Chapter 2
Cristina is sitting in the locker room waiting for rounds when Izzy and George arrive.
"Cristina, is Mer here yet?"
"No" she answers with a yawn.
Dr Bailey enters behind Alex.
"Rounds in 3 minutes" she says and exits the room.
The interns hurry to prepare them self and meet with Bailey at the nurses' station.
"Karev, you are with the she-Shepherd. Stevens and O'Malley, you are in the pit. Yang is with Burke and Grey, I'm sorry but he-Shepherd requested you."
She looks up from her notes when she doesn't hear any response from Grey.
"Where is she? Where is my intern?"
"We don't know. She didn't come home last night."
"Ok, O'Malley is with he-Shepherd then. Tell me when Grey shows up."
They proceed to patient-rooms after 10 minutes of reading up on the charts of their patients. Their attending is waiting for them with their patients.
Dr Shepherd is doing a neuro-exam on the patients when they enter the room. When O'Malley presents the case his head snaps up and looks at the interns beside Dr Bailey. He wonders why Meredith isn't presenting since he requested her today. When they move outside he stops Dr Bailey and asks her.
"Where is my intern?"
"O'Malley is here."
"I requested Grey."
"She has not shown up today so I gave you O'Malley instead."
"Where is she?"
"How should I know? I'm their resident, not their mother."
She walks into the next room and listens to Yang presenting a patient for Burke. After rounds she looks into the locker room but still no trace of Grey. She pages her but can only hear the beeping from a locker. No response on her cell either. It goes straight to voice mail.
Meredith is slowly waking up. She feels nauseated from the heavy drinking the night before. She looks around the unfamiliar bedroom. The nightgown is not hers. It looks like something a grandmother would wear with frills and buttons all the way up front. The door to the room is closed and it looks like no one but she has slept in the bed. She walks slowly towards the door to look for the bathroom but the door is locked from the outside. She really needs to puke so she locates a waste bin under a table by the window. A glass with something that looks like water is placed on the nightstand. She sips it to refresh her mouth but it tastes bitter. The view from the window tells her nothing since she can only see trees in the rain. She bangs at the door and yells but darkness overcomes her again. The door opens and a man carries her back to bed and comes back shortly with a white dress, white shoes and white underwear. The glass by the bedside is switch for an unopened bottle of water and a sandwich in wrapping is placed beside it. The door is left unlocked.
The interns are meeting in the cafeteria for lunch. No one has seen or heard from Meredith. Dr Bailey catches them there but before making them scramble she sits down and asks if they know anything about Meredith. Derek makes his way towards their table but when they see him they all rise and leave the cafeteria together. He looks long after them and tries to follow but is stopped by Addison showing up for lunch. She wants his company. He sits there listening to her chatting about all the mistakes Dr Karev has made the last couple of hours while he is thinking of Meredith.
It is late afternoon when Meredith wakes up again. She notices the water and sandwich on the nightstand, the clothes beside her. She stumbles up and tries the door again. To her surprise she finds it unlocked. She slides it open and looks out into a dimly light hallway. The door across from her looks like a bathroom door. It is also unlocked. She enters and tries to lock it behind her but there is no lock on this door. Her bladder makes her do a run for the toilet. When she washed her face she drinks from the tap. The reflection in the mirror shows her a gloomy woman with bed hair and makeup spots under her eyes. There is a shower behind the door and she looks for something to use as a lock on the door while taking a quick shower. She finds nothing and after a quick look out the door and hearing nothing she decides to shower anyway. The nightgown is dropped on the floor along with her bra and panties and she steps behind the shower curtain. While she is washing her hair with lavender scented hair products found on the shelf, the door is opened. A man picks up her nightgown and underwear and leaves a fluffy white towel in its place. The man closes the door silently behind him.
Alex, Izzy and George walks over to Joe's after work. They need to know if Meredith was there the night before. Not many people are there so Joe has time to talk to them.
"No I have not seen her since last night. A guy hit on her. Bought her a drink but she stopped it there when he thought he bought sex along with the drink. The Mc's came and the Mc he asked about her but I told him to leave her alone. She got a coffee and I called for a cab to pick her up."
"Did she leave alone?"
"Yes"
"When did the guy leave?"
"He left before her with his tail between his legs."
"Do you know his name?"
"Heard him introduce himself as John."
"Have you seen him before?"
"No" he says as the doorbell rings again. "Speaking of the devil, here he comes again."
They turn and look at the stranger walking in. It is a normal looking guy, blond, well-built and blue eyes. He looks at them and when his eyes catches Izzy's she gasps and turns pale. He walks over to them.
"Izzy?"
"John"
"Long times no see."
"You could say that. What are you doing here?"
"I'm starting my new job as a technician at the Seattle PD, crime scene investigator."
"You are?"
"What are you doing here? Last I heard about you were that you went to college. What did you study?"
"Pre-med, I work at the hospital across the street."
"What specialty? Peds?"
"No, surgical intern and I haven't chosen specialty yet."
"Izzy, don't you want to introduce us?" Alex asks.
"Oh, sorry, this is my friend John from high school. John these are my friends Alex and George. They are interns as I am."
"John, don't be mad at me, but you hit on a blonde girl yesterday evening here at the bar, right?"
"Yeah, but she blow me off."
"Did you see her leave?"
"No, I left before her. Why?"
"She is our friend and she didn't come home yesterday or to work today."
"Sorry, but I don't know anything."
"John, can you say if there was anyone else interested in her?
"A couple came in a couple of minutes before I left and the man didn't stop watching her."
"Mc Bastard"
"Mc Bastard?"
"Yeah, Mc Bastard and his wife Mc Bitch." Alex clarifies.
Johan looks at them with questions in his eyes.
"Izzy, can I buy you a drink?"
"No thanks"
"Maybe another time?"
"Maybe" she answers and drags Alex and George out of the bar.
"Hold it Izzy, why such hurry?" Alex protests as Izzy drags him outside.
"I don't want to spend time with John."
"Why?"
"He was my boyfriend when I was 16 and he made me pregnant."
"Pregnant? But you don't have a kid?"
"No I don't, since I let her be adopted at birth."
"Izzy, do you have a daughter that is 11 years old?"
"Yeah, Hannah"
"Wow, unbelievable. Do you know her adoptive parents?"
"Yeah, a little. They send me pictures every year."
"Is John the father?"
"Yeah and he doesn't know. What shall I do?"
"You don't have to do anything. Just be you."
"Let's go home and see if Meredith is home."
When Meredith stepped out of the shower she finds the towel but not her panties and nightgown. It feels creepy that someone was in the bathroom and didn't speak to her. She wraps the towel tightly around her and returns to her room. Her only choice of clothes is the white clothes on her bed. They feel ridiculous and old fashioned. She brushes her wet hair and listens to her grumbling stomach. She is really hungry and the sandwich looks tasty but the bitter drink she has had twice before scares her a little. She decides to go and explore the house now when the door is unlocked.
