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CHAPTER SEVEN
Meredith's eyes snapped open when the alarm went off. She had been in such a deep sleep that she had to remember where she was. George and Izzie stirred awake, moaning in protest at the alarm before forcing their exhausted bodies to sit up.
"Are you getting up?" Izzie asked Meredith, yawning. Meredith didn't answer. "Mer?" Meredith sighed and got out of bed, clearly frustrated.
"What's wrong?" George asked her. "Did you remember something? Did you have another dream?"
"No," Meredith said, annoyed. "I slept soundly all night and I didn't remember a thing."
"Maybe tonight then," Izzie said encouragingly.
"Yeah maybe," Meredith replied. "You guys go ahead. I'll meet you at the hospital. I'll be a little bit late."
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"You shouldn't be so hard on yourself, Meredith," Doctor Walter, Meredith's Psychiatrist, said to her at their morning session. "You had three separate flashbacks in one day. That's excellent progress." Meredith didn't look convinced. "You need to let them come naturally," Doctor Walter said. "Don't force it or nothing will happen. What do you remember?"
"I'm a kid, little," Meredith started. "And I have this feeling of dread. I'm looking for my mother. In the last flashback I ended up on the other side of her room, the door opened and I woke up."
"You didn't see what was in the room?" Doctor Walter asked. Meredith shook her head.
"I just wake up feeling sick," Meredith confessed. She sighed, annoyed. "I made this list when I was in hospital of how I can turn my life around and I feel that if I don't address everything then I can't begin to move on."
"It takes time," Doctor Walter said. "Just go about your day, don't think about it too much and it'll come to you." Doctor Walter didn't say it but she was proud that Meredith was talking. "Okay, sit back and we'll try some more hypnosis."
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An hour later, Meredith arrived at Seattle Grace. She braced herself for what she thought would be a baptism of fire; gossiping nurses, curious glances and eventually a confrontation with Derek. She wasn't incorrect in her predictions. Meredith did her best to ignore the stares from Seattle Grace staff and went to the interns' locker room where she overheard her interns gossiping. She stood around the corner out of sight and listened.
"You think you know someone," one of them said. "Didn't we have that overdose last week? From the same drug? What an idiot."
"Maybe she's not a true Grey after all," another one chimed in.
"If Ellis Grey could see her little girl now… ah she'd be so proud!" the third intern said. They all laughed.
"I wonder who she slept with to keep her job!"
"How about you leave Meredith alone!" Meredith heard George stick up for her. "She's been a great teacher, she's helped us and stayed back with us when she didn't have to but she did it because she cared. And this is how you repay her!" George was getting very fired up. Meredith decided to step in.
"Good morning," she said with a fake smile, stepping around the corner.
"How… how long have you been standing there?" one of the interns stammered.
"Long enough," Meredith said, unamused. Her interns, with the exception of George, looked terrified. None of them said a word.
"You obviously don't want me teaching you today so you can learn from someone else," Meredith said. "Bailey wants help in the clinic so two of you can go there, one of you can organise surgical files and one of you can do rectal exams. I don't care who does what but none of you are scrubbing in on any surgeries today." Meredith's interns looked annoyed but didn't dare speak up. "George, you're with me," Meredith added. "Now go!" Meredith's interns rushed out of the locker mumbling their apologies. When they were gone Meredith gave George a little smile.
"They're idiots," George said. "They didn't know what they were talking about."
"No, I'm the idiot," Meredith said. "I don't blame them for gossiping.
"Then why'd you send them on crappy jobs for the day?"
"To teach them not to gossip about anyone," Meredith answered. "Look at how much trouble we got in as interns. You obviously learned your lesson," she said, admiring George's loyalty. "Come ride with me."
&&&
"Where do you want me, Chief?" Meredith asked with pretend enthusiasm when she spotted Richard Webber in the hall.
"No surgeries for you today," Richard said sternly. Meredith looked disappointed.
"Sorry, George," she said glumly.
"Doctor Sloane's about to start a procedure," Richard told George. "Tell him I want you to scrub in as his intern."
"Yes, Sir, thank you," George said gratefully. He gave Meredith a smile and squeezed her hand for support before heading to the OR.
"So what, do I sit in the gallery all day?" Meredith asked.
"You can, but first I want you to help Doctor Shepherd with Mr. Williamson's discharge. He needs a final examination." Meredith looked hesitant. Seth's father! She thought to herself. "Is there a problem?" Richard asked sternly.
"No, Chief," Meredith said. She went to the neurological ward and braced herself. Meredith entered Mister Williamson's room and found Seth and Derek talking.
"Doctor Grey," Derek said, surprised to see Meredith back.
"Meredith," Seth said with a smile. "All better now are we?" Meredith looked away uncomfortably. Derek looked at Seth confused, wondering why they were on a first a name basis.
"I've finished Mister Williamson's discharge examination. He's good to go home on what conditions, Doctor Grey?"
"He mustn't drive or work until he has a follow up exam and Doctor Shepherd gives permission to do so. The first exam is in approximately six weeks."
"Correct," Derek said. "I see no reason for you to go. You're a free man, Mister Williamson." Derek and Meredith turned to leave.
"Meredith!" Seth shouted after her. Meredith stopped, thinking that she had almost made it out unscathed. "Can I ask you something in private?"
"Sure," Meredith replied, trying to sound professional. She and Seth went around a corner.
"What are you doing tonight?" Seth asked keenly.
"I dunno," Meredith said, slightly annoyed. "Studying, I guess."
"Come out with me," Seth said. He handed Meredith a flyer. "It's a new club on the outskirts of Seattle. I've got some new stuff to spice up your life. It's gonna be awesome." Meredith couldn't believe what she was hearing.
"I almost died!" She said. "I don't want anything to do with you or your drugs, Seth!"
"You're a wild child, Meredith. Don't fight it." Suddenly Seth was knocked to the floor by a single punch. Meredith gasped and stood back to see Derek clenching his fist and glaring at Seth with pure hatred.
