Meredith wasn't a weak person. She often referred to as the strong one, the one that proudly wore the heavy crown, the one with the broadest shoulders. She had to be the strong one, no normal person would be able to handle the trauma she's been through, and be safe enough to practice medicine. Living with Ellis Grey, having her father walk out on them, being completely alienated and ignored in school, being neglected by everyone that was supposed to love her, her awful nanny that was prone to emotionally abusing her, were only a few examples of the shit she went through until the day she moved out and never looked back.
She was the strong one. The one with the broad shoulders. The robot. She was the one everyone came to, because she was the one who could handle it.
So there she sat at the bar with Christina still in her arms. Although, even if she didn't want to be in a bar with Christina hugging her, she didn't know if she could get out with how hard Christina was holding onto her, like she was a buoy in the storm. Although, in all reality, this probably was Christina's storm.
She sighed as she continued to rub circles in Christina's back, and she looked over and saw a fairly uncomfortable Joe who was staring at the the pair like he couldn't tell what to do she shifted her line of sight over to where Alex and Izzie were, and the duo looked like they were getting along. Not that Meredith was complaining, Alex needed as many friends as possible because in this world, very few people would stick around to see the good guy beneath the jackass.
"Okay, okay," Meredith's attention was brought back to Christina as she pushed away from Meredith. "I'm okay, I'm okay."
"Are you sure?" Meredith asked concerned.
"Yep," Christina said and seemed to fall back into her normal persona.
"Okay, good," Meredith said as Alex stumbled over to them, very obviously drunk.
"What are you two doing?" Alex asked as he slung his arm over her shoulders startling her. "Are you even tipsy?"
"No, it takes a lot more than two tequila shots to get me drunk. I hold my liquor well," Meredith said. No wonder Alex and Izzie were getting along, they were drunk off their asses.
"Impressive," Alex said, his drink sloshing around as he tried to guide it to his mouth.
"I know, very impressive, now please tell me someone took your keys."
"Yeah, but jokes on them, I can walk," Alex slurred as he leaned on Meredith. So Alex is a huger when he's drunk. Noted.
"Or you could call a taxi, Alex. You don't have to walk," Meredith said slowly.
"Ah, where's the fun in that?"
"You are so drunk," she said and looked over at Christina. "Wanna help?"
"He is all yours, Sunshine," Christina said smirking making Meredith roll her eyes.
"Okay, drunk Alex. Perfect," Meredith mumbled and then looked around looking for their fourth party member. "Where's Izzie? Alex where is Izzie?"
"She said something about a boyfriend, but I think she's crazy," Alex slurred, still leaning on her. "You know, you two are my best friends, what would I do without you guys?"
"You'd be on the side of the road, dead. That's where you would be." Meredith looked around for Izzie praying she hadn't actually left, but the rapid movement that was Joe collapsing on the floor caught her attention.
"Shit," Meredith said as she moved quickly towards Joe with Christina not far behind, much to Alex's protest at the loss of his 'best friends'. She pulled her phone out as she checked his pulse.
"Yes, this is Dr. Meredith Shepherd, and I'm at Joe's Bar where the owner has collapsed."
Meredith got out of the ambulance to help the paramedics get Joe out of the back. Her heels, though, were making it very difficult.
"I'm fine, Meredith," Joe said as he tried to sit up only to be pushed back down by Meredith who gave him a glare for good measure.
"No, Joe. You collapsed, you are very not fine," Meredith said.
"But-"
"Zip," Meredith cut him off and made a zipping motion over her mouth and turned forward again to see her husband running out to meet them. "There you are, I was beginning to think there were no doctors. Either that or they were moving at a speed comprable to molasses."
"I was caught off guard by the fact that Meredith Shepherd and ambulance were in the same sentence, but it wasn't you on the gurney," Derek said throwing her a smirk and a trauma gown as he moved to the side of the gurney opposite her.
"Ha ha, you're hilarious, Dr. Shepherd," Meredith said putting on the trauma gown.
"Wait," Joe said. "Both of you are Dr. Shepherd?"
Meredith and Derek shot each other a look before looking forward again. "Long story," Meredith said simply.
