Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy is not mine. It sucks. I know. Oh well, I guess I'll learn to live without owning it.
Six Days: Part Two
Mark grinned as that snore echoed through the room again. He really shouldn't let her sleep on her back but if he was already awake the snoring amused him. If he was asleep and it woke him up then he'd get a bit irritated and poke her until she rolled over but as long as he was already awake he didn't mind it so much.
The beeping of the alarm brought the angel in his bed to wakefulness and he grinned at her. "Morning Angel."
"Mmm," she groaned and fumbled to slam the alarm clock quiet. "Morning. How'd you sleep?"
Mark shrugged and nuzzled his nose into the crook of her neck. "Okay, I guess. Too much going on in my head. Couldn't settle. Watched TV for a while, read and then came up here. George didn't sleep much either. We talked for a bit. He's worried and trying to be strong for his mom but the mask is cracking."
Meredith turned her head and kissed his forehead. "He'll be all right," she reassured him and then wrapped her arms around his shoulders. "And so will you."
"I know," he murmured. "Did you hit the snooze?"
"Yep."
"Good," she could feel his eyelashes flutter against the side of her neck. "Then I get to hold you just a bit longer."
Meredith giggled and held him just a bit tighter. "I love the way your brain works, Dr. Sloan."
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Meredith's cell phone rang as Mark stepped out of the bathroom and he scooped it up. "Angel's in the shower, Cris. She'll call you back in a few," he said without looking at the caller ID.
A throat cleared on the other end of the line. "It's not Yang, Mark," Addie's voice was hesitant. "I…um…I'll call Mer later, okay?" She paused and Mark could hear her licking her lips nervously even as he tried to remember that he was seriously angry with her. "I…I'm sorry."
Mark swallowed heavily. "Addie," he growled. He closed his eyes and his hand tightened on the phone. "Don't." He sighed. "Just don't. Not this week. I…I can't, Addie. Just…next week. Give me this week, Addie. I just can't. Not yet."
He heard her breath hitch in an almost sob. "Okay, Mark. Yeah." She drew in a ragged breath. "Just let Mer know I need to talk to her, okay? I'll…uh, talk to you next week then."
Mark opened his eyes and stared at the far wall. "I'll tell her," he promised and clicked the phone closed. "Dammit!" He sat on the edge of the bed and buried his head in his hands. The what could have beens were killing him and he struggled desperately to hang onto his anger at Addie over the baby she'd aborted. It was a task he nearly didn't have the energy for.
"I'm only going to say this once," Meredith's voice was soft and intense. "And only because I think you need to hear it. I am absolutely not defending Addison or her actions but if she'd kept the baby…well, we wouldn't be here now, would we?"
Mark lifted his head and glanced over at his Angel. She leaned against the door jamb of the bathroom clad only in a towel. Her expression was soft with regret and pain for him but the determination in her eyes turned them to a blue green color that had always sent jolts of affection to his heart. "I know, Angel," he said softly. "Doesn't mean I don't wonder what the kid would have been like. Sometimes I even wonder if Addie and I would have split anyway and then you'd be its stepmom."
Meredith let out a small laughed and crossed the room to sit beside him. She gently pried the phone from his fingers and leaned over to lay a kiss along his beard covered jaw. "I would have been an excellent stepmom and Addie would have hated me with a passion. I'd spoil the kid rotten and then send him or her home on a sugar high to drive Addie nuts."
Mark couldn't stop the laugh as he envisioned Addie's face if that had happened. "Yeah," he nodded and wrapped an arm over her shoulders. "I can seriously see that." He dropped a kiss on the top of her head and pushed himself up. "Call her back and I'll get dressed. You don't have to be in for a few hours, want me to give you a ride anyway?"
Meredith grinned at him. "Of course, I can hang out in one of the conference rooms and study until my shift starts."
"Get dressed then, lazy," he gave her one of his boyish grins. "I'm not waiting on you and if I leave without you then you'd have to call a cab."
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Mark sighed a bit as he glanced at the woman in the passenger's seat. "Okay," he finally said. "Spit it out. You've been squirming and fidgeting since you talked to Addie. Spill it, Angel."
Meredith flushed a bit guiltily. "I…Are you sure? I know Addie's a touchy subject. I didn't want to upset you."
Mark flashed her a quick grin. "It's all right, Angel. I don't mind. I've forgiven Addie I just…I'm allowed to be mad at her this week. That doesn't mean you have to be mad at her too. And you've been more supportive and understanding than anyone has a right to expect you to be. So just tell me what she said cuz I know you're dying to spill it to someone and you don't gossip so tell me already."
Meredith smiled at him and put her hand on his thigh. "Good, cuz it's killing me to keep this to myself and you're the only one I'd tell. But remember it's a secret," she grinned at him. "Well, sort of a secret. Anyway, the other day I caught Addie and Alex flirting but they've been doing that for a while."
