A/N: Thank you all for the wonderful reviews! Since several of you asked, everything that happened in Private Practice is canon in this story, including Pete's death. I have no way of knowing what has happened since the finale, obviously, but hopefully Amelia will mention something in the coming episodes. We're so close to having her back. :)
Oh, and I hope you all have a wonderful Easter (if you celebrate)!
Meredith Grey's blood viciously boiled as it gushed through her veins. Her heart rate quickened, and her chest tightened as her breaths became deeper. She hustled toward the elevator, and Cristina chased after her.
"Where are you going?" Cristina demanded. "I said she's in the lobby. What's going on, Mer?"
Meredith slammed her finger against the elevator button and then spun around toward Cristina. "You said Alex is in surgery, right?"
"Yeah, but…" Cristina stopped in her words, and her mouth formed a circle. "You think that Alex called child services on Izzie?"
"Bingo," Meredith retorted as the elevator dinged, the down button glowed yellow, and the door started to open slowly. Meredith stepped into the elevator and Cristina followed.
"You don't know that, though," Cristina insisted. "I mean, there were a ton of kids in the E.R. today."
"Oh, trust me," Meredith said flatly, "I sure as hell hope you're right." The elevator ascended as the twisted sisters stood next to each other, not making eye contact. Meredith stared at the elevator door, waiting for the elevator to ding again and for the door to gradually open. Her head was spinning. Had Alex actually called child services on Izzie? If he had, she didn't know what to think. She hated butting into other people's lives, but this was ridiculous. She understood Alex was upset, and he had every right to be upset. However, from what Meredith had seen so far, Izzie was a good mother. Blake seemed like a healthy, kind four-year-old boy. The only parenting mistake Izzie Stevens had made was lying to him about his father. It wasn't ethical by any means, but it wasn't illegal either.
The elevator dinged again, and the door slid open. Meredith quickly hustled out of the elevator, followed by Cristina.
"He wouldn't have," Cristina insisted.
"Which OR is he in?" Meredith ignored Cristina's comment.
"I don't know. It was a nurse who told me he was in surgery," Cristina shrugged. Meredith rolled her eyes, deciding she'd have to guess. She and Derek had been in OR 1 earlier, and Amelia had been in OR 2. Of course they had a fast OR turnover rate, so he could be in any of them. She pushed open the door to OR 1 and grabbed a mask before the eyes centered around the table directed at her. Meredith froze for a moment when she saw Callie's dark brown eyes gazing at her. Next to her, Jackson Avery, and next to him, April Kepner.
Uh-hem, she thought. Wasn't Callie supposed to be sick? Meredith rolled her eyes briefly.
"What do you need, Grey?" Callie asked intensely, looking at at her patient, a child who couldn't be more than nine years old.
"I'm looking for Alex," she said, "and I see you're feeling better."
"Yeah, well, hearing a bunch of kids have been in a bus crash just wipes the bug right out of you, and I think Alex is in OR 2. Why do you…?" Meredith closed the door and began running to the next OR. At the same time, Cristina's pager beeped.
"Well, crap, now Hunt pages me with a cardio case," Cristina scowled. "Just when things are getting juicy." She sighed, looking at her phone. "I have to go. Let me know if I'm right."
"And if you're wrong…?"
"Still tell me I'm right," Cristina said as she ran backwards toward the elevator. Meredith rolled her eyes and exhaled slowly as she prepared to open the door to OR 2. She placed the mask over her face and opened the door. Immediately, her eyes locked with Arizona's bright blue eyes and Alex's light brown eyes.
"Mer, what are you doing here?" Alex instantly reacted; shock covered his face.
"Is everything all right, Meredith? I heard a rumor floating around the nurses' station that your sister-in-law's ex-boyfriend or something is a patient of yours and Derek's. Is it true?"Arizona asked as she proceeded to appear focused on the surgery she was performing.
"That's not what this is about," Meredith replied abruptly, not answering Arizona's question, instead her eyes focused on Alex.
