THE FEAR OF THE UNKNOWN
FADE IN
It's early in the morning and both Meredith and Derek are awake…but quiet. Meredith looks over at Derek to see if he's sleeping and sees that he has been staring up at the ceiling as well. He looks over to her and reaches for her hand. She turns on her side and faces him…neither saying a word.
MEREDITH (V.O.)
As surgeons…we deal with specifics. We know what's inside the human body and how it works. When we open a patient…we know exactly what to expect. We've been trained…we've practiced…and the details have been pounded into our brains through repetition. It's when an outside element is introduced that you are temporarily thrown off your game. Each scenario outside of normal is then documented and categorized so they can be studied and we can prepare for the next time. But regardless of what we find…there are always a finite number of solutions possible at any given point. We follow the specified course of action and the outcome can be predicted. On the other hand…when you are dealing with people and emotions…the outcome becomes convoluted. You never know what to expect or the impact it will have when the final chip falls. Surgery is what I know…and maybe we become surgeons due to our inability to handle the unknown.
"So…" Derek begins. His words hanging heavy in the silence of the room. "I've made a decision."
"You've made a decision?" Meredith questions.
Derek turns to face her. "Yes…about Josh."
Meredith sits up in bed. "I know what it's about…but it's a decision that affects us both so you can't just make the decision on your own without asking me first."
Derek gets out of bed and begins pacing the floor and although the room is dark Meredith can see he is upset. "Because I feel responsible…we are in this situation because of me. I didn't think it was fair to burden you with the responsibility of deciding what to do when I am the one that put us here."
"But you didn't put us here. Not on your own anyway. I told you to date other people and you did. No one could have predicted that Rose would get pregnant or…what happened yesterday. But it's not all your responsibility. And regardless of that…if it affects both of us we need to make the decision together."
Derek sits down on the bed. "So…where do we go from here? We need to look at our options. If we don't take Josh then maybe there are other family members…"
"What about Rose…did she have any sisters or brothers?" Meredith asks.
"I don't know…but my best guess is no. In the paperwork I signed I agreed that I would make arrangements for Josh in the event that something happened to both Rose and her husband. I never thought…I never would have signed those papers had I known in my wildest imagination that anything like this would happen."
"Ok" Meredith says. "Let's just calm down for a minute and think this through. I mean…"
She stops for a moment realizing the gravity of what she's about to say. "What if we were to take him…maybe just temporarily until we figure things out?"
Derek is trying not to appear shocked. Of course this is what he wants but he didn't think it was fair to Meredith to bring another woman's child into their relationship…especially now that she's pregnant with their first child.
"We could…temporarily…you would be ok with that?"
"Yeah…I mean…he just lost both of his parents and he's only five. Let's just start there and that will give us some time to absorb the implications of what this all means."
"Ok…" Derek says. The tears are welling up in his eyes.
"We'll talk to the social worker tomorrow and make arrangements to bring him home with us…but not home here…home in the woods. I want him to adjust to his new life without having to deal with our crazy extended family."
Derek manages a smile and they crawl back into bed. For the first time that night…they both fall asleep.
A few hours later…the morning sun shimmers through the bedroom window. Izzie rubs her eyes and sits up in bed. Using her hand she covers one of her eyes and sees the birds outside of the window clearly. She puts her hand back in her lap and sits for a moment…slowly raising it once again to cover the other eye and her world becomes a blur. She quickly puts it back down.
Down the hall in George's room you can hear the sound of snoring. George had been working to cover for the missing staff members until the new shift started and he is beyond exhausted. If you hadn't heard him breathing…judging by the looks of him you would maybe have suspected he wasn't alive…lying on his stomach with his right arm hanging over the edge of the bed and his head below the pillow with his mouth hanging open and his lower jaw askew. One loud snort and he wakes himself up. He turns over on his back and stretches his legs down to the end of the bed but feels something heavy in the way. Rubbing his eyes he looks down toward his feet.
"Seriously…you've got to stop doing that" he says as he rolls onto his other side and closes his eyes again. "So…last time it was Christmas and now it's the Friday before Easter…and you want me to what…color eggs and hide them around the house?"
"George…I think something is wrong."
"Wrong? What's going on?"
"I can't see out of my left eye. Everything is blurry. It's been like that since yesterday and I thought it was just because I was tired or my eyes were tired but I'm a little scared…I mean…to happen all the sudden like that something has to be wrong…right?"
