=1= Baltimore, Johns Hopkins Hospital
Meredith was bending over the main nurses station on the surgical floor, furiously scribbling on her numerous charts with a frown while munching on a granola bar. Halloween has brought mayhem into the hospital. The E.R. was overflowing with all sorts of crazy injuries resulted from dangerous pranks, costumed parades that got out of hand, a chain-saw pumpkin carving contest and multiple falls while hanging halloween decorations, many of which required surgical intervention. The residents had been called back to pull a double shift, which means Meredith hadn't closed her eyes in nearly 48 hours.
On top of the idiocy of the residents of Baltimore and her extreme tiredness, Meredith had admitted an extremely cruel trauma case arriving in a MedEvac chopper at the beginning of this shift while she was on Darryl Simmons' service. An about 15-year-old Jane Doe was found at the bottom of a ravine, presented with loss of consciousness, obvious head and abdominal trauma, hypothermia, and frostbite. In addition to her already life-threatening physical injuries, Meredith found out the girl sustained those injuries while running from her captor. Meredith was appalled when she first saw the bruises left by cuffs and shackles on the teenager's wrists and ankles, but she appeared unusually unfazed. She had held the girl's hand to provide comfort and support through her every exam, imaging and procedure. She was the only one able to communicate with the otherwise catatonic girl. Later, Jane Doe was identified as the 16 year-old Holly Wheeler through a birth mark on her upper arm and a name Meredith coaxed out of her with the help of Baltimore police. She was kidnapped from her parents when she was only 6 years old and imprisoned by her captor ever since.
The O.R. had fallen eerily silent after the confirmation of the girl's identity. Tom Koracick, the neurosurgeon fixing Holly's temporal bone fracture through the fossa approach had been particularly mean to Meredith during the surgery. She was used to Koracick's cynical, snarky and sarcastic mannerism, but him being downright vicious towards her was so completely unwarranted that her supervising attending, Darryl Simmons had shot several warning glances at Koracick. Meredith had wanted to spoke up for herself, but considering Koracick's knuckle deep in Holly's brain fixing her leaking cerebrospinal fluid and Morgan Meyers, the chief general surgeon who was working on Holly's celiac artery aneurysm's constant shaking of her head, Meredith had forced herself to focus on stopping Holly's internal bleeding instead and kept her mouth shut. After finishing her portion of the surgery, she scrubbed out to ponder what she did wrong to trigger such hostile reaction from her attending. She recalled her every clinical judgement, every move and action during surgery, and her interactions with the patient. From her recollection, nothing seemed wrong. On top of that, she wasn't even on his service! She was at a total loss. Even though she was reluctant to admit, the malice from her attending had caused Meredith's insecurities about her professional abilities to rear its ugly head again. She started remembering when Addison openly belittled her abilities on the T.T.T.S case and when Bailey suggested her relationship with Derek being the only reason she was in on Derek's surgeries. Her self-esteem had long been restored by the compliments and affirmation from Helen and her other mentors here at Hopkins. Medicine and surgery were the one constant in her life ever since she left Seattle and she was damn good at it. She wouldn't let herself doubt about that. She bit down on her lips resolutely, she would confront Koracick when she had the chance. However, much to her dismay, Koracick had been busy as a bee attending to all sorts of Halloween head and spinal trauma ever since he scrubbed out of Holly's surgery.
Despite the good outcome of the surgery, Meredith knew Holly still faced a long and arduous rehabilitation process for her numerous broken bones and major abdominal and brain surgery, letting along the psychological trauma she endured. After Holly woke up from the anesthesia, her parents officially identified her and attempted to reconnect with their daughter with an old photo album and plush bunny from Holly's early childhood. It was obvious that the young girl was trying, too, but the couple in front of her were practically strangers at this point. So the attempt was rather awkward and uncomfortable. Meredith felt like someone was clenching her heart tightly when Holly's eyes nervously darted away to focus on hers while still wrapped in the parents' arms. A couple hours later, in an attempt to address Holly's other non-pressing injuries, the team of doctors found more evidence of the abuse she suffered. She had a displaced tibial fracture, multiple rib fractures, a broken elbow, a misaligned forearm, and a pelvic avulsion fracture resulting from child birth. Upon the revelation of the full extent of Holly's injuries, her parents broke down and fled her room, leaving Holly in Meredith's care. Seeing her parents' negative reaction, the young girl seemed lost and scared, like she wasn't sure if she had said something wrong that would warrant punishment. Her large grey eyes frantically searched Meredith's face for an answer, "Did I say something wrong? Should I not have said I had a baby and it died?"
