Rain

Christmas

"Alex, what are you doing here?" Emily asked with a yawn, "Shouldn't you be watching Kate?" The man looked up at her from his textbook. "What're you doing?" Jumping onto the bed, she landed right next to him. The tunnels were illuminated sparsely as she took a sip of water.

"Mr. Martin. Trying to figure out something to make him wake up," he explained, shuffling papers across his lap. Frowning, Emily glanced over his shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

"I just need one second of quiet. Since you guys are busy with the preemies, I've been running around doing five other interns' jobs. I had to do rectal exams because George couldn't, he was too busy attaching leeches on some dude's nose and Meredith is taking care of the mom. Izzie has her preemie's surgery. And Cristina, she has the crazy inmate,"

"The one who swallowed razorblades, I heard,"

"Yeah. Do you need help?" Alex shrugged, offering a medical journal to her. Taking it, she looked at the table of contents and flipping the pages. After another three books, she finally found something of interest. "How about this? Studies where they used aggressive plasmapheresis?" Snatching the book from her fingers, he read it quickly.

"That could work..." He muttered, glancing at the other papers he had in his lap. Picking up a yellow-tinted paper, he read it aloud for her, "Thyrotropin releasing hormone,"

"Maybe?" Her thoughts drifted back to the relatively distant treatment between Derek and her. Her pager started beeping and she glanced at it before letting out a heavy sigh. "Explosive diarrhea." The brunette grumbled, hopping off the bed. "Good luck, Alex,"

"Thanks,"

"You'll need it, Karev," she called as she passed a vending machine.

"Shut up!"

.

"Christmas. Yay," Emily muttered, pulling on her scrub top. She wasn't the biggest fan of the season. The most she's ever done was have a big dinner with her family and her last Christmas was spent alone waiting for her brother. "It's not my thing. Who celebrates it?" she asked, glancing at her fellow interns. They all gave her a small smile.

"Izzie does," Meredith replied, closing her locker as George nodded, rubbing his eyes.

"Izzie's all happy with 'Christmas Spirit'."

"Why don't you say anything?" Emily wondered aloud, curious. Wrapping her stethoscope around her neck, she glanced at the two.

"We're being supportive," Meredith explained, wiggling her eyebrows. Laughing, they exited the room where their resident was waiting. "We got a dog,"

"What'd you name it?"

"Doc,"

"I see where your creativity comes from," She commented sarcastically as they began rounds.

"Shut up," George grumbled, "He hates me,"

"He can sense your fear," Meredith said, tucking her hair into a ponytail. "He's cute," Emily raised an eyebrow at the uncharacteristic tone of voice she was using. "It's the season. It's all happy and cheery. It doesn't go well with me."

"I don't think it goes well with any of us."

.

Emily opened the door to Joe's, settling down at the seat. The bar owner grinned, placing a glass of golden liquid, brandy, in front of her, "Thanks, Joe,"

"No problem. Not drinking with your friends today?"

"Izzie and George are on call, Mer's at home and Alex is wherever," She told the bartender with a shrug. "That's why I'm here, drinking all my woes away," Her voice turned dramatic. Joe raised an eyebrow as he ran a towel over a glass.