"Altman!"
The cardio surgeon stops walking and turns abruptly to attention. The movement is smooth and on instinct- Teddy hadn't even realized she was doing it until she was done doing it. She recognized the voice of one of her superiors and reacted accordingly.
The other blonde walking next to Teddy had heard the voice as well, but Arizona Robbins is thoroughly confused as to what, exactly, her newest friend is doing.
Meredith smirks, catching up to Teddy from down the hall. Though still not able to run, Meredith walks easily now. She laughs at Teddy, "At ease."
"I hate you." She relaxes, shaking her head and recovering from the movement. Spending years in the military instills habits and fast reactions into people that are not easily broken or stopped.
"Oh, I know," Meredith smiles, then turns to take in Arizona, who is still confused, though smiling now. "Hi, I'm Colonel Dr. Meredith Grey."
"Death, this is Dr. Arizona Robbins, Head of Fetal surgery." Teddy steps in. "Arizona, this is Meredith. We served together for all seven of our years in the military."
"It's so nice to meet you," Arizona smiles, dimples popping as she shakes Meredith's hand.
"You, too." Meredith pauses, frowning for a moment. "The name Arizona- is it after the state? Or the ship?"
The fetal surgeon is shocked for a moment, then very impressed. "The ship."
"USS Arizona. Is there a story there?"
Happily, Arizona launches into the story of the origin of her name, feeling a bond with Meredith already. She and Teddy had clicked instantly, as Teddy had also made the connection between Arizona's name and the ship.
The three women take over the nurse's station they're standing by, easily falling into conversation with each other until a pager goes off.
"Damn, it's me. Meredith, it really was great meeting you. See you around?" Arizona smiles, beginning to walk away.
"Yeah, definitely," Meredith replies, then turns to Teddy, who has an eyebrow raised.
"Definitely?"
"Well...I have a meeting with Richard in ten minutes. That's why I'm here. I'm going to see if he has any openings for me."
"Oh my god. Are you kidding? Oh my god!" Teddy grins, instantly enveloping Meredith in a short, tight hug. "Does Derek know? Does anyone?"
"I haven't even told Derek yet. Megan says I should be cleared to go back to work in about four weeks, but I need a job to do that. And since he officially became my boyfriend yesterday, I figured what better hospital to work at than his and the one where all my closest friends work?"
"Holy shit, Death! Boyfriend?"
Meredith nods, unable to suppress a smile. It was only three days ago that they had labeled their relationship, and neither of them have been happier.
"Damn. Look at you, all grown up. In a big-girl relationship. For real this time?"
"For real." Meredith gives Teddy a moment to take in this information, then changes the subject. "Okay, I'm meeting in Conference Room B. Any idea where that is?"
Teddy laughs, and the two start walking towards the conference room together. When they arrive, Teddy wishes her luck in Latin, "Bona Fortuna."
Meredith smiles, giving a mock salute, then enters the room. Teddy decides to sit at the nearby nurse's station and get some charting done while she waits for Meredith.
One could call it spying through the glass windows.
xx
Derek walks through the halls of Seattle Grace Hospital with a smile on his face. A smile that he hasn't been able to get rid of since he started officially dating Colonel Dr. Meredith Grey.
"You look like an elementary school teacher with a drug problem right now. What's wrong with you?"
Derek rolls his eyes, refusing to even acknowledge Mark Sloan, who appears out of nowhere to walk next to him. "It's called happiness. I understand why you wouldn't recognize it."
"Seriously?"
"Don't ask a stupid question if you don't want a sarcastic response," Derek shrugs. "It's simple, really."
"You're a douche," Mark replies, though it's obvious he's trying not to laugh.
"At least I have a girlfriend."
At this, the plastic surgeon stops abruptly and Derek turns to face him, smirking. "You and GI Jane? You made it official?"
Derek shrugs and nods, but can't prevent a dopey, happy grin from taking over his face.
"Oh ew, you're all lovesick." Mark claps him on the back, "I'm happy for you. Come find me when Derek is back, though. I don't need to experience all the hearts flying around your head."
Derek opens his mouth to reply but is cut off.
"Actually, I take that back. I'm going home and going to sleep. Don't come and find me until tomorrow."
"Okay, Mark," he shakes his head, "I'll see you."
The two split ways and Derek quickly changes into scrubs before heading to his office to try and get some charting done. Instead of focusing on his work, however, his mind keeps drifting back to a certain blonde colonel- officially known as his girlfriend.
"Shepherd," A voice calls, and Derek looks up as someone steps into the room.
"Karev?"
Alex moves over to Derek's desk, dropping a thick file on it. Derek frowns and pulls out the scans encased in it, holding them up to the light to study them.
"I need you to consult on this kid I have. She's having grand mal seizures and I can't figure out why."
Derek's frown deepens. "The CT is clear?"
"Yes, the CT is clear. So is the MRI. Why the hell is she having seizures?"
"Grand mal seizures with no visible cause," Derek murmurs to himself.
