S2 EP10&11

[CW: mention of blades]

MEREDITH WAS IN A patients' room with Steve, her one night stand from the night before. Alex was in an on-call room with a nurse, Olivia. George was roaming the halls. Izzie was with Addison, checking on Dorie Russell, the soon-to-be mother of quintuplets. Cristina was with Burke in her apartment.

Norah had her head rested on her arms folded on the table in the cafeteria.

The dimly lit place consisted of only a few people, families of patients waiting on news on their loved ones. She was sleeping soundly when the chair opposite hers scraped against the floor; the ear-piercing metal sound woke her up from her nap.

With her eyelids still heavy, she lifted her head to see a certain neurosurgeon sitting on the chair, sliding a cup of coffee to her. "How good of a listener are you?"

"Well, you're here, isn't that saying something?" she raised a brow at him, sipping on the coffee as she leaned back against her chair. "Mm, this is exactly what I needed... How do you remember my coffee order?"

"Bone dry cappuccino, double or even triple, depending on the time of the day," Derek recited. "I uh... knew someone with a similar order," he frowned and sighed, "I have a problem. I need to vent."

"If this is your idea of a bribe," Norah spoke, nudging her head towards the coffee, "It's working. Go on."

"Addison's staying," he started, "She signed a contract with Webber this morning."

"Okay...? So, should we be happy about this?" she queried, gesturing between the two of them.

Derek stared at her for a while before letting out a long sigh. "I don't know-that's the problem."

She furrowed her brows at the conflicted look on his face. "Do you well... want her to stay?"

"She's my wife."

"On paper-just saying," Norah defended herself quickly when Derek gave her a sour look. "And your response isn't answering my question."

"I don't know, Lawrence..." he shook his head, "I just don't know."

Norah was about to speak again when her pager went off in the quiet cafeteria. Derek's pager went off too.

911 - OR 1 - RUSSELL, D.

"The quints," she noted, getting up from her seat. "I was just enjoying this coffee..."

❦ ❦ ❦

THE QUINTUPLETS WERE delivered successfully in the busy but well-coordinated OR. They currently lay in the NICU, being watched over by the interns.

Izzie had found out that Alex-with whom she had something going on-slept with Olivia in an on-call room before Dorie's surgery. It was not a surprise that she had practically thrown him out of the quintuplets' room.

"He is unbelievable. I am so glad I never slept with him," Izzie ranted, "Which is his loss because I'm really good in bed. Mind-blowing... Mind-blowingly good in bed."

"Are you trying to seduce us?" Cristina asked.

"Not really working, honestly," Norah added, checking on Kate's vitals while the other interns held back a snort.

"And then he sleeps with Olivia instead of me," Izzie scoffed. "Olivia."

"Hey, I slept with Olivia," George piped it with a frown on his face.

"Well, then you both have bad taste," Izzie snapped at him; he scowled at her, clearly offended.

"You can't say that you weren't warned," he grumbled, "Alex has always been Alex."

"You dodged a bullet, Iz," Meredith spoke up, "You're better off without him."

"Why are you even surprised? You sleep with a snake, you get bit," Cristina added.

"For the record, he's a prat," said Norah, "And a prat will always remain a prat. His loss, Iz."

"Thank you, Norah, I appreciate that," Izzie said sincerely, then put on a forced smile towards the others. "And thanks, guys... for the support."

Bailey walked into the room, staring at each of her tired interns. "Who's on call tonight?" she asked.

Izzie raised her hand at once. "I am."

"Alright, the rest of you, go home, sleep," Bailey ordered, looking at each of her interns. "All five quints are alive. It's a good day."

The four others stood up from their seats, stifling a yawn. "See you later, Izzie," Norah smiled at the blonde before she left after George, Cristina and Meredith. "Hey, can I crash on one of your couches?" she asked. "I'm too tired to drive."

"You're most welcome to," Meredith offered with a sleepy smile. "My house is basically a frat house."

❦ ❦ ❦

"YOU KNOW, A DOG IS not a replacement for a human being," George stated while the interns were busy getting ready for their morning in the locker room.

"But dogs are way better than human beings," Norah disagreed, shrugging on her white coat. George stared at her with narrowed eyes while Cristina and Meredith nodded in agreement.

"You better wake her," Alex suggested, nudging his head in Izzie's direction; the latter had fallen asleep in the corner of the locker room after staying up all night to look after the quintuplets. "If Bailey catches her, she's dead."

"Izzie," Cristina called out, but there was no response coming from the blonde, so she kicked her side while Norah shot a hair tie at her face. "Izzie."

"Damn it-what?!" Izzie snapped, glaring daggers at the other interns.

Cristina had a rather triumphant grin on her face. "Hell hath no fury like a girl whose non-boyfriend screws a nurse," she joked.

"Bitch."

"I like you bitter and pissed off. You're almost like a normal person now."

"Almost," Norah emphasised with a smirk.

❦ ❦ ❦

"CRISTINA HAS A MURDERER who swallowed razor blades," Norah gasped in awe, leaning against the nurses' station. "How cuckoo is that?"

"Very," George replied half-heartedly. "You see them in there?" he asked. Norah followed his gaze into the quintuplets' room, where Meredith and Derek were chatting while checking on the preemies. "They're smiling-are they flirting?"

Norah opened her mouth to reply, but no right words seemed to be coming out of it. So, she closed it and shook her head. "I actually have no idea." The two definitely seemed happy-that she knew.

Perhaps they can remain good friends in a healthy working environment? she wondered. Though, a part of her knew that it would be nearly impossible.

Suddenly, Charlotte's heart monitor started beeping rapidly. Norah and George rushed into the room behind the nurse.