"Uh, not really, are you married, related, or is it a coincidence?" Joe asked looking between the two.
"We're married," Derek said as the pushed the gurney with the help of Meredith and two nurses. "Now I want CT, MRI, and someone needs to start an IV. If he's dehydrated he'll need fluids. You aren't presenting any signs of a concussion, so that's good."
"That's a lot of stuff...how much is that going to be," Joe asked concerned looking between the two.
"You don't worry about that, Joe, you just let us take care of you," Meredith said giving him what she hoped was a reassuring smile before turning back to her husband. "I'll get the results to you, Dr. Shepherd."
"Basilar artery's blown up like a balloon, subarachnoid bleeding, and an aneurysm the size of a golf ball," Derek said looking over the scans and the chart before handing them back to Meredith.
"There's no way to clip something like that, unless you have magic fingers," Meredith said looking at his scans again.
"Either that or a standstill."
Meredith looked up at her husband in shock. "You're going to do a standstill?"
"I'd like to try, but first I need some more patient history, overnight labs, and a cerebral angio," Derek said.
"Oh, that's hot," Meredith said after a moment of shock and Derek smirked leaned down to kiss her to which she responded enthusiastically.
"Oh god, I need to go home," Meredith said pulling away breathless and with slightly swollen lips.
"Why?" Derek asked as he continued to kiss down her neck as his hands roamed her body.
"Because I sent Christina and Alex in a cab to the house because Alex was so drunk, he couldn't drink anymore and right now I don't want Christina alone." Meredith smiled sheepishly as Derek shot up to look at her with shock on his face.
"Yeah...we should probably go."
"Genevieve!" Meredith called as she stepped into the house with Derek not far behind. Meredith looked around nervously when she saw the sixty-year-old walk down the stairs with a smile on her face.
"I wasn't aware that I would have more charges tonight," Genevieve said as she stepped down the last step.
Meredith sighed with relief. "Please tell me that they didn't cause you too many problems."
"No," she laughed. "Adults are just like children, they are fascinated by anything new."
Meredith went upstairs while Derek payed Genevieve. She pushed open the door to see Alex Karev passed out on the floor and Christina Yang leaning against Cynthia's crib. Meredith smiled as she stepped over Alex and moved to stand next to Christina and looked down at Cynthia who smiled and grabbed at Meredith. Meredith smiled and picked up her child and Christina moved to look at her.
"You have a kid," Christina said wearing a small smile on her face watching Meredith entertain Cynthia.
"Yeah, a kid named Cynthia who's been kept up past her bed time by Auntie Christina, now how rude is that, Cyn?" Meredith cooed and Christina smiled as Cynthia gurgled and shoved a piece of hair into her mouth along with the rest of her fist.
"Auntie Christina? Really?" Christina asked, the smile not leaving her face.
"If I'm going to be your person, then you have to be mine, Auntie Chrissy," Meredith said grinning up.
"Whatever, Sunshine," Christina said and kicked Alex who groaned and rolled over to look up at the two of them.
"You never said anything about a kid, Princess," Alex slurred out pointing up at Meredith.
"You never asked, Uncle Alex," Meredith joked as she swayed and bounced Cythia under Christina's calculating gaze.
"Yes?" Meredith asked Christina.
"It's just that I should have seen this coming. You, McDreamy, and your perfect child," Christina said.
"McDreamy? Really?" Meredith asked and Christina just shrugged in response. "God, I hate you two"
Meredith walked into the hospital at three o'clock in the morning with a still tipsy Alex and Christina in tow. Her heels clicked on the marble floors as she walked through the hospital to find Christina a place to nap, Alex a banana bag, and figure out who made off with Joe's labs.
"Slow down, Princess, we all aren't as talented as you in high heels," Alex said as he stumbled behind her and Christina.
"One, if you call me Princess ever again, I'm going to hit you, two you aren't wearing high heels," Meredith said and Alex looked down at his feet with a baffled look on his face.
"Huh..."
Meredith sighed as she walked into a room and grabbed a bag and an IV needle, and went to the nearest on call room. She ordered Christina to get up top and sleep until Meredith came back and chucked a bottle of sleeping pills at her and she stuck the IV in Alex's arm and made him lay down on the bottom bed and turned out the lights as she walked out to go get Joe's labs.