Mark nodded. "Everyone's seen the two of them flirting since the divorce," he said and pulled to a stop at a red light before giving her his full attention. "Wait. You mean it's more than just harmless flirting?" He couldn't keep the surprise from his voice.
Meredith nodded with an impish grin. "According to Addie they nearly kissed in the NICU yesterday. Now she's freaking out because of it. She doesn't want to get involved with anyone right now but she really likes Alex."
Mark mulled the news over for a moment while he eased forward when the light turned green. "You know…I think they'd be good for each other." He mused. "Don't know if they'd stay together but the two of them might be good. Alex is still messed up over Izzie and Addie over Derek. Maybe they could give each other a good time."
Meredith grinned. "It would make a dinner party easier," she pointed out. "We were going to invite Burke, Cris, Alex and Addie over for dinner soon, remember. If Alex and Addie are together then there won't be any awkwardness." She paused and a nonplussed look crossed her face. "Besides the fact that Cris and Burke still aren't actually talking to each other."
Mark shook his head. "There isn't any way that we can help, Angel. Not until Cris lets us know what she wants us to do."
Meredith sighed and squeezed his thigh a bit. "I know," she shook her head. "I just don't understand the power dynamics. They're stupid. Burke and Cris are a couple. They're supposed to face the world as a united front but they're too busy deciding who's the boss to do anything but fight each other."
Mark pulled into the hospital parking lot and shrugged. "I can't explain it to you, Angel. I don't get it either."
Meredith giggled. "Well at least we can be confused together, right?"
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Meredith stood in a line with Cristina and Izzie staring at her biological father. She could no longer bring herself to call him her father. She wanted the distinction if only in her thoughts. He was speaking a bit loudly into his cell phone and making grand gestures. Coffee slopped over the edge of his cup and onto his hand. "How am I related to that man?" She wondered aloud in confused disgust.
Cristina lifted her chin from her fist to glance at her. "What do you mean?" She asked curiously.
Meredith rolled her eyes as Thatcher finally noticed the coffee spilling all over him and the floor. "I mean, look at him, he's a mess," she clarified.
"Yeah?" Cristina agreed hesitantly still confused.
"I mean, he's a disaster," Meredith continued. Thatcher was now holding his cup between his teeth and trying to find something to clean up the mess. "He's a stammering, mumbling, clumsy disaster with whom I have absolutely nothing in common, not one thing." Cristina and Izzie shared amused smiles.
Izzie let out a chuckle. "I…uh, hate to break this to you…" she paused and turned to face Meredith with a bright grin that said more than words ever could.
Meredith shot her a glare. "What?" She asked irritated.
Cristina blanked her face and stared at Thatcher knowing she'd burst into laughter if she looked at either of her friends. "Well, you know, you do your own share of stammering yourself," she said casually.
Izzie nodded helpfully. "Yeah, that nervous talking thing you do? It's actually a lot like him."
Cristina hummed her agreement.
"No it's not," Meredith argued quietly.
"Plus that messy thing," Cristina continued.
Izzie nodded again. "Oh, totally."
Meredith eyes widened. "You're the messy one," she accused Cristina in a bland voice. She usually didn't mind them teasing her but she was starting to feel a little uncomfortable. She didn't want to be like him.
"No," Cristina shook her head adamantly. "My apartment is messy, my locker is messy, but I am not messy." She turned back to watch Thatcher again. "Sometimes you have, like, food and stuff in your hair."
Izzie was beginning to resemble a bobble head doll with all the nodding. "Yeah food. Band-aids on your face." Cristina hummed again in agreement. "And you jump and drop things every single time your phone goes off."
Meredith frowned in anger at the blond and then glared at Cristina's smirk. "You are in a relationship with no words," she pointed out sharply to Cristina. Then she turned her gaze on the grinning Izzie. "And you are a millionaire in twenty dollar shoes. Whatever." She whirled around to stalk away from the now shamefaced pair.
Cristina and Izzie turned their attention back to Thatcher. "Oh my God," Cristina snickered as he tried to juggle his phone, the napkins and the cup of coffee. "She is just like him."
Izzie laughed and nodded again.
"She isn't," Mark's voice was cutting and cold. "Angel is nothing like that man." He glared at them both as they turned to face him. He crossed his arms over his chest and glowered until they both squirmed in shame. "Angel would never abandon her child. She would never leave her child standing on her porch in the rain. And she would always have something to say to them. Yes, she stammers and yes, sometimes she has more important things to worry about than how she looks but she isn't anything like Thatcher Grey." He let his arms uncross and fall to his sides. "So stop making her feel bad that she unfortunately shares his DNA." He turned around and stalked off after his girlfriend.
Cristina swallowed at the anger he'd left in his wake. "I think we might have gone a bit too far," she admitted lowly.
