Chapter 32: Tension in the Hospital

As Meredith drove in, she decided that out of all the people who wanted a room, Daisy and Jessie would be the best. Daisy was an intern from dermatology and Jessie was an intern from psych. They were both nice and a little on the quiet side. She figured, because of where they worked, their paths were unlikely to cross much with hers at the hospital.

She was running late, and all the upfront parking was full. She went to the back of the lot and saw Alex's car at the fence. That was strange. If he was here early, you'd think he would have gotten a better space. She parked a few spaces away and started getting her stuff together. Meredith grimaced a little as she saw her reflection in the rear-view mirror. Great. The beginning of a pimple on her forehead. She adjusted her bangs so that it was hidden. She glanced sideways and saw Alex get out of his car. That was weird. He wasn't there a second ago. She watched confused as he sprinted into the hospital. She got out, walked over to his car, and glanced in.

There were clothes all over the front seat and the floor along with bags of food. In the back were pillows, bedding, books, flashlights, and an old-fashioned manual alarm clock. Oh my God! He was living in his car! She continued to look even and thought she felt like a voyager. Shit! She thought she had issues. Not only was she not homeless, but she had a big old house with empty rooms she was rattling around in.

As she quickly ran into the locker room, she saw Alex, Izzie, and Cristina already in scrubs. She started to change, and George ran in looking frazzled. He had a large brown paper bag and pulled out a pile of scrubs and put them on the bench. There were eight pairs of scrubs, ironed, neatly folded and individually tied with satin ribbon.

Alex hooted, "Your momma do that?"

George looked confused as he struggled to get his shirt over his head. He hadn't noticed how his mother had packaged his scrubs.

Cris peered over at the pile and asked incredulously, "Your momma irons your scrubs?"

Izzie squealed, "Mrs. O'Malley must be just like Martha Stewart! Isn't that great?"

Alex snarled, "Yeah, if you are five years old! Why don't you just get salmon or pink colored scrubs like the girls in dermatology or peds?

Cristina shook her head and asked, "Can she do mine too? Wash and iron? Forget the ribbons!"

Izzie said, "You all are just jealous! Georgie. Your mom must be a sweetie."

George turned red and quickly put a pair on and stuffed the rest in his locker. God! Could he be any more emasculated?

Meredith sighed and said nicely when George finished, "You look very professional George."

He mumbled embarrassed, "Thanks."

Alex smirked and Cristina rolled her eyes.

Alex asked, "You decide yet on who you're going to pick as roommates Mer?"

George looked expectantly at Meredith with puppy dog eyes.

Meredith sighed, and said, "Not exactly, I should know soon." So much for just getting two normal strangers who she didn't have to talk to. She really wasn't sure about living with guys, especially ones she worked with. Alex and George were so… in obvious need.

Alex asked a little irritated, "Why do you put up flyers for roommates if you don't want roommates?"

Meredith replied, "I do want roommates. We're together one hundred hours a week as it is. You want to live together too?"

Alex said, "We're here almost all the time anyway. I just need a bed."

Izzie said nastily, "Well I wish you had put up the notice when you first got here."

Confused Meredith asked, "Why?"

Izzie replied, "Your place would have been perfect! An actual house! I can cook. And I'm an obsessive cleaner."

Cristina snarked out, "What happened to your perfect apartment with the perfect roommates Barbie?"

Izzie grumbled, "Well, the walls are paper thin, I hear them screwing all the time. They are slobs, the kitchen doesn't really have a good floor plan for baking, and…"

Cristina scowled and said, "Okay. I really didn't want to know all that! Sucks for you!"

Meredith's phone rang, and she glanced at the number and didn't answer.

Cristina raised an eyebrow and asked, "Not going to answer that?"

Meredith turned it off and stuck the phone in her lab coat and said quickly, "No. I'm not."

Alex asked, "Where the hell is Dr. Kent? He's almost late."