Meredith sat outside Joe's room waiting on her husband to come take a look at the labs and speak to Joe. Meredith sighed as she adjusted her scrubs and tried to keep her eyes open. She hasn't slept in a day, not that she hadn't got more than two hours the week before, but now it was all starting to hit her. She was exhausted.
She yawned and then looked to see her husband and Dr. Burke walking down the hallway. She hopped up from the stool she borrowed and handed Derek the labs.
"Good Morning, Dr. Burke and Dr. Shepherd," Meredith said thinking if she was more agonizingly cheery, her body would be less tired. It wasn't working and she was getting weird looks from Burke and Derek.
"That's what I thought," Derek said after shooting her a weird look. "I think it's time we go talk to Joe."
"I agree," Burke said and followed Dr. Shepherd in and Meredith brought up the rear, yawning before going into the room and shutting the door.
"It's the location of the aneurysm that makes it tricky," Derek said and Meredith grabbed the chart to start writing stuff down.
"Your body temperature would be lowered cool enough to protect it from any damage and stop the heart," Burke explained from the other side of Joe's bed.
"Which stops blood flow to the brain and reduces the risk of rupture. Meaning I'll have 45 minutes to clip the aneurysm, before Dr. Burke steps in and gets the heart started again," Derek said and Meredith felt her eyes getting heavier
"You wanna freeze my body, drain my blood, and stop my heart?"
"And bring you back," Derek added.
"In under 45 minutes?" Joe asked looking between the two.
"Right," Burke said.
"If you go over, is it free?"
Meredith snorted and got a look from Derek before he turned around.
"No. Dr. Shepherd, you can go do the pre-op labs now," Derek said and Meredith nodded.
"Ok," Meredith said and grabbed the chart and walked out, been when she stopped to write something down real quick, she heard what came next.
"How much does something like this cost?" Joe asked.
"I don't think you should worry about that right now," Meredith heard through the door.
"Hey, look, you guys say that you can kill me and bring me back, I believe you. You're doctors, but I own a bar. I don't got any insurance so I'm not that concerned about the surgery so mush as what I'm gonna do when I survive it. I need a number. Ten grand? Twenty? Thirty?"
"It's a couple hundred at least," she heard her husband say.
"At least," Burke confirmed.
How was a man with no insurance supposed to pay for a standstill? Meredith would have to talk to Richard.
Alex had been wandering around the hospital as he was still very hung over and he couldn't find Meredith to get this stupid IV out and Christina had been dead asleep courtesy of sleeping pills.
He had been walking the halls in his hungover state for a solid hour when he came across Joe's room and remembered Meredith talking about his case. Might as well say hi.
"They told me you were in a nightgown, but I thought I'd come and see it for myself. Very nice, huh," Alex said smirking as he sat down next to Joe's bed.
"Very funny, Karev. At least I wasn't so slammed last night I didn't know which way was up," Joe retorted and Alex rolled his eyes as a nurse walked in with a very large basket.
"Whoa, who sent that?" Joe asked gesturing to the basket.
"We all pitched in. The whole floor," the nurse said smiling.
"Well, please, tell the whole floor a big thank you," Joe told her and the nurse nodded.
"Yeah, I will," she said smiling and walked out.
"Alex, you gotta get me out of here, man. Get me transferred to County Hospital, or something," Joe said.
"Oh, you don't want to go to County. Here, they can kill you and bring you back, but at County, they just know how to kill you. No joke," Alex said looking in the basket.
"I can't afford this place, man. I'm gonna lose the bar," Joe said and Alex started picking through the basket. "Okay, that's mine."
"Well first start things first, we're gonna start by saving your life, man," Alex said, eating something.
"The bar is my life, you know that. You've been at last call with me, practically every night since you moved here. I'm gonna have to shut it down or sell it," he said putting his head in his hands.
"You can't do that, the place is an institution," Alex said, eating something else.
"You know, I've owned the bar across the street for 14 years, and I've never been inside this hospital till now."
