Pirouette Chapter 1

It's ten years post season three. The doctors we first met in season one have all moved on and have achieved many successes in their lives. Now, ten years later they are gathered to dedicate a new wing of the hospital to the late Richard Webber. Among those in attendance, Burke and Cristina. This is their first meeting since the wedding that never happened. Neither one knew that the other would be there.

I said that I wouldn't post this but couldn't resist the temptation.

Characters are borrowed from Grey's Anatomy

The man in the navy blue trench coat stood outside the entrance of Seattle Grace hospital looking around but reluctant to go in. So much about the place had changed since he had last been there, and yet so much remained the same. If not for the new wing which was recently completed, the exterior of the hospital would be just as he had left it. Ten years ago he had walked away at the height of his career, leaving everything behind.

Now, on this cold Seattle morning, he was back, standing outside looking in. This place that was once his home now seems so different, and he felt a little uneasy going. He wondered how many of the people he once knew still worked there. Tomorrow he would be back here for the grand opening of the Richard Webber Cardiac wing, a unit named in honour of his old chief, who passed away two years ago. The thought of Richard Webber dead saddened him. At sixty four years old he was still a relatively young vibrant man, but a sudden heart attack had felled him and even though they hadn't seen each other in years, the loss was still quite painful.

He took a deep breath and stepped forward recognizing that he had to get the formalities over with. He had to meet the new chief to discuss the program for tomorrow's dedication. He was told that many of the past staff members, during Richard's tenure, would be back for the dedication. He wondered how many of those that he knew would be back. Over the years he had lost contact with almost everyone, some on purpose, others just gradually disappeared. He tried desperately not to think of the one person that he wished would be there. The Deep down he knew that she wouldn't be. Like him, she had disappeared and no one, not even Richard knew what became of her.

As he walked through the corridors of the hospital, eyes followed him but no one approached him. He didn't see any familiar faces. Everyone seemed to be new. Instead of going to the chief's office on the second floor, he found himself going in another direction, to the place where the locker rooms once were but they weren't there, there were renovations done to the interior of the hospital as well, and nothing was where he thought it would be. In the midst of all the changes one thing remained the same. The old on call rooms were still in the same location. He approached the room cautiously, aware of the fact that he had no business in that part of the hospital as he was no longer an employee. Standing a short distance from the door, he watched as a young female intern left the room followed by her male counterpart. The sight of the two young people brought back so much memories that he could hardly control his emotions. Ten years had passed, he had married someone else and was now a widower. His life had changed drastically but amidst all the changes, one thing remained constant. She was never far from his thoughts.

The New chief, David Welland was once head of Cardiology at Seattle Presbyterian. He was an old friend of Richard's and had transferred to Seattle Grace a few years prior to Richard's death.

As he approached what used to be Richard's office he was met by a woman who introduced herself as Dr. Welland's assistant. The assistant told him to go right in as Dr. Welland was expecting him. When he entered the office, Dr. Welland Rose from his chair and moved forward hand outstretched. The man in the Navy blue trench coat stretched his hand forward and introduced himself. "Dr Welland, I'm Preston Burke."

At the conclusion of his meeting with the chief, Preston Burke walked out of Seattle Grace and headed to Joe's. The bar was still there but unfortunately; Joe wasn't; He and his partner had sold the bar and moved away after they became parents. Burke sat quietly at the bar and ordered a drink. Everything had changed, even Joe's. The new owner of the bar was friendly and tried to engage Burke in a conversation but to no avail. He never liked bars and now with Joe gone he had no reason to be there. He finished his drink and headed to his hotel, but the road to his hotel intersected with the road to the apartment that he once called home. Unable to resist the temptation, he drove by the apartment just to see if it still looked the same. It was like going back in time, Seattle had changed so much and yet this apartment building seemed to remain the same. The grounds were still immaculately landscaped and the building itself appeared to be in excellent condition. He looked up in the direction of his old unit and wondered who lived there now. His eyes became misty and he told himself that it was just the result of being tired but deep down he knew better. The place evoked so many memories. Memories of a much simpler time before everything fell apart. The story of his life could never be told without mentioning this place and those times.

