Chapter 16: Slowly Opening Up
Meredith sat numbly in the calm dark of her kitchen, nursing a warm cup of tea in hopes the relaxing beverage would ease her mind. Derek arrived home late and tired, and Meredith lost the nerve to bring up the whole "stalker" issue. After endlessly tossing and turning on the cool red sheets, long after sleep claimed Derek, she abandoned her bed, not wanting to wake her exhausted fiancé, and found her way downstairs.
She didn't know how long she sat there in the dark, staring blankly ahead. She figured it was close to two o'clock in the morning and sighed knowing her alarm would be going off in three hours.
A sound to the front of the house interrupted the hushed calm of her isolated reflection, causing Meredith to immediately freeze in fear.
She didn't move, and held her breath, listening for confirmation that she did indeed hear something, and it wasn't her over active imagination trying to scare her. A distinct rustling sound outside in the front bushes triggered Meredith up on her feet as she carefully walked into the front room. The drapes were parted just enough to give her a clear glimpse into the dark night.
She saw nothing but the illuminating streetlight, casting a soft glow in the front yard, the lonely blades of grass and fallen leaves bending in the gentle breeze. She waited a minute, her socked feet motionless on the wooden floor.
After another painful minute of silence, Meredith relaxed her stance and let out a mocked chuckle as she scorned herself for her unnecessary anxiety. She took a long sip from the warm mug she carried in her hand, and turned to settle back in her comfortable silence, when she undoubtedly saw a dark figure of a man cross her window.
Meredith called out in fear and the ceramic mug fell from her hands landing with a loud crack that echoed through the formerly silent house. Her heart raced frantically in her chest, and she found herself frozen in place. Her eyes darted wildly around the room as she struggled to form a coherent thought in her hysterical mind.
The heavy pounding of the door, mere feet away, reverberated the walls around her and she even felt the hard floor beneath her quiver through her socks. The forceful sound continued, causing Meredith to jump into action as newly found adrenaline pumped through her veins. She hurried into the kitchen and ran around in a couple confused circles before her eyes landed on a large butcher knife, sitting intimidatingly on the dish wrack.
Her head was now pounding to the same rhythm as the mad man on the other side of the door as her shaky hands grabbed the black handle of the sharp blade and she turned back to the foyer. The pounding became faster and more demanding as Meredith slowly crossed the kitchen. She took a breath and inched closer to the door, all rationality long gone and fear now driving her motives.
Dread and terror built with each step Meredith slowly and cautiously took. She moved unhurried and gradual, fear screaming through her insides. Meredith's eyes were large with fright, now that only a few feet of vacant air separated her from the large wooden door.
Meredith cautiously went to take her next step, as a loud commotion behind her caused her to turn and yell out in surprise.
Alex flew past her, closely followed by Izzie, and each threw her an odd look. Meredith turned again and noticed a half dressed Derek, hair sticking up in every direction as he sleepily rubbed his eyes, hurrying down the stairs.
He too shot Meredith a puzzled expression as his eyes rested on the knife in her hands and the cracked mug and pool of tea still on the floor. Meredith opened her mouth to stop Alex from opening the door but was too late.
Automatically a shrill scream crossed Meredith's lips as the door flung open, causing everyone, including their intruder to look back at her shocked.
Meredith was quickly forgotten as they turned back to George, who stood in wrinkled pajamas, his face pale and panicked.
"Callie…. baby…. time…. labor…..need car….!" George couldn't form a logic sentence and the group looked on confused, until realization dawned.
"Oh my gosh! Callie's having the baby!" Izzie was the first to shriek, but was quickly followed by Derek's rationalization.
"George? Why aren't you taking her to the hospital?"
"I can't... keys…lost."
"You need to borrow our car because you can't find your keys?" Now Alex jumped in translating George's panic talk.
"Ya… contractions… close….screaming….need…. doctor…."
"George! Calm down, you're a doctor." Izzie grabbed George by his shoulders and tried to shake him out of it.
"Right. Doctor. Got it." George snatched the keys Alex offered and hurried to the green Nissan sitting in the driveway. He unlocked the door, climbed and before anyone could speak, peeled out of the driveway and towards the hospital.
Everyone gasped and Izzie couldn't help but giggle. He'd forgotten his pregnant wife.
They all exchanged a glance and Izzie and Alex sighed together. "You go tell Callie we'll take her while I go upstairs and grab us a change of clothes."
Izzie nodded to Alex's order and hurried out of the house across the dark yard to the house next door George and Callie rented. Alex rushed upstairs and returned seconds later with a heaping duffle bag and gave a quick wave as he followed Izzie's path across the yard and disappeared into the night.
