CODING ━ grey's anatomy

chapter fifty nine

Cassie stilled in shock, not expecting that as the answer. After thinking for a long moment, her lips quirked upwards as she huffed a laugh.

"Karma's a bitch."

Surprisingly, Izzie smiled at the statement.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is."

☆

Cassie stepped into the scrub room, her gaze immediately snapping downwards as she felt Derek's eyes on her. Moving to wash her hands on his right, the silence was louder than ever.

"Cass," Derek whispered, his eyes not moving from her face even as she ignored him. "I don't... I don't know what I'm supposed to do here."

She didn't look up. "You're supposed to save Izzie's life. Why don't you focus on that?"

"I'm sorry," he apologized, a strong emphasis on his words as he stared her down. "For whatever I said to you out there, I'm so sorry."

Pausing her movements, Cassie slowly brought her head upwards, before turning to face him. She studied his expression closely, his previous statement repeating in her head as her gaze darted across his features.

"Oh, my god," Cassie mumbled in realization, her eyes widening just a fraction of an inch. "You don't remember."

Derek frowned, as the only recollection he had of Cassie visiting him in his trailer were blurry flashes of brown hair. "Remember what?" Her face twitched as she swallowed thickly, causing his heart to drop down to his stomach. "Cass, what... what did I do?"

Not saying a word, Cassie finished scrubbing and tying her face mask, making her way into the OR to get gowned and gloved.

Derek stared through the glass, desperately trying to piece together his drunken memories from that horrible night.

☆

Ripping off her gloves and throwing them into the trash bin, Cassie let out a relived sigh as she watched Izzie be wheeled out of the OR and into the ICU.

Bailey passed by, stopping before she left the scrub room. Cassie turned around, sensing someone standing behind her. "Dr. Bailey?"

The older woman smiled softly, nodding to the place Izzie once was. "She needed you to be there for her in that OR, and you were. You were the bigger person today, Cassie."

"Oh," she shrugged nonchalantly, feeling guilty for accepting praise based on the simple fact that she wasn't a bad person. "It's really not a big deal."

"It's not easy to forgive someone after they do something unforgivable, but somehow, you did." Bailey reached out, gently squeezing her shoulder. "I'm proud of you."

Cassie watched as Bailey left through the doors, her words resonating with her as she thought back to Derek.

Speak of the devil and he shall appear, she thought bitterly as the door opened once again to reveal the man in question.

"Cassie, please," Derek said with a deep frown. "All throughout that surgery, I kept trying to remember, but I can't. Please, just tell me what I did, so I can make it right."