This is a little different. Its set 30 years in the future. Meredith has a daughter and a granddaughter now. The story starts when Meredith's daughter Claire finds out that her mother was in a near fatal car crash in Seattle.
Beautiful Mess
"Ava, we're home baby. Time to wake up." Claire Grey whispered softly to her young daughter sleeping in the back seat. The blonde haired, green eyed child barely stirred. Sighing, Claire shut of the engine, grabbed her purse and got out of her car and circled around to her daughter's door. She lifted the sleeping child and carried her into their small home in Boston Massachusetts. "Now would be a wonderful time for that useless father of yours to show up." She muttered, trying to balance everything.
Work had been exhausting. 30 year old Claire was a social worker for the state. A thankless job, both monetarily and spiritually speaking. When she started out 6 years ago, she'd loved her job. Now, she barely cleared forty grand a year. A lot to a single girl in an apartment, next to nothing with a 5 year old and a house payment. She could almost hear her mother. "The medicine will always take care of you. No matter what you do. You are always guaranteed a job." She's scoffed at her mother and retorted that she'd always have a job in social work. Which was true, but the field hardly took care of her. Far from it. She sighed again and hoisted her daughter to her other hip and unlocked the front door.
No sooner had she gotten in, the phone rang. Rolling her eyes, she made her way to the phone. "Hello?" She asked after the 3rd ring. "Claire Grey please." A crisp voice rang out over the line. "This is she." She replied, shifting her purse and child. "This is Jennifer Teals. I'm calling because we just brought your mother into Seattle Grace Hospital in critical condition. She was in a car accident. I'm afraid it's rather bad." The woman told her. Claire's purse clattered to the ground. "I'm on my way." She muttered and hung up the phone.
Twenty minutes later she was out of the house and speeding toward Boston Airport. She got them there in remarkable time, less than half an hour. At the ticket counter she handed over her credit card, wincing at the $400 ticket to Seattle. Good thing her daughter was still under 7, which was when she'd have to start paying for her to fly.
An hour later they were on the plane. Her narcoleptic daughter was out within minutes, leaving her to suffer in silence. Claire stared out the window for the entire flight, lost in thought. She'd never gotten too close to her mother. Meredith worked exceedingly long hours first as an intern, then as a resident, and now as the chief of surgery. She'd been raised by her mother's friends. Izzie, Alex, Cristina, Preston, and George. All of them loved her desperately, after all, she was their best friend's daughter. But, the person she'd always needed most, her mother, was hardly ever around.
As Claire had gotten older, she'd startd confronting her mother on the hours she worked. All her mother ever said was "Don't bite the hand that feeds you. My long hours are making the life you like to live, possible. You might as well get used to it, you're going to go through the same thing as a surgeon." Her mother had always assumed Claire would be a surgeon, would follow in the footsteps of her mother and grandmother. No such luck. As soon as she got to school, she became a Psych major and had her Master's in Social Work by the time she was 24, much to her mother's dismay.
But then, it wasn't like Claire wasn't used to being a disappointment. It was the story of her life. First her mother didn't approve of the college she chose, then it was the major she chose, where she chose to live, the man she chose, and that she chose to get pregnant. Then, her boyfriend chose to leave her. And her mother tsk tsked her and said "I told you not to stay wit that man. He was bad news from the beginning." And now her mother was laying in a hospital, dying. All petty issues aside, it was still her mother.
6 hours after that, they landed in Seattle. She'd called Izzie and Alex at the airport and her mother's friends were waiting right outside the airport when they arrived. "Oh Claire." Izzie whispered as she wrapped her best friend's daughter in a hug. Alex followed suit. "Lets get you to the hospital." Alex said, herding them to the car as Izzie swept Ava up in her arms.
The ride was a silent one. They knew how Claire felt about her mother. Hell, everyone knew. But, she couldn't leave her to die alone. Alex pulled up to the hospital and they made their way in, that feeling of dread growing stronger with every step.
It was weird being back. She hadn't been inside Seattle Grace in a long time. Her mother was pretty famous here, and that made Claire famous by proxy. Alex and Izzie led them up to her mother's room as quickly as possible.
6603. 6th floor. Intensive care. Never a good sign. "We'll take Ava back to our house. We rented you a car to get back your mom's when you're done. Call us whenever you want us to bring Ava over." Izzie said as she handed Claire the vehicle paperwork and a set of keys. Claire could do little more than nod.
She straightened her clothes and pushed through the door. Her mother had more tubes coming out of her to count. "Oh mom." Claire whispered, kneeling beside the bed. Her mother's eyes were bruised and closed. "She's actually doing better." A voice came from behind her. She turned to find Preston and Cristina. "Hey guys." She said, a small smile forming on her lips as she strode over and gave Preston a hug. Cristina wasn't much for touchy feely, so Claire was rather surprised when Cristina pulled her into a hug. "She looks so small." She whispered in Cristina's ear. "She might be small, but she's strong. She'll make it." Preston promised as Claire pulled back from Cristina. She nodded, trying to keep the tears at bay. "We'll leave you be." He continued as he ushered Cristina out.
She sat by her mom's bed for several more hours. "You need food and something to drink. Go." A gruff voice commanded, shaking her out of her daydream. She looked up into the eyes of Dr. Bailey. She smiled a little and nodded. "Same old Dr. Bailey." She whispered as she left the room, the elder woman close behind.
"All right, she's gone. Go ahead." Dr. Bailey murmured to a door. The door opened and Derek Shepard came out from behind it. "Thanks Miranda." He said and slipped into Meredith Grey's room. "Oh Mere. Look at you. What did you do to yourself kid?" He said when he saw her. He wanted to touch her but he was too afraid. He thought back to the day before when Miranda had called him.
"Honestly Shepard, I wasn't sure if I should call you, but I felt that she'd want you to know. There's really no easy way to say this. Meredith Grey was in an accident this morning. She's in intensive care." His entire world stopped turning. His New York apartment seemed to close in on him. Not her. Not now. He'd thrown his clothes into a suitcase and was at JFK within the hour.
"I left her Mere. I know that doesn't matter now. But I did. It took me 5 years but I did it. By the time I left her, you were with someone else⦠I'm so sorry." He wept quietly.
Claire was making her way back to her mother's room and just as she was about to push the door open, she heard a voice. A male voice. "I'm so sorry." He said quietly. She backed up a step. She'd never known a man to ever be in her mother's life, with the exception of Alex, George and Preston. Hell, she didn't even know who her father was. Her mother raised her as George's daughter and that was the closest thing to a dad she had, but whenever Claire asked about her father, Meredith closed up and said she didn't want to talk about it, that it was the past and unimportant. She snapped out of her memory when she heard the man start towards the door. She ducked into the empty room next to her mom's and watched the man leave. Tall, dark hair, a dusting of grey in it. Chiseled jaw. Very dreamy for his age. "Go mom." She muttered as she went back to her mother's room.
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