✿︎
MATILDA
"𝑵𝒐𝒕𝒉𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒂𝒃𝒐𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒂𝒚 𝒕𝒉𝒂𝒕 𝒚𝒐𝒖
𝒘𝒆𝒓𝒆 𝒕𝒓𝒆𝒂𝒕𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒗𝒆𝒓 𝒔𝒆𝒆𝒎𝒆𝒅 𝒆𝒔𝒑𝒆𝒄𝒊𝒂𝒍𝒍𝒚
𝒂𝒍𝒂𝒓𝒎𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝒕𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝒏𝒐𝒘."

season two, episode seven.

✿︎

AURORA WAS STOOD WITH THE GROUP AS THEY LISTENED TO BURKE TALK ABOUT HIS PATIENT. She made sure to be early today and also do some of Baileys charting for her, just to get back on the womans good side. She didnt know if it was appreciated, but Bailey hadnt put her on scut which was a good sign. "You're late." Izzie says from beside her. Aurora furrows her eyebrows but when she glances up, she notices Alex had just entered the room.

She didn't even notice that he wasn't there. She should've though by the way she hadn't been annoyed since she's been here. 'Yes, Karev. Nice of you to join us." Burke says, glancing at the man, clearly not impressed. His eyes then move over to Cristina. "Why keep the heart beating, Doctor Yang?" He asks the woman, raising an eyebrow at her. Cristina stays silent for a moment.

"I don't know." She tries to get out, it paining her to do so. Aurora was surprised as she looks at Cristina but she noticed how izzie was looking at her.

"What?" Bailey asks, confused on why Cristina wasn't answering the question.  Cristina clears her throat, rubbing her hands together.

"I have no idea." She denies, shaking her head. Bailey was staring at her, or more like glaring as she narrowed her eyes.

"Oh, I don't know either. I just don't." Izzie states, looking down at the ground. Aurora didn't know why they were purposely not answering but it seemed they were pissing Bailey off in the process.

"Because of.. ow." Meredith cuts herself off as Izzie had kicked her in the leg. "What?" She mumbles toward the women. Aurora shakes her head, not really wanting to be apart of their plan.

"Anyone else?" Burke asks, looking around the room. His eyes were going to go to Aurora when Alex spoke up.

"Stress reduction because of the previous surgeries--" Alex starts to say but Burke just cuts him off.

"O'Malley."

"I know-- I know the answer." Alex points out, furrowing his eyebrows. Burke didn't seem all too happy with him though.

"I'm asking O'Malley." Burke states slowly before his eyes just land on George. Aurora snorts, smirking to herself. She could feel Alex's glare on her but she just ignores him.

"Scar tissue's too deep. The heart's too weak to start up again, so you only immobilize the portion you're working on and you leave the rest of the heart on its own." George answers, giving izzie and Cristina a confused look.

"Welcome to the case." Burke says, handing the chart over to George who instantly smiles.

"Thank you." He responds before the group make their way out of the room. Aurora rubs her face as she sees Alex move to talk to Bailey.

"That isn't fair and you know it. He's punishing me for the elevator." Alex says, crossing his arms against his chest.

"He's punishing you because you were late for rounds. You wanna tell me why you were late?" Bailey asks him, raising an eyebrow at him. Aurora noticed the shift in his demeanor as he just shakes his head. "Doctor Shepherd needs somebody on his nerve case, take Aurora and go." She says with a sigh, gesturing down the hall.

Auroras eyes widen as she hears her name. "Why am I always with him?" She asks, groaning slightly as she looks at Bailey. The woman just meets her gaze, narrowing her eyes.

"You weren't the other day, now were you?" Bailey questions her, referring to the day that Alex was stuck in the elevator.

"Well, no but--"

"No buts. Go." Bailey demands, pointing in front of her. Aurora doesn't budge though.

"Doctor Bailey,  can I please get assigned anything else?" She pleads, she'd honestly rather do anything else. She loved neuro but not when she was with Alex.

"Am I not doing you a favour by putting you on Doctor Shepherd's service? Suck it up. You can withstand Karev for a few hours." Bailey snaps at her with a slight glare. Aurora sighs, begrudgingly starting to make her way down the hall.

