Teddy had never been more thankful in her life. The people she used to confide in, her old coworkers, her old friends, they were there for her and she couldn't help but feel absolutely and completely grateful for everything that they had done for her. As soon as she was released, Richard had offered her head of Cardio. Her old job was to be hers again, since Burke had left just a few weeks previous to her arrival and as soon as she had found out, she couldn't wait to start. Mark had let her move into his old apartment, which was absolutely the most amazing thing anyone had ever done for her in these circumstances. She had Addie living a few doors down, and Callie and Arizona across the hall. She'd never be alone if she needed help. The people she had known had changed so much, they seemed like complete strangers. She had noticed right away the family bond between all of them, and she couldn't believe how much she had missed in the past six months.
Lina Rivera had made a decision that would change not only her life, but the life of her children to a point that would make them different people. After a very emotional reunion with her three boys, she had decided that she wasn't going to miss out on anything else in their lives. She had already missed too much, and she wasn't going to let it go any further. She would be getting all of her things shipped from Dubai and would be permanently moving back to Seattle, as to not miss out on her boys lives anymore, and she would get a second chance at not only being their mother, but she'd get to watch her little grandson Nathaniel grow up and that brought tears to her eyes. She wasn't letting herself miss the happiest moments in her sons' lives.
As for the rest of the Seattle Grace crew, life had been slow since Halloween. Very little emergency surgeries and plenty of successful procedures had made it a good week. It was a happy time in Seattle, and the thought of there now being four new little ones on their way made everyone's smiles a little brighter. Even though the news had nearly broken Teddy when she found out she was in fact pregnant, with the encouragement of all of her friends, she realized it wasn't as bad as it seemed. Miranda had taken her under her wing, and Meredith and Addie assured her that everything would be fine and that they'd be there for her throughout it all.
As Derek dropped Meredith off at the main doors of the hospital, he gave her a quick kiss and gave her an intent look.
"Are you sure you'll be okay?" he asked, a little nervous at the idea of him not being at work with her. He had done everything he could for the last month to make sure they worked basically the same schedule, but it happened here and there that they ended up with different days and Derek worried every time.
"I'll be fine Derek," she said with a smile. "Look, Addie's waiting for me, see? I'll be fine."
"Fine," Derek chuckled hesitantly. "I don't like that word."
Meredith gave him another quick peck before getting out. "Have a good time with Dylan," she called out before she shut the door behind her.
"I'll try," he mumbled to himself as the dark clouds above him got a little darker. Seattle was in for quite the surprise.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"The wedding's less than two months away," Carolyn said with a smile as she and Lexie grabbed a cup of coffee at the coffee cart and took a seat at the nearest table. Lexie had been on call, and she had just gotten off. Carolyn had come in to pick her up, since Mark was still working and he'd surely need the car to get home that evening. But they had both opted for a cup of coffee before heading out.
"I know!" she exclaimed. "It feels… unbelievable. I never thought of us like this when we started seeing each other. But now, we're… we're getting married…"
Lexie couldn't help but feel a little bit of a panic all of a sudden. She was getting married. The thought had never really scared her before, but all of a sudden she felt as if she was having cold feet.
"Lex, are you alright?" Carolyn asked, a little unsure.
"What if things don't work out, if Mark realizes he's not the guy who settles down and starts a family? I mean, he's always been the guy who had one night stands and slept with whoever he could get his hands on… he never truly was committed and all of a sudden he is? What if this isn't what –"
Carolyn cut her off. "Lexie, listen to yourself! It's been months since your engagement and your thinking about this now? And what has gotten all these ideas into your head to start with? Mark has changed because of you! I don't know how many times people have told you, but Mark is committed all of a sudden because he finally fell in love!"
Lexie took a sip of her coffee. "I'm sorry," she said, and as she thought about everything she had just said, she felt her eyes become slightly moist. "It's just, I'm scared… and I know I shouldn't be, but everyone has their issues, and I don't want ours to be divorce in ten years. I want to be with him for the rest of my life."
Carolyn smiled. "You are nearly as bad as Meredith. The two of you are definitely related. You need to be positive, not thinking about divorce two months before your wedding. You're going to wear yourself out with stress and that isn't good…" she finished, wanting to add something more, but she kept it to herself.
"I know, I'm sorry." She finished her coffee and after a few moments of silence, she suggested they head out. Carolyn agreed as she got up and tossed her coffee cup in the garbage nearing the door.
