Derek Shepherd was not a liar.
From the moment he had witnessed his father's death before his eyes, shielding his youngest sister from the horrifying event, he knew that he was no longer a carefree ten year old boy, but the man of the house. And that meant no more lying, whether it be telling his mother he'd eaten his vegetables or anything more serious. And in the past twenty five years, he had not told a single lie.
But now he was taking a risk and attempting to pull of a greater deception than he ever had before. He had woken this morning, eaten breakfast with Tiffany, kissed her goodbye, and headed off to the first day of his new job. She knew this.
What his girlfriend didn't know was that he wasn't going to a private practice. Today, he was officially the head of neurosurgery at Seattle Grace hospital.
He'd taken the job despite her insistence that the money and the hours were better in the private practice world. They'd fought on the matter for months, and then he'd finally given in, telling her that if she wanted him to join a practice, then that was what he would do. But when Richard Webber had called him back with a counter offer for two million dollars a year, he couldn't turn it down. After working in a practice for five years since he had finished his residency, he knew that he was meant to work in a hospital. More interesting cases and a feeling of helping people who actually needed him, instead of just those who could afford him.
He knew it was wrong. Hiding his job from Tiffany was going to be completely challenging. He was going to have to keep business cards and paychecks filed in his office at work, and he was going to have to avoid ever having her come visit him at work. He wasn't too worried about that part though; in the three years he and Tiffany had been dating, she had never once come to visit him at work.
The only flaw in his plan was going to be Meredith. Not that she was a bad thing, because he had thoroughly enjoyed talking to her the evening before. She didn't seem right for her ass of a boyfriend, but she had seemed like a wonderful person. But if they were going to be friends, he was going to have to explain the whole deception thing to her, which he wasn't sure he was ready for. He just hoped that today he would be able to learn his way around the hospital without running into her. Maybe he would even be fortunate enough to learn that she had a day off.
He stared at the large hospital for a long moment before he took a deep breath and stepped through the doors for the first time, knowing that he was about to change his life forever. He stopped at the reception area to his left and asked for directions to the chief of surgery's office, then moved towards the elevators. He then checked in with Richard's personal secretary and waited outside the office, trying not to be too nervous. Richard was his former resident, after all, and he knew that he was wanted here. He was one of the most promising surgeons in New York, and at a hospital like Grace he could really get his name out there into the surgical world. He was going to become the best neurosurgeon in the country, and this was the only way he could do it.
"Derek Shepherd," Richard smiled as he opened the door to a large, well lit office. "Come on in."
"Richard," Derek nodded, standing and reaching to shake the older man's hand. "It's good to see you again."
"You too, Derek, you too. I am glad that you made the decision to come here after all," Richard smiled widely.
"Me too," he said honestly as he settled down in the chairs across from Richard's desk, across from his former mentor.
"I presume that you've looked over the contract," Richard said, reaching for his own copy of the contract he'd faxed Derek the week before. "Do you have any questions?"
"It looks pretty straightforward," Derek nodded. "I'm ready to sign if you are."
"Sign away," Richard nodded, handing Derek a pen. "I'll take you down to HR myself to get you some scrubs and a lab coat, as well as have your ID tag made. Afterwards I'll show you to your office and show you the facilities."
"That would be wonderful," Derek nodded.
"We don't have much for you to do today," Richard continued, placing Derek's signed contract in a file in his cabinet, to be dealt with later. "You know that Grace is one of the top teaching hospitals in the country."
"I am," Derek nodded, matching Richard's long stride as he headed back towards the elevators at the end of the hall.
"As head of neuro, you will interact quite frequently with interns and residents," Richard informed him. "Some will be more interested in neurosurgery than others, but as you know each intern has to spend a specified amount of time in each specialty."
"Of course."
"I put some reading materials on your desk," Richard continued. "Included are some guideline for interactions with residents and interns. Your job is to teach them, and there are regulations regarding how much they are permitted to do without supervision."
"I'll be sure to look it over tonight," Derek nodded.
"Here we are," Richard said, stepping off of the elevator on the ground floor and leading Derek through a restricted area to the corporate offices. Derek received all of his new IDs and work attire, then followed Richard to the neurology floor.
"This will be your office," Richard said, pushing open the door. Derek looked around at the small surroundings, taking in the dark blue carpet, the mahogany desk that sat to his right and the small couch across from the door. There was a small filing cabinet beside the couch a bookshelf stocked with old textbooks beside the door. It was a smaller, simpler office than he was used to, but that was okay. He had a feeling that he wouldn't spend that much time there anyways, but he still wanted it to be comfortable.
"If you'd like to change into your scrubs, I'll give you a few minutes to get adjusted," Richard offered, glancing down at his beeping pager. "I'll come back in a few minutes to check on you and start the tour."
