Ellis dropped her pen hard on the desk when she heard the front door slam. Meredith was home. She took a deep breath and then stood, daring to venture into the hallway. Her daughter stood in the doorway, a dufflebag dropped on either side, and her hands on her hips.
"I cannot believe," she said, with a scowl, "That you made me do that." She dug around in her pocket and pulled out a package of cigarettes.
"Outside," Ellis demanded. "And I thought that you quit smoking."
"I did. That's how bad that whole thing was!" Meredith exclaimed, angrily pushing her hair away from her face and taking a drag on the cigarette. She leaned on the railing of the porch and blew out. Ellis grabbed the cigarette from her hand and tossed it out into the bushes.
"You'll thank me, at some point," Ellis said, in response to her daughter's glare. Meredith raised an eyebrow and shook her head, tossing her choppy blonde hair out of her eyes, again. Ellis didn't understand how she could wear it that way, but it was better then pink.
"Yeah. Mind telling me again why you wouldn't go to that reunion?"
"I'm writing a book," Ellis said, resting her hands on the other side of the porch railing.
"Uh huh. Otherwise known as, you love to see me suffer." Meredith grumbled. She leaned over the railing and sighed, her shoulders dropping under her denim blue jacket. "They don't look at me Mom. No one but Aunt Miriam spoke to me. All they do is whisper about me. It's ridiculous." She turned to her mother. "And before you start, yeah, I know, I've done a lot of stupid stuff. But seriously, can't they give me any semblance of a chance?"
Ellis sighed, and turned to her daughter, leaning an elbow on the railing. "Meredith…. I'm your mother, and therefore perhaps the most judgmental of your lifestyle."
Meredith sighed and looked away.
"Meredith, look at me please." Meredith obeyed, running her hand through her hair. "Okay. Look. We've disagreed on things, Heaven knows. But I, for one, think that you have potential. I'm not telling you this to convince you to do anything. I'm not stupid. But I am telling you that there is more that you could be doing with your life. And you can do it.
"What I'm saying is, I don't think that you're worthy of your disdain, but I think you lifestyle is. When was the last time you kept a job longer than three weeks, Mer?"
"Um…. The temp thing, maybe three months ago," Meredith admitted, probably caught off guard by the question.
Ellis nodded, and fiddled with her watch. She had forgotten where she was going with that question. She looked up at Meredith, hoping to remember.
"Mom? You okay?" Meredith said, taking a step towards her.
"Huh? What do you mean, Meredith? I'm fine. Of course I'm fine. What do you want for dinner?"
Meredith gave her a concerned look, but Ellis turned away from her and went into the house.
"Oh," she said, suddenly, reaching out a hand, "And give me those cigarettes." Meredith heaved a sigh and handed her the back, Ellis went back into her office and tossed the package into the trashcan, staring at the paper and attempting to remember where she was.
She heard Meredith moving through the house, and then after a while she began to hear cupboard doors slam, and then pots and pans. "Meredith!" she called. "You're not trying to cook, are you? I don't want to have to call the fire department!"
"I'm making grilled cheese, Mom! I think I can handle it!" Meredith called back, sounding put-out. "Where's the oil?"
"I don't know! Find it yourself, I'm writing a book!"
She could have sworn she heard a mutter that sounded something like: "Well aren't we hoity-toity", and she laughed. Meredith had been around her cousin Edith too long that weekend.
It wasn't just that she hadn't wanted to go to the reunion. Of course, she hadn't. wanted to go, but there was more to that. She was writing a book. And there were other things. There were always other things.
So she made Meredith go. Meredith needed something to occupy her time with, besides getting drunk and getting kicked out of her apartment, and so Meredith went. And now Meredith was back in her old room until she could find a job, or an apartment, or both. She knew that Meredith included in that list 'or a boyfriend' but Ellis didn't. That was too temporary when it came to Meredith.
"Dinner!" Meredith called, and Ellis shook herself out of her thoughts. It didn't seem that it had been long enough for Meredith to make grilled cheese, let alone the four grilled cheese that sat on a platter on the table. As Ellis stepped into the kitchen she saw her daughter stepping in front of the trashcan, and Ellis saw the lone blackened grilled cheese.
Meredith turned around and blushed sheepishly. "I had to pee," she said. "I'd just put it in…" she trailed off and pushed the trashcan back under the sink.
"Well…." Ellis said, "At least you didn't set off the fire alarm."
