A/N: Merry Christmas! I didn't think I would get this up by Christmas, but here it is. I was going to write the whole rest of the story before I updated, but Irene and I are trying to give you several days of MerDer this holiday season, and since we couldn't get you a Storm update today, I thought I'd give you this instead. So I haven't written the rest of this story yet, but I can tell you that this chapter is the beginning of the end. You'll have mixed feelings after reading this chapter. You'll want to rip my head off at first, but then later on I think you'll love me, and then you'll hate me again.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy. I also hope you all got everything you wanted for Christmas. And if you don't celebrate Christmas, Happy Thursday! Only a few weeks before Grey's returns again!
Just when Meredith Grey thought all the chaos in her life that could erupt had already erupted, the Universe once again proved her wrong. No one could have predicted the events that would happen next on that fateful day.
"She's crashing!" Meredith will never forget Jo Wilson's distraught appearance when she arrived in the OR after departing from her son's birthday party, all while her husband's nephew's fiancée - her niece-in-law? - had gone into labor. Alex had, fortunately, stepped up to help, since Nancy couldn't deliver her own grandchild and they were short on OBs. Alex knew what he was doing.
It was a good thing that he was occupied. Callie offered to round up all the kids and take them back to daycare, so Derek had come along with Meredith. Two hands were definitely needed.
Jackson was already there, assessing her badly charred skin. Third degree burns crawled all over her arms and legs.
"What the hell happened?" Derek demanded the answers she wanted but, at the same time, was afraid to know.
"Fire," was the only word that escaped Jackson's mouth, and Meredith's body went numb; she feared the worst, knowing without a confirmation what it meant. The grim look that plastered Jackson Avery's face only confirmed her fears.
She and Derek aggressively worked to save Jo.
"Where's Izzie?" Meredith asked the heart-wrenching question, knowing that Alex had told her that Jo was with Izzie, presumably at the house. Izzie had been baking. Meredith thought of the lovely blue cupcakes with sprinkles that she had allowed Zola to indulge in when she begged for cake.
When no one answered her question, Meredith didn't have to ask more.
Nine weeks later
"Hey," Meredith whispered softly, frowning as she entered the patient room. Alex Karev sat tentatively beside the bed, his back slouched and his arm draped over the woman in bed. He flinched at the sound of Meredith's voice, adjusting his posture into a sitting position.
He sighed, his somber eyes meeting hers. "Is she any better?"
Meredith frowned, dreading her own response. "Alex, you know the answer to that."
"You woke your sister-in-law's freaking ex-boyfriend, who she wanted dead, up," Alex spat, and he was right. Meredith knew he was right, and it was the reason her heart ached so heavily. They'd tried the same procedure on Wilson, but so far no such luck. Nine weeks had progressed, and nothing.
She felt like such a helpless waste.
"It's an experimental procedure, Alex. There have only been two success cases in the world," Meredith lamented, sighing begrudgingly as she walked toward Alex. "And I didn't save James. He died, you know that."
"Of a heart attack after Amelia told him her baby wasn't his," Alex growled, anger grinds viciously in his tone. "Come on, Mer, there has to be something you can do. Look at her. She's so young, she was so full of life, she has so much life to live!"
"I know," Meredith whispered solemnly, placing her hand on Alex's shoulder. "I know, Alex." She felt a tear lingering in her teardrop gland, woeful pain tingled against her heart as she thought of all the sorrow that had been looming around Grey Sloan in the nine weeks after the fire.
Her childhood home ceased to exist. She had so many memories there; good, bad, and ugly. The vile memory of her mother slitting her wrists open in the kitchen, the very kitchen in which the fire originated, stung vibrantly in her brain.
It was the house where she lost and found her family. She remembered the middle of the night when her mother had taken her from the house, so abruptly that she'd forgotten to take Anatomy Jane, her favorite doll, with her. Then years later Meredith returned to the house, for reasons unknown to her at the time. It was like she was searching for something, searching for anything, that could provide her answers or hope or anything at all, really.
In turn, she found her family. It was the home where she found the people who made her feel whole inside. She remembered how Izzie always loved to bake. The house always smelled of fresh baked cookies and cupcakes when they were roommates. Baking was her favorite hobby. It was her stress reliever. It was ironic in a sense, because what she loved the most ended up killing her.
Alex broke Meredith's heart again and again.
"Mer, you can't. You can't declare her brain dead," Alex whispered. "If you do, then insurance will stop paying. I can't afford to keep her alive on my own, and Jo doesn't have any family. I'm all she has."
