Dr. Margret Pierce- 'Maggie' took a deep breath as she stared at the hospital sign. Shepherd Grace Memorial Hospital. The story was legend among west-coast circles, the gunman who'd shot so many people including the Chief of Surgery at the time, rising star neuro surgeon Dr. Derek Shepherd. She remembered reading an article about a clinical trial he'd done to shrink tumours. It was tragic, the whole thing.
Today was her first official day of work and she hoped to make a good impression with her colleagues.But she'd not just arrived here to for her new job as head of Cardio, but to find out about a certain doctor whose surname Grey was the same as her biological mother's. She was here to find answers.
She marched through the doors, hopped into the elevator, and jabbed the button for the fifth floor.
"Wait, hold the elevator!" Someone called, Maggie swiftly pressed the 'door open' button on the panel. A flustered blue-eyed brunette scrambled in. "Thanks! God, I didn't want to be late!"
Maggie turned to the woman, "I totally understand. You work here?"
"Yeah. Neuro. You?"
"Cardio," Maggie held out her hand. "I'm Dr. Pierce, Maggie," She said warmly.
The woman shook her hand. "Oooh, the new cardio chief."
"Yes."
"I'm Amelia. Dr. Shepherd," she introduced herself.
"Shepherd?" Maggie asked. "As in the hospital name Shepherd?"
"That Shepherd... was my brother." Amelia said slowly.
Maggie was glad she was dark skinned, she could feel her face flush. "I'm sorry..."
"S'okay. I get that a lot." She shrugged sadly. "It's been a few years. I'm good." The elevator opened with a ding and the two walked out together. "I'll show you to the conference room," Amelia said, leading the way.
Maggie regretted bringing up the Shepherd thing. Amelia was tight lipped now. Still, she was excited to meet her colleagues at the attendings meeting. They entered the room just in time, and Amelia swiped a pastry from the side table as she scoped out a seat. Maggie chose her seat on the end of the long table, next to a short African American woman.
"Have a seat everyone," Chief Hunt said. "Uh, we want to welcome our new Chief of Cardio, Dr. Maggie Pierce." He gestured to her and all the attendings turned toward her in a chorus of hello's. Maggie greeted them with a wave of her hand, "Hi," She said.
Chief Hunt looked around the group. "We seem to be missing a few," he said.
"Kepner, Avery and Karev are in trauma," the woman beside Maggie said. "House fire."
"And Meredith?" Hunt asked.
She scowled. "Don't you know what day it is, fool? Did you forget already?"
Owen's face turned red. "Right, of course," He sighed deeply. "Moving along... the Chief of Neuro position is open, now that Dr. Weller has retired. We are welcoming all internal applicants-"
Suddenly the door burst open, and a woman strode in out of breath, her hair pulled in a tight ponytail and carrying a tablet in her hands.
"Lexie?" Hunt said, "I thought you were on an aneurysm clipping?"
Lexie slumped. "He didn't make it," she said, "and I wanted to come meet the new Chief of Cardio."
Hunt cleared his throat. "Very well, Dr. Grey, Lexie- this is Dr. Maggie Pierce."
"Dr. Grey?" Maggie bolted up in her seat.
"That's me," Lexie said, reaching over to shake her hand."
Excitement filled Maggie's heart. Could this potentially be her half sister? "It's- It's nice to meet you..."
The meeting continued quickly after that and when they were dismissed, Maggie found herself in an elevator with Dr. Grey.
Lexie was on the phone however. "Alex," She was saying, "can you please make sure you pick up Mer from the bar tonight? I don't want her to drink herself silly. Yes... I'm still staying on the couch. Mark is- whatever... I'm not talking about it now, especially with you." She hung up, "Uhh... sisters," She moaned, "And ex-boyfriend or boyfriend-whatevers." She stopped when she saw Maggie in the corner. "Oh... sorry, I uh-"
"It's fine," Maggie smiled. She really had no interest in that conversation. It sounded too complicated. "Dr Grey? Any relation to Ellis?" She asked casually.
"Ellis? Oh- I'm not- I mean, she was married to my Dad but they divorced before I was born, so-"
"Oh." Disappointment deflated her once high hopes of finding some kinship here.
"Meredith is Ellis' daughter," Lexie continued, "She'll be here tomorrow."
"Oh," Maggies heart fluttered with hope again. "Cool."
xxx
Meredith was at home. She would prefer to be at work, but somehow, everyone got the idea that on the anniversary of Derek's death, his post-it widow should be at home grieving or something. Last year, her attempt to show up at work had resulted in a shouting match in front of a patient because Bailey didn't see her fit to operate. Meredith shook her head at the memory. She wanted to work, do something... get her mind off the impending sadness. She sighed as she watched the coffee drip-drip-drip into the pot. Cristina had been gone now for less then twenty-four hours and she already missed her Person.
Apparently she had a new Person. Alex. Apparently they shook on it. What was she? A used car you make a deal over? But it was okay. She had a really bad nightmare last night and he'd shaken her awake, calming her through her disorientation. If she had to have a new Person, she was glad it was Alex.
She poured the freshly brewed coffee in her mug and waited. The house was empty, everyone had run off to work by now. Meredith sat, waiting. Any minute now...
At exactly 8 a.m. the house phone rang. Meredith didn't budge from her spot at the kitchen table. She waited for the machine to pick it up.
"Hello Meredith, it's Carolyn. I know you're listening. This is a hard day for both of us... We all miss him. I think about Derek everyday. And you. What you lost. It's- well, unimaginable. But life does get better, and there is light at the end of the tunnel, Meredith. There is hope. And love. I hope you don't give up on it yet. You're too young dear. Well, goodbye dear, feel free to call anytime. You still are family to me."
The call ended with an abrupt click.
Meredith took a long sip of her coffee and moved out of the chair. She had to do something today. Maybe she should clean. The place was a mess. Cleaning might just be enough to get her mind off of things.
She clambered through the house, gathering cleaning supplies from all the closets and cupboards to prepare for a thorough disinfecting of her so-called 'frat house'. When she had a pile the size of a mini Mount Kilimanjaro on her kitchen table, she stopped to figure out where to start first.
Her thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell.
Who rang the doorbell at her house? She crept cautiously to the front door and opened it slightly. Of course it'd be him.
"Lexie's not here Mark."
His expression morphed into that sad puppy dog face.
"Seriously, Mark, she doesn't want to talk to you. You screwed up."
"I know, I-"
"You slept with Amelia. Just when Lexie finally moves in with you and finally feels ready to give you what you want you have to go and screw another Shepherd sister-" She couldn't stop herself, it was the perfect distraction from her I-miss-mcdreamy thoughts, and Mark was just standing there, a perfect target for her verbal assaults.
"-Grey," Mark started.
"And aren't you supposed to be working? How is private practice anyway? Find more boobs to inflate?" It wasn't that she hated him or his practice, actually half of Mark's work was pro-bono. But it was frustrating when true love was staring people in the face and they didn't even see it. She had wasted too much time in that phase and then she lost it. So-
"Mer-"
"I mean, really- you two are just exhausting-"
"Meredith!" Mark shouted at her.
"What?" She snapped back.
"I'm not here about Lexie right now okay? I'm here for you."
"Oh." Suddenly she was speechless. "You're here for me?" She parrotted.
"It's the fifth anniversary of Derek's death. I miss him too. You gonna let me in?"
Meredith stepped back, opening the door to let him in. "Fine, but you're in charge of cleaning the bathrooms."
A/N Okay... well what do you think? Let's see how this all plays out...
Also, shameless plug- Olivia Benson fans may enjoy my crossover fic Growing Pains. Check it out!