"Wait for me in the car. I just have to make a quick phone call," Lexie says.
"Okay. I'm going to call Izzie and see how she's feeling. Yesterday was veil and tiara day. She's probably updating my site with embarrassing pictures as we speak," Meredith says.
"I don't think so, Mer. Didn't she have surgery today?"
"Yes. But that's what Izzie does after surgery. She calls caterers and updates that scary website of hers," Meredith says.
"Okay. I'll be back in a minute!" Lexie says, happily.
Meredith dials Izzie's cell phone, even though Izzie keeps telling her to just call her hospital room phone. There is something about dialing a hospital room number and getting Izzie on the other end that unnerves her so she sticks to the cell phone.
"Hello?" a weak voice answers.
"Iz? It's me. How are you feeling?" Meredith asks.
"That depends. Did you look at the pictures of flowers that I sent you?" Izzie asks.
"No. I didn't have a chance. I'm sorry," Meredith says.
"Then I'm feeling really weak and cancery and the chemo is just awful. I actually feel like I might die," Izzie says, pathetically.
"I'll show them to Lexie when we go to the park. Maybe she can help me pick them out," Meredith sighs.
"The park?" Izzie says, sounding excited. "So you're scouting out places to have the pre-wedding photos? That's great! Yay! You're getting in the spirit!"
"Actually, Iz…ummm…Lexie's taking me to the park because well…I never got to go as a child," Meredith says, embarrassed.
"Okay…see, Mer…now I know you think I'm dying, because you would never admit anything so ridiculous if you thought I was going to be around to mock you for it. You didn't get to go to the park as a child so you're going now? At night? In the rain? When you should be looking at flowers?" Izzie asks.
"It's a long story," Meredith offers meekly.
"Lexie told me that your dad visited. This isn't the time to get all dark and twisty, Mer. It's 4 days until your wedding! This is the time to be happy. Bright, shiny…happy…" Izzie says.
"Lexie thinks this will make me happy," Meredith says.
"Go on the swings. I like swings," Izzie says.
"Swings. Okay. I'll go on the swings," Meredith says.
"And Meredith?" Izzie says.
"If I don't make it to the wedding because the stress of your lack of wedding enthusiasm causes my cancer to grow at a rapid rate, make sure you wear the shoes I picked out for you…well one of the pairs. You have to try them all on with the dress. They're really pretty and perfect and one of them is the right one…" Izzie says, manipulatively.
"I'm hanging up now…" Meredith says.
"Be nice…or I'll post bad things about you on your wedding website…" Izzie says, smiling.
Meredith hangs up the phone and smiles. She is grateful for all that Izzie is doing. More than anything, she is grateful that she has this to give to Izzie. Planning the wedding seems to be keeping her going.
Lexie climbs into the drivers seat. "Okay. Mission accomplished. Let's go!"
As they drive to the park, Lexie starts explaining to Meredith about the park they are going to.
"And they have a swingset. You can swing as high as you want. And then there's a slide…a big one and a little one. You can start on the little one and then graduate to the big one if you're scared of the big one at first. And then there's the climbing stuff. Just be careful because if it's wet you can fall off and once…when I was about 5, I fell of the…" Lexie stops rambling when Meredith cuts her off.
"Lexie. Stop! I said I never got to go to the park as a child. I graduated top of my class in medical school. I know what a park is. I know what swings are. I know that wet climbing equipment is slippery. And I am pretty sure that I'm not going to be scared of the slide that the average 4 year old goes down without a problem," Meredith says, laughing.
Lexie giggles embarrassed. "Sorry. I guess I just got excited," she says.
"As long as you don't create a 'Meredith goes to the park' website…we're okay," Meredith says.
Lexie laughs. "Izzie did a great job on your wedding website. Oh wait…I forgot to tell you about the sandbox. We can make sandcastles. One time, I won a contest on the beach when I made a sandcastle that looked like an ice cream sundae. I mean, we all made it. My mom, dad, Molly and I. We made a big ice cream sundae because every year when we'd go on vacation that was our tradition. Ice cream sundaes on the beach. Molly cried when the wave washed away a few of the scoops of ice cream. She named each flavor of each sand scoop!" Lexie says, laughing at the memory.
