Stitches of Survival

You're My Home

Chapter Fifty-Three: You're My Home

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"Why do people constantly feel the need to kill their arteries?" Maggie groaned as she and I made our way over to the OR board, finding Meredith and Amelia standing there together.

"Are they here yet?" Callie asked as she and Mark hurried over. "Oh, did I miss it?"

"Tell us that we didn't miss it," Mark groaned.

"Nope," Meredith shook her head.

"I almost forgot," Maggie commented.

"Forget?" I scoffed. "This was the whole reason I decided to come back to work this week instead of taking another week of maternity leave."

"I can't wait to see the beads of sweat on their freaked out little faces," Callie grinned.

"Did I miss it?" Alex asked as he joined us.

"Nope," I shook my head.

"I want to see someone crap-- actually crap," Alex smirked, hopeful.

"Seen it, smelled it. Not as fun as you'd think," Callie said.

"It's happening!" Arizona exclaimed as she hurried down the hall to us. "The baby chicks and ducks are here!"

"I remember our first day," I smiled as we all hurried down the hall together to get to the gallery of the OR that Webber was showing the new surgical interns. "I wanted to punch Alex in the face."

"Why?" Maggie asked, surprised.

"He used to be even more of an ass than he is now," I informed her.

"Each of you today comes here hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago, you were in med school, being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors." Webber delivered the familiar speech to the new interns. I could still remember the day he'd delivered the speech to my group. How I had walked into that OR not knowing anyone there, only for several of them to become some of my closest friends. My family. "The five years you spend here as surgical residents will be the best and worst of your lives. They will--"

"This should be interesting," Mark commented when one of the women cut Webber off by raising her hand.

"You have a question?" Webber asked, surprised.

"Yes," the woman nodded. "Why?"

"Uh, you raised your hand," Webber's brows furrowed together.

"No, I'm sorry. I mean why will these be the best and worst years of our lives?" She questioned.

"Uh, I-I was getting to that. Um, where was I? Oh, right," Webber assured her. As he continued, all of us mouthed along with him, repeating exactly what had been told to us when we first entered these halls as hopeful surgeons. "You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play...that's up to you."

"He forgot to mention how one of them will get cancer while others either get run down by a bus, nearly drown, or get in a car accident." I joked, recalling the events that had taken place during my own residency.

"They look stupid," Alex muttered.

"They look like babies," Meredith chuckled. "Were we ever that young?"