Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy….not yet anyways. (haha jk)

Author's Note: Thanks again for the reviews! Sorry for the delay in updating…it's been a busy couple of days. But, now I have time again, so yay! Thanks so much for hanging in there!


Chapter 4: I'll Always Be Here For You

Izzie's car was barely to a stop in the driveway before Meredith hopped out into the rain and ran up to the front door, Patrick's hand held tightly in her own. Without knocking (it was still her house, after all), she wrenched open the door and was inside before Izzie had even properly parked.

She was not too surprised to discover that the house looked mostly the same. The same familiar smell filled her nostrils as she closed the front door, and the furniture and decorating had not changed. But, she wasn't visiting here to look for changes in the house. Her eyes were immediately drawn to the living room couch, where a huddled figure sat in despair.

"Christina," Meredith stated sadly. She gently let go of Patrick's hand and rushed over to her side. She was wrapped up in a blanket, surrounded by Kleenex, and her face was soaked with tears. She held onto the blanket with one hand and clutched a few Kleenex in the other.

Without another word, Meredith sat next to her and pulled her into a tight embrace. Christina sobbed even louder and collapsed her head onto Meredith's shoulder, like someone who had given up on the world.

Izzie closed the front door and attempted to wring some of the rainwater out of her long hair. She said something about muffins to Patrick and led him into the kitchen. Meredith continued to sit there with Christina, who sobbed steadily.

After a few minutes, Christina was able to speak enough to force out a few syllables. "Mer," she whispered, her voice shaky and raspy. "When did you…?" Her voice trailed off, and the momentary quiet and stillness was broken by renewed sobs. "He's gone! I c-can't believe it!"

"Shh," Meredith said gently. "I'm here for you now."


After a great deal more sobbing, Meredith helped Christina upstairs so she could rest in one of the bedrooms. Although the downstairs looked mostly the same, the upstairs was a different story.

Meredith's bedroom was vacated and uninhabited. It was relatively empty except for the bed, dresser, and a few moving boxes in the corner, filled with items that Meredith didn't want to bring to Boston. Although she said that someone else could take the vacant room, her past roommates left it empty.

About two years ago, George got married and moved in with his wife. Alex had moved into George's old room.

Meredith led Christina into her past bedroom. She helped Christina get settled in, and walked out to the hallway, closing the door behind her.

Back in the kitchen, Patrick was happily eating a chocolate muffin and drinking a glass of milk. Meredith ruffled his thick head of black hair and sighed deeply. She wished she could be more helpful to Christina. Sure, she had to grieve after the fiasco of Derek choosing Addison, but that pain was much different than the pain of someone actually dying. Meredith's mother had died the previous year, but her past with her mother and her mother's Alzheimer changed the situation quite a bit.

Meredith sat heavily down at the table next to Patrick. She felt exhausted and drained. The combination of Christina's grief and being back in Seattle was overwhelming. She ran her hands distractedly through her hair and massaged her aching temples.

It looked like she and Patrick were going to be staying for at least a few days. Luckily, she had thought to bring an overnight bag for herself and Patrick, in case the heart recovery took longer than anticipated. But, she would need to buy some more clothes and things for them if they were to stay any longer than a night or two.

After Meredith forced herself to eat something, Alex got home from his shift at the hospital. Once he realized that she and Meredith would be staying for a couple of days, he graciously gave up his bedroom and offered to change the sheets for them. Both taken aback and pleasantly surprised by this offer (when did Alex get so nice? Meredith wondered), she accepted.

After helping Patrick get changed and settled into bed, Meredith took a hot shower with hopes that it might give her back some of the energy that seemed to have disappeared since she returned to Seattle.

Twenty minutes later, she was dressed in her Dartmouth shirt and sweatpants and was towel-drying her hair in the bathroom.

"Mer?" Izzie called, knocking softly on the door. "You have a visitor."


A/N: There wasn't much action in this chapter, but I wanted to give some background about what everyone has been doing and what has happened since Meredith moved to Boston. I know that some of you were upset that I killed off Burke, but it was necessary for the plot. In this chapter, I wanted to focus on the friendship between Meredith and Christina, and I also wanted to emulate the grief that Christina was enduring at the end of the very-depressing season 3 finale. Please tell me what you think! I promise that there will be more action in the next chapter!