Hello, Everybody! I'm so SORRY for the delay in getting this chapter up. I had really hoped to have it posted by my previously stated deadline of February 11th, but it was a surprisingly difficult chapter to write since it wasn't one I had previously written out long-hand, except for the plane stuff. Hope it keeps you intrigued enough to keep reading and REVIEWING and coming back for more. I do plan to update at least once a month going forward. Hope you are all doing well - that you are all safe and healthy - during our current national crisis. My love and prayers to everybody. I thank you for your continued patience and support and, as always, I don't own anything. Shonda and Co. do.
Arriving at the gate ahead of Arizona and Nathan, Meredith places her carry-on at her feet as she settles into a chair. Sighing heavily, she taps her foot anxiously, arms crossed, lips pursed, seemingly deep in thought. She takes out her phone and a piece of paper with a number scribbled on it, her green eyes focusing intently.
Should I call? She turns the piece of paper over in her hand several times. It can't hurt. Hesitantly, she punches the numbers on the paper into her cell phone. Of course it would go to voicemail!
"Hi! Uh ... this is Meredith ... Meredith Grey." She frowns. "Uh, could you please call me back at your earliest convenience?" She has begun to pull the phone away from her ear when she mutters, rather hastily, "Uh, thanks!"
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"Izzie, wake up! Izzie!"
Izzie stirs, groggily opening her eyes. She blinks a couple of times and slowly the concerned faces of Karen and Michael come into focus. She tries to sit up, but her disoriented state is obvious to them as she glances furtively around the office. "Should I call an ambulance?" Karen asks quietly.
"No!" she says sharply, sitting up fully now. "I'm fine! It was just a headache and I laid down to take a little nap."
"A little nap?" Michael flares incredulously, as Karen places a calming hand on his arm. "Izzie, it's 3 AM!"
She looks down at her watch, confused. "3 AM?"
Michael sits beside her now. He gently places his hand against her forehead to check for a temperature, but she swats it away. "I'm not sick!" she snaps. "I guess I was just more tired than I thought I was."
"Izzie, we couldn't wake you up!" He's practically yelling, frustrated that she's not letting them help her.
"I'm going to get you some water and something to eat," Karen interjects.
"That's not necessary ..." Izzie starts to say. However, the look Karen gives her suggests otherwise, so she just shrugs an "okay."
Once Karen has gone, she sits back, trying to avoid looking at Michael. The tension between them is thick as he wordlessly brushes her hair behind her back. "We couldn't wake you up," he repeats, his tone much softer this time.
She sighs heavily. This is what she has been trying to avoid. "I'm sorry I worried you." She finally looks over to him. "Really, I am." She reaches her hand out slowly to caress the side of his face.
He kisses the palm of her hand and then looks at her, his forehead creased with worry. "When's your five-year checkup?"
She stiffens. "Why?"
"Because I want to go with you."
"You don't need to," she says, standing now. "Besides, it's over a month away."
"Maybe you should move it up."
Izzie walks over to her desk and sits in the chair. While she appreciates his being concerned, she's just not ready for this. "The whole point of a five-year check up is for it to occur around the five-year mark," she says, kind of huffily.
Michael nods. While he's aware of what to be on the lookout for in terms of symptoms, he's never actually had to deal with her being sick and Izzie has always refused to let him accompany her to her checkup appointments. Honestly, he's not even sure she's been keeping up with them.
"Iz ... "
"Do we have to do this now?"
"If not now, then when?"
Karen comes back with the water and some crackers, interrupting their semi-standoff. Dutifully, Izzie drinks the water and eats the crackers. "Done," she smiles tightly.
"Now go home and get some rest," she orders as she leads them out of the office. "And Izzie you are taking tomorrow off."
"The Seattle people are coming," she reminds her.
"I can handle them tomorrow," Karen insists. When Izzie opens her mouth to protest, Karen puts up her hand to stop her. After she resignedly nods her head in agreement, Karen adds reassuringly, "I will call you if anything major comes up ... "
"Oh!" Izzie's eyes widen as she takes note of her cell phone on the floor. Karen and Michael look at her worriedly as she bends down and picks it up. "Ugh, Dr. Grey may be one of the doctors coming. I was talking to Bailey before I laid down and she mentioned Meredith wanted to come."
