The Starting Line (Reupload)

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   Standing next to Cristina in the hallway, Eleanora grimaced as she watched Derek shuffle his cards on the steps. He was their new Chief of Surgery, which meant there was a whole meeting about it.

"What the hell is he wearing?" Callie asks a laugh in her voice.

"Looks good. Like a Chief." Owen argues back, and Cristina snorts.

"He looks like a gravedigger."

"He looks like my Nonno Vincent," Eleanora whispers. Everyone looked at her and she shook her head. "He was a coroner."

"Close enough." Cristina hummed; Owen looked at her. Arizona turns to look at everyone, her voice worried.

"I promised him we would applaud." Eleanora nodded, straightening as Derek looked at the crowd. She sent the man a thumbs up, visibly relaxing.

"Oh did you now?" Cristina replies, Jackson and Charles, snort at her tone. Arizona glares at her, but Eleanora just pats her on the back. She feels someone walking behind her and looks over her shoulder to see her boyfriend. She gives him a big smile and stands on tiptoe to press a quick kiss to his lips.

"Good morning."

"Good morning, my lovely girlfriend who I haven't seen in what seems like forever," Mark grumbled. "All these double shifts you're doing are making me cranky."

"All these cute moments of you two are making me gag," Cristina told them, Eleanora hitting her arm.

"Do you think you're a comedian now?" Eleanora joked, a giggle on her lips. Everyone falls silent as Derek clears his throat, signaling that he is about to begin.

"I want to thank you all for being here. I know you are busy, so I will try to make it quick. As you may have heard, I have been named the new Interim Chief of Surgery. My personal goal is to make this transition as easy as possible. I know that We've had a few tough months-"

"Here it comes," Alex tells Jackson and Charles, who he had previously teased that they were getting fired because Derek hated the Merger. Eleanora shot him a look before focusing forward, wincing at how nervous Derek looked.

"He looks so... sad," Eleanora whispered, Mark, squeezing her shoulder as they continued to listen to the new Chief.

"Mistakes have been made-"

"He's talking about the merger." Alex jokes, Lexie shuts him up and Eleanora hits him.

"-I intend to correct those mistakes and, uh, return this hospital to its former glory," Derek said, smiling. Eleanora smiles, nodding her head.

The McDreamy Smile. Good touch.

"Old glory?" Cristina asks, crossing her arms. "Gravedigger needs a speechwriter."

"We're screwed." Jackson decides, Alex, laughing and nodding.

"Yes, you are, fool."

Reed whispers to the group, nodding just at the bottom of the stairs. "There's Chief Webber."

The crowd grows a little uneasy as Eleanora stands on tiptoe to look over Arizona's shoulder, her eyes widening slightly as she sees the former Chief and Jennings of the Board heading towards Derek.

Derek notices too and stays silent. He and Webber look down for a moment before continuing, looking at their cards. "What I meant... uh, by that is- what I'm trying to say is, I want to thank you for your support in advance."

Eleanora wrinkled her nose and shook her head, Mark let out a small moan of pain.

"Oh no. He just ruined the whole thing with that." Mark said to the group, Eleanora, Hunt, and Callie all nodding their heads. "He should never have thanked people who don't support him. It makes him look selfish, and that's my job."