Meredith frowned, not knowing how to respond, because she knew as well as Alex knew, even if he was in denial, what her answer would be.
A figure of a man stood in the doorway. Derek Shepherd was wearing his white coat over his navy blue scrubs, peering into Jo Wilson's room at her and Alex.
"Hi, Derek," Meredith greeted her husband. "How long have you been standing there?"
"Not long," Derek replied, stepping into the room. He directed a somber look in Alex's direction, and then fixated his eyes on Meredith. "What's your schedule look like tonight?"
"I don't have any surgeries scheduled as of yet, if that's what you're asking. Why?" Meredith replied, wondering what now. Derek wouldn't be asking if he didn't want something or have something planned.
"That's great. My mom invited us for dinner tonight. I guess Chris and Angie are bringing baby Belle down, too," Derek said. Chris and Angie had named their baby girl Isabelle Josephine, even though they didn't know Izzie or Jo, both had been sympathetic to learn about the accident. They hadn't settled on a name for their little one, and both immediately liked the name.
Little Belle was a beauty like all the Shepherd relatives. She had curly brown hair like her uncle and the Shepherd charming, bright blue eyes. She would be a heartbreaker one day.
Meredith wasn't at all bothered by the dinner invitation. Carolyn Shepherd was a fabulous cook, and surely anything she would cook for dinner would be better than whatever she would have elsewhere. "That sounds fine," Meredith told Derek. "Zola will be excited. She's so smitten with Belle."
She and Derek both laughed, knowing it was the truth. Zola had chanted repeatedly that baby girls were so much better than baby boys, even having the audacity to ask for a baby sister. The words coming from Zola's mouth only fueled Derek's desire to have another child, of course. It was still a sensitive topic for Meredith. Carolyn moving to Seattle had certainly been a big help.
The additional support from Nancy and Carolyn had been a godsend, but that didn't change the fact that her life was unpredictable, and she couldn't pry her children off on relatives forever, even though Carolyn adored her grandchildren and great-grandchild. Zola, Blake, and Bailey could be a handful, and Carolyn had already offered to sit for Amelia's baby when her maternity leave was up.
Blake was still living with them since Alex's family court hearing was postponed after the fire. He had nowhere to live, so he was living out of a cheap motel trying to save as much money as he could to afford a house.
Seattle was, woefully, one of the most expensive places to live in the United States, so his quest coupled with his student loan debt and Jo's medical expenses was unsuccessful so far. His credit score was unappealing, so no bank would authorize him a loan. He felt trapped, and he sort of was.
He couldn't live on their property, since Blake lived them and it was against the foster care terms, otherwise Meredith would have gladly made a spot for him at their house, since Amelia had moved into the trailer with Owen. She said she needed her space, and she didn't want to be a burden. She was four weeks away from her due date, and she was scared since there was barely room at the trailer for her and Owen. They'd set up a crib in the living area of the trailer, but it was a tight fit.
Besides, Alex wasn't the only one left homeless after the fire. Cristina had moved into the spare bedroom that Derek had set up for Amelia. Meredith didn't know how long Cristina planned on staying, but she was welcome to stay for as long as she needed.
As far as Meredith knew, Owen still wanted to build a house on the land but hadn't approached Derek about it. Meredith didn't know if it was because he was scared to or if it was Amelia who was holding him back. Amelia still seemed to have some doubts, doubts that Meredith understood completely, though at the same time, she couldn't imagine raising a baby in that trailer.
The laughter quickly faded as Meredith and Derek's eyes both fixated on a grim-looking Alex. Meredith eyed Derek, who spoke, "Alex, Mom would love if you came to dinner, too. She told me that you were invited. Plus, Blake would love to see you."
Alex's visits with Blake had become fewer and farther in between since the fire. He claimed that he didn't deserve Blake, that the fire had happened as a punishment. Now he didn't have a house to raise Blake in, and he had nowhere else to go. He didn't believe he would ever gain custody of that boy. He'd claimed that Blake deserved a good father, like Derek for example. He broke Meredith's heart into so many pieces.
Alex immediately shook his head. "No, I can't."
"What are you going to do tonight, Alex? Sit here and mourn over Jo's bedside?" Meredith asked desperately, wishing she could bring Alex out of this state of mind. She'd never seen him quite like this. He was clearly depressed, and she feared what would actually happen when they unplugged Jo and she was really gone. She didn't want to know, but she knew it was coming.
