AN: The last few months have been rough for me, but I'm back to writing. You may remember a while back that my name was Hellyer1977. I am the same author, but I am now going by Nielsen1984.

This story will begin as a "T" rating, but will soon turn to "M".

Please review :)

CHAPTER ONE

"Hey, get up."

I am suddenly hit in the face with a pillow. I sit up in bed and see my roommate, Izzie Stevens, laughing in the doorway.

"Izzie, really, it's eight in the morning, I was still sleeping!" I exclaim. I give her a slight glare.

"Your face was hilarious. Plus, I was in a good mood."

I throw the pillow back at Izzie and tell her I'm going back to sleep for a bit. I do manage to sleep for about a half hour more, but my body wakes me up before the alarm goes off. The sunlight is streaming in through the one window in the bedroom. I must have forgotten to close the curtains before I went to sleep last night. It is eight AM on this beautiful Monday morning. I stretch my arms above my head and rub my eyes to try and get myself to stay awake. Sleep has not come easily these last few days because the last few weeks of medical school have been very difficult. I gather up my strength to get out of bed. Once my feet are on the ground, I stretch my arms above my head again and then walk over to the mirror to take a look at my hair. Surprisingly, it has stayed quite neat, considering that I slept for eight hours. My brush lies on my nightstand, right next to the alarm clock. I turn off the alarm and run a quick comb through my hair. Izzie has gone back to her room to get ready - I assume - because she is singing quite loudly and I can hear water running. I yawn once more, not wanting to be awake this early. But of course, I have to do something for Izzie, who's been living in this apartment with me for the past year. I am a fourth-year medical student and she is a second year.

Izzie is not a bad person at all. She's quite wonderful. There's just been several times where I have to do something for her because she's unable to do it herself.

My roommate is two years younger than me. I am going to be graduating very soon, and she will be halfway done. Final exams are right around the corner. We have been studying for them for the last three weeks, but I feel like we should be spending more time preparing for them. If we fail them, then we will not have any time to redo the exams.

I've been getting ready to go out for about a half hour and the last thing I have to do is run another comb through my hair. As I run the brush through my hair again, I become aware of a retching sound. I walk across the hall into the bathroom and find Izzie leaning over the toilet, vomiting. Once she stops throwing up, she flushes the toilet and turns to look at me.

"Hey…" she says in a croaked voice. She looks incredibly pale. Her forehead has sweat on it and she looks like she's dying in those thin pajamas she always wears. "So sorry."

"It's okay," I reply. "You had no idea that you were going to be sick today. Do you need me to get you anything?"

"A pillow and some medicine. I think I'm going to be here for a while. I hope my stomach can stop acting up enough for me to make it to the couch."

Izzie somehow has picked up a bad case of the stomach flu the night before she's supposed to go to a job interview in Seattle. All I know is that this job has something to do with a hospital called Seattle Grace Memorial. Apparently, Izzie has been doing so well in medical school that the hospital has offered her a position in working there. They has a special relationship with our university.

Izzie asks me if I can take her place at the interview. She feels terrible for doing so, but she knows that she's not going to be able to make it. She then vomits into the toilet again. I tell her that I will go instead, even though I don't really want to.

"Thank you so much for doing this," Izzie tells me after I hand her a pillow and the medicine that will help calm her upset stomach. "I would have liked to reschedule this interview, but apparently, it would take several months."

"It's fine," I say.

"I left the papers on the table for you. It includes a resumé and cover letter. Even though I wasn't feeling well, I made sure that they were complete."

"Thank you."

"You're welcome."

Izzie really is one of my closest friends. I am glad that she is my roommate because it has been such an experience getting to know her and she's had my back since her first day of medical school.

Izzie is nice enough to lend me her vehicle for the drive to the hospital. I think my car wouldn't do too well because it has been in the shop twice in the last month. I decide that I will need to get myself a new car because knowing that my future career will be as a doctor, I cannot have my car breaking down on me while I'm trying to get to work.

I enter through the doors of Seattle Grace Memorial Hospital 20 minutes later. The building has multiple floors as well as many glass windows looking towards the streets of Seattle.

I walk up to the reception area. I'm still holding the papers Izzie typed up for me in a folder. I remind myself that I need to get her a thank-you gift for typing up the papers, even though she was not feeling 100 percent.