Izzie shrugged unconcerned as her pager sounded. "They'll get over it," she said and hurried off to answer her page.
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Meredith watched Heather's surgery with the other interns with one eye. Her other was busy watching her fingers as she texted Mark. His reaction to Addison's news had delighted and surprised her. She'd expected him to continue with the angry silence but he'd been chuckling with her when they'd entered the hospital and had been pressing her for more information all morning.
He's sitting right here. Should I ask him about the almost kiss? Or is that too much like gossip? -Mer
Ask him. I dare you. –Mark
She turned her head and eyed Alex over Cristina's head. He was watching the surgery intently and paying almost no attention to the people around him.
I can't. Really. What if he'd rather forget it ever happened? I can't ask him. –Mer
Chicken. –Mark
She was just sending him the text equivalent of a raspberry when George bustled in and passed in front of them. "Hey," Alex called out. "How's your old man?" The concern in his voice was genuine though Meredith sometimes thought she was the only one that could hear it.
George took a seat beside Izzie as he answered. "His urine output is holding steady. Mostly it's steady today," he corrected himself. "Which is good."
Cristina leaned forward to look around Izzie and Alex and fix her intent gaze on George. "Have you seen Burke today?" She asked as casually and innocently as possible.
George leaned forward and gave her a bland look. "Even if I did like you I still wouldn't tell you that," he told her easily in a voice that was as cutting as it was serious.
Cristina's face fell a bit and her brow furrowed as she glanced at Meredith. Meredith shrugged a bit and then turned her attention back to the surgery. "How can you be okay with Burke but not Cristina?" She heard Izzie asking George and kept an ear on the conversation.
George gave her a surprised look. "Her career wasn't on the line when she lied to me." He pointed out.
Meredith rolled her eyes at his immaturity. "Why don't you just ask Burke about the hand yourself?" She whispered to her.
Cristina immediately started shaking her head. "I am not talking to him. He owes me," she claimed.
"What?" Meredith asked confused.
"I don't know," Cristina scoffed and shifted in her seat. It made her a bit envious that Meredith truly didn't understand the power struggle between she and Burke. She would give just about anything to have a relationship where she didn't have to fight for every scrap of affection and acknowledgement. She really wished that Burke were more like Mark and that she could be a bit more like Meredith. But it wasn't meant to be that way. She was an intense person and she usually liked a bit of strife. It was just…sometimes it was too much strife.
"So you're together, but you don't talk to each other?" Alex asked Cristina nearly as confused as Meredith. He understood power struggles but he also knew when to cut and run.
"Mmhm," Cristina nodded easily.
Alex let out a harsh bark of laughter. "I wish I could find that in a woman," he mused with a bit of humor in his voice.
Meredith bit her lip to stop the question about Addie that was burning a hole in her tongue. This was not the time or the place for that. She did not want to feed either of them to the gossip mill. Although…there might be a way to ask without asking. "Hey," she called his attention to herself. "How's it going with Addison?"
She watched him closely as he tensed. "What?" His voice had raised at least an octave and the response was a bit defensive. She cheered mentally. He'd been just as affected by the almost kiss as Addie had been. She bit back the giggles as he stammered at her for a moment before pulling himself together. "What do you mean by that?" He finally got out.
Meredith schooled her expression into innocence and confusion. "Laura Grey, tiny baby," she reminded him.
Alex smiled, relieved and guilty looking. "Laura. The baby. Right." He nodded. "She's, uh, she's, um, doing fine. She's doing well," he assured her absently. He shrugged quickly. "I gotta get out of gynie, though. I gotta get back to Sloan."
Cristina regarded him suspiciously for a long moment. "What are you plotting and can I get in on it?" She finally asked.
He is totally hot for her. –Mer
I knew it. –Mark
"Shut up," Alex scoffed and stood up. His eyes caught Meredith's as he left the room and he winced at her bright knowing smile.
Meredith turned back to the surgery with a slight grin on her lips. It would be beyond entertaining to watch that duo come together. She agreed with Mark to a certain extent. She couldn't really see Alex and Addison in anything long term but they'd be good for each other and she was open to being surprised.
"Ah!" Izzie suddenly groaned. "This is my surgery," she complained. "I should be down there." She gave an aggravated sigh and George's pager beeped. She glanced over at him. He was off work because of his dad. Why was his pager beeping?
George pulled out his pager and stared down at it. The blood drained from his face and he stood up. "No," he muttered and sped to the door. "Excuse me."
Meredith watched him go and exchanged a worried glance with Callie in the OR. Then her own pager beeped and her stomach dropped. "Mr. O'Malley," she breathed when she read the page.
"911?" Izzie asked uncertainly.
"Yeah," Meredith answered and leapt to her feet to race out the door.
