Chapter Four

"Here you go," the woman handed me my cup of coffee. She flashed me a smile which I assumed made other men swoon coupled with her good looks, but I barley registered it. I walked over to the table where Alex, April, and Meredith were sitting as they ate their early lunches.

"-And Derek won't tell me a thing about her!" I caught the last part of Meredith's rant as I sat down across from here and next to Alex.

"Who is she talking about?" I took a sip of my hot coffee.

"The girl from Sloan's room visited Shepard yesterday too." Alex informed me. "Apparently they were talking when Meredith came to his room and she was quick to get out of there."

"All he'll say is that she's an old friend." Meredith added as she stabbed her salad with her fork.

"Maybe she used to bump noses with them back in New York?" Alex smirked. April choked on her sandwich that she'd been eating while Meredith slapped Alex and I just watched them all.

I'd be lying if I said I hadn't thought the same thing as Alex. Mark certainly got around before and after he came to Seattle and didn't really stop until he met Lexie. The others had told me stories of what he was like before Seattle Grace and Mercy West merged and the only way to describe Mark then was as a man whore. There'd even been a time when the nurses protested against being on his service. I could defiantly see Mark and Bria having a fling when he was in New York but somehow I couldn't imagine her and Derek being together. Derek just didn't strike me as that type of guy; plus he'd been married to Addison before coming here and she'd been the one to cheat, not him.

"What's your theory pretty boy?" Alex asked me. "You're the one that's actually had a conversation with the chick. What'd she say?"

"Just that she's a pediatric surgeon." I told them the little information I'd gotten out of her. "I tried to figure out where she worked but she told me it was none of my business."

"Struck out huh?" Alex gave me a smug look. "Guess she only likes the older guys."

"We don't even know how old she is Alex!" April spoke up.

"She doesn't look older than an intern," he pointed out before glancing over at the tables where this years interns were sitting for their own lunch. Looking at them I had to agree, Bria did look younger like them. "My bet is that she lied to Jackson to make sure he didn't have anything real to try and track her with."

"She stitched herself up," I reminded them.

"I didn't say she couldn't be an intern somewhere." He shrugged.

"Maybe she's just a friend like she said, why are you guys so determined to figure out who she is?" April questioned all of us. "She might not even be hiding anything. You all might just be driving yourselves insane for nothing."

"If she was a friend then why didn't Mark or Derek ever mention her before?" Meredith countered.

"What the hell?" Alex cursed softly. We all turned to see him staring at something. I followed his gaze to see that it was on Bria but she wasn't alone. She was talking to Webber and both of them looked serious about whatever it was they were talking about.

"Why would Webber be talking to her?" I asked no one in particular.

"I think it's time to talk to Shepard." Alex looked at each of us and it was easy to tell that all of us agreed with him. We needed to figure out who this chick was.

"Can't you just tell me what it is that's exactly wrong with him?" I asked Dr. Webber.

"I'm sorry Miss but only family can access that, it's private information." He shook his head. I suppressed a groan as I turned on my heel and headed back to Mark's room. As I turned though I caught sight of Meredith in the cafeteria with some others. Instead of heading towards Mark's room I made a detour and headed towards Derek's. Sure enough when I got there the room was empty and Derek was watching tv on the hospital's television.

"I thought tv rotted the brain?" I joked from where I stood in the doorway.

"If you think that then you shouldn't be able to practice medicine." He looked at me and smiled as I walked over and sat in the chair next to his bed. "Speaking of which, don't you have a job to attend to?"

"My boss is...understanding." I hesitated with my word choice.

"Where are you working now?" He raised a brow at me just like he used to always do when he didn't believe me about something. He was always able to tell when I was lying and there were many times where I had cussed him out for it. There was one time I'd even chased him around with a random broom that I'd spotted after he'd lectured me about some guy that I'd been hanging out with. He had a tendency to act as though he were my father or brother.

Highly irritating.

"New York Presbyterian University Hospital." I smiled proudly. It was the top ranked hospital in the entire state if New York. Only the best got to work there and I'd had the pleasure of doing so for the past couple years.

"What did you decided to specialize in? Last time we talked you were thinking of going into Plastics like Mark." He recalled.

"Well I'm technically the head of the Neurology department there but for the past year or so I've been focused around the Neonatology field, like Addison." I informed him. "I'm in the Pediatrics department most of the time now."

"Your dad must be proud." His smile reminded me so much of when we were all younger and joking around. I could still remember him and Mark taking me out for my first drink on my twenty first birthday, along with Addison. It's been safe to say that none of us were capable of operating the next morning. None of us knew that just a few weeks after that he'd leave Addison because she slept with Mark and that they'd all end up in Seattle, leaving me alone in New York.

"I guess," I shrugged. "He says he is. Have you spoken to Addison lately?"

"Not for a little over a year." He shook his head. "Don't try to change the subject though, I want to hear all about this job of yours."

"I wouldn't make a big deal over it." I looked around the room, well anywhere but at him. I could feel his gaze on me though.

"Why not?" What was it with him and Mark not being able to leave things unknown? I certainly haven't missed this over the years.

"No reason." I tried to brush it off as I suddenly found my boots to be quite interesting.

"Brianna." He used my full name and I couldn't help but frown at it. I hated my name, Bria wasn't too bad but honestly I don't know what my parents were thinking when they named me. Maybe they were craving some cheese?

"So, you know how the chief of surgery is in charge of all the attendings and the heads of all the specialties?" I tried to sound innocent, something I've never been for a day in my life.

"Yes," he sighed, knowing this wasn't going to end well. I love how he knows me so well.

"Well apparently it isn't good to call them an incompetent brainless idiot who shouldn't be allowed within ten feet of a scalpel." I rubbed the back of my neck when I was finished. "It turns out that saying such a thing can get one fired. Even if they have the lowest mortality rate out of any Neuro surgeon in New York...Who knew?"

"Bria-" He started but didn't say anything else. I risked a glance at him to see that he seemed conflicted. It was as though he didn't know whether to lecture me or laugh, I was hoping he chose the later.

"I didn't realize you had a visitor." I looked up at the door to see a woman with long black hair and dark brown eyes, she wore dark navy blue scrubs to show she was an attending. I recognized her from Mark's room yesterday, Callie.

"It's no problem," Derek assured her as she hesitated it the doorway. "Callie this is my friend Bria, Bria this is Dr. Calliope Torres."

"Nice to meet you." I smiled at her.

"I saw you in Mark's room," she nodded.

"Yeah, Bria is a friend of Mark and I's from New York. She came to see how we were doing after the crash." Derek spoke up when I didn't. "Speaking of which, is there any news on him yet?"

"They're still working on it." She seemed to grip the chart in her arms tighter as she spoke. "I just wanted to make sure you were doing alright."

"I'm alright, how are Arizona and Cristina?" He ran his good hand through his messy dark hair.

"No better, no worse for now." She shook her head before leaving without a goodbye. As soon as she was gone though her presence was replaced by Meredith and a couple others, they looked between Derek and I. Almost in a nervous fashion.

"I'll go now, I should check up on Mark." I pushed myself up out of the chair.

"Don't be a stranger." Derek grinned at me as I made my way to the door.

"Wouldn't dream of it." I chuckled. The others made way for me to get through the door and I headed down the hall. Halfway down though I stopped and glanced back, sure enough they'd all disappeared into Derek's room and the door was shut. Shaking my head I started walking again, hoping that for once in his damn life Derek could keep his mouth shut.