You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

02┃friendships

S2 EP7

NORAH SLUMPED OVER the nurses' station with George, Cristina and Izzie, waiting for their resident or a page, preferably the latter. She yawned, rubbing her eyes to get the tears away.

How she wished to lie down on a gurney at this exact moment...

"Meredith's become like an exhibit," George voiced out, "Like a zoo animal, like that rare panda that everyone stares at."

Izzie sent him a grim look, shaking her head slightly. "Please don't say that to her face," she advised. "I think that panda died alone."

"It did," Norah confirmed.

George sighed, "I'm just saying, we should do something to cheer her up."

"Don't worry about it. It's under control."

He glanced at the two women curiously, his brows furrowed. "Wait, what do you guys have going on?"

"Nothing," Izzie and Cristina answered in unison.

George turned his head to the brunette, who shrugged back at him. "I don't-" she yawned again, "-know, no."

"Long night?" Izzie asked.

Norah narrowed her eyes at her. "If you mean what I think you mean, then no," she replied, "My neighbours, however, they were really getting at it last night... I need to move out of there to somewhere quieter."

"You live by yourself?" George queried.

"Mm-hmm."

"You rent an apartment? By yourself?" he asked again, and the brunette nodded.

"Don't you have your student loan to pay off?" Izzie asked out of curiosity.

"Nope," Norah smirked. "Full ride scholarship."

"Harvard Med School and a double degree of Psychology and Biology before that," Cristina recited, and Norah stared at her, surprised.

"She looks up all of us," George explained.

"Only those I find competitive," Cristina smirked, and the two other residents rolled their eyes. She turned back to the brunette, her eyes narrowed. "One question-are you and inbred?"

"Uh, pretty sure I'm not..." Norah shrugged, "I mean, I was adopted."

❦ ❦ ❦

"MRS KIMBERLEY Griswold. History of heart disease and multiple surgeries. In for a beating heart quadruple CABG," Cristina presented, right before Alex walked in to join them.

"You're late," Izzie noted.

"Yes, Karev, nice of you to join us," said Burke. "Why keep the heart beating, Dr Yang?"

Cristina looked at Izzie and Meredith hesitantly before turning back to the attending. "I don't know," she replied, earning surprised looks from both Burke and Bailey.

"What?"

"I have no idea," Cristina claimed, her voice sounding forced. Norah, too, had found it odd.

For her few days here, she had already known that Cristina was some sort of 'Cardio God' among the interns; hence, for her to not know something about a cardiac patient seemed very unlikely.

Bailey snapped her gaze to Izzie. "Oh, I don't know, either," said the blonde, shaking her head, "I just don't."

"Because of-ow." Meredith was about to speak up when Izzie elbowed her, throwing her a look to stop her from answering the question. Norah and George shared a suspicious look regarding their three suddenly-dumb friends.