What You Leave Behind
At 2 in the morning, the corridors of Seattle Grace Hospital were deserted. Dark and deserted.
Quietly, Meredith made her way to the Chief's office, and wasn't surprised to see the man she considered her father asleep on the couch.
"Richard? Richard?" she asked, gently shaking him in order to wake the sleeping man.
As if he had just received an electric shock, Richard Webber bolted upright on the couch, then immediately relaxed once he saw Meredith's face.
"Meredith, hi," he whispered. "What brings you to my office at," he checked his watch. "Two in the morning? I thought you weren't on call!"
Meredith sat down next to the chief and sighed.
"Richard, I need a transfer," she spoke bluntly.
He gave her a blank look.
"Why? You're my best neurosurgical resident; I don't want to lose you!"
She sighed again, and grabbed his hand.
"Ok, don't freak out or anything, just feel this."
She placed the older man's hand on her abdomen, underneath her shirt.
Suddenly, something fluttered under the touch.
"What? Oh, you're pregnant!"
She hung her head silently.
Richard looked down at Meredith.
"Mere, you don't need to hang you're head. I'm gathering you don't want anyone to know…"
She nodded.
"Any preferences on where you want to transfer to?"
"East coast," she said immediately. "Somewhere far, far away from Seattle."
This time, Richard was the one who sighed.
"Ok, whatever you want. Just give me a few hours, go home and pack or something, I'll keep McDreamy and the residents away until you leave."
Not trusting herself to say anything, Meredith simply stood and left the office.
Wandering the corridors of Seattle Grace again, Meredith pondered her decision.
She didn't want anyone to find out about the baby. She wasn't going to contact them for a long time. She would leave everything up to Richard; who to tell, when to tell them. She didn't have the guts to.
The corridor ended at their old hang out near the vending machine. She sat on the old gurney, remembering the good times.
It was there that she fell asleep, deep in her memories.
"Meredith? Meredith!"
Meredith Grey opened her eyes to see Izzie staring into her eyes, concern written all over her beautiful features.
"Izzie? What? What's the time?"
The blonde stood up. Both she and Alex were on the 'Gynie' squad, as he called it, but both loved every minute of it.
"Um, half past 5. And you're not on today, so why are you here on your day off?"
Meredith took a deep breath, her mind racing to make up excuses for her presence, when she was paged.
"Oh, it's the Chief," she sighed, grateful for the interruption. "I'll see you later."
Izzie sighed herself. Meredith really was acting strange. "Yeah, I guess I will. Bye."
Meredith left a puzzled Izzie behind, and began to run towards the elevator. She couldn't face anyone, not now, when she knew in a few hours she'd be leaving for good.
After the doors had shut, enclosing her within the sanctuary the elevator car provided, Meredith finally relaxed. Unconsciously, she rested her hand on her still flat abdomen, the gesture comforting her in the uncertainty of the day.
Without realizing it, the elevator announced its arrival on the surgical floor and the doors opened, revealing Derek, Addison, Mark and a handful of gossiping nurses.
She hastily removed the hand from her abdomen, and excused herself from the group of people entering the elevator.
"Mere, where are you going?" Derek asked.
She couldn't talk to him. She couldn't even bear to look at him; the next time she did she might let something slip. "Chief's office," she pleaded, running off towards her destination.
She breathed in deeply once the door had been closed securely behind her, leaving the gossip circle of the hospital on the other side.
The walk to Richard's office didn't take long, and when she reached Patricia's desk, Meredith was ushered quickly in.
"Meredith," Webber greeted. "I'm going to say this quickly because we don't have much time. A good friend of mine is the Chief of Surgery down at Miami Beach Memorial, the best teaching hospital in Florida. Doctor Olivia Marsden is one of the best on the east coast and she's just had a neurosurgical residency position become available."
Meredith let out a slow breath. "Florida; I've never been there before…" She looked up and smiled at him. "When do I leave?"
His facial expressions changed. "That's just the problem. There's a lot of competition for that position, and Olivia can only hold it open for you for 18 hours. You have to be there by," he paused to check the time, "11 tonight, our time. The east coast is two hour ahead, so you have 16 hours to pack and fly there."
Meredith stopped and pondered for a second. "Does she know the reason for my transfer?"
Richard smiled back at her. "Of course. Doctor Marsden has assured me that leave will be available for when you need it, provided you're back within four weeks of giving birth. The hospital also has a great child care centre for the staff available, and she can pull some strings and line you up with suitable accommodation as well."
That was exactly what she wanted to here. "Done; I just need a hand packing if I'm going to make it there in time."
"No problem," he answered, standing up from behind his desk.
"Meredith," he asked, just before she turned to exit.
"Yes, Richard?"
"You know I consider you to be my daughter, right," he began.
She nodded.
"Well, is there anything more I can do for you; hold a position open when fellowship time comes around, keep in contact?"
She smiled at him. "No, just make sure Izzie and George stay in the house, and no one finds out why I left until I'm ready to let them know. And I have some letters that you can pass out for me."
He smiled. "Not a problem."
As Meredith passed through the check in gates at the Seattle Domestic terminal, she waved a goodbye to the only father-figure she had ever had. In the back of her mind, she could picture one of her friends reading the letter she had left behind.
Dear Christina, Izzie, Alex and George
By now you've probably realised that I'm not there. At this point in time, I'm probably already in Florida. Exactly where I can't tell you, because I don't want you coming after me, but that's where I am.
