"Grey, I got that amazing case," Derek said as he approached her. She looked at him, questions in her eyes.
"So don't get mad but a little birdy told me that for most of your residency, you spent most of your time in the neuro rotation," he said to her. She furrowed her brows, knowing who told.
"Yes. But I realized General is where my heart is," she said to him.
"Well I have this bad boy," he held out the Ct scan. Her eyes bulged as she saw the size of the massive tumor on the spinal cord.
"There is no way this patient will survive," she gasp.
"I told him his chances are slim, but he refuses to listen to me. He continues to say he wants it and he has faith," he shrugged.
"This is crazy," she shook her head, the size was enormous and the position was very risky.
"I know. And I want to see your neurosurgeon skills because I heard you were pretty amazing," he started to say.
"I'll pass," she shrugged. She didn't want to tell him the real reason why she changed her specialty at the last minute. She couldn't go back, it would be too hard for her.
"Oh, I guess you're too scared," he shrugged, starting to walk away.
"I'm not scared!" She said defensively. He turned on his heels, raising his brow at her.
"Prove it," he said.
"Fine," she huffed, admitting defeat. A small part of her was excited, she hasn't done neuro in such a long time. It was her passion for a long time, it interested her in many ways. She was also scared to death, it would bring back memories and feeling for her love.
"Meet me in OR three in an hour. Here is the chart to catch you up," he said, smirking as he handed her the tablet. He left and she scanned through, reading all the details. She couldn't believe she agreed to this, it was way too risky and close to the spinal cord. One tiny little wrong move and he was paralyzed.
She found her way to the lounge where Cristina and Lexie were sitting there, eating their breakfast. She sighed as she sat down at the table with them.
"I am about to do a surgery with Derek and I don't know how to feel," Meredith groaned.
"What kind of surgery?" Lexie asked, intrigued by the reasoning.
"It's a tumor removal on the spinal cord but it is so risky, there is no way it will be a success," she said.
"Then why did you agree?" Cristina asked, confused by this.
"Are you sure you can handle neuro?" Lexie asked.
"I can. I don't know why I said yes, he just kept pushing and I couldn't resist," she shook her head.
"You agreed because you know he can do it and you want to be there to see it happen," Lexie smirked.
"No. There is not a way in hell that he could get the tumor without paralyzingly or killing the man," Meredith argued.
"You believe in shepherd," Lexie chuckled. Meredith furrowed her brows.
"I actually just want to see how good he is, for CJ," Meredith said quietly to them.
"You really want him to look into CJ's case?" Cristina asked.
"Maybe," Meredith shrugged. She was unsure of why she agreed to the surgery. She looked down at her watch, realizing the surgery would be starting soon.
"Gotta go," Meredith said as she rushed out of the room. She hurried down to the OR room where she stepped into the scrubbing room. Derek was already scrubbing at his hands as he looked at her. He had a smile to his face when he realized she was actually going to go through with it.
"Glad you could make it Grey," he said to her, his eyes returned to his hands as he scrubbed at his wrist and arms now.
"Got to see what you have in you," she smirked at him, she grabbed the scrub pad and turned the water on as she began to scrub. He went into the operating room and she watched him. He walked with confidence as he put his gown and mask on. She shook her head at him, chuckling to herself. She followed into the operating room, a since of excitement in her body as she knew what was coming.
"Good morning ladies and gentlemen, it's a beautiful day to save lives," Derek said his signature phrase as he got into position. Meredith joined him, they worked in sync the whole surgery, like they were made to operate together. Her movements matched his as they began to cut away at the tumor when it was visible. The surgery was long, it was much longer than most procedures she was use to. Her body ached slightly, she rolled her shoulders and turned her neck from side to side but she pushed through it, and the rush came. The same rush that made her fall in love with neurosurgery. She looked at Derek and saw the look of excitement and lust in his eyes. He loved it as much as she did.
They finally got to a finishing point, they had almost lost him a couple of times but in the end, it was successfully removed. It was much like a miracle. They went and scrubbed out, silence between them. They parted ways but somehow both ended up in the attending's lounge with one another.
"That rush was amazing, I thought we weren't going to be able to do it," she said, slumping down on the chair in the attending's lounge. She had finally gained back some of the energy from the long surgery.
"You were amazing," he smiled at her, praising. The way she handled that patient, he couldn't help but wonder. He sat down on the opposite couch from her.