Derek chuckled and closed the door behind Alex before turning his attention to Meredith. She stood, butcher knife down at her side, an awkward expression on her face. When she noticed Derek's incisive stare on her, she slowly moved the knife behind her back and tried to move unnoticed to the kitchen.
"Well, that was funny. Do you want some tea to get back to sleep?" Meredith spoke as nonchalant as possible, pretending what happened only minutes earlier hadn't been a big deal.
"Mer."
"Yes Dear?" She answered innocently, forcing a cool smile while she gathered a few mugs and set the kettle back on the stove.
"Is there something you would like to talk about?"
"Like what?" She tried the innocent act one more time.
"Like the fact that you felt the need to stand in the foyer with a machete and screamed bloody murder when Alex opened the door? Not to mention there's a shattered mug in the hallway."
"Oh that." Meredith gave a defeated grin.
"Yeah that." Derek took a seat in one of the hard wooden chairs at the table and motioned for Meredith to come join him. He held his arms out and she obliged, sitting softly on his lap.
He ran a hand comforting up and down her back and watched as she nervously fidgeted with her hands on her lap, keeping her eyes down.
Derek placed his free hand over both of her small ones, stilling her nervous habit. "No more secrets Mer, remember?"
She nodded than took a breath and began. "I've kind of been getting these weird notes and phone calls."
"Weird? Define weird?" He furrowed his brows.
"I don't know." She sighed. "They started out innocent enough; I thought someone was just messing around. I found a note in my locker at the hospital saying someone was watching me. Then they kind of escalated from there. The last one said that my time was up, and someone was coming for me."
Derek nodded seriously. "It could be a prank. What about the calls?"
"Mostly just hang ups. A few times I could hear someone laughing quietly, then they started reciting the poems on the notes… so I knew it was the same person."
Derek nodded again, trying to put it together in his brain, when Meredith continued. "That's not all… I was followed home from the airport, that time I dropped your mother off…"
Derek's surprised eyes swung up to meet hers full of concern.
"….and…. this is the worst part… the other day I was listening to Carwyn sing while I was in the other room…. and she started singing one of the poems that was left on the last note."
Derek clenched his jaw and his eyes darkened. He was visibly angry. "Why the hell didn't you tell me before?!
Meredith began to cry and jumped up from his lap. She paced the kitchen floor while she tried to get her chin to stop quivering. "I… I… I'm sorry…. It's just that….I wasn't sure… and you were…and I was… so much was going on… I didn't want to bother you…" Her voice trailed off, not knowing what else to say. She had never seen him so angry in her entire life.
Derek sighed and covered his face in his hands that were propped up by his elbows on the table. He rubbed it before looking back at Meredith.
"It's okay Mer… It's my fault… I've been so distant….how could I not have even known what was going on with my own fiancé?" He shook his head frustrated. "We'll figure this out, it'll be okay."
Meredith stopped her pacing and nodded, her lip trembling slightly. Derek rose from his chair and crossed the kitchen to take her in his arms. He held her close and pressed his face to the top of her head, breathing in her flowery scent. He kissed her forehead quickly before repeating, "I'm sorry Mer."
She nodded and wrapped her arms around his waist, letting his strong arms ease some of the fear that had seemed to take up permanent residence inside of her.
They stood quietly a moment longer, both lost in their own thoughts before Derek interrupted the silence. "Most likely it's just a prankster. Someone at the hospital who's trying to scare you. But the fact they got to Carwyn makes me uncomfortable. First thing tomorrow I'm going to hype up security around the daycare and make sure no one who isn't supposed to be there get's in. We also need to do a better job watching her when she's running around the hospital with us. I've been a fool and just let her talk to whoever comes and goes in my office, I won't make that mistake twice."
Derek shook his head, trying to further formulate his plan. Meredith remained silent, nodding her head against his chest, unable to shake the feeling of uneasiness that still settled in the pit of her stomach.
Derek noticed her quietness and pulled back slightly to look in her face. "It's okay Mer. We probably don't have anything to worry about. I'm sure it's some psycho janitor who's bored and gets cheap thrills from terrorizing pretty girls. Have you noticed any one specific acting weird towards you? Someone who works at the hospital? A fellow intern maybe?"
He stared quizzically into her worried eyes, trying to read what was going through her mind. Meredith remained quiet a moment longer before fully meeting his gaze.
"Um…no not really." She lied. She wasn't sure why, but a part of her hesitated. She wanted to gather proof. To be one hundred percent sure about her allegation before any accusations were made. Her career hung in the balance, but most importantly, Derek's lifelong dream of being chief was at stake.