"I'm in the middle of surgery," Alex said. "Can this wait?"
"I don't know," Meredith said tartly. "Can it? There's a woman at the hospital who says she's with child services. She's asking for you. Apparently you called them, no?"
Alex dropped his scalpel and his eyes jetted toward Meredith. He frowned and she could sense a fire of anger in his eyes. Arizona looked up from the patient, and her focus directed to Alex.
"Karev, is there something you want to tell me?" Arizona asked, her eyes narrowing on Alex.
Alex shook his head. "It's nothing. There was a kid I was concerned about earlier. I think his mother has been treating him unjustly," Alex replied bitterly, sneaking a glance at Meredith, who was biting her lip. If Alex wanted to tell Arizona the truth, he could.
"Well, if you need to go deal with child services, then by all means do. I can handle this surgery from here," Arizona insisted, taking her focus back to the patient
"Are you sure?" Alex inquired.
"Yes, I'm sure. Now go," Arizona demanded, and Alex exited the operating room with Meredith.
Meredith walked with Alex to the elevator. She watched him as they walked, but he didn't look back at her once. His body signals sent off frustration, anger, fury. He looked like he could kill someone if they looked at him the wrong way.
"Alex," Meredith said softly as the elevator door opened. He finally glanced at her. "It's Izzie, right? Izzie and Blake. That's why you called child services."
Alex exhaled and scowled. "Not that it's any of your business, but no, my patient told me that her mother was leaving her home alone at night, and I suspected further abuse. Why do you always jump to conclusions?"
Meredith swallowed, realizing Alex's story sounded incredibly familiar to six-year-old Jenni Miller's. The patient she and Jo had operated on the night before. Had Jo told Alex about her? Alex was one of the pediatrics surgeons, so whether Jo had or hadn't told him about her, he would have heard about her case.
"You're lying," Meredith whispered.
"Excuse me?" Alex shot back.
"Alex, I know you too well, and I know when you're lying," Meredith said flatly.
"I don't know why you care," Alex rolled his eyes. "Why are you defending Izzie anyway? I thought you were my friend, Mer. Now you're on her side? Tell me the truth. Did you know about Blake before? Have you been in contact with Izzie over all these years?"
"I already told you I didn't," Meredith said. "And it's your choice to believe me or not. But, Alex, I didn't know about Blake, and I haven't talked to Izzie either. I was just as surprised to see her as you were. She didn't tell me she was back. I found out she was back when I went with Amelia to her gynecology appointment."
"Amelia's actually pregnant?" Alex asked. "That's why you were in the gynecology wing the other day." He widened his eyes and shrugged. "And I actually thought you were pregnant and just trying to cover it up."
"Alex!" Meredith slapped his shoulder, not sure if she should be offended by Alex's comment or not. "Why? Do I look fat?"
"No, but you hid your pregnancy with Bailey for the entire first trimester, so it wouldn't faze me if you were," Alex noted. "So Amelia's ex-boyfriend or boyfriend or baby daddy or whatever is actually in the hospital, then?"
"I'm not talking about this," Meredith said flatly. "This isn't about Amelia, or her boyfriend, or her baby. This is about you calling child services on Izzie and Blake. Do you have any idea of the mess you're creating?"
"Why do you care, again?" Alex shot.
"I care because I've actually talked to Izzie, and at no point did Izzie indicate that she wasn't willing to share custody with you. Have you spoken to her, Alex? This isn't the right route to take. There are better options. I know you're angry, and you make stupid choices when you're angry," Meredith replied. "You don't want to do this, trust me."
"I really don't care," Alex raised his voice. "Izzie lied to me. She lied to our son. And it's not healthy for Blake to grow up being lied to by a lying liar."
Lying liar, Meredith's eyes widened. The exact words she had used to describe Derek when she'd found out he was going back on his promise to her after he'd decided to go forward with his presidential project.
"Have you even talked to Blake?" Meredith asked. "Because if you had, you'd know Izzie has done a good job of raising him. He's a sweet, polite little guy. What the hell did you tell child services?"
"Told them exactly what I told Arizona. I have concerns of a young boy's living environment, and that's exactly the case," Alex said.
"Alex, don't…" Meredith sighed as they entered the lobby together. She saw the woman from child services standing by the lobby desk. And as Alex extended his arm to greet the woman, Meredith pulled out her phone and shot a quick text to Izzie.
911! ALEX CALLED CHILD SERVICES ON YOU.
She knew she shouldn't be getting involved in this. It wasn't her business, but she felt like Alex was making a huge mistake. Izzie had made a huge mistake too, but from Meredith's observation, she had not once mistreated Blake. Blake was one of the most well-behaved, well-mannered four-year-old boys Meredith had met. She didn't want Alex to mess everything up just because he was angry.
She received an instant text back. WTF?
"I'm Dr. Karev," Alex was introducing himself to the child services worker.
"I'm Lori from child services, and you are?" The woman was plump and dark-skinned. Her dark brown hair was pulled back in a bun. She wore a gray dress suit. She was looking at Meredith with her thin eyebrow raised.
"Oh, I'm Dr. Grey," Meredith introduced herself.
"Are you on this case, too?" Lori asked.
"I am not," Meredith replied, "But…"
"I only need to speak with the doctor who's reporting the child abuse incident, so if you don't mind," Lori insisted.
"Right," Meredith exhaled and looked at Alex pleading eyes. Please don't do this, Alex, Meredith thought, but she knew she couldn't control him. She couldn't stop him from lying about the well-being of his son; his son who he'd never been properly introduced to. His son whom he didn't know at all. Meredith knew that if Alex did this, and then it came out that he was untruthful, he could lose his medical license.
Meredith backed away. She knew she needed to allow Alex to make his own stupid choices in life. After all, that's what he was known for doing. She just hoped the repercussions wouldn't be too impairing. He was a mandatory reporter. They all were. They had to report all suspected abuse incidents. They were doctors, and you were supposed to be able to trust doctors' words. Of course, doctors weren't always right. There were numerous abuse reports filed each year that came back with nothing, and the kids remained in their parents' custody. There were situations where kids were kept in abusive homes, because child services couldn't find hardcore evidence of abuse. Then, of course, there were kids pulled out of loving homes for small reasons. It all depended on the parents' history with the system, of course.
She took her phone out of her pocket and dialed Izzie's number, but Izzie didn't pick up. Meredith's heart raced. She didn't doubt her decision to give Izzie a heads up about Alex's report. If she were Izzie, she would immediately run down to the daycare and pick up her child and leave. Although that could complicate the situation further. Meredith remembered when she'd found out she was going to lose Zola. She'd hid in the hospital with Zola all day, just to savor a few more moments with her. But that was different. She had just lost her job, and shehad lied to the social worker. Of course they had reason to suspect that she and Derek wouldn't be good parents. This was different. Izzie had nothing to hide, from Meredith's point of view. She had no reason to run, did she? Then again, Meredith wouldn't blame her if she did. The system could be so sketchy and biased at times. Sometimes they did nothing at all with their reports. Sometimes they tore innocent families apart.
Meredith was pro-adoption, but she had read horror stories of families' experiences. Everyone's story was unique. Though, no one ever had anything positive to say about the system when their child was ripped from their home.
She made a run for the daycare and was not surprised when she saw Izzie Stevens inside the daycare, helping her son put on his coat.
"Izzie!" Meredith gasped, putting her phone in her pocket.
"Mommy!" Zola waved when she saw her mother enter the daycare. She was sitting on the floor with Bailey and Sofia playing with giant Legos. She and Sofia appeared to be trying to build a big tower. Bailey held a yellow Lego in his hands. "You gots to see what Bailey can do!" Meredith's eyes widened as she looked between her son and daughter and Izzie and Blake. She grinned widely and got her her knees, then took both of her brother's hands. Zola helped her brother to his feet. "Show Mama what you can do, Bailey!"