"That's probably you're first problem-"
"Alex!"
"Yeah, sorry. Look I'll pay my tab. That's gotta be good for something. How much is it?"
"Close to a grand," Joe deadpanned.
"How about I pay, like, 60? That's good, and I'll pay you back later," Alex said and Meredith sighed from outside the door. Alex's 60 dollars was not going to do a thing, despite what he thinks in his head. Meredith looked down the hall and saw just the person she needed and smiled.
"George!" Meredith called and ran to catch up to the man as she watched him whip around at the sound of his name.
"George, I need you to do something for me, and this is very important," Meredith and watched George nod his head.
"Anything. I mean, I'll do anything I can to help. What am I helping with?"
"I need you to find a way to get Joe a standstill surgery for free," Meredith said and smiled sheepishly at George.
"W-what?" George asked flabbergasted, but Meredith didn't stick around to answer any questions.
"Thanks George!" She said walking down the hall.
"Wait! Meredith wait!"
"Heya, sunshine," Joe said as he watched Christina bolt in and immediately go to the bathroom and puke her guts out. "Morning sickness must suck."
"Just so we're clear, do not breathe a word of what you heard last night to anyone. Not about me, not about Meredith, not about Meredith her marriage to Dr. McDreamy."
"I wouldn't dream of it."
"Christina? You're supposed to be sleeping," Meredith said as she walked in with Joe's chart and put it on the table before turning to look at her friend who was looking ill and standing in the bathroom doorway. "Morning sickness?"
"Oh, shut up," Christina said and Meredith sighed and turned back to the doorway when Dr. Burke walked in. Although, she didn't miss the look on Christina's face when he walked in.
"Hey, Dr. Burke," Joe said smiling.
"Joe," Burke greeted before turning to Meredith.
"Vital signs stable overnight. Today's CT shows no re-bleeding," Meredith's presentation was cut off by a yawn but she was able to get back to presenting. "The EKG shows um, normal sinus rhythm. No ischemia or dysrhythmias."
"Shepherd, are you okay?" Looking at the woman as she yawned again.
"No, no, I'm fine," she said.
"Okay...In that case, monitor him and page me if anything changes," he said and Meredith watched Burke look at her weird before leaving.
"I should be asleep?"
"Oh, hi chief. No, not much going on other than your cardio attending making out with my friend in the stairwell, and my crush asking me to ask you if you could get Joe a free procedure...a free hundred thousand dollar procedure," He said to himself as he paced outside the Cheif's office.
"Talking to yourself now?" Meredith asked as she walked up to George.
"Yes. No! damn it, I'm a bad sponge. A leaky sponge. I'm gonna leak all the wrong secrets. I'm a bad liar, I can't even lie about talking to myself. You look nice today," George spilled out and Meredith looked at him weird.
"I wore new lip gloss because my lips kept getting chapped and I'm allergic to almost all other kinds of chapstick...but thanks for noticing?" Meredith said questioningly And watched George drop his head into his hands.
"I-I'm sorry. That was a weird thing, and things just kept coming out, and I've seen a lot if weird things today and I just-"
"George," Meredith said cutting him off. "Calm down, it's fine."
"Why are you over here?" George asked her, trying to change the conversation.
"Well, when Richard never tracked me down to ask me why I'm sending minions to do my bidding and trying to get free very expensive surgeries, I assumed you hadn't told him and I should come myself. Now that I know you didn't flake out on me, why are you pacing out here?" Meredith asked
"Uh, well, can you think of any reason, any reason at all, really, why Cristina would be kissing Burke?"
"Sir?" George asked timidly as he walked into the Cheif's office on the instruction of Meredith.
"Ah, O'Malley, what can I do for you today?" Richard asked smiling up at George.
"Uh, well, I wanted to talk to you about the standstill patient, Joe," George said.
"Ah, yes, Joe, nice man. What about him?" The Cheif asked.
"Uh, well, Meredith wanted to know if there were any options for Joe...to help pay for the procedure..."
"We're operating on our patients, that's it," Richard said sitting back down. "I sympathize, I do, but solving Joe's finances is not my job, it's not your job, it's not Meredith's job, and it's sure as hell not the job either of you were assigned today."
