Chapter 31: The Arrival of Ellis Grey

Meredith stood immobile in the lobby with her arms folded tightly over her chest, Miranda and Erica talking nearby waiting with her for her mother. The plane from Boston with Dr. Ellis Grey on the board landed in Seattle an hour and a half ago which meant she would be at the hospital anytime now and which also meant those were the last moment of freedom to enjoy.

Her eyes swept the lobby for the hundredth time and immediately snorted at her foolishness. The hospital could look impeccable and be sterile clean, it wouldn't stop her mother from finding faults. She would find imperfections in God himself if he appeared before her.

She rolled her eyes at her staff's attempts at looking at their best. They were of no use. Ellis Grey didn't like anything and anyone and… here she was, striding down the corridor in her high heels, an eternal scowl on her face and a scared looking cab driver trudging her compact suitcase.

"Dr. Grey," she nodded her head at Meredith.

"Dr. Grey," reciprocated Meredith with equal coldness.

Meredith could detect Bailey's unexpressed astonishment at the level of civility between the mother and daughter, but she didn't expect anything else. Ellis came to Seattle for professional reasons and besides that, they didn't part in peace the last time they saw each other in Boston.

"Dr. Grey," took up Meredith and moved to introduce her colleagues. "This Dr. Miranda Bailey I told you about over the phone, my head of general, and Dr. Erica Hahn, head of cardio. You'll be working alongside them."

They shook hands and Bailey started, "Dr. Grey, it's an honor to meet-"

"Is the girl critical?" Ellis cut her across.

"No, she's-"

"Then, I need an office at my disposition," she demanded. "I need to change and freshen up after the flight."

"I've got it covered," assured Meredith. "If you'll follow me, Dr. Grey."

They were about to depart when two residents ran up to introduce themselves to the surgical celebrity.

"Dr. Grey, sorry to interrupt but we admire your work and we wondered if you could-" they got silent when Ellis fixed her hostile glare at them.

"I came from the opposite coast to follow up a difficult case," she barked. "Do you think I have any time to waste on socializing with lowly residents? I hope you'll be able to find the answer to that question on your own if you got in the program. Although, it's clearly not what it once was…" she snorted and walked past.

"Whoa, did you see that?" choked Izzie after Meredith took her mother to her temporary office. "now we know why Dr. Model's so bitchy; like mother like daughter."

Cristina shrugged her shoulders wordlessly, looking at their boss in a new light. She knew a thing or two about overbearing mothers and Ellis Grey certainly looked like an example of one. She watched the two unfortunate interns sneaking shamefully out of the lobby. That was a new record, brought to tears in fifteen seconds…

There was also another person who saw Meredith Grey in a new light, her boyfriend, Derek Shepherd. The attitude of the older Dr. Grey explained a lot, including Meredith's reticence at his meeting her mother. Derek resolved he would stick to the promise he made; he would stay away from Ellis Grey. Meredith was strong but complicated and he supposed that a fight with Ellis would bring her great emotional turmoil.

Ellis looked a lot like her daughter at first glance, but she was a bigger woman and had sharper features. Meredith was more delicate. They had the same decisiveness, ruthlessness and cold. But that seemed to be all for Ellis. There was always more about Meredith, the charm, the playfulness and also an incredible warmth and gentleness when they were alone.

Derek sighed and felt sorry for himself as a sudden thought crossed his mind that one day Ellis Grey could be his mother-in-law.

By lunchtime, Meredith felt suicidal. Ellis criticized everything she came to contact with. She didn't like the office Meredith prepared for her. It turned out that during the time of her residency it was a room where residents liked to gather to study, eat or simply complain about their sorry lives. It was a grand disrespect for her to work in such a place.

She didn't like the scrubs she was given, and she ranted that had she known what awaited her in this goddamn place, she would have brought her own. Meredith wondered how she was able to stand her mother's humors for so many years.

Desperately needing to break free from her mother's claws, she excused herself to make a trip to the cafeteria to grab a cup of coffee. She didn't offer one for Ellis, she would have to listen to a whole litany of complaints and she just didn't have the energy.

Derek caught up with her in the corridor. He obviously waited for an occasion to speak with her without her mother's presence.

"Hey," he said quietly, looking with concern at her exhausted expression. "You're having a bad day, aren't you?"

