The Starting Line

Chapter 5

Eleanora danced around Mer's room with Cristina, laughter coming from their lips. They were waiting for Meredith to join the dance party, her rather pitiful-looking friend standing in the doorway.

"You're not dancing." Cristina knocked into her, shaking her head.

Meredith grumbled, crossing her arms. "I'm too tense to dance."

Eleanora rolled her eyes playfully, jumping up and down as the beat of the song quickened. "That's the reason we're having the dance party, Mer."

"My problem is that I'm sleeping with a man who dates other people. And I don't care if he dates Sydney, it's the woman he dates after Sydney, that's my problem. And if I were sensible, I would break up with him and the "breakup sex. There would be no more breakup sex. If I were smart."

"Shut up!" Cristina shouted, dancing towards Eleanora and smacking her hip. Eleanora laughed, shaking her shoulders at her friend. "Just dance!"

Meredith continued her rambling, but started jumping to the beat. "You know, I'm going to tell him that I don't want him to see other people."

"Fine. Fine, whatever." Cristina responds, lifting her arms as she sways back and forth. Eleanora turned around and ran her hands through her hair as she washed away some of the stress of the last few weeks of work.

"I'm going to tell him," Meredith began, her voice confident as she continued to dance. "I'm going to tell him and I'm going to feel good about it."

"Dancing makes you brave." Cristina joked; Eleanora laughed.

"Dancing makes you smart!"

The three women, all dancing and letting their stress and worries leave them, didn't notice Izzie scowling just outside the door. A frowning Izzie who felt left out, like she wasn't part of the group.

And maybe she wasn't, not entirely. Everyone was a little more civil, but she had a hand in ruining Eleanora's relationship and causing her to have a minor meltdown.

Still, even seemingly soulless and devastating models with perfect hair and skin could feel alone and broken.

Eleanora feels someone shuffling next to her in the packed room, looking up to see Lexie with a slightly blushing face. Eleanora gives her a welcoming smile before focusing in front of her as she heard Mark start to speak.

"Okay, ladies and gentlemen. This is Nick Hanscomb." Mark gestured to the patient, who made a weak gesture with his hand.

"Hello."

"Nick was lucky enough to have a large tumor removed from the carotid body in his neck. The fact that I was able to get clean cuts is pretty impressive, even to me."

Derek chuckled, raising his eyebrows at his friend. "Congratulations." He joked. Eleanora bit her lip to stop her own laughter at the look Mark sent her, a few people laughing softly at the neurosurgeon's words.

"Do not interrupt." Mark scoffed, giving Derek a glare before looking around the room again. "Now, despite the fact that it was a tremendously successful surgery, I had to dissect internal lymph nodes. Now there is only a delicate flap of skin between his carotid artery and the outside world. That said, what do I have to worry about?"

Meredith was the first to speak, her voice a little unsure. She thought it was a trick question. "I think, given the friability of the skin, there's a good chance that, uh, the artery will burst?"

Mark nodded, indicating that Meredith was right. The resident looked proudly at Cristina, who was standing next to her.

Eleanora gave Nick a nervous look, worried that he would react badly or get angry. Nick noticed this and gave her a smile. "Oh, don't worry. I've heard this before."