Sutures and Secrets || Mark Sloan

37 | Compassion

05x11

Over the past few days, Charlie and Meredith had been ignoring each other and everyone in the house and hospital had noticed. The tension between them was impossible to miss, but no one dared to intervene. They all knew why they were fighting and frankly, it wasn't their battle to fight. So instead, they learned to accept the cold stares, the passive-aggressive silences and the way they both somehow managed to exist in the same space without actually acknowledging each other.

Which is exactly how today's breakfast was going.

The kitchen was filled with the smell of coffee and slightly burnt toast. Derek was flipping pancakes, while Izzie buttered a piece of toast like it had personally offended her. Alex sat at the table, arms crossed, watching the whole thing unfold like a spectator at a very awkward boxing match.

And then there was Charlie and Meredith - sitting across from each other, not speaking a word.

Charlie took a slow sip of her coffee. Meredith aggressively cut into her pancake. The tension was so thick it could be sutured.

Izzie, never one to let awkwardness pass without commentary, sighed dramatically. "Are we really doing this? Are you guys gonna ignore each other forever?"

Silence.

Alex smirked and leaned back in his chair. "Honestly? I don't hate it. It's like watching an old Western. Any second now, one of them's gonna draw their scalpel and go for it."

Derek turned around from the stove, setting a plate of pancakes on the table. "Alright, can we just eat like normal human beings?" He handed a plate to Charlie. "Pancakes?"

Charlie took it, muttering a quiet "Thanks."

Derek turned to Meredith. "Pancakes?"

Meredith grabbed her plate without a word and started cutting into the food with unnecessary force. The knife screeched against the plate, making Alex wince.

"Okay, Jesus.", Alex muttered. "That pancake didn't steal your solo surgery, Mer."

Charlie smirked slightly but didn't look up.

Derek let out a deep breath, clearly over it. "Look, I don't care what's going on between you two, but if this ends in a food fight, I'm leaving."

Meredith, still not looking at Charlie, scoffed. "Oh please, I'm an adult."

Charlie, also still not looking at Meredith, hummed in agreement. "Yeah. Totally mature."

Meredith rolled her eyes and went back to stabbing her pancakes. Charlie followed suit, both resuming their silent war.

Derek sighed in defeat, pouring himself another cup of coffee. "Great. Another fun morning in this household."

————

The morning had already started on a frustrating note and now, just as if fate was deliberately testing her patience, Bailey assigned Charlie and Meredith to the same case. Neither of them dared to complain - arguing with Bailey was a losing battle - but as they exchanged glances, the tension was palpable. Now, forced to work together, they had no choice but to push it aside, at least for the sake of the patient.

Charlie walked a step ahead of Meredith as they made their way to the trauma bay, as if by walking just that little bit faster, she could somehow put more emotional distance between them. But when they arrived, the presence of Derek and Owen waiting for them forced her to straighten up and school her expression into something more neutral.

"What do we got?", Meredith asked, her tone clipped and professional, betraying nothing.

Derek held out a chart. "Take a look."