"No, Holly, it's fine. Your mom and dad were just shocked you had went through so much." Meredith sat down on Holly's bed and opened her arms, "Could I give you a hug?" She wanted to comfort her badly. Holly nodded, inched closed to Meredith and leaned into her chest. She sobbed silently into Meredith's scrub top while Meredith held her tightly and rub her back.
Exiting Holly's room after the teenager had cried herself to sleep, Meredith found herself working on the charts left over from her last shift. All reasons combined, she wasn't in the best of moods. That was why she easily ignored a stranger's lingering curious gaze on her.
"I don't think we've met." The stranger's husky baritone sounded in front of her.
Meredith snorted, really, that kind of a pick-up line in a hospital? She lifted her head and glanced at the stranger standing before her eyes. He was tall and well-built, his dirty blond-hair perfectly styled. Well-trimmed facial hair adorned his strong jawline. His icy blue eyes twinkled with mirth. Combined with the smirk on his thin lips, his expression was smug and almost feral, the kind of look that said he was looking at his next prey. Meredith groaned inwardly, the type of man that thought he was god's gift to woman and therefore could have any woman he wanted. She so did not need that right now. Ever since Derek, unwanted flirting at the workplace had always left her feeling uncomfortable. Thanks to her Medusa nickname, she hadn't gotten much of that ever since her arrival at Hopkins.
"That much is obvious, seeing you haven't shown your face in this hospital this past year." Meredith dipped her head again to focus on her charts even before she finished her sentence.
"Ah, you're ignoring me." The handsome stranger leaned in closer to her side and whispered in an amused voice. "You shouldn't ignore me."
Meredith felt a jolt shot through her spine at the familiar words, her action stilled. "Look, is there something I can help you with?" She snapped, fixing her fierce glare on the stranger with her lips pressed into a thin line, "A solid reason for why you need a doctor?"
"Wow, feisty." The stranger chuckled, "Actually, I'm looking for Dr. Johnathan Siever, I was his student in New York, he should be expecting me."
Meredith let out a relieved sigh, thank goodness she didn't need to put up with this person anymore. She checked her watch quickly, "Dr. Siever should be wrapping up his rhinoplasty right about now. His office is down the hall on the right with a plaque on it. You can probably wait for him there." Meredith resumed scribbling on her chart, expecting the stranger to depart in the direction she pointed out.
"Actually, do you mind showing me the way there?" The stranger put on a soft, seductive grin, flashing his very straight, very white teeth.
"You're a doctor. Surely you can find your mentor's office that is literally 100 feet away with no problem? You don't even have to take a turn." Meredith replied impatiently, fighting the urge to roll her eyes in exasperation.
"Dr. Harrington, sorry about Mark. He's a flirt, it's his nature, he couldn't help it." Dr. Siever's amused voice came from behind. Meredith turned to find him approaching them with Jackson in tow, both still donning the surgical gown like a cloak. Meredith let a genuine smile creep onto her lips. She nodded at Dr. Siever and pressed a cup of steaming coffee into Jackson's hand.
The stranger went up to hug Dr. Siever. After the two broke apart, Dr. Siever patted the stranger on the shoulder and smiled to the resident duo, "Jackson, Dr. Harrington, let me introduce you to my best student from Mount Sinai, Dr. Marcus Sloan." He then turned to Mark, "Mark, this is Dr. Jackson Avery, my very best pupil here, and Dr. Merrianne Harrington, another great resident in this program, too bad she wasn't interested in plastics." The older doctor made a face at Meredith. Meredith couldn't help but chuckle. At the heel of his words, a boy looking around 10 years-old with chubby cheeks and blue eyes emerged holding a cloth bag open, "Trick or treat!" He called out, grinning.