Meredith watched her son as her daughter let go of her brother's hands. She watched as Bailey stood on his own two feet, balancing himself. He'd stood up before, but he'd always fallen right back down. This time, though, he didn't fall. Instead, he took a step, and Meredith's heart dropped. And then he took another step. And before she knew it, he was walking faster and faster toward her, until his hands landed on her hips. She bent down and picked up her little guy.
"You walked!" Meredith glowed, giving her son a kiss on the cheek. "Oh, my God. You took your first steps in daycare. Your daddy is going to be sad." She cradled her little boy and looked at Zola. "Zozo, can we keep this a secret from Daddy, so Daddy can be surprised?"
The little girl smiled widely. "Okay!" Meredith sighed slowly, not sure if she could trust that Zola would actually keep this a secret. She was three. Three-year-olds weren't exactly the best secret keepers.
She remembered how she had said she'd kill herself if Zola took her first steps in daycare. She hadn't, though. Meredith would never forget the day she'd seen her daughter take her first steps. She and Derek had been trying to get her to walk for days, but she hadn't. They'd videotaped as many moments of Zola's early days in their house. Then, of course, the minute they'd turned the video camera off, Zola had decided to take off walking. Meredith looked at her son, so proud of him, but still so disappointed that she wouldn't be able to say she'd seen her son take his first steps. She also knew that when Derek found out Bailey was walking now, he would use it as another excuse for them to try for another baby. She hoped not. She hoped she'd finally gotten through to him that they weren't ready yet.
"Well, congratulations, Bailey. Um, well, Blake and I have to get going," Izzie said.
"Izzie, wait," Meredith said, following Izzie to the door with her son still in her arms.
"Meredith, Alex is probably on his way down here with child services right now. Blake and I have to go. I can't have them take him away from me. He's all I've got, Mer," Izzei said.
"Mommy, what's wrong?" Blake tugged at his mother's jacket. His big hazel eyes, just like his dad's, glowed as he looked up at his mother. His head then turned toward Zola, who was standing right behind Meredith. "I wanna stay and play with Zoey and Sofi."
"Sweetie, you can't. We should have never come here. I'm sorry, baby, but we have to go," Izzie said hurriedly.
"Izzie, if you run, they're going to think you have something to hide, and you don't. Do you?" Meredith asked.
"Of course not! But I know how the system works, and I know Alex can be awfully convincing, plus who's going to question a doctor's word? Seriously, Mer!"
"Izzie, you're a doctor too."
"Yeah, the cancer-infected doctor," Izzie rolled her eyes, reaching down to pick up her son. Tears started to stream out of Blake's small eyes.
"You don't know it's back," Meredith said flatly, referring to Izzie's cancer.
"Everything else is falling apart now too, and when it rains it pours!" Izzie cried.
"Iz-" Izzie ignored Meredith and dashed out of the daycare with her son in her arms. Meredith exhaled, looking down at her own little boy. She shook her head solemnly.
"Momma," Zola tapped Meredith's back. "Blake's gonna come back, right?"
Meredith swallowed, not wanting to lie to her daughter. "Yeah, of course he is," she replied, hoping she wasn't telling a lie. Izzie couldn't just run away forever, could she? Then again, she had taken off before and they hadn't heard from her. She'll come back, Meredith thought.
Moments later, Alex and Lori entered the daycare center.
"Where is he?" the social worker asked and then she locked eyes on Meredith. "And we meet again, Dr. Grey, right? Is this your little boy?"
Meredith hugged her son close. There was something about a social worker standing in front of her, asking her if her son was her son that made her feel uncomfortable. She remembered the moment in which they'd taken Zola from her. She looked down and saw her daughter's bright eyes looking up at her. The thought of losing either Bailey or Zola was terrifying. But they couldn't take them from her now. They were her children and they were loved more than any other children in the world. She was blessed to have two healthy children.
