A/N: And she's finally home, everyone...yup, this is it, Meredith's big arrival back at SGH - I hope you enjoy it!
"Breathe, Derek," Kathleen laughed, watching Derek awkwardly pacing by the nurses' station the next morning. "Just walk over and apologize. It isn't that difficult."
"Right, you're not the one who got punched the last time you talked to her," Derek said, glancing over at where Lexie and her fellow interns were waiting for their residents.
"Well, I'd avoid insulting her sister this time around, then," Kathleen said. "Now, go apologize or I'm calling Mom and telling her you want her to visit."
"Are you ever going to stop threatening me with that?" Derek asked.
"Only when it stops working," Kathleen shrugged. "Now stop procrastinating and go talk to her!"
Derek took a deep breath, ran his fingers through his hair and walked up to the group.
"Dr. Grey, could I have a word with you before rounds, please?" Derek said, his nervousness evident in his unsteady voice.
Lexie glanced over at George, who shrugged, obviously as confused as she was. She nodded and followed Derek into an empty exam room.
"Make it quick, Dr. Shepherd," Lexie said, crossing her arms over her chest and staring hard at Derek. "Dr. Yang does not appreciate tardiness for rounds."
"Right…listen, I know you hate me, and I really don't blame you for that, because I've been a jerk," Derek said quickly. "I just…well, I wanted to apologize for what I said the other day. It was completely out of line and inappropriate."
"Damn right it was."
"I know I haven't exactly acted like a man who's in love with your sister, but I want you to know that I am. I really and truly am. She's the love of my life, always has been and always will be. I can't offer you a good explanation for my behavior, other than to say that I was angry, more at myself than anyone else. I was angry because I let the most incredible woman I'd ever met slip away from me…no, worse than that, I pushed her away from me," Derek leaned back against the exam table, running his hand through his hair, trying to steady his shaking voice. "I was beating myself up inside, and I was taking it out on all the wrong people. I know I hurt her, more than you probably know, and more than I can ever expect to be forgiven for. I just…I am sorry, even if it doesn't make anything better, I wanted to apologize. I needed you to know that I truly am sorry."
"I'm not talking Meredith into seeing you," Lexie said, shaking her head.
"I'm not asking you to. I'm not even asking you to tell her about this conversation…who you tell is up to you. This isn't about me trying to get back into Meredith's good graces, because I know that's going to take a hell of a lot more than an apology. This is about the fact that I was wrong, and I need to apologize for that."
"Alright then. In that case, I accept your apology, Dr. Shepherd. Let's get one thing straight, though. I still don't like you, you apologizing doesn't change that. And I still think that Meredith could do a hell of a lot better than you. But I do accept your apology."
"Okay, so I think we're all set," Molly said, pushing Laura's stroller into Meredith's room that afternoon. "Are you sure you don't need anything else before we go?"
"I'll be fine, Molly," Meredith laughed. "You go catch your plane, and I'll see in Seattle tomorrow."
Molly smiled and picked Laura up out of the stroller. Carrying her over to the bed, she stopped and place her next to Meredith's left hand, which had been unbandaged the day before.
"Say goodbye to Aunt Meredith, sweetie," Molly said softly. Meredith smiled as she reached her hand up and ran it along the baby's cheek.
"You be a good little girl for your mommy, okay?" Meredith said. "No screaming like you did for George and Callie, right?"
Molly laughed. "I really should have warned them she'd never been on a airplane before."
"They might have appreciated that," Meredith agreed. "But it was good for them, having something to do together. And now Laura's used to it, so you'll have a breeze flying with her."
"I hate to break up family bonding," Addison said as she walked into the room. "But we've really got to get going if we're going to get you to the airport in time, Molly."
"You'll call me when you land?" Meredith asked anxiously.
"Of course I will," Molly assured her. "Don't worry, we'll see you tomorrow."
"Seriously? McBastard apologized?" George asked incredulously, as he and Lexie joined the rest of their group in the cafeteria.
"Yup, it was a little weird, actually," Lexie said. "I kind of believe he really meant it."
"Maybe he feels guilty," Izzie offered. "I mean, he's not a totally evil guy, so he has to feel badly about how things ended up, right?"
"Nope," Cristina said. "He's just trying to get back in Mer's pants."
"But he told me he didn't care if I told her," Lexie protested. "I don't, he really seemed sincere. I still don't like him, but I'm thinking of cutting the guy some slack."
