Meredith had been narrowly avoiding Derek for the last 2 weeks. All of Christmas break he spent trying to reach her and she spent the whole time trying to hide away.
"What the hell did you do to Grey? She has never been away this long?" Mark asked.
"I didn't do anything" Derek felt bad, after Meredith ran out, Maggie told him that she told them it was not actually him that she liked.
"Right So if I go ask her right now, she's gonna say everything's fine in a non-Meredith, normal person way?" Mark asked as he saw Meredith exit her front door and head down her driveway. Derek quickly ran down the stairs to talk to her.
"Meredith!" He called from the lawn as he attempted to gain her attention.
"Oh...hi Derek" she bit her lip nervously.
"Look, we need to talk" Derek sighed as why he recognized as George from school's car pull up.
"Great okay...maybe later or something…..bye" She rambled as she climbed into George's car. "You could not have better timing"
"No problem" George smiled at her, it was no secret that he had a thing for her. Everyone knew.
"Perks of having a friend who drives already" she grinned as she buckled her seatbelt.
"I hope it was worth my entire savings" he joked as he stared over to her."so...what happened between you guys?" He asked.
"It doesn't matter...it's stupid" she had been incredibly lonely though, she would come home and be alone for an hour til the girls got home, then wait they'd eat dinner until they would get picked up. Then she'd study for awhile and go to sleep. She wanted to know about Amelia, Nancy and how everyone was doing.
—-
Meredith decided her best bet was Kathleen, she was back a standford and had little idea what was likely going on school she pulled out her phone and dialed her oldest friend.
"Hey Mer! I haven't heard from you" Kathleen exclaimed after she answered.
"Yeah I um...I've been busy" Meredith sighed, she missed that connection she had with their family. "What's been going on?"
"Oh well...I went out to buy some maternity clothes and let me tell you Mer, they aren't exactly Chanel"
"I'm sorry...how's the baby doing?" She asked.
"Good, how about Lizzie? Is she still chasing that boy in her whorey outfits?" Kathleen laughed. Meredith didn't have a lot of detail but she knew they'd been at least hanging out a lot, they would eat lunch together and ride home together.
"I um….I think they're together. I dunno...you know haw Lizzie is" Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Is she still dressing whorey?"
"No but they went and she got her nose pierced I heard" Meredith claimed as she layed back on her bed.
"No way! Oh my god, Mom must've been so pissed!" Kathleen laughed, Meredith contemplated the best way to Answer.
"Yeah...definitely" she nodded, cursing herself internally.
"I heard Addie and Mark are still going strong-ish"
"They're doing something...I don't really know what they are to be honest" Meredith laughed, she loved them...she truly did but they were both messed up.
"And Derek? Is he still with Rose?" Meredith froze, she'd wanted to avoid talking about him but she knew it would come up eventually.
"I um...maybe I don't know look...I've gotta go but I miss you and I love you" meredith said nervously as she hurried to cut the call short.
"Oh...alright well it was nice talking to you too" kathleen said as the Line got cut short. Meredith sighed and curled up on her side at the frustration she'd caused herself.
—-
"Hey guys!" Kathleen said through the video call a few days later.
"Kate! I miss you!" Lizzie grinned. "I have so much to tell you, I picked my prom dress, it's off the shoulder and black and shorter in the front and longer in the back.
"Sounds great, liz" Kathleen smiled.
"How's everything going there, Lizzie?" Mark asked.
"I dunno...pretty good. I ordered a small shake and got a large so there's that going for me" Kathleen shrugged. "How's Amy doing?" She asked.
"Oh who knows…" Nancy rolled her eyes.
"Well where is she?" Kathleen asked, noting everyone was in frame except her.
"Again...who knows" Nancy laughed, brushing it past.
"Where's Meredith?" Kathleen asked.
"Yeah, Der...where is Meredith?" Nancy asked.
"What? I didn't do anything" Derek raised his hands in defense.
"Yeah Right, whatever it is you should fix it. I had a really weird conversation with her a couple days ago." Kathleen sighed shaking her head.