They were about to head out when they noticed the small crowd gathered around the TV in the corner of the lobby, near the chairs for the families who were waiting for their dear ones. But most people gathered around the TV were wearing scrubs, and whatever was on had them intrigued.
"I wonder what's going on…" Carolyn mumbled as Lexie looked at her and suggested they check it out.
"What's going on?" Lexie asked Cristina who was one of the many people standing around the small screen. She shushed her and motioned to the screen.
"The storm came out of nowhere and none of the radar's in all of Washington caught it until just now. Winds up to sixty miles per hour, the highest we've seen in a long time. Torrential rains have started just outside of Seattle, but it won't be long until the heavy rains make their way into the city. Several small towns around the city are already without power, and we're hoping the storm calms some before reaching Seattle, but we want everyone to be prepared. We're recommending everyone stay inside until the storm warning passes."
The red screen popped up just after that posting a hurricane warning. Everyone started to mumble amongst each other and take glances out the window at the very dark sky.
"How could they have not seen this coming?" Lexie asked, shook up by the news.
"I don't know," Cristina said, "but it looks like I'll be staying here until it passes. I'm not going out in that weather."
Carolyn looked at Lexie. "I'm sorry, but I don't think we'll be leaving here anytime soon. I'm not used to this bad weather, so driving in it doesn't seem too exciting."
Lexie shook her head. "I wouldn't be leaving if I were to drive in this either, so I don't blame you. And I'm sure we can find something to do."
"What's with the crowd?" Meredith's voice caught them by surprise. They turned around in time to see her and Addie approach, apparently not having heard about the weather.
"They've just posted a hurricane warning and are recommending people stay put until it passes," Lexie explained. "So we're stuck here on my day off."
Carolyn laughed. "I don't even work here and I'm stuck here. And like you said, I'm sure we can find something to do."
Addie nodded. "There's never a dull moment at Seattle Grace. I'm sure you could find some interesting stories from someone and pass the time in a flash."
As Addison said flash, a flash of lightning made its way through the sky, making Meredith jump slightly.
"I'm not a big fan of thunder storms," she admitted.
Carolyn shook her head. "Me neither."
Cristina got a page and dashed off, and Lexie and Carolyn decided they'd wander back to the cafeteria where they'd sit and do today's crossword puzzle until something better came up.
"That's one big storm," Meredith admitted as they walked across onto the catwalk to get their own look of the storm from the best viewing place in the hospital.
"Is it ever."
"Do you know what the first thing I thought about this morning while waking up was?" she started out of the blue.
Addie arched her eyebrow. "Do I want to know?"
Meredith smirked. "Well, I realized this morning that I've been back at the hospital for exactly a month, to the day and that nothing has happened to get me back on bed rest. Now we've got this storm on our hands and Derek had this look this morning as if he knew something bad would happen. Is it just me of does this all equal bad?"
Addie chuckled. "Meredith, stop worrying. Today's just any other day, with a lot of rain and a lot of wind. Derek always thinks something bad is going to happen."
Meredith shrugged. "I guess so."
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Cristina had been on Teddy's service since yesterday when Teddy had been back to being head of cardio. She enjoyed having her as a teacher again, and even more she enjoyed the friendship that had been growing between them. Since that night with her and Derek in her room, Teddy had spent a lot of time confiding in Cristina, and eventually Cristina started to confide in her too. She had only been back for less than a week, but that hadn't mattered. Putting their past behind them, they realized they were a lot alike and could learn some important lessons from each other.
"Patient's in distress," Teddy said as Cristina entered the room. "Go book and OR. We need to go in."
Cristina nodded and rushed off to find an available OR. Luckily, they were almost all empty and they could get in without an issue.
"Did you hear about the storm?" Cristina asked Teddy as they were scrubbing in.
Teddy nodded. "Yeah, and I see it's not calming down like they were hoping it would."
"Have they checked the generators in the past year to make sure they will come into action if needed today?"
Teddy shrugged. "You're asking the wrong person."
Just then, Richard came in, getting ready to scrub into his surgery which was happening in the next OR.
"Dr Webber probably knows," Teddy said.
"Knows what?" he asked.
"If the generators are working in case the power goes out today."
He nodded immediately. "They are and if we do lose our power, the OR's and the ICU can be run off of generators for at least 72 hours. As for the rest of the hospital, I think only the machinery will function. And I doubt anything non medical will function."
