Chapter 3: Colleagues, Fellowships, and Shopping

Meredith was scrubbing out after doing a craniotomy with one of her interns. She loved her job and enjoyed the teaching aspect of it. She still got a surgery high but lately her high was lower than it used to be. Maybe it was normal to have the passion for her career wane just a little bit. Maybe she wanted to feel passion for something other than her career. Or someone she thought as her mind drifted - yet again - to Derek Shepherd.

Meredith dried her hands and sighed loudly. Why couldn't she stop thinking about him? Since she'd collided with him a week ago, he'd been invading her thoughts regularly. She kept seeing his smile and hearing his arrogant tone of voice telling her he was a lot likeable. He was likeable and that was the problem. Meredith didn't want to like Derek. She'd made a second career out of keeping people - especially men - at arm's length. She hadn't ever wanted to give anyone the same dedication she gave medicine. She was completely aware of the fact - even though she tried to deny and ignore it - that this need to keep her distance made her very much like her mother… the great Ellis Grey.

Meredith didn't want to like Derek Shepherd because in those brief few minutes with him, she'd felt happier than she could remember feeling in a very long time. Naturally, this scared the living hell out of her. So, she figured she'd just forget about meeting Derek. And hope the Chief would forget that he'd wanted her in that meeting. Her mind was not agreeing to her plan, though. She kept thinking about him. And wondering how she could ask the Chief about the meeting without sounding interested in Derek.

Meredith sighed again as she reached the Resident locker room. What was she going to do? As much as she was afraid of it - Meredith Grey liked Derek Shepherd.


"You should take the Chief up on his offer and come back to work."

Derek finishes the bite of food in his mouth and then says, "Miranda, don't. Please don't… you know I can't go back to work at Seattle Grace."

"Actually, I don't know that at all. What I know is that the hospital hasn't been the same since you left. What I know is that the Chief, Sloan and I miss having you around there. What I know is that you're wasting your time playing as a fisherman when you're a brilliant doctor!"

"I was a Neurosurgeon Bailey," Derek snaps. "Was and surgeon, being the operative words."

"You only call me 'Bailey' when you're angry."

"I'm sorry Miranda," Derek sighs. "I don't mean to be an ass to you. It's just… Richard's offer is like a slap in the face. He's offering me a teaching position. It's like only being offered twenty-five percent of my life back. Can you please try to understand?"

Miranda Bailey looked at the man who had become one of her best friends over the past seven years. Her heart broke when she thought of all he'd lost - because it was so much more than just his sight and his career. All she wanted was for him to be truly happy again. She wasn't going to give up on this plan of Richard's because she believed it to be exactly what Derek needed in his life. She says, "Just think about it, Derek. Believe it or not - medicine is not the same without you. Plus, you're only living half-a-life out here in the woods."

"I live a full life, Miranda. Kathleen, David and the kids aren't far away. You, Mark and Richard come to visit. I come into the city with Kathleen sometimes. I enjoy fishing and my dog keeps me company every day."

"There's passion in that?" Miranda asks with just a little bite in her voice. "You sound like an old man."

Derek laughs and asks, "Don't you have surgery this afternoon? You are a busy General Attending."

"Yes, I have surgery in two hours with, Grey."

"Meredith?" Derek asks as a smile spreads involuntarily across his face.

This does not go unnoticed by Bailey. She smiles but manages to keep her voice neutral as she replies, "Actually, it's with Lexie Grey. She's Meredith's younger sister."

"Oh. Do you know Meredith well?"

Miranda fights the urge to bounce in her seat like an excited child as she answers, "She was one of my interns. I know she's a talented, dedicated and driven surgeon. She has what it takes to be one of the greats. Just like her mom."

"Her mom?"

"Ellis Grey."

"No shit?" Derek asks with admiration in his voice. "I never had the opportunity to work with Ellis Grey, but I definitely know of her. So, you think Meredith has what it takes to be great like her mom?"

"I do," Miranda answers. "The Chief thinks she'll be better than her mom."

"What? Why?" Derek asks, not even realizing that he's sitting up straighter and leaning forward with curiosity.

Miranda is barely holding her glee in at Derek's reaction to Meredith. She answers, "According to the Chief, Meredith has warmth and a bedside manner that her mom lacked. Plus, Meredith is proving to be a very good teacher. She's the best I've seen in a long time with her interns."

"Is she doing her Fellowship at Seattle Grace?"

"I don't know," Miranda frowns. "Neither does the Chief and frankly he's really antsy about it."

"Hmm," Derek sighs. "Will I see you next week for lunch?"

"Have I missed a week yet?"

"No," Derek laughs.

Miranda gets up and kisses Derek on the cheek. "Bye."

"Bye," he replies already lost in thought with the new information he just learned about Meredith.


"Hi Grey."

"Hi Yang," Meredith answers as she opens her locker to change out of her scrubs.

