Meredith Grey was not a happy woman. Her day had been terrible. The first patient she had this morning died during a routine procedure. It wasn't her fault, they didn't know her heart was too weak for anesthesia. After that, she had to do rounds with the interns which was hell, due to the fact this years interns were a bunch of idiots. And now she was stuck in the pit, babysitting because a quarter of the residents has called out with the flu. So she sat there, just waiting for something more than just little sicknesses that came through.
"Have I mentioned how much I hate the interns?" Cristina groaned as she sat her tablet on the nurses station.
"We all do, but why now?" Meredith asked as she munched on a bag of potato chips she had one of the interns fetch for her.
"One of them called me for a consult because they thought they heard a murmur but of course it wasn't, the guy probably coughed or something," she replied.
"Yeah, I have interns who are running unnecessary test on patients. Like they ordered a full body CT on a patient with stomach pains," Meredith said.
"Like I said, they get dumber and dumber as the new ones come in," Cristina rolled her eyes.
"Have you met Dr. Shepherd yet?" Meredith asked curiously.
"Yes, just after he started. He and I worked on a case resecting a tumor from this guys spinal cord that was literally almost in his heart," Cristina nodded.
"Was he good?" Meredith asked.
"He is a god, they weren't kidding when people brag on him. Why were you asking?" Cristina now got curious.
"No reason, just wondering," she shrugged.
"Is this about the thing with CJ?" Cristina asked.
"No, he has a doctor and he's pretty good," Meredith said defensively.
"Oh come on, Nelson is decent but even from the work he publishes, Shepherd is much better for the surgery," Cristina replied.
"Look, Nelson has been with CJ since we found it, and he is perfectly capable of doing the surgery," Meredith frowned.
"I am not going to push you but he needs it and I want my godson to have the best treatment," Cristina argued, she had a point though Meredith would never admit it.
"I don't want that many people to know, and Nelson doesn't socialize so he wouldn't tell anyone about it and we still have some time before it becomes too much of a serious issue," Meredith said before grabbing the phone as it rang. An incoming trauma was coming so paged the on-call neurosurgeon and got herself prepared in the bay. She waited as the ambulance pulled in and the doors swung open.
"What do we have?" She asked as she immediately jumped into action.
"Katie Bryce. 16 year old female, collapsed during gymnastics and was complaining with abdominal pain. She got a head lac from the fall and started seizing as we pulled in," one of the paramedics replied as they hurried into a trauma room.
"Page Neuro again," she said as she started to feel around her abdomen. She took a portable ultrasound machine and began to roam her abdomen.
"I'm here, sorry I was with a patient," the male voice said as he entered the trauma room.
"You should have came immediately, you were paged 911. Someone update him," she grumbled. She didn't know it would be him that would be here. She continued to do the work up as he was updated.
"She needs a head scan, to see if anything is causing the seizure," he said as he checked her pupils.
"She also needs to get to surgery as soon as possible, her gallbladder is very inflamed and on the verge of rupturing," she snapped back at him.
"She could have a brain bleed or swelling, she needs the head scan first," he replied in a more professional tone.
"Fine, but if it ruptures, it's on you," she snarled as she walked out. She told one of the residents to page her when the results were in and she could take her to surgery. She made her way to the nurses station where Mark was on the tablet filling out a chart.
"Your friend or brother or whatever you call him better be right about what he's doing right now," she said as she approached Mark. He looked slightly confused at her, wondering what she was talking about. She filled him in as she ploped down in the chair.
"He's usually right about his instincts, you two actually have a lot in common," Mark said. Meredith opened and closed her mouth a few times, not able to form the sentence she wanted. Mark was going to be her brother-in-law one day, she couldn't take her anger out on him.
"Like what?" She grumbled. There wasn't anything she could possibly think of that she had in common with Derek.
"Just talk to him," he encouraged.
"I don't want to," she replied. Mark just pursed his lips, shaking his head. He walked off without another word and Meredith sat brooding. A little while passed before her pager went off and she made her way to where her patient was currently. Derek was there with the results of the scan.
"She had a small aneurysm that burst in her cerebrum and she needs surgery now," he said as he showed her the scans.
"She also needs that gallbladder removed," Meredith replied.
"I think we should do the surgery simultaneously, get both things at once so there won't be any more surgery," he suggested.
"Oh no way, I'm not being stuck in an OR with you for hours," she shook her head.
