Meredith let out a noisy yawn causing Cristina to turn and give her a meaningful look, the meaning being 'Shut the hell up', Meredith returned this look with an apologetic hug.
"I'm sorry Dr. Grey, if we're keeping you up here, you can feel free to leave." Dr Bailey said from behind her surgical mask.
"No, I'm fine, sorry." Meredith returned, feeling a little embarrassed as the scrub nurses exchanged looks. She looked up into the gallery and spotted Derek sitting at the front, they made eye contact and he gave her a wink and a small smile which she returned with a look of stone, before returning her gaze to the open abdomen in front of her.
"If I can just get this last stitch to hold we'll have Dr. Grey in bed within a few minutes." Bailey said, her smirk hidden behind the mask, there were a few snickers and Meredith rolled her eyes. "Ah…there we go. Perfect."
"Even if you do say so yourself." Grey replied sarcastically, Bailey shot her a look but didn't say anything.
Meredith had been at work for almost 40 hours straight now and coupled with the mild cold she had been carrying around, she was about ready to drop.
"That surgery was incredible, makes you thankful for people with road rage." Cristina said with a grin as her and Meredith washed off their hands.
"You're a sick woman. Sick!" Meredith smirked, pulling her scrub cap off her head.
"You look like death." Cristina commented as they headed back towards the locker room.
"It's this cold, I just can't shake it, I've been here for almost 40 hours, and all this stuff with Derek is getting the better of me." Meredith informed her friend.
"You need to kick your McDreamy habit once and for all, who cares if he has a full head of hair, Hitler had hair, and look how he turned out." Cristina said.
"You're comparing Derek with Hitler?" Meredith exclaimed.
"Why is Derek a nazi?" Izzie asked, hearing the end of their conversation as they entered the locker room.
"No, I was just saying, hair isn't everything." Cristina snapped back.
"Okay, I'm completely lost." Izzie sighed as she riffled through her locker. "Are you coming home now Mere?"
"Yes, I can't take another moment of this crazy lady that's taken to following me around the halls." Meredith replied, referring to Cristina.
"Hey, all I'm saying is, once again, you and Derek are taking space because once again he's afraid of commitment and once again you're left feeling like a confused pile of crap." Cristina said in all seriousness.
"Geez, don't hold back!" Izzie deadpanned, giving Meredith a concerned look.
"He's got a lot going on I- " Meredith began, but Cristina bluntly interrupted.
"He's always got a lot going on, but seriously, when most people have a lot going on they want the person they love to be there helping them."
"Now isn't the right time for this, she's exhausted, talk about it tomorrow." Izzie said softly, laying a protective arm around Meredith's shoulders.
"Fine." Cristina said, slamming her locker shut. "But I am not going to sit by and watch him make her suffer once again." And with that Cristina left the locker room leaving Meredith and Izzie standing there looking at each other.
"Wow, not very often you see Cristina like that." Izzie said with a weak smile.
"Yeah…"
* * * * * * * * *
A few days later Meredith, Cristina, George, Izzie and Alex all met to have a drink after work at Joe's. Meredith was feeling a lot better, about McDreamy and her health.
"Another round?" Alex questioned and the other 4 nodded.
"I can't remember the last time my feet didn't hurt." Izzie whined, before finishing off her drink.
"I believe it was about 4 hours into my first ever shift." George smiled.
"My feet never hurt." Cristina informed her, causing Izzie and George to both roll their eyes.
"Of course not, you're a machine." George told her.
"No, but a real surgeon doesn't feel the pain in their feet, a true surgeon was built to stand for hours on end." Cristina said.
"Just because our feet hurt, doesn't mean we won't make good surgeons, it just means that after the surgeries are over, we go back to being human, and humans feel pain." Izzie snapped feeling irritated by her co-workers cockiness.
"I've hit a nerve." Cristina said with a raise of her eyebrow.
"Urgh…enough, just drink your drinks!" Meredith snapped before standing in her seat and going to join Alex at the bar. "They are children!" She informed him and he gave her a sideways smirk.
"I've learned to tune them out, I just hang out with you girls because you're nice to look at." He informed her as Joe placed the 5 drinks in front of him.
