chapter thirty eight

didn't we almost have it all?season three, episode twenty five.

She pointed to Meredith, who Cassie was wrapping in a toilet paper wedding dress. "Can we set her on fire after?"

"Yes, I love arson!" Cassie cheered, putting a toilet paper veil on Meredith's head.

"No, we cannot," Meredith shook her head with a smile.

"Okay, these wedding vows are not all gonna fit on here," Callie grumbled, writing on Cristina's hand.

"Okay, then write smaller."

"Be still, please. just became "

Izzie waved them off. "You don't need vows on your hand. When you get up there, just speak from the heart."

"Uh, Izzie, the heart is an organ," Cristina scoffed. "It pumps, it circulates blood, it gets clogged from time to time. It does not, however, speak. It doesn't have tiny little lips on it."

Cassie giggled to herself, picturing a heart with lips on it in her head. "Ha, can you imagine?"

Izzie rolled her eyes. "Well, you're all glass totally empty."

Cristina sighed. "I'm going to like being married. It's the wedding part that's ridiculous."

Everyone's pagers went off except Cristina's.

"Oh!" Izzie exclaimed.

Cassie pouted. "Party's over."

"Damn."

"Hey, mine didn't go off. Piece of crap,"Cristina groaned, as Izzie and Callie left and Cassie stuck around to help Meredith out of the makeshift dress.

"You can do this, right?" Meredith asked.

"Become a piece of chattel?" Cristina shrugged. "Sure. Looking forward to it."

"No matter what, you're walking down that aisle today," Cassie drunkenly pointed at her, somehow getting tangled in the toilet paper along with Meredith. "We you to go down that aisle."

"Is the toilet paper cutting off your circulation?"

Meredith shook her head. "You, marrying Burke, it's a sign. It's a sign that people like us can do this. Be healthy, be ."

"Yeah," Cassie nodded. "You marrying Burke restores our faith in ."

Cristina raised an eyebrow. "Oh, I get it. My wedding's about you two."

"Yes," they chorused.

"Okay."

"You can do this, right?"

"I can do this."

"Okay."

☆

The interns arrived at the hospital once Meredith and Cassie were sobered up. "You have an aortic dissection?" Cristina asked her fiancé, who was passing by with a patient on a gurney.

"Hey," Burke said, kissing her cheek. "I promise I will make it to the chapel in time."

Cristina stuttered as he walked away, a disbelieving expression on her face. "I—"

"You wanted to scrub in, didn't you?" Cassie guessed.

"Obviously," the soon-to-be bride rolled her eyes.

"Okay. Listen up," Bailey said, gaining their attention. "Uh, O'Malley and Harper, you're with Shepherd. Stevens, you're with Burke. Karev, Addison. Grey, you're with the Chief's wife."

☆

"Hey, Georgie," Cassie smiled, tossing her mask in the trash can as her and George exited the OR a few hours later. "I was thinking that after the wedding, if you and Callie aren't busy, we could all go out for drinks."

George didn't make eye contact with her as he scrubbed his hands. "Oh, uh, today isn't good."

"Oh," Cassie's smile faltered, though she tried to stay positive. "Maybe tomorrow, then?"

"I think I'm busy."

"It's just that, we used to hang out all the time, and we haven't lately." She sighed, realizing that he was barely listening to her. "I miss you, George.  And I get that you have a wife now, and you have Izzie—" he tensed at the blonde's name, "—but I just, I miss you."

George sighed to himself. He missed Cassie more than anything, but he hated lying to her. At that moment, spending all night with her and his wife that he cheated on was the last thing he wanted to do.

"Another time, okay?" he said while walking away, leaving Cassie to wonder if she did something wrong.

☆

Meredith and Cassie were charting at a nurses station, when Cristina came up behind them. "Meredith. Cassie."

Meredith smiled, still not looking up, and neither did Cassie. "Oh. You are not gonna believe... Derek met a girl in a bar. And he flirted with her. And he told me." She shrugged. "You know, no big deal. Just thought I should know."

"Meredith. Cassie."

"I'm not exaggerating. He didn't even hint. He just flat out told me."

"Meredith. Cassie."

"Has George been acting weird to you guys lately?" Cassie asked, aggressively writing down notes.