"Look, Mer, Blake doesn't need to see me. I'm not a good dad. I'm not a dad at all," Alex barked, and he stormed out of the room before Meredith could argue further with him. Meredith's eyes watered as she turned to her husband.
Derek placed his hand on her shoulder and she fell right into his chest. He rubbed her back in a slow, circular motion then guided her out of Jo's room into the nearest on-call room so they could have some privacy.
They sat down one of the twin beds and Meredith rested her head on her husband's shoulder, so grateful for his presence right now. Together, they sat in silence for what felt like hours. Meredith inhaled and exhaled deeply, savoring the stale on-call room air. Then after eons of silence, she broke into tears.
"Shhh," Derek whispered in her ear, his hot breath pressing against her eardrum; the touch of his breath only made her tears gush faster and harder. She engulfed her body with his, and he continued to comfort her with his soft touches.
"I just...I just feel responsible," Meredith said in between sobs, not knowing what else to say.
"Responsible? How?" Derek asked as she gazed into his crisp, solemn blue eyes to see confusion.
"I was the one who operated on Jo. I could have saved her," Meredith said insistently, swallowing the gobs of spit in her mouth. She steadied herself, taking deep breaths, and grabbed hold of her husband's hand. He laced their fingers together, they fit together so perfectly, and stroked her knuckles.
"Meredith, she fell through the upstairs floorboards into flames. It's a miracle that she survived that," Derek told her, assurance filled his tone. He stroked her palm with one hand, and with the other he pushed strands of her long hair behind her ear. "There's nothing more you could have done for her. We were both in that OR, Meredith. There's nothing either of us could have done."
"I know. It's just, Alex is family. He's the closest thing to a brother I have, and to see him in this amount of pain is grueling. I wish I could help him," Meredith sighed, feeling immense amounts of sadness travel through her body. She couldn't shake the somberness.
"Hmm," Derek smiled coyly.
"Why are you smiling like that?" She observed a hint of defiance in his smirk, as if he had an idea, an idea she was dying to hear. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead.
"Maybe we can," Derek suggested, pecking her on the lips.
"How?" she asked, now finding the hopefulness and defiance in her husband's face utterly attractive and irresistible; she craved desperately to hear what was going through that great brain of his.
"Well, Alex is like a brother to you, right? I know if one of my sisters was in his position, I would loan them the money they need to put a down payment on a house," said Derek, a smile filled with sincerity and kindness forming on his gorgeous face. His eyes shimmered; her husband's incredibly generous statement caused her heart to fill with so much warmth.
"Derek, that's so…" Meredith whispered. "That's so kind, considering I know you're not Alex's biggest fan…"
"That's not true. Hey, remember I gave him my trailer when he and Izzie were together?" Derek laughed gently and Meredith's tears soon turned to giggles.
"Only because you wanted me to yourself. You'd been trying to kick them out since you moved in," Meredith noted, laughing harder, reminiscing the memory of when she'd invited Derek to move into the "frat" house as he called it and Izzie and Alex had been her roommates. The mixtures of happy and sad emotions blended together. When did she become such a ball of emotions?
"Okay, maybe," Derek sighed in defeat, wrapping his arm around her body and pulling her closer. He nuzzled her hairline and left a soft, gentle kiss on her forehead.
"I love you," Meredith heaved a sigh, wiping the tears of joyfulness and sadness from her eyes. And then she thought about Amelia. If Derek was willing to do that for Alex, shouldn't he be okay with Owen and Amelia building a house on the land? She would think so. It wasn't her place to say anything, though perhaps she could mention something to Amelia about it later. She could meddle with that later. Right now, she had so more on her mind.
"I love you, too," Derek said soothingly, pushing her hair back with his hands. She cocked her head and gazed wholeheartedly into his loving eyes, the feeling was serendipitous as she leaned closer to him and kissed his lips, never wanting them to part. His hands lowered on her waist, and in that moment all she wanted was him. Rushes of emotions filled throughout her entire body, and the smell of her husband's skin was all she could think about.
His breath tantalized her, making her feel enchanted with each soft kiss, the taste of his mouth never ceased to mesmerize warmth and radiation coming off his skin like a furnace filled her stomach with butterflies.
"When?" she mouthed breathlessly as she lay on top of him, half naked.
"When what?" he asked, perplexed.
"When did we become the grown ups?"
The question appeared to take him off guard. "Well, technically we've been grown ups for a while now."
