[ xxi. twenty-one]
❛𝚠𝚎𝚍𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐❜

𝐈𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐀𝐋𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃𝐘 𝐍𝐎𝐎𝐍 when Cristina, Meredith and Brie were standing by the nurse table, going through files.

"I switched my hours at the clinic so that I can go to the bridal shop! Yaaay!", Izzie exclaimed when she joined Cristina, Meredith and Brie, a bright smile on her face.

"She's cheered. She just cheered." Cristina gave Meredith a dark look.

"Someone's not being very bride-y", Izzie stated, a frown making it's way onto her face.

Cristina had a death glare on her face, "I'm not a bride. I am a surgeon."

"Don't tease the caged animal", Meredith advised Izzie, who just ignored her. Her eyes were still on Cristina, "You're not excited?- I'm excited! I love weddings. Weddings are all about hope and the future and-"

"Okay, I rescheduled an ACL repair, but I want to be clear. I will not be wearing pink or baby blue. I will not do flowers in my hair and I will never be seen with a bow on my ass, okay?", Callie Torres suddenly caught their attention when she came to a stand infront of them, a serious look on her face.

"See, she's got the right attitude", Cristina stated simply while she pointed at Callie.

Meredith couldn't hold back a laugh and Brie joined it. But Merediths laugh disappeared when she spotted her father on the other side of the room.

"Hey." The blond detached from the group quickly and joined him.

"Callie's a bridesmaid?", Izzie questioned Cristina, a surprise look on her face and her voice was showing her confusion.

But the blond quickly put a smile on her face and cheered when she saw the looks that Cristina, Callie and Brie were giving her, "Yeah- Yes! Of course, Callie's a bridesmaid! Fun!"

Callie sighed deeply while she gave the blond a fake smile, "Yeah."

There was a moment of awkwardly silence between them before she turned, "So, see you later."

"Izzie, what's your problem?", Brie questioned the blond, a curious look in her eyes.

Izzie immediately tensed up besides her, her eyes showing her panic, "Nothing- nothing's the problem - see you later. With that the blond also disappeared down the hallway.

Brie narrowed her eyes at the blond retreating figure, not realizing that Cristina has also left her.

The brunette shook her head to herself before her eyes focus back on the file infront of her.

"So bridesmaid -", Mark caught her attention, coming to a stand besides her while handing a girl to one of the nurses behind the counter.

Brie couldn't hold back the small smile that made it's way onto her lips. She closed her file and looked up at them man, slightly turning to face him.

"Yes- groomsman?", she raised her eyebrows at him in question and Mark slowly nodded his head. "Yes."

Brie couldn't help but eyeing his face a little closer. His blue eyes were looking down at her, his jaw a bit clenched and Brie felt her heartbeat quicken.

Mark seemed to take notice of her eyes traveling over his figure and he gave her a smirk, slightly leaning down next to her ear, his hot breath tingling her neck when he spoke, "My offer still stands Taylor."

Brie shot him a pointed look, "Rule Number one, twoa and three, Dr. Sloan."

Mark just chuckled at her words, holding his position, before he slowly pulled back, a smirk on his lips, "Rules only make me want to break them."

Brie sighed deeply before she turned back to her file and grabbed it from the counter. Her eyes then wandered back to Mark while she stated walking backwards, still facing him. "See you at the wedding, Dr. Sloan."

Mark only smirked at her mischievously, even when she had already turned around and hurried down the hallway.

BRIE EXHALED DEEPLY while she looked at herself in that horrible dark blue floor-long bridesmaid dress.

The brunette spun while she watched herself in the mirror. Her gaze then fell onto Meredith, who had a yellow dress and Izzie who was dressed in a bright green one.

Suddenly the bell of the shop started ringing and Burke entered, "Cristina -"

The dark haired woman immediately approached him and the two started whispering amongst each other.

"I'm not wearing this-", Callie stated and Brie agreed with her, looking down at herself. "It's hideous."

Meredith's pager went off, "I gotta get to the hospital." The blond then quickly rushed to the changing rooms.

"You know, we should give them some privacy", Callie then stated and Izzie seemed confused, "What?"

"Oh- oh you want me to go over there with you?", Izzie questioned her and Brie frowned at the blond. She was really behaving very oddly.

Callie nodded silently and the two stated following after her.

