Her eyes focused on her twiddling thumbs. People were talking around her, but it was almost as she wasn't there.
Suddenly she flew away someplace familiar, language foreign and her screams soaring through the walls. The very smell of blood made her nauseous. She had been scared in her life - of monsters under the bed, of losing her family.
But Megan had never been so scared in her entire life, as she was back in that basement. The very appearance of a person in the same room as she always meant something bad was coming.
Megan kept her faith, counting days. She put her brave face on, every single day. But then, as weeks, months passed, she lost hope someone would ever come. She wondered about her mother and Owen. Some days she even gave Nathan a thought.
"Megan?" a voice said, calling her back to reality.
Megan looked up and met the faces of Owen, the chief, and Dr. Shepherd, or well, Amelia – who, apparently was Owen's wife. She cleared her throat and pressed her lips together. Right about now, the three people in front of her, realized she hadn't been listening.
Owen sighed, but Amelia smiled carefully and said, "Well, your head CT is clear. Which, for the record, is great! No surgery."
"Great," Megan replied nonchalant. She didn't think there'd be any need for neuro, but Owen pushed. For hours, people had put needles into her skin, she had gone through every single examination possible.
"Let's just give Megan some time, okay?" Amelia said and squeezed Owen's hand. The chief nodded and left. Owen still stood there, staring at her. He wanted to say something, she saw it in his face, but he just stared.
Then he put on one of the weirdest smile she'd ever seen, and left. She watched her big brother carry himself down the hall and disappear.
"I'll see you around," Amelia spoke and was about to leave, too.
"Amelia," Megan called and made her sister in law stop abruptly. "I need a favor."
"Anything," the female responded sincerely.
Megan made her way into the cafeteria, wanting to get out of her room. She stood in the long line and got some mediocre hospital food, but food, nonetheless. And it was better than what she'd had for the last ten years.
She looked out on the cafeteria and spotted her brother, Amelia and some other doctors sitting at a table in the back. Her feet carried her over there. Like it was any normal day she asked, looking to an empty chair. "Is this seat taken?"
Owen's eyes widened as he looked at her, but Amelia quickly avoided the awkwardness by telling her to sit.
"Your - your hair," he stammered. Referring to her, now, raven hair.
"Dude, my hair is dark too," Amelia shot in and smirked. "I think she looks great."
Megan looked at her sister in law, giving her a grateful smile.
"But… why?" her brother asked, still confused.
"I wanted a change, and I like it. Can we please talk about something else?"
Owen nodded and looked away, still confused.
"So, Megan, this is Alex. He's in peds," Amelia chimed in, and pointed to the other guy at the table. "And this is Maggie, she's in cardio. And Meredith, she's in general."
"Hi," Megan greeted. "Well, you all know who I am, I presume?"
"Yeah," they all agreed. Not awkward at all. The silence took over.
"Is this thing going to be permanent, or?" Owen suddenly asked, again, referring to her dark hair. Megan sighed, she'd just said she didn't want to talk about it.
"Owen, I don't need this from y-" she hissed.
"You're my sister. And you're back and I want to be involved."
"So, you're basically going to continue to baby me? Is that what you're saying?" Megan snapped. She really didn't need this today.
"Hey, Megan," Amelia cut in and cleared her throat. "Did you hear that Meredith here slept with your ex-fiancé?"
Megan stared at her, and then watched Alex almost spitting out his drink and coughing. Well, that was some news to get the first few days back with her family.
"No?" Amelia continued. "This is actually a really funny story. You see, Maggie here, who is Meredith's half-sister, by the way, totally had a thing for Riggs, but then Meredith hooked up with him. But she didn't know that Maggie had a thing for him. And so-"
"You really shouldn't be spreading around gossip," Maggie exclaimed. Clearly not being comfortable with the information being told by Amelia.
Megan met Meredith's face. The general surgeon looked incredibly uncomfortable, and sorry for the situation.
"It's fine," Megan stated. "I don't need more information."
"I'm sorry-" Meredith started.
"It's okay. Everyone thought I was dead, and he was already sleeping around before I disappeared. So, he probably would've screwed you either way."
"That's not-" Meredith tried again, pausing. "I'm- I'm really sorry."
"I'm joking. Even the tortured, MIA war heroes have humor," Megan smirked and chuckled. The laughter spread around the table, making things less awkward. And then just for a moment, Megan forgot about all the heartache and bad memories. It felt okay, just for a moment.