"She's beginning to stop responding to our meds. We need to work fast."
Derek decides he wants to meet her and see the lab results for himself, so Alex takes him through the halls towards the Peds wing. However, he stops dead in his tracks when he passes Conference Room B, and sees his girlfriend sitting at the table across from the Chief of Surgery.
Alex sees it, too. "What the hell?"
"Move along, boys. That meeting just started and based on the way Death looks, it won't be over for a while." Both men turn to face Teddy, who's sitting at the nurse's station staring at them.
"What is she doing?"
"Having a meeting in the Chief, obviously."
"I know that, but what's the meeting about?" Derek demands.
Teddy simply shrugs. "Not my place to say. Why don't you ask her when she's done?"
"I guess I'll have to." Derek sighs, taking one last look at Meredith, who seems to be talking so passionately to Richard she doesn't notice them.
The two men continue on their way to the Peds wing, and Derek introduces himself to the patient, Katie Bryce, and her parents.
Then, the work begins. Heading to the nearest viewing room, Derek and Alex bury themselves in research, trying to figure out what is wrong with this girl.
xx
When over two hours pass and they've gotten virtually nowhere, Alex stands up and rubs his face with his hands. "You think it's time to call in reinforcements?"
"Reinforcements?" Derek frowns, not looking up from the article he's reading.
"Did someone say reinforcements? I could use a tough case to try and crack right about now. I'm dying to practice medicine."
The sound of her voice in the doorway rips Derek away from his reading and he lays eyes on Meredith, slightly sweaty from PT, which was where she headed right after her meeting- which was very successful.
"Mer? What were you doing meeting with Richard Webber?" Derek asks.
"I'll tell you later. I've been standing here for a few minutes now, and it sounds like you two are struggling with this fifteen-year-old beauty pageant queen." Meredith enters the room, grabbing the main chart and reading over it.
"We could use your help," Alex mutters.
Meredith turns her gaze to the scans on the wall. "How old are these?"
"Uh, two days?" Alex guesses, returning to his own reading.
"Alex. These are six days old." Meredith pulls the scans off the lightbox and tosses them onto the table. "The first thing you need to do is get a repeat CT, see if anything's progressed."
Both men curse, moving to page an intern to run the tests.
"Hey, don't bother. I'll take her to CT. It's good to get to know your patient." Meredith offers.
"Do you even know where CT is?" Derek asks.
"I know where radiology is. Shouldn't be too hard to find CT after that."
During the span of the next forty-five minutes, Meredith gets lost with Katie Bryce twice but manages to learn a lot of information from the annoying teen.
After the recent CTs come back, Katie is returned to her room and Meredith rejoins the other doctors in the viewing room. "This is clear too."
Both men curse, and Meredith settles in front of a computer, researching possible conditions. The room is silent until both Derek and Alex's pagers go off, a 911 to Katie's room. They run off, and Meredith walks quickly behind, still exhausted and hurting from PT earlier.
Katie's seizing as they run in there, and Derek pushes the correct drugs, but she codes. Meredith makes it to the room just in time to see the monitor flatline. Alex charges the paddles, and it takes four different shocks to get a rhythm back.
Derek takes a step back and sighs, everyone in the room also calming down. Crisis averted- for now. "I need to talk to her parents. They're going to be pissed. Time is running out, we have to figure out what's wrong with her."
Derek leaves the room to do that, and Meredith heads back to the viewing room, a faint idea brewing in her mind. Alex stays back with Katie for another few minutes to make sure nothing else goes wrong.
Out of nowhere, Cristina appears in the viewing room as well, tugging Meredith's attention away from her reading.
"Wow. You have no idea how good it is to see you here, working again."
Meredith smiles. "Derek and Alex are struggling with a case. I kind of invited myself on...I've been craving surgery for weeks now. I'm desperate, I need to cut. I need to operate."
Cristina snorts, coming over to sit next to her. "I know how that feels."
The blonde sighs. "Katie Bryce is only fifteen. I mean, what if we never figure out what's wrong with her?"
Meredith is used to working on soldiers. Adult men and women who were wounded out, fighting for a cause. In this case, a young girl who has barely begun to live her life is much different.
"This is gonna sound bad, but it would have been a really cool surgery."
"She's just never gonna get the chance to turn into a person. Some total of her existence will be almost winning Miss-Teen-whatever."
Cristina can't respond, so she just studies her friend solemnly.
"You know what her parent talent is?" Meredith peeks up, beginning to smirk.
"They have talent?"
"Rhythmic Gymnastics."
They both burst out laughing, leaning back in their chairs.
"I mean, what is rhythmic gymnastics? I can't even say it, I don't know what it is." Meredith says through her laughter.
Their laughter dies down, and Cristina answers, "I think it's something with like a ball, and a-" She stops speaking when Meredith's expression drops. That look. Cristina recognizes that look. "What? Meredith, what is it?"