"I don't mean adults, though truthfully, I still can't figure that one out myself, either. I mean...when did we become the ones everyone comes to for help? The last few months have been crazy, and suddenly it seems like we're the ones with all the answers. Like we're the grown ups telling the kids what to do."
Derek laughed and wrapped his arms around her, and he whispered softly in her ear, "Oh, I can tell you what to do, my dear. Let me grown up you."
A giggle escaped her lips. "Der, that's not what I meant. Ohhh." A moan elicited from her mouth as his lips lowered onto her clavicle and pleasure shocks shot up her spine.
"Is this grown up enough for you?" he whispered in her ear as he started to slide off her pants.
"I think so," she replied, running her fingers through his hair, gently massaging his scalp.
Their skin meshed together as they untangled out of their scrubs and made love to each other. Meredith ravished in the closeness, savoring each tender kiss Derek planted onto her skin.
When they finished, she rested her head on his chest, listening to the rhythmic sounds of his heart pulsating, as it filled his veins with blood. Her hand folded into his and she never wanted to let go. The sentiment of the moment sent her emotions into an unexpected, raging waterfall. Tears gushed out of her eyes, and she had no idea where they were coming from or why they were coming.
"Are you crying?" Derek asked, perplexed.
"No…" she mumbled, trying to deny it, though it was pretty obvious. She couldn't hide it any longer. "...yes."
"Why are you crying?" he frowned, running his fingers through her moist, sweaty hair.
"I don't know," she sobbed. "It's just...it seems like everyone's lives are falling apart. And I think about how perfect we are. I look at you, and Bailey, and Zola, and even Blake, and now your mother's here helping us out. Our life is too perfect, and everyone else's is chaos. I'm Meredith Grey. I don't get perfect. Perfect doesn't get me."
"Shhhh," Derek soothed, his warm breath brushing seductively against her eardrum. "If anyone deserves perfect, it's you, Mere. You're perfect to me." His eyes shimmered, and his words melted her heart.
"Der," she whispered, and somehow she started to cry harder. What was wrong with her? She was Meredith Grey. She didn't cry. Not like this. "I'm just scared. I'm scared that it's not going to last, that it's going to be ruined. We've already been through so much...it makes me wonder: What's next?"
"Meredith, you can't think like that," Derek murmured in her ear.
"But I do. It's who I am," she sobbed.
"Do you have a case of the dark and twisties?" he inquired, half smirking.
She sighed, gazing into his dark blue orbs that melt her heart. "I guess so," she giggled softly, and he wiped her tears off her cheek with his thumb. She inhaled sharply, reaching for her scrub top on the floor and she grabbed Derek's, which lay wrinkled beside hers, and tossed it at him. "I guess we should get dressed," she mumbled.
"Yeah, I have a patient I need to check on. Make sure the resident didn't kill her," Derek sighed, and she couldn't tell if he was joking or serious.
They agreed to meet at Derek's office at five o'clock to go to Carolyn's house together.
Then they parted the on-call room in opposite directions.
Meredith, too, had patients she needed to check on.
She checked on a thirty-four-year-old mother of six who'd just had a glioma in her temporal lobe resected. Her stats were good, and her husband sat nearby. "When can we expect her to wake up?" he asked.
"It can take time. Her surgery was only a couple hours ago, so it could take up to twenty-four hours. She looks good, so I think she'll be waking up soon," Meredith replied, smiling earnestly at the husband and father.
"If she doesn't wake up, I can't do it alone," the man said, sheer panic in his voice. "We have six children. They're with my mother right now. I can't raise them alone. They need their mother."
His breaths were hasty, and she could tell he was in a state of panic and stress.
"Look, I know you're scared. Believe me, when my husband was shot and needed heart surgery a few years ago, I was scared too," Meredith told the man, trying to comfort him. What she didn't tell him was that she'd been so scared that she'd offered her life to a gunman or that she had suffered a miscarriage right afterward. This man didn't need to know the intimate, stressful, traumatizing details of her past. All he needed to know that everything had worked out, and now her husband was alive and they had two beautiful, perfect happy children together.
"Your husband survived?" he asked, gnawing at the skin that covered his fingertips.
Meredith nodded. "Yes, he did, and he's saved many lives since. He's also a neurosurgeon."
That seemed to comfort the man a little, and then Meredith noticed his eyes enlarge. Meredith twirled around. The woman's eyes dark brown irises twinkled back at her.