"Thanks," Derek smiled, shutting the door behind Richard and looking around his surroundings. He would have to bring in some pictures of his family and Tiffany, make it feel a little more like home, but he could do it. He already felt some more comfortable at the hospital than he had at the practice he'd worked at in New York.
"Derek?" Richard knocked on the door just as he was fastening his ID tag and pager to the waistband of his scrubs.
"Come in, Richard."
"I'm really sorry to do this, but there's something I have to take care of," Richard shook his head. "A long term patient just coded, I've got to handle it. I've called our best surgical resident up to take you on a tour though, and I'll check in with you after everything is settled downstairs. I'm sorry."
"That's okay," Derek nodded. "I understand completely."
"I figured you would," Richard nodded. "Dr. Grey will be right up, she's our most promising neurosurgery residents, so you will be working with her a lot."
"Thanks," Derek nodded.
Richard's pager sounded again, and he turned back to the door, disappearing with another apology over his shoulder.
Derek sighed as he moved to the desk, running his hand over the smooth wooden surface before he sat down, picking up a pile of papers that sat in front of him. Starting a new job would be stressful, but he was determined to become the best thing that ever happened to Seattle Grace. One day he would become the chief of surgery, and this was only the first day of a long journey to that role.
"Dr. Shepherd?"
There was a knock on the door, and he looked up to see Meredith standing in the doorway. He blinked in surprise for a moment before he stood, making his way towards her. "Meredith," he breathed.
"Derek," she replied, obviously just as shocked to see him as he was to see her. "I…you're the new head of neuro?"
"I am," he nodded, his heart pounding in his chest. "You're the best neuro resident in the hospital."
Meredith opened her mouth to say something but was obviously distracted by his statement. "Richard said that?" she asked.
"He did," he nodded. "And he said that you would be taking me on a tour of the hospital. Apparently we're going to be working together a lot so it said it would be good for us to meet right away."
"Right," Meredith nodded slowly. "I um..this is just offices up here, but we should go down to the surgery floor."
"Sounds good," Derek nodded. He fell into step beside her as she walked back towards the hospital, and he could feel Meredith's heavy gaze on him. She was silent, however, until they were alone in the elevator. She pressed the button for the fourth floor and turned to look at him carefully.
"You said you were joining a practice," she observed. She wasn't being nosy, but she just sounded genuinely curious.
"I know," he sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "It was…a change of plans."
"From less than twelve hours ago?" Meredith raised an eyebrow.
"Um…yes," Derek nodded, knowing that he sounded like a complete idiot.
"Okay," Meredith shrugged, and let the subject drop.
He turned to look at her carefully as she stared at the illuminated lights above the door of the elevator. She was wearing light blue scrubs that contrasted to his navy blue ones, her hands shoved into the pockets of her lab coat that was much more well worn than his own freshly starched coat. Her feet were clad in blue Converse, obviously in preparation for being on her feet all day, and her hair was pulled back into a messy ponytail. She wasn't wearing any make up, but he couldn't help but think she seemed much more…Meredith today than she had last night. Which was crazy because he didn't really know her at all.
"Here we are," Meredith said, stepping off of the elevator into a large atrium. "This is the nurse's desk. All the charts are kept here, and the waiting area is over there," she gestured to the area to the left of the stairs that led up to a landing with what appeared to be patient rooms and exam rooms.
"Ors are this way," she said, moving towards their right. "We've got three of them. This is the OR board…"
She showed him the entire hospital, taking him down to the ER and even the tunnels where she apparently preferred to do her paperwork. They ended their tour in the cafeteria, where Meredith reached into her lab coat and slid some money across the table in exchange for two large cups of coffee.
"Here," she offered him a large cup.
"Thanks," Derek smiled. "If I remember correctly from my residency, I'll be drinking a lot of this stuff."
Meredith giggled as they walked towards the entrance of the cafeteria. "It's actually sunny out today," she said. "There's not much on the board today, do you want to go sit on the benches outside?"
"Sure," Derek nodded. "Is it usually this slow?"
"Definitely not," Meredith shook her head. "During my internship we dealt with train crashes, bombs, and ferryboat crashes. And those are only the big crises. There were plenty of strange cases. You'll see things here you've never seen before."
"Good," Derek nodded as they settled down on a bench. "That's why I came here. I need some interesting cases."
Meredith stared at him for a moment before she asked, "Can I be rude and nosy and really not polite?"
Derek laughed slightly, knowing exactly what she was going to ask. "Sure," he gave her permission.
"What could possibly have happened to make you change your life plans between dinner last night and this morning?" Meredith asked.
Derek sighed as he looked down at the coffee cup cradled in his hands. "You're going to think I'm a horrible person," he said.
"Try me," she requested.