It was a little bit uncomfortable, Brie took notice of the fact that Izzie clearly didn't knew how to act around Callie.
The brunette just didn't know why. But she decided not to ask the blond about it.

Soon her pager was off as well and the brunette had to go back to the hospital. The only thing that was keeping her going was the fact that she was just working the day shift.

Because of that the day went by pretty quickly and soon she could go home again.

Meredith, Alex and Izzie were finished at the same time and they all went home together.

The three women settled down on the couch while Alex went into the kitchen and they decided that they were going to drink Tequila that evening.

Alex rounded the corner and joined them in the living room, holding up the likes in the air, "Limes!"

"Limes!" They all said in union, big smiled on their faces.

Alex satd down on their opposites, the lines in his hands before he gave them to each of them, "What are we drinking to this time?"

"Friends, crappy friends." Izzie, said a smile on her face while she poured the tequila into her shot glass.

Meredith nodded before she spoke, "Family. Crappy family."

They then downed their shots and all pulled face while they liquid was pouring down their throats.

"Again?", Alex questioned them immediately and they all nodded. "Again!" The three women stated laughing.

They poured themselves the second shot and toasted again. This went on until Brie excuse herself and went up to her room, where she fell into a deep sleep.

The next morning she felt like crap and just successfully dragged herself to the kitchen for a cup of coffee when Cristina addressed her. "Brie! How do you treat pancreatic divisum?"

"Please, first coffee", Brie mumbled while she yawned loudly and got herself a cup of coffee.

The brunette sat down on Alex opposite while Cristina repeated. "Pancreatic divisum."

"Dorsal duct sphincterotomy", Alex quickly stated and Cristina gave him a pointed look. "Not your turn, but correct. You do me." She stated before she handed him the cards.

"I can't believe O'Malley's missing this. How's he gonna be ready?"

"Oh, your kidding, right? Yeah, we have Callie's cards, but George-", Cristina stated but was interrupted by Izzie.

"George had Callie." The blond was fiddling with her fingers while she stared down into her cup of coffee, this distant look on her face.

"What's the most frequent cause of diarrhea hospitalized patients?", Alex questioned Cristina before Izzie frowned and interrupted them. "Is she coming to this bachelorette thing tonight?"

"Rotavirus." Cristina stated and then nodded at Izzie. "Yes." Her head then snapped to Alex, "No, no, no, no Salmonella!"

"Diarrhea in a hospitalized patient", Alex repeated his words and Cristian groaned.

"Most frequent cause of diarrhea in a hospitalized patient is C. diff, which can lead to toxic megacolon, perforation, sepsis and death." Meredith answered the question while she entered the kitchen and got herself a cup of coffee.

She turned around and faced them, "That's what killed Susan."

Brie knew that Meredith was more affected by the sudden death of her stepmother that she lead on her the blond rushed out of the house to attend her funeral.

The brunette lokked at the others, "Is she okay?"

"Oh, she's fine." Cristina assured them but Alex shoock his head, "Dude, she's messed up."

"Of course she's messed up. Susan was basically her surrogate mother", Izzie said while looking at Alex. "Yeah, fake mom was netter than her real mom", Cristina added when she walked past them to the counter.

"Is she going to the hospital first or the funeral?", Brie questioned them, a worried expression still on her face.

"First to the hospital then to the funeral then to the ted this afternoon", Cristina answered her while she grabbed the coffee can.

"Did she even study?", Alex raised his eyebrows at the dark haired woman.

"Yeah she studied. She's fine. She just needs to be left alone, okay?" Cristina stated while she refilled Izzie's coffee cup and gave Alex a pointed look. Her gaze the fell onto the blond woman on her opposite, "So, what's inside the carotid sheath?- Izzie?"

In the afternoon there was a big trauma coming in the E.R. and the group of interns were watching while Sloan, Webber, Callie and Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd were treating the patient with several frostbite.

"We're supposed to be studying, if Bailey sees us we're done for." Izzie said, the worry could be heard in her voice.

"We are studying. How do you treat frostbite?", Cristina questioned them and George immediately answered her. "Re-warm, avoid early surgery unless there's deep infection due to autoamputation."

"See? Studying." Cristina stated with a large smile on her face.