"Derek's wife is coming here?" Michael asks, sounding very concerned. "Do you really think that's a good idea?"
"Especially in light of what transpired earlier this week?" an equally surprised Karen pipes in.
"What transpired earlier this week?" he asks confused.
Izzie looks between them, shrugging. "There's never going to be a good time." Her voice is sad as she makes this observation.
Karen nods in seeming understanding. "They're going to be here for a couple of days, so you will still have time to see and talk to her if you want," she points out, adding with a gentle firmness, "But I mean it, Izzie, I don't want to see you in here tomorrow."
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Settling in for what he expects to be an uneventful flight, Nathan pushes his seat back to try and get some sleep. With Mrs. Lawrence and Zackary having taken an earlier flight to get checked into The Shep Mobility Network, he really hoped this visit would go more smoothly than his first one. Though admittedly Meredith's surprise decision to join him and Arizona gave them both reason for concern. Arizona had grilled Meredith about why she wanted to go and, in her mind, the other doctor's reasons did not warrant her going with them. It wasn't until Arizona reached Chief Bailey and was told that it was Izzie's idea for Meredith to accompany them did she begrudgingly go along with it, but she made it clear to Meredith in no uncertain terms that Meredith was not to stir up any trouble.
Not only was she annoyed at the stance Arizona took with her, but Meredith was angry that Nathan didn't not even try to speak up in her defense. While they waited for Arizona to clear checkpoint - due to her prosthetic, TSA agents took her aside privately to check her through - Meredith confronted him. "A little support from you would have been nice!" she fumed.
Nathan just rolled his eyes, trying to hide his own frustration.
"I don't know what the deal is with Karev and Dr. Stevens. I don't know what the deal between the three of you is other than Karev is your self-described 'person.' The little bit I know I got from her," he says defensively.
"Did she badmouth him?" she demands, her eyes blazing with accusation.
Nathan shakes his head bemused. "No," he assures her, meeting her glare, "she didn't say one bad thing about him." As Meredith's face softens, he adds kind of harshly, "Though I wouldn't have blamed her at all if she had thrown him under the bus to Dr. Thomas considering he all but accused her of murder!"
"What!" Meredith blanches. "That doesn't make any sense. Who would he have accused her of ... "
"Someone named Denny," he interrupts her.
"I ... I," she stammers, wide-eyed. "I can't believe he ... " She shakes her head. "Why and how would Denny have come up?"
Nathan shrugs. "Apparently she named the DAOM System after him." Adding after a thought, "As well as Alex and a Dr. O'Malley who I guess was her best friend."
"He was," Meredith nods slightly, turning away. When she looks back at him, confusion is etched all over her face. "Why would she name the DAOM System after the three of them?"
"She didn't," he says as Arizona emerges from the room the agents had taken her to. "She named it for her son, whom she named after the three of them."
Meredith had been shocked into silence at that point, unable to believe that Alex failed to mention that fact to her. When Arizona finally rejoined them, they first waited for and then boarded the plane in silence.
Nathan looks over to his travel companions now. Arizona has already fallen asleep while Meredith, who is sitting across the aisle from them, is reading. "Please let this trip go smoothly," he whispers to himself as he closes his eyes for some much needed shut eye.
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"Dr. Riggs! ... Dr. Riggs!"
Nathan wakes up in a haze. He looks to his side to see Arizona still sleeping, but she and the rest of the plane appears to be shrouded in fog. An eerie feeling sweeps over him as he suddenly feels like he's the only one on the plane.
"Dr. Riggs!" a voice commands his attention.
Nathan turns startled to the man who has called out to him. "I know you," he says uncertainly, looking at the man who is now occupying the seat across from him. "You're ... " he pauses, throwing a quick glance over to a sleeping Meredith. "You're ... Derek Shepherd."
"I am," Derek smiles.
Nathan looks around confused before finally saying, "You're dead."
"I am," Derek nods in agreement. He lets that fact settle in for a moment and then continues. "Sorry to have woken you, but there's not a lot of time and you're my Plan B."
