Derek pulled his car up to his small trailer and looked out at the land he owned. It had been a long day at the hospital. He had lost one patient today; a young girl, only 10 years old that was severely injured in a car accident. They called him to operate, but once they opened her, the damage was too bad. He tried to do what he could. But her heart failed on the table. Those are the cases that stayed with him. That haunted him.
He warily opened the door of the car and stepped out. He shut the door and then remembered his briefcase was still in the back seat. He looked at it through the window, but decided not to get it. Everything in there could wait until tomorrow. He just wanted to sit on his make-shift porch and drown in a cold beer.
It was late summer and the weather was perfect for grilling outside and enjoying the sites and sounds of the outdoors. There was practically no humidity and after last night he was really starting to like Seattle. It was a far cry from New York City. The place he was born and raised. He used to think he could never imagine living anywhere else. He felt like he needed the hustle and bustle of all the people, cars, trucks, excitement. He thought without it his life would not be complete. But now standing here looking out at this inherited land, he felt at peace.
He unlocked his little silver trailer and went inside. He had a taste for steak tonight, so he went to his little fridge and took out the pre-seasoned steak and a cold beer both he had bought yesterday. He went outside and turned on the grill and put the steak on. He sat down on his plastic lounge chair and let his mind wander.
He could hardly believe he had been in Seattle for seven months. That day he had caught Addison in bed with his best friend, Mark, was still so vivid in his mind, it made him wince to think about it. He had packed only clothes and basic necessities and left the house in ten minutes with Addison still standing in the same place, half naked with tears running down her face. He didn't care about her tears then and he still didn't care about them.
In the days following, he had stayed with his sister's family in Connecticut. He had taken a leave of absence from work, which was approved after he had told the Chief of Surgery what had happened. Since he worked in the same hospital as his wife and former best friend, he told the Chief he couldn't assure that he wouldn't attack Mark. So the Chief had granted him one week off. He had placed a couple of phone calls to some colleagues he knew in Phoenix about a job, but after about a ten minutes he didn't think he wanted to put himself in the middle of the drama that hospital was experiencing.
It was three days before he was supposed to be back at work in New York, and he received a call from his lawyer about the land that was left to him by his deceased Uncle Larry a few years back, outside of Seattle. It was two acres of undeveloped land. The lawyer said that he was calling to relay an offer to him from a buyer. In that moment, Derek decided that the land was not for sale and he asked his attorney to take the land off the market. He could tell that his lawyer was a bit shocked to find out that he didn't want to sell the land, but he did as he was instructed. That was it! That was his escape from this mess. He would move to Seattle, and then figure out from there what to do.
In two days Derek was out in Seattle, checking out the land that was left to him by his uncle. The only thing on the land was a small trailer his uncle used to use when he would need to get away from his wife, and Derek decided that would be okay to live in until he decided what to build on this land. He remembered that he had a colleague that was Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Hospital, and decided to give him a call. Dr. Webber was thrilled to hear from Derek and quickly offered him a job as chief surgical resident at Seattle Grace. Everything had fallen into place.
Derek got up to check on his steak cooking on the grill and he flipped it over. His mouth was starting to water because it smelled delicious. He wasn't a big red-meat eater, but every so often he truly loved a good steak.
Things were busy with his new job, but he was lonely. He actually considered moving back to New York because after seven months of being out in Seattle the only people he met were at his job, and most of them were married. He was working himself into exhaustion, just to fight off the feelings of despair. Then last night, a beautiful angel came and saved him from drowning in self pity and loneliness. Meredith… just thinking about her made him want her all over again. There was something special about her, he didn't know what it was, but he wanted to find out.
As he got up to take his steak off the grill, he considered going back to her house. Even if he didn't know her last name he knew where she lived. He could just show up there and they could pick up where they left off. However, she did mention that she thought last night was a one-night stand and she basically told him she would never see him again. Maybe he'd have to wait outside her home and follow her somewhere and just casually bump into her. Or was that too much of a stalker like behavior?
Derek wasn't sure, but he decided that he was going to eat his steak, drink his beer, and get some much needed rest tonight. He'd consider his options to find his angel tomorrow.