There was a guy pushed past the window their were standing at and Cristina's eyes were lighting up. "Dodd yous ee that? That was a flail chest. I've never seen one before. Come on!" Cristina then grabbed Meredith's hand and dragged her after her along the corridor.

Suddenly Bailey voice let them all flinch in surprised. "What are you fools doing here!? In a few hours, you people are taking a test that will determine the course of your entrie medical careers. Because the five interns with the lowest test score will be cut from the program!" The woman was screaming at them while approaching them, making them all walk backwards.

The woman just continued screaming at them, "But are you studying for this test? No, you're not! Are you helping out in the ER? You are most certainly not. Are you getting out of here before I throw you out? I think you are!"

The group exchange scared looks until they scattered off into different directions.

BRIE WAS STANDING besides Izzie and George when Cristina and Meredith were walking past them. The dark haired woman was like always recently, nose deep in her study cards while she questioned the blond, "What is biloma?"

"Cristina - I really don't have time."

"What is biloma?", the woman repeated, interrupting Meredith while they were on their way over to the elevator.

Meredith came to a stand, unnerved while she sighed deeply, "A biloma is an intraperitoneal bile fluid collection."

"Excellent." Cristina nodded and Meredith looked at her, "Okay? I'll be fine."

"Meredith-", George caught her attention and she shook her head. "George, I got to go." The blond told him. The brunette man pointed behind her, where everybody was looking, "Your dad."

Meredith turned around and faced her father, who was obviously drunk, by the way he stumbled towards her.

"Hey, I was just on my way-" Meredith stated before he interrupted her. He seemed angry, "No, I came here to tell you you're not wanted. I don't want you at any funeral, Meredith."

"Why don't you come with-", Webber wanted to deescalate the situation but Merediths father started screaming at her in anger. "She trusted you! She came to you for help and you killed her! You did! You killed my wife. You took her from me!"

"Dad!", a young woman appeared behind him, a shocked expression on her face, because she was shocked by the way her father was behaving.

"So, I don't want to see you. I don't want to hear from you. And I do not want you anywhere near her funeral." His face was torn up in anger while he spat at her. "So you understand me?- Do you understand me?"

"Dad, dad- come on! Lexie's waiting in the car", the woman begged him while she pulled him along by his arm.

"She was everything to me- all I had!', the man shouted one last time before he spun around on his heels and went for the elevator.

The room was silent after that, not a single person was taking and Brie just felt so awful for Meredith. Even her parents weren't that horrible.

Meredith seemed to be in some kind of shock and they quickly took her to the changing room where not everyone was staring at her.

"We've got everything taken care of", Brie assured the blond that was sitting on the bench besides her.

"Don't worry about a thing", George added optimistic. "I've got number 2 pencils and bottled water", Cristina stated while she rubbed Meredith's shoulder gently.

"Oh and Powerbars", Izzie added while she pulled one of of her scrubbs.

"And you know the material. You're gonna get a high score. Not as high as mine but everything's gonna be fine.

"What are you guys all standing around for? Don't we have a test to- " Alex spoke but stopped when he saw the pointed looks they were all giving him. "What happened?"

"You people need to head upstairs. Dr. Grey will join you in a minute", the chief stated and they all left the room as he said.

They were all waiting outside in the hallway and after a minute Merediths joined them. The group then made their way together to the room where the test was going to be taken.

As soon as they had entered they were greeted by the woman that was overseeing the test. "Please take a seat doctors and put all study materials away.

"If you don't know the answer, choose B. It's always B." Cristina whispered while they were taking a seat on one of the free chairs.

"An write your name in the right-hand corner of your answer sheets." The woman in a suit told them while she walked through the rows.

Only when everyone had found a seat she looked down at her watch, "You may open you test booklets- now."

Brie opened her booklets and to her surprised she already knew the first two answers after the first look.

The time flew by and by the time she had to stop writing the bruneywss more than satisfied with her results.

She handed her test in and practically felt like skipping out of the room when Meredith pushed past her.

George's voice was loud when he screamed after the woman, "Meredith! Meredith!"

But the blond ignored him while the other's joined him in the hallway. "What's going on?"

"She didn't answer a single question - she just sat there the whole time", George told them worried and everyone exchanged confused looks.