Meredith scowled, for just a second, and then she burst into laughter. "Yeah," she said. "You're right about that."
They sat down together and began their meal, with a companionable silence that was nice. Ellis had to admit that the sandwiches weren't bad, if a little crisp around the edges.
"I do believe that you have finally found something that you can cook," she proclaimed. Meredith smiled, shyly. It made her look truly pretty. Ellis watched her, and for just a second she could see the little girl in the grown woman.
"Well…. College. I had to be able to eat something that wasn't pizza and take-out," Meredith said. "And in my two-by-four apartment."
Which you can no longer pay rent on, Ellis thought, but she bit her tongue. She wasn't going to say it, she wasn't going to ruin this moment. There might not be many of them left….
"Ah, I see. Well, it's not bad. Experience taught you well. Although, I wouldn't say you had a future in making grilled cheese."
She worried about Meredith taking this wrong as soon as she said it, but Meredith laughed. "Well, that's one thing that I can cross off of my list, I guess. Damn, and I had my heart set on it. I guess I shouldn't open a restaurant."
Ellis laughed. It had been years since they had had a really casual conversation.
There was silence for another minute, and when Ellis looked up she saw that Meredith's face had changed. She was staring at her cheese sandwich thoughtfully.
"Mer? What are you thinking about?"
Meredith seemed startled, but she put her sandwich down and looked up at her mother. "Mom? Can I ask you something? And you can judge, but don't tell me what you think now, okay? Because I don't know what I think. Tell me… tomorrow, I guess. I just need to say this aloud. Okay?"
Ellis put her napkin to her lips and dabbed, before setting it down on her plate and nodding "Okay."
"All right. When I was a little kid, for as far back as I can remember, I wanted to be a surgeon like you. Yeah, sure, when I was really little I was just emulating you and I never understood what the hell my father did." She paused, and looked away. "Sorry. Anyway. I guess, it was just being a kid then. But when I got older, I spent a lot of time at the hospital. I mean, you know that. I really saw what it was that you did. And I still wanted to do it.
"I think I eventually just gave it up. I guess I thought I just wasn't good enough. That I was better off just trying to find something else. Except that I don't think that there is anything else for me. It's in my blood, Mom," she added with a smirk. "I think…. I think I want to go to med school."
Ellis could not say that she was shocked. She had known at one time that this was Meredith's ultimate goal. But she had thought that she had given it up.
"Before you say anything, which actually means before tomorrow, remember please that I had the grades in college. I managed that somehow. I had the prereqs. I have at least one counselor who likes me, even if she thinks I'm somewhat of a nutcase. And, not to brag but, you are my mother. I could get in. And I think I could do it."
"Well, that is something to think about, isn't it?" Ellis said, standing up and taking both of their plates and the platters to the kitchen. "I'll get back to you then, tomorrow."
"Mom, don't be like this. Can't we talk?" Meredith said, standing up and putting a hand on Ellis's shoulder.
Ellis turned to her. "We'll talk tomorrow. Do me a favor and take out the trash. That burnt grilled cheese is going to stink up the entire house."
She turned away, but not soon enough to miss the slight droop in Meredith's shoulders.
"Do you need the phone?" Meredith asked, when she came back and as Ellis was washing the dishes. "I'm going to call Tucker."
"Go ahead."
Meredith nodded, and glanced around. "Um… Where's the extension?"
Ellis threw her hands up. "Oh for God's sake, Meredith, do something on your own for once!" she exclaimed, and retreated to her office. She was writing a book.
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"No." Ellis said, as soon as Meredith walked into the living room the next morning.
"God, Mom, it's like seven o'clock, can't you even wait for me to get coffee before you give an ultimatum?" Meredith said drowsily. "Honestly Tucker is such a fuc—an ass. He kept me up until four on the phone. He's got a new guy or something I don't know." She went into the kitchen and began brewing coffee. Ellis wondered if she hadn't really been serious about the med school thing, or if she really was that tired.
Fifteen minutes later, her daughter returned, with two mugs of coffee. She held one out to Ellis, who took it, and then she sat on the sofa opposite her mother.
"Okay. You said no. So I say, why, right? Isn't that how this works?"
Ellis blew on her coffee, and the steam wafts away from her, in the direction of her daughter. "I suppose so, yes. Meredith, what is there in your history that is supposed to make me think that you could handle medical school itself, let alone actually being a doctor? You're flaky, Meredith. You admit that you haven't held down a job in months, you just lost your apartment. You had a less than stellar reputation in college.
