Meredith heard Derek come down the stairs, she had been up most of the night consoling Lexie. She was so stressed about the first day of the merger. She was more worried for the fact of Mark had become distant. Meredith told her over and over again Mark just needed a little space, he would come around eventually. She didn't actually know if he would, she didn't know Mark but she had hope.
"Good morning," he smiled widely as he walked around her, grabbing the pot of coffee to pour himself some.
"Morning," she tried to smile back as she cracked the eggs into the bowl. She wasn't sure what she was doing, she had never been much of a cook.
"Did Lexie sleep over?" He questioned.
"She did, she is so worried about Mark. Talk to him," she said in a hushed tone.
"I'll try. I'm going to spend most of my day avoiding Satan," he chuckled lightly.
"Who?"
"Addison," he sighed. He watched her struggle trying to make what she thought would be breakfast.
"Why do you call her that?" She asked, whisking together the eggs adding a touch of salt.
"Because, she does nothing but cause hell in my life. We are civil, we try to make things easy for Grace but it's mostly me giving in to what she wants. I could manage living here with her from afar, but now I'm going to have to see her everyday," he sighed as he shook his head.
"Should I be worried?" Meredith questioned.
"No. If anyone should be worried, it should be me. Here let me do that," he laughed a bit as he watched her struggle.
"I got it!" She said as she poured the eggs into the hot skillet which immediately began to stick to the pan.
"Mer, we all know you can't cook," he took over for her and quickly tried to fix the instant mistake she made.
"I'm trying, ok?" She couldn't help but let out a small chuckle.
"You're cooking?" Cristina said groggily as she went into the kitchen.
"I figured you'd be at the hospital by now?" Meredith asked.
"Night shift tonight and the rest of the week," she shrugged.
"You've been working nights a lot lately," Meredith said as she stepped back and watched as Derek finished breakfast for them. She hated to admit it but he was right, she had absolutely no idea what she was doing.
"Best shift. No attendings breathing down your neck, basically makes me in charge and I get the good late night stuff," she smirked. She grabbed a banana before turning and going back toward her bedroom. Lexie came in after her, yawning as she sat down on one of the stools.
"Thanks for letting me crash here," she offered a smile as she laid her head down on the counter.
"No problem, I was going to make you breakfast since we have a big day," she started as she looked over at Derek.
"You were going to make me breakfast?" Lexie asked, knowing that Meredith was hesitant to even get close to her. Meredith had grown to have a connection with Lexie, she wasn't sure exactly what it was.
"It's not a big deal," Meredith said as she went to sit beside her.
"Why is Derek cooking?" Lexie asked.
"Because Meredith would burn the house down," he chuckled as he placed the omelette on to a plate before handing it to Lexie.
"Thank you for being so nice," Lexie smiled.
"You are kind of my sister," Meredith said. She had never thought she would ever say that. She knew about her sister's, neither of which she was close with. She didn't even get a chance to really meet her youngest sister but she was glad to finally be getting a family. Even if it was one that she had to make herself.
"I hate to go so soon, but I don't want to be late. Every since Bailey found out she was pregnant, she's been extra snippy," Meredith said, walking over to Derek and reaching up for a kiss. It was quick, something she had grown to love doing every morning she could.
"I'll be there soon," he said as he put the pan into the sink. She grabbed her stuff and hurried out the door. She walked into the hospital, it had immediately felt different. Construction workers were replacing the signs of Seattle Grace to Seattle Grace Mercy West which was a mouthful in itself. As she walked through the halls, immediately spotting out the Mercy West interns which were dressed in orange scrubs.
The intern locker room had turned into a complete mess, they were still immediately all grabbing the empty lockers. She looked around at the new competition, finding George who looked completely lost in the situation.
"George," she whispered as she went over to him.
"It's like we've been infested," he whispered to her as he put the stethoscope around his neck.
"Why orange?" She asked as she changed into her usual light blue scrubs, trying to squeeze between the crowded room. He shrugged, closing his locker before walking out. She leaned down to tie her shoes when she was shoved over.