A moment later their pagers went off and they all hurried to Bailey. As soon as the woman came into their few she spoke, "Okay, it's show time people - Yang you're scrubbing in with Burke. Karev, Stevens, you're with Dr. Montgomery. Steven with Shepherd and Taylor, find Dr. Sloan", Bailey instructed them quickly and they all went on their way.

Brie scrubbed in and as the brunette entered the O.R her eyes immediately met Dr. Sloans. His blue ones stared into hers and she felt herself gluping.

"Dr. Bailey sent me-"

The patient was already under and the beeping of his heartbeat on the monitor was the only sound in the room. "Feel free to join", Sloan stated while he motioned for her to come closer.

The surgery had started and after an hour the doors opened. "How's it going?", Callie questioned as soon as she stepped into the O.R.

"Worse then I thought - there's nothing." Mark stated frustrated.

"We're going to amputate both?", Callie questioned while she got ready to join the surgery.

Brie frowned at her words, "You can't amputate both of his hands. Isn't the left one less damaged."

Sloan met her gaze and sighed, "I don't want to take the man's hands, Dr. Taylor- Once the infection gets that deep, the only way to save his life is to make the cut."

Brie gave him a nodd and remained silent for the rest of the procedure.

After that she was free to go home and she quickly got ready for the bachelorette party that took place in their house this evening.

She was just ready when Callie rung the doorbell and the brunette let her in. After they ha greeted each other they went into the kitchen, where Meredith and Izzie were already preparing their cocktails while Cristina watched m.

"What the hell am I supposed to do about those stupid vows?", Cristian sighed deeply and all their heads snapped into her direction.

"You still haven't written anything?", Meredith questioned her in shock.
"Oh, it's stupid crap." Cristina sighed while she laid her head onto the table, the tequila glass still in her hand.

"No, it isn't." Izzie told her and Cristina rolled with her eyes. "What am I supposed to say? I swear to love and cherish you every moment of every day of my life? I mean- that's not real. I mean, that's not how it works, right?"

"It does, at first. Then-", Callie shrugged. "It passes-" Meredith finished Callie's sentence.

Izzie's voice was a little bit louder than normally, "No, it doesn't. You guys, are just used to it m, that's all. You already have that thing that everybody else wants. You can take it for granted but let me tell you, if you didn't, if you couldn't be with the person that you love, I guarantee that hearing him promised to love you and honor you and cherish you no matter what, it would be pretty much all you could think about."

"Wait can you say that again, just slowly?", Cristina stated while she grabbed something to write.

"You're taking about Denny, right?", Meredith questioned the blond and Brie gave her a look that said 'seriously'.

Izzie nodded, "Yeah." But Brie didn't ignore the death glare Callie was giving her when she thought no one was looking.

After a couple of margaritas they moved on into the living room and the party games started.

"I thought that I was gonna hate this party game thing but it's kinda great", Cristinas stated surprised. She had a crown in her head and the bandages were everywhere while they watched Meredith parade around in a wedding dress made out of bandages.

"Can we set her on fire after?", Cristina questioned, a devilish smirk on her face.

"No, we cannot." Meredith snapped at her and Cristian smiled widely.

"These wedding vows are not gonna fit on here." Callie suddenly caught their attention while she tried to write them on the palm of Cristinas hands.

"Write smaller." Cristina whispered at her and Callie gave her a pointed look, "Be still, please. "Thou" just became "cow"."

Izzie scoffed loudly when she got up from the couch, "You don't need vows on your hand. When you get up there you just speak from the heart."

Cristina seemed annoyed while she looked at the blond that walked past her, "Izzie, the heart is an organ. It pumps, circulates blood, gets clogged from time to time. It does not help, however, speak, it doesn't have tiny little lips on it."

Izzie stood up and placed a head piece on Merediths head while she gave Cristina a look, "Well, you're all glass totally empty."

"I'm going to like being married. It's the wedding part that's ridiculous." The dark haired woman said confidently.

They all were laughing when they pagers went off, interrupting them. They all sighed, except for Cristina, "The party is over."

Cristina frowned at her pager while the other's all got onto their feet, "Hey, mine didn't go off. Piece of crap."

When they arrived in the E.R the first person they saw was Burke but he had a surgery and immediately excused himself.

