Chapter 73: She Needs to Stay

One part of her difficult goodbye with Seattle was past her. She broke the news too immensely and surprised, Jennings. He would call in at Seattle Grace the next day to talk over and finalize her decision. Her written resignation was already on its way. There was no turning back, she burnt all the bridges.

It was ironic in a sense, as right now she was going to repair some. She still couldn't believe she was doing it. Though as she made her way from the hospital building to her car, she felt sure it was a good thing to do, a thing she needed to do before moving on with her life. She never thought she'd ever seek contact with her father on her own will, but… there she was.

Meredith was fully aware that there was a week till she'd be able to know some relief, which was promptly confirmed by the sight of Derek leaning against the front door to her Porsche, taking her breath away a little as usual. Her step slowed down but she braced herself bravely and steered herself forward.

He heard her purposeful footsteps; his back tensed and he turned around to face her just as she halted, only a few feet before him.

Two pairs of eyes locked in a daze, two hearts beat in the same racing rhythm, there were two clouds of vapor exhaled by two sets of lungs that encountered equal trouble while breathing normally. Finally, Meredith cleared her throat uncomfortably and uttered quietly with a halfhearted gesture towards her car door, "Can you… can you move aside? I have… stuff to do."

"No, I can't move aside, Meredith," he answered gently. "Because if I do, you'll disappear. You'll vanish before I even have a chance to blink."

She swallowed hard and looked down on the snow distractedly, suddenly feeling overpowered. She was so tired of fighting, like a fish out of the water trying to catch air.

"Meredith, I know you saw… you saw me and…" his voice cracked a little. "But I swear," he put his hands together like in a prayer, "I swear it meant nothing, she-"

"I know," said Meredith with a small voice. "I know you're the most innocent party in this mess."

"That's what Addison told me," he breathed deeply. "You know but you still don't… you still can't… I would have never thought that she could stand between us, Meredith." He raked his hair in frustration.

"She's not standing between us, Derek," Meredith shook her head slowly.

"Then why aren't we together?" asked Derek desperately. "Why aren't we together and happy? Do you… do you remember how happy we were?" the last question he addressed was much gentler.

"I do," he replied not waiting for her. He hesitated but finally raised his hand. His fingers grazed her chin making her face his regard. She all but shuddered at the contact. "We were so good. Do you remember the whole long days spent here at Grace, filled with work and secret dates? The sleepless nights when we made love until dawn and then some?" He stepped closer, mere inches separating their faces. "I do remember every single thing, every detail," he whispered, and his warm breath fanned her cheeks. "I remember the way you looked, naked and ready for me. I remember your scent, the feel of your heated skin… the way you moved under me…"

At this point Meredith had grave difficulties forming coherent thought. He was attacking her brain with a flow of very... graphic verbal stimuli. Damn, he did remember her responsiveness, the tiny little fact that sex was her weakness, or a strength, depending on how you looked at it.

"Derek, I'm so…" she shook her head, jerking it back out of his reach.

"You're so…?" he prompted.

"It doesn't matter," she bit her lip in effort to hold herself together and fidgeted trying to coax him out of her way. "We're over, don't make this harder than it has to be."

"It doesn't have to be hard at all," he argued but stepped aside reluctantly. "One word of yours, Mer, and it can be easy."

"No, it can't, Derek!" she exclaimed impatiently and slipped inside her car. "You don't understand… anything!"

"Then, make me understand why we're in the same square we were in March?" he leaned over the car door preventing her from shutting it close.

"We're not in the same square. We're past it, we're over it," she stated hiding her eyes behind black sunglasses. "There's too much water under the thing… or whatever."

"You know your stubbornness makes my head ache," he chuckled, "but I still love you for it, because it makes you who you are."

Meredith tapped her fingers over the steering wheel. "Let me go, Derek," she pleaded, her hand reaching for the door.

"I will let you go today," he answered bending forward so his lips practically caressed her ear. "I will give you time to think about what I've just said. And please, do think about it, because that's the last time I'm asking nicely. Tomorrow I won't be so cooperative…" he breathed out and buried his nose into her hair behind her ear briefly while she quivered at the threatening note hidden in his voice, not from fear but excitement. Excitement that went straight to her core.