"It just seems wrong to cut him open, sew him up, and just leave him, you know, left with nothing," George pleaded.
"If we can save his life, we'll hardly be leaving him with nothing," Richard said.
"That's as far as I can go for now, let's start cooling him," Derek said and Meredith watched as Joe was packed full with ice packs.
"Can't see much from back here, O'Malley," Dr. Bailey said in the gallery.
"I know. I'm just trying to find a loophole to help Joe. You know Joe." George said and sighed.
"Oh, yeah. I was the only female intern my year. I didn't know anybody and nobody knew me except Joe. He knew me," Dr. Bailey said and smiled.
"Oh. So, you and Joe?"
"All you people ever thing about is how to get into somebody's pants. You're nasty. That's why you got syphilis," Dr. Bailey said and smacked George in the head. "Joe was the first person here to tell me I'd make a good surgeon. Not that he knew anything about it. But it was something when I had nothing."
"That's it!" George exclaimed after he overheard Alex and Izzie talking, but only received weird looks from everyone as he ran out.
"We stop the blood flow?"
"To protect the brain. We operate in a bloodless field so the aneurysm won't rupture," Meredith said as she handed a tool to Derek.
"And cool the body?"
"To induce hypothermia. Keeps the tissue viable until the blood is restored," Meredith responded and grabbed something to hold it.
"Body temp is at 60 degrees," another doctor said.
"Ok, Joe, time to die," Burke said. He clamped the bloodline and Meredith watched someone turn off bypass and watched the heart monitor flatline.
"Flatline," the doctor said.
"All right, we've got 45 minutes, people," Derek said and they immediately got to work.
"Start the clock," Burke said and another doctor moved to start it.
45 minutes left.
"Damn it, I can't get the clamp to hold. Give me the bipolars, Shepherd, I'm gonna go in at a different angle," Derek said and Meredith handed them to him.
"Time remaining?" Burke asked.
"17 minutes," Meredith promptly responded.
"Shepherd, I'm gonna need eight minutes to get him back, to warm him up," Burke said.
"Time to make the next 17 minutes count. Right there, go in from there. See it? See, that's why we can't do it right there." Meredith nodded but felt the weight of the clock behind her, she could only imagine how Derek felt.
"He's dead, technically, which is science, and this is a huge thing. So I thought some research foundation has to have an interest in that," George told Richard.
"So, in essence, you want to donate Joe's body to science?" Richard asked.
"Yes, for educational purposes. We're a teaching hospital. The standstill surgery qualifies under the grant," George said.
"I didn't peg you for the type to ignore my instructions, O'Malley," Richard said, taking his glasses off.
"All due respect, sir, it's worth a shot. It's someone's life," George said and Ricahrd just shook his head.
"It's always someone's life, O'Malley," He said then looked back up. "You're hovering. You can leave now."
"Eight minutes."
"We need to start rewarming, Shepherd," Burke said.
"Take the bipolars, please," Derek said and Meredith grabbed them with her free hand. "Thank you."
"Shepherd, we need to start warming him up, now!" Burke said and started getting antsy.
"Hang on," Derek said and Meredith gulped.
"Now, I need it now, Shepherd."
"I can't seem to get...I just can't get behind the aneurysm. If I could get behind the aneurysm, I could, there it is. Got it. That's it," Derek said and stepped back.
"Are you sure?" Burke asked and Meredith rolled her eyes. He had just been rushing them and now was when he decided that he could take a few extra seconds?
"I'm always sure. Good work, everybody. It's all yours there, Burke," Derek said.
"Ok people, let's grab Joe before he decides to go into the light. Start warming him up. Clamps are coming off. Turn the pump on. Watch cerebral perfusion pressures. Keep M.A.P. at greater than 60, please."
"Get in here, O'Malley!" Richard shouted and George was quick to run into the office.
"Okay, I tried. I really tried, but there's a lot of stuff happening out there. Stuff I can't tell you. Stuff I won't tell you. Crazy stuff. Stuff I'm gonna have nightmares about. But I'm not gonna tell you about any of it. Because it doesn't matter. Not when there's a guy out there who we all know and love who's gonna be bankrupt because he needed a surgery to save his life. And I spent the whole day working on it, well, at the request of Meredith..."