Them Bailey stepped infront of them, a chart in her hand, "Okay, listen up- O'Malley and Taylor you're with Shepherd and Sloan. Stevens, you're with Burke. Karev, Addison. Go!"

George and Brie immediately went off to the O.R. where Derek and Mark were going to operate.

The two interns scrubbed in as quickly as they could and joined Derek in the O.R.

"Poor guy just wanted to climb a mountain and ends up with an axe in his head", George stated while he eyed the axe inside the head a little closer.

"Well, he shouldn't have tried turning back. If the group is going up, you move with the group", Derek stated simply and Brie nodded in agreement while she watched.

The man turned towards the nurse, who was handing him the drill, "Okay, drill, please."

"He panicked - you have a right to turn back if you're scared", George stated and Derek sighed. "No you don't. He chose to climb a mountain. You can't change your mind in the middle of a climb."

He continued drilling in silence before he handed the drill back to the nurse. "Okay."

"How do we pull it out?- Uh, yeah, but the axe went in as they fell. So there'll be some tearing. It should be a shallow wound", Derek was thinking about while he eyes the head would they were standing over. He then looked at George and Brie, "It should come out easily."

"You got it?", he questioned Brie, who had been holding the axe while she handed it over to him. The brunette nodded, while she moved to make space for him, "Yeah."

"All right, everybody. Here we go, Ready?" He placed one hand on the top of the head and the other was closed around the head of the axe before he stated pulling.

But the axe wouldn't move. Derek seemed confused, "That's strange." He gave it another try and only then he succeeded.

Brie and George observed the entering wound and it was a clean cut. "That's a clean cut."

George leaned forward and examined the wound curiously, "Thought you said there was gonna be tearing."

Derek nodded, his eyes fixed on the head wound, "I know- that doesn't make sense." George sighed deeply, "You are a lucky guy."

"Yeah, or the axe didn't go in there by accident." Derek stated, making them look at him in shock. Those three men up in recovery had tried to kill their friend.

BRIE WAS SITTING on one of the benches, getting into her golden high heels when Alex rounded the corner, his shirt still hanging open, "Anyone got any deodorant?"

"Uh, you're not putting my deodorant on you hairy armpits." Cristina stated simply while she turned to look at him.

Izzie grabbed her chin and moved her head back to face her, "Don't move. You're gonna have a unibrow." She then looked at Alex and pointed at the lockers infront of them, "I have some in my locker."

Alex immediately went to look inside Izzie's locker when George rounded the corner, already in his suite for the wedding. "Closed or open?"

Meredith and Brie exchanged a look, "Closed." George closed his suit and Meredith smiled at him. "Great- dashing!"

Izzie gave him a smile, "You look great."

There was this look of longing between them that Brie caught, but her attention was moved towards the door of the changing rooms when a woman entered, "Moment of truth people -"

"Are those our scores?", Meredith immediately questioned her and Brie got up from her seat while the woman headed out their test scores. "Grey- Karev - Yang- Stevens- O'Malley."

"Yes, thank God!", Brie immediately exclaimed when she saw her high test score and she could suppress a happy dance.

"Did you pass?", Cristina questioned Meredith, who smirked at her. "You bet your married booty I did."

"How'd you do? Did you pass?", Brie them stopped her happy dance and questioned George, a small smile on her face while she eyed his closely.

George nodded, a smile on his face but it didn't reach his eyes, "Yeah."

Brie gave him an unconvinced look and he immediately avoided her gaze before he left the room, "See you at the church."

The women dragged their stuff and Cristina's stuff before they made their way to the church.

After they had arrived, the women gathered in the bridesmaids room waiting for Cristina, who had locked herself in the brides room.

Meredith knocked on the door wooden door several times, "Cristina?"

They exchanged a look before she called for her again and then the doors suddenly opened, revealing Cristina in her wedding dress and the silver chocker. "I didn't run."

Her mother immediately gasped and started crying tears of joy while the other's smiled at her. "You look beautiful."

"I'm so proud of you." Her mother stated and Cristina smiled at her. "Thank you."

Her mother approached her and brought her into a big hug, "Frankly I always feared you were too emotionally stunted to settle down."

Brie and Meredith exchanged looks before the blond smiled at Cristina and whispered under her breath, "You can do this."

The woman has a stunned look on her face until her mother let go of her again and they made their way into the hallway, stopping infront of the doors that lead to the wedding hall.

