S4 EP11

BIRDS WERE CHIRPING ON the thin branches of trees surrounding the narrow path. The soft sound of a nearby stream flowing and splashing was calming and soothing. The air was chilly, so to speak-they were in what seemed like a forest, after all.

The sun had barely risen when Norah was already trekking on muddy land, stiffening her third yawn in five minutes.

"Derek, are you gonna tell us where we're heading?" she questioned, her hands inside the pockets of her hoodie. "The road's mucky, and I'm starting to not feel my feet."

"Why does it always have to be about the destination?" he sighed, "Why can't it be about the journey?"

"Because you woke me up at five in the morning for this," she scowled. "Plus, I gotta start sketching out an escape route in case you're planning to kidnap us out here in the woods."

"And I'm wearing 300-dollar shoes," Mark added.

"Meredith told me she doesn't want me seeing other people," Derek stated as he looked between his two friends, who were walking on either side of him.

"She found out about you and Rose?"

"No. There's nothing to find out," he claimed, "It was just a kiss."

"And the bloody gun shot me twice," Norah blurted out. The two men turned to look at her, their eyes narrowed with worry. "Ignore me, it's the lack of sunshine," she brushed them off with a wave of her hand.

"You're sunshine enough," Mark spoke; she merely replied to him with a 'hm'.

"Something going on?" Derek questioned as he stared between the two.

"Nope."

They climbed up a small hill between some trees; Mark extended her a hand, but she declined it, leaping up the ground effortlessly. "About last night... I didn't mean to... snap, you know?"

Norah lifted her head to him, staring at the worrying crease on his forehead. "It's nothing," she insisted, "We were all exhausted and cranky. Forget about it."

"So... This friendship still stands?"

"Not so easy to get rid of me, you see," she smirked, and he rolled his eyes with a chuckle. "You're buying me coffee for the rest of the week, though."

He snorted, "You're talking as if I don't do that every week."

They continued following behind Derek, who led them into a clearing. The sky was clear, a wide patch of green grass stretched through a distance; the view of Seattle from the top of the hill overlooked the surrounding valley causing Norah's jaw to drop.

"Norah, you might wanna close your mouth before bugs fly in," Derek snickered before staring out the hill excitedly. "What do you guys think?"

"Well, what are we looking at?" Mark asked.

"The view from my new house," Derek announced, a broad smile stuck on his face.

"Whoa, this is bloody brilliant," Norah spoke in awe, "Hey, Shep, dump the nurse... whatever her name was, and date me already."

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH HAD JUST ASSIGNED Kirian, Nina, and Jace on cases, and the three of them had scattered off in different directions. She was just about to look for someone in particular when Lexie ran up to her urgently, scratching her arms and stomach.

"Dr Lawrence, I-I think I need some epinephrine," the intern spoke.

"Um, okay...? Follow me." Norah headed towards one on the cart at the side of the hallway and found George looking for something. "What did you do?" she asked before turning to the other intern, "Hey, George, could you get her some epi?"

"Meredith made omelettes for me this morning, but I'm allergic to eggs. But I'm starting to get along with her, and I didn't want to, um, disappoint her, so I ate the eggs," Lexie rambled on, "And I'm having an allergic reaction now. A rash-it's itchy."

George snorted at her, "That's stupid."

"Meredith's cooking sucks," Norah stated as she injected the epinephrine into the intern's arm. "I almost ended up with diarrhoea once. Never went over for breakfast ever again. How're you holding up?"

"Good," Lexie exhaled in relief.

A set of footsteps stomped down the hallway, approaching the three of them. Three pairs of curious eyes watched as Callie stormed up to George. "You didn't tell your mom we broke up?!" her voice rang in their ears while he stared back at her in confusion.

"Your mom's making us baby clothes because she thinks we're trying to get pregnant, because she thinks we're still married, because she thinks that you're still the kind of person who would never cheat on his wife!" Callie ranted with a stack of knitted clothes in her hand. "Hand-stitched unisex baby clothes. They're yellow and green, and go up to toddler sizes," she shoved the clothes into George's arms, "And she's waiting for you in the lobby-good morning, Norah, Grey."

"Morning, Callie," Norah smiled amusingly, "Though I wouldn't say it's a good one...."

Callie walked off with an exasperated look on her face, leaving George baffled with the baby clothes in his arms. Norah stared at the shocked and horrified look on his face and sighed. "You're so dead, George. You haven't told your mum?"

"I grew up in a Catholic household. We're Catholic. We don't believe in divorce," he stared at the stack of clothes in his arms and let out a whimper. "Yes, I am so dead..."

❦ ❦ ❦

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?" Norah questioned as she and George approached the group of residents standing outside a trauma room. Bailey's son, Tuck, was wailing loudly on the gurney inside the room; they ran here as soon as she got the page.