Dr. Campbell walked up to the OR board as Dr. Hahn was erasing names and putting down new ones.

"Dr. Hahn. What are you doing?"

"I'm taking Meredith Grey today. Her mother was a good surgeon and I want to see what she's like. I've heard good things about Grey and Kent is her resident. I haven't worked with him, yet."

"I know you are new here Erica, but that's not how it works. You get assigned an intern and a resident. There is a schedule. Dr. Bailey catches you and…"

Erica scoffed and said, "Bailey doesn't run this place. Besides, she's just a resident. Okay the chief resident, but I'm an attending so I outrank her."

Erica looked at Margaret with pity and scorn. What in the hell happened to the kick ass female surgeon she had heard about? So, she juggled the board to her liking once in a while.

Margaret Campbell was the old dinosaur who refused to retire her scalpel years ago and go join her friends in Boca. She was Seattle Graces' first female surgeon pioneers ago. She mostly sat in her office and spread procedure around.

Dr. Campbell smiled evilly at Dr. Hahn. She knew what the young superstar thought of her. "Look at me like you won't wake up one day, it's so much faster than you can ever imagine. One day you will find out that you can't cut anymore. Then, what will you have? I was a god in this OR holding a scalpel! I was a god and now… What will you have?" Campbell gave Hahn a disgusted look and turned around. She had tried to be helpful.

Erica thought, Well, that was not good juju.

Derek walked into the ER and found Owen talking to a resident. After they'd finished, he asked, "Got a moment for a consult Dr. Hunt?"

"Sure. Where is the patient?"

"That would be me."

Owen raised an eyebrow.

"A private exam room please. I'm pretty sure everything is in working order, but I just want to make sure."

Owen looked questionably at Derek and said, "Okay Dr. Shepherd. Number three is open."

Dr. Kent came in a little late and said "Karev. Your charts are delinquent. You're in the clinic. Yang. Stop sucking up to the senior residents and attendings. It's embarrassing. You are in the pit. Stevens. You're in peds and O'Malley. You are in neonatal. Grey. You are with me and Dr. Hahn."

Alex snapped back, "Why does she get to be with an attending?"

Cristina bitched, "Hahn! I'm the one with the cardio interest!"

Izzie muttered, "That's not fair!" "She gets the cardio goddess and I get…"

George whined and said, "I am not a baby doctor!"

Meredith said softly, "I just worked with a senior resident the other day Dr. Kent. I'm okay if you want to assign someone else to have a chance."

"You don't get a say. None of you do! Dr. Bailey decides on who gets what! If I hear any more complaints, you'll all be pulling the same duty tomorrow. Now, get your asses out of here and don't make me look bad!"

After they left the locker room Dr. Kent said, "For whatever reason Dr. Hahn asked for you specifically. Don't disappoint me! Don't ever, under any circumstances, back down from an opportunity to learn from the best. Let's go find her."

"Okay." She hoped the others weren't pissed at her. She wasn't asking for special treatment or favors and would hate it if the others thought she was.

They found Dr. Hahn just starting rounds and fell in with the other residents. Meredith was the only intern. Dr. Hahn was confident with the patients but didn't have much of a bedside manner. She was just rude when the other doctors asked her questions. Meredith got all the grunt work. As she was writing some pre op notes at the empty nurse's stations, she heard a cough behind her.

"Dr. Grey."

"Dr. Sloan."

Mark said sincerely, "Listen Mer. I'm sorry I was out of line the other day in the OR. I'd bore you with my secret pain, but I really have no excuse. I come bearing snacks and a promise I won't do it again."

Meredith raised an eyebrow and asked, "Snacks?"

Mark gave her a chocolate chip muffin and a coffee. "In the spirit of full disclosure, Derek bought these for you. But he just got pulled into a surgery. So, I'm doing his grunt work as penance by finding you and in his words, watching to make sure you eat it."

Meredith laughed and took the muffin and coffee. "So, he told you what happened this morning? Which by the way, we both blame you."