"Thanks, But you did all the hard work," she laughed, shaking her head at him.
"If you don't mind me asking, what made you give it up?" He asked. She got quiet, the smile left her face and was replaced by a frown. Her eyes had a small amount of tears welling in the corner.
"You don't have to tell me," he said, making it known he didn't want to press her. He knew it most likely had something to do with her dead husband or with her son.
"No. It's just hard. Neuro was my heart, my passion. I loved everything about it, the rush and the meticulous working. The way it feels to just open up a skull and realize that the whole person is controlled by this ball of mush that no one truly knows a lot about. The end of my fifth year was when CJ was diagnosed with his tumor. I caught it early and I noticed, along with Charlie. I beat myself up from then on because legally I couldn't do anything to fix my son even though I knew I could in an instant. The guilt took over and I switched to general," she said, wiping the tear that fell from her eye. He frowned at her, knowing how hard it was for her to tell that. He wanted to grab her and comfort her but he wasn't sure how she would feel being in the hospital.
"Ok, no crying," she said to herself.
"Thank you, I know it was hard," he walked over to her, patting her back lightly.
"Thank you for listening. And letting me do that surgery," she smiled up at him weakly. He purses his lips and nodded.
"What are you doing after work?" He asked.
"Going home with the kids, like every day," she said.
"I was just wanting to know if you wanted to go to the park with me and Zoe. I know how much her and Scarlett enjoy playing together," he asked.
"That actually sounds really nice. I barely take them to the park because Scarlett doesn't enjoy playing with kids she doesn't know," she said, smiling.
"Ok, I'll meet you at the park just down the street at 4?" He asked and she nodded.
"See you at four," she said to him, standing up and going to her office. She did the paperwork she needed to before going to the daycare to pick up her son. They headed to the school to pick up Scarlett, telling her about the park date. She was very excited, especially knowing that Zoe would be there.
She got them into clothes they could get dirty and she fed them a small snack before she packed a small bag with the things the kids will need. She took them to the park where she let them out of their seats and she held CJ's hand as they walked into the park. She looked around and Scarlett was the first one to shout they found them. Meredith was taken aback every single time she saw Derek in normal clothing. He had his McDreamy smile on which made her feel a certain type of way.
"Nice to see you outside of work," he said to her after the girls ran off the play and CJ ran after them. Meredith kept a close eye on her son, but she knew his sister was always watching. She knew how protective Scarlett was of her brother, especially with his condition.
"Same to you. I really do appreciate what you did earlier," she smiled at him.
"Thinking of switching back?" He smirked. She chuckled and shook her head.
"Though I love Neuro very much, my place is in general and I love my job now, better success rate," she joked and he laughed along.
"Agreed. But I want to bring up something a little touchy," he said to her. She wanted to avoid the subject she knew he wanted to talk about.
"Ok."
"Well I know you said you didn't really want me to get into the situation with CJ and his tumor but I really think I can remove it easier than Nelson and I don't want to brag but it's my specialty. I see how you watch him so closely and are terrified right now with him playing," he said to her and she sighed.
"I know. It's just scary, no one at the hospital knows besides our friends. It's no one's business and I don't want anyone to find out," she said.
"Understandable. And if you don't want me to do it, then I can set you up with my sister who is almost as good as I am. She works at Seattle Pres as the head of Neuro, she is also amazing and it cuts out the worry of anyone at the hospital finding out," he offered. They sat in silence for a moment, her mind racing. She knew they had to have the surgery soon.
"You have a sister?" She asked. He chuckled, knowing she was trying to change the subject.
"Four to be exact, and we are all doctors," he laughed and her eyes bulged.
"Wow. Big family," Meredith said.
"Yes. I can call Amy right now if you want me to and we can set up a consult. She is way better than Nelson but not as good as me," he smirked and she chuckled, shaking her head at him.
"I guess," Meredith said. Her heart raced and she watched his fingers fumble in his pocket as he pulled his phone out. He dialed a number and it began ringing. They spoke for a moment before he hung up.
"She's got an opening in a few days," he said.
"I'll take it," she nodded. He sent a text message to his sister before putting his phone away. They watched the children play together, sitting in almost silence besides the small talk. It was enjoyable, the winding down after their long surgery with their children playing in the park made life easier on each of them.