They nodded.
"But don't worry about it. Worse things have happen in the hospital than a power outage."
The girls said a quick goodbye to Richard before heading to the OR, where they hoped everything would run smoothly.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"What are you two still doing here?" Mark asked as he noticed Carolyn and Lexie sitting in the cafeteria. He had just gotten out of surgery and it was nearing lunchtime. He had decided to grab something quick before checking in on his patients. But he didn't understand why his mother and his fiancée were still here, when Lexie's shift ended four hours ago.
"You didn't hear?" Lexie asked.
"Hear what?"
"There's a major storm out there and they want everyone to stay indoors and off the roads. Where better than the hospital to be stranded?"
"Um, home?"
Lexie shooed him with her hand. "Whatever. We've been here since almost nine and so far we've gotten through todays, yesterday's and Thursday's crosswords, have talked to Amy and Jackson and have driven ourselves into boredom."
Carolyn nodded as she sipped her water and Mark just laughed as he pulled his key out of his pocket. "Here," he said as he tossed it to Lexie. "My office."
Lexie smiled. "Thanks, but that doesn't make today any less boring."
Mark smirked. "Bottom drawer on the right of my desk. You'll find a jumbo crossword puzzle book," he said as he walked off, laughing as Lexie and Carolyn both sighed.
What a long day.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
Derek walked into the small café where he was meeting Dylan. He had heard the news and had seen the storm, but that didn't bother him, nor did it bother Dylan. They hadn't seen each other in six months and had been looking forward to getting to see each other again. A storm wasn't going to stop him, even if it was getting close to a hurricane.
The café was deserted. The only people there other than Derek were the two employees who were sitting behind the cash. When they heard him come in, they welcomed him with their usual smiles.
"Good morning Dr Shepherd," one of them said. They had gotten to know him quite well since this was his favorite café in town, and he was here several times a week on occasions. It was usually fairly quiet, so the employees had a good time getting to know their customers. He wasn't any different. "What are you doing here on such a terrible day?"
Derek laughed as he pulled off his coat and set it down on a chair at the table he picked. "I'm meeting a cousin of mine. He's in town only for the weekend and we weren't letting the storm get in the ways of our plans."
The other one laughed. "Your wife was right, you are stubborn," he said with a laugh.
Just then the doors opened and Dylan came in. "Derek!"
"Dylan!" Derek greeted him with a pat on the back. They took their orders and sat at the table. It was nearing twelve, but neither one of them ordered lunch. Just coffees and muffins.
"How are things?" Derek asked.
Dylan smiled. "Great, truly. Lisa just landed the lead in her class presentation of Romeo and Juliet and she's never been more excited. And Trevor's hockey team is going to a tournament for four days and he can't wait to get away from us," he added with a laugh. "Plus, Trish and I are bringing the kids to Cuba for their Christmas present. We're going in March and I think Trish and I are going to enjoy it more then they will." They chuckled as Derek agreed with him. "How about with you?"
Derek sighed. "Things have been tough with Meredith's pregnancy but lately all seems to be going well. We've had some tough times in the last few months, but we've gotten over them and things are great between us. Mom is here too, has been for a little over a month now. She's staying until the babies are born, so it's great to have her around."
Dylan nodded, then caught on to something. "You said babies, as in more than one…"
Derek smiled. "We found out during the summer that we're having twins."
"That's incredible!" Dylan exclaimed.
Derek nodded. "It's amazing, and I can't describe how it feels, but it won't be long now before-"
He stopped when all the lights shut off and he could hear everything shut down.
"Looks like the storm knocked out the power," Saul, one of the employees called out. "You guys want to come back by the fire and listen to the news?"
The boys exchanged a look and agreed to head back where they'd stay warm and listen to the latest weather update. Apparently, the storm was getting worse, and that they didn't know how long it would last, when the power would be back, or to what extent damages in the city were. They said that emergency measures were in order and that the city's cell towers were running off of generators so contact would be easy.
As if to prove it, Derek's cell rang. He felt his breath catch in his throat when Addie's name came onto the screen. He knew it was Meredith even before he answered.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"So who do I ship you off onto when I go into surgery?" Addison asked with a giggle.
"I could find Lexie and Carolyn. I'm sure they could use some company."
Addie smirked. "I can't imagine having to spend more time than necessary in this place. We already spend over half of our week here."