"You talked to her?" Derek asked.
"Well...yeah, we're basically sisters" Kathleen furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why wouldn't I?"
"Bitch" Nancy said. "She has been running away from me every chance she gets the last 2 weeks."
"That's because Shep did something" Mark laughed.
"I did nothing! And even if I did, it's none of your business"
"Derek Christopher, if you did something to hurt her feelings you need to make things right. That girl is very lonely and will starve to death if nobody feeds her" Lizzie said sternly.
"I'm leaving" Derek grumbled. As he went upstairs. He wanted to talk to her, he did. But he wasn't sure she wanted to talk.
—-
Meredith sat at her desk and went through her night routine, she stripped various notes down in a journal as her eyes got droopy when she suddenly heard the front door open and slam closed. Mereditj jumped up, her heart racing.
"Meredith!" Derek called, panic in his voice.
"Derek?" She asked as she went to poke her head out.
"Mer, have you seen Amy?" He asked, running his hands through his hair.
"What? Not since before lunch. Why? What's wrong?" She askedz
"She's gone, I...we don't know where she is. We got a call that she missed her afternoon classes and nobody's seen her since" he said, anxiety rising as he paced nervously.
"Der...calm down, she's fine. Where do you wanna go look?" Meredith said, attempting to gain control on his spiraling.
"We um...mom and the girls are out looking, I'm supposed to stay here in case she shows up but I couldn't stay there anymore I needed air or something…" he rambled.
"Okay...well I'll come with you and we can wait together" Meredith nodded as she put her hand on his back comfortingly.
"Okay…" he nodded as they made their way out of the house.
—-
Hours went by and Derek had started to calm down and they were laying on the couch.
"Der look…" Meredith sighed, Derek looked up and met her eyes."I'm uh...I'm sorry about…I don't want things to be weird" Meredith sighed.
"Meredith...it's fine, really." Derek nodded, he understood that she was having a hard time too.
"It's not...me having a thing for you, changes thing...don't pretend it doesn't" mereditj said as she hopped up.
"What?" Derek's head shot over to her.
"I know...it'll fade just...give me time" Meredith pleaded as she paced.
"Maggie said...that it...you have feelings for me?" Derek asked confused and mereditj halted her paving and looked up at him. Their eyes met as their varying emotions mixed in the connection of blue and green before the silence was burst by a loud knock at the door. Derek immediately went to Answer it to reveal 2 police officers. Derek froze in fear.
"Hello, is this the residence of Amelia Shepherd?" One of the officers asked, Derek just stared. Unable to speak. Meredith came up behind him and the officer. Repeated the question.
"Yes, sir. Uh...what's the problem?" Meredith asked.
"She is currently at Mass General Hospital, it appears she had some sort of overdose. We need a next of kin to come in" the other officer clarified.
"Okay um...I'll call Carolyn and we'll meet there" meredith said comfortingly.
"Is she alive?" Derek asked. The officers looked back at each other before the first officer spoke.
"The last time we saw her, she was but she's in critical condition. Someone needs to come in immediately"
—-
Meredith and Derek were given a ride in the police ever straight to the hospital, Meredith called their mother on the way to let them know where to go.
"Der...she's gonna be okay" meredith said calmly.
"Is this the family of Miss. Shepherd? Meredith…" Ellis frowned, crossing her arms.
"Mom...hi" Meredith said nervously.
"This is Carolyn's daughter?" Ellis said shock spread over her face.
"You didn't know?" Meredith said annoyed.
"I haven't seen this girl since….I don't know elementary school." Ellis frowned as she flipped through the chart.
"Is she okay?" Derek finally spat.
"She overdosed on what appears to be Oxycodone. If you want more information, talk to a nurse" Ellis said as she lead them back to Amelia's room. "I will tell you that she has had a very low temperature since she was brought in, we've been monitoring it, she was found unconscious, I gave her a gastric lavage to remove any drugs that hadn't been absorbed yet. She's sedated due to her extreme agitation and will have to stay here overnight" she said as she opened the door to her room. Amelia was sleeping, her wrists restrained by her side, her skin pale white, her pulse moving at an abnormally fast pace. Derek's breath hitched
as he looked at her.
