs confirm what look like abnormalities on the ultrasound. I think you should come and see for yourself."

"Fine. Let's go." She said, taking the labs from Vienna and storming down the hallway, not even caring to look back at the interns.

"See. Bilateral pleural effusion with evidence of subQ edema." Meredith informed Addison as the redhead and Vienna stood by the ultrasound.

Julie looked between the women. "In English, please?0

"We've detected what looks like beginning heart failure in the twins. Don't be alarmed." Addison informed her.

"Are my babies gonna be ok?"

"I'm gonna go ahead and take you into surgery now. We're not gonna wait." The attending told Julie before turning to Meredith and Vienna. "Book the OR. Move."

Vienna scoffed and muttered under her breath. "Jackass."

"What was that, Dr. Clark?" Addison asked as they left the room.

"Nothing, Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd." Vienna smiled sweetly, following Meredith.

♱

After Julie's surgery, the three women were back in her room. Addison smiled at her, "See? Just a small scar."

"And my babies?"

"Your babies are doing very well. Dr. Grey and Dr. Clark will be back to check on you a little bit later."

Julie looked at the redhead, "Actually, I'd prefer it if Dr. Grey were taken off the case."

"Why, is there a problem?"

Julie shrugged. "Just reminds me of someone I don't like very much. Someone my husband likes a lot. Particularly in lingerie. You understand."

Addison laughed confusedly, "No, no, I don't understand."

"Well, she's sleeping with your husband, right?"

Addison sighed as she walked back over to the patient. "Ms. Philips, I lack Dr. Grey's class and patience so, let me set the record straight. My husband didn't cheat on me, I cheated on him. So the wronged woman here, Dr. Grey. So, I think you owe her one hell of an apology." She finished before leaving the room to let Meredith and Julie think about what she'd just admitted.

Vienna left the room behind Addison and sat on a stray gurney in one of the hallways. She blew air out of her mouth, running her hands through her hair. She'd been sitting there for about ten minutes when Bowie happened to walk by and noticed her, a grin taking over his face.

"Vienna," He greeted. "You alright?"

She forced a smile, "Fine. Just ━━ an old friend from New York is here. She had me on a neonatal case with her all day." She groaned. "I just want to be on Cardio, but Burke always has Cristina or George. Freakin George." She complained.

"Why don't you just ask him to put you on his service?"

Vienna scoffed. "He's like Chief now. He's not going to listen to what I have to say."

Bowie shook his head. "You won't know until you try. I say go for it. Ask him to mentor you."

"Yeah. . . Yeah, whatever. I'll ask tomorrow," She said bashfully.

"Yeah! Stick it to the man," He grinned, holding up a fist. Vienna laughed at his dorkiness, pushing him away slightly. "So about this friend of yours, do I get to meet them?"

Vienna sighed. "Well, knowing my luck, she's probably going to appear out of thin air."

And just like that, Addison rounded the corner, eyes landing on the duo sitting on the gurney. The redhead grinned, looking at them. She stuck her hand out to Bowie, "I'm Addison Shepherd. I don't believe we've met."

"Called it," Vienna muttered to herself.

He grinned back, "Bowie Warren. We were just talking about you."

"Dude!" Vienna said in disbelief.

"What's your specialty?" He asked her.

Addison smiled, "Neonatal and OB/GYN."

"Double board certified. Nice," Bowie complimented.

Vienna dragged her hands down her face in despair, practically being a spectator as her ex-friend and her. . . sex buddy? ━━ spoke to each other.

"So, are you two. . .?" Addison trailed off, a finger pointing between the two.

Vienna stuttered, "Uh ━━ We're. . . We're ━━ "

"Well, we're not not exactly dating but um. . ." Bowie trailed off, the two sharing a look.

The redhead nodded, "Got it."

Addison knew now, and it was probably going to make its way back to New York when she left and Vienna was not ready for that.

"Well, my shift is over," Vienna said quickly as she stood up. "Bye, Bowie!"

She made her way to Joe's not long after that Addison Bowie situation, and Meredith entered a few minutes after her and took a seat, but left a two-chair gap in between them. "He told me."

The young blonde looked over. "Derek told you?"

She nodded. "He told me that Addison cheated on him with Mark, who was his best friend and your boyfriend."

Vienna hummed, twirling the straw in her glass. "Okay."

"I'm sorry that happened to you." Meredith admitted, moving over one spot so that there was one gap in between them.

Vienna shrugged. "He's in the past."

The two then drank in a comfortable silence until Cristina entered, sitting down in between them. "The clinic has a policy. They wouldn't let me confirm my appointment unless I designated an emergency contact person."

Cristina sighed, "Someone to be there, just in case, and to help me home, you know, after. Anyway, I put both your names down. That's why I told you two I'm pregnant. You're my people."

"We are?" The other two women ask in unison.

"Yeah, you are." Cristina shrugged, "Whatever."

"Whatever."

"Whatever," Vienna repeated, smiling at the two fondly.

"He dumped me." Cristina muttered, causing Meredith to lay her head on the woman's shoulder and wrap an arm around her, Vienna also letting her head fall on her opposite shoulder. "You realize this constitutes hugging?"

"Shut up." Meredith smiled, "We're your people."

♱ word count 3633