Meredith massaged the bridge of her nose, stretched her neck and pulled her phone from her pocket.
"4:47am" she said as she let out an exhausted sigh. She's been at the hospital for four days straight. Amelia has been taking the kids home at night.
Just as Meredith collapsed her body in the creaky swivel chair and laid her tired head on the nurse's station, she could hear the clumsy footsteps of this year's new interns coming straight towards her.
"Great" she muttered to herself as she lifted her head to check out the newest idiots to enter the surgical program.
"Alright morons, listen up!" said Jo with a stern voice "These next 24 hours are going to be horrible or awesome." She paces in front of them, drill sergeant style. "Awesome if you listen to me and don't piss me off, and horrible if you don't listen to me and do something you shouldn't." She glanced over at Alex who was gathering his charts, and cracked a smile. She was already drunk on power and having too much fun.
Meredith noticed there was one intern who wasn't trembling with fear. She had shorter chestnut colored hair and greyish blue eyes "Too trendy of a hair style for a surgical intern" she thought to herself. "It'll be out of control by hour 13" She stood with confidence, like she already knew what she was doing. She was either going to be impressive, or a complete train wreck. Meredith was interested in finding out which one it would be.
"Hey Meredith" said Amelia as she handed Meredith a steaming cup of fresh coffee.
"Hey Amelia, thanks for taking care of the kids last night." Meredith replied as she took a sip and closed her eyes for a moment.
"I dropped them off at daycare this morning. You really should go spend some time with them today. They've been asking for you." She said, raising an eyebrow.
Meredith rose from her seat and, with her free hand, picked up the stack of her patient's charts. "Thanks. I'll stop in and check on them sometime this morning." She replied then turned to Jo who was still attempting to terrify her new flock. "Dr. Wilson, bring your minions. You can do rounds with me this morning" then she turned and headed down the hall.
Jo quickly snapped at her interns, "You heard Dr. Grey, let's go! You know they call her Medusa. Your first mistake would be to anger her."
Everyone jumped and quickly followed Meredith down the hall.
Amelia shook her head as she watched Meredith disappear around the corner. "She's been here for four days you know." She said as she turned to look at Alex. Alex shrugged "She's a surgeon, we work days at a time all the time" he replied, taking a bite of an apple. "So what?"
Rolling her eyes, Amelia replies "She needs to leave this place once in a while. Derek isn't going anywhere. He's been in a coma for over a year. " her voice started to raise a little "I work day in and day out trying to figure out a way to wake him up!"
Alex tightened up his posture and tossed the apple core in the trash. "We are all aware how difficult it's been for both of you. Just let her deal with it however she wants. She's just going to do what she wants anyway. You should know that about her by now." He replied before heading for his own morning rounds.
It has been over a years since Derek's car accident on the way to the airport. Amelia can remember every moment surrounding the phone call. Derek was in an accident. He made it through surgery but his neuro tests were unresponsive. He was at County ICU and was in critical condition. The news was devastating.
It took her exactly 38 minutes to arrive at the emergency doors of the small unknown hospital. The next five minutes were a complete whirlwind. She burst through the doors calling for anyone who could answer her frantic plea.
"My brother is here. Dr. Derek Shepherd is here. Where is he?!" She demanded, still panicking.
Meredith could hear Amelia from down the call and came out to meet her.
"He's here, Amelia. He's down here." She said, waving her in the direction of Derek's room. "I don't know anything yet. He had a bleed but they think they caught it in time. "she glanced sadly in his direction "They didn't take him for a CT right away. I don't know, I just don't know." She said before trailing off.
Amelia's body when ridged as she attempted to compose herself. "His chart. Give me his chart, now." She demanded as she fought back tears while entering his room.
The young surgeon who helped Derek when he first arrived was still there by his side. She hurried to give Amelia what she requested. Meredith as already studied the chart and his films multiple times; she didn't have much hope of Amelia seeing something that she didn't.
Amelia studied the information silently for what seemed like an eternity then closed her eyes and shook her head. "I want him transferred to Grey Sloan immediately." She insisted. "I have already made the arrangements" Meredith breathed as she took Derek's hand.