"I'll live, I always do. You don't have to worry about me," she grumbled. Her nerves and patience were strained to all imaginable limits. She couldn't worry about him too. Why couldn't he stay away like they agreed to yesterday?

"Meredith-" he began gently.

"I don't have any time to waste, Dr. Shepherd!" she yelled callously and marched off with a sinking heart. Derek took a deep sigh and took another way.

Neither of them noticed that Ellis witnessed their little encounter and didn't like what she saw.

Meredith wondered if a sudden craving for coffee would work as an excuse to leave her mother's side for the third time. Ellis had a little conference with Miranda and Erica, or rather a one-sided oratory with ineffective attempts at interrupting on the part of the other two doctors. She had two hours of free time until the surgery and she apparently chose to spend them making her daughter's life a living hell.

"Dr. Grey!" Cristina Yang reached them crashed against two identical green-eyed stares. "That is… Chief… I have to speak to you, urgently, Chief."

Meredith sent silent thanks to the gods. "If you'll excuse me, Dr. Grey."

She followed the dark-haired woman and asked, "What is it Dr. Yang?"

"Chief, Dr. Jordan Kenley passed away. He had a massive coronary."

Meredith slowed her footsteps. One of her employees was dead, she had to take care of formalities, notify the family, find a replacement impromptu. She was saved from her mother. "Thank God," she muttered under her breath.

Cristina raised her eyebrows with amusement and Meredith realized with horror that she verbalized her thoughts.

"Thank God… that we had such a reliable doctor on our team…" finished Meredith resolutely.

"Yeah, right," snorted Cristina. "Don't worry, sometimes I feel like I'd use a nuclear bomb on my mother, just to make sure she couldn't escape."

Meredith narrowed her eyes at her and asked instead of replying, "Dr. Kenley was one of the eldest surgeons at Seattle Grace?"

"I… guess the second oldest," answered Cristina pensively and added with disapproval in her voice, "After Dr. Campbell."

"You'd like to make a comment about her work?" inquired Meredith shrewdly.

"It certainly leaves a lot to comment," remarked noncommittally the Asian doctor.

"Thank you, Dr. Yang," nodded and made to walk away but suddenly turned back, "A nuclear bomb alone wouldn't annihilate Ellis Grey, I'm afraid."

She left Cristina behind hearing her laughter and returned to the place she had left her mother. Her blood froze in her veins when she saw her ordering Derek to follow her into a conference room… She threw a furtive glance around. Damn, there were too many people to eavesdrop at the door. Wait a minute, there was another door to that room leading from the adjoin one. She sneaked into the mercifully empty room and tiptoed to the door.

She frowned at her mother's strident tones.

After her daughter made an escape with the young doctor at her side, Ellis looked around the place she once worked at and loved. So many memories, good and bad ones, the best and the worst moments of her life. What an irony of fate that her daughter was working here now too. Her eyes narrowed as they met the raven-haired male doctor she saw earlier with Meredith, Dr. Shepherd that was interested in her daughter too much for her liking.

"Nurse… Debbie," she stopped a passing nurse, making an effort to read her name.

"Yes, Dr. Grey," the woman looked at her curiously. "Can I help you?"

"What can you tell me about Dr. Shepherd?" she asked. "I have business with him."

"Oh, what kind of business?" demanded Debbie.

"An urgent one," replied flatly Ellis. "Is he a good doctor?"

"An excellent one," assured Debbie. "He's our head of neurosurgery. He was to be the next chief, but your daughter came and... you know…"

"He's older than my daughter, isn't he?" stated Ellis conversationally.

"Mid-thirties, he's thirty-five, I believe." Nurse Debbie knew it for sure; every year the nurses gave a piece of birthday cake for the hot doctor in the hope of attracting his attention. But his stomach, and his heart, proved rather unresponsive so far. Still, he was continuously single, so the hope thrived.

"Thank you, Nurse Debbie," Ellis made known that the conversation was over.

Debbie walked off with a smirk. Well, well, well… The younger Dr. Grey couldn't stand the sight of the man. The older one, on the other hand, seemed to be very interested in him. Poor Dr. Shepherd! Oooh, they were going to have a field day!

"Dr. Shepherd," Ellis approached Derek sternly. "I'd like to talk to you."