"O'Malley," Richard said but was stopped.
"Let me finish...You're wrong, sir. Now you can fire me, or, you know, bring me up on disciplinary action or whatever. I'm telling you, Joe deserves-"
"Deserves our help," Richard finished. "Couldn't help yourself, could you? Whether or not it'd win you any points, even from me. I signed your request. Give it to Patricia, she'll know what to do with it. Looks like Joe may keep his bar after all."
"Thank you, sir," George said nodding, shocked that he had done it.
"O'Malley!" He called and George whipped back around. "Yell at me again, and I'll snap you like a twig."
"Yes, sir," George said with wide eyes and practically ran out of the room.
"Richard?" Meredith asked as she stuck her head in the chief's office.
"One, O'Malley got Joe a free surgery," Richard said and watched the smile grow on her face. "Two, I hear it was majorly attributed to your persistence. Next time, don't send minions to do your bidding."
"Yes, sir!" Meredith said and then did a little happy dance once she left the office.
"Having fun, Happy Feet?"
Meredith whipped around and a giant smile broke out on her face once she saw who had spoken.
"Addie! Mark!" She said then ran at the two of them and pulled them into a hug.
"Hey, sis, you're happy," Mark said and smiled at the redhead.
"Of course I am, today's been a great day, and you two just made it better. What are you doing here?" Meredith asked stepping back and putting her hands on her hips.
"Well, this is our new place of employment, so I don't know why we wouldn't be here," Addison said and smiled at Meredith.
"Wait, you are gonna work here!" Meredith said and Addison nodded enthusiastically.
"Oh my gosh, this is great!" Meredith said and pulled them both in for a hug again.
"Well, Mrs. Shepherd, I hate to say this, but Mrs. Sloan and I must go talk to your cheif about tomorrow, so I guess we'll see you then?"
"Yep, I'm in call," Meredith said giddy. "We'll have to get dinner together sometime."
"Of course, Little Miss," Mark said and hugged her. "But for now, farewell."
"Bye, sissy," Addison said and hugged her too.
"Bye, guys," Meredith said and walked back down the catwalk, her day even better. What she didn't see is that George had seen the whole thing.
Meredith yawned again as she sat in the lobby waiting for her husband to arrive, but unfortunately only saw Christina and Alex...coming right for her.
"Hey, uh, Mer," Christina said as she and Alex stood nervously in front of her.
"Um, what's up?" Meredith asked and yawned.
"Um, is there a reason the entire hospital is talking about how you and Dr. Shepherd are married?" Alex asked nervously. That woke Meredith up.
"What!"
"We were walking by a nurses station and we overheard them talking about how it was spread amongst the interns that you two were married. Apparently someone saw someone call you Mrs. Shepherd," Christina said.
Meredith leaned back in her chair, her jaw slack. Someone had eavesdropped on her, Mark, and Addison's conversation. Shit.
"Oh god..." Meredith said and dropped her head in her hands.
"Here comes McDreamy. Get up, Mer." Meredith allowed Christina to drag her to her feet and saw Derek speed walking towards her, slinging his bag over his shoulder.
"Why is everyone looking at me weird?" Derek asked as he approached his wife and her friends. Christina and Alex looked nervously between each other but Meredith just looked miserable standing in between them.
"They know we are married," Meredith said.
"Oh...how did they-"
"I was talking to Addison and Mark, who are here by the way, and Mark called me Mrs. Shepherd and someone heard."
"Mark and Addison are here?" Derek asked.
"Yeah, they got jobs here and didn't even call once," Meredith said.
"That's weird," Derek said.
"Um, who are Mark and Addison?" Christina asked looking between the two.
"Oh, they are friends of ours. They just moved here apparently," Meredith said and sighed. "We should go."
"Yeah, you're right," Derek said and pulled out the keys.
"Bye guys," Meredith said as she and Derek walked out of the hospital.
"We're totally screwed, aren't we?" Meredith asked once they got a fair distance away from the hospital.
"Oh, there's no way we aren't."