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SIGN OF THE TIMES

"𝐖𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧 𝐦𝐞𝐞𝐭 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞,
𝐬𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐟𝐚𝐫 𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞."

season one, episode eight.

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AURORA STANDS NEXT TO DEREK AS HE WAS EXAMINING A PATIENT WHO CAME INTO THE E.R. She was just watching as he lifted the patients leg up, he had came in, telling them that he felt paralysis in his lower regions. "Okay, Mr Walker. Does that hurt?" Derek asks as he rolls the device up the man's leg. The patient seemed to not feel any sensation though.

"I can't feel anything until you get to my thigh." He tells them and Derek nods his head as he stands back a bit. Aurora furrows her eyebrow, wondering what could have caused this sudden loss of movement.

"Try wiggling your toes." Derek says as he looks down at the man's toes but they don't move in the slightest.

"Are they moving?" The patient asks curiously but Derek just shakes his head with a sigh.

"No."

"I could like ten minutes ago." He adds, but Aurora knew how fast something like this could happen.

"Well, your spine x rays look clear." Derek tells him as the scan didnt really show that anything was wrong. "You fell rock climbing?" He questions curiously as he looks at his patient.

"In Snohomish, just a small drop. I was delayed. My wife and boys are on the way." The patient explains to them as he just lays in the gurney, unable to move. "What's wrong with me anyway?" He asks as Derek circles the bed. He lifts the man's legs for a second.

"Hold your legs up." Derek states but as soon as he wasn't helping, the legs dropped down onto the bed.

"Should I be scared now?" He asks them but it always better to not overstress the patient because that could cause problems of their own.

"Just try to relax." Derek tells him before turning to the nurse that was also in the room with them. "Nurse. I need a stat M.R.I. Send an intern with him. Make It Meredith Grey." He states which causes Aurora to just stare at him with a confused look on her face.

"What about me?" Aurora asks, placing her hands on her hips. Derek just glances at her, letting out a sigh.

"Burke requested you." He tells her and he could see the immediate dissatisfaction from her. "I'm sure you'll learn a few things from him." Derek adds as he picks up the chart in his hand. Aurora just bites the inside of her cheek as she glances down towards the ground.

"Hm."

"You can't always be on neuro cases." Derek points out, as much as she may want to, it was not always possible to do it. Aurora just looks at him, raising an eyebrow at the attending.

"I can, if you choose me first." She points out, knowing Derek could easily just put her on his service. Derek chuckles but shakes his head.

"Aurora, you have to learn other specialities too." He tells her, she was an intern, she didn't really get to pick her speciality yet.

"I do, why can't I favour neuro?" Aurora easily learned things from each specialty but she didn't necessarily want to. Neuro was the one and only thing that spoke to her.

"You can, but not today." Derek states, there was nothing he could do since Burke already put her with him.

"Fine, be like that." Aurora replies with a large huff. Derek just smiles lightly, glancing down at his chart.

"How's your brother been settling in?" Derek asks, not really having the time to ask the man himself. But Aurora's expression turns sour as she shrugs her shoulders.

"How should I know?" She asks, her voice hostile which catches Derek a bit off guard.

"Is there a problem?" Derek questions, his eyes moving back to her.

"Everything is just dandy." Aurora replies as she forced a smile onto her face that Derek already knew was fake. "Can I go now?" She asks, not even waiting for an answer as she turns to walk down the hall, away from Derek.

"You know, usually you don't give this much attitude to an attending."  He calls out after her, but Aurora just smirks back at him before disappearing behind the corner.

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AS AURORA MAKES HER WAY TOWARDS BURKE WHO WAS STANDING OUTSIDE A PATIENT ROOM, she knew she had to lose the scowl on her face before he said something about it. She stops beside him and he only glances towards her for a moment before looking back in the room where George was seemingly trying to intubate a patient. "Why did you request me?" Aurora asks, not knowing why out of everyone, he decided to ask for her.

