Salvation ► GREY'S ANATOMY [2]

SEVENTEEN

FROM A YOUNG AGE, COURTNEY HAD BEEN INTERESTED IN SCIENCE. The moment that she could read properly, she would be snoozing around in her mother's medical books. Not that she hadn't done so before; it had looked so majestic to her. The books were so big. She didn't mind there not being a lot of pictures in it like she was used to. Her mouth fell open every time she turned a page. Courtney couldn't be more excited to start school and learn all about those things in her mother's books. That excitement never faded. On the contrary, it grew over the years.

That was one thing that had made Ellis Grey proud of her daughter.

Once Courtney had entered high school, she took on all the AP science classes that her school offered her. Chemistry, biology and physics were sometimes the only reason she liked going to school. She couldn't get enough. Taking on extra projects or even becoming a teacher's assistant was something that she would even gladly do. Somehow she managed all the workload on top of her after school activities.

In her senior year, she participated in the science fair for the very last time. She wanted to go out with a bang. She wanted to leave a lasting impression on her science teachers. She wanted to be remembered. She wanted to win and earn that number 1 spot. Maybe, a small part in her body had also wanted some validation from her mother. Winning this (for then a fourth time in a row) could make Ellis Grey proud of her possibly?

That was the exact same feeling she was feeling now. The only thing that had changed was that she no longer wanted validation from her mother, but from herself, from her superiors. She wanted to show how much she was worth. She wanted everyone to see that she could accomplish things. She didn't want to be remembered as just Meredith's Grey little sister or Ellis Grey's daughter.

She wanted to be Courtney Grey.

Courtney was sitting at a round table in the resident's lounge. Her hands were busy peeling a small tangerine. It eased her nerves. She could shut her brain off and not think about too much. Juice spat on her fingers. She took a deep breath. Everything was going to be fine. It was rather quiet in the room. Just like her, everyone was trying to keep themselves busy.

That day the resident for the first solo surgery was going to be chosen. The attendings were currently gathering in a conference room to discuss who would get the honor. Everyone in that room wanted to be picked; there was no denying that. Suddenly the door swung open, revealing an out-of-breath Ryan Spalding. "He said Karev."

"Yes!"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes."

"You're sure sure?" Ryan Spalding quickly left the resident's lounge again. Looked like he wasn't sure at all. That happened again and again. Every couple of minutes, an intern would come barging in. Stevens. Grey. The name of almost every resident was called out. The door opening no longer brought the group of residents joy or excitement. They resented it opening.