"Hey watch it!" She shouted loudly, getting up ready to yelled at whoever had bumped into her.
"Meredith Grey?" The guy said with a surprised look on his face.
"Jackson Avery!" She gasped, taken aback by the man standing in front of her. He hadn't changed much at all, other than getting a little more muscle which suited him well. He immediately leaned down and grabbed her into a hug.
"I haven't seen you in ages!" He said happily as he let her go from the hug.
"Since mom's funeral. How have you been?" Meredith said with a smile. It was weird to see a familiar face, one she had grown up with her whole childhood. She had assumed he was working at Boston Gen where his mother was the chief.
"Good, staying as far away from Boston as I can," he chuckled.
"How is Catherine?" Meredith asked as the two started walking out the door.
"She's Catherine. You know how she is, overbearing and pushy," he shrugged.
"The complete opposite of Ellis Grey," Meredith chuckled lightly at him.
"You are correct," he laughed.
"Listen, if we got time we should grab lunch. Cafeteria isn't that bad," Meredith laughed.
"You got it Grey," he smiled before turning and leaving. She was immediately approached by Derek who looked like he had just arrived. He grabbed her arm, pulling her to the room by the nurses station.
"Who was that?" He asked as he looked out the windows before pulling the blinds down.
"An old friend. What's the deal?" Meredith said, getting a little upset as he just whisked her into the room.
"Just asking. Listen, whatever you do, don't make sudden movements. I think she saw me," he said as he looked out the window between the small gap.
"Who?"
"Addison," he said in a hushed tone.
"Derek, you are being ridiculous. You can't avoid her all day. Plus, she's like a gynecologist or whatever. You two will barely brush paths," Meredith said with an eye roll.
"Working with her just drives me crazy. She always treats me like she's superior to me, and tries to act like I don't know what I'm doing," he said with a sigh. She knew it was really bothering him that Addison was here now, on top of his sister now also working along side him.
"It's going to be ok," she offered a smile, trying to not internally freak herself out. She was the one suppose to be nervous about Addison. Her beauty in itself made her self conscious, plus she gave him something that Meredith didn't. A baby.
"Don't let her get into your head," he asked nicely.
"I won't," she offered a smile before turning and leaving to find Bailey. She saw her from the way, waddling along with her pregnant belly.
"Grey, you're needed for a consult. She was originally a Mercy West patient. Dr. Montgomery asked for you specifically," Bailey said. Meredith froze immediately, she wanted to contest but Bailey was in no mood to hear it.
"Ok," Meredith nodded.
"If you have a problem, take it up with her. She's your attending for the day," Bailey said before waddling off. Meredith took a deep breath, heading to the OB wing of the hospital. She spotted Addison, in all her beauty. Her red hair curled just slightly in a way that was magical to her perfect face and her prefect body. She gulped before approaching her.
"Dr. Montgomery?" Meredith asked in a low voice.
"I have a patient. She's 22 years old and 32 weeks pregnant. She was my patient over at Mercy West. Baby was diagnosed with a congenital diaphragmatic hernia. Will you do a work up and report back to me," Addison said with a charming smile as she handed over the chart.
"Yes Dr. Montgomery," Meredith nodded as she took the chart from her. She read over it as she went to the woman's room. She was by herself, patiently waiting for her it seemed.
"Molly Thompson?" Meredith asked as she looked up at the girl. She looked familiar, probably just someone she had seen around.
"That's me, can we wait for my mom? She should be back any minute now," the girl said nervously.
"Absolutely. I'm Dr. Grey, Do you mind if I just get your blood pressure and the babies measurements?" Meredith asked.
"Sure, where is Dr. Montgomery?" She asked.
"Just finishing up some stuff. She'll be in soon," Meredith said with a smile as she started getting vitals on her. She looked up as the door opened.
"Sorry it took me so long, I ran into-" the woman said, quickly stopping in her tracks and she just looked at Meredith.
"Uh-" Meredith started as then Lexie walked in right behind her.
"Meredith?" Susan asked with a questionable tone.
"It's me," Meredith said with a low tone. It had been years since she seen Susan.
"Do you know each other?" Molly asked.
