01. I Do this Every Day

Meredith looked at the entrance in front of her. The big blue letters on the wall said "OVLG", the name of the hospital where Meredith has been working for the past two and a half years. It was a nice hospital with a pretty good education program. And a big plus was that she already chose a specialty.

"Hey Mer, are you coming inside?"

Meredith looked up and saw a tall guy standing next to her. She gave him a nod and followed him inside.
Rick was a typical Dutch guy with blond hair, blue eyes and a friendly, charming smile. He was in the same year as Meredith and also chose internal medicine as specialization. When they first met, Meredith thought that he was into her ignored him, trying to avoid him as much as possible.
But when she had a flat tire and had to walk home after a long day at work, he was her knight in shining armor. He offered her a ride on his bike and they started chatting. That's when she realized he had just been trying to be nice to her and the two became good friends.

After a short walk, she picked up her clothes and went to the resident lounge to change. She put her bag inside her locker, changed into her work outfit, clipped her name tag on her lab coat and put on her shoes. A petite, young woman with brown, curly hair sat down next to her to tie her shoelaces. Meredith didn't have to look up to know who sat down next to her.

Anne was her other friend here in Amsterdam. When Rick introduced her to Meredith, she knew she liked her right away. She was a bit of an artsy, creative person who was passionate about music. She played the piano very well, but because of an injury to her elbow, she couldn't apply for the conservatory. So, she decided to combine her passion for music with medicine and wanted to become anorthopedic doctor for dancers and musicians.

'So, are we still on for tonight?'

Meredith smiled. 'You bet! It's the first night I'm off since last Monday. I'm can't wait to try out that cocktail place you and Rick have been talking about.'

'Yeah, me too! What time your shift ends?'

'17.30, same as yours. Do you guys want to grab something to eat before we go?'

Anne stood up and nodded. 'Sounds great. Pick you up at 7?'

'Okay,' Meredith answered while they walked out of the resident lounge. Anne went right, where Meredith went left, ready for her shift to begin.

Meredith sat down in the cafeteria and sighed. She was happy to have her lunch break. What should have been a quiet morning, resulted in a patient who had an internal bleeding after surgery.

A guy came towards Meredith and kissed her on her cheek.

'How is my favorite resident doing this morning?' he asked and sat down next to her.

Meredith just shrugged. 'I'm happy when I finish this shift. I'm looking forward to a couple of days of relaxing.'

'Relaxing? Don't you have to study?'

Meredith took a sip of her coffee. 'I do, but not tonight. We are going to drink cocktails at this new place.'

The guy frowned. 'Oh? And why didn't you tell me?' he said, not hiding his judgement.

'Because,' Meredith replied.

'So you can go out with your friends but you can't make any time for me?'

Meredith sighed. 'Come on Stijn, you know that's not true.'

'And when you do,' the guy continued, 'you are in a bad mood, like yesterday.'

'I was just… off. You know why.'

'that doesn't mean you can use it as an excuse for everything.'

Meredith closed her eyes. She knew that she didn't stand a chance against him when he was being unreasonable like this. She liked Stijn, a lot. He started to work as an attending at the OLVG last year and when Meredith met him, she knew he was the remedy to forget Derek. The two started dating a month after they met and have been together ever since. He was ambitious, full of passion, a bit stubborn and didn't like to use many words to express his feelings. On these moments, she knew she had to use a different tactic.

'I know, I'm sorry. Why don't you join us tonight? I will make it up to you later, promise.'

Stijn gave her a cocky smile. 'That's better,' he simply replied, stood up and walked away.

Meredith started to take a bite of her sandwich when her next lunch guests arrived. Anne and Rick sat down and looked at her.

'What?'

'You invited Stijn? We were supposed to have a night out just with the three of us!' Anne shrieked. 'I didn't ask Luke to join us, did I?'

'That's because you aren't talking to each other, remember?' Rick replied matter-of-factly.

Anne threw her napkin in Rick's direction. 'I would if he would stop being so passive aggressive!'

'It's the same thing Derek always did,' Meredith mumbled.

Her friends didn't reply. They just stared at her, shocked. But they weren't as shocked as Meredith herself. She never talked about her past, let along about him. Rick and Anne only knew the story from some deep, drunk conversation after too many tequila shots on a night's out, but they were smart enough to never ask about him.

Rick tried to break the silence. 'Meredith, do you want to talk about it? It must have been hard for you yesterday."

Anne tried to help. 'Yeah Mer, we're here for you, if you want to talk or something.'

Meredith stared blankly at Rick and Anne. She knew that they meant it well, but the only thing she felt was anger.

'Listen and listen carefully. I will only say this once. I don't want to talk about it. I didn't talk about him for the past three years and I won't talk about him for the next three years. The past is in the past and will stay in the past. Is that clear?'

Anne and Rick looked at her, not knowing what to say. Meredith sighed.

'Now, if you'll excuse me. I have to go check on a patient.'

A few hours later, Meredith was ready for the day. She quickly changed back into her own clothes, grabbed her stuff and walked out of the building. She couldn't help it but feeling guilty. She knew Anne and Rick meant well and she didn't mean to lash out to them.

When she walked down the stairs, she saw Stijn waiting for her at the entrance. He smiled when he saw her and it made Meredith feel a little les guilty.

Stijn held the door for her. 'If you want, I can give you a lift. Get back to your place, change… And maybe we can do something of that making up you promised?'

"hold on a sec," Meredith said while she was taking her phone out of her bag. Surprisingly, there was a little green light at the top of her screen. She unlocked her phone and read the text message. First, she was surprised that it was Cristina. Sure, they talked to each other a lot via email and skype. But they didn't send each other messages that often. But when she read the message, she got a strange feeling.

You need to call me. It's urgent... X Cris.