They had gotten to the elevator, neither of them really saying anything. When it dings, the doors opening, they step inside and unfortunately there was no one else on it. Aurora just slowly moves her eyes to Alex for a moment, biting the inside of her cheek. "So, you were late." She mutters, breaking the silence between them.

"You were late the other day." Alex retorts with a shrug of his shoulders. Aurora just glances back away from him.

"I guess." Aurora responds, crossing her arms. "Thinking of dropping out?" She asks, although she knew she wasn't that lucky.

"In your dreams." He tells her with a snort, smirking down at her.

"Come on, face it, Alex. You're not good enough to be here." Aurora retorts, meeting his gaze. Alex just rolls his eyes a little bit.

"Better than you."

"Now, we both know that's not true." Aurora says, laughing underneath her breath, shaking her head.

"Why don't you go to the pit and leave me with this case?" Alex suggests, hating how Bailey always put them together. Maybe it was on purpose, maybe it was just bad luck.

"Then I can't annoy you for the rest of the day." Aurora says as she tilts her head. Alex clenches his jaw a bit, narrowing his eyes.

"How's your boyfriend?" He asks, knowing it would get underneath her skin which it did.

"You don't get to talk about him." She snaps back at him with a harsh glare set on her face.

"Because I'm right?"

"Because you're you."

"Would he get mad by how close I'm standing to you? Or ooh, that we got assigned the same case?" Alex questions as he takes a step closer to her. Aurora scoffs as she shoves him back.

"You're such an ass." She hisses at him, anger flooding her veins. Alex just leans down toward her.

"At least I'm not an abusive ass." Alex responds before heading out of the elevator which doors just opened. Aurora follows after him, roughly grabbing his arm to pull him to a halt.

"He is not abusive and I don't know where you get the nerve to accuse somebody of something like that but I do not appreciate it. So, why don't you mind your own goddamn business for once and leave me and my relationship alone." She states, practically seething as she stared up at him. Alex didnt look the slightest bit affected by her words, just standing with his arms crossed. "And for the record, you are a fucking idiot." Aurora snaps before turning and heading to the patient room.

Alex just lets out a sigh as he follows her, both of them walking into the room, gaining Derek's attention. "Aurora, Karev, I have both of you today?" Derek asks them as he looks at the pair. He truly thought that Bailey was trying to punish him because Alex and Aurora almost always fought with one another.

"Unfortunately." Aurora mumbles as she crosses her arms against her chest.

"You familiarized yourselves with the case?" He questions, looking back toward his patient. Alex shakes his head.

"Didn't get time." Alex responds and Derek just acknowledged it for a moment before focusing back on Nicole.

"Now, Nicole you've been having problems with spasticity?" Derek asks them. Nicole turns her head to the woman standing next to her.

"Mom?"

"She says the spasms make her legs dance." The mother answers for her. Derek just nods his head slowly.

"We just wanted to make things a little easier for her. She starts college this fall." The father adds as Aurora just looks at them.

"Seattle Community. They're right down the street from us." The woman answers, smiling down at Nicole who puts a forced smile on hers.

"Not that she wouldn't have her pick of school's out of state." The father adds and the mother shakes her head.

"But, she's not ready for that yet."

"What, not because she's in a wheelchair?" Alex asks, raising his eyebrows. Aurora glares over at him, scoffing underneath her breath.

"Has Doctor Ostfield mentioned something called cystoplasty?" Derek asks the parents who just stayed silent. "No? It's an operation to enlarge Nicole's bladder. It creates an opening called a stoma. It's improved the quality of life in a lot of my paralysis patients." He tells them but it seemed that they weren't really for it.

"We toyed with the idea a few years ago." The father says with a sigh as the mom just shakes her head.

"It's not for us."

"Well, maybe we should revisit it." Her husband tries to say but she only glares at him.

"Revisit an invasive, risky procedure  that's got a twenty percent failure rate, I don't think so?" The woman snaps back but Derek focuses his attention on the patient.

