chapter seventeen

it's the end of the world as we know it.season two, episodes sixteen + seventeen.

As a relatively intuitive person, she liked to think that she could sense when something bad was about to happen. Of course, it could easily just be her anxiety disorder making things out to be worse than they are, but then again, she'd never been wrong before.

The day her mom died, she had a sudden urge from the moment she woke up to get everything she needed to say off her chest. She did, and Bonnie died only a few hours later.

She had the feeling when Addison cheated on Derek, when her dog died a few years back, the first time Denny was rushed to the hospital for his heart, and even the night when Addison showed up at Seattle Grace.

And today, she had the feeling.

So, she was staying home.

Crawling into Meredith's bed, Cassie turned on her side to face her person. "I have the feeling."

Meredith mirrored her position. "You too?"

Cassie sighed. "Me too."

☆

Izzie and George shared an exhausted look, glaring at the two girls in the king sized bed. "You have to go to work," Izzie said determinedly. "You're an intern. Saving lives is not optional."

"Yes, it is. We're staying home."

George attempted a softer approach, moving to sit on the edge of the bed. "Hey Mer, Cass, maybe there'll be a horrible accident nearby the hospital. Cut a bunch of people open. Sternotomies, craniotomies. That'd be fun, right?"

"I don't care about surgeries," Meredith grumbled, turning over and resting her head on Cassie's shoulder.

Twenty minutes later, Cristina stood in the center of the room, dressed for work with a deadpan expression. "You have a feeling?"

"Yes," they chorused.

"Okay, what kind of feeling?"

"A bad one," Cassie said, staring at the ceiling.

"Like I might die," Meredith added.

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Today? Tomorrow? In 50 years? Because we're all gonna die eventually!"

"Enlightening."

"But now, we're late. Let's go."

Meredith groaned. "Cristina!"

Cristina centered herself to avoid an outburst, and sat down on the bed in the same place that George did. "Okay. This is me being supportive."

"Really?" Cassie raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, hey, fine. I'm totally supportive. Go."

Meredith sat up while Cassie continued to stare at the ceiling. "Okay, the man I love has a wife. And then he chooses her over me. And that wife takes our dog. Well, she didn't take the dog, I gave it to her, but I didn't mean to give it to , I meant to give it to "

Cassie tilted her head. "That makes no sense."

Meredith gave Cassie a look, before shaking her head and finishing her rant.

"But, that does change the fact that she's got my McDreamy! And my McDog. And sometimes—" she pointed to Cassie, "—my McPerson! She's got my McLife! And what have I got? You know, I can't remember the last time we kissed. Cause you never think the last time is the last time. You think there'll be more. You think you have forever, but you don't."

"That was deep."

"Plus, my conditioner decided to stop working and I think I have brittle bones."

"Less deep, but valid."

"I just need something to happen. I need a sign that things are going to change. I need a reason to go on. I need some . And in the absence of hope, I need to stay in bed and feel like I might die today."

Cristina looked at Cassie expectantly.

"I don't know. I just have the feeling."

Cristina stood, looking thoughtful for a moment, before yanking the sheets away from them and standing on the bed.

"Whatever! Everybody has problems. Now get your ass out of bed and get to work! Now! Move! Move! Move!" She kicked them off the bed as they scrambled to get dressed, not wanting a pissed off Cristina after them. "Okay, we're good to go."

☆

After a run in with a very pregnant Dr. Bailey, who went into labor as soon as she finished giving out orders, Cassie and the interns left to go to their assigned jobs. Herself, Meredith, and Cristina were in a trauma room with Burke, gaping at the sight before them.

The patient on the table was unconscious, with a paramedic's hand in his body cavity.

Nothing out of the ordinary or anything.

"How's his respiratory effort?" Burke asked.

"Absent breast sounds on the right side. Air bubbling on the side of the wound, he's shocky, and getting a little cyanotic," Cassie informed.

The patient, James, mumbled to the doctors about his wife. Cassie looked through the doors and into the pit, seeing a lady in shock who was screaming loudly with no indication that she was going to stop.

"Let's get him intubated and place an occlusive dressing over the wound," Burke said, before turning to the paramedic. "And who are you?"

"Hannah. Hannah Davies."

"Hannah, why do you have your hand inside my patient?"

"I'd like to say for the record that I told her not to," another paramedic prefaced.

"I tried to tamponade the wound with gauze and pressure, but the only thing that would stop the bleeding was my hand. Every time I tried to move it he starts bleeding out," Hannah explained. "Can I take my hand out now?"

"You don't stick your hand inside of a patient when you don't know how he was injured. You don't stick your hand inside of a patient at all," the other paramedic scolded.

"Yeah, I know that now!"

"Sir, you need to leave," Cassie ordered, noticing now Hannah tensed and moved her hand slightly as she yelled.