AUTHOR'S NOTE ( UPDATED 05/16/2016) : ALT SEASON / PART 2/ ENSEMBLE FIC/ MULTI-CHARACTER CENTRIC / OCs /DRAMA/ LOVE/ ANGST . Summary: Set in an alternate S12 where Derek is dead in my universe and Meredith is still struggling with life without him. For more info, go to my profile.
Against Doctor's advice
Part 2
Character/Cast used in this story
(I will update this list as it goes)
Dr Meredith Grey Shepherd – Ellen Pompeo
Dr Cristina Yang- Sandra Oh
Dr Alex Karev- Justin Chambers
Dr Maggie Pierce- Kelly McCreary
Dr Warren Fresker- Raul Esparzà
Dr Vika Gucic- Noomi Rapace
Dr Kyle Yeahquo - Daniel Henney
Dyshiki Lloyd "Paul" Fresker- Gerard Butler
Brandt Henley- Josh Lucas
Carolyn Shepherd - Tyne Daly
Dr Amelia Shepherd - Caterina Scorsone
Dr Kathleen Shepherd - Jody Lyn o' Keefe
Dr Liz Shepherd - Neve Campbell
Dr Nancy Shepherd- Embeth Davidtz
-1 -
The doctor's good words
Slut Like You - Pink
Meredith looked as the rain wash away the dust on the giant bay windows. She had a dizzying view of the Seattle Skyscrapers in front of her. It was the same room she shared with a perfect stranger three months earlier. The same bathtub she sat on the edge of, wrapped in a plush white bathrobe, thinking that happiness should have been simple a goal. At least, three months earlier, getting off had been easy enough. She looked up at the water slowly running through the drain in the tub. It was a slow and sinuous stream sliding against the bathtub enamel. It was a beautiful sight. It was a peaceful sight. Life was a bit like that drain; it was a tremendous sinkhole of shit and misery, just a beautiful one.
Meredith had no idea how this started... How this thing became her thing after all. One day, she was a sad, lonely widow, the next she was sloppily kissing that guy in this very room without any shame and mainly without any common sense. If one asked, he was gone. Just like she predicted and hoped for, he disappeared looking distractedly like the memory of a mirage. Sure, she remembered everything he did to her… Everything they did to each other. The sex, the teasing, the frightening intimacy, sometimes in strange order, sometimes in the wrong order, but still she remembered it all. It felt like a distinctly safe memory. Something, she could keep with her. Something she could get back to when her new partner had been boring and clumsy... like...now... So what happened in these past few months? Nothing much... and probably everything... There was no manual or book that taught you how to get over losing the love of your life... So Meredith simply decided that she needed to take it a step at a time. To this day, it was just pure improvisation on her part. She took the call as soon as the familiar ringtone fill the room. Pink laughed and the first notes of "Slut like you" broke the peace. Meredith smiled with relief as she swiped the screen of her smartphone to take the call. Cristina on the other end of the line sounded just as cheerful and crazy as always.
"Hey, are you okay? You left a pretty desperate voicemail earlier. I almost burn a red light on my way home. Just one question, do I have to take a flight? I need to refill my subscription of antidepressants."
"No, everybody's okay. The children are okay."
"Did they find her?"
"No...I'm just... I don't know. Not that i know, he didn't call. I just need to talk."
"Ok. I thought somebody had died but this... this can work too." Cristina said with a snort.
"This is amusing to you."
"Of course it is. Everything is funny to me past midnight. You should know that."
"Who was it this time?"
"Egotistical bastard... and then we watched TV and ate some ice creams... Oh wait! That's in the wrong order. We were pretty reasonable."
"I like Bambi better. He sounded sweet that time he answered your phone."
"He was on call. What a girl to do when she's got an itch to scratch? Bambi is fine. But there's only one of him."
"Did you even listen to my message?"
"Yes. It seemed tragic. The death of your bubble kind of tragic I think."
"So?"
"I don't know. I just got home. It's 4 in the morning. I have two hours sleep left. Help me, Mer!"
"It's kind of an emergency! I need you to tell me i'm not overreacting."
"So... How did it happen? The whole thing?"
"You want to know how?"
"It's important. At least, give me a setting and a bit of background please. It wasn't quite clear on the voicemail."