Within an hour the chief had set up arrangements for the helicopter to retrieve Derek from the County Hospital. News about the accident spread quickly throughout the staff. Maggie and Alex waited nervously for Meredith, not know what to expect. After a week in the ICU he began to stabilize but was still not responding to any neurological tests. However, the daily EEG's always showed regular brain activity. Amelia, as well as everyone else, couldn't understand how it was possible. He wasn't responding but he wasn't brain dead, far from it actually. Meredith spent many nights by his side, pleading with him to wake up. Amelia set all of her research aside and made Derek her main priority. On the nights where Meredith would go home, Amelia would stay at the hospital either researching or talking to Derek. She also spent a lot of time feeling lost and found herself pleading with him as well. Baily usually spent lunch in Derek's room, telling him about what idiot intern did something stupid that day. Chief Webber would stop in and read articles from the latest medical journals before leaving for the night. Callie would also find time to stop by regularly to celebrate another successful prosthetics patient. It broke her heart that Derek wasn't aware of how successful their work had become.
Over the past year Meredith slowly went on auto pilot. In the beginning she was optimistic that she, along with the rest of the surgeons could bring Derek back but with every day her hope faded little by little. She watched her happy ending start to disappear right before her eyes. She threw herself full force into her work. Chief Webber tried to force her to spend some time outside of the hospital but she refused. Her work was the only normal constant she had. Receive patient, save life, receive next patient. She felt terrible for being distant with Baily and Zola but she made sure to spend time with them when she could tear herself away from surgery. She knew it wasn't enough. She was pulling an Ellis, and she couldn't stop herself.
Meredith walked into the patient's room with Jo and her interns close behind. She smiled at Ms. McGregor and turned to the group. "You" she said, looking at the dark haired confident one. "Would you like to present Ms. McGregor's chart?" she asked as she handed the chart over.
"Uh, sure. Absolutely Dr. Grey." She took a deep breath and opened the chart as she cleared her throat. "Nadine McGregor, 27 years old. Came to the clinic three months ago with a persistent cough. Received trails of antibiotics with no improvement. Was admitted into the ER last night and received chest radiograph which revealed a non-homogeneous collapse-consolidation of right upper lobe."
She closed the chart and flashed a smile. "Rigid bronchoscopy removal with biopsy forceps is what I would suggest; least evasive removal. Quick and easy." She said as she handed the chart back to Meredith.
"Nice work." Meredith smiled. "Dr. Wilson, this seems like a good learning opportunity for one of your interns here. Why don't you pick an intern to help assist in this procedure."
In one instant, every interns hand shot in the air.
"Archer. You presented the correct treatment. You get to assist." Said Jo, patting the young intern on the back before exiting the room.
All of the interns scowled with jealousy as they followed Jo to the next patient's room. Being able to brag about doing any sort of procedure on the first day was a big deal for the eager students.
The rest of the day was a blur. After rounds, most of the day was spent in the pit doing stitches. While on her way to the cafeteria for some much needed coffee, Sara stopped by the nurse's station to take a look at the charts for evening rounds. Knowing the answer before the question is asked is what makes you stand out from the rest. That was the single greatest piece of advice her mom gave her before leaving for Seattle. She sat there for a while looking around and taking it all in. "I can't believe I am finally here." She thought to herself. All of the beeping and the coughing and the sound of feet moving swiftly through the halls seemed so surreal. Suddenly a perky voice snapped her back into the moment.
"Hi!" Arizona chirped from the other side of the counter "I'm Arizona Roberts" she said as she reached her hand across the divide. "Chief of Pediatric Surgery" she smiled and pointed at the monkey stitch on her lab coat.
"Hi. Sara Archer" she smiled back as she shook Arizona's hand. "Intern" she continued as she pointed at the pile of charts.
"Well it's nice to meet you Dr. Archer. Don't take it personally if any of the Residents or other Attendings aren't very nice at first. Being a bottom feeder is hard but you'll get used to it. I find surgery is more competitive than any sport you could ever play. Do you have any idea what you want to focus on?"
Sara smiled. "Neurosurgery" she answered with confidence. "It's all I have ever wanted to do. Speaking of..." she cleared her throat. "Do you know where I can find Dr. Shepherd? I didn't see him at the mixer last night and I saw Dr. Shepherd has a few surgeries scheduled today but I haven't seen him anywhere."
Arizona's expression dropped. "That's Amelia Shepherd. She's the head of Neuro now. Derek…Dr. Shepherd was in an accident about a year ago." She frowned and glanced over to his room, which was diagonal from where they were standing. "He's alive but he's been in a coma since the accident. It's heartbreaking. I hope they find a way to wake him up soon but who knows who he would be if or when he did wake up."
Sara's heart dropped. She worked incredibly hard to get into the surgical program at Grey Sloan and the only reason she had for it was laid up in a hospital bed and may never wake up. All of the hopes she had for her future immediately started fading.
Arizona could see the panic in the intern's eyes. "Amelia is an amazing teacher and the best neurosurgeon in a 700 mile radius. I am sure she will exceed your expectations."