"Because I can." Burke simply responds causing Aurora to narrow her eyes. Why did he have to be so vague and stoic all the time? Burke seemed to get impatient with what George was doing so he makes his way into the room.

"Are you trying to kill my patient, O'malley?" Burke asks him as the man frantically looks towards him. "Maybe we should send you back to practice on mannequins." He suggests as Aurora walks behind him. George seemed embarrassed that he couldn't put the tube in.

"No, it's just I haven't done this much." George responds, although Burke didn't seem like the type of attending to accept excuses. "But when I have it's-- it's been good." He says but Burke just gestures for him to move out of the way.

"Let's review the concepts." Burke says before looking over at Aurora. "Kenley." He says, motioning for her to take over. She does what he says, taking the tube and beginning to intubate the patient. "Never take your eyes away. Always- always know you can follow through." Burke states as he watches Aurora as she precisely gets the tube down.

"Don't even follow through on one of my patients, O'malley." Alex denies as he had his arms crossed over his chest. George only glares at him as Aurora finishes intubating the patient.

"You could learn a few things from Doctor Kenley, O'Malley." Burke states as he narrows his eyes before exiting the room. Aurora sends George a apologetic look as she goes to follow after Burke.

"So, you're on Burkes service too?" Alex asks as he walks beside the woman who scrunched up her nose is dismay.

"Unfortunately. " Aurora answers him with a sigh, trying to just focus on where they were going. Of course she was paired with Alex, the universe wanted to torment her.

"Don't try to steal my thunder." Alex states as he could already see how all the attendings  were taking a liking to Aurora so the rest of them were going to get pushed into the mud

"Oh, sweetheart. I don't even have to try." She replies with a smirk playing on her lips. It wasn't her fault that the attendings saw how good she was, she practiced, unlike others.

"Cockiness doesn't suit you." Alex tells her with a scoff, shaking his head. Aurora just raises an eyebrow at the man.

"Says the narcissistic asshole." Aurora retorts, he wasn't exactly a ray of sunshine himself. At least people actually liked her, he had a whole different story.

"I'm the ass? You can't talk." Alex denies, crossing his arms against his chest.

"I am a gem." Aurora tells him as she places her hand on her chest. Alex rolls his eyes, snorting.

"You wish."

"Whatever,  I don't care what you think." Aurora says as she shrugs her shoulders. Alex only smirks as he tilts his head a bit, both of them walking down the stairs.

"People who say that usually do care." Alex points out which makes Aurora narrow her eyes, clearly annoyed by him.

"Just shut up." She tells him, walking a bit faster so that he didn't continue talking to her. "Jesus christ." Aurora mutters as she catches up with Burke who was practically miles ahead of them.

After they got to the patient room and Burke explained the procedure to Esther, it started a huge argument since apparently she couldn't accept the pig valve that they were going to have to use. The parents were trying to convince her but it didn't seem like she was changing her mind.

Aurora glances towards Doctor Burke who didn't really have much else to contribute to the conversation. "You know how important this is to me." Esther complains as she glares at her parents who didn't really know what else to do.

"This is about saving your life." Esther's mom tells her, only for Esther to shake her head.

"And you're not respecting it -- or me." Esther points out as she crosses her arms against her chest. "You're letting them put a pig -- a non kosher traif animal into my chest, into my heart. The very essence of my being." She states, angry at the fact her parents were trying to force her to do this.

"It's a porcine valve, actually--" Alex tried to correct but Esther just glares over at him.

"I don't care what the hell it is. If you give me a pig part, I might as well be dead." Esther snaps at them and Aurora raises her eyebrows. She understood having religious beliefs until it came down to medical care, if you aren't going to accept something that will save your life, why did you even come to the hospital?

"I told you this whole orthodox thing was a mistake. What was so wrong about being reform like everyone else?" Esther's dad asks with a small scoff as he stares at his daughter.