"Uh-" Meredith couldn't seem to form words, she was in utter shock as it come into realization who Molly was.
"This is Meredith. Our sister," Lexie spoke up. Everyone went silent, the room filled with awkward silence as Meredith wrote down the vital signs.
"I'm going to let Dr. Montgomery go over this and she will be in soon," Meredith left with a quickness. Her heart beat rapidly as she quickly found her way to a quiet place. She need a second to breath, she struggled to catch her breath as she felt so overwhelmed with the situation. If they were here, Thatcher would soon follow. She couldn't face him, it had been years since she spoke with him. They didn't have bad blood, it was just something she didn't want to explain to him. The last time she saw him, she just ran off with a quickness and soon found herself in Europe.
She had a bit of anger and resentment, especially with the fact that he didn't even show up to Ellis's funeral. She had called the number in the phone book that correlated with his address, it even had his answering machine. She left a message, a part of her just wanted him to show up for once in her life. He had said he wanted to be in her life at one point, but that was over now. She was now full of bitterness for him, as it seemed her mother was right. He didn't want her, he tried to make it seem like he did that last time she had saw him but he never showed up for anything after that. Not to her high school graduation, not for her college graduation and not for Ellis's funeral. She didn't even bother to send him an invitation to her med school graduation.
She found the anger boiling inside her as she exited the quiet room, finding Addison at the nurses station talking to one of the nurses. She quickly approached her, handing over Molly's case.
"Here is the updated chart, and I know you requested me but I would like off this case please," she asked kindly, hoping some part of Addison would be nice to her.
"And why would I do that? I've heard nothing but good things about you. Apparently you are the best intern in the program," she said, sliding her glasses to the top of her head and looking sternly at Meredith.
"I'm related to the patient. It's a conflict of interest," Meredith quickly added, taking a large gulp of air and letting the air escape her lungs with a long exhale.
"That's only a rule in the courtroom. Good surgeons can separate family and medical care. If she was that close to you, you would have said something when you saw her name and knew she was here. You can either show your talents or I can tell Bailey you need more practice in the clinic," Addison said with an eyebrow raise. Meredith pursed her lips, breathing deeply as she chose her next words carefully.
"Ok. What's next?" Meredith asked, choosing not to fight her.
"You tell me Dr. Grey," she said.
"A pre-op MRI to get better a visual on the hernia," Meredith said, now feeling the sense she had to prove herself. She wanted Addison to like her, she really did but this wasn't the best start to it.
"Sounds good. I need those results ASAP," Addison offered a smile before turning and leaving. Meredith breathed deeply, going toward her room again just as Lexie began to leave the room.
"Mer," Lexie started.
"Lexie please. This is really hard. Ok? I knew about you and I knew about Molly. And this just hit me all at once," Meredith tried to stop her.
"You were in our photo albums," she said, stopping Meredith in her tracks.
"What?" Meredith turned to her.
"Growing up, when mom use to reminisce our childhood. You were in some of the pictures, and on the wall dad had a picture of you holding me as a baby with him sitting beside us in his office. We knew you existed, and dad would always say it was just too complicated to talk about. I always wanted to know you, and when Molly was just a little kid, she would talk about her big sister in the pictures," Lexie tried to say.
"It's not you guys. It's really not, you don't understand," Meredith said before going into Molly's room. Susan was sitting in the chair next to her.
"Dr. Montgomery wants you to have an MRI just to get a better picture. I'm going to take you down there if that's ok," Meredith asked, trying to be as professional as she could.
"Yeah, that's fine," Molly said with a nod. Susan sat silently, looking at Meredith. She looked like she wanted to say something but she couldn't form the words. Meredith went to grab a wheelchair and helped Molly get in to the wheelchair. The two went to radiology in silence, Meredith didn't feel like talking and she was glad Molly didn't say much.
"Have you had an MRI before?" Meredith asked as she helped her get in the machine.
"Yeah, when I was in high school I had appendicitis and had to have one," she said with a small smile. She looked terrified, Meredith knew she would be too.