"Little Grey, I'm disappointed," Cristina chastised, shaking her spoon in Lexie's direction. "You've gone soft."
"I have not!" Lexie protested.
"Have too," Cristina began to argue, but was quickly interrupted by the beeping of her pager. "And on that note, I'm off to be hardcore while you stay here and be soft with Izzie."
"Mark Sloan, don't you dare," Meredith cautioned, as Mark quickly pulled his hand away from the remote he'd been reaching for. "If I have to sit through another hour of that stupid soap opera…"
"Hey, it's a good show!" Mark protested.
"What happened on yesterday's episode?" Meredith asked.
"Um…well…the guy, he…well…and that girl, she..." Mark stammered.
"Uh huh. That's what I thought," Meredith laughed. "You don't even pay attention to the show, you're just looking at the ladies' chests."
"In my defense, I built half those chests, so technically, you could just call it patient follow-up," Mark said.
"I'm sure you would," Meredith said. "Now, is this what you do when tell the chief you're doing research?"
"Sometimes," Mark smiled coyly. "Sometimes I grab a nurse and…"
"Stop! I do not want details, Mark. I would like to remain pleasantly detail-free when it comes to what you do with the nurses," Meredith said.
"So if I can't do my patient follow-ups, what do you propose we do while we wait for Addie to get back?" Mark asked.
"I don't know, we could try talking, but I haven't decided if that requires more brain cells than you're used to using," Meredith teased.
"You're a mean, mean woman, Meredith Grey," Mark laughed. "I'm hurt. Truly and deeply, I'm hurt."
"I'm sure you are," Meredith said. "So are you scrubbing in to close me up on Monday?"
"Maybe," Mark said. "It depends."
"On what?"
"Well, if I help you come out with scar free legs, will you model them in a mini skirt for me?" Mark asked, earning a sharp glare and a giggle from Meredith.
The next morning, it seemed that the entire staff of Seattle Grace Hospital had decided to arrive early. Each had their own excuse, of course, but everyone knew they were all their to await the arrival of Meredith Grey.
"Hey, anyone know which room Meredith's going into?" Izzie asked as she walked into the residents' locker room. "I want to put some flowers in their before she gets back."
"That's nurses' information," Cristina said, somewhat less harshly than normal. "Do I look like a nurse to you?"
"Well excuse me for thinking you might know where they were putting your person when she gets back," Izzie said, rolling her eyes at Cristina.
"You two do realize that you are here for no reason, right?" Alex asked. "At least I was on call last night, so I have an excuse. Meredith hasn't even left L.A. yet, you know."
"I'm here to check on a patient," Izzie protested.
"Right," Cristina scoffed. "Which one?"
"I…uh…well…" Izzie stammered.
"That's what I thought," Cristina smirked.
"Why are you here, Yang?" Alex asked.
"I'm always here early, Evil Spawn. You should know that. The early bird gets the worm or whatever…the early surgeon gets the good surgeries."
"Okay, the helicopter is ready and waiting for you, Meredith," Addison said, coming up to stand beside Meredith as she was transferred to a stretcher for the trip back to Seattle.
"I guess you'll be glad to get back to a normal schedule now," Meredith said as Addison walked her to the elevators. "You can tell the women of L.A. that they can start having babies again."
Addison laughed. "Believe it or not, I'm going to miss you, Meredith. You'll have to come back to visit me someday."
"I will," Meredith said. "And next time, I'll try not to make such a dramatic entrance."
"I'd appreciate that," Addison said.
"Where's Mark?" Meredith asked, suddenly realizing that she hadn't seen him all morning.
"Up on the helipad, waiting for you," Addison said. "He'll be riding back with you. Apparently world renowned plastic surgeons are too cheap to buy plane tickets back home."
"Derek, really, are we going to do this every morning? You need to breathe," Kathleen cautioned as they drove to the hospital.
"I know, it's just…she's finally coming back, Kathleen. She's finally coming back, and I can't even see her," Derek said.
"It'll be okay, Derek. Just trust me on this one. Give her the space she needs right now. If she's really the one – and I know you think she is – if she is, it will work out in time," Kathleen said sympathetically.
"I don't think it, Kathleen. I know it," Derek emphasized. "I know that she's the one. I just have to be patient. I will wait, forever if I have to."
"Well, let's hope it isn't that long. I can't stay here and hold you together forever. I do still have four kids and a husband waiting for me at home."