"It sounds like you guys had fun," Meredith says, feeling that dark cloud wash over her again.
"We're here! And it stopped raining!" Lexie says, happily.
Suddenly Meredith feels stupid. Why did she allow Lexie to convince her that this was a good idea? What was she hoping to gain? Her childhood was over. She was a grown woman. A doctor. What was she going to do at a park in the middle of the night?
"Lexie, let's go. This is…" Meredith begins to protest.
"Hey look! There's two cute little girls at the park. Excuse me little girl, can we play with you?" Mark says, tapping Lexie on the shoulder.
Derek comes up behind Meredith and covers her eyes. "Derek!" she says, uncovering her eyes as he spins her around and pulls her into a big embrace.
"What are you doing here?" Meredith asks, laughing.
Derek shrugs casually. "What? Can't a man sometimes hang out in parks at night?"
"Ummm…yeah. But they usually get arrested for that type of behavior," Meredith says, smiling.
"Mark…did you bring it?" Lexie asks.
"I sure did. You can all applaud when I'm done," Mark says proudly, holding up a shiny key.
"What is that? The key to the porto potty?" Derek asks.
"Don't mock the key, Shepherd. You all wait here. I'm going to make it day time around here…" Mark says.
"What is he doing?" Meredith asks Lexie.
"Showing off. It's what Sloan always does," Derek chimes in.
"He's turning on the lights. There are these really bright lights here that they used to use for the little league night games. It makes the place seem like it's daytime even in the pitch dark." Lexie explains.
"How did he get the key to the park?" Derek asks.
"He operated on the mayor's daughter after she got into a biking accident and crushed her jaw bone. Mark reconstructed her face, so the mayor always said if there was ever anything he needed he could call him. Mark called in a favor for me," Lexie says, proudly.
"So he called the mayor at 9:00pm and said, 'Hello, this is Dr. Sloan. I want to go to the park?'" Meredith says, stifling a laugh.
Lexie smiles and puts her arm around Mark's waist. "That's my Mark!" she says, happily.
Derek whispers to Meredith. "You've got to stop her. She's going to make his head so big I'm going to have to treat him for hydrocephalus!"
Meredith nods in agreement.
All of a sudden, the lights get bright and the droplets of water from the previous rain glisten on the playground equipment.
"So you're a virgin…" Derek says.
"What?" Meredith asks, looking at him like he's slightly insane.
"A park virgin. You're a park virgin," he says. He turns to Lexie. "Lexie, your sister is a park virgin. It won't do to have her first experience be all wet and messy. Mark and I brought some towels. We're going to wipe down the equipment before we all play," Derek says, chivalrously.
As he runs off to find Mark, Lexie says, "The park is beautiful at night. Maybe you should get married in the park!"
Meredith rolls her eyes. "You can't have a wedding in a park, Lexie! What if my tiara fell in the sand," Meredith says, imitating Izzie.
Lexie laughs. "Maybe I'll get married in the park," she says.
"You get Mark Sloan to tie the knot, and I'll wear any color bridesmaid dress you want, at any park you want!" Meredith says.
Derek and Mark return tossing their towels on a bench.
Lexie takes charge. "We're going to go on the swings first!" she says, sounding like an excited child.
Meredith rolls her eyes at Derek. "Do you think she's really that excited or is this an act?"
"Oh no, Mer…this is a park. A place where happy, excited children play. There is no dark and twisty here. It's a bright, shiny park…" he says, teasing.
Meredith and Lexie sit on the swings. Lexie starts to swing as high as she can. Meredith swings halfheartedly.
"Mer! Pump your feet! Like this! It's fun! Derek…give her a push!" Lexie orders.
"Is she always this bossy?" Derek whispers to Mark.