"You don't have the right character to be a surgeon, either. You could not take it Meredith. You care about people to much, whether you are willing to admit it or not. And you take things personally.
"So even if you could make it in medical school, which you probably could as you have somehow managed to make it in every other school thus far, you would never make it in the real world of surgery. It would be a waste of money to pay for med school and just have you wash-out."
Meredith nods, slowly, her eyes darkening. "Yeah. Yeah, I figured you'd say all of that. But here's the thing, Mom. The reason that I've failed at every job so far? Because they were boring and meaningless. The only thing that has any meaning for me is surgery. I know you understand that. And there are surgeons in this world who aren't driven machines. I know that's hard for you to admit, since you're one yourself, but I assure you it's possible." Her tone was rising steadily, and eventually she stood from the sofa.
"And yeah, maybe I haven't been the best person in the past, but can't you even give me a chance? You said yesterday that you thought that I had potential. You didn't say for what. Isn't it possible that that potential could be for being a surgeon? Or is that just too hard for you to accept?"
"Meredith! I've given you plenty of chances over the years, let me tell you. Can you give me even one time when you have ever come out shining from one of those? Need I bring up your sixteenth birthday party? Or your little roadtrip to Florida that spring break that involved the wrecking of my car? I'm pretty sure that every chance I've ever given you has ended up in me regretting it, as a mater of fact."
Meredith stared at her, and Ellis saw something like hurt pass over her daughter's face. She stepped back, and turned away, before heading up the stairs. Ellis sighed and put a hand to her forehead. And there was another thing. If Meredith were to be a surgeon, she could never run from confrontation like that.
Ellis placidly drained her coffee mug, listening carefully to make sure that Meredith wasn't destroying anything in her room, and then went into her office. She couldn't concentrate on her book, however. Her mind was wandering, aided, perhaps, by the pictures on her desk of Meredith.
One was taken when her daughter was three or so, at Christmas. She was covered in wrapping paper, with a bow stuck on her forehead and she was grinning happily, a toy stethoscope in her hand. Ellis sighed and looked away from this picture. For a long time she had wanted her daughter to become a surgeon, but as Meredith grew up she proved her wrong.
With a pang, she remembered the preteen girl who stayed awake just to hear the stories of her mother's surgeries. She had been so determined then, so focused on school. Ellis had thought that it was all in the bag. And then she hit high school.
Ellis herself had never been that wild in high school. Of course there had been parties, but nothing like what her daughter did. She had never imagined doing anything remotely scandalous, and she hadn't. Not until Richard, anyway. She didn't like to think about Richard, but she was more and more, because the letter from the chief of Seattle Grace was still on her desk. He had informed her that in a year or so he would be retiring and he thought that she might like the position.
Of course, she couldn't take it. Seattle held too many memories. And she was writing a book. She had left the UN to write her book, and she was writing her book. And her daughter was living with her again and wanted to go to medical school.
But Richard might be offered the position if Ellis didn't take it. He was in New York, she knew, teaching students at a hospital up there. He had a renowned reputation, and she had thought about wandering into his hospital while she was in New York. Surely he would have changed, but then, so had she. Fifteen years changed people. She never did it though. Cowardice, perhaps,
Thatcher had remarried. She didn't know how she knew this, but she did know. Someone had told her. He had moved on with his life, while she struggled every day to raise their daughter. That didn't end when Meredith turned eighteen. She hadn't heard from Thatcher in fourteen years, ever since she had called him when Meredith was sick. not that she wanted to, but still, one would think he would check in on his child.
Her mother had not wanted her to go to medical school either. Her father had been a pediatrician, but Ellis didn't know what she wanted to specialize in. she knew that she wanted to be a doctor though, even if there were hardly any women, and she would have to fight for it. She was used to fighting for things. She was just as smart as the boys and she wanted everyone to know it. So she had gone to her father, and he had agreed to pay her way. And she had succeeded, more than succeeded, really, she had to admit.
But Meredith didn't have the luxury of going to the other parent. Her judgment was just going to have to stand. That was that. She was the boss in this case.
She was writing a book. It was on the surgical method she had pioneered, named the Grey method by her colleagues. She hadn't wanted to write it at first, but Charlie had told her that she should and time was apparently of the essence, so she was writing a book about the Grey method.