"He got crushed under a bookshelf," Izzie replied.

"Multiple rib fractures," Cristina pointed out.

"Might've dropped a lung," Alex added.

"They're worried there may be damage to the heart," Meredith stated lastly.

"A-Any neurological damage?" Norah queried.

"No, Shepherd ruled them out."

Webber stepped out of the room, and the residents turned their heads to him instantly, eager for an update. "Yang and Lawrence, get him to radiology for a head, chest and abdominal CT. O'Malley, tell the lab to move fast. Karev and Stevens, clear out. We'll keep you posted," the chief ordered, and they walked off in separate directions.

❦ ❦ ❦

"TELL ME AGAIN HOW happened," Bailey spoke in the CT room. Norah was carefully covering a blanket over Tuck, who lay on the bed; she shook her head at the whole situation.

"You didn't understand the first time?" Tucker questioned.

"Just tell me again."

"Somebody left the baby gate open."

"Somebody... And you... you're saying you think I did this?" Bailey asked her husband.

"I'm saying that you were in such a hurry to get out the house this morning, that you were in such a hurry to get to work, and get away from me-"

"Tucker, this doesn't have anything to do with you," she cut him off.

"Why do you think he even went into that room?" Tucker raised his voice, causing Norah to look between the parents. "You the only one ever goes in there. He went looking for his mama. He went looking for his mama and wound up in the hospital-"

"Okay-respectfully, both of you," the resident snapped at the pair, "Your son is lying in this CT machine, and I'm very sure he'd appreciate it if you would shut up for one second. Give Tuck some quiet, yeah?"

Behind the CT room, Meredith and Cristina looked at her with their eyes wide in impressment. Cristina gave her a thumbs-up through the window, and Norah rolled her eyes with a suppressed smirk at the residents.

❦ ❦ ❦

"YOU LOOK LIKE HELL."

Norah peeped an eye open and frowned at the attending leaning against the doorframe. "That's Derek's line, not yours."

"Then, what is my line?" Mark asked as he stepped into the dim office room. He walked over and sat on the seat next to hers, turning her chair so that she was facing him.

She shrugged. "What is your line?"

"Drinking, flirting... sleepover-ing..." he replied with a smirk, and he rolled her eyes at him. "You don't seem well," he pointed out.

"I had just assisted in Bailey's son's surgery. I quite literally saw Tuck's heart in front of my eyes, and his birthdate marks the day I could've got exploded into chunks," she mumbled, "And we're still unsure whether he will be able to breathe on his own or not... So yeah, that's a tad bit disturbing."

Glancing out through the window to make sure there was nobody nearby, he rested his hand on her knee, his fingers tracing lightly above her kneecap. "How many near-death experiences have you had?" he asked.

She let out an exhale, shaking her head. "Enough for a lifetime, I'll say." He nodded as they sat in silence; she reached for his hand above her knee. "What happened to strictly friends?" she asked while their fingers intertwined with each other, melting into one as it were a habit.

"We can't resist each other."

"But I want to."

I don't, he thought to himself.

"Remember what I said that night in the bar?" she queried.

"You think we're better as friends?"

She nodded, "For the sake of my sanity." Shutting her eyes once again, she drifted off to a light rest.

The night of the conversation had been running in his head in repeat, and it often got him sleepless night just by thinking about it.

"I need someone who is committed," he remembered her words that night.

He stared at her sleeping figure; her hazel eyes closed behind her eyelids, her chest rising and falling rhythmically, and her hand still nestled in his. She looked peaceful and calming-she looked like the person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.

And I want to be committed to you, he thought.

He sat there beside her in the dim room, listening to the clock ticking on the table. He watched her sleep, taking in and memorising every feature of hers.

The few people who walked past the room did not seem to notice them inside. He sat there in wonder, as though they were in their own little world; no people and no disturbance.

When his pager finally went off after what felt like an hour later, her eyes flutter open at the sound of it, too-a disadvantage of being a light sleeper.

He stood up from his chair and soothed her back to her nap, planting a soft kiss on her neck before he left the room; his head dazed and his heart fluttery.

❦ ❦ ❦

S4 EP12

THE CONTEST AMONG the residents was wild, and 'wild' could even be an understatement. They had spent two weeks straight, practically living in the hospital to get first dibs on the best surgeries that will be able to contribute points to their scoreboard.

Sutures-the quickest way for the residents to earn points.

The number of sutures Norah did in the two weeks was beyond the amount she did in her entire internship year. Her interns watched her in awe every time she had her hands on a needle and forceps, watching her timing improve by the day whilst perfecting her already flawless sutures.

