I Love You, Mark Sloan

7. Back to Reality

Kate wasn't particularly looking forward to her first official day at Seattle Grace Hospital. Not for the fact that she had a small surgery to get her into the swing of things, it's the fact that she had to be within the vicinity of her cheating ex-boyfriend. After last night, she was stressing even more about the situation. She rolled out of her hotel bed and had a quick shower before slightly curling her hair. She put on a knee-length tight black dress and slipped on her signature red heels. She grabbed her bag and left for the hospital.

When she arrived at Seattle Grace, she was greeted by Dr Webber, who had a beaming smile on his face.

"Ah. Dr. O'Malley. How are we this morning?" He asked, a smile still on his face.

"Pretty good actually. Can't wait to get back into an OR." Kate joked and Richard laughed lightly.

"I bet you can't. I have put your scrubs and white coat in your office." Richard said and Kate stopped in her tracks.

"My what?" She asked.

"Your office. I mean, it's only a temporary thing but as you're planning for trials and such, I thought that you could have your own space to relax and do some research." He said with a smile.

"Dr. Webber, I don't know what to say?" Kate gasped with a huge smile on her face.

"You can start by calling me Richard." Dr. Webber joked and Kate let out a small and nervous laughter.

"Sorry Dr. We- I mean Richard." Kate said and he chuckled.

"Don't be, it happens. Now, you have a quick consult for a young female patient. Her chart is in your office for you to take a look at. I'll take you to it now." Richard said, walking ahead of Kate. She sped up her walking pace to catch up with him as she didn't want to be left behind. He led her to a small room near his office and inside it, there was a small desk with a computer on top of it. It wasn't a big room but it was perfect for her.

"Wow. This is amazing." Kate gasped.

"Well, like I said, it's only small." Richard said.

"It's perfect." Kate said, completely shocked at this act of kindness.

"Well here's the chart and if you need anything at all, just page me." Richard said and Kate nodded. He left the room and gently closed the door behind him. She took a deep breath before picking up the chart. Just as she did, she heard a knock at the door.

"COME IN." She yelled. The door opened and it was Richard.

"One thing I forgot to mention, you'll need to pick a resident for this consult and you'll be working alongside Dr. Sloan." He said and left the room once again, before Kate had a chance to reply to him. Great, she thought. She flicked through the chart briefly, taking in the information that she needed and left her office to go find her resident.

She walked through the reception area and noticed George and his friends/colleagues reading through charts.

"Hello Georgie." Kate said and he rolled his eyes.

"I've told you not to call me that." George huffed.

"Yeah well I'm older than you so I don't care. I can do what I want." Kate said with a grin on her face.

"Why are you over here?" George snapped.

"I'm looking for a resident to come with me on this Cardio consult and I'm clearly not going to ask you after the snappiness in your tone." Kate said and George pulled a face. She looked at the other residents. "Ah. Cristina. Would you like to assist me? I know you love Cardio." Kate asked and Cristina's face lit up.

"It would be an honour." Cristina beamed, quite frankly not knowing what to say to the cardio goddess stood in front of her.

"Great! Could you come with me?" Kate asked and Cristina nodded vigorously. The pair walked away and George stood dumbfounded. He couldn't believe that his sister picked Cristina over him for a consult. He looked at Meredith and Izzie with disbelief written all over his face and all they did was shrug.

Meanwhile, Kate was just about to do her first consult. She opened the door to see a woman sat in a hospital bed.

"Mrs Johnson? Hi I'm Dr. Kate O'Malley and this is Dr. Cristina Yang. So you've been having some heart distress, is that correct?" Kate asked the patient in front of her.

"Yeah. I keep getting stabbing pains in my chest and I find it hard to breathe sometimes." Mrs Johnson sighed.

"Can I take a listen?" Kate asked politely and the woman nodded. Kate put a stethoscope to the patient's heart and listened to her heart beat. After a few moments, she pulls the stethoscope away and puts it around her neck.

"Have you been experiencing any pain in your left arm? Or any heart palpitations?" Kate asked with concern.

"A little pain in my left arm but nothing too major. Is something wrong?" Mrs Johnson asked, sounding quite frightened.

"Can you get me an ultrasound machine quickly please?" Kate asked Cristina in a hushed tone.

"Of course." Cristina said back in the same hushed manner and left the hospital room.

"Is everything okay?" Mrs Johnson asked. Cristina then came back into the room, wheeling an ultrasound machine in front of her.

"I'm just going to do a quick ultrasound of your heart, if that's okay?" Kate asked.

"Yes of course." The patient responded and Kate then put a little bit of gel on her chest and began to scan.

"Sorry if it's a bit cold." Kate said, scanning her heart. Cristina was watching the Cardio surgeons every move. Kate then stopped scanning.

"Mrs Johnson, it looks to me as though you've had a mild heart attack. This has caused your aorta to rupture slightly so not enough oxygen is getting to your lungs, causing your shortness of breath. You also have a triple heart beat, which makes things slightly more difficult. However, this can be easily fixed by surgery." Kate explained.

"Surgery? I can't have surgery! I have kids. I have a job." Mrs Johnson panicked.

"I can assure you it's a simple surgery and you'll only be off your feet for a week or so whilst your heart heals." Kate said with a slight smile on her face.

"Do you promise?" Mrs Johnson asked.

"Of course I do." Kate said.

"Okay. I'm happy to have surgery." The patient replied.

"Okay great. Dr. Yang, can you please book an OR?" Kate asked.

"Certainly." Cristina replied, leaving the room with Kate following her. Kate stood at the reception desk and was filling in the chart for Mrs Johnson when she felt a presence beside her.

"Can we talk?" A voice spoke.

{1157 words}