Chapter 37: Working Together
"Our first save. I like the sound of that, Meredith. We work well together. I wonder what else we'll be good at?"
She giggled and said, "That sounds vaguely dirty Dr. Shepherd."
He looked at her suggestively and said, "I meant it to be." He inched closer to her.
Meredith raised an eyebrow and said, "Remember the manicured vultures are watching."
Derek sighed and glanced at his watch and said, "I'm going to find out what this emergency surgery did to my schedule. I was booked full today. Why don't you go grab some lunch and meet me in Henry's room in forty minutes?"
Meredith frowned and said, "I can check your schedule. I mean that's what interns do right?"
"No. I got it. Go grab some lunch."
"Really. I'm good. I had that big breakfast and a granola bar. Thanks for that by the way."
Derek said, "I wasn't asking you to go to lunch. I was telling you."
"But…"
"Not as your friend Dr. Grey. But as your resident. Go to lunch."
Meredith frowned. He was looking at her with the stern authoritative face that spoke of no argument. Um… he was hot with a scowl on.
She sighed knowing she'd lose an argument and piss him off. "Okay Dr. Shepherd. I can follow orders."
He smiled then and said, "Good. Enjoy yourself because I think we'll be swamped the rest of the day."
"Do you want me to bring you anything?"
"Sure. Surprise me. Now get going. You're down to thirty-five minutes."
She spun on her heel and went in search of Cris or Izzie. She found them all in the cafeteria. She grabbed a mini pizza and water and sat down with them.
She sank into the chair and said, "Hi."
Cristina looked at her small pizza and water and said, "Light lunch Mer."
"I had a big breakfast."
Cristina muttered, "Oh it cooks too?"
Meredith smirked and mumbled, "Yeah."
Cristina shook her head and said, "Figures."
Alex said, "I hear you caught a decapitated head Grey? Cool!"
Izzie whined, "You get a head and when I'm in the pit I get sutures."
George said, "Well, sutures are better than charts."
Meredith asked, "How are the charts coming George? I can help you later when I finish with Shepherd."
George replied, "Thanks Mer, but I'm done. Now, I'm running labs."
Alex smirked, "You can help me Mer. Sloan is an ass! You've worked with him. Any ideas?"
Cristina snarked out, "Don't give evil spawn any helpful hints Mer. Let him learn like the rest of us! Montgomery is a piece of work. She talks constantly. She never shuts up! If I have to see one more baby…"
Izzie frowned and said, "Every baby is a miracle and they are beautiful."
Cristina asked, "Really? Even when they are covered in slimy afterbirth and look like…?
Alex gagged and said, "Enough with the visual Yang. I think you've done the impossible. You've grossed me out. I gotta get back. Meredith. We need to talk later."
"Okay." Alex left the table and George and Izzie's pagers went off. Izzie sighed and said, "Look like Kent found something for us to do. I hope it's good. Come on George."
George and Izzie left, and Meredith said, "You sure know how to clear a table, Cris."
"They bore me. Now tell me everything!"
"Nothing to tell."
"Oh come on. Give me something."
Meredith said lowly, "Well. I went home and was kind of a mess. Bad day and he came over and suggested dinner and well it was at his house and it was just easier to sleep there."
Cristina scoffed and said, "Bullshit! You live across the street not across a mountain!"
Meredith giggled and said, "I know! So anyway, we slept in the same bed. With pajamas on. I was exhausted and nothing happened."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"You want it to happen?"
"Hell yes! He is…" Cristina's pager went off.
She stood up and said, "Shit! Just when it was getting good. The queen bellows. I'll talk to you later."
Meredith glanced at her watch and got up too. She had to get Derek something to eat. He'd probably want something healthy. She wondered where the healthy food was.
She found him coming out of Henry's room. "Am I late?"
"No. He is doing as well as can be expected and I've briefed his family. What did you bring me?"
"Salad with chicken and nuts and a pomegranate smoothie."
"Thanks. That is perfect to get me through the afternoon. I'm going to eat this and I need you to do the pre-op on our next patient. Her name is Joni Davidson. After the pre-op, I need you to get her latest labs and I'll see you in the scrub room when you get back."
"I'm on it." She walked away quickly.
She did the pre-op and had just grabbed the labs. She needed to pee before she went into surgery. She flushed the toilet and opened the stall door and saw Alex leaning on a sink across from her.
She jumped a little and put her hand over her heart.