"Nah…she's the boss at the park, but I'm the boss where it counts," Mark says, proudly.
"Yeah…right." Derek replies.
Meredith feels the rush of the wind against her face as she pumps her feet and then swings back and feels the push of Derek's hands. She feels exhilarated and throws her head back and laughs.
"This is great! It's like the feeling you get when you make your first incision!" Meredith says, laughing.
"I bet I can make Little Grey go higher than Big Grey!" Mark says to Derek.
"You're on…" Derek retorts.
Derek gives Meredith a big push while Mark grabs Lexie's swing and pulls it back by the ropes as far as it will go before releasing her. Both Meredith and Lexie scream loudly.
"Are they going to kill us with their competitiveness?" Lexie asks.
"Probably, and we'll have a really hard time explaining the whole park thing in our obituaries," Meredith adds.
"I'm going to jump off!" Lexie says.
"Lexie! Don't! Be careful!" Meredith warns.
"Relax! This is what you do on a swing! Watch!" Lexie says as she lets go and leaps into the air.
Meredith breathes a sigh of relief as she watches Lexie's feet hit the ground.
"Come on!" Lexie says. "You try it!"
Meredith closes her eyes, releases her grip from the swing and jumps.
"Wasn't that amazing?" Lexie asks.
"It was! It was like flying. It was great!" Meredith agrees.
"What do you want to do next?" Lexie asks.
Meredith hesitates. "Lexie, we don't have to do this anymore…we can go…"
Lexie cuts her off. "You're not having fun? Oh my god! I can't believe you're not having fun! The slide! Everyone has fun on the slide!" she says, speaking rapidly.
Meredith looks at Derek who shrugs. "Everyone has fun, Mer. Let's go to the slide," he says, winking at her.
Meredith looks at the small slide and the larger slide. Lexie climbs up the ladder to the big slide and says, "Come on, Mer! Follow me!"
When they get to the top of the slide, Lexie says, "Now put your legs around me and we can go down together. That's what me and all my friends used to do…"
Meredith humors her sister. Derek and Mark stand off to the side.
"Dude…I used to have this fantasy of two girls straddling each other on the top of a slide…but now that they're sisters…this is just wrong," Mark says.
"Having fantasies that involve a park and a slide and two girls is just wrong in itself," Derek says, smirking.
"There you go, judging me. Just for that, I'm going to have to kick your ass on the basketball court," Mark says.
"Too bad you didn't bring a ball," Derek says.
"No. Too bad for you that I did!" Mark says, running to his car and pulling out a basketball.
Lexie and Meredith slide down the slide and end up on the ground piled on top of each other when they get to the bottom. They fall on each other in a heap laughing like children.
"Let's do it again!" Lexie says, running to the ladder followed by Meredith.
As they slide down, laughing, Derek looks at Mark and says, "I'm so going to kick your ass on the basketball court. I can't wait," she says.
"Hmmmm…maybe you want to place a little wager on this. How about, loser has to be the winner's intern for a week. Charting, scut work…the whole intern stuff!" Mark says.
"The chief will never go for it," Derek says, shaking his head.
"I've got a better idea. If you win, Little Grey has to be your intern for a week and if I win, Big Grey has to be my intern for a week," Mark says.
"Ummm…that would be fine except that Little Grey IS an intern and Big Grey is not. How about you and Little Grey can take Big Grey and I out to a nice dinner," Derek says.
"Little Grey and I will be honored to have YOU and Big Grey take US out to dinner if you can still stand up after I wipe the court with you," Mark says.
"Over my dead body," Derek says.
"Well don't worry…there's four doctors here. Somebody can resuscitate you," Mark says.
Lexie and Meredith run over to them.
"We're going to build sandcastles! You guys should come too. We can have a contest! Me and Mark against you and Meredith!" Lexie says, energetically.
"Why isn't she tired? Interns are supposed to be tired," Derek whispers to Meredith.
"I don't know! But lets go build a sandcastle!" Meredith says, happily.
