CODING ━ grey's anatomy

chapter thirty

"Call my wife," he mumbled. "Tell her I'll be home late."

☆

"I'm fine," Cassie brushed Derek off, who was attempting to shine a light in her eyes. She slapped his hand away, making him slap hers in retaliation. "Derek!"

"Your eye is bleeding from the socket, Cass," Mark lectured. "Let the man do the damn neuro exam."

"I'm fine," she rolled her eyes, before smirking a bit to herself. "Besides, you should see the other guy."

Derek took a step back. "You're not funny."

Cassie gave him a look. "I'm hilarious."

"This is serious," he scolded, shaking his head at her in disbelief. "You could lose your job, Cass. Aren't you worried?"

"Not really, no," she answered, her voice losing it's humor. "The Chief won't fire me, because he knows that if he does, I'll sue him and the hospital for the wrongful death of Denny Duquette. Like I should have done from the beginning."

Derek and Mark paused, sharing a sad look between them. It was silent for a long moment as Cassie stared blankly down at the ground.

Mark grabbed a wet towel, taking her hand in his own and gently dabbing off the dried blood. "Screw Izzie Stevens," he said plaintively.

Cassie looked up at the two of them, the sight of her bruising eye making them cringe.

"Yeah," she agreed. "Screw Izzie Stevens."

☆

Cassie sat in the Chief's office, reminiscent to only a few weeks before. Webber was seated in the spinning chair behind his desk, an exhausted expression adorning his face as he stared at the intern.

Awkwardly pursing her lips, Cassie glanced around the room. "So," she drawled. "How are you on this fine evening?"

Webber gave her a look. "I've been better."

"Same," she nodded, pointing to her eye, which had now faded from a bloody mess into a dark purple ring extending up to her eyebrow.

He sighed, rubbing his temples. "Harper—"

"Chief."

"I can't just let you off with a warning," Webber told her, cutting her off as she opened her mouth to respond. "As much as I'd like to, I just can't."

Cassie paused. "You'd like to?"

He removed his glasses from his face. "I heard what Dr. Stevens said. In fact, I'm pretty sure the whole hospital heard it. And even though I don't agree with your, methods, of expressing your anger, I can't argue that it wasn't deserved."

Raising her brows in surprise, she let a small smile tug at the corner of her lips. "Sir?"

"I'm not condoning fighting, Harper—"

"Oh, of course not."

"Especially not in my hospital. But, I would be lying if I said she didn't deserve it," Webber said truthfully, shocking Cassie. "I made a mistake, letting her come back. I realize that now. Unfortunately, it's too late to go back on my decision, but the least I can do is be lenient with your punishment."