"Nicole, it's something worth considering. It means you wouldn't have to wear the catheter all the time." Derek points out, knowing that it would be a big thing for her. "Not to mention the medical benefits. It would, uh.. Improve your quality of life. You know? You'd be like girls your own age. You'd be in control of your own bladder. No messy bags. You could have a more normal sex life." He explains to her and they could see how uncomfortable it made the parents. "Well, you know, when that becomes an issue, of course." He adds, clearing his throat.

"We're here for the pain procedure, that's it." The mother replies, crossing her arms against her chest as she looks down at her daughter.

"Well, technically it would be Nicole's choice." Aurora pipes up, hating how they thought they could just make things choices for her. Nicole was eighteen, she didn't need to do what they told her.

"I'm her mother, I know what's best for her." The woman snaps back at her. Aurora just looks toward Derek who shakes his head, silently telling her to not saying more. She just lets out a sigh, crossing her arms against her chest.

✿︎

RESTING HER CHIN IN THE PALM OF HER HAND, Aurora just listens to Derek and Alex talk about the patient. "That girl and her mom share the same brain. She's not getting that surgery." Alex points out with a scoff, shaking his head. It was clear to anyone that she was dependant on her parents and wouldn't make her own choices.

"I want you to take Nicole with you everywhere you go today, take her to labs, take her to coffee, take her anywhere. Just get her away from her parents." Derek says, looking around the room. Alex narrows his eyes, crossing his arms.

"You want me to babysit the wheelchair chick?" He asks, almost thinking Derek was just messing with him.

"He can barely take care of himself." Aurora points out, only earning a glare from Alex as he flips her off.

"Nicole." Derek states, looking at the man. "She thinks you're cute. She's a teenager, which means she might even listen to you." He explains as it was really his only plan to get the girl to have the surgery.

"She must have something wrong with her if she likes Alex." Aurora states, scrunching her nose up. Alex tilts his head back, getting fed up by her comments.

"Wow, you never shut up, do you?" Alex asks her, meeting her gaze which hardens.

"Can I have permission to hit him?" Aurora asks as she looks over at Derek who was only annoyed by them both.

"No." He responds and she sulks, looking away from them. Alex gets them back onto topic as he narrows his eyes at Derek.

"You want me to convince her to get that surgery." Alex says, understanding what Derek was trying to do.

"I want you to convince her to make the decision for herself." Derek corrects him.

"And how am I supposed to do that?" Alex asks, crossing his arms. Derek just sighs, staring at him.

"Doctor Karev, you're creative. You'll think of something." He points out, earning a scowl from the man who turns to walk away. "Thank you." Derek says, shaking his head before his eyes move to the blonde.

"My parents are exactly like Nicole's. Controlling and always around." She mumbles, brushing her hair out of her face.

"Is that why you moved to Seattle?" Derek asks her.

"You don't believe me when I said it was for you?" She teases him a little bit, narrowing her eyes. Derek just smiles to himself.

"Mhm." He hums, looking back down at the chart in his hands.

"You really are more looks than brains." She states causing Derek to just slowly look at her, amusement in his eyes.

"You know I am your boss, right?" Derek asks her and she just shrugs her shoulders. "So, you can be nice to my wife but not me?" He questions curiously, raising an eyebrow at her.

"I am nice to you." Aurora admits, looking a bit confused.

"That's why you give me attitude?" Derek retorts. Aurora just smirks at him as she tilts her head.

"That is me showing my kindness." She tells him, placing her hand on her hip.

"Right." Derek says as he chuckles, shaking his head. "Make sure we have the O.R booked incase Nicole changes her mind." He tells her and she nods, smiling at him as she gives him a thumbs up.

"Got it." She replies, going to turn until he called out after her.

"And Aurora?" Derek says, making her look back toward him. "Hit Karev on your free time." He says with humor in his eyes. Aurora smirks as she laughs underneath her breath.

"Will do, sir." 

✿︎

ADDISON WALKS INTO THE BAR WITH AURORA, taking her coat off as they walk over to the counter. "I'm surprised you decided to come with me." She admits as she glances over at Aurora who had sat on the bar stool next to her. Aurora meets her gaze, shrugging her shoulders.

