The Starting Line (Reupload)

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Eleanora was curled up in a chair next to a nurses' station, her lab coat covering her like a blanket. Her neck was at an odd angle and she was caught between the worlds of almost asleep and awake.

She startingly woke up when her pager went off, practically jumping out of her chair to grab it. She read it and saw that it was an incoming trauma and did not hesitate to rush to the emergency room.

She struggled to put on her lab coat as she ran, her eyes full of fire. She felt people joining her and she looked out of the corner of her eye to see Cristina, Meredith, and Izzie.

The four women remained silent, giving each other passive-aggressive looks before slowly walking. They turned the corner quickly and began running down the hall. However, the four women froze after a moment, noticing Derek and Rose enter the hospital and kiss.

Eleanora feels her face falls and turns to look at Meredith, her eyes sad. "Mer..."

"She is miserable and mean," Cristina says, looking at the woman. She and Eleanora had been dealing with Meredith's 'Derek and Rose' situation in two different ways. Cristina went straight to badmouthing the woman while Eleanora held Meredith and prepared food for her. They would be eating the leftovers for a long, long time at this rate.

"No, she is not." Meredith sighed, looking at the couple with sad eyes. Eleanora squeezed her arm comfortingly, looking back down the hallway that led to the emergency room. She bit the inside of her cheek, eager to run and get to the bay first, but she still felt like she needed to comfort her friend.

"You know, I heard one of the nurses say that they've only had five dates," Izzie added, making Cristina snort.

"Yes, because Derek knows she's miserable and mean."

"No one can compare to Meredith Grey," Eleanora confirmed, nodding her head. "Not even the pretty neuro nurse."

Everyone felt a person walking behind them, and they all turned their heads to see a confused George. He gasped at Izzie's hair. "What did you do to your hair?"

Eleanora made a quick decision, squeezing Meredith's arm once more before running towards the emergency room, calling for her friends. "Break is over, the competition is back on!"

The three women screamed, chasing after their shorter friend. Cristina let out a noise, dodging nurses and other Doctors.

"Her legs are so small; how come she is so fast?"

As Eleanora rounds the corner right in front of the emergency room, she passes Mark. The man just getting to work, still in his civilian clothes and with his and Eleanora's coffee in hand.

He raised an eyebrow as she passed him. "Good morning, Nora."

Eleanora waves over her shoulder, her eyes determined as she opens the doors to the emergency room. "Hi Mark, bye Mark!"

Mark laughs but makes an annoying noise when the other three residents push past him and almost make him drop the coffee in his hand. "Watch it!"

None of the women looked at him, just shouting "Sorry" over their shoulders. Mark snorted, turning to continue toward the attendings' lounge. He looked at the coffee he bought for Eleanora, thinking for a moment.

"I hate this stupid competition."

____

Jumping up and down as she waited for the ambulance to arrive, Eleanora turned her head to look at Alex and the small notebook he was reading.

"Who's winning?" she asked, Alex wrinkled his nose as he finished the calculations in his mind.

"Uuuhh, right now? Yang and Ella are tied."