Meredith shrugged. "As long as you've got something to keep you occupied it's not so bad."
"Easy for you to say!" Addie exclaimed with a laugh. "You haven't had to spend much time here in the last six months."
"Once you stop spending so much time here, you start to realize how much you miss it. And it's not even the whole being surgeons part that you end up missing, it's spending time with everyone here. And I guess you miss the whole being a surgeon part too," she added with a giggle.
"Well I'll have to see that for myself. Just another month or so…"
Meredith smiled. "I can't believe it's so close. I mean, it feels like it was just yesterday that I ended up being your last patient of the day."
Addie laughed. "That was quite the encounter. I'm glad we've gotten the chance to become friends though. If it weren't for that coincidence, I wonder where we'd be…"
"I'd be attempting to fight of Rose without you and would have to deal with Derek's absurdness on my own."
"Good point," Addie said with a bright smile.
Meredith sighed, not sure how to state her next point. "Addison, I know that… you don't need to be here for me. You should be home with your son, and I don't want you to feel like I'm a burden, or that I'm keeping you away from your family and, I mean, if something were to happen, somebody could page you and you could spend this time with Nathaniel instead of babysitting me but you –"
"Meredith, stop. We've been over this before." Addie made her stop and look at her. "I'm here because I want to be here. The chief, your husband, has already been through this several times with me. Derek's been asking me several times a week if I'm sure I wouldn't rather be at home with my son, and I've assured him that I want to be with you as much as I want to be with him, so I'm splitting the time. My shifts are shorter, I'm taking on less surgeries so I can escape home for a few hours. And I'm never working when you're not on. I want to be here for you no matter what."
Meredith nodded and when Addison smiled, she couldn't help but giggle. "So I'm not a burden?"
"Of course not! You're far from that. You're a person who's close to my heart whom I wouldn't want anything bad to happen to."
Meredith smiled as Addie brought her in for a quick hug. "Thank you," she mumbled.
"No need for thank yous. You're worth it." She let go and smiled to Meredith before checking her watch and noticing that it was nearing time for her surgery. "I'm just going to check and see if my intern has prepped my patient for my surgery, then we'll go see if we can find you a babysitter for a few hours."
Meredith groaned. "Don't use the word babysitter."
"Technically, it's because of the babies that you are being babysat, so it is completely appropriate," Addie said with a giggle as Meredith rolled her eyes. "Come on, it's not so bad. I'll be back in a second. You okay here for ten minutes?"
"Addie, I'm in an area full of people in the middle of a hospital. I'll be fine."
Addie laughed. "Okay then, if you're so sure."
Meredith sighed as she turned to head towards the chairs by the elevator, but was stopped when she heard someone call her name.
"Meredith?"
The voice was familiar, but not a voice she could put a name to right away. It had been a while since she had heard that voice. Several years to be more precise…
She turned around and nearly gasped as she noticed the man standing just a few feet away. "Finn?"
He laughed. "Jeez, I wasn't expecting such a drastic reaction. I'm not a ghost."
Meredith giggled. "No it's not that, it's just… I don't know. It's just kind of shocking."
Finn nodded. "Not expecting to see me here? I can understand that." He paused. "So you're still working here?"
Meredith nodded. "It feels like I've been here an eternity when in reality it's only been four years."
Finn laughed. "I can understand that. It feels like a lifetime ago since the last time I was here."
Meredith thought about the last time she had seen him in the hospital. Just after her appendectomy. "Wait, why are you here? Oh god, is someone you know hurt? I can get an update for you if you need it…"
Finn shook his head. "No no. My… well I guess she's my girlfriend, she works here."
Meredith giggled. "Another Seattle Grace woman? Hmm… do you have a thing for hospital staff?"
Finn blushed slightly. "It's… recent. We met when she moved here… her dog is one of my…"
"Patients?"
Finn shrugged. "If you say so."
Meredith nodded. "Well she's one lucky woman."
Finn smiled. "She's pretty amazing. She's a single mom and –"
Just then they were interrupted by a little girl's voice. "Meredith!"
Meredith looked down and noticed Stephanie running towards them.
"Stephanie!" she said with a smile. "What are you doing here in this bad weather?"
"Mommy couldn't find me someone to stay with cause nobody wanted to leave home because of the storm." She then looked at Finn and smiled. Meredith looked at Finn and noticed him perplexed stare.
