I had drifted asleep long ago when I was startled by the vibrating phone in my pocket. Taking it out and holding it to my ear, I whispered in a slurred voice, "Hello?"
"Meredith?" a concerned voice on the other end asked.
"Mark," I groaned. I had totally forgotten that he had driven me here. "I'm so sorry, I forgot."
"No, I understand," he said in a voice that bore no ill-will. "You're still at the hospital, right?"
"Yeah," I said, glancing at my mother sleeping peacefully in her bed. "What about you? Are you at home?"
"Yeah," he said. "When you didn't come back, I figured that you probably didn't want to go home and I was afraid to call you, just in case you were somewhere where they didn't allow cell phones or something."
"That's good," I said. "Thank you so much for driving me."
"No problem. Your mother's going to be fine, right?"
"Yeah, she's gonna be fine."
"Good to hear."
"Yeah."
"Well, I need to go," he said. "I just wanted to call and check up on you."
"Thanks, Mark," I said gratefully. "It really meant a lot to me."
"I'm glad. Bye, Mer."
"Bye, Mark."
After he hung up, I stood up and stretched a little bit. A quick glance at the dark sky outside the window told me that night had already come. I was contemplating going to the cafeteria for something to eat when I heard a soft knock on the door behind me. It was Dr. Webber.
"Meredith?" he asked. He walked into the room with a bag of fast food. "I figured you hadn't had anything to eat yet, so I went and took the liberty of getting you something. Are you hungry?"
I nodded emphatically. He chuckled and sat down on the couch next to me, handing me the bag. "So, how are you holding up?"
"Pretty well, considering my mother was shot this morning," I replied, the tiredness managing to bleed through my voice.
"You seem to be spending a lot of time in this hospital lately," he observed as I unwrapped the chicken sandwich. "Your friend was in here a week ago, wasn't he? Derek Shepherd?"
I nodded, unable to speak because of the sudden painful twinge his name brought. I took a bite of the sandwich as a distraction.
We were silent for a while before he asked, "Meredith? Have you ever considered being a surgeon?"
I glanced up at him, into his dark, chocolate colored eyes. I swallowed and said very quietly, "I've thought about it. My mother's suggested it a few times."
"I think you'd make a very good one," he told me. "Not many people have the ability to stay calm when their loved ones are in danger. Imagine what you could do if you were surgically trained with people you didn't know in danger."
"I've thought about it," I repeated. "I mean, I liked dissections in Biology, but becoming a doctor, earning that degree and going through medical school…it's just so much work. I don't even know if I'm really committed enough."
He nodded. "That's understandable. I'm just saying that you should probably think about it. If you're anything like your mother, you'd be a brilliant surgeon," he said, with a small twinkle in his eye.
Right then, his pager went off. He sighed, patted me comfortingly on the shoulder, and strolled out of the room, leaving me with my fast food and my sleeping mother.
I thought carefully on his words as I shoved fry after fry in my mouth. People had been telling me for a while now that being a surgeon wasn't a bad idea…even my mother said something about it, and she didn't say that to just anyone.
I called the school the next day and informed them that I wouldn't be showing up to class because my mother was in the hospital. Since I was the daughter of larger-than-life Ellis Grey and I had saved the most popular senior from imminent death, I probably could have told them that I didn't want to show up to school ever again and they would have just passed me for all my classes. So they gave me their best wishes for my mother, even though I told them over and over again that she would be fine.
My mother woke up later in the afternoon, very happy to see me.
"Meredith," she murmured, a soft smile playing on the corners of her mouth.
"Mom," I sighed in relief.
"How long have I been out?" she asked groggily, the morphine still affecting her.
"Only a day," I said, knowing that my mother wouldn't simply view it as 'only a day'. "You really scared me there for a minute, Mom."
Her eyes softened and I approached her. Never had she seemed so gentle. "I'm sorry, Meredith. How long have you been here?"
"I got here the moment I heard you got shot," I said, taking a seat at the foot of her bed. "You probably don't remember, but they took you off anesthesia, and you needed to calm down enough for Dr. Hamilton to fix your nerves."
"You're right," she sighed. "I don't remember."
I held her hand in mine and squeezed tightly. "It doesn't matter. I'm just so glad that you're alive."
"Me too."
Then we talked like we never had before; she told me stories about her patients, her internship, and her current residency, which was never without its excitement. I finally got the courage to tell her about my convoluted love life, including all the gory details with Mark, Derek, and Addison. She listened very intently, asking appropriate, non-mother-like questions, and I answered them truthfully, not leaving anything out. We had both learned that life could end too suddenly for censorship.
"Well, you did the right thing by breaking up with him, Meredith," she said when I was finished with my story. "It was unfair to lead him on like that."
I hung my head. "I know."
"But I'm proud of you," she declared as she ran her hand through my blonde hair, greasy from not having showered in more than twenty-four hours. "You had enough sense to stay away from this Derek boy."
I sighed. It was ridiculous, the fact that the mere mention of his name would send my heart racing, but it couldn't be helped. "I love him," I admitted to her. "I love him and I don't know what to do."
"Oh, honey," she said, the pet name rolling off her tongue a little awkwardly comforted me more than she could have imagined. "If he's worth it, then he'll come around. If he loves you back, then he'd be a fool to let you go."
"Are guys always this stupid?" I asked.
