Meredith Grey sat with her hands on her cheeks, tapping her foot obnoxiously against the metal outlet beneath her desk. It was the same desk as the other hundred in the room, all lined up in neat little rows throughout the crowded lecture hall. Many students in Meredith's 4 PM Year II Pre-clinical course looked at the rotting old man droning on before them with rapt interest. Their pencils were flying across the loose leaf paper they had eagerly spread before them. How they could possibly listen to hum of information steadily pouring from the bald (and retired) cardio thoracic surgeon and, well, care? What had his name been?
Dr. Frank Culbert, the dirty off white handout on Meredith's desk informed her. She'd never heard of him. He had never done anything worthwhile. His whole career had been simple aneurysms, waiting for his retirement, so he could come here and get way too much money to supposedly impart his worldly, experienced wisdom on a new generation... what had he addressed them with? Oh right, Good morning, future healers and saviors of Earths less fortunate. That sounded like something that would open some science fiction space show. And not even a good science fiction space show.
Meredith slumped a little further in her seat. In college, Meredith had partied hard, and barely given her classes the the time of day. Still, she had maintained good grades with the work she did bother with. Now, her second year of med school, she was trying. Her mother's diagnosis had been a wake-up. A harsh, jarring wake-up, but one she had needed. Her last year of college and her first year of med she had been exemplary. Perfect grades, top of every class. She had gotten accepted to every med school she had applied to. Who would have thought she could have been so nerdy and intense if she tried? And yet she was.
She spent every night in her New York two bedroom apartment, books spread out around her on her bed. She studied until she crashed, and then woke and went to classes the next day, and extra classes she signed up for that were more specialized for neuro, her passion.
Originally, she had thought about being a general surgeon. Actually, she hadn't wanted to limit herself to anything at all. She wanted to keep her mind open. Let her experiences mold her future. Well, her mother's Alzheimer's counted as an experience, right? It was a disease with no cure. She had the power, with in her lifetime, to strive towards curing it, if not for her mother than for someone elses.
And Ellis really was her mother. Before she had completely sunken into her Alzheimer shell, Ellis had decided to lower her walls around Meredith. They talked for hours, Ellis explained all her decisions to Meredith. They discussed going into Ellises murky future. Ellis explained to Meredith about what had happened with her father, and with Richard, and Meredith eventually forgave her. Within the six sane months the two had, they grew a bond that Meredith had alway hoped for with her mother but never had really known could exist.
That was why it had come as such a shock, waking up one day in the house she had grown up in, visiting her mother for spring break during her first year at Columbia med, that she was faced with the other Ellis, the cold hard super surgeon Meredith had known all of her childhood. Admitting defeat, Meredith checked her mother into a nursing home, where she rapidly deteriorated. These days, Meredith was a five year old in her mothers eyes.
Meredith sighed, a little too loudly.
"Mer, if this is so painful for you, just leave." Christina was annoyed at Merediths obvious inattentiveness. It had been hard work trying to get Meredith to sign up for this class, as it wasn't primarily neuro. But Christina had wanted to share at least one class in common with her roommate and best friend.
"Its not painful. Its just... cardio." Now it was Christians turn to sigh. She had never understood her friends obsession with the brain. It didn't beat, and sure, if it stopped working, you were brain dead, but you weren't dead dead. Okay, you were dead dead. But you weren't really gone until the heart said so. The heart was amazing.
"Whatever Meredith. You aren't learning anything. You'd be spending this precious time better sitting at home studying for the neuro preclinical tomorrow, instead of sighing here. I hear we've only got a resident at Mount Sinai lecturing for us tomorrow,but a resident in neuro is better than an attending in cardio, right? Because neuro is so much better?" Christina was attempting at sarcasm, but Meredith took it all to heart.
"You're right. I'll see you at home." Meredith began packing up her things. "I'll grab coffee down the street before I hit the books. You want me to get get you anything?"
"The usual." Christina sighed. She should just give up trying to get Meredith interested in cardio. She was obviously hooked on neuro, though Christina had no idea why. "Meet you at home... half an hour."
"See you." Meredith smiled at her best friend. She knew she was being annoying. She should keep her options open. It would be pointless though, she reasoned with herself. Neuro was her future.
Derek ran a hand through his dark hair, then replaced it on the table. His other hand moved in smooth, round motions, gently stirring some milk into his plain coffee. Addisons triple venti sugar free, nonfat, no foam, extra caramel, with whip caramel macchiato. Then pour regular coffee down the side with 2 packs of raw sugar and a stir stick on the side sat untouched across from him on the small round starbucks table. It had been hell, finding a table. He'd had to pay some kid ten dollars to sit and save it while he spent half an hour ordering Addisons drink. I had taken him sixth months to memorize it, when they had first met. It had been cute in the beginning. Now it just sucked. Everyone in the line hated him, and he basically had to walk the barista through the order from the wrong side of the counter. And it was usually wrong then anyways. Not that Addison would notice. He sometimes though she did things like this just to make his life more difficult.