Izzie and Cristina watched her go and knew that it wouldn't be good news. Cristina slowly stood up and followed after her determined to at least be around if something was wrong. Izzie sighed and stared down at the surgery. Callie had left the OR, when had that happened? Why? She took a sip of her coffee and then followed after the others.
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Meredith leaned inconspicuously against the wall of the conference room where Bailey had gathered the O'Malley's. She read the tension and worry in their postures and wished she could do something to help them.
"Okay, now I called the family in," Bailey was saying in a steady voice. "Because I need to perform a procedure, uh, on your father to help him breathe."
Meredith caught sight of Callie rushing up and standing uncertainly at the window of the conference room. George gave a small nod and Callie silently entered the room and leaned on the wall beside her. Meredith sent her a small smile of support.
"All right, so—so you're saying he can't breathe?" One of George's brother asked hesitantly.
"With the extensive surgery, uh, your father is not breathing on his own," Bailey struggled to explain in simple easy to understand words. George's face was a study in misery though and she felt awful for having to do this. Why couldn't the O'Malley's have gone to a different hospital? Bailey felt like she was killing her own child slowly. "Which is why we still have him intubated."
"Intubated?" George's other brother asked with the same tentativeness. Meredith really wished she could remember which one was Ronnie and which was Jerry. It was driving her insane.
"The tube in Dad's mouth," George explained easily in a comforting tone. "It's breathing for him."
"And right now that tube has a kink in it, which is straining his breathing." Bailey finished.
"How did it get a kink in it?" Mrs. O'Malley asked slowly.
George turned to his mother and rubbed at her arm. "It just happens. We don't always know why," he told her.
"But—but he's doing good today," Ron or Jerry pointed out. "I mean, he made—he made plenty of pee, so…"
"Still, we need to replace the tube," Bailey told them as gently as she could.
"So why don't you just do it?" The other brother asked a bit belligerently. "I mean, what are we waiting for?" He motioned with his hands as he spoke.
Bailey exhaled and caught George's eye. His features were cast in grim acceptance. As though he knew exactly why they hadn't proceeded yet. Unfortunately for them all he probably did. "Okay, with the damage to your father esophagus and the swelling in his throat from being intubated for all this time—"
"You might not be able to get it in," George surmised. "The new tube?"
Bailey stared at him for a long moment, wishing he was anyone else. This was breaking her heart and she hated it. "Under these circumstances…it can be a complicated procedure. If I'm not successful…" She tore her eyes away from his to take in the rest of his family. "I'm saying, uh, you need to prepare yourselves."
Meredith watched the slowly dawning realization cross their faces. Why had she ever wanted to become a doctor again? Right in this moment she thought she'd much rather be an accountant.
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That night they both stared up at the ceiling in mute dismay. Neither willing to close their eyes and let dreams take them. Neither wanting to lose the closeness to each other telegraphed by their clasped hands.
Meredith hated that she had an awful feeling about George's dad. She also didn't like that she hadn't even tried to go see Laura that day. She missed her visits with the baby.
Mark had thought he was working through his anger with Addie and the sorrow of the what might have beens. He'd been pleased about the news of Addie and Alex. He really had but as the sun had gone down he'd been plagued with the remembrance of that damn Yankees onesie.
"You know we're both completely pathetic, don't you?" Meredith finally claimed about midnight.
Mark snorted out a laugh. "Do I want to know how you came to that conclusion, Angel?"
She turned over on her side and propped her head up on one hand while the other fingered his bicep. "We're both lying here, in the dark, feeling miserable and sorry for ourselves when we could be raiding the kitchen and watching Bogey movies while doing the same thing."
Mark turned his head to face her. "Bogey movies?" He asked with a hint of interest. He loved Humphrey Bogart and she knew it.
She nodded. "There's a marathon on. I heard about it the other day during the news and I'd forgotten until just a minute ago. And we have cookie dough and popcorn and ice cream in the kitchen."
"Well, I'm sold," he said and threw the covers off of himself. "Let's go, Angel."
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"Mark!" Alex called when he saw the other man down the hall. "Wait up a minute, dude." He held out a cup of coffee as he caught up with Mark. "Bone dry cappuccino." Mark took the coffee silently and raised an eyebrow at Alex while they continue down the hallway. "Can I get in on the reconstructive rhinoplasty you have scheduled for today?"
Mark stopped and turned to face the younger man. He took a sip of the coffee and tilted his head at Alex. "I'm not telling you why I'm pissed at her. You've been working with her all week why the sudden change of heart?"
Alex scowled though Mark thought he caught a bit of a flush tinting Alex's cheekbones for a moment. "It's not sudden. I didn't want to be on the gynie squad in the first place. Now I'm stuck there and I'd like a chance to get out."
Mark nodded for a minute and then his gaze sharpened on Alex. "Is she miserable?" He asked.
"I'm sorry?" Alex returned to buy some time to figure out what Mark wanted to hear. Did he want Addie to be miserable because he was mad at her or was it something else?