"Alright, I'm going to stand in there and the tech is going to give you some directions. If you need anything, there is a microphone," Meredith pointed out before going out of the room and into where they were processed. She waited until they were finished before she took her back to her room. Molly didn't say much, Meredith didn't really expect her to. She barely knew her, Molly had probably heard more about Meredith than she knew that Molly had existed.
"Ok, I'm going to let Dr. Montgomery go over the scan and I will come back to do pre-op soon," Meredith offered an awkward smile before turning and leaving.
She found herself in the cafeteria, scanning the room. She grabbed a coffee and a muffin before walking out through the halls. Her mind was wandering, she felt so lost in a place she knew as a second home. It felt invaded with them being here, didn't even make it feel like a safe place. Everywhere she turned, she saw a blend of orange and blue scrubs. She found her way to an empty OR gallery. She sat down to eat her lunch, or what she would consider her lunch. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Derek come in.
"Hey," he offered a smile. She sat silently, still processing everything.
"Hey," she finally spoke up.
"What's wrong?" He quickly noticed as he sat down beside her.
"I met my sister," Meredith said.
"Lexie's here all the time? She was at your house this morning?" He said almost confused.
"No. Lexie's little sister, Molly," she said shaking her head.
"I didn't know you had another sister," he said, reaching his hand over and placing it on her thigh. He gave her a gentle squeeze, letting her know he was there to listen.
"I barely know of her, I knew she existed. When you took me to see Thatcher when I was 18, I saw her. It wasn't much, just in passing. She was like 10 or 11, looked completely different than she does now. She's pregnant and somehow your ex-wife has me on her case," Meredith sighed, letting out an ironic chuckle.
"Addison requested you, didn't she?" He scoffed.
"She did. I don't mind, well I didn't until I found out who the patient was," Meredith said.
"Is she giving you a hard time? I can talk to her, tell her to lighten up," he offered.
"No, no it's fine. I don't need special treatment. What I need is to not see Thatcher Grey today," Meredith sighed again, she really didn't want to see him. It made her sick to her stomach thinking of the idea of seeing him.
"Are you ok?" He asked, looking deeply into her eyes. She knew that he knew she wasn't ok. She was the farthest thing from ok. One look from him and he knew every little emotion she was feeling.
"No," she said, taking deep breaths to prevent her tears from falling.
"Is there anything I can do?"
"No," she frowned, he looked very sympathetic at her. She knew he was trying, and that was all he could do. He lifted his hand to her face, brushing her hair away. He offered her a smile, it was just the two of them as he took a noticeable breath.
"It's going to be ok," she said with hope.
"It is," he nodded. She wanted to lean in to kiss him, but just as she did her pager started going off.
"Just like Addison to interrupt," he chuckled lightly, shaking his head.
"I'll see you later," she got up and went to find Addison. She turned the corner toward the OB wing just as she ran directly into someone. She froze in a panic, her body shouted run but it was like she was stuck.
"Meredith," he said with a nervous laugh, she just looked at him. She couldn't come up with any words, it was like her whole body just went into shock. She saw him and her whole world stopped.
"I have to go-" she said before bolting in the direction she was headed. She didn't want to talk, she wanted this day to be over. She finally found Addison, she had to stop for a second to catch her breath. She felt herself begin to panic, it was becoming too much.
"Grey, I need you to prep Molly for her surgery and bring her to OR 4," Addison said before dismissing her. Meredith slowly walked into the room, Thatcher wasn't in there which made her breathe a little easier.
"Ok Molly, I'm going to prep you for surgery and take you up," Meredith said as she went over and started unhooking the contraction and heart rate monitor from her stomach. She then started an IV for the anesthesia before letting her say goodbye to Susan.
"It's going to be just fine," Susan encouraged her, smiling at the young girl on the gurney. Meredith felt awkward at the exchange, like she was intruding on a personal moment.
"Tell Dad to call Eric please," Molly said, tears filling her eyes.
"I will," Susan nodded.
"It's time to take you up now," Meredith said as she took the bed and began wheeling it toward the elevator. There wasn't any exchange between the two, it was evident that neither wanted to speak. As she pressed the elevator button, the doors closed and it was like the tension was so high Meredith wanted to speak.
