1.05

Helena Campos was a girl of strong morals. She knew what she thought was right and she didn't often stray from it, having a string conscience keeping her in track. This made her honourable and trustworthy, however, it also made her overthink a lot of situations, having internal debates on different moral dilemmas.

Now, sitting in the gallery and watching Meredith's open heart surgery, Helena sipped her coffee and scanned through another article, her head in George's shoulder.

"I wish I could hold a heart." George complained.

"A monkey could hold a heart." Cristina pointed out.

"At least she has a better view. And you're just mad Burke didn't choose you." Lena sighed and Cristina frowned at her.

"George, I need more ice chips." Izzie joined them.

"Who else did you invite?" The boy asked.

Helena wasn't one for parties. She liked going to the occasional club, but house parties just left way too much of a mess. And, to be honest, she knew she and Izzie would end up being the ones to clean it.

"We said the list was jocks only: surgery, trauma, plastics."

Lena narrowed her eyes at Izzie's guilty face and asks "Isobel Stevens, who else did you invite?"

"Just some people from peds." She answered with a shrug and Lena takes notes on her readings.

"Some people from peds...! You invited the preschoolers to Meredith's house. Next thing you'll say that you invited the shrinks." Cristina complained. At the blond's silence, the Asian exclaimed. "She invited mental defects. This party is DOA."

"Cristina, not nice and, FYI, peds surgery is one of the most competitive specialities. Besides, the peds nurses are all really nice." The small girl scolded.

"Fine, I'm sorry, Baby Einstein. Happy now?"

"Very." She flashed her an adorable smile.

"Meredith thinks this in going to be a small, meet-your-boyfriend, cocktail thing. Did you clear this with her?" George confirmed.

"No, but I will." The three flashed her accusing looks. "I promise!"

"Why are you wasting the only weekend your boyfriend's in town on a big party? Is he bad in bed?" Helena giggled and Cristina looked at her with a softly.

"No, I just want him to meet some of my friends."

"Right. Sixty geeks in scrubs are your friends." Cristina pager's went off and she got up to leave. "Bad sex, sucks for you."

"I hear there's a party tonight at Meredith's house." Alex come in.

"News to me." Izzie denied as Lena looked down with a guilty look. She didn't yet know the boy well, but she had a feeling he wasn't nearly as bad as he thought he was.

Just then, the heart monitor started beeping in the OR bellow them, and they observed intently. Eventually, the cardio thoracic surgeon managed to get the patient's heart to start beating once again.

——

Dr. Bailey had paged both George and Helena to work with her on a case. The girl loved working with her resident, so she was more than thrilled to tag along. Now, looking at the patient's scans, the older woman questioned them.  "What do you see here?"

"Hyperinflated lungs, clouded with bullae. Seriously diminished capacity. She must be having trouble breathing." The boy answered.

"Course of action?"

"A bullectomy procedure. Remove the bullae, reduce the pressure." She answered that time.

"It says here we operated on her back in '99, so mrs. Drake has been through this before, but talk her through it anyway. And resist the anti-smoking lectures, she feels bad enough already." The chief instructed them.

"So, do you think if they put a picture of these in a pack of cigarettes people would stop smoking?" George suggested, looking at his friend with adoration.

"Don't think so. Maybe some but not most. Addiction is complicated." The young girl responded.

——

"The surgery before was supposed to help. But it never felt right." Mrs. Drake told the pair.

"Probably would be a good idea to quit smoking..." George let out.

"Georgie!" The small girl elbowed him in the ribs.

"Oh, it's fine, dear. I did! Four-pack-a-day habit. It was hell. Didn't do any damn good."

"Well then, it seems congratulations are in order Mrs. Drake." She smiled at the woman.

"Well, it looked, I mean, from the damage, we all thought you were probably still smoking." George informed.

"Cold turkey, five years ago, and what did I get for my trouble? I still had to quit my job at the restaurant. But even sitting, it hurt. Nobody believed me, they said it was in my head."

"We've seen the films, and it's clearly not in your head." The girl told her.

"Come here, the two of you." The woman signalled them to come closer and said in a tone of secrecy "You're too damn young to be doctors."

"Hey! I'm older than I look." The boy defended.

"I'm probably not, but rest assured that I'm more than qualified." The girl smiled once more.

"Do you think this is gonna work this time?"

"I think it's your best option." George said.

"And we certainly hope it does." Lena answered.

"Straight shooters, huh? I like that... you're a nice couple."

"A... hum... a... what?!" George squealed, the girl's eyes widening in shock.

"Oh, no, we're... we're not..." She attempted to explain, blushing.