Dr. Siever smiled, reaching into his scrub top pocket and dug out a couple lollipops and dropped them into the boy's bag. "There you go, Ryan."
"Oh, you were prepared." Ryan sighed, a reaction that caught all the surgeons off-guard, "I was hoping that you don't have any candy so I can ask for something else in return." He said with a pout, disappointment clear in his voice. "I was hoping I could ask you to build me some years instead." He turned around to show his side profile. It was then the four surgeons noticed his ears were severely deformed and he was wearing a hearing aid. Some of his pronunciation sounded off, too. "I have my films, and letters from kids in my class that all said I deserve some ears!" Ryan eagerly reached into his backpack to retrieve a stack of letters together with a large paper bag containing X-ray and CT scans and pressed them into Dr. Siever's hands, "Oh, and on my way here, three people have thought my head looked like a Halloween costume!" He looked at the senior doctor's eyes and pleaded, "Please feel bad for me and maybe consider doing it for free. My mom works in the cafeteria, she really couldn't afford this surgery."
Dr. Siever took out the scans and checked them against the ceiling light, "You have the inner structure, you just need a reconstruction for an external structure and canal." He concluded. He sighed resignedly, shaking his head, apologizing, "I'm sorry, Ryan, I would absolutely help if I could. But the previous head of plastics had blown all the pro bono budget in my department for this year. I could donate my time, but there is no way I could cover the fees for the O.R. and equipment, as well as the over time for a general surgeon to harvest your ribs and scrub nurses."
"Well, I knew it was a long shot. But I gave it a good try, right?" Ryan tried to remain optimistic, "Maybe next year?"
"Sure." Dr. Siever smiled.
"Hey, why don't I give it a try?" Meredith stepped up, "Ryan is ten years old. He'd be too old for a microtia repair next year. I have a good relationship with general surgeons and the scrub nurses. I could ask them for a favour. I also know that O.R. 2 was freed at eight tonight because the patient signed AMA and was discharged just now." Meredith's eyes twinkled with amusement. She silently thanked herself for the habit of always doing charts at the main nurses station even though the vacant conference rooms were way more comfortable. You just never know what information you can get here. She also just thought of the perfect plan to cheer Holly up.
Dr. Siever quirked an eyebrow. Seeing Meredith had made up her mind, he smiled, "Very well, Dr. Harrington. If you manage the rest, I'll clear my schedule and do the surgery at 8. Dr. Harrington, you can do the rib cartilage harvest with the general surgeon you are able to convince. Jackson, you'll prepare the cartilage framework and graft." Seeing the two residents nodding in confirmation, Dr. Siever walked away with Mark Sloan back into his office.
"John, you've really softened here." Mark chuckled as he sank down in the plush leather couch in his mentor's office. "I didn't expect Baltimore to do that to you." He was referring to the brutal 2-year experience when he was Siever's fellow.
"They're a bright bunch this year. There was really no need to yell. Plus, I had to win him over from cardio. A sour attitude really wouldn't do me any good, eh?" John Siever explained while making two cups of coffee with his Keurig, "I moved here to hone my reconstructive surgeries and focus on teaching. Let me tell you, I couldn't have been happier." He put one cup of coffee on the coffee table in front of Mark. "How is it going in New York?"
"New York is the same." Mark said tersely, wincing as he tasted the scorching liquid in the cup.
"Didn't Montgomery divorce Shepherd? She didn't get back with you?"
"Yeah they threw in the towel two months ago. As soon as the divorce was filed, she left for L.A. I tried to bring her back to New York but she sure as hell didn't want me." Mark ran a hand on his face in despair.
"Shepherd?" Siever questioned.
"Still pissed off. Addison told him we had a relationship for two months after he left for Seattle so he would take the brownstones near the central park in the split. He was livid that he wasted nearly a year reconciling with Addison while losing the intern he was seeing to god-knows-where. He was pretty convinced that was the love of his life. And I'm convinced he'd deck me the next time he sees me." Mark snorted sarcastically.
