Disclaimer: Not mine. Still. I promise. This is only for fun.
A/N: No this editing is not a major overhaul like last time. This story is finally on a track I like and I can follow it fairly well. Even if it has been a year since I worked on it. Still I'm back and I'm enjoying this story and the others again. I missed them and you guys too. Anyway let me know what you think of the changes.
Maine
Mark held his hand out to the dark haired older man as he stood up to leave the older man's office. "Thank you, Dr. Queltin." He said sincerely. It had only taken him six months to pack up his office and apartment and find a new job. Sure it wasn't that far from New York and so he wasn't moving as far away as he'd originally planned but he'd always lived in the North East. He couldn't imagine living anywhere else. Though Miami had been tempting.
The older man grinned, showing off even white teeth, his gray eyes sparkling as he shook Mark's hand. "Not a problem, my boy. Call me Dr. Q, everyone does. We're happy to have you." He paused and appraised the younger man. "Though I do wonder why you gave up your practice to move to this backwater hospital." He knew there was a story there and hoped the younger man would tell it to him some day. Though he knew Mark wouldn't tell him anymore than he had to today.
Mark ran a hand through his hair and frowned. "I needed a change," he finally said. "I had a lot of things, bad things, happen this year and New York just…well, it wasn't for me anymore." He wasn't sure how to say the words to this man that had been so welcoming to him. He knew he'd done a bad job of it when Dr. Q's gray eyes narrowed.
Dr. Q frowned back and motioned for Mark to retake his seat. There was obviously something the younger man needed to get off of his chest. Mark hesitated but eventually sat back down. "I'm not trying to pry, but will these things affect your work here, Dr. Sloan?"
Mark folded his hands in his lap and shook his head. "No sir. The work was never the problem. It was an escape from the other things happening." He didn't want to go into details with this man that he'd only just met, boss or no boss.
Dr. Q nodded, relief plain on his features, and sat back in his chair, making it squeak. "Good. If you need anything just let me know, Mark. We're pretty tight knit up here and I think you'll fit right in. We're a small hospital. One of the best in the area of course, we could give some of the New York hospitals a run from their money but still small. So we're kind of like a family. I really hope you enjoy it here and that you decide to stay for more than your two year contract." There was something about Mark that just called to him. Mark was supposed to be here.
Mark gave him a strained smile and stood again. He needed to leave this office before he spilled all of his secrets to the man before him. There was just something so understanding and comforting about Dr. Queltin. "I'll let you know," he promised as he headed for the door and then paused with his hand on the knob. "Incidentally, do you have any idea where I can find a good cappuccino around here?"
Dr. Q let out a deep rolling laugh that just seemed to pull everyone around in and invited them to join in with his amusement. "Just like every other surgeon I've ever met," he shook his head the grin still playing about his lips. "Try the cafeteria. One of the perks of a small, privately funded hospital is that we have excellent food and plenty of coffee."
"Thanks, Dr. Q," Mark said and headed out with a small smile on his face. The tightness in his chest that had been plaguing him since Addison had left for Seattle was loosening.
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Dr. Roland Queltin watched the younger doctor walk out of his office and smiled. In less than six months he had scored big twice. He wasn't going to question his incredible luck though he did wonder what had brought such excellent doctors to his little hospital.
First his surrogate daughter, the little girl he'd helped raise had called him and asked if he still had a spot open on his intern staff for her. Even if he hadn't he'd have made one for her. Meredith Grey was going to be one of the greats. He'd known that since the first time he'd locked eyes on the little green eyed beauty. She'd been five years old and was sitting at the nurse's station of the surgical wing at Boston Mass Gen with none of the fear or anxiousness of her peers. Instead she'd been staring around her in wonder and curiosity. He'd known then that he was looking at the future of his profession. And she was now his. It had been quite the coups to steal her from Richard Webber even if he hadn't really had anything to do with her decision.
Second, Marcus Jacob Sloan had called requesting a job. The Mark Sloan. The foremost plastic surgeon on the east coast and most probably in the US. He'd snapped him up as fast as he could. There was no way he was going to let one of the vultures from the bigger hospitals snatch Mark Sloan out from under him. Though he did wonder why such a big name doctor was looking into a job at such a small hospital. It wasn't like they could pay him anywhere near what the bigger hospitals could but Mark had said money wasn't an issue.
Finally JC would get some of the prestige that he had always felt it deserved. They might not be one of the ranking hospitals in the country but they turned out some of the best doctors in the world. And now two of the most famous names in the medical world were residing in his hospital. Yes, it was quite the coups.
He hadn't accepted them for their names though. No, Roland Queltin couldn't care less about big names or accomplishments. That was just a side bonus. He'd hired them because of something desperate and needy in their voices. They had both nearly hit their limit and they needed a place to heal. He had never been able to turn away someone in need of healing whether physical or emotional. He had no idea what had happened to either of them but he knew they would fit into his hodgepodge of a family with aplomb.
Roland stood and made his way to his office door. He didn't have the bay of windows overlooking the surgical floor that Richard did. He didn't need to watch his surgeons every movement. He had no need to feel like a god. His office door led out onto the same hallway that housed the offices of all his attendings. That hall led to the stairs to the surgical floor. There was an open balcony beside the stairs and that was where Roland headed now. He loved the energy that seemed to pool in that space.
He leaned his elbows on the balcony railing and smiled down on the hustle of the floor. Tomorrow the interns, all six of them, would arrive. Tomorrow his little girl would finally come home to him. Tomorrow was going to be the beginning of a great year. He could feel the anticipation in the very air around him. "Oh, yes, JC," he murmured. "A very good year."
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She stared up at the building and took a deep breath to quell her nervous stomach. It had taken her longer than she'd thought it would to get here. She was unhappy with the delay but there had been nothing she could really do about it. Now she had to start her intern year over. She tried to tell herself that it didn't matter. That no one had to know about Seattle.
Her mother hadn't settled into the home here as well as she had in Seattle but Meredith knew that it was only a matter of time. Her mother didn't know where she was so here or Seattle was the same. Or would be. As soon as she got used to things. Meredith had tried to convince herself of that for months now but her mother was still unsettled and unhappy here.
Ellis had been one of the main sticking points for this move. Finding a good home and transferring her had been a nightmare. Not to mention that Webber had been quite angry with her for leaving and taking Ellis with her. She hadn't given him a choice though. Ellis Grey was her responsibility, not his. So she'd sent out feelers to all of her mother's old friends and Dr. Queltin at the Joshua Chamberlain Memorial Hospital in Augusta, Maine had been delighted to accept her and had pressured Webber into letting her go. She would be forever grateful to her own old friend for that. She should have known the man would have welcomed her with open arms.
Dr. Q had worked with her mother in Boston and had never approved of the way she ignored her only daughter. Dr. Q had pulled Meredith around with him anytime he saw her at the hospital. He had been the person that had wiped her tears away when she'd broken her arm and had brought her ice pops when she'd had her tonsils out. She had learned more from him than any of her teachers in Med school. She had always idolized him and she was grateful that he remembered her with affection.
The sun peeked over the horizon to her left shining into her eyes and she sighed. Enough thinking, she scolded herself. She had a job to do. People's lives needed saving and it was high time she got to it.