No… he couldnt think that way. Addison had been ordering the insanely complicated drink since back when their marriage was blissful and simple. He had to stop nitpicking. He had to look for ways to bring life into their marriage.
...Which was why he had set aside the morning for coffee, per her suggestion. They hadn't done anything simple, just to hang out with each other, in a while, so he agreed.
And now she was late.
Derek glanced out the window, agitated. He'd given up a lot for this. With the race for chief resident so close, he was giving Burke a great advantage by not showing up for work this morning. But my marriage is more important, he thought with clenched teeth. He drew out a breath. He'd be speaking at Columbia tomorrow, that would count for a lot, at least in Webbers eyes.
"Just a plain coffee, please?" A delicate voice drew him from his thoughts. his head snapped up from where it had been leaning dejectedly against the window. A petite blond was searching frantically through her bag for a something. She was biting her lip in concentration. He couldn't see her eyes, her blond hair fanned out, spilling from behind her shoulder to cover her face as she leaned over her simple white tote bag. Not Prada or Gucci, like Addison's. The blond flipped her head up, clutching a sheet of yellow legal paper in her hand, smiling radiantly as if she had just done some amazing feat. Looking at the clutter of her handbag, he supposed perhaps she had. Still, her smile, lighting up her grey eyes, was intoxicating. He felt his lips turn up just looking at it. Her eyes were strange. Grey, he had thought of the color as cold, stormy. And yet, she brought such life to her eyes, they radiated her emotions. He imagined himself standing at an operating table with her, both their faces covered in masks. He imagined talking to her, only with their eyes. It didn't seem any trouble at all.
"And… phew, I know you're going to hate me. You guys always hate me! Here we go…" She smiled apologetically. "venti 1 pump caramel, 1 pump white mocha, 2 scoops vanilla bean powder, extra ice frappuccino with 2 shots poured over the top (apagotto style) with caramel drizzle under and on top of the whipped cream, double cupped. Can I have that along with my, uh, plain coffee. I know its alot… Do you need it repeated?" She smiled meekly.
The barista did need it repeated. In fact, he needed the mysterious blond girl to walk him along as he prepared the whole drink.
"I'm so sorry…" She said it over and over. It was like a mantra. "I'm sorry" she would say. "Its okay" the barista replied. By the end, Derek was full out grinning. The woman was going through the same torture that he went through every time Addison stupidly suggested they go for casual coffee.
"I'm going to kill Christina…" Derek heard the woman mumble. Derek felt an enormous weight lift from his chest. So the awful drink wasn't for a boyfriend. His grin doubled in size. He hadn't even realized that he had been worried it was. The his smile faded. Why should it matter if the drink was for a boyfriend? He had a wife! Besides she could still have a boyfriend and just not be getting a drink for him. He internally slapped himself. Stop!
"The name for that, miss?" The barista looked up at Dereks obsession of the last ten minutes, a sharpie poised over a clear starbucks cup. Derek held his breath unconsciously.
"Um, Meredith? For both?" She smiled shyly at him, then backed away to lean against the wall as the drinks were prepared.
Meredith.
Her name was Meredith.
Just then, Derek was snapped out of his reverie.
"Hey." Addison glided into the shop, her heels clicking against the linoleum. He skirt clung to her hips, in a way Derek had once found alluring. Now he looked at her, and couldn't understand the attraction. What was that, compared to how Meredith, the girl with the coffee, wore her tight jeans, snugly showing off her ass?
"Youre late, Addison." He didn't mean to sound so snippy. He had taken the morning off though. And she had been half an hour late. It had nothing to do with the fact that Derek irrationally didn't want Meredith to see him seated with Addison.
"I save babies, Derek." This was always what she said. He got it, she saved babies. he saved everyone else. He didn't feel the need to constantly cite it as an excuse for any wrong doing.
"I-" He started. It wasn't worth it, he decided after a moment.
Addison raised an eyebrow and smirked. She thought she had won. She didn't understand he just didn't care enough to fight.
"Meredith?" A man behind the coffee counter called. "Plain coffee, and a, well, uh…" The man began to try, but Meredith hurried up.
"Really, its okay, Don't bother, you'd be the first." She smiled at him jokingly.
"Have a good day, miss." The man smiled jovially back at her.
"You too!" She tossed her hair, not in an attention seeking way, like Addison, but to actually move it out of her face. He caught a whiff of… some type of flower.
He watched as Meredith left the store. She passed right by his window as she walked away, teeteringly with the two coffees, one in each hand. He missed her already, and they hadn't even talked. She hadn't even noticed him. He had just watched her, like a weird stalker. He shook his head, trying to clear her from his mind. He had a wife.
"This is cold." Addison was staring at her drink like it had just thrown up all over itself.
Well, thats what happens when a hot drink sits on a table for half an hour, Derek thought.
"Yeah," Derek said.