"You're pretty cool." Aurora replies and she could see the small smile that formed on her lips. "It's not like I was dating your husband." She points out with a small laugh. Addison laughs as well, shaking her head.

"That's true." Addison responds, resting her arms on the bar. "I just know you're friends with Meredith." She states, she knew friendships were important and didn't know if she was overstepping some boundaries.

"I can be friends with both of you." She points out. Neither of them were really in the wrong. Meredith got with Derek, thinking he was single and Addison came back to make things right with her husband.

"So, tell me about yourself." Addison says with a smile. Aurora raises an eyebrow at her.

"What do you want to know?" Aurora asks as she rests her head in her hand.

"Well, anyone significant in your life?" She asks curiously and Aurora smiles, nodding as she bites the inside of her cheek.

"My boyfriend, isaac." Aurora answers. Addison places her glass down on the bar.

"What's he like?" Addison questions, wanting to know more. Aurora tilts her head.

"He's amazing." She admits, feeling her heart swoon just talking about him. "I mean, there's been a few hiccups since moving here but we work through them." Aurora explains, no relationship was smooth sailing though.

"That's all you can do." Addison adds as she flickers her eyes down the woman for a second. "But he makes you happy?" She asks curiously, knowing that was the most important thing.

"Every single day." Aurora tells her as she nods her head.

"Well, he hurts you, you let me know." Addison says with a smile and all Aurora can do is force one onto her lips. Clearing her throat, she tries to move the conversation off of herself.

"How is your couples counseling going?" She asks, knowing that Derek and Addison had started to go to therapy.

"We're actually making some good progress." Addison admits with a nod and that makes a more genuine smile form on auroras face.

"That's great."

"Yeah, a long way to go though." Addison says, her eyes dropping down to her hands. She knew Derek hadn't fully forgiven her yet for what she did.

"I'd say." Aurora says, knowing that fixing a relationship wasn't something that happened over night. "But hey, you're trying. That's what matters." She points out and Addison nods her head, taking a sip of her drink.

"You are definitely a talk around the hospital." Addison admits and Aurora just furrows her eyebrows, a bit confused. She also didn't know if that was a good thing or a bad thing.

"What do you mean?" Aurora asks her.

"Derek's not the only one who thinks you're one of the finest interns they've seen in a while." She tells the woman who couldn't help but feel a bit ecstatic about it.

"Really? Who said that?" She asks, a bit curious as to see who it was. There wasn't many attendings who actually said their opinions out loud.

"A few nurses, Burke, Bailey." Addison tells her and Auroras eyes widen. Bailey wasnt that much of a shock, but she was surprised that Burke had said something. "Even Richard has mentioned something " she says with a small wink. Aurora narrows her eyes, she didn't know if Addison was just messing with her.

"You're kidding with me." She retorts, not wanting to get her hopes up. Addison let's out a small laugh, shaking her head.

"I'm not." Addison denies, putting her hand on the womans arm. "You're good, Aurora." She says, having the admit it as well.

"I try my best." Aurora says, glad that all her hard work paid off.

"Well, you're gonna make an amazing surgeon one day." Addison assures her with a smile on her face. Aurora returns it before looking down at her glass. She didn't realize how many attending truly looked at her and saw her talent.

But this just gave her more motivation to make things work. And she couldn't let anything stand in her way.

✿︎

AURORA HAD HER HEAD RESTED ON THE NURSES STATION DESK, sat in the chair as her eyes were closed. Cristina and Izzie were leant next to her. "Do you think she's tired?" Izzie asks, being more sarcastic than anything. Cristina snorts, crossing her arms.

"Just a bit." Cristina responds, staring down at Aurora.

"Maybe she had a long night with Isaac." Izzie suggests with a smirk playing on her lips. Cristina tilts her head, thinking about it for a second.

"Usually she has hickies if she did." She points out, not seeing any on the womans neck. It seemed that Isaac was a bit rough in bed.

"What if we just can't see them?" Izzie asks, wiggling her eyebrows causing Cristina to smirk to herself.

"I can hear you both." Aurora mumbles, lifting her head slowly as she gives them a pointed stare.

"Are we right?" Izzie asks curiously, tilting her head. Aurora shakes her head.