Sara was an excellent planner but nothing prepared her for the news about Derek. For the first time is as far back as she could remember, her future was uncertain. There was no clear path. This wasn't good news for someone who had a very detailed 10 year plan.
Arizona looks down at her pager quickly. "Oh, gotta go!" she turned suddenly to leave "It was nice to meet you! Keep your head up, intern" she shouted back before jogging to the elevator.
Sara watched the elevator doors close then turned her attention towards Derek's room. She managed to take a step closer but just as she was getting up the nerve to peek around the door she was interrupted by her pager. Wilson needed her in the pit immediately so she took a deep breath and ran towards the elevator. When she arrived in the ER she suddenly became disoriented. There were people everywhere. She sees Jo and the other interns tending to patients in triage.
"Archer! Come help move this patient into room 3 and page neuro!" Jo instructed before changing her gloves and moving to another patient.
Sara ran to the gurney and helped a fellow intern move the patient. A guy in a utility truck decided to have a few drinks in the middle of the afternoon then proceeded to run a red light at high speed in a busy intersection. The greyhound bus couldn't have gotten out of the way if it tried.
Minutes later Amelia burst through the door, ready to assess the patient. He was unresponsive but had a pulse. Sara watched how quickly and confidently she worked. She was intrigued.
"Get him up to CT and page me when you get there!" she instructed Sara who was staring at her. "Hello! Intern!?" she yelled, attempting to get her attention
Sara jumped quickly, not realizing she was zoning out and grabbed the gurney and headed for the elevators.
Three hours later, the ER was finally clear. After another seven hours of surgeries they attended but couldn't touch, Sara and the other interns had just finished their first shift at Grey Sloan. They were sore, tired, hungry and wired. Sara said goodbye to her colleagues and instead of going home she headed over to the bar across the street. After the incident with the truck she made sure to remember to look both ways before shuffling towards the pub. Joe never closed the bar; Emerald City was a haven for many of the staff of Grey Sloan. Sara walked down the stairs and opened the door. Upon entering she was pleased to see her best friend waiting for her at the corner of the bar with two shots and a cup of coffee. Brian was Sara's best friend. When he heard she was accepted into the program in Seattle he picked up everything and moved with her. He could live anywhere and be happy as long as it was around her.
Sara hugged Brian and sighed.
"First day was good?" he laughed as he squeezed her in his arms.
Sara sighed again as she settled into her seat. She took a sip of the coffee then tossed back the shot of tequila.
"Well" she began "I got to assist on a procedure today" she took sip of coffee. "Turns out that it's possible to inhale a condom" she laughed
Brian chuckled "That's awesome but not really. Was it everything you wanted it to be? Did you get to meet him?"
Sara frowned "Well no. Actually he was in an accident last year and has been in a coma ever since. His sister is the head of Neurosurgery now and she thinks I'm a moron."
Brian cringed and yelled to Joe "Two more shots of tequila please. Uh, on second thought, better make that four." He turned his attention back to his friend. "Out of all the scenarios we could have ever dreamed about not being able to meet your father, a coma never crossed my mind" he said in disbelief
Sara didn't respond. She was trying to fight the tears. She started asking questions when she was six. When she was ten her mom finally broke down and explained to her why her daddy wasn't around. Jane dated Derek for a year while they were studying Bowdoin College before Derek headed to med school at Columbia. She knew that when they graduated they would be going separate ways. Jane became pregnant after a final fling before Derek left Maine. She knew he was going to be a brilliant surgeon and she knew there wasn't a place in his life for her at that time so she let him go. He never found out about the pregnancy. After taking some time off of school to have the baby, Jane received her RN and settled into their cozy Maine town and attempted to give her new daughter the best life she could.
The girl was bright from the start. She was a very quick learner and exceled very early. Her dark wavy hair and light eyes was a constant reminder of Derek and even though it hurt, Jane knew she had made the best decision for everyone at the time. She saved articles from medical journals over the years and kept every photo she had of him in a box. She knew Sara would come asking about him someday and she wanted something to give her. When Sara found out that her father was a well-known neurosurgeon, she immediately focused her education towards science and medicine. Not many sixth graders are that sure about what they want to be when they grow up. She dreamt about the day she might meet him. She knew he might be upset at her mom for keeping this secret from him for so long. She didn't know if he had a family or how he would accept her so she figured if she could do something he would be proud of, it might lessen the blow. She was brilliant and pretty and charming and everything a parent could ask for but there was something missing and she was hoping she would find it in Seattle.