"Marianne?" the man called, lunging forward toward his wife, grabbing hold of her hand.
"Leo?" The woman's voice was hoarse, but she was awake, and that was all that mattered.
"Welcome back," Meredith greeted her patient, and then administered a flashlight test, asking the woman to follow the light and she did so successfully.
"I made it," the woman mumbled.
"You did," Meredith smiled warmly. She watched the happy couple and then said what she would want the doctor to say if she'd just woken up and her husband was holding onto her hand, "I'll leave you two alone right now."
"Thanks, Doctor," Leo smiled, happy tears twinkling in his eyes.
Meredith exited the room and continued to check on a few more patients. All were stable, so she decided to head to the Attendings' lounge and relax. She was exhausted. She'd pulled three all-nighters this week, nights that Derek had been home with the children. Carolyn in Seattle helped tremendously, since Derek was able to work longer hours and do more surgeries. It took some of the load off her, though she was still a fellow, which required her to put in more hours.
She'd hoped to find the lounge empty, but that wasn't the case. Cristina was lounging on the couch reading a case study.
"Hey," Cristina looked up from the papers as Meredith entered. "Did you know chronic stress interferes with the production of blood cells, and has interactions with the immune system and the process of atherosclerosis?
"Hm, you don't say," Meredith sighed, remembering her encounter with stress and white blood cells a couple months ago.
"I was just reading a study about the hematopoietic system's role in cardiovascular disease and elucidate a direct biological link between chronic variable stress and chronic inflammation," explained Cristina.
"Interesting." Meredith slouched into a comfortable position as she sat down, enjoying the softness of the cushions. She closed her eyes for just a moment.
"Have you checked your stress levels since switching specialties? I mean, that's why you switched, right?" Cristina asked. "Do you really feel less stressed in Neuro?"
"Honestly?" Meredith responded, breathing inward. "During my entire time in General, I'd forgotten what it felt like to be a surgeon. I mean really be a surgeon. I came to work, I did surgeries, and I went home and snuggled my children. Work was just a job."
"And it's not with Neuro?"
"It's not," Meredith replied with honesty. "Every time I step into the OR, I feel like I've just smoked a joint. Only it's better...so much better."
"I've never smoked a joint, but I think that's how I feel whenever I hold a heart in my hands. There's the adrenaline rush...it beats any orgasm."
"I can't say it beats an orgasm, but it's definitely on the same level," Meredith said rather matter of factly.
"At least you can have orgasms," begrudged Cristina woefully.
"You don't have to be in a monogamous relationship to have orgasms, Cristina. Trust me, I of all people know that," laughed Meredith.
"Okay, one, I'm not a whore like you. I like it to mean something…"
"Or benefit you somehow," Meredith winked, thinking of Burke and Hunt and that medical school professor Cristina had been with before coming to Seattle.
"It's not my fault that I've only been attracted to my teachers," Cristina shrugged. "And two, even if I were going to have a one night stand and found someone I wanted to have one with, where am I going to have it? The room across from where your children sleep? Or maybe your couch..."
"Gross, no!" Meredith squinted.
"I mean, I can hear you and McDreamy going at it every night…"
"We do not have sex every night," Meredith said in a very serious tone. "I wasn't even home three nights this week, and besides, there are on-call rooms, you know…" On-call rooms that she and Derek use more frequently than they do their bed, since they were both too tired by the time they got home on most nights, when they did get home.
"Maybe I want to be with someone who doesn't work in this hospital," Cristina shrugged. "I'm thinking that's the way to go. It's easier that way."
"Yeah, I tried that, remember? They followed me here..." She thought of McVet and the guy whose penis wouldn't deflate. Her stomach twisted in knots of disgust.
"Pssh, I don't think you really tried. We all know you were in love with McDreamy the whole time, anyway, so none of those guys had a chance."
Meredith knew that Cristina was right. She merely sighed in response. "How did we get here, Cristina?"
"Get where? You married with two kids and fostering Izzie and Alex's son? Izzie dead? Your mother's house burnt down? Alex's girlfriend brain dead? Me divorced and watching as Owen has happily moved on? Is that what you mean?"
A tear wallowed in Meredith's eye. "Yeah, I guess that's what I mean."
Cristina shrugged. "No idea. Your guess is as good as mine. Hey, Amelia told me about dinner at your mother-in-law's house tonight…"
"Since when do you talk to Amelia?" Meredith chuckled.