"Mom?"
Meredith's voice was echoing in her head. Meredith, who was no longer a child and yet somehow would always be a child.
"Mom! Mom, what are you doing?"
Suddenly, she was brought out of her thoughts, her reverie, her stupor, by her daughter's voice. It echoed strangely, as if they were not in her small office, and then she realized, they weren't. Meredith was running behind her, on the sidewalk, a block away from their house.
"Oh," Ellis exclaimed softly, sinking down onto to the bench next to her, as Meredith caught up.
"Mom, are you okay?" she asked, sitting next to her. "I was looking out my window and I saw you walking her, with this look on your face, like you weren't really there. It was creepy."
Ellis nodded, but she wasn't really listening to her daughter. The words it's true, it's true were repeating themselves in her head, and she couldn't concentrate on anything else.
"Mom? Is something wrong?" Meredith asked, putting a hand on her mother's shoulder.
"No, nothing's wrong," Ellis replied. Ellis lied. Ellis stood up and began to walk towards the house, with Meredith following her.
"Mom?" Meredith called again, as Ellis turned into her study. Ellis turned, and looked at her. Meredith stood in the living room, her hand on the back of a chair. "If something's wrong, you can tell me. You know that, right?"
Ellis nodded once. "Thank you, Meredith," she said, formally and then retreated into her study to continue working on the book which she was writing.
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"Mom? Come on, you're not eating your really greasy pizza, something must be wrong," Meredith said, teasingly, over lunch. Ellis had ordered pizza, because she didn't want to cook anything or even make sandwiches. There was no longer a housekeeper, with Meredith gone she had decided that fighting with those women was no longer worth it. There was a cleaning lady who came in once a month, and that was good enough for the surgeon living alone.
"I should be telling you things like that," Ellis commented, "I am the mother."
Meredith shrugged. "Yeah. Eat your pizza."
Ellis obeyed. She obeyed her twenty-two year old daughter, because what else was there to do?
Meredith began cleaning up the table, and Ellis sat there, running her finger along the wood grain on the table. "Meredith?" she said, finally, looking up at her daughter, who was putting the cleaned glasses up in the cupboard.
"Yeah, Mom?" she replied, turning slightly.
"Three is, actually, something I need to talk to you about. If you would please come to the living room when you finish with the dishes." With that, Ellis stood and went into the living room herself, sitting in the same straight-backed chair that she had occupied that morning, the blank TV screen to her right. She remembered the days when Disney movies used to play on that screen. It seemed so long ago.
"What's up, Mom?" Meredith said quietly, as she entered the room. She plopped down on the couch, pulling her legs up under her, and leaning one arm on the armrest.
Ellis watched her for a moment, wondering how her daughter would react to the news that she was just about to give her.
She decided to start with what was easier.
"I've been thinking about what you said this morning. The truth is, Meredith, I would very much like it if you were to become a surgeon. You're my daughter, and I would be very proud of you. But it's a hard life, Meredith. You have to fight for your place every second, or at least I did and I don't think that it has changed that much. I'm not saying that you can't do it, but would you want to? Do you really want to be me, Meredith?"
Meredith shook her head, with a slight smile. "That's just it, Mom. You think I'm considering this just to emulate you, or to prove myself, but that's not true. The truth is that I want to be me, and I believe that that me is a surgeon."
Ellis nodded slowly, closed her eyes for a moment, and then opened them. "Okay. Well then. You have the intelligence, Meredith, there is no doubt about that. Apply to med school, and we'll take it from there. It won't be easy now that you've missed a year and haven't exactly been traveling Europe, but you shouldn't be too far behind."
Meredith smiled. "Thanks Mom!" she exclaimed. "You won't regret it, I promise!"
She sat up, apparently intending to leave the room, but Ellis held up a hand. "No. Wait. There's something else. Now I don't want what I am about to tell you to change the plans that we just made, understand? You are going to med school, and you're going to try. I'm not saying you'll succeed but if it's what you want, you can try. Got that?"
Meredith nodded, but she looked concerned. "Mom, what's going on? Are you sick or something?" she asked, sitting up on the sofa, and leaning towards her mother.
Ellis looked down at her hands, twisting her watch around her wrist. "You could say that, I suppose, although it's not altogether accurate. You took pre-med courses, didn't you?"
"Huh? Yeah. I thought I should, just in case."
"What, then, are the symptoms of Early-Onset Alzheimer's?"