"I knew about you. I dream about meeting you when I was little, over time it was like I forgot you even existed," Molly finally spoke. Meredith was taken aback, she never realized they had spoke about her.
"I didn't know about you until I was 18. My mother kept me from Thatcher. She always said he never wanted me," Meredith spoke honestly, she felt like she had to know the truth.
"Why didn't you come around? Once you knew?" Molly asked up at her.
"It was weird, I felt like an imposter in your home. I visited once, only stayed for a little. That was a time in my life that I was not proud of. Lexie knows a little," Meredith said.
"I don't talk to her, she and Eric don't get along. She thought I was too young to get married. Said I had a lot to live for but I love him, so we don't speak," Molly said almost in tears, "at one point in my life I had two sisters and now it feels like I don't have any."
"I'm sorry, I never meant to hurt you. I didn't even know you knew who I was," Meredith breathed deeply. She held back tears of her own.
"Over the years, dad stopped talking about you and it was like you were a ghost in the past," Molly said as she held back tears. Meredith felt awful, she didn't ever give Thatcher the chance. She still felt angry, that he didn't try harder. It hurt badly knowing that she was wanted by someone but not even her own mother.
"I can't say I'm sorry enough," Meredith said as she wheeled her toward the OR room.
"It's fine, all I care about now is my baby being healthy," Molly sighed as she gripped the railed tightly as they moved closer.
"I will do everything in my power to be the best doctor I can be for you," Meredith offered her a smile as she entered the room.
"Thank you," Molly said as she stood from the gurney to be put on the operating table. Meredith left to go scrub in, just as Addison walked in.
"You ready?" Addison asked as she turned the sink on.
"As ready as I can be," Meredith breathed as he finished up. She didn't know much about fetal surgery except for how extremely risky it was for both the mother and baby. She knew textbook but to be apart of it was completely different. She waited for Addison as Molly was being put under. Meredith took a deep breath as Addison approached the table. She began the procedure, Meredith watched from afar as she began.
"Grey, get over here and hold the bovie, watch for bleeders and please don't nick anything," Addison as she as was cutting through the uterus. Meredith stepped up, her heart was pounding as she watched closely. It was surreal, they were about to safe this babies life and it wasn't going to be born for another 8 weeks. Addison talked her though the procedure, asking questions as she did everything. Meredith assisted in every way she could, she felt herself holding her own breath. She could believe it, as Addison finished up and closed it was so surreal.
Meredith stepped away, going to the scrub room to scrub out. She couldn't take her mind of the procedure. Fetal medicine terrified Meredith, there were so many risk but it did intrigue a small part of her. She could never see herself going into the field full of complications that arise everyday. She kept her mouth shut as Addison enter the room, putting her hands under the other side of the sink.
"Look Meredith," Addison sighed as she was scrubbing her hands, "I didn't ask for you just because your Derek's new girlfriend. I ask for you on my service because he talked about how amazing you are. He said you are one of the best and he is right. You did great in there," Addison said honestly to Meredith. She was taken aback by the words she had said.
"Thank you, it really means a lot to me," Meredith breathed as she finished scrubbing out.
"Also, I did I want to just get a feel for the kind of person you are. You put aside your differences for your patient and that is what makes a good surgeon. Plus, I see the way he looks at you. It's the way I wished he looked at me in the years we were married. One day you are going to be apart of my daughter's life and I needed to know you aren't a bad person," Addison said, looking at her. Meredith felt almost warm, knowing how much Addison cared about her child.
"Your daughter is amazing, I only met her for a few hours in the hospital and I could tell how kind she was. You two really did great with her," Meredith nodded to her. She really did want to get to know Grace eventually, she is half of Derek which meant she would love that girl unconditionally.
"Thank you. I'm going to update the family, you've done enough today," Addison said with a smile before turning and walking away. Meredith felt relieved, she would no longer have to see them again until she was ready or if she was ever ready. She hated knowing that she had the chance to have a real family but at the end of the day, she wouldn't regret her life in the slightest.