So if you haven't read my prior Burke/Cristina fics, you can still enjoy this.  If you want to know how they got back together and why Addison is calling Mark and why Addison and Mark are in a Cristina/Burke story... you might want to check them out.

This is for Jer, who was determined to get more of her favorite couple, even if it meant coercing me with extra donations at the SupportStacie.net April Fanfic Auction.

Family Emergency Preparedness Guide by socalwriter

Certain days started out better than others; that was just a fact of life.  While numerous days began with Cristina Yang being pissed over a stolen surgery or an assignment to a specialty that wasn't her specialty or missing her lover, who happened to live in the middle of the snow-covered wilderness... (okay, Mayo wasn't in the wilderness, but it was Minnesota; same difference)... this day had started off about as well as a day can.

The message to come to the chief's office would've been worrisome if she'd done anything remotely worthy of being in trouble, but mostly Cristina figured it meant he wanted her help on a case or something, and while the chief was only a general surgeon, he was pretty fantastic, so working with him was okay if she wasn't gonna get cardio.  So when she showed up and saw that Webber was talking to an older man with short-cropped white hair, she was curious, but again, unconcerned.

When the chief saw her looking in from out in the hall and waved her in, Cristina opened the door and the stranger turned to face her.  How she managed to keep her mouth from falling open, she had no clue, but the words "be cool" screamed through her head as her brain began to process the chief's greeting of, "Dr. Yang, I'm sure you know Dr. Alastair Westmoreland?"

"I, uh, I do.  Dr. Westmoreland, it's an honor, sir."

Alastair Westmoreland was a legend in cardiothoracic medicine.  Educated at Yale, the former dean of Harvard Med and now the chief of surgery at Mount Sinai, Westmoreland was one of those people who you read about in medical school and hoped to just walk past one day.  So him standing there in front of her, actually being introduced to her, was way more than a dream come true, it was a freakin' miracle.

"Dr. Yang, it's a pleasure.  I've heard a lot of very good things about you."

"You... you have?"

"Dr. Westmoreland is Dr. Montgomery's uncle," Webber explained.  "They lectured together at the world medical conference last month."

The thing about a guy like Westmoreland was, his name only came up when you were talking cardio, and even though she and Addison were friends-ish these days because Cristina sometimes answered her calls when she rang Burke (not call-your-friend, bare-your-soul friends-ish, but still, they talked), they didn't talk cardio in that way where Westmoreland's name had come up and the redhead might have said "oh, you know he's my uncle?"

But given that she also now knew that Addison's father was the Dr. Montgomery from Yale, and that her brother was freakin' Archer Montgomery, Cristina wasn't surprised.  That family was nothing but medically talented genius freaks.

"I expected to spend the whole conference hiding from overeager young surgeons begging me to let them come shadow me, but when it turned out Addie was there, it turned into quite a lovely time.  And I met Dr. Burke, too.  Very impressive.  If I were thirty years younger and competitive, I'd hate him."

When the chief laughed, Cristina laughed as well before her boss explained this odd encounter any further.

"At any rate, Dr. Westmoreland's got a close friend who lives in Seattle and needs a triple bypass, so I've offered the good doctor our facilities and the time and attention of one of our best residents."

Cristina swallowed and tried not to start freaking out before she could get somewhere secluded and preferably soundproof.

"My niece and Dr. Burke assure me if I want the very best while I'm at Seattle Grace, then I should have you assisting me, so if you're not busy today, Dr. Yang..."

"Uh, no, no, no, sir.  Not busy at all.  Has the patient been admitted?"

The chief reached behind him, picking a chart up of his desk.

"Ready and waiting for you."

"I'll get prep started right away," she said, taking the chart with both hands so she wouldn't drop it from nerves.  Westmoreland nodded and smiled slightly.

"See you soon, Dr. Yang."

Three minutes later, when she was securely closed off in an on-call room, Cristina did a happy dance of victory, screamed with her hand over her mouth and then danced a little more.  Then she pulled out her cell phone and dialed.  She barely let Burke get a "hello" out before she started talking.

"Okay, when you come here next month, you are getting not one, not two, but three full nights of sex position of your choice, because you are the best boyfriend ever!  I am doing a triple bypass today with Alastair Westmoreland!  Did you hear that? Westmoreland!  And he said you told him I was awesome.  Well, you and Addison.  So yeah, lots of sex for you, and there's no limit on the dirty."

"Well, I won't complain about having something to look forward to.  But I only told the truth about your surgical skills."

"Well, yes, duh.  But still... you told him I'm awesome, which makes you awesome, too.  By the way, that family is crazy scary, huh?  How come you never told me Addison was related to Westmoreland?  I mean, that's vital information.  If I didn't love you so much right now, I'd be totally pissed you didn't tell me that."

"You were already jealous and upset that I was going to the conference without you.  Adding to it by telling you I'd gotten to meet Westmoreland seemed pretty foolish on my part.  Besides, I had a feeling he'd be looking you up.  Addison says he likes to collect talent around the country for when his wanderlust hits and he wants to become an O.R. vagabond."

Cristina smiled, the pride she felt too intense for words.  It wasn't just that Burke had said nice things about her.  He was her boyfriend after all.  That was his job.  And Addison and she were friends-ish, so... no surprise there really.  But they clearly hadn't just said nice things... they'd had their own sense of pride discussing her skills in the O.R.  That was the only way a guy like Westmoreland believed it was more than just one friend helping out another, and she was proud of that... that she'd earned that kind of endorsement with her work ethic and her dedication from two people she respected so much.

But as she ruminated over that fact, she realized for the first time how tired Burke sounded.

"Hey, you okay?  You sound like you had a long night."