"You guys don't even light candles Friday night. You don't even know all the Passover plagues." Esther tells them, seemingly just getting more upset by the minute.

"Boils, vermin, pestilence, even I know that." Alex says with a small chuckles. Aurora just glares up at him, he wasn't helping the situation in the slightest.

"Miss Friedman, I appreciate your extreme religious convictions. Simply put, without this procedure, you will die." Burke explains to her, knowing this was a thought decision but there wasn't much else that they could do for her.

"You're hot shot doctors. You can think of something else. As long as it doesn't answer to Wilbur and say 'oink', I don't care what it is." Esther states, clearly done with the conversation as she just turns away from the doctors.

Aurora honestly admired her confidence and perseverance but if they couldn't think of another valve to give her, she wouldn't make it much longer.

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AURORA SAT NEXT TO CRISTINA AND MEREDITH AT THE NURSE'S STATION, all of them just trying to take some much needed rest while they could. Although she wanted this life, Aurora forgot how much being an intern was all of the grunt work that was pushed onto them by residents and attendings. "If that's turkey, can I have some?" George asks as he walks over to the women, pointing to the sandwich that was sitting in front of Cristina.

Kicking her foot forward, Aurora tries to push the chair away from an incoming Alex but she was too late and groaned when he sat down. "It's soggy." Cristina replies to him as she just had her chin rested in the palm of her hand.

"Maybe it'll kill you, solve everything." Alex suggests as he glances over towards George. Aurora rolls her eyes, a scoff leaving her lips as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"Praying won't work, trust me. Otherwise you would be six feet under by now." Aurora points out, no matter how much she's hoped he would be out of her life for good, he just comes weaseling his way back.

"Why would I ever leave when I can annoy you for the rest of my life?" Alex asks her, giving a fake smile as he tilts his head back in order to look at Aurora.

"Let's hope your life is short lived." She replies as she pushes his forehead causing him to move back into his seat.

"I could've gotten that intubation, I am good at intubations." George mumbles, still thinking about how he couldn't intubate the patient when Burke was watching him.

"Everyone has off days, George." Aurora replies with a sigh, sometimes it just wasn't your day, or you just simply miss a step. It can happen to anyone.

"Not you, you're good at everything." George retorts with a frown. Aurora smiles gently, honestly feeling proud that he thinks that. But it obviously wasn't helping his mood.

"Why does everything in a hospital, smell like a hospital?" Meredith asks them with a sigh as she crosses her arms against her chest. Aurora looks up at the woman, raising her eyebrow.

"Because we're in a hospital?" She answers which causes Meredith to narrow her eyes.

"I hadn't noticed." Meredith responds, shaking her head as she nudges the girl. Aurora just smiles before glancing back towards George.

"Don't be so hard on yourself, George. Everybody makes mistakes." Izzie tells him, trying to cheer him up.

"I'm good at a lot of things." He states, stating it like it was an obvious fact. Aurora just furrows her eyebrow as she rests her head in her hands.

"Hey, George, you need to get laid." Cristina tells him as she looks around the room. "You see that nurse over there? She's single. She's got red hair. Go ask her out." She states as she gestures to the nurse. Aurora laughs as she shakes her head.

"In case you forgot, I intubated an esophagus." George points out bluntly which makes Alex groan.

"Dude, you're tweaking. Maybe you should go see that psychic." He suggests as he gets up from his chair. Izzie didn't seem to like his comment too much.

"Mr Duff is not a psychic!" Izzie shouts towards him but Alex just ignores her, kicking Auroras seat.

"Come on, Blondie." Alex says as he grabs her arm, pulling her up from the chair. She just rips her arm from his grasp, an unhappy expression on her face.

"Ew, don't touch me." She sneers as she could feel his arms wrap around her arms.

"What, you don't like it?" Alex asks, purposefully holding her against him, pressing his chin into the side of her head. Aurora groans as she tries to push him away multiple times. Alex just laughs as he Let's her go, smirking before walking in front of her.