"I was offered this job a month ago," Derek said. "I knew Tiffany was going to be transferred out here, and I wanted to be sure I had a job. Richard was my resident, and he was excited to have me out here. It seemed perfect, but when I told Tiff…she wanted me to join a practice. So I turned down this job, but then Richard countered and I couldn't exactly say no."
"But you never told Tiffany that you took this job," Meredith nodded.
"Exactly," Derek sighed. "I know it makes me sound like a complete ass, but…I had to do this. For myself."
"I get it," Meredith nodded. "Working in a hospital is challenging. I think working in a private practice would be boring."
"It was," Derek nodded. "And I think I'm going to like Seattle, but if practice life was boring in New York…"
"It will be even worse in Seattle," Meredith nodded. "I get it."
"I hate lying to Tiff," Derek admitted quietly. "It's not me. But she wouldn't understand."
"Those lawyers," Meredith joked slightly. "Very self absorbed."
"Very," Derek agreed, sipping at his coffee.
"I won't tell Nathan," Meredith said softly. "If we're going to do this whole coupley friend thing…I'll help keep your secret."
"Thanks," Derek said softly. "I…I appreciate it."
"Well, I expect to get rewarded for that," Meredith said. "Surgeries are a good exchange."
Derek laughed. "I can't give you surgeries because you're helping me lie to my girlfriend," he laughed.
"Fine," Meredith shrugged. "But once you see me in the OR, you're going to want me to scrub in on every single one of your surgeries."
"From what I hear, I'm going to want you with me most of the time anyways," Derek shrugged.
Meredith blushed slightly. "Thanks," was all she uttered.
"So why didn't you tell me how good you were last night?" Derek asked. "When surgeons meet other surgeons, they usually have to prove that they're the better of the two."
"I know," Meredith shrugged. "Nathan doesn't like when I talk about medicine. He doesn't understand what I'm talking about, and he doesn't like that."
"Don't you think that's a little unfair?" Derek asked. "What do you talk about when you come home?"
"Stuff," Meredith shrugged. "I don't let him talk about his cases either, I think they're boring."
"Well, you're right about that," Derek shrugged. "Tiffany always talks my ear off about her cases, it drives me insane."
"Yeah, she's…interesting," Meredith said slowly.
Derek sighed as he looked straight ahead of him. Meredith was a virtual stranger, and yet he was divulging information about his personal life to her. He wasn't sure why, but he had a feeling that she was doing the same thing with him. There was something about her that simply made him want to talk about every aspect of his life.
"So," he said, leaning back against the bench and looking at her carefully. "What do you think of the head of plastics?"
"Sloan?" Meredith rolled her eyes. "He's the cockiest surgeon this hospital has. And while he's good at his job, he's not as amazing as he thinks he is outside of the OR. And he's horrible to the interns."
Derek laughed. "That sounds like Mark," he nodded.
"You sound like you know him," Meredith commented.
"I grew up with him," Derek said. "We met in elementary school and he had horrible parents. My mom all but raised him."
"Well, she went wrong somewhere," Meredith giggled, then froze. "Derek, I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"
"That's okay," he shook his head. "You're right. Mark…maybe he doesn't have the Shepherd DNA that includes tact and respect for other human beings."
"Ah, that must be it," Meredith laughed. "He's actually dating my sister."
"Mark?" Derek frowned. "Dating?"
"Yeah," Meredith shrugged. "What's wrong with that?"
"Mark doesn't date," Derek stated. "He has sex."
"Well, I think he's doing both with Lexie," Meredith said. "Which is…I'm still not sure it's the best idea."
"It must be serious if Mark is willing to give up his sex life for her," Derek sighed. "I never thought I'd see the day."
"Hopefully Lexie won't get hurt," Meredith shrugged. "Otherwise you'll find yourself without a best friend."
"If he cares about her for real he won't hurt her," Derek promised. "He's a manwhore, but when he falls…he falls hard."
"Good," Meredith nodded. "Does he know you're starting today?"
"Yeah," Derek sighed, glancing down at his watch. "He was doing a rhinoplasty this morning, but it should be finishing up soon. We'll probably get lunch or something if you want to join us."
"Thanks," Meredith said. "I usually eat with my friends though."
"Oh, right," Derek nodded, wondering why he was disappointed by this news. "Of course."
Before either of them could continue, their pagers went off at the same time. "The pit," Meredith exclaimed, jumping to her feet. "Come on, Dr. Shepherd. Let's see if there's anything interesting for you to scrub in on your first day."
"If it's not a tumor or a craniotomy I'll be happy," Derek nodded.
"Let's go," Meredith smiled, dragging him back into the hospital and towards the OR. Derek could feel his heart pounding in anticipation of his first consult at his new hospital, feeling completely at home in his brand new hospital.