"Isaac had to work last night." She tells them and Cristina makes a fake pout with her lips.

"So, no sexy time with your boyfriend?" Cristina teases her and she narrows her eyes a bit.

"Nope." Aurora responds, a bit bummed herself since she loved spending all her time with Isaac. Izzie furrows her eyebrows a bit.

"Then why are you so tired?" She asks, wondering what the girl had gotten up to.

"Just had too much to drink." Aurora admits as she rubs her face.

"With who?" Cristina questions, knowing that it wasn't any of them, at least that she knew of. Aurora was a bit reluctant to answer mainly because she knew what their reactions would be.

"Addison." She responds earning surprised looks from them both.

"Why?" Izzie asks her curiously.

"Because shes nice, okay? She's not a devil." Aurora answers with a sigh, shrugging her shoulders.

"Does Meredith know?" Cristina questions her which makes Aurora roll her eyes. Of course that's all they thought about.

"I don't care what she thinks."  She responds, crossing her arms. "If we can talk to Derek, then Addison is fair game too." Aurora states.

"Okay, okay."  Cristina responds, raising her hands in defence.

"Is Isaac often out late?" Izzie asks her curiously and Aurora furrows her eyebrows.

"When he has to work, yeah." She responds with a slow nod of her head.

"Will he be late tomorrow?" Izzie questions, a small smile forming on her face which made Aurora slightly suspicious and not really wanting to answer.

"Why?"

"Girls night." Izzie announces excitedly. Cristina and Aurora share a look with each other.

"Girls-- Oh, what is that?" Cristina asks, not seeming too fond of the idea.

"Oh, come on. You, me Meredith. Girls night." Izzie points out, seemingly the only one who liked where she was going with this.

"Is their alcohol involved?" Aurora asks, raising an eyebrow. Izzie didn't really know what answer she wanted to hear.

"Yeah."

"I may need to pass." Aurora admits, not knowing if she could do another night and get a massive hangover again.

"You don't have to drink." Izzie points out with a shrug but that was even worse for Aurora.

"Hard pass." Cristina denies, shaking her head. Izzie rolls her eyes a little bit.

"You both suck." She tells them, narrowing her eyes. Aurora just smirks as she jumps off of the chair.

"You swallow." Aurora responds, sticking out her tongue. Izzies eyes widen at her comment.

"Aurora!" Izzie gasps as she throws a pencil at her. Aurora just laughs loudly as she avoided it before making her way down the hallway.

✿︎

ALEX WALKED THROUGH THE LOBBY OF THE HOSPITAL, his bag slung over his shoulder. A sigh leaves his lips as he was exhausted. Not just from working but having to study for his test. He couldn't fail or he'd be out of the program. As he walks toward the door, he notices that Aurora was waiting by one of the windows. He debated in his mind going over to talk to her. Alex knew they argued a lot, and he didn't care if it happened outside of the hospital, but he was already on a thin line.

Deciding to go talk, he heads in her direction. Aurora saw him going but chose to look back out the window. "Look, I don't want to get in these fights with you." Alex starts as he stops beside her. "I don't like you but everyone is annoyed when we argue and I don't want to get on more attendings bad sides." He explains as he crosses his arms. Aurora rolls her eyes, placing a false smile on her lips.

"Then stop being annoying." She retorts, raising an eyebrow at him. Alex clenches his jaw a bit.

"I'm just looking out for you." Alex tells her, he wasn't asking those questions to pry, but he just wanted to know the truth of what was happening between her and Isaac.

"I never asked you to." Aurora states with a small scoff.

"I don't care." Alex responds, staring at her. "We're not friends but we've known each other forever. Sorry that I don't want to see you get hurt." He tells the woman who furrows her eyebrows.

"I'm not getting hurt, Alex."

"You know you don't have to lie to me." He says and he could see the way her eyes dropped for a moment. "Out of all people, I understand what you're going through." Alex tells her. Although some people may see it, they wouldn't truly understand unless they've gone through it themselves.

"Please, just..." She trails off for a moment, looking down at the ground. "I love him. And all you're doing is causing more problems." Aurora points out, crossing her arms. Alex sighs, he didn't want to make them fight, mainly because he knew how those ended for her.

