chapter twenty one

17 seconds.season two, episode twenty five.

tw: mentions and descriptions of gun violence

"He's picturing my face," Cristina scoffed, glaring at her boyfriend. "He's totally picturing that dart puncturing my skull."

Derek made eye contact with Meredith, before spinning around and hitting a bullseye.

"Derek is picturing Meredith," Izzie added.

Meredith scoffed, downing her shot of tequila. "He called me a whore. He lost the right to picture me."

"He called you a ?" Cassie gasped drunkenly. "Do you want me to beat him up? Because I will. I don't care. Just say the word."

"Maybe later," she smirked, nudging Cassie in the ribs.

"So I fall asleep during sex. So what?" Cristina shrugged. She raised her voice and shouted, "Ass!"

"Ass!" Meredith repeated.

"Ass!" Izzie smiled sarcastically at Alex as he walked by. Cassie looked between them all, trying to remember which relationship problem belonged to which couple.

Alex smirked. "Isobel Stevens has finally left the hospital. Does this mean heart patient dude finally kicked it?"

"Hey," Cassie glared at him while taking another shot. "Talk about Den like that again, and you'll be the one I beat up."

"Oh please, you couldn't beat me up."

She raised a brow. "Care to test that theory?"

Alex frowned slightly, taking a step back. "Actually, no. You can be scary."

"That's what I thought."

Izzie rolled her eyes. "I'm sorry, this section of the bar is for surgeons. We don't socialize with gynecologists." George entered the bar making her smile. "George!"

Her smile faded when she saw who he was with. Cassie, on the other hand, jumped out of her seat and gave the other girl a hug.

"Callie, you're here!" Cassie grinned. "With George! You know, I don't say this enough, but I love you guys together. You two are awesome."

George looked Cassie up and down. "You much do you think she's had to drink?" he whispered to Callie.

"A couple shots, at least," Callie replied with a small smile, looking at the only one of George's friends that she actually likes.

"Hey," Izzie smiled weakly.

"Hi, Callie."

"Hi, Dr. Torres."

The couple shared an uncomfortable look at the other's hostility, which Cassie noticed.

"Hello! Welcome!" she cheered, lightening their moods as George ordered them drinks.

"Uh, gin and tonic and a beer."

Cassie looked over at Derek, who was still making angry eyes at Meredith, and scoffed loudly, drawing everyone's attention. "I'll be right back," she slurred.

"No, Cass—" Meredith tried to stop her, but she was already halfway across the bar.

"Hey! Ass!"

"Cassie?" Derek frowned. She smacked him upside the head, making him wince. "Ouch!"

"You are being an ."

"What do you—"

"You called her a whore! Seriously? Maybe I should remind you who slept with an intern while married to his wife!" Cassie shouted, causing a few people to turn their heads. Burke sipped his drink and pretended he wasn't listening, and the interns to attempted to hide their laughter.

"I didn't—"

"You. Called. Her. A. Whore?" Cassie yelled, hitting him with every word. "She. Is. Not. A. Whore!"

"Maybe we should..." Alex mumbled.

"Yeah," Cristina agreed, standing up and bringing Cassie back to their table.

"I'm mad at you, but I still love you!" the brunette called out over her shoulder.

"White male. GSW to the left shoulder."

"I've got a GSW to the abdomen."

"Multiple walking wounded. Five injured coming in behind us."

"Why are they all in the hallway?" Meredith and Cassie asked in unison, pointing to the patients lining the halls.

"Overflow from the ER," Cristina said.

"A paramedic told us an employee went postal. Shot up a restaurant," Izzie added.

"I heard he got away," George said with wide eyes.

"Really?"

Cassie frowned, checking her pager and seeing that she didn't have any active patients. "Hey guys, I'm going to check on Denny real quick. Let me know if you need me."

Cristina and Meredith nodded, both knowing how much their person was worried about the patient. The LVAD helped his heart a bit, but he needed a heart transplant sooner than later if he wanted to live a long life.