✿︎

ALEX WAS EXPLAINING TO ESTHER HOW HER CONDITION WAS GETTING WORSE, but it didn't seem like it was going to change her mind. "Your mitral regurge is getting worse. The valves are leakier than ever." He tells her as he wipes away the gel from the ultra sound. Esther narrows her eyes, a small smile on her face.

"Are you hitting on me?" Esther asks him which causes Aurora to glance up from the chart she was holding in her hand. Alex chuckles as he leans down towards Esther for a moment.

"If you want me to." He teases with a smirk. Aurora rolls her eyes, shaking her head.

"Trust me, you don't." She warns the girl, not wanting her to fall victim to Alex's wrath. Esther smiles as she looks between the two doctors.

"I hear they call you doctor evil spawn." Esther had heard quite a few things while being holed up in the bed.

"Well, only the people that like me." Alex corrects her making Aurora snort as she looks towards the man.

"I think you're misreading that." Aurora says, barely anyone in the hospital could even tolerate him, let alone like him.

"Oh, please. You totally love me." He responds with a smirk as he moves towards the woman who holds her out her hand to stop him.

"Never in a million years." Aurora retorts as she glares at the man. Alex crosses his arms against his chest as he raises his eyebrows.

"So, technically you will love me one day." He points out causing Aurora to let out a groan, tilting her head back for a moment.

"It's not even possible to live for a million years, idiot." Aurora states as she places a hand on her hip. Esther was just watching the interaction, a small laugh leaving her.

"You two argue a lot." Esther points out, it seemed whenever they came to examine her, they always got into fights about something, even if it was meaningless.

"She always starts it." Alex tells her as he points towards Aurora. The woman was becoming fed up with the man, hating being on the same case as him.

'You are so annoying."  She mumbles as she rolls her eyes. Aurora turns and walks out of the room, deciding to go do something that was anywhere other than in that room. Esther watches the woman leave before her eyes move back to Alex.

"I guess that explains the lack of faith thing." She points out and Alex just looks down at her, raising an eyebrow at Esther.

"You know, I kind of think of myself as a pagan, but, hey, that's just me." Alex responds but Esther just seemed to be in a dim mood now. Her eyes move down to her hands.

"You know what it's like being a teenager these days? My friends spend most of their time screwing around and getting wasted. But at least I have god." Esther explains to him as she fiddles with her fingers. Alex furrows his eyebrows as he crosses his arms against his chest.

"Well, so, god wants you to die, huh?" Alex questions, that was basically what she was saying, at least in his mind.

"He wants me to be passionate about what I believe in. You don't believe in anything." Esther states as she narrows her eyes at him.

"My mother used to pray to saint Jude for me." Alex tells her making Esther laugh slightly.

"How appropriate, patron saint of lost causes." Esther says as she bites the inside of her cheek. "I heard whenever you're constantly mean to someone, it just means you like them." She points out which really catches Alex's attention. His eyes move from Esther to the door, it was clear who she was talking about.

"I like Aurora? Maybe when hell freezes over." Alex mumbles with a scoff, shaking his head. He would rather speak to his father than be friends with Aurora, and that was saying something.

"You two definitely are into each other." Esther states as she nods her head firmly. Alex just stared at her for a moment, narrowing his eyes.

"I think your leaky valve is affecting your ability to think straight." Alex points out as he just Let's out a sigh. He turns to exit the room, trying not to think about what Esther said.

✿︎

AURORA WAS LAID ON THE GURNEY WITH CRISTINA, barely able to keep her eyes open. She was practically sleepwalking now because of how tired she was. Aurora never realized just how exhausting it was being an intern. She couldnt wait to become a resident. "You look tired." Cristina points out as she looks at the blonde. Aurora groans as she brings her hands up to rub her face.

"Burke had me running around doing his post-ops, I'm exhausted." Aurora states as she rests against the wall. Cristina scrunched up her nose.