"Take your time" Ellis said coldly as she left.
"Der, are you okay?" Meredith questioned as he stared at his youngest sister.
"I don't know…" he sighed. He ran his hand through his hair as he went to put his hand on her face. "She looks like a ghost…" he mumbled. the door opened again as Mark Addison and Nancy entered.
"Oh shit…" Mark muttered, shock hitting his eyes
"Oh my god!" Addison said as tears started forming in her eyes.
"Is mom on her way?" Derek asked.
"Uh...y-yeah…" Mark managed to get out as he continued to look at his sister.
"Someone should call Kathleen" Meredith stated as Derek pulled out his phone.
"You're right…" he sighed as he began dialing her number.
"Kate! Ho fast can you get here?" He asked as she answered.
"I have an 8am, Der. What's happening?" Kathleen asked as she smiled through the phone before anxiety set in."what's going on?"
"It's in...it's Amy." He muttered as Lizzie and Carolyn finally arrived and Lizzie let out a loud wail as she saw her sister lay in bed.
"Oh my god, Derek..what's happening? Was that Liz? Derek…" Kathleen said as tears began to flow down her cheeks.
"She um...they think she overdosed but...please get here" he sighed
"I...okwy" she nodded as she attempted to make sense of the situation.
—
Everyone was laying around, waiting for Amelia to wake up.
"I knew something was up...I just figured she was going through s phase...or maybe I didn't I just…" Derek said as he rested his head in his hands.
"We all knew something was up, this isn't just on you" Mark sighed.
"Do you want me to take you home?" Derek asked Meredith as she let out a loud yawn.
"No...I'm okay" she mumbled as their eyes met, there was still so much that needed to be talked about and so much that needed to be said but not right now.
Around 2 hours had passed and everyone was beginning to fall asleep when Kathleen arrived.
"Oh my god…." Kathleen said, she had spent the last couple hours preparing for what she would see but the tears still pricked her blue eyes. Everyone greeted her sweet as they got comfortable again and waited.
"I think she's waking up" Lizzie said as she flashed her bright smile in excitement.
"Amez?" Addison asked hopefully, stepping up to her and grabbing her restrained hand.
"She's gonna be groggy and out of it, don't get your feelings bruised" Mark stated as he ran his hand through his hair in anticipation. Amelia's eyes began to blink rapidly as she awoke.
"What's
" She managed after a few minutes of staring.
"You're at the hospital, you apparently overdosed" he frowned.
"Oh.." she frowned as she wrinkled her forehead.
"Amy...what the hell? What...why?" Nancy frowned as she hoped the tears wouldn't begin to fall.
"I um…" Amelia started before closing her mouth. She liked up at the whole family that surrounded her and she sat up quickly, alarming everyone "I don't know what these whack doctors are talking about, I'm fine" she said as she tried to remove the various tubes from her, alerting the doctors as they rushed.
"Hey...Cristina is on her way to pick me up" Meredith said as she pulled Derek away for a second.
"Oh.." Derek nodded.
"You can come to school too ya know, being here isn't really fixing anything" Meredith said as she looked back over towards where Amelia was still fighting with the doctors.
"I think I'm gonna stay but you should go I Uh...we can talk later?" Derek pleaded as he looked at her.
"Yeah sure...um maybe...I've gotta go" she muttered before running off. She swiftly avoided her mother as she ran into Amelia's room.
"Dude why're you here?" Cristina asked as Meredith hopped in the car. "Is it your mom?"
"God no, it's just….family stuff" Meredith rolled her eyes.
"Well you look terrible, we're going home...and you're at least changing. We have to pick up izzie anyway" she said as the pulled out of the parking spot. They drove towards the neighborhood and grabbed izzie before heading back to Meredith's.
"Cris, you look really pretty today! Trying to impress anyone?" Izzie sang.