She looks to George for reassurance and gets a blank stare as he prop himself up on his elbow. Even though he knows what it might mean he also knows it's more important that he doesn't seem alarmed. "Well…let's not jump to conclusions until we know something for sure. It could just be eye-strain like you said. I have the day off so I wasn't planning on going in today but we can go to the hospital and…"
"Thanks George. I'll go get ready and meet you downstairs in fifteen minutes."
Izzie leaves the room and George lies back down pulling the pillow over his face…then tosses it aside and crawls out of bed.
Down the hall both Derek and Meredith are up getting ready for work. Derek is concerned that Meredith is being quiet and may have changed her mind. "You ok today?"
"Yeah…I'm good. I think this is the right decision."
He kisses her forehead and hugs her tight.
"Derek?" she says with concern in her voice.
"What…what's wrong?"
"I desperately have to pee."
He smiles as he watches her scoot out of the room with one hand below her belly to keep it from bouncing down on her already full bladder.
INT – SGH LOCKER ROOM – MORNING
Izzy and George are in the locker room sitting on the bench facing each other and Cristina walks in the door full of energy.
"Hey…guys…how's it going?
Before they can answer she continues.
"Oh my God I had the best time and I can tell you I have never in my life had as much sex as I had over the last week…but not that I haven't had great sex it's just that sex with a younger guy…it just invigorates you. It's like you feed off of their energy and you're never tired and everything is beautiful and the world becomes a happy place."
George looks over at Izzie who is furrowing her brow. "Ummm, ewww, and yeah…that's about it…ewww."
Izzie agrees. "Yeah…that's a lot more information than anyone needed…ever."
Cristina grabs a banana out of someone else's locker and peels it taking a big bite. "And the great thing is…I'll never have to see this person again. I had my fling…miles away from where I live and I can just go on with my life and never have to worry about whether the guy is going to call me…or if he felt the same way. It's the most perfect kind of one night stand…although it lasted more than one night and pretty much all day but…"
"I'm sorry" Izzie says. "But hearing you talk about sex and watching you eat that banana is grossing me out."
"Me too" George says as both he and Izzie get up and leave the room.
Cristina grabs her phone to call Meredith.
INT – SGH HALLWAY – MORNING
"So…did you schedule the MRI."
"Yeah…no one is booked until later today so we can get in there and take a quick scan" George says. He looks over at Izzie who is biting her bottom lip and puts his arm around her.
"Don't worry. I'm sure everything is fine."
Bailey walks up behind them. "George O'Malley…what are you doing here today? You're supposed to be home sleeping."
"I know…I just forgot something in my locker and Izzie asked me to take a look at one of her patients."
Bailey watches as they walk away and knows they're up to something but chooses to ignore it so she can remember the dinner date she had the night before. She looks at one of the nurse's and says good morning with a little song in her voice.
The nurse responds back saying "Morning?" as if were a question instead of a greeting.
Bailey bounces away down the hall and runs into Richard…exchanging a few words…laughing a bit…and then going on their separate ways. Bailey steps onto the elevator and when she turns around has a smile on her face that even surgery couldn't remove. Richard walks by the nurse's station.
"Good morning" he says with the same goofy smile.
"Morning?" the nurse responds back.
INT – SGH MRI – MORNING
George helps Izzie onto the MRI and tries to lighten the mood. "Hmm…you on your back…brings back all kinds of memories."
"George…don't mess around…and leave the speaker on. I want to know everything you see exactly when you see it or don't see it…GEORGE!"
"What?"
"I mean it."
"Ok."
George leaves the room and sits in front of the scan. "Ok…I just sat down and I'm looking at the screen. I'm reaching forward to turn it on and the test is about to begin…"
"Keep going" Izzie says. Finding comfort in the excessive details.
"George?"
"George keep talking."
Outside the room…George is looking at the screen in front of him…
"George…can you hear me? Is this on?" Izzy asks.
"Yeah…it's on." He says standing next to her.
INT – SGH PEDIATRIC ICU – MORNING
Meredith watches from the end of the bed as Derek runs his hand through Josh's black curly hair. Derek bends over and kisses his forehead and Meredith smiles. Seeing the two of them together she knows she made the right decision. She walks around the other side of the bed and does the same. "He looks just like you."
Derek looks up at her. "What's that sound?"
Meredith pulls her phone out of her pocket and then puts it back in. "That's just Cristina."