You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

42┃email

"I KNOW YOU ALL HAVE heard a lot of rumours, and I'm sorry for that. And what I'm about to say will be hard to hear, and I'm sorry for that as well. The economic climate is... Well, you all know what it is. In the coming weeks, Seattle Grace Hospital will be merging with Mercy West.

"I wish I could tell you you'll all survive the merger, but there are only so many jobs. And the board and I have some tough decisions to make. I'm on your side, people. I'm rooting for every one of you. All I can say is: please, be at your very best."

❦ ❦ ❦

S6 EP3

NORAH CAUGHT UP TO Meredith and Cristina, who stood anxiously and stressfully as they waited for the elevator.

"I talked to Callie last night about the residents at Mercy West," Cristina shared, "She said they don't suck." The elevator arrived, and the three of them stepped into the tight space.

"You're safe because of Derek," she told Meredith. "You're safe because of Sloan and that you're Derek's best student," she told Norah, who shrugged back at her.

"Izzie's safe because of cancer. Alex is Bailey's new favourite," she scoffed in disbelief, "You know, even George would've been spared because he's Owen's guy. Cardio has been a revolving door around here, and no one's got my back."

"So Arizona is your cover?" Meredith asked.

"She's merger-proof. She keeps little kids alive. No one likes a dead kid," Cristina replied truthfully, "Plus, they're under anesthesia half the time. How bad can it be?"

Norah raised a brow at Cristina's random confidence. "They're pocket-sized humans, Cristina," she reminded, "They attack you with rubber lizards, then expect you to give them candy. They're literal spawns from hell."

"Hmm... But you know what else is hell?" Cristina queried, and Norah looked at her curiously. "You and Sloan. I live right across the hall and can hear-"

"Ah," Norah waved her off with a smirk, "But I call that heaven."

❦ ❦ ❦

"YOU KNOW, WE REALLY should get some sleep before rounds," Meredith suggested.

"Sleep is for wimps," Cristina disagreed, "Sleep is for Mercy West residents."

"I've just finished scrubbing in on a shunt replacement. I'm pumped for some trauma right now," Norah added.

They leaned against the nurses' station in the ER, waiting for the phone to ring so that they could get dibs on a trauma case. Yet their attention was caught by Alex, who walked up to them with an alarming expression. "Don't say anything about the wig," he whispered urgently.

"I'm back," Izzie declared as she rounded the corners, "Yes, I am early, but whatever. I'm back." The three residents took a step back as they stared at her hair, trying their best to hide the horror on their faces. "And because I've been gone so long, the first trauma that comes through those doors, it's mine. Got it?"

Alex shot the three women a look that pleaded them to not burst out in laughter. As badly as they tried, they struggled to keep their eyes off the notably distracting wig. "It's amazing, right?" Izzie asked.

"What?"
"What's amazing?"
"Huh?"

"The wig," Izzie pointed out the obvious.

"Oh, it looks so real, I couldn't even tell," Cristina claimed, playing it off. Norah was clamping her mouth shut beside her, trying to force away a smile.