Obligatory disclaimer: sadly, Grey's Anatomy is property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC, not me.
'It's a lovely day in Seattle,' thought Derek Shepherd as he walked into Seattle Grace for the first time in a week. 'Sunny, temperatures in the high 70s, no rain until tomorrow… yes, a lovely day it is.'
His happy mood lasted all the way up to the surgical floor and, thankfully for Mark and Meredith, all the way into the afternoon. In the elevator many people had quietly greeted him and as he got off he strained to hear the conversation going on between the two nurses in front of him.
"Did you see them last night? They were laughing and eating together."
"Yeah I did, and did you see her this morning? If that wasn't an 'I just got laid' smile then I don't know what it was."
"Didn't take her long to move on to the next person though did it? I mean he was only gone for a week, I wouldn't be surprised if she had made the phone call as soon as his flight left!"
Derek's curiosity had definitely been peaked but unfortunately the nurses weren't using any names and they had walked away before he had a chance to ask. Approaching the surgical board he looked and saw that at the moment he only had one surgery and he was going to be observed by Karev.
Looking over the board, he searched for the name of the person he was looking for. 'Damn,' he thought, 'she has back to back surgeries with Burke and she'll be gone before my surgery finishes.'
Seeing that it was 10:30, he headed over to the nurses station to page Karev. This time he listened to the gossip, searching specifically for names. At the same time, Drs. Burke, Sloan, Grey and O'Malley were leaving the ORs together after their patients had coded (Burke and Grey) or the surgery had finished (Sloan and O'Malley). As luck would have it, the moment Derek heard the names of the people they were talking about, he saw Meredith and Mark walking together and looking quite happy. He did the only rational thing his brain could come up with- he saw red and flew at Mark, sending Meredith flying in the process.
"Are you fucking kidding me Sloan? You just had to take her too, didn't you?" he growled, still punching him.
Mark landed a punch square on the jaw. "Meredith and I are just friends, what the fuck man!"
Derek's only response was another punch that was returned in kind by Mark. The boys and a screaming Meredith had drawn quite a crowd and Richard Webber and Miranda Bailey could be seen flying down the hallway towards them.
"Derek, Mark, stop it! Stop! We didn't do anything Derek, leave him alone!" Meredith screamed, trying to separate them and getting hit again from being in the way.
Derek struggled to stand and rounded on her instead. "And you! How am I supposed to believe a filthy whore like you? You probably jumped in bed with him the second I left, or were you with him before?"
The crowd went silent and the only sound that could be heard was a resounding 'smack' that echoed. When Meredith stepped back, there was an angry red hand print on Derek's cheek.
Shaking like a leaf, her tone was icy when she spoke. "First of all, jackass, I broke up with you and since you couldn't deal with it, you left. Secondly, Mark and I have never done anything and all we did was have dinner before I went back to work. Thirdly- we've gone over this before, you don't get to call me a whore. When I met you I was done. Then Addison showed up and I made a string of bad choices but it wasn't completely my fault! You will stay away from me on a non-professional basis, do you understand? Come on Mark, let's get you cleaned up."
Helping Mark to his feet, she nodded to Drs. Bailey and Webber as she walked past them and led Mark to an exam room.
"I believe you owe me twenty bucks."
He laughed. "Fine, you were right. Pass me a mirror and a suture kit please? You know the drill."
Meredith rolled her eyes, grabbed the kit and tossed it to him before finding a mirror and holding it where he could see his facial laceration. "That good?"
"Perfect."
There was silence while he stitched up his face. When he finished, he turned to Meredith and motioned for her to sit on the exam table.
"Mark, I'm fine."
"Kiddo, your fine and my fine have very different meanings. Dirty Mistresses take care of each other and that is one hell of a nasty cut. So sit your ass down so I can stitch you up nicely. Would you rather have me, the amazing plastic surgeon, do it or some moronic intern?"
She sighed in defeat and hopped onto the table, scowling at him as he smiled smugly.
"That's what I thought."
After he stitched her up, he checked to make sure she didn't have a concussion because she had hit the both the wall and the floor when Derek had flown at him. "Can you follow the light for me Meredith? Thanks, that's good."
