Thank you for the reviews. Please continue to let me know what you think.

CHAPTER FOUR

Meredith stood outside Thatcher Grey's room, peering through the blinds on the window of the door.

"You going in?" Meredith jumped, a little startled when she heard Lexie's voice.

"I… uh…" Meredith stammered.

"It's okay," Lexie said, joining Meredith at the door and peering through the blinds as well. "I don't know what to say either." Meredith sighed.

"You go in," she said to Lexie. Meredith turned to leave.

"He's your dad too!" Lexie protested. "I don't want you to have any regrets." Meredith looked at her father again. She was torn.

"Look, Lexie," Meredith said. "I don't mean any disrespect but he's not my dad. He's my father but he isn't my dad." She turned to walk away again.

"Please," Lexie said in a pleading voice that sounded almost desperate. "I can't do this alone." Meredith turned back to face Lexie who's eyes were filled with tears. "I need to go in there and Molly's in Florida. She spoke to Dad on the phone before. I know you don't wanna be my sister but right now I really need a sister." Meredith didn't say anything for a moment. She felt genuinely sorry for Lexie.

"Okay," Meredith said quietly. Lexie opened the door and Meredith reluctantly followed. Just as they entered the room Lexie grabbed onto Meredith's hand for support. Meredith gave it a supportive squeeze and tried to hide her nerves as they entered Thatcher's room. Meredith stood close to the door, ready to make run for it if she had to while Lexie went over to Thatcher and gave him a kiss on the forehead. Meredith looked away uncomfortably.

Lexie launched into a fast paced speech of seemingly everything she ever wanted to tell her father. All good things. Nothing about his mood swings, his alcohol abuse or the way that he had treated her ever since her mother had passed away, Meredith listened as she stared at her feet.

"Meredith…" Thatcher said in a quiet voice when Lexie had finished. Meredith raised her head and rested her eyes on her fragile looking father. "I'm sorry for everything," he said to her. Meredith swallowed hard. She hadn't expected this. "Meredith?" Thatcher said, puzzled at her blank expression.

"Okay…" Meredith stammered, unsure of what else to say. Thatcher gave Meredith a look that she had never seen him give her before; the look that a loving father gives his daughter. He stretched his arms out in front of him.

"Come here, sweetheart," he said. Meredith looked at Lexie, panicked.

"I uh…" Meredith stammered. She backed away further towards the door. "I have this patient and I have to… go." Meredith grasped the handle of the door behind her, turned and made a hasty exit.

Meredith went to the surgeon's lounge and sat on the couch, fearing that her knees would buckle if she remained standing.

"Hey," Derek said from the coffee machine. Meredith had been in such a state that she hadn't noticed him. "I'm just getting some caffeine in to me before the surgery." He noticed Meredith's stunned expression. "You saw him?" Meredith nodded. Derek slowly walked to the couch and took a seat next to Meredith, waiting for her to pull away. She didn't. "Do you wanna tell me what happened?"

"He talked to me like I was his daughter," Meredith said in disbelief. "For the first time in my life he gave me that look." She shrugged as if she didn't care. "It was probably the morphine kicking in. Or maybe he snuck some alcohol in here."

"Maybe he meant it," Derek suggested, nervous about saying something since it was the first time that Meredith had opened up to him for as long as he could remember. Meredith sighed.

"I've been doing just fine not feeling a thing for him for so long and now he goes and does this to me," she said staring at her feet. "I shouldn't have even gone in there."

"I don't think you should watch the surgery," Derek said. He rested his hand against Meredith's back and soothingly rubbed it. She didn't resist.

"I don't wanna watch," Meredith said.

"Good," Derek said, giving her the McDreamy look. "Why don't you go home and we'll keep you informed?"

"You don't have to," Meredith said, again pretending not to care. "I hardly know the guy remember… but I think I'll go home anyway. I have things to do."

"Good," Derek said with a little smile. Being able to concentrate one hundred percent on Thatcher's surgery meant not having to worry where Meredith was.

"Doctor Shepherd," Cristina said, entering the surgeon's lounge. She stopped when she saw Derek and Meredith sitting close together on the couch. "Oh… sorry," she said, feeling guilty for intruding.

"Don't be," Derek said. "What is it?"

"The OR is prepped and Mister Grey is ready for surgery."

"Thank you, Doctor Yang," Derek said with a little smile. Cristina gave her person a quick look to make sure that she was going to be okay and headed to the OR.

"Go do your surgery," Meredith said, still looking at her feet. Derek gently touched Meredith's chin and tilted it up so that she was looking into his calming eyes. They were just as inviting as they'd always been. Derek leaned in for a moment and it seemed as though he was going to kiss her on the lips. Meredith's heart raced as he leant in towards her and kissed her on the forehead.

"We'll talk soon," he said gently. Meredith nodded as she watched Derek leave. She closed her eyes and laid down on the couch, hoping that if she wished for it hard enough, the whole day would be erased.