"At least you got to scrub in on the surgery." She says, crossing her arms against her chest.

"I guess." Aurora responds, Alex of all people had found a way to do the surgery without using the pig valve. She wasn't that impressed, if she looked it up herself, she would've found it herself.

"If it's not a neuro surgery, she doesn't care." Alex points out making Aurora look towards him, clenching her jaw.

"And how would you know that?" She asks him, raising an eyebrow at the man.

"I may not care but I do still have ears and eyes, you know." Alex points out, it wasn't a mystery that Aurora was wanting to go into neurosurgery,  practically the whole hospital knew that.

"Like you ever use them." She grumbles with a scoff. Why did he pay attention to her but not anything else that goes on in this hospital.

"I tried to talk Shepherd out of that clot surgery, what is wrong with me?" Meredith says, almost to herself as she had just been sitting in her self wallow the whole time.

"Basically, you tried to kill the guy." Alex states making Aurora slap his arm. He just narrows his eyes at her.

"Basically, you're an ass." Cristina retorts with a scoff and Aurora raises her eyebrows.

"That's nothing new." She says, seeing the annoyed expression that forms on Alex's face.

"You don't have to comment on everything."

"Says you who butts  his head into everything that doesn't involve him."  Aurora replies, he had more opinions than her, most of which were complete and utter bullshit.

"You know you want it. Come to papa, baby." Alex says with a smirk on his face but Aurora just gives him a disgusted expression, practically shivering.

"Gross." She mutters, shaking her head. George walks towards the group, stopping in front of them.

"This is George, George has a hot date." He tells them as they all glance over AR the man. Aurora raises an eyebrow at him, she didn't think he'd actually go through with it.

"Oh, that's great, George." Meredith says as she gives him a light smile.

"Yeah."

"The redhead nurse?" Aurora asks him curiously and George mods his head.

"Left pocket of my lab coat, Georgie." Alex says as he gestures towards it.  "No glove, no love." He states which makes Aurora groan, a bit grossed out by the saying, mainly because it was coming from him.

"Seriously?" She asks, scrunched her nose up. Alex just looks over at her with a smirk, shrugging his shoulders.

"Just because you're not getting any, doesn't mean you have to hate on everyone else." Alex points out. Aurora just rolls her eyes at the man.

"I get plenty, thank you very much." Aurora retorts, she had a very healthy sex  life, not that it was any of his business.

"My psychic had his surgery." Izzie tells them as she sits against the gurney.

"Oh, yeah?" Aurora just wanted the conversation to move away from Alex.

"I wonder what happened with his.. gift." Izzie asks as she fiddles with her fingers.

"Come on, we all know he's crazy." Cristina states as she shakes her head. There was no way he was predicting things that were going to happen.

"I thought you said you didn't believe in that stuff." Meredith asks as she raises her eyebrows over at izzie. The girl shrugs her shoulders, a sigh leaving her lips.

"I grew up in a trailer park. I waited tables which was supposed to put me through college, but my mother was always calling these psychics all the time. And then the bills started piling up so I had to use my money to pay them, when I turned eighteen I left and never looked back." Izzie explains to them causing Aurora to frown slightly. She knew how privileged she had grown up, and sometimes forgot that others didnt have that. "But this guy' has been saying things to me -- things he couldn't possibly know anything about. So... I just wonder." She admits as she shrugs her shoulders.

"Maybe we can ask if he can predict how long Alex will last in the program." Aurora suggests, raising her eyebrows as she turns her head to alex. "Oh, wait. I think we already know that answer." She says with a smirk on her lips. Alex scoffs as he flips her off.

"Your brother likes me better anyways so he is definitely keeping me here." Alex points out causing Aurora to roll her eyes. Daniel and her may be arguing but thar did not mean he liked Alex more.

"That is not true." Aurora denies, crossing her arms against her chest. Alex just smirks as he starts to back away from her.

"The attitude you were giving him tells a different story."

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