"Ouch, that sounds grim." Siever grimaced, putting his foot up, the swivelling chair squeaking under him. "Well, I invited you out here for a change. I've heard you complaining about routine cosmetic procedures for months. Here you get a change of scenery and try some teaching for the first time, how about that? If you want, I'll let you do the microtia repair yourself tonight? I can talk to Collier about getting you privileges."
Mark thought about it for a while and agreed.
"Good, you go meet Jackson to get some scrubs while I go talk to the chief. Oh and Mark, please don't attempt anything with Harrington." Siever looked up at Mark's retreating figure through his door frame.
"What, you're afraid your pupil is going to cause a scene if I try something with his girlfriend?" Mark smirked.
"They're not dating, though they are pretty close, they grew up together. Harrington doesn't need Jackson to fight for her. She could castrate you with a scalpel all on her own." John Siever's expression turned serious. "I mean it, Mark. She's not called Medusa for no reason."
"Duly noted, John." Mark replied without looking back. Once he was outside the door, a mischievous smile stretched wider across his face. Serpent haired mystic creatures? Hot! Plus he was totally the type that wanted to do something more the more he was told not to do it. And the two things Mark Sloan didn't back away were beautiful women and a challenge. In this case, that tiny blonde spitfire checked both boxes.
Down in the recovery wing, Meredith was glad to see Holly awake. The teenager was absentmindedly flipping through television channels while a nurse checked her IV. Meredith sat herself down in the chair beside Holly's bed and asked, "How are you feeling right now, a little better?"
"Sure." Holly said distractedly, "Are they back, my parents?"
"No, not yet." Meredith pursed her lips into a forced smile.
"You are here, and they are not." Holly let out a hollow laugh, "God I hate them, I hate them!" Her temper erupted. She pounded her bed angrily, fat tears rolling down her cheeks. It was the first time she lost the deer caught in head lights look ever since her arrival at the hospital, "They were my parents! They were supposed to keep me safe, they were supposed to look for me! But somehow I ended up locked up in a basement like a fucking rat five miles from their home for ten years! Ten years!" Holly screamed, her face and neck turned red, her veins protruded out and pulsated. Meredith clutched Holly's other hand that was connected to her IV tightly in her own. She was glad the teenager was letting her resentment and frustration surfacing, it would be even more problematic if she tried to bottle them all in, but she didn't want Holly to yank out her lines, so she anchored her without a word. Meredith's other hand grabbed the oxygen mask just in case Holly became unable to regulate her breathing. But she was glad she didn't have to put a stop to Holly's outburst in the end.
Holly's breathing eventually evened out, and her chest no longer heaved. Her anger subsided, but then, horror took over her features. "Does that mean my parents really don't want me anymore?" She chanted quietly, her grey orbs fixing at a point on the wall behind Meredith, "They really didn't come looking for me. He was right. They didn't want me. Of course, why would they? I'm so broken." She lifted her free hand to wipe her face, and finally focused on Meredith. "You know I had the opportunity to escape before? But I assumed they didn't want me so I turned around and went back to him. The only reason I left was because he said I was too old and used up, and said he would take a new girl to replace me. How pathetic, and wrong is that!" She choked on her words. She flailed her arm to gesture the silently blaring TV in the room, "When I was with him, when he wasn't beating, kicking, raping me or starving me, he'd let me go upstairs to watch movies in the living room with him. And there was this movie coming up just now, that I watched with him a while ago. And I started to miss him. How sick is that? I know I am supposed to feel glad that I escaped, but when I woke up today, I didn't feel that happiness, the elation. And I obviously can't talk to my parents about him, they'd flip out." She muttered quietly, zoning out again.
