Ch.2

A week had passed since that night. Meredith sighed as she sat down on a cot in the middle of the hallway.

"Move over, my feet are killing me."

She looked up to see Christina standing there. She scooted over, making room for her friend.

"Oh, what a day," Christina moaned. "God, there's still 8 hours to go…"

She looked at Meredith who was struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Are you ok? You don't look too good."

Meredith sat up.

"Yea, I'm ok…just a little tired."

Christina frowned. She knew her friend had been down ever since Addison had come in to the picture. But something was telling her that there was more to it than just boy problems.

"Mer, you better tell me what's going on."

Meredith coughed.

"I told you, I'm fine."

"And I told you I don't believe you, so why not do us both a favor and tell me the truth?"

Meredith bit her lip. She had wanted to tell someone what was going on.

But how would they react?

"Christina-"

"You always look exhausted, you look like you've lost weight, which for you, is ridiculous because you're already a size zero…I'm not stupid Meredith."

"I know," she sighed. "I know you're not."

She reached over and grabbed Christina's hand.

"If I tell you what's really going on, you have to promise me that you won't tell anyone."

"Ok…"

"And you have to promise me that you aren't going to treat me any differently than you do now…"

"Ok, Mer, you're starting to freak me out."

Meredith took in a deep breath.

"You're right. Something is wrong with me. I haven't been feeling well lately, so last week I went and had some tests done…"

"What did they find?" Christina knew it was bad, whatever it was. She could feel it in her soul.

"AML."

Christina blinked.

"AML…as in…"

"Yep," Meredith finished her sentence. "Acute Myeloid Leukemia."

"Cancer."

"Cancer."

Neither one said a word. Finally, Christina spoke.

"There has to be some mistake. You're Meredith Grey, you're only 28…you can't have cancer."

She gave a sad smile.

"But I do." She said. "And I've accepted it."

Christina was still in shock.

"Wait…so what does this mean? Chemo? Radiation?"

"I haven't started treatment yet."

"MEREDITH." Christina yelled.

"Shh, keep you're voice down."

"You mean you've known about this for a week and you haven't started treatment yet? Are you insane?"

"I'm going to start in a few days…I have a meeting with Bailey and Webber this afternoon to tell them about it."

Christina leaned against the wall, her mind going blank.

"I don't believe any of this." Her eyes stung with fresh tears.

"Christina…don't start to cry, please,"

"I'm fine," she said wiping her eyes. "And I'm not crying, I just have something in my eye."

Meredith smiled.

"I'm going to be ok. I promise I will."

"Of course you are. How else am I going to survive this internship without you?"

Meredith shot her a look.

"Ok, right…this isn't about me." She laughed.

Meredith laughed with her. She sighed as she put her head on her shoulder.

"You're my person Christina. I wouldn't want anyone else to know."

Christina smiled.

"Do you need me to go with you to talk to Bailey?"

Meredith stood up.

"NO, I'll be ok. You're tired, get some rest."

Meredith started to walk away.

She turned around, giving Christina one last smile.

Christina watched her walk away.

When she was out of sight she collapsed on the bed, trying to stop the sobs from escaping.

Meredith made it to the elevator. She got in, relieved that she was alone.

"Hold the elevator!"

Right on cue, Derek ran up, hopping in before the door closed, leaving them alone inside.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey."

He looked at his feet.

"How are you? I was hoping we could talk about last night…"

"Derek, I'm sorry I just showed up at your place. I shouldn't have done that."

"No, I'm glad you did," he said. His eyes squinted at her, trying to read her face. She seemed so…sad.

She closed her eyes.

Derek looked around.

"Why are you going to floor 5?"

"Oh, I have a meeting with Bailey."

The door opened. They both walked out.

"Really?" he asked. "Me too."

She stopped in her tracks.

"What are you talking about?"

"She paged me this morning…Said we were having some kind of pow wow…" He looked at her.

"Is that why you're here?"

She felt like she couldn't breathe.

She didn't want Derek to know what was going on.

She started to feel dizzy.

"Meredith, are you ok?

That was the last thing she heard before she collapsed, the world around her going black.