After a week of having Doc, Meredith kind of regretted getting him. She'v been having trouble training him, and he'v been tearing up paper and shoes; his favorite, Meredith's slippers.

Maybe I wasn't ready for this, Meredith thought.

Meredith left Doc at home while she went to her coffee shop to bring her mother a coffee to the hospital. She actually ran into Derek when she approached the elevator since he was waiting for it as well.

"Hi." Meredith smiled.

Derek glanced off his phone and smiled. "Hi." The elevator dinged and they both went in, heading up to the same floor. "So if I ask, could I get coffee delivered too? Or is it just a family thing you do?"

"Mainly a family thing, but maybe I'll be nice and one day bring you one too. I sometimes bring scones or muffins for everyone else, though; leave them in the attending lounge. I haven't lately. I've been busy. I got a dog."

"You know what? I love dogs."

"Yeah? I'm having seconds thoughts about getting him. I sometimes do impulsive things, so adopting this dog was an impulsive move of mine."

The elevator dinged and the doors opened. They both stepped out and headed in the same direction.

"Well if you need help, I'll gladly offer my services. Dogs love me." Derek proudly said. "You should bring him up to my land; take him hiking."

"Thanks for the offer." Meredith saw her mother working on the OR Board and walked over to her. "Hi, mom."

"Not now, Meredith." Ellis snapped.

"Your coffee. I'll just leave it at the nurse's station." Meredith was waved off by her mother.

Meredith went up to the OR gallery to watch another surgery since she was free. Sometimes Meredith does wonder what'd it be like to actually operate. She finds watching surgeries to be exciting and fascinating, even when she was a child, but she wonders how it actually feels cutting into someone. Sometimes she regrets not becoming a doctor, but then again she's happy with her coffee shop; being her own boss; being able to work her own hours. If she was a doctor, she'd be working awful hours, especially as an intern and resident. At least as an attending, you see your bed each night, even if you get called during the night to come in.

Meredith left the gallery in the middle of surgery. She was walking passed the CT room and saw Derek in there getting scans on his patient. Meredith walked further into the room to get a better look at the scans.

"That's a big tumor." Meredith said.

Derek turned around and leaned back into his chair, sighing. "It is. The problem is, it's inoperable. I could operate and try to get all of it, but I would either kill him in the process or paralyze him."

The man was in his forties, with a tumor wrapped around his spine. Derek could either kill the man or paralyze him by clipping the wrong cord.

"He's going to die anyways, why not try?" Meredith asked.

"He should be able to spend the remainder of his life with his family and kids; he still has a few months."

"But if you get all of the tumor, he'll have forever."

"Are you a doctor?" Derek asked.

"I didn't go to medical school, but I probably know more than your stupid interns." Meredith said. "I basically grew up here; been watching surgeries since I could remember in the gallery. Mom was always reading me medical books instead of princess fairy tales when she was around; instead of playing with dolls, I played surgeon."

"So why didn't you become a doctor?"

"I told you when you asked why I opened a coffee shop. I wanted to be my own person; not follow my world class mother. I would have been always compared to her, and I didn't want that." Meredith explained. "And I didn't want to work these crazy hours."

"Yeah..." Derek looked back at the scans and sighed, getting up from the chair. "I should go tell his family."

"Wait." Meredith followed him out of the room. "You did offer me help this morning, and I'd like to take you up on that offer; say maybe this weekend if you're not working?" She asked. "I think if I want to keep Doc, I'll need help training him."

Derek nodded and smiled. "Okay, this weekend."

"Okay." She smiled. "Bye Derek."

The weekend had come. Derek had actually come to pick Meredith up from her shop because he thought it'd be easier for her, since it's not that easy to get up to his land. Meredith gave Derek a coffee that was of course on the house again as a thank you for helping her with her dog, since she knows nothing on training a dog.

Meredith couldn't believe the land that Derek owned. It had an amazing view. The only thing she had a problem with was that it was basically in the forest and she'd probably get scared sleeping there alone; like someone is going to pop out and kill her.

"So all of this is yours?" Meredith asked.

"It is. I just don't know what to do with it all." Derek said. "I'm thinking about possibly building a house if I decide to stay permanently here. So at the moment I live in this trailer." He gestured behind them. "I'm happy with it; it's enough for me at the moment."

"This must be a huge change if you came from New York."

"It was time for a change; for a new life; a new start."

Doc started to pull on the leash, jolting Meredith forward almost causing her to fall. "So you said you're good with dogs? Can you turn this monster into an angel for me?"

Meredith and Derek went on a small hike together with the dog on his land. Apparently the dog was nicer and more obedient to Derek, which did upset Meredith to some extent. But then again, dogs are good at judging people's characters. If Derek didn't seem like a nice guy, Doc would had probably been mean or more aggressive. By the end of the day, Meredith came to the conclusion that Doc simply doesn't like her, or at least his judge in character of her.

Meredith and Derek were sitting in chairs outside his trailer watching as the sun set over the mountains. "So does pizza deliver out here?"

"I'd hope so." Derek said. "But I don't know; haven't tried."

"Why did you choose to live way out here? What if you get a 911, as in you need to get to the hospital within minutes or your patient will die? It's like an hour ferry ride; and then another thirty minutes to get up here."

"Maybe I should buy a helicopter then; get to the hospital in ten minutes." He joked. "On a serious note, I wanted a change from the city life. My realtor showed me this land, and I couldn't pass it up." Derek looked around. "It's kind of big for just me, though. So who knows if I'll stay or what I'll do with all of it. But it's nice not having to hear cars constantly, see the city lights, and just have quiet. You know in New York, I never could see the stars. Now it's all I see."

"Yeah." Meredith looked up at the sky. "Maybe you'll find someone to share this land with; grow a family with."

Derek took a sip of his beer and smiled. "One day."

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