Where You Belong

118

Day One

"You got paged, too?"

Meredith felt her brow furrow as she pushed through the door to the small conference room she had been paged to minutes before. Izzie, Cristina and George already sat around the small table, along with several other residents from their year. She had only arrived at the hospital less than an hour earlier. She hadn't expected to be paged to a conference room, and was even more surprised to find her friends there as well. "Uh, yeah."

"Now I'm getting nervous," Izzie complained. "Why all of us?"

"It's not all of-"

The door opened again, just as Meredith was dropping into a seat between Cristina and George. Alex appeared, his expression immediately turning curious as he took in his fellow residents.

"Okay, it is all of us," George corrected.

"But why is it all of us?" Izzie asked.

Meredith shrugged. "Did we all kill someone recently and can't remember?"

Alex snorted as he collapsed onto the closest chair to the door. "It's probably some resident meeting or something."

"Or a waste of time skills lab," Cristina said with a sigh.

"I heard that, Yang," Bailey declared as she entered the room. "And I'll remind you that nothing I have you do is a waste of time."

"Of course not," Cristina said immediately. "And had I known it was you that paged us, I would have known that earlier."

Bailey said nothing out loud in response, though Meredith was pretty sure she heard the older resident mutter, 'kiss-ass' under her breath as she walked to the head of the small table. The residents all sat up straighter, preparing to at the very least appear fully interested in whatever Bailey had to say.

"You are my second year residents," Bailey announced. "You're almost half way through the year. You have gained significant experience and, hopefully, knowledge. It's time to put that to the test."

"Solo surgery time?" Cristina asked brightly.

Bailey shot her former intern a look that clearly said she was out of her mind. "Don't even get me started, Yang."

Cristina sighed and sat back in her chair.

"It's time for a little friendly competition."

Cristina sat forward again, intrigued.

Meredith felt her own interest piqued by Bailey's words.

"And not just any contest. A two-week, surgical contest. Winner takes all." Bailey paused for effect. "This competition will require your complete dedication for two weeks, starting right now. The winner will benefit from the losers. If you choose not to participate, the winner won't have any effect on you. Decide now if you're up for the challenge."

"Dr. Bailey, I don't understand," One of the residents asked. Meredith was pretty sure his name was Dr. Larke. "How will the winner be determined? Will we be judged on skill?"

"I'm afraid you have to agree to participate before you get to know the terms."

"And if we withdraw after we know the terms?" Another resident asked.

"Then you're considered a loser. There's no withdrawing from the contest."

Meredith glanced around the table. There was no way she would let a competition pass her by just because she didn't know the terms. Cristina, she was certain, would compete. So would Alex. And Izzie and George both looked determined.