chapter sixty one

now or never.season five, episode twenty four.

tw: major character death

. His legs were laying across her own as her head rested on his chest, their limbs tangled together in the small space. Meredith was asleep in a chair to their right, while Alex and Cristina slept hunched over in separate seats across the room.

After Izzie's surgery the night prior to remove a cancerous tumor from her brain, the residents refused to leave, just in case of a complication happening in the middle of the night.

Bailey quietly opened the door, glancing between her former interns as she picked up Izzie's chart. Alex woke up instantly, rubbing his eyes and leaning forward while the others stayed asleep.

"Any changes overnight?" Bailey whispered to Alex, waking up Cristina in the process.

"No," they chorused, finally waking up the others. Meredith groaned, throwing her blanket onto the ground as she stretched. Cassie sighed heavily, not opening her eyes right away.

George looked down, only to see a small wet patch on his chest. "Oh, gross, Cass." He gave her a petulant look. "Good morning to you too."

Sitting up slightly, not that there was much room to do so, Cassie gave him a guilty smile. "Oops?"

Bailey's pager went off, the sound acting as an alarm in Cassie's head. "Oh, it's the Chief," Bailey sighed. "Somebody better make a coffee run. You all look like hell."

George yawned, gently pushing Cassie up so he could get out of the makeshift bed. "I need to be in surgery in less than an hour."

Sluggishly, Cassie stood on her feet with a slight wobble, her dark purple eyebags more pronounced than usual. "I'm covering the ER today with Hunt."

"Mer, you'll let us know if anything changes?"

Meredith nodded, waving the two off as they left the room together. "Yeah, of course."

As Cassie's feet dragged against the tiled floor, her mind finally caught up to her body, remembering what George had said to her the day before.

"So, what was it that you wanted to talk to me about?" she wondered, an unidentifiable feeling in her chest when she looked at him.

George's face fell, almost as if he had briefly forgotten what he planned to say. "Oh, right," he stuttered slightly, looking up and down the hallway. "Let's go somewhere more private, yeah?"

"Yeah," Cassie nodded curiously. "Okay."

☆

George brought her into the left stairwell on the fourth floor, one that happened to be rarely used, since it connected to the ICU; after all, moving a huge gurney up a flight of stairs was a bit unrealistic.

As if she wasn't confused enough, Cassie's nervousness grew when she saw Lily sitting on the step just below the landing, waiting for them expectantly.

"What's going on?" she tilted her head at the couple, who communicated silently through looks she couldn't decipher.

Lily stood up, moving to stand next to George. Cassie stared at the two, turning her body so she was directly facing them.

George raised a brow at his fiancée. "Do you want to tell her, or should I?"

Lily shrugged, a soft smile on her face as she took his hand in her own. "I'll tell her."

"Tell me what?"

Exhaling deeply, Lily gave Cassie her full attention. "We're not getting married."

Cassie paused for a long moment, narrowing her eyes threateningly as her gaze snapped to George, cutting him off as he opened his mouth to speak.

"?!"

"Me?" George pouted in offense. "Why do you assume that the one who did something?"

Lily snorted, raising a brow at him teasingly. "It's not like it would be the first time, honey."

Cassie pointed to her in agreement, nodding profusely. "What she said."

George rolled his eyes. "You didn't let us finish! What she meantwas that we're not getting married ."

"Oh," Cassie raised her brows, looking between them as her features softened. "So you're not breaking up?"

"Of course not," Lily grinned amusedly. "He's the love of my life, Cassie. We wouldn't break up, even if we were a hundred years old and in a nursing home."

"Eh," George joked. "I'd say a hundred and one is the limit."

Lily rolled her eyes fondly, giving him a loving kiss which George returned with a grin.

"Wait," Cassie held a hand up in the air. "You're not breaking up," she repeated, the confusion coming back at full force as her brows furrowed. "So, why are you pushing the wedding date?"

At this, George's smile fell.

Lily twisted her lips, her hand moving to softly rub his back in silent support. Cassie frowned, the weird feeling getting stronger.

"I'll let you two talk alone," Lily whispered in George's ear, causing him to nod reluctantly. She planted another kiss on his cheek, hugging him tightly before she left. Lily squeezed Cassie's shoulder as she passed by, the two women sharing brief smile as the intern headed down to the locker rooms.

"We should sit," George mumbled, taking Cassie's hand and sitting next to her on the top step. Cassie shivered a bit, missing the warmth that came from sleeping next to another person. "Are you cold?"