chapter thirty two

wishin' and hopin'.season three, episode fourteen.

. Twirling the key in her hand, the former turned her head to face her resident. "Ten days and five million dollars later," she sighed. "Wow."

Bailey laughed. "Wow, indeed."

"Thank you for this," Cassie said gratefully. "Denny would have loved it. Well, I mean, he wasn't super big on medical stuff, but he would have been happy to contribute to something good."

"Thank me?" she scoffed, shaking her head. "Thank , Harper. I couldn't have done it without you."

Taking the older woman's hand, Cassie grinned. "We did it together."

Bailey turned back to the building with sparkling eyes. "And we are open for business."

☆

In the lobby, Addison was watching Derek and Burke attempt to impress the Chief, while she sat back with a smug look on her face.

"Aren't you gonna get in there?" Mark asked, coming up behind her. "You wanna be Chief, you gotta fight with the big boys."

Addison shook her head. "You know, Cassie gave me some advice last night. Fight like a girl, and let them kill each other. Then, I'll be the only one left standing."

Mark scoffed. "And then there's me. There you go, underestimating me again."

"Oh, it's not that I underestimate you, it's just that I don't think about you. At all."

"Well, you should." He smirked, walking over to where Burke, Derek and Webber were standing. "I was heading down to the clinic. It's opening today, and I thought it might be nice to show Cassie and Dr. Bailey a little support."

"Very thoughtful, Dr. Sloan. Think I'll join you," Webber said. "Gentlemen, if you'll excuse me."

"Certainly," Derek smiled falsely. As Mark passed him, he lowered his voice to a whisper. "Nicely done."

Mark smiled. "Mhm."

☆

Bailey perked up when Cristina, Alex, and Izzie entered the clinic. Izzie looked around nervously, feeling unwelcome in the building. And based on the glares she was receiving, she most likely was.

Cassie, however, payed her no mind.

"Welcome to the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic!" Cassie cheered, holding her arms in the air and doing jazz hands. "Yay!"

Bailey smiled as well, albeit less enthusiastic. "Barring any surgical emergencies, you will be working here today."

Cristina looked around with a slight frown. "Working on what, exactly?"

Bailey rolled her eyes. "Right now, Olivia will be familiarizing you with the protocol for the flu vaccine."

"Dr. Bailey," Cassie suddenly said, drawing their attention. "Can I speak to you and Dr. Stevens privately for a moment?"

Izzie froze. "Why?"

"Dr. Bailey?"

Hesitating for a moment, the resident nodded them over to a secluded corner by the desk. Izzie kept a good five foot distance away from the brunette. "What is it?"

"I love this clinic," Cassie said honestly. "This clinic is my baby. My five dollar baby, to be exact. But since we're both surgeons, and I don't have a lot of free time, I think we need to pick someone to be in charge."

Bailey raised a brow. "And that would be—"

"Izzie will run the clinic."

The other two gaped at her in confusion and shock. "Why—"

Cassie turned directly to Izzie, placing the keyes in the palm of her hand as she cut her off. "Have fun!"

Smirking devilishly, she left to stand by Alex and Cristina. The latter raised a brow at her expression, tilting her head as she whispered to Alex.

"Oh, McAngel's got a McPlan."

"I don't know what you're talking about," Cassie shrugged, aloof. She ignored Izzie's gaze burning into her back.

"She's totally plotting Izzie's murder or something," Alex added, narrowing his eyes.

"I'm not," she denied. "The demise of her surgical career, maybe, but—"

"Woah, what?" Cristina laughed.

Cassie leaned in closely, making the other two do the same. "I gave Izzie the clinic."

"You're an idiot."

"No, I'm a genius. The more time she spends here, the less time she spends in surgery, getting in my way. Besides, she already sucks. This is just the extra push to finally get her fired."

Alex frowned. "You can't do that."

Cassie gave him a look. "She killed my pseudo father. I can do whatever I want."

Whatever Alex was going to say, was cut off by Mark and the Chief bursting through the doors.

"Dr. Bailey, congratulations on the opening of the clinic!" Mark beamed, spotting Cassie and making his way towards her. "Cass, I'm so proud of you."

"Thanks," she returned his grin.

The Chief looked around. "It is open, isn't it?"