She rolled her eyes and nodded. "They'll never outgrow it."
"Hey," a voice interjected from the open doorway. "I resent that."
The two of us looked up and saw Dr. Webber standing there with another bag of food, this time from Eddie's Eats. My face immediately lit up when I remembered their mouthwatering burgers.
"Ellis," Dr. Webber said, relief written all over his face.
I turned to my mother and found a strange twinkle in her eye as she smiled back at him with a radiance that was almost painful to watch. "Richard."
Then it clicked. That was what Mark looked like whenever he saw me.
"I'm going to leave the two of you alone," I said cheekily. The bed springs groaned as I lifted myself off the bed and winked at Richard who seemed completely shocked. "Thanks for the food," I added as I grabbed the bag from his frozen hands and ventured off to the cafeteria.
I smiled to myself, contemplating the look between the two of them. Richard would take some getting used to, but he was a nice guy. He brought me fries when I needed it, which was definitely a plus. They also had the same job, so he would understand the crazy hours she had to work. Not to mention, she seemed to like him.
I ate my lunch at a small, circular table under the protection of a gigantic umbrella with a book opened in front of me. For once in the past insane, whirlwind three months, my life seemed like it was finally pulling itself together. The only untied ends were the ones Derek left behind.
I sighed and put my book down as my thoughts turned back to that unwanted direction. It had been three days since my kiss with Derek and I tried my hardest to keep the thoughts from overwhelming me. I wanted him so badly, but at the same time, I didn't want Addison to get hurt. He was her first high school friend, she admitted to me, what seemed like so long ago.
After finishing my burger, I threw the bag away and made my way back to my mother's room. Just as I rounded the corner, Richard Webber walked out of the room, a huge smile plastered to his face.
"Meredith," he said in a booming, joyful voice. "I wanted to speak with you for a moment."
I raised my eyebrows. "Okay."
He took in a deep breath. "I want to ask your permission to take your mother out on a date."
I laughed at first. Then I stopped when I saw in his face that he was perfectly serious. "Oh my gosh, you're really asking me for permission," I said, quickly getting over my initial denial.
"If that's alright with you," he said quickly. "We don't want to do anything that's too sudden, but I thought it would be best if I consulted with you first."
I watched him carefully. "Does my opinion really matter?"
"To your mother, it does," he said. "And to me too. I wouldn't want to do anything to make you uncomfortable, but I won't ask her out if you don't want me to."
I looked him over with appraising eyes. "How old are you?"
"Forty-three."
"Do you have any children?"
"One daughter."
"Do you have a wife?"
He chuckled. "No, I have an ex-wife. Her name's Adele, but she left me for another man."
"You're not still bitter about it, are you?"
"No, not really. It was sort of a mutual thing."
"Do you smoke?"
He raised his eyebrows at me. "I'm a surgeon."
A slow, genuine smile spread across my lips. "Well, then Dr. Webber. I think you'll do fine for my mother." Then I tried to look my fiercest. "But if you break her heart, I swear to God—"
"Don't worry," he interrupted with a grin of his own. "I give you complete permission to beat me to a bloody pulp after I kill myself."
I stuck my hand out to him and he shook it with surprising affability. "I think we're going to get along just fine, Dr. Webber."
Afterwards, he went back into my mother's room to tell her that I approved, so I decided to give them the time they needed in the waiting room. While I was flipping through some of the outdated magazines, a voice interrupted my inner commentary. "Wow, Cosmo Girl? Seriously, Meredith?"
I looked up and to my utter surprise, I found Derek standing there in his crutches, a smile spread across his shadowed cheeks. "Derek?" I asked stupidly as I stood up. "What are you doing here?"
His face instantly sobered. "I heard your mother was in the hospital, and that was why you weren't in school for the past two days. How is she? What happened?"
"She got shot by some psycho," I said airily, as if that sort of thing happened everyday. "She's fine now, and she'll be back to work after some therapy. Did you really notice I was gone?"
The smile came back as he took my hands in his. "Of course I noticed." And without another word, he pressed his lips against mine.
I allowed myself the luxury for about two minutes before pulling away. "What about Addison, Derek?"
He sighed and took the seat next to me while I sat down. "We broke up, Meredith. Like I told you before, we just weren't the same people when we went into the relationship. I mean, we're going to different colleges and we've both grown up and—we couldn't hold on to something that was barely there. Besides," he added, a twinkle playing in his bright blue eyes, "she knew me well enough to realize that I was in love with someone else."
"Who?" I asked as my heart beat against my ribcage.
He rolled his eyes. "Seriously, Mer?" Again, our lips met and I felt the familiar thrill racing its way up my spine. He loved me back…it was the most amazing feeling in the world.
But I still had more questions. "Are you sure she's okay with this?" I asked as I pulled away again. "She loved you so much."
He shook his head. "She was in love with the past, the way we used to be. She had a hard time letting go."
I watched him in confusion. I still didn't get it. "But why? Why do you love me? I'm just an insignificant little freshman."
He smiled so brightly, I couldn't help but believe him. "You saved me. Figuratively and literally." Before I could ask any more stupid questions, he captured my lips with his once more. And this time, I didn't pull back.
A/N - That was the last chapter! I still have an epilogue left, so don't worry. That's mostly just to tie up any loose ends and is just full of some random MerDer fluff. Everything will work itself out in the Epilogue.
Please don't forget to review!