"Holly," Meredith squeezed Holly's fingers to snap her out of the trance. "Your mom and dad love you. They want you and they love you so much, which is the reason why they couldn't be here. They couldn't bear to see you in so much pain. They felt guilty for not being able to protect you against all the harm you suffered. They needed a minute to recoup and work through it so they could come back and give you the support you need. Seriously, your mom and dad held your hand for hours while you were still asleep under general anesthesia." Meredith drew comforting circles on the back of Holly's hand, "And you're entitled to feel whatever you want to feel! Everyone is messed up. Letting along the fact that thinking un-stereotypically doesn't make you weird or sick at all. And the fact that you want to talk about him. That makes you brave! You're ready to talk about him, that means you're not avoiding the topic, and that means you're processing it. It's a critical step to finally move past it. I'd even say you're doing pretty well. Because I'm here and I still live under a banter of avoidance." Meredith said with a wry smile.
"Wait, Dr. Harrington, you're not a shrink, right?" Holly asked skeptically.
"God no! I'm a surgeon. I even have my own shrink. And umm, please call me Mer or Merrianne." Meredith replied, "You've met your therapist, Dr. Galler when you first woke up already, right?"
"Yeah, I was just worried they send another one because of my insurmountable issues." Holly replied dryly.
Meredith cackled at her crude but honourable attempt at a sarcastic, self-deprecating joke, "Holly, I know you've probably tired yourself out with all the talking while on a large dose of heavy prescription pain killers, so I should probably let you sleep right now, but I have a quick proposal I want to pitch." Meredith cleared her throat nervously, "Would you like to go trick-or-treating after you wake up from your nap? You have no injuries that prevent you from sitting up, so you can use a wheelchair and I'll push you around. You could pick your own costume and makeup. Once you're dressed up, no one would know it's you, so no one would tried to approach you." Meredith didn't miss the light in Holly's eyes, she added, "And on top of sweets, we'll be trick-or-treating to build a little boy some ears!"
Holly beamed, "I can try that."
"So, who do you want to be?" Meredith grinned happily, thankful she was able to elicit a smile out of Holly for the first time after being rescued.
"Can I be Harley Quinn?" Holly said after some consideration.
"Of course! You can be anyone you want." Meredith racked her brain for who that was, maybe she would call Erin for more information? She would need to employ Erin's help anyways to get a last-minute costume and makeup ready for tonight.
Holly chuckled at Meredith's deep-in-thought expression, "You're thinking so hard. It's ok that you don't know. Harley Quinn is a villain in the Batman animation series. She was Joker's girlfriend, but she later becomes her own villain. Her costume is really cool, by the way."
"Alrighty, I'll get them ready while you go take a nap, ok?" Meredith squeeze Holly's fingers affectionately before leaving her room. She was quite satisfied with the progress she had made. As she exited, she ran straight into Mark Sloan.
"Ah, Dr. Harrington, just the woman I was looking for." He grinned charmingly, "Do you want to get a drink with me after work?"
Meredith rolled her eyes at his audacious attempt, "No I don't." She pulled out her phone and turned to walk down the hallway so she could make a phone call to Erin in private.
"Oh come on! Just one drink after work." Mark persisted.
"No, Dr. Sloan, maybe I didn't make myself clear before, so let's do this once. I don't intend to ever have romantic or sexual interactions with people I work with. So no, I will not go for a drink with you." Meredith rolled her eyes, couldn't this guy take a hint?
"Now Dr. Harrington, you are probably mistaken, I don't work in this hospital. I'll be gone in a week. I have my own state of the art private practice in New York." Mark smiled, clearly expecting to impress her.
"Seeing that you're wearing the attending scrubs at this hospital and you would be the one to perform Ryan's microtia repair surgery tonight, you work here." Meredith had just got Jackson's text about the change of lead surgeon. She groaned inwardly, his attempts were really starting to annoy her. She would really prefer not to spend any more time by this man's side. Didn't she have enough on her plate already?
"Dr. Sloan, what do I have to do to get you to leave me alone?" Meredith asked in exasperation. Seeing Mark's unrelenting amused gaze, Meredith sighed for the umpteenth time that day, "Fine, how about this? If I beat you at a plastic suture, would that bruise your ego enough to leave me alone?"