Mark shifted his feet a bit. "It's just…" He pulled his eyes back up and caught Alex's. "I need to know if she's…" Alex could see the heartbreak and pain in Mark's eyes and wondered what it meant. "At least miserable this week." Mark finally finished. He shrugged and took another sip of the coffee. "Did she seem…Is she miserable?"
Alex relaxed his shoulders and smirked at Mark. "Oh, dude, she's awful. She's torturing me. I seriously have to get away from that woman," he confided. Granted it wasn't for the reasons Mark probably thought but Alex wasn't above misleading his friend to get in on the surgery and away from Addison and her too perfect lips. He leaned a little closer to Mark and gave him a grim look. "I mean, she is completely and utterly, one hundred percent miserable."
"Good," Mark nodded sharply and turned to walk away.
"So can I scrub in?" Alex asked.
Mark glanced back over his shoulder. "Nope. I've got Meredith to cheer me up this week. Addie doesn't have anyone but you so get to it."
Alex scowled at his back. "Ass," he muttered and wandered off to find Addison and get back to work.
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Cristina stared up at the white ceiling of the on-call room from the top bunk with her hands tucked under her head. She was so tired she couldn't sleep. Her mind was whirling and spinning with everything that was happening and she couldn't get it to stop. "Are you sleeping?" She finally asked Meredith who was lying on the bottom bunk.
"I should be," Meredith answered. "We stayed up all night last night."
"Why?" Cristina asked.
"Bogey marathon," Meredith shrugged. "Feel like I haven't slept in days."
"I haven't," Cristina sighed. "I can't sleep alone anymore. I used to sleep just fine, and then he…" She sighed and squirmed on the bed to find a more comfortable position. "God, he gets me all strung out on him, and then he disappears?"
Meredith's brow furrowed in confusion. "He didn't disappear," she refuted. "He's in the hospital."
Cristina closed her eyes in a slow blink and glanced to the window not seeing anything really. "I just want to know how he's doing," she confessed quietly.
"You could just ask him," Meredith pointed out for what had to be the five hundredth time since Burke's surgery.
Cristina shot up to lean on one of her elbows and glare down at her friend. "He could just tell me," she said irritably and flopped back down on her back.
Meredith smirked, amused by Cristina's stubbornness. She gave a slight laugh and then sobered. "George's dad is going into renal failure," she murmured sadly.
Cristina nodded even though she knew Meredith couldn't see her. "I heard," she said just as softly.
Meredith sighed heavily. "My biological is here, everywhere, every day. He's perfectly healthy, and I have nothing to say to him." She paused and gathered her courage to continue. "If George's dad dies…"
"I know," Cristina said when Meredith paused again as though she couldn't quite find the words to express what was in her head.
"If Thatcher died, my life wouldn't be any different," Meredith said quickly. She stared up at the bottom of Cristina's bunk letting the statement roll around in her head for a moment. "Is it weird that I'm a little jealous of George?"
Cristina was silent for a few moments her own memories far too close to the surface for her. "Yes," she finally said just as Meredith was starting to wonder if she'd fallen asleep.
Both women sighed heavily and closed their eyes to try and force sleep to come to them.
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Mark stirred the sugar into the tea he was forcing himself to drink. He gave a gasping cough and sniffled. He'd felt the cold coming on last night and thought that maybe sleeping would have been more beneficial than an all-night Bogey marathon.
"Look at you," Addison's said from the door to the small room he'd retreated to. "You look terrible." Her voice carried a hint of amusement and a lot of concern.
Mark looked up from his tea blearily. "I'm miserable," he told her with a croaky voice and puppy dog eyes.
"I can see that," Addison shook her head. He really did look it. "It's the rain. Makes everything seem worse than it is."
Mark rolled his eyes and sipped at his tea with a scowl. "I hate tea," he grumbled. "Don't tell Mer."
Addison gave a breathy laugh. "What? That you don't like tea?" She crossed the small space and sat next to him. "I think she knows already."
Mark rolled his eyes at her again and coughed. "I'm still mad at you, you know. I just can't seem to express it today."
"I know," she said and patted his shoulder comfortingly. "You can go back to hating me later."
"I don't hate you," Mark said gruffly. They sat together in silence each lost in their own thoughts. "Do you ever wonder…?" Mark asked quietly after a time.
Addison nodded and laid her head on his shoulder. "Yeah. Sometimes. And then I'll see Mer or I'll think about it and…we would have been awful parents, Mark." She could almost feel his glare burning the top of her head but she didn't relent. "You and Mer will be great parents. Me and anyone else would be good parents. But you and me? We'd have been terrible. We weren't good as a couple and we would have been even worse as parents."