"Since we exchanged numbers. We text all the time. She's actually pretty hilarious. I think I might like her."
"Okay, but why did she text you today?"
"Oh, she wanted to know if anyone was home. She wanted to take a shower in your master bathroom, since the trailer shower is too snug for her now that she's about ready to pop," shrugged Cristina. Yeah, the trailer shower was definitely snug. She of all people remembered that...that's one reason she and Derek generally stayed at her house before he moved in. Plus, she had a bathtub.
She still couldn't believe the house was gone. The house and the tub were gone. She had so many memories in that tub, from rubber duckies to other things...
"If she wanted to use the shower, then why didn't she text me?" She wondered how long Amelia had been showering at their house. That explained why her soap had been moved the other day. She'd thought that Derek had moved it.
Cristina shrugged her shoulders again. "No idea, but I told her that no one was home, and then she moped and groaned about the dinner tonight at her mother's."
"Yeah, apparently Chris and Angie are going to bring the baby and it's going to be some big family reunion," sighed Meredith.
"Sounds like fun. Honestly, I think I might be falling in love with those Shepherd relatives. At first I thought they were kind of corny and too happy, but the more I get to know them, the more I realize how twisted they really are," Cristina said. "Even Mrs. Shepherd has something about her...she's hilarious. I always pictured her as the warm and fuzzy type of woman, but the more I learn about her, the more I realize she's dark and twisty too."
"You know, you kind of have a point," Meredith noted. "Hey, you should come to the dinner tonight."
"Uh...I don't know if that's a good idea." Cristina grunted, looking a tad bit hesitant.
"Why not? From the way Derek talks, Carolyn loves to take in strays. Apparently she raised Mark, after all," noted Meredith.
"Oh, so Derek married his mother?"
"No…"
"Well, you're the Queen of Strays," pointed out Cristina, and Meredith realized she had a point. Amelia had once commented on how he'd married his sister, which Meredith was able to brush off. Now that Cristina had pointed it out, she started analyzing the parallels between her and Mrs. Shepherd.
Well, Mrs. Shepherd could cook, and she couldn't, so there was one thing that they didn't have in common. That alone gave Meredith some sense of clarity. They took in strays. That was the only thing they had in common.
Both of their husbands had been shot, though Derek survived. Thankfully.
Mrs. Shepherd had been a Navy Nurse, though back then women weren't doctors.
Sure, there were a few similarities, but just a few. That didn't mean anything.
"They say women marry their fathers, so it only makes sense that Derek would marry a woman like his mother," said Cristina.
"Well, I don't think Addison was anything like Mrs. Shepherd. She was just like Nancy, though. I guess he married his oldest and his youngest sister," laughed Meredith, though Cristina looked confused by the joke. "Didn't Amelia tell you? According to her, I'm just like her."
"Ah, yeah, I can definitely see that. You are a lot alike," Cristina observed. "Have you eaten lunch?"
Meredith shook her head. "No, but I think I'm going to save my appetite since we're going to Carolyn's. She always has so much food, and last time we ate dinner at her house I didn't eat much and I think it offended her."
"Yeah, mothers get offended when you don't eat their food," said Cristina, laughing. "Maybe I will come over. I mean, what else am I going to eat? I think I finished all the cereal in your cupboard this morning."
"I forgot how much cereal you go through," groaned Meredith, truly not surprised.
"It's my favorite, can't help it. Though I think I'm going to steal a cup of coffee from the nurses' station. Want some?"
"Oh, please. I don't know how else I'll make it through tonight." Her eyes were already drooping.
So together they stole two cups of coffee from the nurses' station. It wasn't the best tasting coffee, but it did its job.
They sipped on their coffees and chatted as they walked toward the main lobby desk.
"Hey, is that…"
Meredith turned her head toward the lobby desk before Cristina finished her sentence, where her line of sight was interrupted by two unsuspecting women chatting to her husband.
What were they doing here?!
Just when she thought all the chaos in her life had already erupted, the Universe threw her yet another curve ball. The Universe was good at throwing curve balls.
A/N: Uh-oh, who's here? I hope you're not too mad at me, but you can't really beat MerDer sex and Mertina, can you?! When you're reviewing and about to rip my head off, at least remember that. ;) Oh, and December 26th is my ninth year anniversary on FFN! Wow, nine years! I lurked for a while before that, but that's when I actually signed up. I was reading Law & Order: SVU fanfic at the time, though I'd been reading Harry Potter fanfic for a long time before that. :D