"You're not mocking anymore?" Derek asks.
"No more mocking," Meredith replies.
Lexie plops herself down in the sandbox. She draws a line down the middle with her finger.
"Mark and I will take this side, and Derek and Meredith you take that side. Are you ready for the contest?" Lexie asks.
"So we just build any sandcastle?" Meredith asks.
"No. There has to be a theme," Lexie says, thinking.
"Okay…I expect this from Lexie…but why isn't Meredith rolling her eyes and making sarcastic comments?" Mark asks.
"I don't know…it's like Izzie and Lexie have invaded her brain together!" Derek replies.
"How about organs! Everybody has to make an organ out of sand," Lexie says.
"Any organ?" Mark says, mischievously.
Lexie gives him a look. "This is a park! Keep it clean!" she scolds.
"Clean is no fun," Mark responds.
"Who's the judge?" Derek asks.
Lexie shrugs. "I don't know. I'll judge, I guess," she replies.
Meredith shakes her head. "No way! You're biased! None of us can judge," she protests.
"Ummm…Mer…we're the only ones here," Derek reminds her.
"I don't care. The judging has to be fair," Meredith says.
"Life isn't fair, Mer. Get over it," Mark teases.
Meredith sighs pathetically. "It's just that I never got to go to the park as a child and I never got to have a sandcastle contest and I just wanted my first trip to the park to be perfect, so I thought you guys would be able to find a good judge. But it's fine. I mean, my childhood wasn't fair…I'm not sure why I thought adulthood should be…" she says, with a dramatic pout.
Lexie looks at Derek. Derek sighs. "I know who to call. I'll be right back," he says.
When he walks away, Meredith smiles. "How was that? I learned that from Izzie! It really works," she says, laughing.
Mark shakes his head. "Shepherd's such a sucker," he says.
"You're awful!" Lexie says, with a shake of her head and a smile.
Derek comes back. "Okay. The judge will be here in an hour," he says.
"Who did you call?" Mark asks.
"Wouldn't you love to know?" Derek asks.
"So we have an hour to build our sandcastles. Come on! Let's hurry up!" Meredith says to Derek.
Derek looks at her quizzically but follows her back to the sandbox where they take their place on the right side of the sandbox.
Meredith starts talking rapidly. "So, what organ should we build? Mark will probably want to do something obscene, but Lexie will probably want to do the heart. I think she'll pick the heart. It's the most obvious and it's safe. Lexie's a play it safe type of girl…and…" Meredith stops when she notices Derek chuckling to himself. "You're laughing! Stop laughing at me!" she says, suddenly feeling shy.
"It's just…I've never seen you like…I mean…you're actually excited about this!" Derek says, catching his breath.
"Derek Shepherd! Are you mocking me?" Meredith asks.
"Absolutely. And I know what organ we're going to build," he says.
"What?" Meredith asks.
"The one we know best," Derek says, confidently.
Lexie and Mark sit on the left side of the sandbox.
"What do you want to build?" Lexie asks.
"Can we build your rack? You have a nice rack," Mark says.
"A rack is not an organ, which you probably should already know, seeing as I'm the intern and you're the attending!" Lexie says.
"How about my…" Mark begins.
"Don't even think about it…" Lexie says, reprimanding him with a smile.
"What do you want? Want me to build a kidney or something?" Mark sighs.
"How about a heart…you know…the organ of love?" Lexie asks.
Mark looks at Lexie. He is sitting in the sandbox, in the middle of the night, building sandcastle organs and he doesn't care. He is just happy to be with her.
"A heart it is…let's get to work," he says, in awe of the fact that he is so incredibly happy with one woman.
As they all enthusiastically work on their sandcastles, Derek looks at Meredith. "So, you're really into this? Or are you putting it on for Lexie?"
Meredith thinks for a moment. "Lexie did something nice. I'm having fun. Can't it just be fun?" she says.
Derek grins at her. "That's what I've been trying to tell you for 5 years," he says.