Mark snorted a bit and then sighed and leaned back against the chair. "Just because you're probably right doesn't mean I'm not still mad at you. You didn't even consult me, Addie. I would have…"
Addison lifted her head and pulled his chin around to face her. "Would have what, Mark? Taken the baby and showed up on Mer's doorstep? Or worse stayed with me? What would you have done?"
Mark jerked his chin from her grip and glared at her hotly. "I don't know, Addie. And now I never will." He shrugged her head from his shoulder and stood up. "We'll never know what could have been and it's killing me."
"Mark," Addison started but he was already out the door and didn't hear her.
She knew that usually they both acknowledged that it was much better this way. He was happier with Meredith than he could ever have been with her. For Addison's part she was lonely and she missed Derek but…well, Mark didn't deserve to be a substitute for his ex-best friend and it would have made her even more miserable than the loneliness did. Yes, they were both much better off; she tried to convince herself even as a tiny New York Yankees onesie floated through her mind.
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Gotta run by Mom's house and check up on things. Get the mail. If you wanna go back to the apartment tonight pick me up there. Izzie's giving me a ride. Love you.—Mer
Sure thing, Angel. See you in a few hours. Haven't decided where we'll sleep tonight. Depends on George's dad, I guess. Love you too.—Mark
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"Where's Mark?" Izzie asked Meredith when Meredith stumbled into the kitchen looking for coffee. "Are you two fighting again?"
"No," Meredith answered as she poured a mug of coffee and seated herself cross legged on one of the bar stools at the island in the middle of the kitchen. "Why would you think that?"
Izzie shrugged and sipped at her own coffee. "He's not here this morning. He didn't drive home with you last night. And I thought I heard him slamming out early this morning."
Meredith shrugged lightly. "He got a page. I told him to call in sick but he's being a man about it, so he rushed off to answer the page," she explained. "We're fine, Iz. Just fine. And we'll be better when this wretched week is over." She stared at the cobblers littered over the island and sighed. "Did you get any sleep last night?"
"No," Izzie answered immediately. She sighed heavily. "No, I stayed up baking and cleaning the bathroom floor in case George wants to lay down on it." Meredith fought off a smile. It wasn't really funny except that it kind of was. "It's weird," Izzie went on in a faraway tone. "I have all this money." She shook her head and then turned to Meredith. "I…I have all this money, and I would spend every penny of it to save George from what he's about to go through, but I…" She turned her eyes away but Meredith caught the glint of tears in them. "Can't." Izzie drew in a shaky breath. "It's useless." She stared at the island and shrugged. "So I made cobbler."
Meredith turned her attention back to the island too. "Well," she shrugged a bit and took a sip of her coffee. "Cobbler's good."
Izzie nodded her eyes never leaving the pans of cobblers. "Yeah," she said finally.
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Callie set the files she'd been carrying on the counter and slanted a glance at Mark. He really did look awful. A part of her had to agree with Addison's decision but the rest of her grieved for Mark. She knew that Meredith was doing her best to keep his mind off of the baby that Addison hadn't wanted but he still looked terrible.
Mark saw the glance and sighed. "She told you." He said, more a statement than a question.
Callie fiddled with the files a bit as Mark edged closer to her. There was no need for either of them to clarify which she he meant. "Um…yeah," she finally admitted.
Mark grunted in acknowledgement. "Do you think I'd be a terrible father?" He finally asked her.
Callie's fingers stroked the files for a moment and then she looked up her clear brown eyes catching his icy blue ones. "With Addie? Oh yeah. See your relationship with her wasn't about you and her. It was about her and Derek and you and Derek so any kid the two of you had would start off being a point for or against Derek and…you didn't love her, Mark. You know you didn't. You loved Meredith. You've always loved Meredith. Any kid you have with Mer? That baby is going to be the most loved, most wanted child on the planet. And he or she will have the most wonderful mother and father ever. You'll be there for every game, for every play they're in, for every everything they do. At least…that's what I think."
Mark grinned and snickered a bit. "Kid would be cute as Hell too, don't you think?"
Callie shook her head and grinned back at him. "Well, Meredith looks a lot like her mom so yeah…kid'll probably take after Mer and be cute and smart."
Mark rolled his eyes at her and then sneezed. "Does George know about that mean streak you try to hide, Torres?" He asked and pulled a tissue from his lab coat pocket.
Callie smirked at him. "He likes it." She dug in her pocket and pulled out a package of cold tablets. "Here. Mer warned us all about your cold. Me, Addie, Alex, Cris, Tyler and a few others have pockets full of tissue and cold tablets. You aren't the only one sniffling and coughing either." She passed him the package. "Me, I drink way too much orange juice to catch a cold from you or the rain or anything else. I don't get colds. I don't get sick."
Mark popped the package open and dry swallowed the tablets. "I'll be sure to remind you of that next week when you're hacking up a lung," he chuckled. He turned his back to her and gathered up the charts he'd been working on before heading down the corridor.