They were making sure her dress was on place when Alex suddenly hurried past them, stopped by Cristina.

"Yang- the twins look nice in that dress", Alex complimented her in his own unique way, making her nodd at him. "Thank you- sort of."

He then clapped her knot her shoulder, "I gotta go. Congrats!"

Cristina frowned, "Oh, you're on call?"

Alex was already hurrying away from them when Izzie called after him, "Wait, Alex, did you see George in there?" She peeked through the slit of the doors, "I don't see him."

"He's, uh, probably going to be late. We kind of had a big emotional day", Callie told her while she grabbed her bouquet.

"Oh, really?", Izzie questioned and turned to face the dark haired women.

"Yeah-", Callie nodded.

Izzie raised her eyebrows, "Did something happen between you two? I mean-"

Callie shook her head, a large smile on her lips, but her eyes were clearly scanning Izzie's face for a reaction, "No, it's just I was named Chief Resident. Plus, we decided to have a baby."

Izzie's eyes widened and she nodded her head, "A baby?"

Callie nodded, "We're trying. We tried today, in fact."

"Wow-", Izzie's eyes were still wide and she nodded.

"Yeah- big day." Callie inhaled deeply and laughed, a big smile on her face but the situation was pretty awkward even from Brie who just witnessed it.

Suddenly the music stared and Cristina straightened up. "This is it."

"You have the bouquet - I have the ring." Meredith checked with her and Cristina nodded, "Yeah."

"You remember your vows?", the blond continued and Cristina nodded again. "Yeah, I wrote them in my-", she looked down on her hand before her eyes widened. "Oh my God- I scrubbed in. I scrubbed in and the vows were on my hand. I scrubbed off my vows."

"Oh, okay, um-", Meredith wanted to calm her down but Cristina wouldn't take it. Her voice was raised while she waved her hand at the blonds face like a lunatic. "Okay hello, I scrubbed off my vows. I- I can't do this. I don't have anything on my hand."

"There are no words in my head- I have no vows! No vows!", she continued shouting in panic. Meredith still tried to calm her down, "It's okay- it's going to be okay."

Cristina shot her a death glare, "Will you stop saying that! Say something else."

Meredith held her hands up, her eyes wide, "Like what?"

"Say something that going to help me!", Cristina stated while she was still pacing up and down infront of the doors.

"Okay! Okay! I-", she paused again, not knowing what to say. Cristina immediately went at it again, "Meredith, please! Say something! Okay, say what I would say to you if you were me."

"Ok." Meredith immediately nodded her head. "Got it."

The blond took a hold of Cristina's arms, "Stop whining! This is your wedding day! You will go down that aisle and you will get married if I have to kick your ass every step to get you there. You will walk down the aisle, you will get married. Do you hear me, Cristina? We need this! We need you to get your happy ending."

There was a moment of silence between them before Cristina suddenly nodded, "Okay, I'm ready." Meredith nodded as well, "All right then."

They all quickly stated fixing her train when no other than Burke suddenly stepped inside the hallway.

They all looked up at him and Brie could immediately feel the tension that hung in the air when he looked down on Cristina.

The women clearly didn't seem to feel the tension because she smiled at him, "I'm ready- I'm fine. I had a momentary freakout but Meredith talked me down. Go, go, go, go, go. I'll be right behind you."

Burke slightly shook his head, seeming like he was out of breath. "I'm sorry." Cristina shook her head as well, "Oh no, I can do this. You know, I had a momentary freakout out, but now I'm fine. Com on."

He sighed deeply, "But you don't wanna do this. I'm up there waiting for you to come down the aisle. And I know you don't want to come. I know that you don't want to come but that you'll come anyway because you love me. And if I loved you, if I loved- you- not the woman that I'm trying to make you be, not the woman that I hope you'll become- but you. If I did I wouldn't be up there waiting for you. I would be letting you go."

Cristina was at a loss of words, everyone was, but then she finally choked out, "I am wearing the dress. I'm ready. And maybe I didn't want to before, but I want to now. I really think I want this."

"I really wish that you didn't think. I wish that you knew." Bruke said while he eyed her with glossy eyes.

After that he left them behind and it was the job of the bridesmaids to tell the hall filled with guests that the wedding was off.