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CODE BLUE
011. THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES
season two, episode nine
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EVER SINCE SHE COULD REMEMBER, JOANNA HATED THANKSGIVING. She despised absolutely everything about the holiday, from its original meaning to what it represented to her. It was a time to be with family, and when you were a Rhodes, family time was the definition of a nightmare. Except that this year, with her living on the other side of the country, it meant Connor would finally get a break from his work and fly down to Seattle to see her.
But unfortunately for her, she was a stupid resident surgeon at the busiest time of the year, which meant she was stuck in the stupid hospital while her stupid brother was at the stupid airport.
"Thank you for volunteering to come in," Joanna said to Nicholas as the duo approached the O.R. board. "Saved me from having to choose one of you to torture."
"Happy to be tortured," Nicholas smiled.
"Not a fan of Thanksgiving?" Joanna asked.
"Not a whole hell of a lot to be thankful for," he shrugged.
Joanna nodded slightly, and Nicholas suddenly felt very dumb to be complaining about his life next to her. She had just lost a baby and fallopian tube, and here he was, bitching about how he had nothing to be thankful for.
"I used to hate Thanksgiving," Joanna spoke. "But now, I love it. This a day people spend with their families. Too much family time triggers depression, repressed childhood rage, bitter disputes over the remote, and way too much alcohol. People get stupid. People get violent. People get hurt."
"And that's a good thing because?" Nicholas asked.
"Surgeries Simmons! Lots and lots of surgeries."
"I never thought of that," he mused.
"The stupidity of the human race, Nick. Be thankful for that," Joanna said before spotting a very familiar neurosurgeon walking down a hallway in the hospital still in his scrubs. "You're supposed to be at home getting ready for my Thanksgiving dinner."
Before Derek could defend himself, Dr. Burke came into the hall dressed in his blue scrubs. "Ah, best maze procedure I've ever done. Under an hour."
"I thought you had the day off," Derek said.
"I did. I do. I'm leaving," Burke said. "I simply like to start my day cutting. Gives me a rush. And Dr. Simmons, will you please check on my patient when he wakes up from anesthesia?"