"Have you heard anything about your Fellowship?"

"No," Meredith answers as she tenses up slightly. "Have you?"

"No," Cristina Yang answers as she finishes dressing in her street clothes. "I'm getting kind of nervous about It. I guess it's still early, but I just expected to know by now."

"Oh yeah," Meredith sighs as she closes her locker and turns to leave. "Bye."

"What the hell is your problem?" Cristina snaps as she slams her locker shut.

"Excuse me?" Meredith asks in surprise as she turns back to her colleague.

"This is the fourth year we've worked together. There were six women when we started and only four of us are left. You've gone Neuro and I've gone Cardio - we are not in competition any longer. I thought maybe we could be friends now. Apparently, I was mistaken because you are the same driven and distant person you've always been!" Cristina stomps past Meredith to leave the locker room.

"I haven't applied for my Fellowship."

Cristina stops at the door at this quiet admission. Certain that she heard incorrectly, she turns back to look at Meredith. She says, "You mean you didn't apply here?"

Meredith shakes her head no. Cristina has definite surprise in her voice as she says, "You have got to be kidding me. You're brilliant… you applied to Cedar-Sinai and Johns Hopkins, right?"

"I haven't applied anywhere," Meredith states again. "Plus, I'm finding myself attracted to someone who is way out of my league, I'm not getting the same surgery high I use to and I have to go shopping for my nieces' fourth birthday. And I hate shopping."

Meredith sees the extreme look of shock on Cristina's face and sighs. She moves toward the locker room door and stops when Cristina answers, "I applied for my Fellowship practically everywhere, but I really want to stay here. The guy I've been dating wants to get married and I like medicine better than relationships. My mother's planning the wedding and I haven't even decided if I want to say yes or no. Want to get a drink at Joe's?"

Meredith turns and grins at Cristina, "You're as screwed as I am."

"Like I said, there's no competition between us."

"Let's go to Joe's."


Meredith did not want to be here. She'd rather be stuck in the pit doing rectal exams than getting ready to go into a mall to shop. Her niece was turning four years old and this was the first time Meredith hadn't been able to convince someone else to do the birthday or Christmas shopping for her. She groaned as she thought of her recent conversation with her sister:

"Molly, you have to shop for Laura's birthday anyway. I don't understand why this is a problem."

"Meredith," Molly laughed into the phone, "You always convince Lexie or I to shop for your gifts to Laura."

"Exactly. You and Lexie know what to pick for her, so she always likes her gift from me. I always pay for the gift - so I just don't understand the problem. It seems to me that we all win here. Especially, Laura because she isn't getting a lame gift from Aunt Meredith."

"Nice try, Mer. You're picking Laura's gift yourself this time."

"Why?"

Molly laughs again and replies, "You do realize you're whining just like Laura, right?"

"Is it working?"

"No. Go shopping for Laura, Mer. You'll enjoy it."

"I won't enjoy it, Molly. I hate shopping, I'm a busy surgeon. I don't have time to go to the mall!"

"Mer, Ethan's waking up from his nap. I have to go get him."

"Wait," Meredith says with panic in her voice. "At least tell me what to get for Laura. I'll shop damn it, just tell me what to buy."

Molly laughs again - even knowing that she shouldn't be enjoying her sisters unease at shopping for kids toys. She sighs and answers, "You won't go wrong if you get something 'Dora.'"

"What the hell is 'Dora'?"

"'Dora" is a cartoon character on Nickelodeon and Laura loves her. I really have to get Ethan… he's having a fit. Love you, Mer."

"Yeah, sure you do," Meredith mumbles irritably - even though Molly has already hung up. "You hate me, that's why you're torturing me with shopping for toys."

So, here she was at the mall, a few days after that conversation with Molly. She'd tried to convince Lexie to buy a 'Dora' something for Laura, but she'd said no, too. Apparently, both of her sisters were ganging up on her and forcing her to shop. It was a Tuesday morning so at least the mall - and more important the toy store - was not crowded at all. Meredith was a bit embarrassed to ask the salesperson for help, so she started walking around looking for the name 'Dora' on the boxes. She quickly realized that there was a lot of stuff with 'Dora' on the box. Crap, she thinks. Which damn 'Dora' thing do I pick?

Meredith is standing in front of a huge display filled with Dora dolls and products with Dora on them. There are Dora's swimming, Dora's skiing, Dora's with twin babies, Dora slippers, backpacks and games. It seems to Meredith that everything has Dora on it or is somehow related to Dora. How the hell is she supposed to know what to pick? She groans, hoping she doesn't have a nervous breakdown over Dora.

"Excuse me lady. Are you okay?"

