"George?"
Meredith was drunk.
"George?"
"Hm?"
"George, can I come in?"
From where she was standing, she saw him sit up in his bed and blearily look at her.
"Meredith?"
"Can I?"
"Yeah."
She slipped out of her leopard flats, the ones that she usually never wore because they were uncomfortable, and dropped her bag and her jacket on the floor before climbing into bed next to him.
"He wrote me a note."
George turned over to look at her. He could smell the tequila, and he knew she had gone to Joe's, and he knew she was talking about Shepherd.
"What did it say?"
She pulled the note from her back pocket and handed it to him. Love is going home after a 36 hour shift. Sweet dreams Mer. He handed it back and she put it back in her pocket.
"He hasn't talked to me for a week, but he gave me that."
"When did he give it to you?"
"It was in my locker."
He knew that of course, because he'd been in the locker room when Shepherd had come in and put it there. But he didn't know he was leaving her a note. He hadn't known what he was doing at the time.
"I don't want to talk to him."
She was starting to break down now, her voice was getting quieter, and he knew what came next. This was now the seventh night she'd been in here.
"I don't want to."
"You don't have to."
"Izzie says I should."
"Izzie doesn't know."
"She does."
Her voice was just a whisper and it was shaky. When he looked at her, he saw the tears in her eyes and he knew it was just a matter of seconds before they fell.
"Mer, you don't have to listen to Izzie."
He saw the first one fall, right off her cheek and onto his pillow, staining the white fabric wet. But he didn't care about the pillow. He cared about Meredith. He didn't know what to say to her, but he did care about her.
"I just… I just want to… forget about… him."
She wrapped her tiny arms around him and moved herself so she was up against him and her head was laying on his chest. He could feel her teardrops on his shirt, but he didn't say anything. He just let her cry, and he stayed awake until she stopped. It was only once she'd fallen asleep that he did too.
