Title: Too Much Time

Authors: Starfisher & CocoaJuju

Fandom: Grey's Anatomy

Pairing: MerDer

Timeline: Post Season Three Finale (3.25) + 5 yrs.

Rating: K+

Disclaimer: All characters and quotes belong to their respective owners.

Author's Note:

Well, the time has come!

My friend Starfisher and I have decided to co-write a Grey's (MerDer) fic together. We've been working on it for the past few days, and have successfully (and within a decent amount of time, might I add) pounded out the first five chapters, which I will be posting in my next entry.

The first three chapters are written by Starfisher. The following two are written by me, CocoaJuju. However, from here on, we will be alternating chapters so that we will (hopefully) be able to update quickly. ;D To clear any confusion, all chapters, regardless of author, will be posted on my ff account, and my livejournal.

We have decided to name our fic 'Too Much Time', based on one of Meredith's ending monologues in season two. Later in the story, it will become apparent why we chose this name. For now, however, we'll have to keep you hanging. DB;;

We would also like to make it clear that we are not the only two people who put their time into this fic. There are several beta readers that we are incredibly thankful for (and they know who they are).

Although we write for our own enjoyment, reviews make us... quite literally, squeal. So, please R&R! (And constructive criticism is always appreciated.)

Enjoy! ;D


Prologue

(written by Starfisher)

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center

11:48 p.m.

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Los Angeles, California (a few blocks outside of Beverly Hills)


Meredith sat tensely in the waiting room of Cedars-Sinai, rocking her daughter Erin back and forth, back and forth. Three-year-old Erin fidgeted in her arms, fitfully falling in and out of sleep. It was just past eleven when Dr. Saunders finally walked into the waiting room.

"Dr. Grey, Erin."

"What is it, Morgan?"

He handed her the envelope and she set Erin down, letting the little girl's head fall into her lap. She opened up the envelope with shaking hands and looked at the films, an MRI and a CT scan. "T-tumor?"

No, no, no. Not a tumor. Tumor. Josh had a tumor. Josh, her son, her oldest kid, Erin's older brother by five minutes, her little boy. Josh with brown hair and his father's blue eyes and dimples and her craving for grilled cheese in the mornings instead of toast or cereal. The world seemed to stop.

Josh. Tumor. Tumor. Josh. Josh had. A tumor. Josh had a tumor.

Dr. Saunders laid a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry, Dr. Grey. If you could call someone to pick up Erin, we'd like to transfer Joshua to Childrens Hospital."

"I'll call someone if you call my son Josh."

He let out a breath. "Listen, Meredith, he's my patient now-"

"Morgan." She held up her hand and he stopped talking. "Morgan, I need – I need to know what's wrong with Josh. Get a grip. You've known this – this kid – Josh – my Josh - since he was born. Heck, you've known me since I was eleven and you were a resident at Boston General. This is the kid who threw a baseball through your car window. Morgan, he has – Josh has a tumor, doesn't he?"

With the saddest eyes Meredith had ever seen, Morgan nodded. "Meredith. Call someone and you can meet us at Childrens...?"

Meredith shook her head. "I'd –I'd like to talk about transfer options."

"MEREDITH!"

Practically the whole waiting room turned around to look at them and Meredith hissed, "Keep it down, Dr. Saunders; it looks like you've got an audience."

"Dr. Grey..."

She fished her cell phone out of her purse and started to dial, stopping midway only to tell Dr. Morgan Saunders, "I'm making a call. I'd appreciate it if you'd go – go away."

Dr. Saunders huffed and slammed past the 'Medical Personnel Only' sign.

Meredith nodded to herself and shakily dialed a number she wouldn't have even dreamed of calling 4 ½ years ago.

"Grey?"

"Addison, can you come over to Cedars-Sinai?"

"Grey, the benefits of a private practice is that you have actual sleep hours. You woke me up."

"I'm serious. I'm begging you. Please."

She could hear rustling in the background and a murmured, "Go back to sleep." And then to Meredith, "I'll be there in a few minutes."

Fifteen minutes later, rain-swept and dripping Addison walked briskly through the doors of Cedars-Sinai's waiting room.

"Meredith?" she said quietly.

Embarrassed, she wiped away a tear. "Thank you so much, Addison," she said. "Thank you so much. If you could just take Erin back to your place for the night...I don't know what to do...I'm so out of it right now. God. What the hell am I doing?"

Addison rolled her eyes, but looked concerned – or as concerned as a sleep-deprived Addison Montgomery could look. "So where's the evil twin?"

"That's what this is about. They're thinking of transferring him to Childrens. It's a b-b-brain t-tumor." Her voice cracked slightly on the last sentence.

Addison nodded. "I'm sorry." She gave the smallest of smiles, as if to say, I'm sorry Meredith, I really am sorry about your four-year-old son, but I don't know what to say. Meredith thought of beating her up but decided that Erin really needed someplace to go and she needed someone to talk to.

Addison scooped up Erin out of Meredith's arms and into her own, and whispered to the sleepy-eyed girl, "Come on, Erin-Sharon. Aunt Addy's going to take you to get some sleep." Erin nodded and fell back to sleep.

Meredith nodded. "Thanks. I'll pick her up in the morning –"

"Don't bother. Mark's here; he loves Erin. Pick her up when you can."

"Thank you." Meredith gave a small smile.

"No problem, Grey." She nodded. "It's what we do, isn't it?"

"What do you mean?" Meredith brushed away her tears.

"We're surgeons. We save lives. It's what we do. That's all I'm doing Grey. Saving a life."