"BP's low. She's tachycardic."

"Sats?"

"Dropping on high flow O2."

Meredith checked on Charlotte with a stethoscope while the nurse used a manual respirator pump on the preemie. "No breathing signs on the right side," she informed.

"Her lung has collapsed."

"Should we call the other Dr Shepherd?" George asked.

"No time," Derek replied hastily, passing Meredith a thin tube. "Here, stick this between her second and third rib," he instructed, "Do not go too deep. You're gonna hear a small gush of air."

Meredith did it, and Charlotte's heart monitor had stabilised and stopped beeping rapidly. Everyone in the room let out a relieved sigh. "Nice job," Derek said with a smile.

"Thank you."

"I'm not giving up the trailer."

Meredith smiled, "Whatever you say, Dr Shepherd."

George turned his head to Norah, who was already looking at him. "Totally flirting," he mouthed to her.

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH WAS CHEWING ON her macaroni in the cafeteria; she shared a table with Izzie, George and Cristina, who were all having their dinner.

"I'm telling you, Meredith was all over him!" Izzie complained; the sight of Meredith talking to Alex in the quintuplets' room a while ago raised flames on her hair.

"Seriously? She was all over him?" Cristina asked, sending a curious look to Norah and George. "What, like uh, mountinghim? With all the babies watching? Seriously?"

Norah snorted at the image her mind painted. "That'd be a sight. I mean, the earlier you learn, the better, right?" she added while George held back a laugh.

Izzie rolled her eyes at them, not finding the humour in their jokes. "Well, she would've been if I hadn't interrupted."

"That's quite an accusation," the brunette shrugged.

George nodded in agreement as he unscrewed the cap on his bottle. "She was talking to him," he reasoned.

"You don't talk to bastards that cheat on their girlfriends, George," Izzie snapped, "That's the rule."

"Actually, I might be wrong, but... you weren't officially his girlfriend, were you?" Norah asked, shoving another spoonful of macaroni into her mouth. "You're kinda missing your own point here."

"I am having a moment here," Izzie huffed, "Don't mess with me!"

Cristina shifted her gaze away from the book in her hand momentarily as she lowered her voice to the blonde. "You're not gonna have a nervous breakdown and kill yourself, are you?" she asked.

"No."

"So there's no chance you'll kill us?" Cristina gestured between the three of them, her tone serious.

"If you do, just remember not to swallow razor blades," Norah advised. "Though I wouldn't mind an extra surgery." Izzie scowled at the three of them, then got up from her seat and walked off in a huff.

George finally released a snort that he had held back. "Oh, that was wrong on so many levels," he muttered, "You two are smooth."

Cristina chuckled, giving Norah a high-five. "We were brilliant," the latter smirked.

"Yeah, that was... that was good," George grinned, and the two women laughed. "You know, Norah, you've been here for weeks now, but we don't know much about you, personally."

Norah raised a brow at him while she continued eating. "Ask away."

"Like, don't see this the wrong way, but are you dating?" George queried.

Norah raised a brow at him. "Georgie, if you're into me, you can just admit it," she smirked, and his face flushed red.

"No, no, no," he denied quickly, and the two women laughed. "I mean, are you into guys, or ladies... or both?"

"At the same time," Cristina added.

George's eyes widened at her words while Norah laughed, pointing her fork at the woman. "Last option definitely sounds intriguing."

"Ooh, sweetheart, I'm totally interested right now."

❦ ❦ ❦

IT WAS EARLY IN THE morning when Norah's shift ended. After managing to scrub in for surgery. She felt joyful, and tired.

The other interns had already gone home one after another, and now it was her turn. She changed out of her scrubs and into her thick sweatshirt since the temperature was starting to drop at that time of the year.

The door got slammed open harshly, and Norah peeked her head to see which annoyed intern was trying to break down the door, only to see Izzie storming into the room and towards her locker.

"What's bugging you?" the brunette asked.

Izzie slammed her locker shut and slumped down to the bench. "My baby died," she ranted, "She just... died."

"Oh... I'm sorry to hear," Norah gave her an emphatic smile as she hung her sling bag over her shoulder. She was on her way out when Izzie spoke again.

"She-Shepherd knew that the baby had no chance-I worked my ass off all night! I was so scared, and it was all for nothing!" Izzie shouted; Norah retreated into the locker room and sat next to her.

"All that just to test me, to make sure I don't crack under pressure!" the blonde scoffed. "That's ridiculous! That's madness-she's psychotic! And you know what she told me? She told me to 'Learn distances, Stevens. You'll be a better doctor for it'," she mocked in a high-pitched voice, "Learn distances my ass-why aren't you saying anything?"

"Because, well..." Norah scratched her head, "As much as I want to be on your side, I do agree with her-"

"What?!" Izzie glared at the brunette, feeling betrayed.

"She's not entirely wrong. That's what I'm saying," Norah cleared up. "She has a point. You shouldn't get too involved with a patient."

Izzie shook her head and stood up. "And here I thought you of all people would agree with me," she muttered, opening her locker once again.

Norah narrowed her eyes at the other intern's change of tone. "What is that supposed to mean?" she questioned, her hazel eyes fixed on the dark brown ones.

"You were abandoned as a baby. You know the feeling of not being cared-like, shouldn't you be the one who sympathises with patients?"

Norah's eyebrows knitted together at the other woman's words. "I do sympathise, but I don't build up extra feelings for them," she spoke in a low tone. She took a step closer to the blonde and glared at her deliberately.

"And don't you dare bring up that again," she spat. "Trust me when I say you do not wanna encounter my fist."