Meredith's face registered uncontrolled shock. Her eyes went wide and her jaw dropped. "Mom…" she breathed.
"The symptoms, please, Meredith."
"Um… at the beginning stages it's fairly unrecognizable. Disorientation. Memory loss. That gets worse as time goes on. Confusion. Difficulty with speech, mood changes, denial of symptoms…," she trailed off and looked up at her mother with eyes that looked… damaged. There was a damaged look in her daughter's eyes. But Ellis nodded, for her to continue. "Early-Onset progresses faster than Late-Onset, and they think that there is more… more damage to the brain before symptoms are shown…. Mom…."
"Meredith, if you are going to be a doctor you will learn distance," Ellis said firmly.
"That's it, though, really. As the disease advance every-day tasks require supervision. It progresses faster than Late-Onset," she added, with a sigh.
"Yes. It does," Ellis agreed quietly. There was silence for a minute, and then she cleared her throat. "So. You're going to go to medical school and I'm going to finish my book. I'm also going to sell this house and move to Seattle. I'll live in the old house, for as long as I can. There's a very well spoken of extended care facility just inside Seattle that will do well when… well, later on."
"Mom, no. I'll stay here. I'll stay with you. I owe you that much, at least," Meredith protested, vehemently.
"No, Meredith. You are not going to stop yourself from doing what is right for you just because of me. That may be why I spoke against you're going to med school, I don't know. I admit that I did think of asking you to stay with me, but it is not going to happen. You're going to have your own life." Ellis spoke firmly and Meredith seemed taken aback.
"But Mom, we've been through it all together. All the bad times. But there were good times, too."
"There were," Ellis agreed, with a small smile. "Don't forget that, please, Meredith."
"Oh, Mom," Meredith said softly, reaching out and taking her mother's hand. After a moment she asked, "Mom, aren't you scared?"
"I suppose. Who isn't, when faced with something like this? But the only thing I really regret is that you'll have to watch it happen. To watch me… deteriorate."
Meredith's eyes widened, and Ellis could see tears brimming around the edges. Ellis covered her daughter's hand with her own. "Don't cry, Meredith. It seems horrible, I know. But we'll make it work. We've done it before."
"Yeah," Meredith agreed with a small laugh that was almost a sob. "We've done it before."
They sat there in silence for a while, and then Meredith shifted. "Is that why you quit the UN?" she asked. "And why you're writing your book?"
"Yes, it is. Well, I suppose. I liked the UN job, but the book needs to be written. The timing is all right. I don't suppose I had much of a chance."
Meredith sighed. "Only you could have an attitude like that, Mom."
"I suppose so," Ellis agreed, and then she abruptly stood up, disengaging her hand from her daughter's. "Well. I have a book to write."
"And I have schools to apply to. Damn, I hate that part," Meredith said with a laugh. Ellis headed towards the stairs, and Ellis to the office, but just before they went their separate ways Meredith turned to her mother. "We're going to be okay, right Mom?"
"Of course, Meredith. We'll be fine. We're always fine."
Then she went into her office and shut the door she was writing a book. Now, where the hell was her pen?
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It rained that night. A late summer storm. It barely woke Ellis up, and it probably wouldn't have, had she not heard a door close in the hallway. She got up a few seconds later, hearing footsteps in the hall. She opened her door and saw Meredith standing there. She was in her pajamas, with her hair in a messy ponytail, pacing the floor outside of Ellis's room.
"Meredith?" Ellis asked curiously, when her daughter turned to her.
"Hi Mom," Meredith whispered, stepping forward. "Can I…. uh…. Come in?"
Somewhat mystified Ellis stepped backward and let her daughter into the room. For just a second she saw a little girl in a white nightgown, scared by the storm, but then there was just Meredith, sitting on the end of her mother's bed.
Ellis got back into bed, and Meredith climbed up next to her. It had been so long since they had had a night like this. Quiet. Without arguments or Meredith going out. She had been out of her mother's control for a long time.
Ellis almost laughed when the thunder boomed and Meredith flinched. Tenderly Ellis pushed one piece of Meredith's hair out of her eyes and smiled at her. "You're a paradox, Meredith. You love the rain, but you hate the thunder."
"That's me," Meredith sighed. "A paradox."
She rolled over, staring at the rotating ceiling fan, and Ellis watched her, although she nearly drifted back to sleep. The silence lasted for so long, that she almost didn't hear Meredith speak again, "Mom? It's all going to change, isn't it?"
