Looking at you side ways

32

DePalma walked into the resident's lounge and the few other residents in there stopped talking. He looked around and wondered [i]what was up with them. [/i]He changed clothes and the others left quickly. He was getting ready to leave when he saw the notice on the bulletin board. He stared at it hard and could not believe it.[i] The Chief Resident position had been posted and it wasn't him. It wasn't even somebody from the hospital. [/i]He ripped it down and went looking for the Chief for an explanation. He found him on the overlook by his office.

"Chief. Do you have a moment?"

"Sure Vincent. What can I do for you?"

"I just saw the notice for the Chief Resident. I was told by Dr. Welby that I was next in line. I never got the courtesy of an interview and I am not even considered?"

"Vincent. Dr. Welby is gone. I am bringing in the best people for the job. Frankly, you weren't competitive."

DePalma said nastily, "I have been at this hospital forever. My mortality rate is the lowest. And we have always promoted from within. Dr. Welby all but said..."

The Chief interrupted him and said, "Dr. DePalma. The board brought me in from the outside even though I used to work here myself a long time ago. New blood was needed. They authorized me to look at candidates throughout the US and abroad. This is a teaching hospital. Your teaching skills lack considerably. There is no tenure here. Just great doctors teaching future great doctors. We are recruiting the best and you are not the best."

DePalma was flabbergasted.[i] No one had ever spoken to him like that in his career. Except that bitch Ellis Grey! [/i]

"By the way, the new Chief Resident will be introduced to the residents in the 3rd floor conference room in fifteen minutes. Make sure you are there. After that the Chief Resident will get introduced to the interns in their locker room."

DePalma spun around and stalked off. The Chief thought to himself,[i] that could have gone better. [/i]He griped the railing as he braced himself for the next angry resident coming towards him.

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Derek was feeling frustrated.[i] He had been on his thirty six hour shift and hadn't really had an opportunity for more time with Meredith. After Mark had interrupted them with dinner the other night, damn Yang had shown up unannounced and the four of them had all stayed up and watched DVD's. Yang had plopped her self down in-between himself and Meredith on the couch while Mark snickered. She mellowed out a little once she saw that Meredith was okay. Then when he hoped she would go home, she decided to spend the night in Meredith's bed! After his long shift, he had some time off, but then Meredith was working. He had just seen her in passing at home and at work for seconds. But she was talking to him and smiling. He would take what he could get. And he was grateful for it. [/i]

Finally, they were all back on the same rotation. They were all in the locker room a little early and were laughing and joking with one another. Montgomery and Yang weren't speaking and there was an uneasy under tone between Burke and Yang as well. Meredith was still on a high from the previous day. Dr. Dubois had let her observe her surgery and she had even let her hold a retractor while they worked on the tiny baby. The locker room was especially crowded this morning. It was an overlap day on rotations and almost all of the surgical residents were there. The door opened and the Chief walked in with a short female.

"Okay people. I need your attention please!" The Chief said loudly over the din.

It was unusual for the Chief to be in the locker room and he definitely got everyone's attention. Meredith shut her locker and leaned against it. Derek hovered near by and winked at her. She smiled shyly back at him.