Unfortunately for her, the contest was won by Meredith after earning 80 points from a brain tumor medical mystery, which put her over the top of the other residents.

The sparkle pager-the holy grail of surgeries-shone before her eyes as it got passed from Bailey to Meredith.

Damn it.

"Two weeks, you've been staying at the hospital," Mark noted as he caught up to Norah, who was walking towards the elevator. "Did you win?"

"Nope," she sighed heavily, "Now I need my precious sleep on my bed. I miss my apartment."

He turned his head to her. "Is that an invitation?" he asked, and she rolled her eyes at him. "Come on, two weeks without action. Really?"

"I'm doing perfectly well without it," she stated with a smirk, lightly tugging the zip of his leather jacket. "You're the one who can't."

"Oh, yeah?" he asked in a challenging tone while his hand attempted to sneak to the back of her waist. Yet before he could pull her in, the elevators ding-ed; she ducked out of his hold, and he cleared his throat frustratingly.

The elevator doors opened, and they stepped into it. Derek was already inside, fiddling with his phone. The three surgeons were standing in silence for a moment before Mark decided to speak up.

"I don't like her," he voiced out, "I'm sorry, but as your friend, it's my job to say it. I don't like Rose."

Derek furrowed his brows at the plastic surgeon. "Why?"

"You're not even sleeping with her."

Norah turned her head to the neurosurgeon and let out a dramatic gasp. "You've been together for five weeks now, and you're not sleeping with her?"

Derek stared at the both of them, surprised and weirded out. "You two don't like her because she's not sleeping with me?" he questioned. "That's a little weird."

"Well, to be fair, I don't don't like her," she claimed with a shrug.

"If you were sleeping with Rose, I could understand why you're spending time with her, but you're not," Mark stated, "And it's just, uh, I thought that, uh, you know..." he stammered and leaned towards Derek, "I thought it was just gonna be you and me."

"Having sex?" Derek questioned in bewilderment while Norah burst into laughter.

"After!" Mark quickly corrected himself as he furrowed his brows at both of them.

Derek stared at him and snorted, shaking his head. "You're having trouble getting laid, and you need my help," he declared with a smirk, yet Mark looked like he got personally offended.

His eyes darted momentarily to Norah, who pretended that she did not see him. "I can get laid," he assured with a firm nod, "I can get laid whenever I want."

Yeah, right, she thought with a suppressed smile.

Derek quirked a brow at him before turning to Norah. "Is that true?"

The latter's eyes widened as she choked on oxygen. "I'm sorry?"

"He says he can get laid whenever he wants," he repeated, his tone urging her to side with him, "I don't think so. Do you?"

"Oh. Uh, yeah-no. No, um-I don't think so. Nope, nuh-uh," she stammered after getting caught off-guard; Mark fought hard to hide a grin through a series of coughs.

His gaze did not leave hers as they sat through the elevator ride; she wanted nothing more than to toss herself off the building there and then. Derek seemed unaware of the tension within the four walls.

"Are you serious about the nurse, um... Rose?" Norah asked him while trying to break the awkwardness in the air.

"I don't know," Derek sighed, "Could be."

"Well then, as long as you're happy with it," she stated with a smile, glaring at the other attending, "Mark?"

He gave her a long look before giving in. "Alright, fine," he sighed, "I'll give her a chance."

Derek stepped out of the elevator after the next floor, leaving Mark and Norah inside. When the door closed again, Mark could not help but snort a laugh; Norah nudged him hard in the ribs.

"Ow-he got you good without even knowing," he laughed, tears threatening to prick through his eyes.

"Very funny, Sloan," she deadpanned, stepping in front of the doors.

When his laughter finally died off, he took a step closer to her and lowered his head, resting his chin on her shoulder. She did not move away this time, but instead, she leaned her head backwards, resting it on his shoulder.

"You miss me," he mumbled next to her ear, planting a kiss at the side of her neck.

"Don't flatter yourself. I do-not."

He smirked, more to himself than at her. "The way your voice just broke suggests otherwise."

She lifted her head and turned around; he stood up and looked at her as they stood ridiculously close to each other. "See these?" she said, pointing to her eyes, "They're-"

"Beautiful."

"-exhausted," she rolled her eyes at his smug grin, "They are bloody exhausted, and I can barely open them. I need my sleep. And me, a person with sleeping problems, saying I need to sleep? That's serious serious."

He did not seem to hear her, though. He was about to kiss her to get her to stop rambling, but she reacted quick and slapped her hand over his mouth. He chuckled through her hand with his eyes smiling lazily back at her.

"Mark," she warned.

He lifted her hand off his face and pressed a soft kiss on the back of her hand. "You're impossible, Laurie."

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Norah be like: 👁️👄👁️ I'm sorry?