Nathan starts squirming in his seat. "I must still be asleep," he says, looking everywhere except at Derek.
"Dr. Riggs, I get it. I'm the dead husband of one of the women you're in love with. It's awkward at best, but can you please focus because I don't have a lot of time."
"There's time in the afterlife?" Nathan suddenly asks.
"Can we focus please?" Though phrased as a question, it's more of a command as Derek's tone is rather sharp.
Nathan settles back down, resigned to the fact he's conversing with a dead man. And not just any dead man, but Derek Shepherd.
"Ugh, yes ... ugh, what can I do for you, Dr. Shepherd?
"I need you to relay a message to Izzie for me."
Nathan looks perplexed. "I don't understand."
"Izzie or Dr. Stevens ... you're going to be seeing her in Atlanta," Derek points out, "and I need you to give her a message."
Nathan is still just sitting there looking perplexed, so Derek pushes on. "And it has to be exact, so you should probably write it down."
"Oh, okay," Nathan murmurs, still uneasy. He pulls a pen out of his coat pocket and grabs a napkin. "Ready."
"Waiting for the five-year mark is not going to change the reality of the situation," Derek states clearly and emphatically.
After Nathan repeats what he's written and Derek has nodded his approval, he shifts uncomfortably as he asks why Derek is asking him to relay the message. "Meredith and Arizona have known her longer than I have," he points out.
"Yes, they have," Derek nods, "but they didn't just have a conversation with her about death."
Nathan raises his eyes in surprise and starts to ask how he knows about that, but stops mid-sentence at the 'Seriously!' look Derek is giving him. "Oh, right," he mumbles.
"Also, for the message to have maximum impact it's better that it comes from someone who didn't know me."
Nathan nods slightly. "But," he continues, still trying to make sense of this, "if you can make yourself visible to me, why not just make yourself visible to her and tell her yourself?"
Derek shrugs. "Yeah, I thought about that, but here's the thing: Izzie tends to see dead people, namely Denny and George, so seeing me probably wouldn't faze her."
Again, Nathan just nods. Suddenly, the flight attendant's voice cuts through as she announces the plane's descent into Atlanta.
"That's my cue," Derek says, lifting himself out of the seat. "Nice to have met you, Dr. Riggs."
"Yeah, you too, Dr. Shepherd," he mutters as the plane's light comes on and people start waking up.
Pulling her seat firmly upright, Arizona looks over to him and is surprised by his paleness. "You okay, Riggs?" she asks.
Nathan laughs lightly, shaking off his "dream." Then he notices the napkin in his hand with the scrawled message on it and realizes he wasn't dreaming.
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Meredith isn't happy to learn she won't be able to see Izzie after she, Nathan, and Arizona have arrived at the Center and are seated in the conference room.
"The whole point of my being here was to meet with her," she tersely explains to Dr. Thomas. "It was her idea that I come with Drs. Riggs and Robbins."
"I do understand that," Dr. Thomas responds evenly, "but she wasn't feeling well last night and she's had a tough week, so I insisted she stay home today. Believe me, she wanted to be here to meet with you."
When Meredith only responds with a frustrated sigh, Dr. Thomas continues. "You will be here for a few days, so you can meet with her tomorrow. I know she plans to make meeting with you a priority."
"So what am I supposed to do in the meantime?" she asks, her tone still harsh. "It's not like I am involved in this case."
"Actually, I had given that some thought, Dr. Grey, and I've arranged for a board member to give you a tour of the facility and answer any questions you have," Dr. Thomas smiles. Looking down at her watch, she adds, "She should be here any moment now."
Meredith just rolls her eyes, as a soft rap echoes off the door and it opens.
"You needed someone to give a tour, Dr. Thomas."
Meredith's head whips around in surprise at the sound of the voice, her eyes widening in shock.
"Addison!" she exclaims.
Nathan turns in confusion to Arizona, who shakes her head in disbelief. "I don't freaking believe this," she mutters under her breath.
"Well, yes, hello Meredith." Addison offers a slight smile as she comes in and stands next to Dr. Thomas.
Meredith looks between the two women before finally focusing squarely on Addison, anger slowly taking over her shock.
"What the hell are you doing here?" she demands.