"Jeez Alex. You scared me! What are you doing in here?"
"I'm handy. I can fix faucets, unclog toilets and do all sorts of things around the house."
She raised an eyebrow at him as she washed her hands.
"I know you're not going to pick me. I know I'm probably your last choice."
Meredith grabbed her labs from the ledge.
"Okay. I can't do this. Dude. I can kiss ass with the best of them and suck up when I need to. I can especially kiss your sweet ass. I know I'm an asshole, but I really need a place to live Mer."
Meredith said simply, "Okay."
Alex asked cautiously, "Okay as in you'll consider me…or okay as in I can move in?"
"Okay. You can move in. As long as you don't mind me letting George move in also."
"O'Malley? Um…it's your house. When can I move in?"
"After our shift. You guys can follow me home. See if it's what you're looking for."
"Thanks Mer. I owe you big time."
"That's okay Alex. You'll let George know if you see him?"
Alex said, "Yeah. I'll tell him."
Just then the door opened, and Dr. Bailey walked in.
She looked between the two of them and shook her head. "You do know the international signage for the ladies and men's toilet right Karev?"
Alex nodded and walked out embarrassed.
Meredith said, "Hi Dr. Bailey" and started to walk out.
Dr. Bailey asked, "So, how is everything going Dr. Grey? All healed up?"
"Yes. I'm good."
"I heard about your catch in the ER today. Great work."
"Thanks. It makes up for yesterday."
"Yes, Dr. Hahn's patients. It's frustrating as doctors when we can't save someone. Sometimes we do all we can and it's still not enough. That's not our fault."
Meredith nodded, and Dr. Bailey continued on. "There is an M and M next week. I'd like you to attend. I'll clear it with Kent."
"What's an M and M?"
"Morbidity and mortality. It's a great teaching lesson. We dissect why something was done and if we could have done better."
"Thanks Dr. Bailey."
"You're welcome Dr. Grey."
Meredith left the restroom and ran to the scrub room. Between Alex and Dr. Bailey she hoped she wasn't late.
She found Derek almost finishing scrubbing in. He looked up and said, "I thought you might have gotten lost. Are those my labs?"
"Yes. I'm sorry. Dr. Bailey was talking to me." She pulled them out of the envelope and held them so that he could see.
"Well, hurry and scrub in. This is going to be a long one."
Relived she said, "Thanks Dr. Shepherd."
They did three back to back surgeries and Meredith loved working with Derek. His OR was relaxed, and he was a great teacher. He explained everything and let everyone in the room participate. Even her. He carefully showed her how to do some minor things and she held retractors for hours.
They were scrubbing out and Dr. Smith had just left the room.
Derek smiled at her and said, "You did great today Meredith. I'm impressed. I usually don't let interns do much this early in the game."
She asked hesitantly, "Did you let me do stuff because… you want to sleep with me?"
He raised an eyebrow at her and said, "Yes."
He watched her face fall.
"I'm kidding Meredith. Of course not! You're Henry's doctor. With very little training you helped save his life. You did save his life! You earned the right to follow his case through to the finish. I wouldn't let our personal life interfere with our professional life. You earned the right to be here for the other cases. You shouldn't let the fact that we're together get in the way of you taking your shot."
Meredith nodded. Derek stretched and rolled his neck. "Why don't you finish the post-op notes and I'll meet you in post-op."
"Okay. Thanks Dr. Shepherd. It was a pleasure working with you today."
Derek reached for her hand and said suggestively, "It was for me too." He held her hand and rubbed circles on it. They broke away reluctantly and she left.
A short time later, he found her in post-op and gave her a large coffee.
She looked up and said "Thanks. The notes are done for your review."
"I'll look them over. I just saw Dr. Kent. You guys are going to monitor my patients overnight. If there are any changes you know how to get a hold of me."
"I'll take care of it. Thanks again for everything today."
"You're welcome and you deserve it. I hate that you'll be sleeping in an on-call room tonight."
She giggled and said, "You and me both. Especially when you're going to be in the big old comfy bed by yourself."
Derek groaned at the thought, "When is your next day off?"
"The day after tomorrow."
"You'll save some time for us. Maybe go out to eat? Carbs in a basket?"
Meredith said quickly, "I'd love that."
"Good. It's a date then."
"It's a date."
He took the charts from her and said, "Good night Meredith. Try to eat and get some sleep, okay?
She said coyly, "Yes, Dr. Shepherd."
He gave her a little wink and walked out.