"I don't mean to. But if me just talking to you is a problem, then surely you can see that there's an issue." Alex states, shaking his head. A guy talking to her shouldn't start an argument.

"He's just protective." Aurora says, trying to justify it.

"Daniel's protective, isaac is controlling." He corrects her. There was a difference between being overprotective and using everything against her.

"He's not." She denies, a glare set in her eyes. "You're just trying to put these ideas in my head." Aurora points out.

"I'm not."

"He's just rough sometimes. But everyone is at times." She points out with a shrug. Everyone had fights and everyone could get out of hand sometimes. But alex clearly saw that it wasn't normal.

"No, they're not." He denies, shaking his head. Alex truly saw that she honestly did believe that Isaac loved her. "What he does to you isn't love." Alex tries to get her to see that but he knew it wouldn't be that easy.

"He just gets mad." Aurora says, fiddling with her fingers. He just didnt understand, no one did. "He loves me. He shows me he loves me and I believe him." She admits, a frown forming. Alex didnt mean to hurt her but he just needed to plant the smallest seed of doubt in her mind.

"You believe that it's love because it's all you've known for the past few years." He points out. Sometimes people also tried to block out the bad parts, trying to convince themself that it wasn't real.

"It is love." Aurora says, a bit harsh as she just stares at the man.

"Aurora!" She hears her name being called. Aurora turns her head, seeing Isaac walking over to them. She tries to smile at him but could see rage in his eyes already.

"Hey, baby." Aurora responds as he stands next to them. Alex was already glaring.

"Is everything okay?" Isaac asks, his eyes staying on Alex, his gaze hardened.

"Everything's fine." She assures him, glancing toward Alex.

"He's not bothering you?" Isaac questions, not even looking toward her as he asked. Alex just shrugs his shoulders.

"We were just having a conversation." He states, it was clear that neither of them liked each other.

"About what?" Isaac asks. Alex could see auroras hesitation so he decided to talk instead.

"Work." Alex answers, shoving his hands inside of his pockets. "We were just talking about rounds." He tells the man who didn't seem to really believe it, his eyes moving to Aurora.

"Is this true?" He asks, raising his eyebrow. Alex could tell he was all but threatening silently to tell him the truth. Aurora puts a smile on her face, nodding her head.

"Yeah, it is." She answers him, brushing her hair behind her ear. "I'll uh, see you Friday, Alex." Aurora tells him before turning and beginning to walk with Isaac. They barely made it two steps before he spoke up.

"He needs to learn his place." Isaac says with a scoff, his jaw clenched as he was clearly having a problem with Alex.

"He's just trying to mend fences." Aurora admits, not wanting to say too much, especially with the way Isaac looked at her.

"I thought you hated him?" He asks, obviously trying to catch her in a lie.

"I do."

"Then why do you care what he says?" Isaac asks, clear anger in his voice. Aurora sighs as she shrugs her shoulders.

"We just can't be unprofessional at work." She admits, biting the inside of her cheek. She did not need to create a problem between Isaac and Alex too. Although she knew Alex already hated the man.

"Right." Isaac mumbles as he just keeps walking. She clears her throat, grabbing his hand and giving it a squeeze.

"How was your day?" Aurora asks, trying to change the conversation.

"It was fine." He responds bluntly as she leans into his side. Aurora didn't want to fight again tonight so she would try her best to lift his mood.

"Are we still going out for dinner?" She questions curiously, running her hand up his back. Isaac lets out a sigh, still not glancing toward her.

"Whatever you want, babe."

"I want my boyfriend to kiss me." She says with a smile. Isaac chuckles underneath his breath and she can finally see a smile form. He looks down at her, stopping in front of her. Aurora giggles as he leans down and presses a long kiss on her lips.

Alex, who was watching from afar, can't help but frown. Sure, they didn't always get along and yeah, she got on his nerves. But he truly did feel bad for her and wanted to help. But that was the problem with people who were in abusive relationships. They often were blinded by what they thought was love or truly didn't see how dangerous their situation was until it was too late.

And he was not about to let her slip away.

✿︎