"So, I was hanging out the other night with Alex, Callie and Maggie. It got out of hand pretty quickly. Me and Maggie started going at it a bit..."
"Stop there! Rewind! No! It's impossible! You too got into it?! Since when Magical sister can scream?! No way!"
"Well, we were just politely exchanging points of view if you prefer. It was not a total screaming match. I only have those with Amelia."
"Bitchy sister's privileges, right!"
"Exactly."
"We still don't like her, right?"
"She wants to steal my house."
"I recall she wanted to buy it."
"She's screwing your husband."
"Ex..."
"They're living together in a trailer."
"You can be pretty hardcore when you want to. Okay, I hate Amelia's guts with all the strength of my missing soul! Back to Magical Maggie, what were you arguing over?"
"The roof... It's leaking."
"Oh ! It's... well... terrible."
"Truly, I mean upstairs is flooded each time it rains. It rains a lot here."
"So, she didn't agree to the repair."
"No, we were very much on the same page. We had a contractor over last friday."
"Great... Can I go to sleep now?"
"Cristina..."
"Sorry! So the contractor, what did he say?"
"He has to replace the entire roof."
"Oh! That's convenient. So you argued over the price..."
"We argued over who would pay? Alex was there! He could tell you!"
"Did he argued too?"
"Oh no! He is drowning currently under his own debts. His young girlfriend is high-maintenance. Please don't tell him I said that."
"I will tell him you said that first occasion I get. I thought they were doing okay at Magic Maggie's pad living the sweet honeymoon life on fifth street avenue."
"It is sweet I guess. He seems happy sometimes but I know something is bothering him. Maybe it has nothing to do with Jo... I just don't like the girl."
"You don't like a lot of people these days!"
"I know! Why does he have to date her? He doesn't tell me anything about it. He is being pretty secretive and all. He is all stoic like he is a grownup now and better than me. I'm jealous. I hate it. I know something is wrong! Maybe it's about Izzie's bills. At some point, I know he was down to two hundreds thousand dollars in medical bills."
"That bitch!"
"Cristina!"
"Okay! Okay! We still hold a decent amount of love for that girl but damn she's cruel!"
"I know... She is... I don't know what to say to him."
"Don't say anything... So who argued with who?"
"I argued. It's my house. I should be paying for the repair. Only, I needed more time to organize my finances... just a couple of weeks delay... I have the opening of the will planned after all... It will be complicated enough already. By the way, i think this is all pretty standard for a big expense like that, you tell me. But Maggie was not having any of it. She said we needed to get the contractor ASAP and will give him an advance. She also had a few things she wanted to add to the house as well. She wanted a larger window in her bedroom for example. According to her, he might as well start tomorrow. For short, she wanted to run the whole thing."
"That pissed you off?"
"No, she made pretty good sensible suggestions."
"So, what happened, girl? We're on a timeline here!"
"Cristina, she wanted to pay for my house!"
"And that should bother you why? Technically, it's still Alex's house, buyers' warranty and all. And by the looks of it, he was not bothered? Why should you?"
"It's my house. It's always been my house!"
"And that's her biological mother's old house! If she wants to invest, let her! That's her sisterly thing to do! I bet!"
"But she is my little sister... I said I'd take care of her! Why does she need to meddle?"
"She's a grown ass woman. Two years ago, she was a total stranger. Let her meddle, I say, that's called being a good person."
"You don't get it."
"Of course, I don't. It's four o'clock in the morning."
"You call me back!"
"You said it was an emergency."
"Okay, but that's not the worst part."
"What was so tragic dear at last?"
"She said it's no problem. Matter-of-fact, she made one point seven million a year. She could afford it. "
"So?!"
"She makes more than me!"
"Oh! Oh!"
Cristina remained silent.
"Cristina..."
"Oh and what did Alex said?"
"He only shrugged."
"Oh! He took it pretty well."
"He is making eight hundreds but well he seemed unfazed. Giving it more thoughts, money shouldn't be what's bothering him! "
"Cool!"
"I make less than them, Cristina? Both of them! It's ridiculous!"
"Oh no!"
"Yes! I was speechless!"
"Even as the chief of general... I thought you took over for Miranda."
"Exactly..."