Meredith jumps and looks down to see an adorable little boy, about six years old, with dark hair and brown eyes looking up at her. She looks around for a parent and sees a brunette woman at the end of the aisle. Meredith assumes that she's the boy's mom because - even though she's on her cell phone - she is watching the little boy very intently. Meredith smiles an acknowledgement to the woman and answers the little boy, "I'm okay, but there's a lot of Dora stuff here and I don't know which item to pick for my niece."

"Dora blows," the little boy says in disgust. "Diego's way better."

Meredith barely suppresses her giggle and asks, "Who's Diego?"

"Who's Diego?" the little boy asks in shock. "Diego is Dora's cousin and he goes on adventures to save animals. Hey," he says, sounding suspicious. "How do you know who Dora is, but not Diego?"

Meredith groans and pinches her arm, hoping this bizarre situation will turn out to be a nightmare. Nope, she's still standing in front of way too much Dora crap with the little boy now glaring at her like she's a Martian. Thankfully the brunette woman finally comes down the aisle. "Kevin, have you picked a gift for your sister yet?"

"No," the little boy mumbles. "Mom, Dora blows I want to get something Diego for Kayla."

"I'm so sorry," the woman says to Meredith. "Kevin, saying something 'blows' is really rude! Kayla likes Dora so you have to pick something she wants - not something you want." She looks at Meredith again and says, "I really am sorry - he's six and not really enjoying shopping for his sister's birthday."

Meredith grins, she just can't help it. "That's okay. I'm a lot older than him and I'm not enjoying shopping either. I pretty much agree with his sentiment about Dora right now."

The woman starts laughing and says, "I'm Kathleen."

"I'm Meredith."

"Are you shopping for your daughter?"

"No. I don't have children. I'm not married… well, I guess you don't have to be married to have children… but no. No children," she sighs. "I sound like a lame a…" she catches herself and says, "I'm trying to get a gift for my niece's birthday. I'm out of my element. My sister said get something Dora but failed to mention half the store would have Dora crap. Oops, sorry - I mean Dora stuff."

"Haven't you ever shopped for your niece before?"

"Nope," Meredith grins. "I always convince my sisters to do it, but for some reason they weren't letting me get away with that this year."

Kathleen laughs, "That is exactly what my brother used to do."

"Laura is turning four. Can you give me any suggestions of what to buy?"

"Kayla's turning four also. She wants a Dora scooter… here it is."

Meredith looks at the box and sees that it says 3 years and up. She looks at Kathleen and grins, "Thank you so much."

"Hey Kathleen?"

Meredith turns in shock toward the sound of the familiar voice.

"Oh crap," Kathleen mumbles. "I left my brother at the front of the store."

"Mom, you said a bad word and Uncle Derek is going to be mad at you. He didn't want to come with us anyway."

"He'll understand when we tell him we were helping Meredith pick a gift for her niece."

Kathleen grabs a Dora scooter for herself and then takes Kevin and quickly goes to the front of the store. Meredith goes slowly to the front. She's surprised to see Derek Shepherd in the doorway of the store. He's got an irritated scowl on his face while his sister is talking to him. Meredith doesn't blame him for being annoyed. She can understand why he wouldn't want to be left in a doorway in the mall. She feels bad - knowing she's the reason his sister and nephew were held up. Meredith pays for Laura's scooter and walks over to the trio.

"Hello."

Derek's head whips in her direction and he says in surprise, "Meredith."

"You two know one another?" Kathleen asks, also surprised.

"We met at the hospital when I went to see Richard two weeks ago," Derek answers.

"Really?"

"Yes really," Meredith answers. "Dr. Shepherd…"

"I told you to call me Derek."

"Okay fine… Derek. I'm sorry to have kept your sister and nephew. They were helping me pick a gift for my niece's birthday. I hate shopping."

"Me too," Derek scowls again. "Which is what I was just trying to tell my sister."

"I still have a few things to get for Kayla's birthday, Derek."

"Shopping blows," Derek grumbles.

"Derek!" Kathleen admonishes while Kevin asks, "Mom, how come Uncle Derek can say 'blows' but I can't?"

"Excuse me?" Meredith interrupts, trying not to laugh at the scene unfolding in front of her. "Dr. Sh… uh, I mean Derek. I still owe you a coffee from when I spilled yours all over the place."

"You do," Derek grins and Kathleen looks a little speculative.

"Would you like to go for coffee while Kathleen and Kevin finish shopping?"

"Sure," Derek grins.

"Thank you," Kathleen says with a relieved smile.

"No problem," Meredith says, feeling a nervous but excited flutter in her stomach. "Just meet us in the Starbucks right over there when you're done."

"Okay and thanks again Meredith," Kathleen says as she leaves with Kevin.

Derek grins in Meredith's direction. "You just asked me on a date. Right in front of my sister."

"I did not," Meredith sighs. "Your sister helped me out and I'm returning the favor."

"Keep telling yourself that," he teases.

Meredith smiles - a little nervous as her stomach does the nervous flutter thing again.