chapter fifty four

all by myself.season five, episode ten.

Despite insisting that she was perfectly fine with just packing along a granola bar, Mark had been adamant that she started eating a healthier breakfast.

"Okay," Mark said, setting down a plate in front of Callie. "Bacon and extra cheese," he turned to Cassie, repeating the motion with a smile, "and egg whites with avocado." He glanced between the omelettes, proud of his work. "Damn, I'm good."

"Thank you," Cassie grinned, taking a bite and instantly sighing in content. "Okay, you're totally doing this every day from now on."

"Yeah," Callie nodded in agreement, jokingly wiggling her brows. "We should have you move in, become our personal chef."

Mark laughed, shaking his head as he began to make his own food. "I don't know, Torres," he debated. "I'd rather Cass just come and live with me. That way, I'd only have to cook for two."

Callie playfully pouted. "Ugh, not fair."

As the pair of best friends continued to joke around, they were oblivious to the way Cassie's eyes were wide with silent panic, frozen in place at the topic of conversation.

"You know," she interjected, laughing nervously under her breath. Her gaze darted around the room, not making eye contact with either of them. "It's just an omelette. It's really not great."

"Oh, come on," Mark smirked, flipping a towel over his shoulder. "If you had it your way, I'd be here to cook every meal. Breakfast, lunch, dinner." He thought for a moment. "You know, maybe I should—"

"Dinner?" Cassie interrupted, speaking so rapidly it was hard for them to comprehend. "Why would you be here for dinner?" The two gave her blank looks. "I-I mean, you don't here, so you would probably be at house for dinner, which is where you live. Not here."

"Right," he drawled slowly, squinting his eyes.

Abruptly, Cassie stood up, flinging her tote bag over her shoulder and rushing to the door.

Callie raised a brow. "Where are you going?"

"I need to, um, . I'm going to work."

Mark frowned as he watched her walk out the door. "Wait, angel, I can give you a—" Cassie slammed the door shut, "—ride." He turned his gaze to Callie, who was smirking at him with a shake of her head. "God, I totally just freaked her out. Did I just freak her out?"

"Dude," she snorted, speaking through a mouthful of her breakfast. "She didn't even finish her omelette."

☆

Cassie, Meredith, Cristina, Izzie, Alex, and George stood impatiently at the nurses station, waiting for Webber to announce the winner of the first official solo surgery. As he approached, Cassie looked up hopefully, having a very good feeling about the outcome.

"I am happy to announce," Webber began, "that the first solo surgery will take place tonight. A below the knee amputation, bone cancer. Mr. Collinsworth in 2212."

Meredith tilted her head. "No appy?"

"Saw action," Alex mumbled. "Sweet."

Cassie shared an excited look with George, turning back her attention to the Chief.

"Choosing who gets the first solo surgery isn't just about who has the best surgical skills, or who's logged the most hours in the OR," Webber prefaced. "It's about the highest form of trust. The trust, to put a patient's into one of our resident's hands. And for the first time that I can recall, every single attending picked the same person."

Cassie grinned, knowing for a that Derek and Mark were planning to vote for her.

"Dr. Yang."

Cassie's smile dropped.

"However," Webber crossed his arms over his chest. "Dr. Yang is out of the running. is going to pick the winner instead." The residents shared an incredulous look, each of them disappointed. "Dr. Yang will post her decision on the OR Board at four p.m."

George noticed Cassie's face, squeezing her shoulder in an attempt to comfort her.

"Also, since nearly of the interns are still banned from the OR, the winner will pick either Dr. Lennon, Dr. Peterson, or Dr. Xavier to scrub in with them," Webber finished his speech. "Good luck."

☆

Cassie stared blankly at the wall, twirling in circles in one of the nurses chairs. She'd bribed Tyler to let her sit in his seat, and all she had to do was remove a few drains later that day. In her opinion, it was a great deal.

Mark spotted his girlfriend on the way to the OR, subconsciously smiling to himself as he made his way towards her.

"Hey," he greeted, despite her not responding. "I'm headed to surgery, did you want to scrub in?"

Cassie scoffed a laugh, not looking his way. "I don't know. From what I've been told, there's other residents who are far more than I am. Why don't you ask one of them?"

Mark frowned, his face showing genuine confusion. "What the hell are you talking about?"

Cassie shook her head with a scowl. "You know, if you thought I didn't deserve the solo surgery, you could've just said so. You didn't need to lie."

"Lie? Who said I was lying?"

She gave him a deadpan look. "The Chief told us it was unanimous."