Chapter 11: Meredith Grey is Back

The five friends sat lazily around a circular table at Joe's. They were celebrating a rare night off. Each was equally exhausted from the long hours they worked, but they made it a habit to meet for a drink when the opportunity presented itself.

Cristina watched disgusted as Alex fed a peanut to Izzie. She turned towards George and Callie to utter a comment of revolt only to find them cuddling, whispering into each others ears. "Remind me again, why am I friends with you guys? I think I'm going to mcvomit." Cristina stood to retrieve some cash from her pocket. She threw a few bills on the counter and turned to leave when five pagers instantaneously went off.

Everyone stood, collecting their various belongings. "Burke's office?" Alex looked up from his pager confused.

"That's what mine says too." Izzie held out the small black pager for them to see.

"Mine too. Why would we be paged to Burke's office on our night off?" George asked puzzled.

"I don't know but it can't be good. Let's go." It was Cristina who took the lead and rushed out the door into the rainy night, her four friends following close behind.

Alex, Izzie, George, and Callie shared the long couch that sat against a white wall of the new Chief's office. Cristina sat carefully on one of the couch's hard arms as Mark and Addie stood to the side of the room, separated from the group. Everyone fidgeted nervously, waiting for Burke, who sat behind his large wooden desk, to finish his quiet conversation on his cell phone.

Not being able to handle the suspense any longer, Cristina spoke up, "Preston, what's going on?" She asked in a way that tried to sound impatient but came out scared and confused.

Burke held out his hand to silence Cristina. He hung up his phone and addressed the group of collected friends. "We're just waiting for one more person."

Right on cue, a soft knock came from the other side of the closed office door. Burke rose from his tall leather chair and let the mystery guest in.

All five of the sitting doctors jumped to their feet when they recognized the visitor.

"Chief! Oh, um I mean, Doctor Webber!" George stumbled over his words. They all took turns shaking their old, respected mentor's hand then returned to their respective spots on the couch. Addie and Mark hadn't moved from their corner and Cristina couldn't help but think they already knew why Burke had gathered them.

After an uneasy moment of silence, Preston cleared his throat and looked at the group of doctors, all whom he now considered practically family. They had been together for nearly six years and he knew the news he was about to share would hit each and every one of them hard. "I think it's best that what you're about to hear comes from Richard. He was the chief when we all started working together and it just seems right that he leads us now."

The group exchanged curious glances then turned their complete attention over to the old man who stood in front of them. Dr. Webber had retired not too long into their internship, but the short time they had the opportunity to learn under him, they had found him to be an amazing teacher.

Richard nodded at Burke and then took a deep breath. He was taking the news hard enough himself and didn't know how he was going to be strong for this group that sat in front of him, anxiously waiting for what he had to say.

He quickly stole a glance at his longtime friends who stood together in the corner. They responded with encouraging smiles, and Richard began, "At 8:42 this evening, we had a female brought in by ambulance for severe head trauma. Upon further investigation, it was discovered that this woman is suffering from an extreme case of retrograde amnesia sustained from a head trauma 5 years ago."

He paused for a moment and was met with looks of puzzlement and confusion. He thought it best not to delay what he needed to say any longer.

"The woman is Meredith Grey."

It was as though the wind had been knocked out of the room. No one spoke. Tears threatened to spill from more than one of the office occupants, but not one sound had been uttered. Questions flew through their minds. Feelings of regret and guilt spread over their bodies.

The chief waited for the initial shock to fade then went on. "Each one of you sitting in this room right now is a fine doctor." Richard's voice cracked and he had to swallow a couple of times before he could continue. "As a matter of fact, you are the best doctors I have ever worked with in my entire career. You are brilliant. And, you are caring. And that's what it's going to take for us to get through this. Together, we will get through this. Now I know I don't need to remind any of you of the standard protocol for amnesia patients, but I'm going to anyways. Remember, she is in pain, and she is scared and frightened. We all know her, but in her head, we're complete strangers. The best thing for an amnesiac patient is to let them recall their memories, on their own, at their own pace. That means under no circumstance shall you discuss with Meredith any of her personal affairs. For now, until we know more from her scans, you are her doctors, not her friends. Is that clear?" Richard had rapidly recovered from his momentary lapse of emotion and had quickly turned into the Chief they all remembered.

"Yes sir." Came the collected reply of the group. They sat quiet for a moment more. They were still dazed and trying to process everything that was going on.

It was Izzie who finally spoke. "Uh , Chief? What about Dr. Shepherd? Has anyone told him yet?"

The chief sighed, and gestured towards Burke for him to answer the question.

"Derek is still not answering his phone or pager. If we do not hear from him by tomorrow morning, we'll send out an officer."

"The police?!" George was now the one with questions. "I mean why involve the police?"

"Standard procedure," he paused, "For when a family member is admitted to the hospital." The exhaustion now clearly showed on Burke's face.

Now Callie jumped in, confused. "I know there's a history between Meredith and Derek, but technically Chief, he's not her family."

Again, Preston Burke spoke, this time taking off his glasses and rubbing the spot they had just vacated on the bridge of his nose. "Not Meredith. Approximately 20 minutes after Meredith arrived at Seattle Grace, her 4-year-old daughter was admitted for malnutrition."

He waited a moment for understanding to register. When it did it was if something burst in the room. Addison turned her face into her husband's chest for the second time that night. Cristina sat stone still, fighting the wetness behind her eyes that made her want to shake. George and Callie held on to one another silently letting their tears fall. It was Izzie that sobbed the loudest, speaking out loud what was running through everyone's head. "All those years. We didn't do anything. We never tried to find her! All those years." She turned to Alex and sobbed, letting him hold her. Alex just rubbed his girlfriend's back, trying his hardest to be the tough man he led everyone on to believe he was. But inside he thought he heard his heart break in two.