"No. My mother did this and I would never try to impress a boy" Cristina said as she motioned to her styled dark waves and mascara clad eyelashes.
"Hey I heard something happened to Amelia last night and there was a search patty for her or something" Ozzie said as they all got out of the car.
"What? Really? Mer do you know?" Cristina asked.
"I um...she's fine" was all Meredith could muster as they made their way into the house.
"So you have details!" Izzie squealed as they ran upstairs to her room. Meredith stopped as she remembered the conversation her and Derek had just hours before.
"What..Mer What is it?" Izzie frowned as she scrunched her overlined eyes.
"You remember that talk we had over Christmas break? The one with Maggie? Something happened last night" was all she said as she continued to her room.
"Something like sex?" Cristina questioned.
"Wait I'm so confused...what conversation, sec with who?" Izzie asked.
"It's just a guy...and no we didn't have sex" Meredith said as she brushed through her mousy brown hair.
"Why ar should do secretive? About this whole Amelia thing and then Derek" Cristina asked crossing her arms.
"You have a think for Derek? Oh my god! I knew it" she squealed.
"God Cristina!" Meredith said annoyance dripping off her tongue.
"If youbguys slept together, I would've found out eventually" Izzie shrugged.
"We didn't sleep together, look...he knows I have a thing for him and he wants to talk to me and we tried to talk it through but Amelia was rushed to the hospitial but some injuries that all I can say and she fine but everything is a mess and I don't know what to do next" Meredith rambled as she began to pace.
"Mer, you're spiraling" Izzie said as she grabbed her shoulders to still her. "First off, Amelia. She's really okay? Does she need anything? I know she wears glasses sometimes…" Izzie asked sweetly.
"She's fine" meredith nodded quickly, hoping to breeze over it.
"Second. Are your sisters at home?" Izzie asked as she heard the sounds of soft footsteps in the house.
"Shit probably" meredith said as she hopped up and went to find the younger girls.
"Mer! You're here, daddy just called and said you're taking us" Lexie nodded as she twirled her wavy brown hair around her finger.
"Of course i am...Okay be ready in 20 minutes, tell your sisters!" She called as she ran back up the stairs.
"Meredith! You're home!" Maggie smiled, Maggie was wearing something that definitely wasn't hers and definitely didn't fit her.
"Mags, I really don't have time for….whatever this is…" meredith sighed before stopping in her tracks as she heard her mother's voice in her words. "Sorry...That was rude, what's going on?" Meredith said as she took in Maggie's straightened curls and off the shoulder top.
"I'm about to be in high school! I should be dressing and trying to keep up" Maggie shrugged.
"Maggie...they're 13, you don't wanna keep up with them. You're better than them, you're better than this. Don't be someone you're not" Meredith frowned as she played with the ill fitted top.
"That's What I said" Molly called from where Lexie was braiding her light hair back.
"Are you guys all good? Lex, make sure Molly is ready and mags, please change" Meredith called as she ran back up to her room.
"Are you playing mommy downstairs?" Cristina asked.
"Someone has to" meredith sighed as she gathered her bag.
"So you didn't sleep together? Lame" Izzie frowned.
"Not everyone's goal in a relationship is sex, iz" Meredith said before reloading her comment "that was rude, I didn't mean it like that"
"I know. Look, I know I have been sleeping around s little bit but sex is fun so who cares? And it's not like anybody is watching me anyway" Izzie shrugged as they made their way down the stairs.
"I thought you were dating Christopher" Meredith frowned.
"Hah! I heard you stole Lydia Rhea's boyfriend and she sooo pissed" Cristina said on a mocking way.
"I didn't- whatever" Izzie sighed as the younger girls stood in front of them.
"Alright everyone, we're going to Maggie and Lexie's first, then Molly's" Cristina said sternly as they made their way out the door.
Meredith sighed as they made it to the car. She was tired of everything moving so fast. She couldn't keep up and so many people needed her but she also needed her...but she knew what she'd do, she knew she would hurt herself to help the people she loved and boy was she gonna hurt.