Back at the hotel he ordered room service and while he waited for his meal to be delivered, he searched his briefcase for a copy of the itinerary for the next day. The keynote speaker for the occasion will be a doctor by the name of C.Y. Carlson. He had never met Dr Carlson but he had great admiration for her work. The buzz in the medical community was all about her. He wondered though, what her connection was to Richard or to Seattle Grace. She was young so ten years ago she would have been an intern and he didn't remember any surgical intern by that name at the hospital. She could have been someone who transferred to Seattle grace after he left. According to Dr. Welland, she will surprise everyone and Richard would have been proud.

His meal arrived and after eating he made a few phone calls to friends back in Arizona. Afterwards he went out on the balcony and stood there looking out at the city. It was late evening and even though the sky was clear, the smell of rain was in the air. In the distance he could see Seattle Grace and for a brief moment the pain of so long ago resurfaced, so he went back inside and closed the balcony door. Life he thought, gave us one chance and when we blow it, there's no going back. We can pick up the pieces and move on but nothing would be the same

Unpacking his suitcase seemed unnecessary since he was only going to be in the city for a few days, but for lack of something better to do he began to unpack it. At the very top of his suitcase laid a small picture frame, he picked it up and held it to his chest and momentarily closed his eyes. The picture was that of his wife Laurel, taken in her office a few months after their wedding. She was seated at her desk, her head leaned backwards laughing at something that he had said to her. On the wall behind her were dozens of pictures of her young patients. She was a paediatrician and the irony in all that was that she later found out that she could not have children of her own.

Laurel was the best thing that ever happened to him. She came in his life at a time when he had lost all faith in himself both as a man and as a surgeon. They met in Alabama where he had retreated to after he left Seattle. She became his lifeline, got him through some difficult times. Got him to talk and eventually he told her everything about his life in Seattle, and the woman he left behind. A little more than a year after they met, they were married and he moved to Arizona with her. She had taken over her father's practice after he retired. They were happy. Laurel understood him and eventually they started to plan a family together. Everything seemed to be going well until after months of trying unsuccessfully to conceive, they found out that Laurel was unable to. They had gotten over that hurdle, discussed other options and had decided on adoption but Laurel wanted to try surrogacy. She wanted desperately to have his biological child even if that child had no genetic attachment to her.

Then suddenly, all those plans had to be halted. Laurel began to feel sick and was soon diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Eight months later, she was dead.

He remembered the day she died so vividly. Laurel had decided that she wanted to die at home and so he brought her home from the hospital. He had taken time off work to care for her. A week after coming home she woke up one morning feeling and sounding better than she had been for a long time. He was sitting by her bed wiping her face with a warm cloth when she suddenly grabbed his hand and said "Honey, promise me something."

He had held her hand, in his heart he knew that the end was near "Anything." He said softly

"Promise me that you'll find her."

He thought for a moment that she was just confused so he asked "find who, honey?"

"Cristina" she replied. "You have to find her."

He didn't know what to say to her, so he said the only thing he knew was true. "Laurel. I love you."

She couldn't hold back the tears any longer, and so with tears streaming down her cheeks she said "Honey, she was the love of your life . . . You are the love of my life . . . I'm dying and it breaks my heart to know that you are going to be sad and unhappy again . . . Please promise me that you won't be unhappy . . . promise me that you're going to pick up the pieces and carry on . . . the only way . . . the only way for you to do that is to see her again . . . please . . . "

She was getting tired and he didn't want to upset her anymore and so he promised. He held her hand his head bowed. A moment later she pulled his head unto her chest, held him as tight as she could with her frail arms, and took her last breath.