She glared at him as he took off his gloves. "No concussion, you're all good to go back with Dr. Burke-"
He was cut off by the sound of her pager going off. She sighed and got up warily. "It's mine- 911 Chief's office. Wish me luck!"
While Mark and Meredith had been stitching each other up, Derek had been in the chief's office.
"Never, in all my years at this hospital, have I seen such disgraceful behaviour from an attending- aside from the last time you punched Dr. Sloan! In front of patients Dr. Shepherd, honestly! What do you think they think when they see one of their doctors attack a colleague, hurting a bystander in the process? Do you think they liked the little show you put on? You are lucky that Drs. Sloan and Grey are not seriously injured." Dr. Webber was pacing angrily behind his desk, glowering at Derek who was sitting in front of it. Dr. Bailey was standing by the door, arms crossed, looking at Derek with absolute disgust.
Derek shifted uncomfortably in his seat at the mention of Meredith's name, knowing full well that he had stepped way out of line. 'So much for trying to win her back today,' he thought miserably. Then what the chief had said registered in his brain.
"What do you mean, I'm lucky that Meredith wasn't seriously injured? She didn't get hit, Mark did."
Dr. Bailey snorted and Derek turned to look at her.
"I don't know what you were thinking when you saw Drs. Sloan and Grey leaving the OR wing, but when you attacked Dr. Sloan you threw Dr. Grey out of the way and she hit the wall. People heard the impact, Shepherd. On top of that, your fist connected with her face when she tried to pull the pair of you buffoons apart."
Derek paled. "Is she- is she okay? I didn't mean to hurt her." 'Just Mark,' he thought silently.
"From what I heard, she needed some stitching and she's a little bit bruised, but other than that she's fine. You did intend to hurt her Shepherd, right from when you believed she had relations with Sloan and called her a whore."
"I-" Derek spluttered but Dr. Bailey raised a hand to cut him off.
"Don't you interrupt me while I'm talking. I've been that girl's resident since day 1, and let me tell you she has given me a fair share of headaches and more than enough near-death experiences. I have also seen her at her worst, by your hands, and in the last few days at her best. You may think you love her, Dr. Shepherd, but when your wife showed up, you lost all rights to Dr. Grey. Addison, the chief and myself all asked you to leave her alone. Dr. Grey explicitly told you to let her be. If I'm not mistaken, Yang threatened to castrate you with a rusty scalpel-" here the chief and Derek winced.
"My point is, Shepherd, you've given that girl enough trouble. Leave her alone and refrain from violence in this hospital because I swear on all that is holy Shepherd, I don't care that you outrank me, I will kick your ass."
Richard cleared his throat, breaking the staring contest between the pair. "On top of what Dr. Bailey has so graciously told you for me, I would like to remind you that your personal business cannot get in the way of the well-being of the hospital and its patients. What you did today was inexcusable and you are not to apologize to Drs. Sloan and Grey for your actions. This behaviour will not be tolerated anymore Dr. Shepherd.
"On a more personal basis- Derek, I have known you since you were a resident, yet I still cannot see how you turned into the person who sits before me. Meredith is like a daughter to me and if I find out you have caused her any more grief you will regret the day you moved to Seattle. Understood?"
Derek nodded under the double glare he was receiving. "Understood, chief."
"Good. Now get out of my office."
He got up and left slowly, seeing Meredith waiting in Patricia's office on his way out. "Meredith…"
She looked up and spoke in a tone just as icy as the first. "That's Dr. Grey to you, Dr. Shepherd. Excuse me."
With that she brushed past him into the chief's office, leaving him reeling at the sight of her beautiful face once again swollen and scratched- but this time at his own doing.
A/N: First of all, in no way so I condone violence against women, but Meredith has a way of getting in the way (to be honest, this chapter just kind of happened.) All I can say about this delay is I am so sorry, but: writer's block, midterms, Shakespeare, getting over a really nasty bout of flu and ISUs. Chapter 10 is 70% complete and features Meredith's meeting with the chief and Addison's re-appearance (I really missed her this chapter!) Thanks as usual to everyone who reviewed/added me or the story to alert or favourites, all you guys are stars!
Posted November 17th, 2009