Mark's grin only widened, "You think you can out-suture me?" His eyebrows quirked up in amusement. "Now I think you do want to go out with me."
Meredith put on an obvious fake smile in annoyance, "Sure, you keep thinking that." Another surgeon too damn arrogant for their own good. But if this bet of theirs carried out, he would pay his price soon enough.
"How about this, Dr. Harrington, if you win, I'll leave you alone and I'll do whatever else you want. But if I win, you go out to dinner in a nice restaurant with me." Mark challenged.
"Deal." Meredith agreed. She stalked off while Mark called out behind her.
"You're not going to tell me which suture we'll be competing on?"
"Well seeing you're an established plastic surgeon and I'm only a first year resident, it's only fair I keep that to myself and practice on my own for a few hours to gain a competitive edge, right?" Meredith waved her hand without looking back, "I'll see you at the skills lab at 7 p.m., Dr. Sloan."
In two hours, Meredith had managed to finish her mountain of charts, secure Holly's last-minute Harley Quinn costume and a make-up artist with Erin's help. As she returned from picking them up, she received the page from the nurse looking after Holly that she was awake. She helped change Holly into the costume and let the make up artist go to work on her face. She then set off to the cafeteria to find Ryan and grab a wheelchair on her way back. On her way there, she spotted Tom Koracick leaning against the wall outside a scrub room. She pondered her options and approached him.
"Dr. Koracick." Meredith greeted him.
"What now?" He snorted impatiently, "Another dumb head trauma, spinal injury?"
"No, Dr. Koracick, I'm here to demand an apology for your behaviour to me during Holly's surgery. I did absolutely nothing wrong yet you've been berating and spiteful to me. I don't deserve to be treated that way." Meredith stated calmly.
"You're pretty ballsy to ask me to treat you nicely. That's not my job." Koracick narrowed his eyes.
"I'm not asking you to be nice to me, Dr. Koracick. I'm asking you to treat me like any other human being with basic respect. I'm not your human punching bag to let out your anger. You're supposed to be my teacher, that would be the job this teaching hospital is paying you to do, right? Then start acting like one." Meredith fought back. She turned away to trot off in the direction of the cafeteria to resume her mission of finding Ryan. Before she got too far, she heard Tom Koracick calling her back from behind.
"What would it be this time, Dr. Koracick." Meredith turned around, crossing her arms in front of her chest, bracing herself for his cruel remarks.
"I'm sorry, you're right. I have been awful to everyone today, especially you. It's just…" The older doctor sighed, burying his face in his hands. "Halloween is tough for me, Harrington. I lost my son in a freak accident ten days before Halloween five years ago, and he never got to wear the Luke Skywalker costume we made together. It's difficult for me to see all these kids and parents on Halloween. It reminds me of what I could have. And seeing all the paediatric head injuries is like reliving that day. Sorry I took it out on you."
Meredith's mouth hang agape, clearly shocked at his heart-felt revelation. She quickly snapped out of her reverie and replied, "Apology accepted, Dr. Koracick." She was about to walk away but she quickly changed her mind, "Does Amelia do something for you on this day? Or on the day he passed? You two are close, she must have a way of helping but she's not in Baltimore this year…"
"She goes for drinks with me." Tom Koracick said tongue-in-cheek, his snarky attitude returning.
"Yeah, right." Meredith replied sarcastically.
"She usually goes to the bar with me and then calls me a cab home after I drink myself to oblivion." Koracick admitted honestly, shrugging.
"I can do that for her. I mean, I can sit with you while you drink and pack you into a cab after you're done." Meredith explained. Her thoughts quickly drifted to how she gave Mark a hard time over an invite for a drink, yet offering to go to a bar with her mentor. Oh screw it, she thought, she was really doing this for Amelia.
"Huh, I could try that. Princess Harley after shift?" Koracick smirked, amused.
"Sure." Meredith agreed and then quickly stalked off before she surprised herself with another great idea she came up with that day. Of course it would be another surprise when she ran into Mark at the very bar later that night.