The death of his wife threw him in a great depression. She was selfless and self assured. The fact that all along she knew that there was someone else with a stronghold on his heart didn't matter. She was his wife and they were good for each other. With her gone, work became his salvation. He was Chief of Surgery, a position he had always wanted. Now, eighteen months after Laurel's death, he had finally taken a leave of absence from his job. She would have been proud of him, he could still hear her saying "honey you work too hard." That seemed to have been her favourite phrase, especially in the month before she died.

He finished unpacking his clothes and put away his suitcase in the closet. He picked up his briefcase, forgetting that it wasn't locked and all the contents spilled to the floor. While picking the contents up he came across an envelope that he received at the hospital a few weeks after laurel's death. It was addressed to him but when he opened it, he didn't understand what it was about and thought that it was meant for Laurel but was addressed to him instead. The envelope contained the photograph of a group of children in what appeared to be a ballet performance. Most of the children were sitting in a circle except for this one child who was standing in the middle of the circle. She stood on the tip of her toes with both hands meeting in a circular position above her head. The child could be around nine or ten years old, she was tall and slender and her hair was pulled back from her face and formed a bun at the top of her head. She wore what appeared to be a small tiara on her head. At the back of the photograph someone had written. Arianna

While putting back the photograph in the envelope he discovered something else. It was an article from a newspaper and shows the picture of the same child, only this time it was just a head shot. He was fascinated by the picture. There was something hauntingly beautiful about the child. In this picture she had her hair down and her slender face was almost hidden by all the hair, around her slender neck she wore a necklace with a circular pendant which appeared to be a ring. The article was actually a review from the New York Ballet City company. The child had been the youngest person invited to dance with the company and she was getting rave reviews. The article states that Arianna, an only child, was invited to attend the prestigious New York City Ballet School on full scholarship but she declined. The article referred to her as a child prodigy but stated that when asked what was her favourite thing to do, Arianna replied, "ride horses and hanging out with my friends."

He put the article along with the photograph back in the envelope. It was quite a long article written about someone so very young. The envelope was definitely for Laurel. She was very interested in the arts and especially about dance. She was always contributing to different theatres and was a patron of the local city ballet for children. Arianna must be one of the children she came in contact with through her work with the local children's group. Still, there was something about the photograph that haunts him. Whomever she was, Arianna appeared to be not only beautiful but well grounded. The next day, Saturday, he got up early and went for a workout in the hotel gym, then had breakfast alone in the hotel restaurant.

Later in the day he got dressed and went to the hospital. Before the dedication there was a small reception and Burke was reunited with many of the people with whom he had worked so many years ago. The group as he knew it had disbanded. Derek Shepherd was in New York, Dr. Bailey was still at Seattle Grace, Meredith Grey was in Boston, O'malley was at Seattle Presbyterian, Callie was at Seattle grace, Alex Karev had married Izzie Stephens and they moved to Ohio. Everyone, though not all there, was accounted for, everyone except her.

After the reception they all moved to the new wing where the dedication was to be held. The chief had informed everyone that the ceremony was running a little bit late because the keynote speaker's flight was delayed but that she would be arriving shortly. One by one people went up on stage to say a few words about Richard Webber, including his wife Adelle. When it was Burke's turn to speak, he gave a heartwarming speech about his respect for the man who was once his mentor, and of the wonderful work that Richard had done for the hospital. Finally, the chief took to the stage and made the announcement.

"And now ladies and gentlemen it is my pleasure to introduce our keynote speaker for this afternoon. Some of you may know her because years ago she did a part of her internship at this hospital. Since then this doctor has gone on to become one of the foremost Cardiothoracic Surgeons in our country and indeed the world. She has been asked to lecture all over the world and was kind enough to take time out of her busy schedule to travel here today to honour the late Dr. Webber, and so without any further ado, I would like to introduce Dr. C.Y. Carlson."

The cheers went up, the curtains moved, the cameras from the newspapers there to document the opening flashed, and she walked out on stage. The audience went silent and she began to speak. "Ladies and gentlemen, it's a pleasure to be here today. Some of you may know me, most of you won't . . . My name is Cristina Yang Carlson