"Doctor-"

She didn't wait for his answer and walked into an empty conference room.

Derek followed her with a frown on his face, having no idea what it was all about. He was sure Meredith hadn't made any confessions to her mother.

"Dr. Grey, I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't," she shot back. "And I hope we never will again."

"Excuse me?" he breathed out.

"I won't beat around the bush," she pierced him with her eyes. "Stop every damn thing with my daughter."

"What-"

"You're not talking when I'm talking," she said the phrase he sometimes heard from Meredith's lips. "I know you're hanging around her, chasing her. I saw how you were looking at her."

Derek's mouth went dry, he didn't know what to say even if he could interrupt.

"For you, it might be an innocent flirt, a fling, fun. You think you're a charmer, I know the type, a conceited arrogant neurosurgeon," she scorned. "For my daughter, it would only be a distraction. She has an incredible potential, she's a force of nature. As she said so decidedly herself, you're only wasting her time."

Derek inhaled deeply, his features hardening, wondering how much more abuse he was able to take. He felt the worst was still to come but some part of him wanted to hear out everything Meredith's mother had to say.

"She's way out of your league," she jeered pitilessly. "A chief of surgery at 28, she beat you for that position, what does that tell you? I can give you a hint if you want. You're too old, your career is dead, whereas Meredith, she has a lot to achieve. I know one day she'll wake up from her silly stupor. She'll leave this godforsaken hole and come back to the East Coast. I don't want anything dragging her down when that moment comes! I hope we're clear," she spitted out and stormed out of the room, shutting the door with a thud.

Derek sat down heavily in one of the chairs, feeling drained and exhausted. Ellis Grey seemed to suck the life out of him. He never felt inferior to Meredith, if anything he was flattered, she took interest in him but now… thanks to Ellis he felt like a useless piece of trash.

On the other side of the wall, Meredith slid to the floor in equal distress. She fought back the tears that forced themselves into her eyes. She never cried. She swallowed back the sobs that threatened to shake her body. Every word Ellis uttered to Derek, her precious man, cut deeply through her heart. Oh, how she hated her mother right now, like never before. She dared to hurt Derek… Meredith knew he was hurting. His silence and the tormented sigh with which he sat down told her so.

She craved to run into the other room and take him into a loving embrace, kissing the pain away. But what would she say to him? What could she possibly say to him after all he heard from her own mother? She'd be surprised if he ever wanted to be around her anymore. When Ellis Grey made an order, everyone around had to obey, and they usually did. What was she going to do if Derek did?

Unsurprisingly, the gallery overlooking the OR where Dr. Grey was performing a surgery was filled to the brim. The faces of the many spectators expressed a range of emotions. In most of the cases, it was admiration. Ellis Grey was truly a surgical goddess. Her hands possessed an uncommon skill and agility. She was resourceful and never lost her head finding an exit from every tight spot. Many others compared the work of the mother to that of her daughter.

Derek observed her work from a corner, noticing unmistakable moves and reactions Meredith also presented while at the operating table. It was clear Ellis was her first and most important teacher.

His encounter with her still weighed heavily on his mind. How could it not? For a briefest of seconds, he mused over the truths in her words, considering if he imposed himself on Meredith and if she would be really better off without him. But he could no longer imagine his life without her. He felt for her… He didn't want to name yet what he felt for her, but he knew subconsciously and yearned for her to feel the same. He was in it for a long haul and Ellis Grey and all her spite wouldn't drive him away, nothing could, neither Meredith herself nor her mother. Now he only worried for Meredith, he could distinguish the distress in her eyes. He was slightly ashamed to admit it, but he hoped Ellis wouldn't decide to stay for long.

Another person shared the exact same wish. Meredith stood fixedly, still seething with anger though her unshed tears dried from her eyes. She remarked with grim satisfaction that her mother's skills not exceeded her own. Although, surely, her mother would comment wryly that they were nothing alike since Meredith had chosen to specialize in neurology, strongly against Ellis's will and advice.

The procedure finally came to an end, leaving the little patient stable. Meredith concluded with relief that there was nothing that held Ellis back at the hospital and since her daughter's affairs surely wouldn't keep her interest, her departure was imminent. She couldn't wait to bid her farewell and try to pick up the pieces that seemed to be her relationship with Derek.