As Meredith pushed a grinning Holly down the hall, with Ryan bouncing and skipping excitedly behind them, she couldn't be more satisfied with her genius plan.
Holly was dressed up unmistakably as Harley Quinn, albeit the bottom part of the costume was foregone, and parts of the costume were cut open to accommodate Holly's casts and splints on her limbs, but the character's signature blue and red jacket hid everything from the leg up perfectly. In addition, the talented makeup artist was able to style the blonde wig over the bandage and cover the bruises and scars on Holly's face with makeup seamlessly. When Meredith first saw Holly with makeup on, she nearly didn't recognize the teenager. With that being said, with the perfect disguise, the pair managed to sneak outside the hospital into the back garden for some fresh air Holly desperately craved while the hospital entrance still swarmed with media. Holly's mood visibly lifted as they slipped passed a few pacing reporters and camera crew. After Holly had enough nature, Meredith pushed her back to join forces with Ryan for the actual trick-or-treat for ears. Meredith was responsible for knocking open the doors and making the introduction to surgeons and nurses. If they didn't say yes right away, she signalled Holly and Ryan to come in and do the pleading and persuasion with their big, watery puppy eyes. Needless to say, everyone caved under this type of gaze.
After Meredith returned Holly back to her room for some needed rest after the successful trick-or-treat, she admitted Ryan officially and finished ironing out the rest of the details for the surgery. After wrapping up, she made it to the skills lab for her bet with Mark just in time. Opening the door, she found Mark sitting behind a bench while Jackson and Dr. Siever stood at the front of the room.
Mark grinned upon her entrance, "I brought us a judge, and some cheerleading."
Meredith couldn't control rolling her eyes this time. "Alright, we'll be doing running Holster sutures, whoever can throw the most stitches that holds in ten minutes wins."
Jackson smirked, he knew Meredith would find a smart way to win. Running Holster sutures were somewhat an outdated technique for skin grafts on burn patients. The two of them first learned about it in Ellis' infamous tape where she pulled off a guy's face for a full-thickness allograft. It just so happened to be the same type of suture that was used to sew together the posterior and anterior walls of the stomach in front of the esophagus in a Nissen fundoplication surgery. Meredith really got to learn and practice it when she prepared for her solo floppy Nissen with Morgan Meyers two weeks ago. She perfected it so well that when she sent Ellis Grey her surgical tape, even her non-lucid mother praised her technique.
Mark was surprised Meredith even knew about such an obsolete suture. Then he thought maybe she scoured the textbook to find something that she thought he wouldn't know so she could win with a couple hours of practice ahead of time. He didn't mind, he had always enjoyed a good competition. He agreed and with a "go" from Dr. Siever, the two started their contest.
Ten minutes later, Dr. Siever raised his hand to signal the end of time, and the two contestants both swiftly tied off their sutures on the practice model. Dr. Siever inspected both of their results. With both of his eyebrows shot up his forehead, he announced that Meredith won by 3 stitches.
"What?!" Mark shot up from his seat in shock. He crouched over to examine Meredith's sutures. She used 3-0 silk sutures while he used 5-0 Prolene. Hers weren't as neat and immaculate as his, but when he tugged at at the stitches, he was surprised to find hers stronger and his own a little flimsy. All in all, his sutures were more perfect, but hers were quicker and more practical. "Wow, you ARE good." Mark admitted his defeat with a smile, he was never a sour loser. "I'll leave you alone for now. You'd probably make a fine plastic surgeon if you practice to make it tidier."
Meredith let a full-fledged grin taking over her features just as Jackson ran over to give her a high-five. "I'd make a better general surgeon with what I have." She arched her eyebrows at Mark proudly while her green eyes sparkled with excitement. "Now let's go get Ryan into pre-op and build him some ears!"
"Wait, what else do you want to do according to our bet?" Mark asked expectantly.
"Hmm, you just owe me a favour for now. I will think about what I want you to do. After all, you are a world renowned plastic surgeon, right? Gotta let me take full advantage of that!" Meredith scrunched her nose at him playfully, then ran off with Jackson in tow, her giggles ringing in the hallway.
