Chapter 12
"Daddy!" Alfie shouted. Megan had just brought him up to the gallery above where Mark was operating. He started to knock on the glass.
"Honey you can't do that," said Megan taking his hands off the glass. "Daddy is working. If you want to talk to him you have to wait for him to finish."
Down in the OR Mark looked up and smiled when he saw Alfie. He took his hand out of the person he was operating on and waved up to him.
"Dr. Grey," he said to Lexie who was scrubbing in with him. "Can you complete the procedure?"
"Uh...yeah," she said. "Are you sure? You've barely started it."
"I'm sure but if you don't feel able to finish it unassisted then I'm sure Dr. Anderson will," said Mark sharply. He did not tolerate being questioned in the OR by interns, not even his girlfriend. "Anderson?"
"I'll do it Sir," said the intern confidently.
"It's all yours," said Mark putting his scalpel down. "I'll be watching from the gallery if you have any problems."
"Thank you for the opportunity," said Dr. Anderson.
"Let this be a lesson to you Dr. Grey, show no weakness especially in my OR," said Mark.
Lexie didn't answer him, she just shot him a dirty look and huffed looking up at the gallery. Mark tore off his gown and went into the scrub room. He washed his hands, tore off his mask and gloves and went up to the gallery.
"Daddy," Alfie shouted when Mark walked into the scrub room. He jumped up and ran over to Mark.
"Hey buddy," said Mark picking him up.
"You didn't have to abandon the surgery, he could have colored until you were done," said Megan.
"The patient is in capable hands," said Mark.
"You better hope so," smiled Megan. "That intern nearly wet his pants when I found out he messed up some of my test results."
"You intimidate the male gender," said Mark.
"I do not!"
"I'm not going to tell you why it is true with a five year old in the room," said Mark. "But you know the power you have and you abuse it."
"Like you don't do the same," she said.
"I never said I didn't," smirked Mark.
"Whatever," she said rolling her eyes.
"So little guy what is this your Mum has been telling me about you getting upset at school?" said Mark to Alfie. Alfie didn't answer he just buried his little head in Mark's shoulder.
"Alright I can take a hint," said Megan. "I'll leave the two of you to talk."
"Thanks," said Mark.
"I'll be downstairs if you need me," said Megan as she rubbed Alfie's back. "Okay, sweetie?"
"Okay Mummy," said Alfie lifting his head.
"Richard," said Megan as she walked into his office. "I have those reports you wanted...oh sorry." She saw that Richard was talking to an older man who looked to be in his late fifties, with very short gray hair and an ugly cardigan.
"Oh no Megan it's fine," said Richard. "This is...uh...Thatcher Grey."
"Oh hello," said Megan casually. As soon as she saw his face, she knew exactly who he was. He hadn't changed that much from his photos. "Nice to meet you."
"Uh...you too," Thatcher stuttered as he looked to Richard both of them looking as confused as each other.
"I'll just leave the reports here," said Megan placing them on his desk. "Oh and I don't know if your secretary told you yet but I got a call from someone at the Washington Medical Board they want to set up some sort of award or memorial thing for my mother. I told them to contact you about it, I really don't know how to handle it."
"I'll take care of it," said Richard softly. He instantly recognized the same small, scared child he had known in Megan. He knew her to be cool, calm and collected when confronted with a problem that didn't scare her, but like Ellis had been if she couldn't deal with an emotional problem she refused to acknowledge it.
"Thank you," she said gratefully. "I should go and make sure Alfie is okay."
"Oh is everything alright? He isn't in the ER or anything?" asked Richard.
"No he's okay," said Megan. "He just wants to talk to his Dad."
"Speaking of talking to Dads..." said Richard pointedly.
"I should go and check on him," said Megan as she all but ran from the room.
Megan stormed down the hall to Mark's office, when went in and shut the door behind her. She was not expecting to come face to face to with her father, she was not prepared. She had been thinking a little bit about her father recently as she saw how well Alfie was getting on with Mark. But just seeing Thatcher like that had shocked her, she looked down and saw that her hands were shaking. Instinctively she pulled out the chair from the desk and crouched down and sat under the desk. She remembered how it used to comfort her when she was little, it still had the same effect. The world didn't exist under the desk. She pulled Mark's chair back over to the desk and used it to rest her head on.
"Meredith have you seen Megan?" Mark asked.
"No," said Meredith. "But she might be a little...N-u-t-s."
"Why?" asked Mark. He had only been talking to Alfie for ten minutes and Megan had been fine then.
"Our...uh father was in the Chief's office," said Meredith carefully. "He came to talk to me and Lexie. The Chief said Megan had accidentally walked in on them a few minutes before Lexie and I saw him."
"Lexie is in surgery."
"The Chief paged us both, she had to scrub out," said Meredith. "So I don't know where Megan is but my guess is she will be freaking out a little."
"Are you okay?" Mark asked, looking at her like she was about to lose it.
"I'm fine," said Meredith nodding her head over and over again.
"Derek," Mark called as he caught sight of him.
"Yes," said Derek as he walked towards Mark and Meredith.
"Can you look after Alfie while I go and find his mother?" Mark asked. "He has some coloring books in his bag."
"Sure no problem," said Derek. "What is wrong with Megan?"
"I don't know," said Mark. "But Thatcher is in the hospital."
"Are you okay?" Derek asked Meredith.
"I'm fine," Meredith repeated. "I can look after Alfie while you look for Megan."
"Okay thank you," said Mark. "Is it okay if Auntie looks after you while I go and find your Mummy?"
"Okay," said Alfie looking up at the grown ups. "Is Mummy upset?"
"No your Mummy is fine," said Mark bending down so that he was face to face with Alfie. "And I promise you that your Mummy will not be upset with you."
"Okay," said Alfie not looking convinced. "Does Mummy have a bad Daddy? Nelson has a bad Daddy."
"Uh..." said Mark looking up at Derek and Meredith.
"Daddy?" said Meredith. "We were talking about the priest. Do you remember when we went to the church and the priest is called a father."
"Oh," said Alfie. "But a priest can't be bad."
"Nobody said they were bad," said Meredith. "Nobody is bad, your Mummy has just gone to get some coffee and your Daddy is going to get her so that she can take you home."
"Okay," said Alfie. He had been listening to what the grown ups had been saying but he didn't quite understand it.
"I'll be back as fast as I can," said Mark.
"Okay Daddy," said Alfie.
"Come here," said Mark reaching out and hugging Alfie. "Everything is going to be okay I promise."
"Okay Daddy," said Alfie hugging Mark back.
"Love you buddy."
"Love you too Daddy."
