chapter two

first cut is the deepest.season one, episode two.

tw: mentions of sexual assault.

Izzie and George were discussing the possibility of moving into Meredith's house, which had three extra bedrooms available. Cassie considered it at first, since she could no longer afford a hotel room and was now living in Derek's trailer, but living with her coworkers didn't seem ideal.

"What about you Cassie?" George spoke, bringing her into their conversation. "Aren't you still living in a hotel?"

"We're together all day, every day," she avoided the question. "Do you really think that it's a good idea to live together as well?"

"Yes," George and Izzie said simultaneously.

Cassie rolled her eyes as they made their way out of the locker room and towards Meredith, who was holding an extra cup of coffee.

"How'd it go?" Izzie asked her in regards to her roommate hunt.

"No one here is right. I had to tell all of them no," Meredith sighed, before perking up at the sight of Cassie, "Wait, you're still living in that hotel right?"

"More or less."

"Do you want to move in?"

Cassie thought for a moment. "Would I get the biggest bedroom?"

"Obviously," Meredith grinned.

"Hm," she hummed. "I'll think about it."

George scoffed loudly, sharing an incredulous look with Izzie. "Hey! Why Cassie and not us?"

"Because, Cassie is literally the least annoying person I know."

Izzie huffs, "Why did you put up posters for roommates if you don't want roommates?"

"I do want roommates," she insisted. "We're together one hundred hours a week. You want to live together, too?" 

"That's what I told them."

Cristina joined the group, gesturing to the extra coffee in Meredith's hand. "I see you're bring bribes now, huh?"

"My mom irons my scrubs," George complained, not willing to let go of the topic. "I have to get out of there."

"It's not a bribe," Meredith told Cristina, before turning back to George. "And I don't think it's a good idea, sorry."

"I can put down first, last, and deposit." George assured her. 

"Who are you bribing?" Cassie wondered, also done with the conversation.

"I can cook, and I'm an obsessive cleaner," Izzie blurted.

"," Meredith sighed in annoyance. "I just want Cassie and two total strangers who I don't have to talk to or be nice to, and it's not a bribe. It's a mocha latte!"

"You have to be nice to Cassie though!" Izzie argued.

"No, she doesn't," Cassie disagreed. "I can take the heat. , on the other hand—"

"George," Bailey cut in, joining the group and interrupting her before she had the chance to insult the blonde. "You're running the code team. Cassie and Meredith, take the trauma pager. Cristina, deliver the weekend labs to the patients. Izzie, you're on sutures."

"Dr. Bailey, I was hoping to assist you in the OR today. Maybe do a minor procedure. I think I'm ready," Meredith said with a sickly sweet smile. "Mocha latte?"

"If she gets to cut, I want to cut too!"

"Yeah, me too!"

"I wouldn't mind another shot."

Cassie smiled at her resident, but stayed silent; she'd known Bailey for a short time, but the one thing the short woman hates more than interns, are interns.

She briefly looked at Cassie with a look, before going off on the rest of them.

"Stop talking." Bailey silenced them. "Every intern wants to perform their first surgery. That's not your job. Do you know what your job is? To make your resident happy. Do I look happy? No. Why? Because my interns are whiny. You know what will make me look happy? Having a code team staffed, having the trauma pages answered, having the weekend labs delivered, and having someone down in the pit, doing the sutures. No one holds a scalpel until I'm so happy, I'm Mary freakin' Poppins." 

"Mocha latte, my ass," Cristina mumbled.

☆

"Are you twothe surgeons?" an ER nurse hurriedly questioned Meredith and Cassie, who were paged down to trauma room one. The duo nodded in sync, snapping their gloves on in the process. "We've got a rape victim. Better get in there."

When those words came out of the nurse's mouth, Cassie could feel her heart drop down to her stomach.

Vivid flashes of a memory she'd spent the last five years trying to forget came to the surface of her mind, causing her to freeze in her steps.

"Twenty-five year old female found down at the park."

Her breathing sped up, staring at the injured and beaten body in front of her.

"Status, post trauma. She came in with a GCS of six, BP eighty over sixty. Exam is significant for blunt head trauma. Unequal breath sounds, right pupil is dilated, and she's ready for x-ray."

For the patient's own sanity, she silently prayed the girl wouldn't wake up anytime soon. Cassie wished she was unconscious when it happened to her.