"I know…I guess I wasn't really ready to listen," she admits.
"So is this the end of Dark and Twisty?" he asks.
Meredith shrugs. "Probably not. But tonight, Dark and Twisty is taking a break. I mean, how often do you have a night like this?" she asks.
"A night, freezing in the park, soaked by the rain building a brain out of sand?" Derek asks.
"A night where you're sad and the people who care about you go out on a limb for you to try to make you happy again…" Meredith replies.
Derek thinks for a minute and then says, "Does this look like a hypothalamus?" he asks.
Lexie admires her sand aorta as she inspects Mark's superior vena cava. "You need to pack the sand tighter," she says.
Mark turns to Derek. "She's the sand Nazi!" he says.
"I think I got the better Grey for this one!" Derek says.
"I think we're finished!" Meredith says.
Lexie smoothes over the last of Mark's work. "I think we are too!"
"Perfect timing!" Derek says as he watches a car drive up.
"Who's here?" Meredith asks.
"The judge!" Derek replies.
Dr. Bailey gets out of her car and looks at Derek sternly. "I know there must be a VERY good reason you called me here in the middle of the night. You said you needed me. What is it?" she asks.
"Dr. Bailey…we need a fair judge. We all know that there is no fairer judge than you," Derek says, with a sycophantic smile.
"You called me all the way out here to referee your lover's quarrel with Grey. Are you kidding me?" she says.
"No. I called you out here to tell us which sandcastle is better. We're having a contest and we need a judge. You have the honor," he says with a smile.
"Have you lost your mind?" Dr. Bailey replies, in shock.
"Yes. Absolutely. Now, as you can see, Meredith and I made an anatomically correct brain. Mark and Lexie made a heart. Who wins?" Derek asks.
Dr. Bailey looks at Mark. "So you've lost your mind too?" she asks.
"Most definitely," he replies.
Dr. Bailey sighs as she stares at the two sandcastles. "The heart wins," she says.
Lexie and Mark cheer.
"Wait! Don't you think that our brain is…" Meredith begins.
"Dr. Grey! You do not want me to tell you what I think of your brain right now. I think all of you are sharing a brain right now and I'm not sure which one of you has it. But whoever is in possession of the brain, please tell the other three of you that I am going back to the hospital where I have sick people to care for while you all play in the park like a bunch of children!" she says, shaking her head.
As Dr. Bailey slams her car door, Lexie and Meredith begin to giggle while Mark slaps Derek five. "That was awesome! I can't believe you got her out here!"
"Now it's time for me to play your sorry ass in basketball," Derek says.
"Let's go. Girls, watch me wipe the court with Shepherd," Mark says.
"Ummm…is this going to get ugly?" Lexie asks.
"Definitely," Meredith says.
"Can we go play on the swings again?" Lexie asks.
"Absolutely!" Meredith says, running as far away from the basketball court as possible.
Derek and Mark set out for the basketball court.
"Are they gone?" Mark asks.
"Yeah, I don't think they can see the court from here," Derek replies.
"So we can…" Mark begins.
"Yeah," Derek says.
Both of them sit down on the court.
"They'll never know how much we both suck at basketball…will they?" Mark asks.
"Will we ever be too old for this charade?" Derek asks.
Mark shakes his head. "Nah. Never too old to impress the ladies," he replies.
Derek leans his head back. "She's happy. I think she's finally happy," Derek says.
"I think I am too," Mark replies.
Meredith turns to Lexie as they swing leisurely. "Thank you…for tonight. It was nice of you to do this," she says.
"Your welcome. I had a good time…did you?" Lexie asks.
Meredith thinks. "I did. I had fun. Bright…shiny…fun."
"Do you think they are killing each other on the basketball court?" Lexie asks.
Meredith nods. "Definitely."
Thanks so much for all the reviews! I loved hearing from all of you! Please review this chapter when you have a chance! I can't wait to hear what you think of it! You guys are the best!
Also…WEDDING on THURSDAY!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!