chapter fifty two

life during wartime.season five, episode six.

. As she rubbed her eyes, a small smile came her her face as Meredith showed them an doll her mother had bought for her when she was a child.

Cassie took it from her hands, smiling amusedly at the removable organs on the barbie-type doll. Turning to Meredith, she raised a brow in question. "How long have you had this?"

"She bought it for me when I was five," she explained with a grin. "Which is a super creepy gift for a five year old, but I loved it."

Laughing, Cassie handed the doll over to Cristina to play with. But when she glanced up, her entire body froze in place.

In front of the elevators, was Derek, Mark, and the Chief... having a conversation with Owen Hunt.

Eyes going wide in alarm, she latched on to Meredith and Cristina's arms, squeezing hard as she gasped out, "!"

With that, she took off in a sprint, leading them aimlessly in the opposite direction. The pair shared a concerned glance over her shoulder as they rushed through the halls, only stopping once Cassie darted around a corner for safety.

"Okay," Meredith panted heavily, turning to her incredulously. "What was that all about?"

"Owen," Cassie cringed, banging her head against the wall as she thought back to what happened the day they met.

Cristina tilted her head in recognition. "Owen? As in Major Hunt, hot pen-trach dude?"

"As in, the guy who kissed me in front of my boyfriend," Cassie corrected, watching as the other two stumbled over their words in shock. "Yeah, did I forget to mention that?"

"?!"

"Well, not me kissed me, but to kiss me, which is basically the same thing, right?"

Meredith shrugged in thought. "I mean, what kind of kiss?" At Cassie's look of confusion, she elaborated. "Was it a kiss?"

"Or," Cristina continued, "was it a kind of kiss?"

"He didn't actually kiss me!"

Cristina and Meredith shared a knowing look.

"It's basically the same thing," they chorused.

Cassie ran a hand through her hair in frustration, before a dark thought passed through her head, making her look up in fright.

"Oh, no, no, no, ."

"What?"

"He knows," Cassie said plaintively, rapidly shaking her head in fear. "Oh, my god. He knows about me and Mark."

Cristina frowned, "Okay, so—"

"He knows about me and Mark," she repeated slowly, "and he was just talking to Mark... and ."

"Oh," Meredith stammered, as her and Cristina grew terrified expressions. ""

"RUN!"

Meredith was cut off by Cassie immediately sprinting back towards the elevators, causing her and Cristina to haphazardly follow behind.

"Cass!"

"Cassandra Harper," Cristina scolded as she ran after her person. "Get your ass back here!"

Cassie rounded the corner, only to see strangers standing in the place the others once were. As she turned in circles while looking to see where they may have gone, Cristina and Meredith caught up to her, both of them out of breath from all the running.

With a sigh of despair, Cassie shook her head in hopelessness. "Crap."

☆

"Okay, two things," Bailey started, joining the residents in the locker room. "You all have a skills lab this morning. It is , so don't even think about trying to get out of it. Second, one of you will have to go to the mandatory skills lab, because you will be assisting me, in my efforts to remove an inoperable tumor from an eleven year old girl."

"I'll do it!" George raised his hand eagerly.

"No, you won't," she retorted. "You have a hundred delinquent charts. You will do after the lab."

Cristina smirked. "Slacker."

"How can you operate on an inoperable tumor?" Alex wondered.

"Karev is also out."

"What did I say?"

"You doubted me."

Cassie, using basic critical thinking skills and the knowledge that Owen was a trauma surgeon, had a gut feeling the lab would be ran by him.

Thus, why she shouted out, "Me, please!"

"No," Bailey deadpanned.

"Why not?!"

Narrowing her eyes, Bailey looked her up and down as she shifted on her feet. "You're jumpy today. I don't need jumpy, I need calm."

"I can be calm," Cassie defended, reaching into her bag and pulling out her anxiety medication. "See? I'll just take an extra—"

"Put that back where it belongs," Bailey rolled her eyes. "You're out. Deal with it."

Cassie huffed, crossing her arms over her chest in defeat as Meredith was eventually chosen to skip the lab.