"It will be easier on the patient, Dr. Grey," he said, trying not to let his anger get the best of him.
She started to argue with him but decided not to, it's wasn't worth it. It was true, she knew he was right but would never admit it to him. She simply told him she would see him in the OR and walked away. She didn't know what it was about him, something she couldn't explain. She wanted to hate him. He took the place of her Charlie. But there was something about him that just made her not want to hate him.
She went and grabbed a small snack before she had to go down to the OR. She put her purple scrub cap on before she went into the scrub room. She started scrubbing her hands, looking as they were just starting the anesthesia on Katie. She saw the door open to the scrub room and Derek came in. His normally good hair was hidden inside a ferryboat scrub cap.
"I know you hate me for some reason but I would like a minute to explain myself," he said to her as he grabbed the scrub pad.
"You have until I finish scrubbing," she looked over at him then back at her hands. She didn't really want to listen, but she was going to.
"My name is Derek Christopher Shepherd. When I was ten my father died and I became the man of the house along with Mark. I was determined to become a doctor to save lives. My favorite color is blue, the dark blue not that light blue of intern scrubs. I enjoy fishing and being outdoors. I love ferry boats. When I lost my wife, Rose, I didn't know if I could make it through it alone. But I did and now I want to help you through this hard time because no matter how much you hate me, I can look past that and see the amazing woman and surgeon you are," he said as he himself started scrubbing.
"I didn't ask for anyone else, you know," she admitted as she was finishing up her scrubbing.
"I know," he nodded.
"I am not going to explain myself to you, but if you really wanted to I don't mind trying to be at least civil with you since you are Mark's brother," she said.
"I understand," he smiled, she just was mesmerized. The way he smiled, she could tell he was really a good person. It scared her, the way he looked at her and the feeling she felt when he was smiling.
"Ok," she said as she walked into the OR and Derek looked dumbfounded. He didn't know how to take that but she didn't seem angry so he thought it was good. He followed her into the OR.
"Alright ladies and gentlemen, it's a beautiful day to save lives so let's get started," he said before getting into position.
Meredith rolled her eyes secretly as they were doing the surgery in silence. Derek tried to make small talk but Meredith replied in short sentences. She still wasn't comprehending the things that he said earlier. She didn't know why he told her those things, but they were slightly intriguing.
She was finished before he was so she had one of the residents close her abdomen as she went and scrubbed out. She went and updated the parents, letting them know she was done and things with Dr. Shepherd were going well. After that, she went to the daycare to pick up CJ.
"Mama," he smiled brightly as he walked over to her. She lifted him up and placed him on her hip.
"How was daycare, champ?" She asked as she grabbed his backpack. He told her all about her day while they went back toward her office. She sat him on the couch in her office and gave him some toys to keep him occupied while she finished up some stuff. She caught herself watching him, just making sure he was alright. With everything that has happened, she realized how precious life was and she decided that she could finish her work later.
"Ready to go home?" She asked him and he nodded.
"I tired mama, my head hurt," he said as she went to pick him up.
"It's ok baby, we'll get you some medicine when we get home," she said as she gathered her things along with his and made her way out of the hospital. She didn't even notice the man sitting on the bench until he spoke up.
"Cute kid, I didn't know you had a kid," he said and she stopped in her tracks to turn and look at him.
"I do, I have two actually. This is Charles Jameson Jr or CJ as most people call him. He's 3, and I have a daughter named Scarlett. She's 6," Meredith looked at him as he was staring at her.
"I have a daughter also," he just smiled at her.
"Does she not stay at the daycare?" She questioned.
"No, Mark offered to pick her up from school since he hasn't really spent time with her in a few years," he said.
"Oh. Well my daughter is with Alex Karev. He picks her up from school on Wednesdays and Friday's because she has dance practice and my sister usually takes her if I can't," Meredith nodded.
"Nice. My daughter has been wanting to start dancing again, she use to go to a dance studio in New York with her cousin but when we moved I didn't have time to enroll her yet," he said.
"I admit, I was wrong about you Derek. But it's going to be hard to let someone in," she admitted.
"That's alright. I'm a patient man," he smiled. She laughed and shook her head.
"Goodbye Derek," she smiled. She decided to maybe let it go, just a little bit at a time because it was obvious he wasn't going away anytime soon.
"Goodbye Meredith," he replied with a smile as she began to walk off.