I want to say I'm really sorry for leaving.
Christina, you are still my person. When I get settled in I'll call you and we can talk. Just make sure by the time I come back you are or were the Chief Resident, and they call you something nasty like 'Resident Bitch' or 'the Beast'.
Izzie and George, you are not allowed to move out of the house. I expect you to keep living there. Alex can move in, Callie can to if that's what you want, but you can all live there. I just want my room left empty, please.
Alex, thank you for being there, for your shoulder to cry on.
Guys, I will call you soon, but please don't tell Derek or Mark or Addison where I am. Tell them to go to hell and ask the chief if they really want to know.
I'm sorry I'm leaving, but I hope I'll be back in time for fellowships. I know it's still four years away, but I have my reasons.
I love you all like my family,
8pm, Eastern Standard Time
Miami Beach Memorial Hospital
Doctor Meredith Grey stood at the admin desk, waiting impatiently for one of the nurses to notice her presence. She repeatedly tapped the bell on the desk, but the woman a few meters away continued to ignore her.
Fed up with waiting, she cleared her throat loudly. "Excuse me, can you tell me where Doctor Marsden's office is?"
The nurse looked up from the computer screen. "Male or female?"
Meredith sighed. "Doctor Olivia Marsden?"
"Chief of Surgery; sixth floor main corridor, it has glass walls; you can't miss it," she directed in a bored voice and turned her gaze back to whatever she was doing.
Doctor Grey sighed. "Thanks," she muttered, and walked off to the elevator.
The Chief's office wasn't hard to find on the sixth floor. It not only held her office, but the heads of departments, locker rooms other offices. The surgical department began on this floor, with many of the OR's on the east side.
Meredith quickly found that the ER was on the ground floor directly below and the four floors between the ground and the sixth were full of patient rooms as well as radiology and the oncology department.
"Can I help you?" an older woman asked, spying Meredith staring at a map of the hospital.
Meredith smiled. "Yes, I'm looking for the Chief of Surgery, Doctor Olivia Marsden."
The woman smiled. "That's me. You must be Doctor Grey, Richard told me you were coming for my neurosurgical position."
Meredith smiled again. She knew she was going to like it here.
Six months later
Meredith sat in the residents' locker room alone, her pale yellow scrubs in a pile on the floor next to her.
With her due date only weeks away, Olivia had ordered her on maternity leave. Meredith knew she should take it easy for her daughter's sake, but she still wanted to work. Being stuck at home with only Jessica's company, when she wasn't working, would bore her to death within the first day or two. As much as she loved Jessica Swift, her fellow neuro resident, Meredith hated being alone.
She rested her hand on her belly and sighed. The last time she spoke to anyone in Seattle they had almost yelled at her. Not even Christina knew she was pregnant, let alone Izzie, George and Alex; no one, bar Richard, knew about her baby.
Meredith knew her peace wouldn't last long, so she changed back into her street clothes and slowly left the hospital.
"Oh, Evelyn, what are we going to do?" she asked her stomach in the elevator. Evelyn Michaela Grey answered by kicking her mother hard. Meredith smiled. She wasn't even born yet and she knew just how to make her cheer up.
The ting of the elevator brought her back to reality, and Meredith stepped out with a smile on her face. She didn't even make it to the admin desk when a sharp pain sliced through her abdomen.
She gasped, knowing what was coming. Looking around, she spotted Ashley, the same nurse that told her where to go when she first arrived. As much as she hated her, Meredith was going into labour and needed help.
"Nurse Ashley! Can you page Olivia, I'm going into labour!"
Six hours later
Meredith was exhausted. Though the labour has been a relatively quick one, it was hard on her small body. Luckily, Doctor Amanda Hastings knew how to help her deliver naturally and quickly.
"Hello baby," Amanda said, gurgling at the newborn girl before handing her back to Meredith.
She accepted her newborn daughter with a big smile on her face.
"Does she have a name?" Hastings asked.
Meredith replied instantly. "Evelyn Michaela Grey."
Amanda smiled. "Beautiful; is she named after anyone?"
As innocent as the question was, Meredith knew she had to explain it, though that ripped her heart open.
"Evelyn is her grandmother's name on her father's side; Michael is his middle name; he might not know about her, but it's the least I can do," she whispered, her eyes not leaving the baby's face.
Evelyn chose that moment to open her eyes. The brightness of the blue caught her by surprise. "She has Derek's eyes."
Until then, she had never mentioned his name to anyone in Florida, but the colour of Evelyn's eyes were exactly like his. "She has his eyes."
One hour later
Seattle Grace Hospital
Richard Webber picked up the phone in his office as it rang. "Hello?" he answered.
"You have a granddaughter."
"Meredith?"
"Shhh, don't say my name, I don't want anyone to know it's me on the phone. I just gave birth to Evelyn Michaela Grey an hour ago, so now you have a granddaughter but you still can't tell anyone. I'm naming you as her grandfather; I just thought you'd like to know."
"Thank you for the wonderful news."
"Thanks Richard, and keep that fellowship open for me; I'll be back in time to accept it." The call ended as she hung up.
Richard stared at the phone in his hand. He had a granddaughter!
Look out for the main story "What You Come Back To"
Three years in the future Meredith is returning to Seattle Grace for her promised fellowship position with Evelyn in tow, but not everyone is pleased to see her or her beautiful three year old daughter who looks exactly like her father.