"I don't know what to say. But that's not important to you, right?"
Meredith frowned.
"What do you mean that's not important? I just discovered I made way less than anybody else. You don't find anything wrong with this, Cristina ? You're a woman just like me."
" I'm no ordinary woman, lady. I'm paid... like they said. I'm getting Mayweather's kind of papers."
"What?"
"I mean. I make much more."
"Ok... I understand... Like right now... You're the chief of surgery over there after all."
" No, no... I always made much more... Even as an attending..."
"What?"
"I'm sorry, Mer."
"I mean how much more."
"Way way way ... and five exclamation points more!"
"You're kidding me?"
"Nope!"
"I probably own this hospital with all my shares..."
"No kidding you do and still you didn't know that... That's quite sad!"
"Everybody is making more than me..."
"Yes, sweetheart probably..."
"That's so unfair!"
"Again...probably! Sorry..."
There was a loud knock on the door, interrupting their chatter.
"Mandy? Melissa? Whatever your name is! It's Will from earlier. Sorry! I think I forgot something!"
Meredith frowned. What could he have possibly forgotten? His pants... His brain... His sense of worth... Meredith looked around her. Her clothes were on a chair; her bag slumped at the end of the bed. She couldn't spot anything unfamiliar. What if he was crazy and dangerous? What if she let him in and he strangled her?
"Who's that?" Cristina asked, whispering. It felt like she was just behind her in the room. That gave Meredith a bit more courage and she opened the door briskly. She may have exaggerated a bit, saying that after the Warren episode nothing happened. Well, plenty things happened. Plenty young thing like Will happened. He smiled goofily at her. Meredith frowned even more. What possessed her really with this one?
"Mer, should I call the cops?" Cristina asked.
Well, Will was pretty nerdy-looking with his glasses. Meredith knew that under his green sweater his muscles were taut and his body lean. Still, it never looked that intimidating to her. There was nothing memorable about his face except his eyes were warm and mischievous, and his lips were full and greedy.
"It's okay... He is leaving. I mean he is already outside. "
She stepped back a little, holding the door open.
"Hi! The name is Meredith... As you can see, I was on the phone. I thought you left already."
His smile vanished as confusion spread on his young features.
"Sorry, Mer...Meredith... Huh... I think I left my watch earlier on the side table. Did you happened to..."
Meredith stepped away from the door abruptly.
"Go, fetch, and leave me alone!"
Will picked up his watch and hesitated on the threshold on his way out.
"Should we exchange numbers while we're here?"
"No!"
Meredith retorted as she closed the door on his face.
"Who was that?"
"A guy with a watch. I don't know. I'm in a freaking bad mood. I should go home now. Wendy is waiting for me. It's almost nine p.m."
"You did it again."
"I did what?"
"You picked up someone in a bar."
" Technically, it was at a museum late in the afternoon. I was picking up a puzzle for Zola after work. See, this can't count as a slut pick-up! I was being a caring mother!"
"Caring mothers don't just pick up random people in strange places."
"Nonsense, they do all the time and you will be glad to know that we had coffee at his manga dealer. He is an aspiring visual designer or something. He draw some kind of superhero on a napkin in less than five minutes. I will give it to Bailey."
" Great, a teenager!"
"He is over 21. He can drink."
"You said you had coffee!"
"Irish coffee!"
"Meredith!"
"It was just fun. At least at some point..."
"You said you won't do that anymore. I'm seriously worried. With your luck, Meredith Grey, you will pick up a serial killer named Frankie, who will lure you to his van, kidnap you, torture you in his cave while his sister wife is breastfeeding their incestuous baby and the BAU will not find you in time... and well... I will have to share custody with Alex but he won't be willing to move from Seattle. Someone in Hollywood will make a romantic comedy out of this. I will think of suicide then."
"I don't need to ask what was on TV tonight, right?"
" You need to find a few regulars like me."
"No."
"Why?"
"Because I make way less than you... that's why!"
"You're such a hypocrite. You don't really care about these things, Meredith Grey."
"What do you mean?"
"You're not a money person. You're scared of it. You've always been skittish about money."
"That's not true. I have ambitions about myself like everybody else. I like to buy things... expensive things that cost money."