"I don't get sick!" She called after him. "I don't," she grumbled to the snickering nurses behind the desk.
MS/MG MS/MG MS/MG
Meredith clenched her hands into fists in her lap. She did not want to be here for this. George looked…broken. His mother was trying to look confused but they all knew that the woman understood exactly what the Chief and Bailey were saying. Jerry and Ronnie were slowly shaking their heads in denial.
"You're saying…You're saying it's not getting better," Louise O'Malley summarized the words the two doctors had said in their long-winded, nearly incomprehensible medical speech. "You're saying he's not gonna wake up."
Chief Webber sighed and stared down at his hands. "Mrs. O'Malley…" He looked up and didn't quite meet Louise's eyes. "All of his organs are shutting down. His liver and his kidneys are no longer supporting him," Louise looked away from that grave face. "And he is entirely dependent on his life support machines."
"We're saying he's not going to wake up," Bailey interrupted before Webber could continue to complicate the matter with medical terminology that the woman didn't care about. "You can keep him on life support and wait for nature to take its course." Bailey swallowed as Louise looked down at her clasped hands. She hated this part of the job. "That could take days or weeks. Or you can…" Bailey drew in a breath and rushed the rest of her sentence. "Take him off life support."
The tears Louise had been fighting finally escaped her control and spilled over her cheeks. "Unplug him?" She asked in a hitching voice.
Bailey kept her face as blank as she could manage as she nodded. Sometimes it was easier for the families if they thought the doctors were indifferent. It didn't matter that her heart was breaking for George's family, for George. They needed her to be a doctor. To be a professional. "Yes ma'am," she said.
Silence filled the room for a moment and then one of George's brothers took a ragged breath and stared at his brother. "Georgie."
George, startled at the sound of Ronnie's voice addressing him, looked up. "Yeah?" He asked.
"What do you think?" Jerry asked softly.
Louise, Jerry and Ronnie all turned to look at George with damp eyes. George stared back at them for a long moment. "Dad's in pain," he said and his voice broke on the last word. He swallowed hard. "His organs are shutting down. He can't breathe on his own." George blinked the wetness from his eyes and met Ronnie's. Ronnie frowned and shook his head a bit in denial before straightening his shoulders and giving one small, painful nod of acceptance. "It's painful," he told them. "And he's on medication but…" Jerry nodded, his expression resigned. "Medication can only do so much." His turned his head to look at his mother, his face pleading with her to understand, to make the decision that he didn't want to voice.
Louise stared at her son with tears lining her eyes. "You think…" she paused and swallowed while George looked away from her. "You're saying you think it's time…" George looked back to her. "To let him go?" Louise finally finished. Her face crumpled in grief.
George turned away again and sent Meredith a panicked look. Meredith tried to give him all the comfort she could through her eyes and then she looked down at her clenched fists. She had no idea what to tell him. How to make it better. To make it easier for him. George turned away from her and begged Bailey with his eyes for the right answer.
Bailey shook her head slightly. "We can't tell you what to do here, George," she told him gently. She knew that her voice was halting and she swallowed back the tears forming in her throat. She was supposed to be a professional. But he was one of hers and he was in so much pain.
George nodded, resolve struggling to emerge in his expression. He met each of his brother's eyes and then stared off into the distance between them. "He's not Dad like this," he shook his head and then met Louise's eyes again. "And he's not gonna wake up, Mom." He took a shuddering breath as his mother sobbed and each of his brothers covered one of her hands. Their tangled fingers squeezed hers as she sobbed again and the tears once more spilled onto her cheeks. Her free hand crept out and clasped his.
Once again silence fell over the room. Only Louise's quiet sobs broke the quiet. Against her will Meredith was forced to think of Thatcher again. She didn't want to. She wished he would just leave her alone but he was there, in her hospital, in her head. How would she react if the same situation arose with him? Did Harold O'Malley know how very lucky he really was? Did George?
Meredith turned her gaze away from the grieving family. Their pain made her hurt for them and with them. God how she wished Mark were here with her.
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He was there. Again. Dammit. Why couldn't she get away from him? All she wanted to do was see her niece and he kept hovering over the baby. Well, she wouldn't let him stop her this time. She had missed Laura the past few days. She wanted to check on her. Alex's twice daily reports just weren't good enough.
Meredith put one hand on the door jamb and wondered for a moment what it would have been like. How would her life be now if she'd had the chance to live with her biological and Susan?
He looked up as though sensing her and she gave him a brittle smile. He only stared back at her in confusion. She opened her mouth to say hello but something completely different came out. "Is there a drawer of unopened cards somewhere?" That wasn't even close to what she'd wanted to say but she really did want to know.
But he only stared at her with one of those baffled looks. "I'm sorry…what?" He asked, his brow furrowed.