"Okay people, it's a beautiful night to save lives. Let's have some fun," Derek said to his surgical team, comprised of Cristina, Izzie and their interns as well as several specialist nurses. "Doctor Stevens, would you like to make the first incision?"

&&&

"Meredith?" George called out as he arrived home. She had left Seattle Grace without giving her interns further instructions and he had been forced to take charge for the remainder of the evening. "Whoa," he said, stepping back as he noticed how extremely clean the house was. The floors had been polished, the piles of washing on the couch had been removed, and everything looked extra shiny. "Mer?" George asked, nervously. In the entire time that he had lived with Meredith he had never seen her clean. George went up the stairs and when he reached the top he found Meredith polishing the railing.

"Oh hi, George," she said with a big smile.

"Hey," George said nervously. "What ya doing?"

"Cleaning," Meredith replied as she polished.
"Mer… you don't clean," George said, watching the woman standing before him and wondering when she'd bring back Meredith.

"You left us interns in the lurch today," George said.

"Oh I'm sorry. I really had to clean," Meredith answered with another smile.

"I'll be right back," George said, starting to freak out. He went back downstairs and called Izzie's phone. Alex answered it from the gallery. "I need to speak to Izzie," George demanded before Alex could say anything.

"Dude, she's in surgery with Shepherd. It's awesome," Alex said, not taking his eyes off the procedure that he was witnessing for the first time.

"I NEED to speak to her," George said, almost yelling.

"She's standing over Meredith's dad's open brain, O'Malley," George said.

"Alex, I'm serious," George said.

"You owe me," Alex said, put out, as he went down the stairs and into the scrub room. He opened the door and called out to Izzie who approached him, not amused.

"What is it?" she hissed.

"George," Alex replied, holding the phone up to Izzie's ear.

"What?" Izzie asked George into the phone.

"Meredith's cleaned the whole house, she's smiling and laughing and…. Oh God now she's started singing and I don't know what to do," George said, panicked.

"What?" Izzie asked. It was an unexpected announcement.

"I said she's singing," George said desperately.

"Um… well…" Izzie tried to think of what she'd do. "She might wanna lie down soon. Clean the bathroom floor."

"I don't have to. She already did that!" George said exasperated.

"I… I have to go," Izzie said. "Just keep an eye on her okay?"

"But-" Izzie nodded to Alex who hung up the phone and Izzie went back into surgery.

"Everything alright, Stevens?" Derek asked.

"Sure," Izzie replied, a little too happily. Cristina knew that something was up.

&&&

Four hours later Cristina Yang went to the interns' locker room and found Lexie sitting alone on the bench.

"Please don't have any bad news," Lexie said tearfully, looking up at Cristina.

"No, it went really well. Better than we expected," Cristina said. "Have you been sitting here alone all this time?"

"I didn't know where to go," Lexie confessed. "Can I see him?"

"Sure," Cristina said, nodding, finding herself feeling sorry for Lexie but trying not to show it. "He's in ICU, he's unconscious and we don't know if he's suffered any brain damage as of yet but so far it's more than we'd hoped for."

"Good," Lexie said nodding.

"Where are you sleeping tonight?" Cristina asked, tying to sound casual. Lexie shrugged. "I can't go back to his house. Probably here."

"I have a couch if you want it," Cristina said. "It's really comfortable. I mean… I guess you could sleep there."

"Thanks," Lexie said appreciatively. She knew what a big deal it was for her resident to offer her anything.

&&&

George had been sitting by the fireplace in the living room, clearly freaked out by Meredith's bout of domesticity. He jumped up, startled when the doorbell rang. He opened it to find Derek standing there.

"Hey, George," Derek said. He stepped inside. "Whoa," he said, taking in the immaculate cleanliness of the house. "Been doing some cleaning?"

"Not me," George said, pointing to the top of the stairs where Derek could faintly hear Meredith humming.

"Is she?..." Derek asked, concerned before heading up the stairs and into Meredith's room where she was cleaning a mirror. "Meredith?" Derek asked, surprised. We all deal with bad news in different ways, he told himself.

"Hey," Meredith said, her voice sounding worried. She turned to face Derek in all seriousness. The cleaning spree had been a distraction from what she didn't want to think about all night. Now she had to face reality.

"He made it through the surgery," Derek said. "He's in ICU." Meredith breathed a sigh of relief. She couldn't believe how relieved she felt. Her breathing became more rapid as she stopped and took in the events of the day. "Mer?" Derek asked, concerned. Meredith leant against the wall for support. She was starting to hyperventilate. "Hey," Derek said softly, resting his strong hands on her shoulders and looking deep into her eyes. "Take slow deep breaths," he said softly. He pulled Meredith close to him. She rested her head against his muscular chest and breathed deeply in time with his heart beat. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tightly.

"Stay the night," she whispered.