Confused Mark said, "No? I'm talking about busting you out about the park, and the being an ass in the OR the other day. He was pissed at me too. You know, about ...the sexual reference. So, I'm playing nice. Why? What happened this morning? I'm innocent until proven guilty. How much trouble could I have done? I just got here."

"I'll let Derek explain that one." She bit into the heavenly muffin and took a large swig of coffee.

"Okay. I gotta go. Am I forgiven Meri?"

Meredith giggled at his little pout and whispered, "Yes Markie. I forgive you. Thanks for bringing me breakfast from Derek."

He smiled as he walked away to his surgery. Sweet Meri was such a forgiving person. Nothing he hated worse than an unforgiving and unrelenting female. She was one of a kind.

The first patient died on the table after three hours. It was a rough surgery, and his chances were 50/50 at best from the start. Still, Meredith felt bad for his family as they all looked up expectantly when they walked into the waiting room to give them the news. This was the hardest part of her job. After finishing the post op notes and starting the new patient pre op notes, Derek found her at a workstation by the OR's.

He leaned into the doorway of the small room. She looked up and smiled at him. "Thanks for the muffin and coffee."

"You're welcome."

"Are you okay?" She glanced down at his groin area.

"Yeah. I had Dr. Hunt check me out. Maybe a little bruising. I'm good to go. Everything is in great working order."

"Thank god!"

Derek said innocently, "That's sweet of you to be concerned about me."

She flipped her hair back and smirked, "Who said I was concerned for you? Maybe I was concerned for me! She couldn't wait until his cock was inside her. She ran her tongue over her lips.

He laughed a little. She was a paradox. She blushed when he gave her the slightest compliment, but then she'd throwback something outrageously sexual the next minute.

She glanced down irritated at her ringing phone. She had just turned it back on.

He frowned, "Aren't you going to answer that?"

"It can wait."

His beeper went off and he said, "Shit! My patient is in distress in post op. Gotta run. Bye."

Meredith's second surgery went better. She was getting into the elevator to go grab lunch when a hand shot out to hold the door. Derek smiled at her and stood in front of her in the empty elevator with his back to her.

Meredith asked hesitantly, "Do you still want to go out with me?"

He replied, "Did I ask you to go out with me?" He turned around to look at her.

Meredith smirked at him and he turned back around to face the front of the elevator. Oh so now he wants to play hard to get. The doors closed and he punched in a floor. The elevator didn't move right away. They were in the slow one.

Derek chuckles at her silence and says, "Do you want to go out with me?"

She said with no conviction, "I shouldn't date you. I definitely shouldn't sleep with you."

He scoffed, "I'm your boss' boss."

She rambled, "You're my teacher. My teacher's teacher. You're my teacher."

Meredith mocked, "You're sexually harassing me."

Derek said matter of fact, "I'm riding an elevator."

"Look. I'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There is a big line. Should we really cross this big line?"

Derek pondered this and said, "So, this line? Is it imaginary or do I need to get you a marker?"

He turned around to face her and Meredith didn't think. She dropped her files and launched herself at him with enough force to push him against the wall of the elevator. She caught him off guard and she kissed him hard as she wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders. He tried to catch his breath as she assaulted him with her tongue, and he winced slightly as she tugged on his curls. He cupped her ass and spun her around and pushed her back flat against the wall. She locked her legs around his waist. He cupped her head to hold her still as he plundered her mouth with his.

The elevator binged and they both broke apart abruptly and he quickly put her down. She sank to the floor in one fluid motion and gathered the files as quickly as the doors opened. There were about five people waiting for her to get out before they could get on. She hustled out without a glance backward. Derek pulled his lab coat around him to hide his raging erection and said to her retreating back breathlessly, "We'll talk later…?"

What do you think? Truthfully, I like Dr. Kent. He's pompous, but he pushes his interns to be the best. How about the conversation between Campbell and Hahn? And don't forget about the steamy ending...