Seattle was supposed to be a stopover. I came back to correct a mistake. A signature at the bottom of a marriage certificate. A promise that still had my name on it. Instead, I found a hospital that looks at me like I'm the villain in a badly written fairy tale. A husband who hesitates. A resident who hates me without really knowing me because she's sleeping with him. So I work. I'm brilliant. Flawless. Untouchable. And then there's you. You, whom I keep in a comfortable, convenient, elegant, consequence-free zone. Or so I pretend. Because as long as it's a game, I have nothing to lose. I smile in public and kiss you in a hallway. My marriage is still legal. My husband is in love with someone else. And me? I pretend I don't care as long as I'm shining with someone else. A rebound, maybe. More like a show to keep glowing and not be seen as the cheated on wife.

This morning I'm walking down one of the hospital corridors with a group of interns on my tail, you're part of it. We pass Derek, talking quietly with Meredith in a corner of the corridor, his hand on her arm. I don't really have the time to think about it. My hand grabs your waist, my eyes challenging him.