"Creep." She said giving him a playful smack in the chest. Meredith spotted Mark Sloan in the corner with a beer in front of him, barely touched, he was however staring intensely into it. "Hey, check it out." She said to Alex nodding in Sloan's direction.
"Wow, if I didn't know that he has no feelings, I'd think he looked depressed." Alex said, grabbing the tray of drinks and starting to head back over to the table.
"You go, I'll meet you over there." Meredith informed Alex. He looked at her for a moment, then a look of realization came across his face.
"No better way to get at McDreamy then by grabbing yourself a piece of McSteamy." He grinned. Meredith narrowed her eyes at him.
"If you never say anything like that to me again then I won't tell anyone that you not only used the terms McDreamy and McSteamy but you used them in a sentence together." She warned him.
"Noted." He said looking sheepish before going back over to the table to join his friends with his tail between his legs.
Meredith made her way over to Sloan, feeling mildly concerned for him, they weren't close at all, but Sloan had always been nice, well nice for Sloan, to her.
"Mark?" Meredith said softly as she reached his table, he looked up with a start.
"Grey, what are you doing?" He replied, feeling shocked to be approached by the tiny blonde.
"I saw you sitting here…and I just…may i?" She asked indicating to the free chair across from him, he gave a small nod and she sat down, "I just thought I'd check you were okay."
"Lost a patient today, just a little girl, some of the worst burns I've ever seen…" She sighed, taking a sip from his untouched beer, he made a face since it had gone warm and pushed it away from him.
"I'm sorry…kids…kids are hard…" Meredith said gently, not really knowing what to say, it wasn't like Mark to be effected by these things.
"Yeah…well…" Mark said, not really knowing what to say. "No Shephard tonight?"
"We're taking some space." She said shortly, then added snidely, "He thought it was a good idea."
"The man is a drama queen. A stupid drama queen." Mark told her, in a failed attempt to comfort her.
"I'm starting to see that." She responded, they were quiet for a moment. "Well, I should get back to my friends. You'll be okay?"
"Yes. Go. People will think you've gone mental if they see you making friendly with me." He gave her a smile and she smirked back before rising from the seat and heading back over to her friends.
* * * * * * * * *
Izzie frowned down at the textbook in front of her, unable to concerntrate, not today, she just couldn't do this today. She slammed the book shut and felt tears trying to fight their way out.
"Iz – you okay?" George asked, spotting his friend's face.
"Not today I'm not. Today I'm fricken miserable." She snapped, running a frustrated hand through her hair.
"What's happened today?" George said, coming over to sit right beside her and taking hold of her hand.
"Denny di – today, last year, he- " She tried to get out the words but she couldn't even say it. "So today, I just, I can't be a doctor." George understood what his friend was trying to say and he kissed the hand he held gently.
"No one would expect you to be." He whispered, she looked at her friend and was filled with gratitude for his ability to understand her.
"I don't even have a picture of him. Do you know how stupid that seems." She told him, rolling her eyes which were shiny from the tears she was fighting to contain. "I don't even have a picture of the man I was more in love with then anyone. That just seems like the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard."
"You don't need a picture, you have something that no one else has, you have his heart." George said, squeezing his friends hand.
"Yeah…but today…today that doesn't help." Izzie stood up and left the room, leaving George feeling terrible for his best friend.
* * * * * * * * * * *
"We can't keep doing this." Addison sighed feeling her usual remorse after she slept with Sloan.
"We can and we will. In fact I think we should do it again right now." He said with a sly grin.
"I'm worried about Derek." Addison said, causing Sloan to immediately no longer be in the mood.
"We certainly can't do it now." He grimaced.
"Sorry." Addison said, her cheeks going slightly pink from embarrassment.
"Addison, I'm well aware you and I will never be, I watched you pine from Derek, then I watched you jones for Karev…" He told her, she shot him a shocked look, "Yes, I know about that, and I know this is just about sex. I'm all for the sex. Bring on the sex. But, in order for the sex to continue, you've got to not bring up the ex."
"I know I know, it's just, he's actively pushing Meredith away again. He's miserable without her, and she…well I've been watching her and she doesn't seem as fazed as she used to be. I'd hate to see him ruin his own happiness." Addison sighed.
"Really? Because I'd love it." Mark smirked.
"Oh shut up, who do you think you're fooling."
* * * * * * * * * * *