Meredith turned to face Jackson as the three of them were scrubbing in, "You know, my first trick-or-treating went, umm, surprisingly well, considering I got Ryan a pair of ears."
Jackson nodded his head approvingly, "Definitely better than my first one."
Mark asked from her other side, obviously surprised, "Your first time? Didn't the two of you grow up together? How come you didn't get to go and he did?"
Meredith explained, her smile unfaltering, "My mom never made it home in time to take me, never got it together to make me a costume, most importantly, she said it was extremely rude to knock on people's doors and beg for food so she forbade me from going with Jackson."
"Huh," Mark huffed, he stopped scrubbing and eyed her up and down, apparently impressed, "The apple fell pretty far from the tree, huh?" He raised his arm as he finished scrubbing and headed into the O.R.
On her other side, Jackson saw her smile stretching wider across her lips. He nudged her with his knee, "You're good?" He was a little worried about Meredith talking about her mother to a stranger.
"I think I'm choosing peds over general." Meredith looked at him with her eyes gleaming as if she had finally found her true calling, "I helped Ryan and Holly today. I helped them get a less screwed-up childhood, and I felt, a little healed. Not all the way, obviously," She pursed her lips shyly, "But my parents shadow lifted a little bit when I saw those kids smile because of me. I can't write over the past, but I get to be the one that resurrect happy and shiny childhoods. I get to be the one that I wished to have in my life when I was a little girl. I get to be the healer. I think I'd like that."
A.N.
Happy reading! Please review, follow and like.
First, thank you soooo much for your reviews for my last chapter! I was so incredibly ecstatic to read them! Next, please let me say I am so sorry for the wait this week. You know I don't typically have nearly a week between my chapters. I never meant for it to happen. I had some personal issues and a cocktail of writer's block and straight procrastination, all prevented me from progressing at the speed I want.
For many of you that asked about if Meredith would find out Helen was at Grace from her friends in the last chapter, let me answer your question here because I can't answer it in a chapter and I don't ever leave you hanging! Mer wouldn't find out because I planned to have Lexie being Helen's intern, seeing all Bailey's residents hate Derek and Lexie is sharp on neuro. Lexie didn't know about Helen at the time the Crawfords arrived, because she had only just started communication with Mer. Plus, I wanted to give Helen the privacy to have her surgery away from anyone from Hopkins. I don't plan for her tumour to ever come back so I wouldn't be able to mention it later. Plus, something I probably forgot to mention, Mer's Seattle gang will not ever bring up Derek to Mer unless it's about him finding out where she is. They are helping Mer distance herself from him.
So many of you have guessed it right! It is your favourite McSteamy! I let Mark talk a little about the divorce like some of you have asked for. I feel like just that would suffice to propel my later story for now. If I decide to have Addison coming to Seattle in my fic, I would probably add more about it then. As for why Mer didn't make the connection between this Mark and Derek's Mark, my reason is that Mark is a common name. And Meredith had been purposefully trying to distance herself from all that was Derek, so her mind was definitely leading her away from the hypothesis that Derek's Mark was here. In addition, I didn't mention this in the fic, but Mark had asked Amy if she would be in the area before his arrival in Baltimore. Both of these were set up so Meredith got to know Mark as Mark, and not Derek's best friend, something I wish the show captured.
But none of you managed to get the October reference about Halloween. I love that episode on the show, and I wanted Mer to go trick-or-treating in my fic as well. I also want her to iron out her second specialty in this event. I twerked Holly's story a little bit, partially due to Mer's status as someone who relates closer to Holly, instead of her parents in my timeline. I hope I did both parts justice.
I was also a little worried about my depiction of Tom. Mer and Tom have a different dynamic in this fic than on the show, because he is her mentor and not her equal. In addition, I felt like his attitude to Mer on this day was justified because it would have to be closer to his son's death now that Mer's only a first year resident. This is an intro into their more personal connections. Does any of this make sense? Please please please let me know. Tell me how I did. I felt really unsure when I was writing :((
Love,
Allis