"May I help you?" asks a woman from behind the counter once I approach the desk.

"Yes, I'm here to see Mr. Derek Shepherd. Izzie Stevens is indisposed today, so I'm taking her place. Meredith Grey," I reply, holding up my temporary credentials. The woman behind the desk briefly looks at her computer and then turns back to me.

"Mr. Shepherd will be ready shortly. You may take a seat over in the waiting area and someone will come to you when he's ready."

I walk over to the waiting and sit down in one of the comfortable chairs. I pick up one of the magazines and flip through a few pages before I hear my name being called.

"Ms. Grey?" I look up and there's another woman standing in front of me. "Mr. Shepherd is ready to see you now. Take the elevator up to the second floor and his office is the third door on your left. You can just go right in."

The woman hands me a visitor badge. I clip it onto the base of my blouse. I then take a deep breath and start walking towards the elevator. I feel kind of nervous. I wonder what this Mr. Shepherd is like.

After arriving on the second floor, I find the office I'm looking for and knock on the door.

A voice says, "Come in", and I step inside. But when I do, my ankle suddenly gives out and I fall onto my hands and knees, the papers dropping to the floor. I look up and see that the man is looking over in my direction. I feel somewhat embarrassed.

"Ms. Stevens?" Mr. Shepherd asks, somewhat confused. He offers out his hand to help me stand up after I gather the paperwork and put them back into the folder. "I'm Derek Shepherd. Please, have a seat."

"Um…" I say after standing up. I walk over to a chair in front of his desk and sit down. "Ms. Stevens isn't able to make it because she caught the flu, so I was sent instead."

Mr. Shepherd looks young, from what I can tell. And attractive. He's wearing a blue, no-iron shirt. His pants are black and dressy, and he wears a pair of designer shoes on his feet. I take another deep breath and prepare to speak.

"And you are?" he asks me. As I speak, I cannot take my eyes off the handsome man in front of me.

"I'm Meredith Grey. I'm attending med school with Izzie, excuse me, Ms. Stevens," I reply. I look over in the direction of the windows. "Lovely view you have from up here."

"I agree with you, Ms. Grey."

There is a slight awkward silence that fills the room.

"I'm sorry," I continue. "This is my first real interview as a med student. I'm just a little nervous."

"It's perfectly fine. You may take as much time as you need. Did Ms. Stevens tell you about this interview?"

"Yes. It was for a position as an intern, as well as adding an article to the university's newspaper. I do have some questions for you, Mr. Shepherd."

"Ask away."

"Do you feel powerful knowing that you work for a well-known hospital?"

"I guess you could say I have a bit of power. But I tend to not let it show."

"Outside of your work, what do you like to do?"

"I have several interests, Ms. Grey. Maybe sometime, I'll show them to you."

"Have you ever given up a lot of time with family to be here at your work?"

"I guess? My father died when I was young. My mother is a Navy Nurse."

There is a knock on the door. The woman who had handed me my badge stepped inside.

"Pardon me, I'm sorry for interrupting. You have another meeting in three minutes," she says.

"I'm not done with my current meeting, so you can cancel the next one," Mr. Shepherd replies. After she leaves, he turns back to me. "So, Ms. Grey, where did we leave off? Oh, that's right."

He takes a deep breath before continuing to speak. "What do you plan to do after you finish med school?"

"Find a hospital to work at," I reply. "I've been thinking about my final exams a lot."

"If you want the position until you can find a full or part-time job, it's yours."

I'm a little shocked by what he has just told me. Did he really just offer me the job that was supposed to go to Izzie?

"I'll do a little thinking on it," I continue.

"Just call the front desk when you have your answer. I will get your message. Do you want to see a little bit of the building?"

"I would love to, but I do have to drive back to my apartment, though. And I'm sure you have a lot of other things going on at the hospital."

"No, I actually don't. Today's been a pretty light day. But if you have to get going, then until we meet again, Ms. Grey."

"Thank you for the interview, Mr. Shepherd," I say. "I'll just leave my papers here with you."

"Sounds good."

He extends his hand and I shake it. We don't say goodbye. I walk into the elevator.

"Derek," I say without any introduction.

"Meredith," he replies.

The doors close and I'm going back down to the main floor. My mind is still trying to process what has just happened.