"We need to find-"
Meredith is cut off this time as the man she was looking for walks in, looking stressed and running his hands through his hair.
"Derek!" Meredith stands, bright with her idea. "Katie competes in beauty pageants."
He frowns. "I know that, but we have to save her life anyway."
"She has no headaches, no neck pain, her CT is clean. There's no medical proof of an aneurysm- but what if she has an aneurysm anyway?"
"There are no indicators."
"She twisted her ankle a few weeks ago when she was practicing for the pageant. She fell. It was no big deal, everything was fine, it was a fall so minor her doctor didn't even think to mention it when you took her history. But she did fall."
"You know what the chance is that a minor fall could burst an aneurysm? One in a million. Literally." He says dismissively and disbelievingly.
Meredith narrows her eyes at him, her stance becoming more rigid. "Derek. Listen to me. If I'm right on this, we just cracked the case and saved her life. If I'm wrong, we can look for something else."
They stare each other down for a long minute, and Cristina remains silent, amused by the show they're putting on in front of her.
"Fine. Let's go see if Katie is one in a million."
"Well, I'll be damned."
Meredith leans back in her chair, folding her arms over her chest and smiling smugly. "I told you so."
"Mer...this is..." Derek trails off, unable to tear his eyes off the scan results in front of him. Meredith was right. Katie Bryce has a subarachnoid hemorrhage. "This is a hell of a catch. She could have gone her whole life without it being a problem and yet..."
Before she even has time to filter her thoughts, Meredith speaks. "I want in on the surgery."
Derek snaps his head back to look at her. They're the only two in the viewing room at the moment. "What?"
"I made this diagnosis. Let me in the OR with you. I'm sick and tired of standing in the gallery, watching you have all the fun. Let me get in on this surgery."
"You're not cleared. This could take hours, can you even stand that long? What if something happens?"
"You can clear me. Technically, you're my doctor."
"I'm not clearing you to operate yet," Derek says firmly. Both of them have observed her recent problems with pain and movement at home, and they both know she's not ready to be cleared.
"I don't have to stay the whole time, I don't even have to assist. Just let me stand in the OR next to you to watch the best part. Please. How would you feel if you had your entire life ripped away from you in the blink of an eye, nearly died, and suddenly couldn't do the job you love most for months?"
Derek doesn't have a rebuttal for that. He can't even begin to imagine what she's going through. He debates internally for a long few minutes. "Fine. You can stand next to me and watch as I place the clip. That's it. You're no assisting."
Meredith breaks out into the biggest smile he's seen yet. She'll take what she can get when it comes to OR time. "Deal."
Thirty minutes later, Katie is being prepped on the OR table as Derek scrubs in, Alex by his side. The gallery is full of surgeons, including Cristina and Teddy.
The scrub room for swings open and Meredith walks in, clad in navy blue scrubs and a disposable scrub cap, one that the interns use.
Meredith is genuinely surprised by the comfort of the scrubs she's wearing. They fit well, are made from nice material, and smell clean and fresh. The ones she wore all the time in the military were overused, didn't fit properly, and made from the most uncomfortable material ever.
She is disappointed she doesn't have her purple scrub cap, though. She has no idea what happened to it after the explosion since she was wearing it when that happened. She shudders at the memory, pushing it out of her mind.
Derek's breath catches in his throat when he sees her lean against the sink. By god, she looks hot in scrubs.
She can't seem to wipe a smile off her face. "My adrenaline is pumping right now. It's been too damn long since I've been anywhere near surgery."
Derek leans over to kiss her, just as he finishes scrubbing. He pulls up his mask afterward and shakes the water off his hands, ignoring Alex's look of disgust from behind them.
"I tell you when you can come in. This is going to take five hours, at least. Sit and rest first, okay?" Derek looks her in the eye, demanding a promise.
"Fine. I'll be in the gallery."
The surgery begins not long after and Meredith takes a seat between Teddy and Cristina.
"It's really great to see you in scrubs again. Real hospital scrubs." Cristina remarks.
Meredith laughs, though her attention doesn't leave the table below her. Every so often, Derek would glance up at her, and four hours in, he finally calls her down.
Excitement and giddiness take over her body and she walks as fast as she can down through the scrub room to pull on a surgical mask. She ignores the pain coming from her back and midsection after sitting for so long then moving so quickly as she walks in, taking her place next to Derek's head.
She watches in awe as he completes the most crucial part of the surgery, and isn't surprised to feel like longing builds up within her to be able to operate again herself. This scene is utterly different than anything she's been working with for the past seven years.
Everything is calm. There's one patient on the table. A gallery full of people watching and nearly unlimited staff and supplies at their disposal. It's weird. Meredith isn't used to so many people being around her for one operation on one patient.
She catches Derek's eye after he places the clip, and the unbridled joy in his expression matches her own.
This. This is everything she's wanted since she got back. She's standing in an OR next to her boyfriend, surrounded by her closest friends.
She survived the bombing. She's still standing, still ready to take on new challenges and save many, many more lives.