"How… you…" he mumbled, but he didn't have a chance to finish.
"So mommy was talking to Finny when she got to work and he said he'd come get me before the storm got any worse. And now we're going to my house and we're going to play Barbie's all afternoon. Right Finny?"
"You're dating Catherine!" Meredith exclaimed. "You're with… This is just…"
"How do you know… I mean, I know you guys work together, but even then… how…?"
"Stephanie was my patient just a few months ago. We got to know each other because I was watching out for her while Catherine was in the hospital after a car accident. We have become quite good friends and I'm actually the one who told her about applying for a job here."
Stephanie looked back and forth between Meredith and Finn. "Meredith, how do you know Finny?"
Meredith laughed. "Finny and I used to be like him and your mommy, but we weren't meant for each other. But it looks like it ended up being a good thing in the end because now Finny's with your mommy and your mommy needs someone like Finny."
Just then, they heard Catherine approach. "Finn! Thank you for doing this!" she gave him a quick hug before turning to Meredith. "I would introduce you to Finn, but it looks like Stephanie has taken care of that."
Meredith and Finn chuckled slightly as Stephanie shook her head. "No silly, they used to be like you and Finny, but now they're not."
Catherine looked up to Meredith and Finn for an explanation to her daughter's statement. "Well, we dated a few years back…" Meredith admitted. Catherine's jaw dropped at the information.
"Well… that's quite the coincidence."
"Dr Dandridge?" Addie's voice interrupted them all.
"Dr Montgomery," he said with a smile. "It's good seeing you, in better circumstances."
Addie laughed. "You could say that." She looked around at the people standing in front of her, then back at Finn. "What are you doing here?"
Meredith didn't give him the chance to answer. "He's dating Catherine."
Addison looked at Catherine incredulously. "You've been dating someone and you haven't said anything?"
Catherine still couldn't get over the fact that she was dating someone who knew all of the people she worked with. "We just… it hasn't been long… and I didn't want to jinx it…"
Addie laughed. "No worries, I was just picking on you."
Catherine nodded slowly, still not understanding quite how all of this fit in, how they all knew each other. "How… how do you guys all…?"
Meredith giggled. "We'll go over it later. Right now, I'm thinking that if Finn wants to get Stephanie home before the storm gets any worse, they should get going soon." She paused, then turned to Finn. "Not that I wouldn't enjoy catching up sometime, but I have a feeling we'll have plenty of time for that now that you're part of the group."
"The group?" he asked, hesitantly.
"We're like a family here at Seattle Grace, and you're fresh meat," Meredith said with a laugh. "I'm kidding about the fresh meat thing, you know."
Finn nodded. "I was hoping."
Catherine nodded, agreeing to them getting on the road as soon as possible. "Stephie's stuff is in my locker, in the nurse's locker room. She knows the way."
Finn nodded as he gave Catherine a quick peck on the cheek and headed towards the elevator, led by Stephanie. Meredith and Addie said quick goodbyes to Catherine too and followed, them needing to get to the same floor as the nurse's locker room, where they could see who would be willing to keep an eye out on Meredith until Addie was out of surgery.
"What floor?" Finn asked as the four of them got onto the empty elevator.
"Four," the three of them answered at once, and Finn nodded with a small laugh.
"So Stephie, do you like Finny?" Meredith asked, as she glanced at Finn who was smirking behind Stephanie.
She nodded quickly. "He's really nice and he likes to play with me and he makes my mommy happy."
Addie giggled. "And now we need to go over a lot of things with your mommy."
Meredith and Finn nodded. "She was warned though when she started that things got weird around here," Meredith said with a smirk.
Addison laughed. "You've got that right."
Suddenly, the elevator came to an abrupt stop and it shook violently until the lights went out and were soon replaced by the emergency lights that just barely lit up the small confinement.
"What just happened?" Meredith asked, slightly freaked out. Stephanie wrapped herself around Meredith's leg and shivered, more than likely frightened by the ordeal.
Addie tried pushing some buttons on the controls, but nothing seemed to work. "I think the power just went off."
I AM SO SO SO SO SORRY ! I know it's been an eternity since my last update, but life just sucks and leaves no time for the stuff I like to do. But I'll try, what with a new semester starting... It may be easier for the next little while since things are claming down a little bit. Anyway, I hope you guys like this ! And this is just the beginning (:
