"Who's the new girl?"

"She's hot."

"Heard she's another model. Don't need any more of those."

"She could be legacy. Did you see her last name?"

Voices of interns float behind me as I fix the collar of my scrub top. The light blue shade clashes with my skin tone, but I can't complain.

Someone taps my shoulder. "Um, hi. I'm George O'Malley." He extends a kind hand, an offer of friendship.

"Leven Phoenix." I smile fondly, taking it gratefully. "Do you know where I can find, um. . .Dr. Bailey?"

"She should be —"

The loud thud of the door hitting the wall catches my attention. A short woman steps into the room carrying a set of binders.

"Okay, people. Assignments." She huffs out.

Each intern tasked with an assignment leaves through the door promptly. Soon, I'm the only one left with a woman named Grey.

"You?"

A familiar woman sits on one of the benches.

"Meredith. The one with the —"

"Yeah."

The woman, who I now know is Dr. Bailey, looks me up and down. "Leven Phoenix. Chief's been talking about you."

"I'm guessing Chief Webber?"

I've heard the name mentioned a few times in conversation with family. A miniscule hum from her confirms my thoughts.

"You'll be on Dr. Shepherd's case regarding the chief." Her gaze shifts to Meredith. "You seem to be popular, Grey. There's been a special request just for you."

"Wh-Who?" Now distracted, she struggles to strap on her watch.

"Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd."

And the resident leaves me with Meredith. We walk out the door, but the young intern seems a bit too distant.

"Look, now that I work here, we might as well get to know each other." My fingers snap in front of her face. "This Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd has gotten you all distracted. What's wrong with them?"

Her arms cross over her chest. "She is the wife of my hard boss, who you happen to be working for during your shift."

"Need me to kick his ass for you? I will if you want." I nudge my elbow into her arm, to which she cracks a gentle grin.

"Not this time." She shakes her head. "He's just another one-night stand in the books."

"You don't seem too upset by it."

"All we had was sex. There's plenty of that going around in Seattle."

The two of us finally come to a stop when we reach a group of three. The woman stands with her arms stuffed in two pockets, Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd written clearly across her right side. One of the men has his arms clasped behind his back, staring down the tailored doctor in front of him.

"Grey." A smirk perks up on the attending's face. "Glad to have you on my case."

"You must be Leven Phoenix." The second man's left hand juts out. "Dr. Burke. What a pleasure it is to finally meet you."

The edges of my lips tighten. "Right. Nice to meet you, too."

"Dr. Shepherd. . .meet your intern."

Up until now, Meredith's ex-beau has been glancing between the female attending and Meredith, leaving me to analyze his facial expressions.

Anger and hurt, mostly.

"Yeah, alright."

With one last look towards Burke, Shepherd storms through the rest of the hallway and sharply turns the corner. I, of course, follow after him.

"Joe McIntyre, basal artery aneurysm."

A case file is shoved into my hands abruptly, and I pause for a moment. We finally reach the patient, who happens to be none other than —

"The bartender." I smile in familiarity.

He chuckles ever so slightly. "The coffee prude from last night. Glad I didn't serve you alcohol seeing as you're my doctor."

"It's the location of the aneurysm that makes it tricky." Shepherd talks over us, a glaring dagger aimed in my direction. "Your body temperature will be lowered cool enough to protect you from any damage and stop the heart."

Meanwhile, I jot down a few notes.

"Phoenix, care to answer why we need to lower the body temperature?" He questions.

I clear my throat, gathering my thoughts to form an answer. "Since the blood won't flow to his brain, it'll reduce the risk of having a rupture."

"I'll have 45 minutes to clip the aneurysm before —"

"Before I step in and get the heart started again." Dr. Burke walks towards us.

"You wanna freeze my body, drain my blood, and stop my heart?"

"And bring you back."

"In under 45 minutes." Joe's head tilts down. "If you go over, is it free?" He jokes.

A small chuckle escapes between my lips, and the three men face me.

"Dr. Phoenix, please handle the pre-op labs."

"Of course."

Once I receive the results, I return to Joe's room. A vase filled with flowers and a few baskets full of treats decorates his tray table.

A gentle grin appears on his face. "Hey, sunshine."

"More like a thundercloud." I slip the stethoscope into my ears and instruct him to take deep breaths multiple times.

"Woah, what's on your chest?"

"McIntyre, are you looking down my shirt? Because that's not very nice."

He frowns ever so slightly. "But what was —"

"Nothing, Joe." I interrupt him apologetically. "You must have been imagining it."

Fiddling around with my pager to check the settings, I feel a sharp shoulder push past me, practically knocking me into the door. The folder in my hand flies out and spews its contents.

"Oh, God." A breath leaves Meredith's open mouth. "Sorry about that."

"No harm done." With her help, I gather up the papers once again. "Something on your mind? Or do you just like to crash into people?"

Her exasperated look turns into one of amusement. "Every damn person in this hospital just has to have their secrets."

"What's wrong with secrets?"

"They create a lot of drama. And drives friends apart."

One of the other interns, Alex Karev, wheels Joe's gurney up to an empty O.R. where Dr. Burke, Dr. Shepherd, and I scrub in for the surgery.

The neurosurgeon lifts his head from the surgical microscope. "That's as far as I can go now. Let's start cooling him."

Burke and I, as well as the nurses in the room, place ice bags over his body, gradually bringing his temperature down.

The temperature begins to lower in the room in itself, the surgeons and nurses huddling somewhat close in an attempt to keep warm.

Once he hits sixty degrees, we begin to work.

"Phoenix." Dr. Shepherd calls out. "Got a Joe story? Everyone around here has one."

My eyes slightly widen at his question. "I went to his bar for the first time last night."

"Drinking the night before a new job?" A woman from behind asks in imposition.

"Of course not. I had a coffee." I glance down at his body. "He called me weird for having coffee at midnight."

"We've all been there."

A wave of laughter erupts in the operating room. As soon as Dr. Shepherd finishes clipping the aneurysm, Dr. Burke and his team war against time to bring him back to life.

By the time the sky outside turns dark, my first shift at Seattle Grace comes to an end.

Just outside the hospital doors is a 1994 Jeep Cherokee. Leaning against the passenger door is Meredith Grey, carrying two cups of what I can only guess is coffee.

"How was your first shift here?" She hands me one of the beverages, sipping on her own.

I hum in content as the caffeine washes over me like a wave. "Interesting. . .to say the least."

"And working with Dr. Shepherd?" She emphasizes the title heavily.

"I still don't understand why you slept with him." My nose crinkles. "He's so. . .boring."

"We were both drunk. Someone took advantage."

"How romantic."