The Starting Line

Chapter 21

Eleanora had one leg propped up on the chair she was sitting in, licking the ice cream Izzie had gotten for them during her IL-2. Flipping through a chart, Eleanora looked up when she heard Cristina speak.

"These are good. Do they sell them in the cafeteria?" Eleanora shook her head, concentrating again on the chart in her lap.

"No, only the yucky grape ones." She answered. Izzie nodded, readjusting in her seat.

"These are the cancer lollipops."

Cristina drops into the chair next to Eleanora, leaning back so she can relax. Meredith snorted at the look on her friend's face, shaking her head as she double-checked Izzie's vitals while she ate her own 'cancer popsicle'.

"Why do people with cancer have so much fun?" Cristina asked. Everyone slowly looked at her in shock, Cristina didn't even flinch. Eleanora sighed, closing the chart as she leaned back a little in her own seat.

"How do you feel, Iz?" Meredith finally asked, Izzie shrugged.

"I don't feel like vomiting, so I feel good."

"Bailey is kind of mad." Cristina tells everyone, putting an arm behind her head. She snorts, Eleanora turns her head to look at her. "I think it's post-O'Malley stress disorder."

Eleanora closes her eyes at that, taking a small breath before turning to look at Izzie and Mer, who were just looking at Cristina with an annoyed and worried expression respectively.

"She's not dealing with her pain." Meredith tries to explain, Eleanora shrugs.

"I know. She's pushing her emotions aside, waiting until they explode to deal with them."

"You two sound like Owen's psychiatrist." Cristina screams, Eleanora hides a small laugh. Izzie looks at Meredith, who raises a mocking eyebrow.

"Owen's psychiatrist is withholding sex. So, she's moody and irritable."

"Is Derek doing that too? Withholding sex?" Izzie asked. Meredith raised an eyebrow, still eating her ice cream.

"Why would Derek withhold sex?"

"Alex is holding back... everything. It's like he's afraid, but I don't know what he's afraid of."

"He's afraid of sex with cancer." Cristina butts in. Eleanora's head turns towards her, leaning over the chair to hit her.

"Christina!" Meredith exclaims with wide eyes. Izzie just closes her eyes, trying to breathe calmly.

"You don't want to end up with a cancer pop."

"Christina!" Eleanora shouts, hitting her again. "Inappropriate."

"Shut up! I'm not contagious, Cristina." Izzie snaps. Cristina sits with a serious expression.

"I know. I would totally have sex with you."

Eleanora sighed, leaning back in her chair. She hums, pausing from eating her ice cream to talk to Izzie. "I've technically withheld sex from Mark for almost two and a half weeks. I didn't do it on purpose, I was too busy stuck in bed and not moving because of my pain, which I managed." Eleanora directed that last part at Cristina, the woman rolling her eyes.

"So, you think Alex is refusing to have sex because of George?" Izzie asked him. Eleanora grimaced, shaking her head.

"I don't know, but think about it. Would Alex let George get in the way of him sleeping with someone? I mean, they both shared the same syphilis." Eleanora starts laughing at the end, the other three women joining in after a moment.