Obligatory Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy and all associated characters belong to ShondaLand, not me.
A/N: This is a one-shot written for the 'Stuck in the Dark' challenge at Surgical Language. Takes place at the end of 3.14, hints of 3.15-17. Meredith and Ellis get stuck in an elevator, Meredith snaps and Ellis is enlightened. Enjoy!
Ellis Grey was not having a good day. She had finally been granted lucidity for the first time in 5 years since the Alzheimer's had progressed and she was stuck in this stupid hospital being wheeled down to CT by her daughter at 3am.
Seattle Grace held many memories for her, most of them fond. Her first shift, her first chance to scrub in, her first solo surgery, the birth of her daughter. While to the world it seemed as though Ellis Grey hadn't given a damn about her daughter, she had been overjoyed the day Meredith was placed in her arms. It hadn't been until she left Thatcher for Richard, who promptly stayed with his wife, that she had started to resent her daughter.
She moved to Boston where there was no one to take Meredith for her except the hospital day care ladies and until Meredith was 10 and home by herself Ellis had to restrict the number of shifts she picked up at the hospital. So she was cold and harsh- she didn't want her little girl dreaming of fairytales and happily-ever-afters when all that came from dreams was anguish. She told her the truth about Santa Claus, the Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny, forgetting that every little child needs a reason to believe.
Ellis was jerked back to the present when the elevator shuddered to a stop, the lights went off and Meredith swore. "Seriously? Are you fucking kidding me?"
"Language, Meredith Ann."
Meredith scoffed. "Really Mom? Now that I'm a surgeon you care, but before when I was in high school you didn't give a damn."
"Now you're a highly trained professional who should be seeking respect Meredith. People with sailor's mouths don't earn it."
"Whatever, Mom." Meredith fiddled with her pager and hit the emergency call button on the elevator. She swore again when it didn't work and picked up her phone to call the chief to find out what was going on.
"Hello? Hi Chief, yes, it's Dr. Grey... I'm stuck in an elevator with my mother, can you tell me when you can get us out and what is going on? ... Really? An hour? Oh, okay ... thanks Chief."
Sighing, Meredith hung up the phone and turned to her mother who was sitting patiently in her hospital-issue wheel chair. "Dr. Webber says that he's calling maintenance right now. The city is experiencing a black out and the generator that controls the elevators on this side of the hospital seems to be out of commission. He hopes to have them running and us out within the hour."
"Fantastic." Ellis snarled.
Meredith whirled around to face her mom. "What's that supposed to mean? Am I not good enough company for your royal highness? Trust me, I'd much rather be working right now then stuck here with you, I'm supposed to be scrubbing in on a hemispherectomy in 3 hours and if I miss it I swear to god I will kill you! If you would let another intern take you up to CT I wouldn't be stuck here with you but no, you had to make me do it and miss out on valuable time!"
Meredith's pager went off and she tipped it up to read it- 911 PIT. "Seriously? See, even now you're ruining my freaking life! I am a damn good surgeon and I'm missing out on a trauma because of you!"
Ellis went to talk but Meredith had already picked up her phone. "Shut up while I let my resident know that I'm stuck here with you."
"Hi Olivia, it's Dr. Grey. I know you guys are busy but could you let Dr. Bailey know I'm stuck in an elevator with my mother, I just got paged to the pit. ... Thanks so much Olivia, yes, I'll get you coffee after. Say hi to Debbie for me and let me know if that bet goes up, I like knowing exactly what they're saying about me. ... Okay, good luck. Ciao."
Meredith slid her phone back into its clip next to her pager. "What did you want?"
Ellis waited a few minutes and then raised her eyebrows. "You're friends with the nurses? Clever move, not one I would expect from you. You haven't even decided on a specialty yet, how do you expect to be the best?"
"First of all, mother, if you had been around you would know exactly how smart I am. Even when I was rebelling against you in high school I had a GPA of 4. I didn't get valedictorian because I didn't attend enough classes but I still finished on top. If you had bothered to pay attention to me in university or med school you would have known that I finished top of my year both times at Dartmouth which in case you've forgotten, is an Ivy League school! Sure, maybe I went to Europe before med school but it obviously didn't hurt my education in any way! I was accepted to John's Hopkins, Mount Sinai, Boston Memorial, Cedar Sinai and Seattle Grace on my own merit but I had to choose Seattle to take care of you! So now I work with people who worked with you and my bar is set higher than anyone else's but guess what, I'm meeting it! When I take my intern exams next month I'll come out on top because I am an extraordinary person and I can do it!" breathing heavily from her tirade she leaned against the elevator wall.
Ellis sat there in shock. She remembered seeing invitations to Meredith's graduations but there had been surgeries and conferences that she couldn't afford to miss. By the time Meredith graduated from medical school she had already checked herself into the home in Seattle. Looking at Meredith she realized that she had no idea who her daughter really was and it was all her fault.
"Meredith, I-" she was interrupted by the sound of the elevator moving and the lights coming back on.
"Yes! Only 40 minutes, I am so getting Dr. Webber and the maintenance men coffee!" Meredith grinned as she got ready to disembark, not caring that her mother had been interrupted. They went up to CT where Ellis got her scans, returned to her room and was told of how far the heart disease had progressed.
Yes, Ellis Grey had had a horrible day. Later that morning she fought with her daughter again and slipped back into her past before dying once the strain in her heart became too much. While she didn't know that her daughter was technically dead, her spirit told her to go back and continue being extraordinary. While her day as a living person was terrible, in the afterlife she was granted to say to her daughter what she could not say on earth- how proud she was that she had followed in her footsteps and developed into a wonderful, independent and strong woman.