"Your mom was wealthy and you couldn't talk about it."
"Just upper-middle class... I can't complain. But there's no story to tell really... We lived a rather ordinary life."
"Your late husband..."
"Derek..."
"...Was one of the best paid surgeons in the country. You can't even open his will in fear you will realize how rich you are."
"This is ridiculous. It has nothing to do with... that... Well, I'm not skittish about money. I choose not to talk about it, that's all. That doesn't mean I don't know my worth."
"You're so boogie sometimes. I bet you never read the hospital's numbers, you know the little brochures they give you at the end of the year for being a good little board member."
"..."
"I'm just saying they probably thought that you were so rich, so unconcerned. They could get you for free... but they didn't want to make it too obvious, so they still gave you pocket money. I think that's what I would do...if I was the chief I mean."
"Cristina!"
"I'm being your person here. I could be your money person if you want. I'm good with money."
"I can't believe you..."
"You think it's an obscene word...Money, money, money, Money...money!"
Cristina started to laugh hysterically.
"Cristina...stop! It's not funny!"
"I love the word money... It's so catchy!"
" Cristina, your stepfather is a dentist in Beverly Hills. You went to the best schools. Of course, you grow into money. So you have no problem with it. I'm still paying Med School, you know."
"Don't say it aloud! About Saul! I'm so ashamed. He is not even a real doctor!"
Meredith laughed.
"You're laughing! Wow! Look, Meredith! I'm not like you. I enjoy being rich. I'm not afraid to state my price. I don't come cheap baby. I enjoy talking about my success and...I negotiate each of my contracts with my lawyers and my financial advisor in L.A. His name is Bill. I'm not even joking."
" You do?"
"Yes. You don't?"
"Well..."
"Meredith, you're a miracle child! Do you know that?"
"That doesn't sound good..."
"It's because it's not, honey. Magic Maggie is more awesome than you are right now! You let it happen! How could you?"
"I don't know ! Why is it so complicated? Why is there so much papers to fill out? I try putting things in order. But I have loans and the kid's tuitions and more loans. It's crazy. What if I can't... I can't seem to grasp these things. It's depressing how much money I spent just paying taxes. It's scary. It's just like Derek's papers and the opening of the will! His mom and his sisters will be there, Cristina. For some reasons, they hate me. I don't know what I'm supposed to do. Derek used to deal with all this. The house... The contractors... He made it happen. He was a wonderful husband. I'm useless with all these stuffs. Everything is so complicated now that he is gone! Why do I have to sit through it and negotiate things? Money is not everything in the world. I believe in what I do! In being a good doctor! "
"See, that's why they don't pay you. You can work for free. What are we complaining about then?"
"Don't tell me you do this job for the money!"
"Sorry to burst your bubble! I do this job for the money, the awards; the fame, the glory, to sit on the throne, winter is coming, and last but not least for the boys. You get to screw a lot as a bonus. Remember our wild years. Oops, we are still pretty wild, baby!"
"I should talk to Miranda. I know that but... "
"Yup."
"What if she says no..."
"Then you quit..."
"I don't wanna quit..."
Cristina yawned.
"I don't wanna be a pretty unicorn but well it's four o'clock in the morning... I can see a rainbow.
"Can't talk to her tomorrow anyway... "
"Why?"
"I took a day off."
"Why?"
"I just told you I'm opening Derek's will."
"For real this time?"
"For real!"
"Yay ! Mer, way to go! Catch the bull by its horns! You rock! "
"Cristina..."
"I'm here. I won't leave. You're not on your own."
" It's so scary. Being without him. Taking care of the kids. All of it scares me... What if I can't manage these stuffs... What if I screw IRS by mistake? I'm ruined and I bring down the kids with me. It was my mom, then Derek..."
"That's not true. Your mother was Alzheimer and you managed her estate. Derek knew he could always count on you even when he couldn't do surgery. You're underestimating yourself like always but I do know your worth. You're damn first-rate in my eyes, Meredith Grey."
"Oh ! I love you. I wish I could marry you and be done with it. You'll make a mighty fine husband for someone one day."
"I know. You're a sucker Meredith Grey."
"You know what? I'm going home."
"I'm going to bed."
"Slut..."
"Right there with you, my friend. Right there with you."