"Yeah, and I can't even imagine what Tom would do if you left him alone too long with them. I mean, he'd be fine with Connor and Shannon for a few more years, but leaving him with Nicole and Amy? I somehow can't see Tom handling a teenager and a preteen very well without you there," Derek teased.
"Shut up, I do not have a teenager," Kathleen laughed.
"Right. Because fourteen isn't a teenager these days? Face it, Kathleen, your baby is growing up. Before you know, she'll be getting married and then…" Derek stopped and laughed as he watched Kathleen's face go pale.
"You are a horrible person, Derek Shepherd, you know that, right?" she scolded him.
"Nah, if I was a horrible person I'd remind you of all the awful things we did as teenagers, let you think about all the terrible things your little baby could be doing…you know, she's only five years younger than you were when you got married," Derek jokingly pointed out.
"I hate you," Kathleen laughed. "We really were terrible teenagers…karma's got me so screwed, doesn't I?"
"Pretty much," Derek agreed.
"At least she doesn't have a partner in crime. I guess that's one good thing about her being four years older than Amy," Kathleen commented.
"What about Karl? They're only a year apart," Derek said, referring to the oldest Shepherd grandchild, Nancy's first son.
"Ah, but he's in Connecticut and we're in the city," Kathleen pointed out. "They really aren't together very often. Thank goodness too, because that boy's trouble. Did Nancy tell you he got a tattoo?"
"He did what?!" Derek asked, absolutely stunned that the little boy he remembered watching grow up would go out and do that. "God, poor Nancy. How'd he get it done without permission? He's only fifteen!"
"He skipped school and went to some back alley place on the Lower East Side. You know, the ones where they don't look too closely at the signature on the forms. Nancy only found out because the friend who went with him caved and squealed to his mom, who called Nancy to tell her to check her son's back."
"Is it awful that I really would have killed to see Nancy's face when she found out?" Derek asked, trying to contain his laughter.
"Well, there's my favorite dirty mistress!" Mark called out, shouting to be heard over the noise of the helicopter. "Our chariot awaits us, my dear."
After one final goodbye to Addison and a promise to call as soon as they reached Seattle, Mark and the flight nurses carefully loaded Meredith into the helicopter and they took off for Seattle.
After half an hour of smooth flying and idle small talk among the passengers, a quick burst of turbulence shook the helicopter.
"Sorry about that," the pilot shouted from the front. "I'll take us down a little to get away from that. Everyone alright back there?"
"We're good, man…" Mark began, but his voice trailed off as he glanced over at Meredith, who was shaking violently on her stretcher.
"Meredith?" he said, quickly moving up so that he was seated by her head. "Meredith?"
"Mark…I…I can't…oh, God, I can't…get me out…Mark get me out of here," Meredith screamed, frantically squirming on the stretcher.
"Meredith," Mark called out, gently pressing his hands on her shoulders, trying to avoid the most recent grafts while still preventing her from rubbing too hard on her recently repaired back. "Meredith, you need to calm down. It's okay, I'm right here."
"No…no…I can't be here…I…I can't breathe, Mark…get me off, get me off," Meredith continued to scream. Her screams subsided only when Meredith's hyperventilation prevented her from getting any words out.
"Meredith, look at me," Mark said urgently. "Look at me, Meredith. You need to breathe." When this too failed, Mark looked helplessly at the nurse sitting across from him. "Do you have anything to sedate her? She can't keep going like this."
"You paged, Chief?" Miranda Bailey said, walking up to Richard as he waited anxiously in front of the elevators.
"They just radioed in, they're five minutes out," Richard replied, not needing to elaborate which 'they' he was referring to.
"Well, let's go welcome them home, shall we?" Miranda smiled as the elevator doors opened and she and Richard stepped in.
A few minutes later, they found themselves standing on the roof, holding charts over their heads to shield them from the light Seattle rain that was falling. As soon as they were given the all-clear to approach the helicopter, they grabbed the stretcher and rushed over.
"Why is she out?" Bailey asked Mark as he stepped out of the helicopter right behind Meredith.
"She had a panic attack during the flight. We couldn't calm her down," Mark said. "I didn't give her a heavy dose, so she should be waking up any moment now."
As if on cue, Dr. Bailey looked down and locked eyes with a very confused Meredith Grey.
"Alright people, what are we standing around for?" the chief shouted. "Let's get Dr. Grey inside!"
Smiling broadly, Dr. Bailey leaned over the stretcher as they quickly walked towards the elevator and out of the rain.
"Welcome home, Grey," Bailey whispered. "Welcome home."