"Emergency came up," he explained.  "So it's been very long."

"You gonna get a chance to get some sleep?"

Burke chuckled, the warm tone reassuring her that he was okay.  "Eventually.  Now you go show off for Westmoreland and call me after with a full report."

"Okay, will do.  Bye."

Cristina hung up the phone, grabbed her chart and headed out the door, back to her incredibly kickass, beyond fantastic day.

*****

It didn't faze her when Burke didn't answer his phone the first time because she figured he was in surgery.  By the third unanswered call, though, she was mildly freaked out, and Meredith's reassurance that he was probably just still busy being a cardio god didn't help Cristina shake the feeling that something wasn't quite right.

She knew she was 100% correct when Mark Sloan sought her out in the cafeteria an hour after her third unanswered call was placed.

"Hey, uh, I just got off the phone with Addison. Have you... have you talked to Burke today?"

"What do you know?" She asked.  "Because I called to tell him about my surgery with Westmoreland, and he sounded all tired, and now he's not answering his phone.  I'm half a freak-out away from calling Mayo and having him paged."

"Uh... he's not at Mayo."

Cristina dropped her fork.

"What the hell is going on?"

"Yeah, Addison said she had a feeling he hadn't told you, not once he found out Westmoreland was here.  Um, he's in Alabama.  His mom... she had a stroke last night."

Jane Burke was one of Cristina's least favorite people, but Preston Burke loved his mother, and so the idea of anything bad happening to her was unthinkable.  She couldn't imagine what it had taken for him to sound so calm earlier when he was probably beside himself with worry.

"Where, uh... where is she?

"UAB.  Burke flew out as soon as he got the call."

She wasn't sure if she remembered to say thank you or if she even acknowledged Sloan before she stood up and rushed to find Bailey and let her know that someone else would have to handle Westmoreland's post-op monitoring because she had to get home and find a flight to Alabama.

*****

As fierce as Mama Burke had seemed to her before, she seemed just as fragile now as Cristina peered in through the ICU window at the University of Alabama Hospital.  Her perfectly sculpted hair was flat, her makeup gone... Cristina couldn't help but smile a little at the sight of her almost mother-in-law without her drawn-in eyebrows.

Burke's father Donald was asleep in a chair by the window.  He was as handsome as Cristina remembered, but he looked 10 years older, the worry of the past 24 hours having clearly having taken its toll.

The nurse had told her that Dr. Burke had gone to get some coffee, so Cristina lingered outside, unwilling to disturb Mr. Burke's rest, wary that Jane's placid face was a ruse designed to lure Cristina in for an attack.

"Aren't you supposed to be impressing the hell out of the elder cardio gods?"

She turned to find him standing behind her, his tall form looking as strong as ever despite the exhaustion she could clearly read on his face.  A tall cup of coffee was clasped in his right hand, but he opened his left arm, and Cristina stepped into him, accepting the kiss he leaned in for.  She hadn't called to tell him she was coming, and only once she'd landed had she gotten his messages saying he'd been in a surgery and missed her calls.  He still hadn't mentioned whose surgery, but by then she'd been a cab ride away from him.

"I did impress the hell out of him.  Then I left Bailey and Meredith all open-mouthed and shocked that I was leaving.  That was kind of fun, actually."

He chuckled, and she felt the rumble in his body as it reached her own.

"You should've told me."

Burke nodded.  "I should've, but I couldn't.  The chance to operate with Westmoreland was important, and there was nothing you could've done then.  It was an AVM.  We were getting her prepped for the coil embolization when you called."

Cristina pulled back and looked up at him, and she knew he'd only been trying to protect her by not telling her earlier.  She couldn't honestly say what she'd have done if the choice had been between operating with the cardio legend and racing to Burke's side.  But she also knew that he understood that... that's why he hadn't wanted to make her choose and live with the regret of either decision.

Still, she gave him her most disapproving face.

"You can tell me next time, okay?  Even if it's surgery with God himself, you'll tell me."

He nodded and pulled her close, and she felt his body relax a little as he held her.

"I will tell you next time, I promise."

They separated a few moments later, and they moved so they were standing side by side, his parents on the other side of the window.

"How is she?"

"She's scared.  She couldn't move her left hand at all, and her speech was... She's scared.  I don't think I've... I don't remember ever seeing her scared."

Cristina reached over and took his free hand, lacing their fingers together.

"I downloaded the entire rehab roster for this place while I was waiting for the plane.  I'll make a pass through the nurses later to see who they like best.  She'll be okay."

His fingers squeezed hers gently in reply.

"I hope so."

Mr. Burke woke from his nap as they continued to stand outside, Preston sipping at his coffee, and Cristina watched in genuine admiration as Donald moved, sitting down on the bed, his hand gently reaching for his wife's, which he leaned down to kiss.

"He really loves her," Cristina said, somewhat amazed that a man so reasoned and even-keeled could love a woman so prone to being demanding and difficult.

Burke slid his arm around her and leaned his head into hers.

"Thank you for coming.  You have no idea how much I wanted you to be here."

But she did know, because Cristina knew that it didn't matter that he was a grownup, a famous surgeon with a life of his own.  Jane was his mother, and she was sick... and no one should be alone with that feeling.  Still, she didn't just want to be there with him, she wanted to be there for him, and she knew the best way to do that was to be herself.

"You say that now.  But when she wakes up and sees me, you may change your mind."

He laughed loudly at that, and just then, Cristina noticed his father look up.  He saw his son's happy face, saw them there, hugging and sharing a moment of good despite the bad.  And Donald smiled at them, his own worry pierced by the love in front of him.

Cristina knew then absolutely that she was where she should be, and she was grateful for the part of her that had grown enough to let her.