𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗 ━━ 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝

thirty three | fish

"You know, I hate myself for saying this. . .but I like when you hover."

Derek lifts our intertwined fingers, kissing the top of my hand. We walk through the sliding doors of the hospital.

"I've never had someone care for me as much as you do, so. . .it's a refreshing change."

"How come you hate yourself for saying it?"

"I was prom queen in high school. And a cheerleader." My cheek presses against his shoulder. "I just dislike the sickening, mushy P.D.A. stuff."

"So, you think P.D.A.'s mushy and sickening?" He nuzzles the top of my head teasingly.

With a mimicking glint, I glance at him. "Although, it wouldn't hurt if you would dial down on the whole worrying-about-me-all-the-time thing."

"Yeah, I don't think that's going away anytime soon."

"Lovesick puppy, Shepherd. You're a lovesick puppy."

The six interns slip into our scrubs for the shift before congregating in the conference room for wedding cake samples brought by Burke.

"Dr. Bailey, I saw a hemiglossectomy on the board. Can I scrub in?"

"No, you're not doing surgeries today."

"What?"

Every single person looks up at the resident's words.

"Your intern exams are in two weeks.You need to spend every available minute studying for them." She reminds us of the upcoming event. "Believe me, when you won't have to repeat your year as interns, you'll be thanking me for this opportunity."

And so the most uninteresting shift of our intern year begins. Half of us are on scut, two of us are in the clinic with Bailey, and the last of us is with Jane Doe.

"Coffee. That counts as scut work, doesn't it?"

"Sure. Maybe."

"Really?"

"Coffee helps us study, which is what Bailey wants us to do."

The three of us situate ourselves in the calmest hallway of the hospital — the post-op recovery room wing — to study for the exams.

"Which fluid resuscitation technique is used in acute burns?" Meredith reads through her handwritten notes.

"Packlin formula." Cristina repeatedly clicks her pen-flashlight on and off. "Come on, Meredith. Step it up."

Her eyelids narrow. "Alright, fine. What is the lateral stria?"

"Lev would know. She's going out with the neurosurgeon."

"And you're engaged to the cardiothoracic surgeon."

The two of us mimic each other's voices in high-pitched tones just as Callie Torres-O'Malley walks past.

And Cristina is on her feet within seconds.

"Dr. Torres." Her tone grows extra nice. "Dr. Burke and I are trying to choose a wedding cake, and there are some samples in the living room."

"And she's resorted to ass-kissing."

"It's never been a good look on her."

"If you have a moment, I would really love your opinion because you have such great taste." She walks alongside the orthopedics resident.

"You're not getting my cards, Yang."

Meredith and I fall into a fit of snickers as Cristina returns in defeat.