Ellis rolled over and propped her head up on one arm, raising an eyebrow. "In your case, Mer, I wouldn't say that it's entirely a bad thing."
"I know," Meredith conceded. "But it's scary. I think I'm ready, though, to grow up."
"You have no idea how glad I am to hear you say that," Ellis replied tiredly. There was silence again, and she thought that Meredith might have drifted off to sleep. "Meredith, baby. Never forget this, I love you."
Meredith's eyes flickered open, and Ellis thought that there was a little surprise in her eyes. "I love you too, Mom," she said softly, and then she rolled over and Ellis could tell that she was asleep.
Ellis herself, however, lay awake far longer. Sleep seemed rather like waste time now. She lay there in the dark, watching her daughter, all grown up, sleep peacefully.
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She never did sleep that night, instead, at some point she wandered into her study. No. Actually she didn't wander, because wander had a whole new connotation to her. Wandering was what had happened that afternoon when Meredith found her on the street corner with no idea that she had even left the house. So, at some point, she went into her study and took up her pen again.
She should have typed the manuscript, because who knew if she would be able to type it herself later on, but there was something more satisfying to watch the words form underneath her pen, feeling the control that each stroke of the pen gave. It was strange, perhaps, but it worked for her.
The sun was beginning to come up, a blue cast mingling with the yellow of her desk lamp, when she heard footsteps in the hallway. Meredith appeared in the doorway, perhaps looking for her. At any rate, her daughter sank to the floor, sitting there Indian-style, watching her mother write.
Neither woman, because Meredith was a woman now, neither woman said a word. They just sat there in companionable silence until a garbage truck could be heard in the distance, and Meredith cleared her throat.
"Mom? I wanted to let you know, or to ask I guess, if I could go visit Tucker. I figure I could go check out the med school at Dartmouth, and see how the med school is back up at Dartmouth. I think it'd be easier for me to get in back up there, and I did like it there."
Ellis put down her pen, noting it's place on top of her calendar carefully, and turned to look at Meredith. "How long will you be gone?" she asked, trying to do the motherly-thing. "You're back under my roof, after all, so technically I'm in charge."
Meredith rolled her eyes good-naturedly. "A week, I guess. If I get going I can get into classes by January and take summer courses to get back on level."
"You're really serious about this, aren't you?" Ellis asked, unable to keep a certain amount of awe from her voice.
"I am," Meredith said, nodding, and seemingly amazed herself. "Maybe it's weird, but I really do think that this is what I was meant to do, you know? It feels…."
"Right," Ellis finished, remembering that feeling. It had been a while since she'd felt it, but she remembered it from her first day in med school and on the day that Meredith was born. It hadn't been easy, to have a baby during her residency, but she had done it.
"Yeah," Meredith continued, smiling, obviously having no idea of her mother's thoughts. "That's it. It feels right."
Ellis nodded and started to turn back to her paper.
"Mom? You'll be okay here on your own, right? I mean not that I don't think—but yesterday…," she trailed off, obviously unwilling to offend.
"Of course I will be, Meredith," Ellis snapped. "I'm not a child."
"Okay," Meredith said quickly, standing up. "I'll go tomorrow, I guess." She left the room, closing the door behind her quietly. Ellis sighed and dropped her pen, putting her head in her hands. She hadn't wanted to snap at Meredith like that, of course. The truth was, it worried her too. How was she to manage during this time between, this limbo, in which she was both herself and not herself.
It would be easier, in a way, when she did need to be cared for full time. Well. For herself, maybe. Maybe not. Not for Meredith. She wished that Meredith would just let her go, but she knew that her daughter (no matter how she may try to hide it) had a greater sense of responsibility than that. She would worry about her mother, and Ellis could not control that.
She wondered what it would be like. She had never been proficient in neuro, and now she was glad. She didn't want to know exactly what was going to be happening to her brain. The doctor she had consulted had mentioned living in the past, and what a past she had to live in. It would be an adventure. It had all been an adventure.
She had one thing at least, whether she ever admitted it to Meredith or not, she was fairly confident that she had at least succeeded in raising her daughter. Who'd have thought that in the end that was what would matter to Ellis Grey, the great career woman, but it was. In the end, it was.
A/N Dear fix the linebreak. Thanks.
Oh, and this isn't quite over, the end will be posted before Season Three!
Review!