She felt a loss when he backed away to close her door gently. He then moved to the sidewalk and stood facing her with his arms crossed over his chest.

Meredith cursed in her head. The bastard talked like he owned her! She started the engine violently. Well, he did… and he made her doubt her decision.

"And?" asked Mark expectantly as Derek approached the little group of doctors waiting for him at the door to Meredith's office. "Has she listened to reason?"

"Do you think I'd be here if she had?" asked Derek gently.

"No," admitted Mark. "You'd be screwing like bunnies somewhere around."

"Mark, can you just please refrain from making this type of comments right now?" Addison rolled her eyes with annoyance.

"Yeah, can you?" sighed Derek.

"Oh, I'm sorry," smirked Mark. "I forgot you haven't had any since time immemorial."

"I can't believe I'm here," muttered Cristina with unmasked irritation.

The flow of complaints that would undeniably spill out of her mouth was prevented by the appearance of George who was cowering at the door peeking at the corridor.

"So, the coast is clear?" he whispered dramatically.

"What are you twelve, Bambi?" snorted Cristina.

"It is," interrupted her Derek. "Meredith went home. Did you found what we need?"

"Yeah, of course," he nodded confidently. "I told you, I know the safe combination! Come in."

One by one they followed inside the office for the second time that day, passing Patricia on the way.

"Make yourself at home," she ranted. "Just don't make any mess because I'll be the one to sort it out before she comes in tomorrow."

They gathered around Meredith's desk and George spread the documents he had retrieved from the safe.

"That's her contract," he explained.

Derek took one of the papers into his hands and started to skim it.

"That's a lot of formal mumbo-jumbo," frowned Mark, brining another document in front of his eyes.

"What, has fixing boobs fried your brain?" jabbed Cristina. "Let's just get it done. I want to go home before the beginning of the next century."

"You don't need to stay and help, Cristina," berated her Izzie. "Why do you even care? Don't you hate her anyway?"

"I don't hate her, okay?" Cristina answered back. "She gave me the head job when anyone else at her place wouldn't have and I am grateful for that. I don't bite the hand that feeds me. So, I'm here to help, okay?"

"Hey!" bellowed George. "If you could just listen to me, we would come up with something to do much faster!"

"Why? What do you know?" asked quickly Addison.

"Well, from what I gather from this text," George waved the contract in the air, "it was made up for two years."

"Yeah, you're right," nodded Addie. "That was the hospital's safety belt. One year would be too short to evaluate her work but two enough to see if-"

"If she was screwing up," finished for her Cristina. "She's contracted for two years so what's the deal? She can't leave."

"I'd love to see you trying to tell her what she can and cannot do," snorted Mark.

"May I continue?" George shouted over. "The contract is for two years but she doesn't have to stay for the whole period."

"Damn, there's a loophole?" asked Derek.

"Yeah, it says she can walk freely without any liabilities if she encounters unsolvable problems, she is unable to cope with herself," went on George.

"Unsolvable problems? What does that imply?" Izzie demanded clarification.

"It's not specified," he shook his head. "But I suppose it has to be something outside her control that makes her work here impossible. She could put a lot of things here. I'm pretty sure it might be related to problems with staff managing. It's pretty obvious she didn't have a warm welcome here," he looked at his colleagues with reproach. "It makes sense, it's believable. The board won't have any doubts."

"So, what now?" breathed deeply Derek. "We can't do anything?"

"I didn't say that" shrugged George. "There's… how to say it, a loophole in the loophole."

"Come again?" asked Izzie.

"Dr. Grey can't leave the hospital during a crisis situation," he stated simply.

"A crisis situation?" wondered Mark. "We've had one quite recently. Anyone can get hold of a bomb again?"

"I've got it!" exclaimed Izzie enthusiastically. "I know a way out! But we need to act together, or it won't work."

"You want to set up a Meredith Grey's fan club?" snorted Cristina.

"Pretty much," laughed off the blond. "Just listen. One resignation is not a crisis, right? But what if… everyone does…?"

"Now you completely lost it!" gritted out Cristina as she realized what her friend was getting at.