She looked away from him. She really wished he would just answer her for once. "I just…wanted to know. I've only ever heard my mother's version of the story of why you left," she tried not to let her bitterness seep into her words but she didn't think she managed very well. "And I was just wondering if maybe you have a side that I haven't heard." She looked at him again hoping to read the truth in his expression even if he remained as silent as he always did.
He looked up at the ceiling and then around the room and finally down at Laura. "Your mother moved to Boston and, uh," he paused and finally his eyes came back to her. "I wanted to…but she told me not…to call or come around, and uh…she-she was um, uh…" He paused again and Meredith knew that was all she was going to get out of him. Somehow she was disappointed. She'd known this would be her answer but it still disappointed her. "Eventually I remarried," he told her in a stronger voice. "And I…" forgot all about you, she supplied for herself when he stopped again. She stared at him steadily, daring him to say it. He shook his head. "I'm…I'm s—I'm sorry," he stuttered out under her even, waiting stare.
Meredith let the subject drop. Unsatisfied with the non-answers but knowing that it was all she would get. "Do you snore?" She asked instead wondering which one of them she got it from. She knew Mark found it cute but she hated it.
"What?" He asked with that befuddled look again. He couldn't bring himself to believe that she had really let go of her questions. Her mother never let an argument go. She always had to win. Maybe she wasn't as much like her mother as he'd thought.
"Mark says I snore," she told him and enjoyed the widening of his eyes as he realized the implications behind that statement. Yes, she had a boyfriend. Yes, she slept with him. Really how old did he think she was? And it let him know in some ephemeral way that she wasn't letting their damage affect her life anymore. "My mother never did, so I was just…" She shook her head. "Forget it." She turned away. She'd see Laura later.
"I snore," he suddenly told her back. She stopped moving but didn't turn around. "Snore like a trucker. You get that from me." Except that I got it from them both, she thought. Because I don't always snore. "The wax earplugs work pretty good," as an olive branch it wasn't as effective as he probably wished it to be.
Still it was a peace offering so she looked at him over her shoulder and smile. "Thanks." Then she walked away. Laura wasn't scheduled to go home yet. She could visit with her niece later.
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They gathered outside Harold O'Malley's room. Lining the halls to one side of the door and across from it. They stood silent vigil. None of them made a sound. None of them fidgeted. They barely breathed as they waited. Each lost in their own thoughts. Each in pain. None knowing how to comfort the others. Except to stand with them. Wait with them. So they stood. And they waited. And they were silent.
The tableau was broken as George emerged from the room where his father was dying…had died. They could all see that the George that came out was not the same one that had gone in. This George was irrevocably changed. This George now had pieces that were broken and would never be repaired. They would heal and scar over eventually but they would always be broken.
George turned to face his friends with red rimmed eyes and halting steps. They all straightened, still waiting. Waiting to see what he would need from them. Waiting to give him anything that would assuage at least a bit of the grief breaking in his eyes. He ignored them all and walked slowly past them.
Meredith's hand tightened on Mark's and she exchanged hopeless, helpless looks with the others. Cristina straightened and turned away from them, following after George. Callie leaned heavily against the wall by Harold's room and covered her face with her hands. Alex stared at the floor lost inside himself. Izzie stared down the hallway George had disappeared down, sighed and then turned and left in the opposite direction.
Comfort, peace, happiness and warmth suddenly seemed to be dreams that faded away into mist upon waking to the grief and pain that weighed them all down.
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Meredith was already asleep when he crept in beside her. He sighed heavily as he gathered her into his arms. The week was finally over. He could finally move forward. He could finally leave the past behind and get on with his life.
"George is staying with his mom for a few days," her sleepy voice informed him.
"I figured he would," Mark nodded and inhaled the scent of her hair. "He'll be alright, Angel. They all will. The O'Malleys are a strong breed. They'll get through this."
"Yeah," she sighed. She let the silence stretch for a few minutes. "I talked to my dad again." Mark stayed silent knowing that she was gathering her thoughts. "It didn't go very well…again. But…um…I don't think I really care anymore. I don't need him, do I? I have you and my friends and even Susan, Molly and Laura. He's…he's not ever going to have the effect on my life that George's dad did on his. I…I have no idea what I'm trying to say."
Mark's arms tightened around her. "It's all right, Angel. I get it."
"Good," she put her arms over his and squeezed gently. "It's kinda sad but he made his choice a long time ago. So now I'm making mine. I feel bad for George though. He was really close to his dad. How do you get over something like that?"
Mark thought about Derek's dad and the impact his death had had on them all. "You don't," he said quietly. "You go on and every day gets a bit easier but that pain will always be there. It never goes away. You just learn to live with it."
Meredith nodded and snuggled back against his chest. She closed her eyes and let the darkness carry her away. Mark held her for a while longer and then he too closed his eyes and let sleep take him. Tomorrow would be a better day.