"Yes," she replied softly.
"Momma," Zola whispered.
"Yes, baby girl?" Meredith asked, suddenly feeling the extra urge to prove that she was a good mom to the social worker. She turned around and balanced her son on her knee as she kneeled down to Zola's level.
"Can we go home? I wanna have a tea party," Zola said, and before Meredith could answer her, she felt her phone buzz in her pocket. Meredith set Bailey down next to his sister, and he instantly used Zola to stand back up and balance himself. He was really enjoying being able to balance himself, it seemed. Meredith pulled her phone out of her pocket and saw she had a text from Derek.
James's scans are in. Not good. She read the text from Derek. He'd also attached an image of the scans, which Meredith opened on her cell phone and zoomed in. Derek was right, from her perspective, they weren't good. There was no evidence of brain activity. She could feel the social worker's eyes on her as she was looking at her phone. Was she judging her? Was she a bad mom because she was reading CT scans in front of her children? Was she a bad mother because she was a working mother? It was good for them to see her work, right?
Callie had told her that it was good for the kids to see her work hard. That would encourage them to become good workers. But somehow Meredith always felt like she was putting work before her kids, and she didn't want that. She didn't want to be another Ellis Grey. Turning into her mother was her worst fear in the world.
Her children were the light of her world, though, and she shouldn't have to prove that. Meredith exhaled as she looked at her children. Zola wrapped her arms around her little brother and Meredith's heart warmed seeing her daughter being sweet to her little brother. They really were her light.
Light.
A light bulb went off in Meredith's head.
"Where is Blake?" Lori asked.
"Yeah, Mer, where is he? Have you seen Izzie?" Alex demanded.
"Blakey and Izzie goed bye bye," Zola answered.
"I guess I'd better ask the three-year-old the questions, because I know you'll cover for Izzie," Alex rolled his eyes and kneeled down and placed his hands on Zola's shoulder. "Zozo, how long ago did Izzie and Blake go bye bye?"
Zola shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. I'm three. I can't tell time."
"Was it before Mommy got here or after?" Alex asked.
"Hmmm," Zola squint her eyes, like she did when she was thinking.
"Alex…" Meredith said warningly.
"After!" Zola chimed.
"Thank you, Zo. I'm still your favorite uncle, right?" Alex smiled. Zola nodded. "Good girl!" Alex reached into his pocket and pulled out a tootsie roll and gave it to Zola.
"Yay!" Zola giggled, and took the piece of candy from Alex.
"You're sick, Alex," Meredith hissed. "Bribing a three-year-old for information."
"Whatever. Tell me where she went, Mer," Alex demanded.
"I don't know," Meredith said flatly. It was the truth, after all.
"And how can I trust you? I know that you had to have given her the heads up. Why else would you be down here and Izzie would be gone before I got here?"
"I do not know what you are talking about, Alex. I had a little free time, so I wanted to spend it with my children, who I love dearly. Now, if you don't mind, my husband is paging me. He has Amelia's boyfriend's scans in, and I need to go." She patted Zola's head. "Daddy or I will be down in a little while to take you and your brother home. I'm sorry, sweetie, I know you want to go home and have a tea party, but it'll just have to be later. Now, just play with Sofia, all right?" Meredith looked over at Sofia, who was now playing with the Legos by herself.
Zola cutely stuck her lip out. "Okay, Momma." She grabbed her brother's hand and the two walked back over to the Legos and Sofia. Meredith froze for a minute. It felt so weird to see her baby boy walking.
Light.
"Dr. Grey, you do realize that if you have information about Izzie Stevens's whereabouts, you could be arrested, right?" Lori inquired.
"Well, it's a good thing I don't have information," Meredith retorted, and she dashed out of the daycare. She needed to talk to Derek. Her brain was spinning. She had just gotten an idea of how she and Derek could possibly save James's life.
Light.