5 Years Later
Meredith hated Seattle. Seattle was wet, gloomy, and reminded her of her less-than-perfect childhood. She felt those three things were enough to warrant her hatred for Seattle. And yet, as she stood in front of the hospital her mother loved so much, there was a small sliver of hope in the air that maybe, just maybe, Seattle was going to be the do-over she craved.
Walking into the hospital induced a weird sense of deja-vu. Meredith knew that she spent a lot of time here as a child, but she never expected to remember how the hospital looked and felt. However, walking into Seattle Grace – Mercy West made her realize that she remembered a lot more than anticipated. Meredith stopped just inside the doors to pause and look around at the place that was her second home so long ago.
She never could've described to you how the hospital looked, until walking in. Suddenly, images of nurses chasing her up the stairs and her sitting at the nurse's station coloring came to her. Meredith couldn't help but smile, accepting that maybe this was a sign that she found a place to call home.
"Excuse me, miss? Are you lost?"
Meredith smiled at the young nurse who approached her, knowing that she probably looked crazy standing in the doorway looking around.
"I actually have an appointment with Dr. Webber, could you point me towards his office?"
"Oh of course! It's easier for me to just take you there, this place can be pretty confusing" The nurse laughed before gesturing for Meredith to follow her. "My name is Amanda by the way."
"Meredith."
The pair stopped at the elevators and Meredith watched at Amanda pressed the up button, before turning around and smiling back at her again.
"If you don't mind me asking, what brings you to meet with the Chief?"
Meredith held back the urge to roll her eyes, realizing that nurses must just be gossipy at every hospital. She couldn't stand them back in LA, where they frequently made her life more difficult than it already was. Turns out she probably won't be escaping that here.
"I'm just here to talk with Dr. Webber, nothing special." Meredith smiled back at Amanda, who was obviously disappointed with her lame explanation. Before she could open her mouth to try and get more information from Meredith the elevator doors opened. They walked ono the elevator together, moving to the back to allow everyone else on.
"So when did you guys merge with Mercy West?" Despite not wanting to talk to Amanda, Meredith couldn't help her curiosity about the situation. She immediately perked up, happy to be sharing information with anyone who asked.
"Oh! That happened about six months ago. Both hospitals were in financial trouble, so it just made sense to combine them into one! It was hard for a while, with people being laid off and having to adjust to a bunch of new coworkers, but all in all it hasn't been too bad.
Meredith smiled and nodded, sensing she probably wasn't going to get much more than that from her. Thankfully the doors opened on the 3rd floor and Amanda ushered her out of the elevator.
"Just go down this hall and take a left. You'll see the Chief's secretary, and she'll be able to help you from there. Nice to meet you!" Not waiting for Meredith to respond, Amanda walked over to the nurse's station, sat down, and began chatting with the other staff.
She followed her directions which put her face to face with an older woman behind a desk, presumably the chief's secretary. As Meredith approached the desk the women looked up, looked back down at her computer, before quickly looking back up at her with a strange look on her face.
The two made eye contact, before the woman blushed and looked back down at her desk.
"I have an appointment with Dr. Webber at 10." Meredith announced, looking around at the woman's desk. There was a nameplate at the edge, letting her know the secretary's name was Patricia.
"I'll go let him know you're here." Patricia rose from the desk and started to walk away before pausing and looking back at Meredith. "I'm sorry for looking at you like that, you just remind me of someone who used to work here a long time ago. You two could have been twins, so I was a little spooked." She smiled at Meredith, who had no choice but to politely smile back at her.
"No problem at all." This seemed to ease Patricia's fears, who quickly turned away towards the chief's office. Meredith watched as she knocked and poked her head in the office, before nodding and walking back towards Meredith.
"You can go on in now sweetie."
Trying to avoid any more awkward encounters with Patricia, Meredith walked past her and into the chief's office.
"Meredith! It has been so long!" Richard exclaimed as she walked in. Despite their awkward history, Meredith couldn't help but smile at the man. He always meant well, especially when it came to her. And he was giving her this second chance, which she probably didn't deserve.
He walked around his desk and placed her in a hug. Meredith was caught off guard for a moment before relaxing in the embrace. Richard paused for maybe a moment too long, before letting her go and going back to his chair. Meredith sat down on the other side of his desk, trying to relax.
"I know. And I just want to thank you so much for meeting with me, you have no idea how much it means to me."
Richard waved a hand at her, laughing.
"Nonsense. My door has and always will be open for you. So why don't you explain your situation a little more and let's see what we can do. I do think I should let you know I just got off the phone with Dr. Gorid a few minutes before you arrived." Any effort Meredith was making to relax flew out the window. She knew the two would talk, but she couldn't help but hope it would be after Richard had offered her a job. How naïve.
"I can explain whatever he told you about me." Meredith rushed out. "He never liked me to begin with, so we had a complicated relationship. I tried by best with him but my circumstances forced my hand in many situations, and he never saw me the same. I promise I-" Richard held his hand up to get her to stop talking. All Meredith could see was her last opportunity to be any kind of doctor flying out the window.
"You explained your circumstances very well in your email to me Meredith, I do understand what you have been through in the last 5 years. I am curious, however, about many of the other things you did leave out that Dr. Gorid was very to let me in on." Meredith suddenly wished for nothing more than to teleport to LA and give Dr. Gorid a piece of her mind. He might not have lied, but there was no reason for him to sabotage her new life like this.
"Dr. Webber, I'm sorry for being blunt, but you had to have known some of this information before you agreed to meet with me. So, why did you bring me out here just to tell me things I already knew, including Dr. Gorid's distaste for me, when I could have been spending this time trying to find someone who will actually hire me?" Not wasting anymore time, Meredith started to stand up to leave with some dignity intact.
"I never said I wouldn't hire you Meredith." He said it so casually that Meredith almost laughed.
"Why would you hire me? Nothing Dr. Gorid said was a lie, even all the really bad stuff. I was a horrible employee and a horrible person to a lot of people there. Honestly, no one should hire me, which probably will happen whenever someone talks to Gorid."
"I would hire you because I believe that you are a better person than your circumstances forced you to be. And I think second chances are important, and can force people to be better than they think they're capable of." Meredith slowly sat back down, not believing her ears. She was going to get a job?
"For the sake of being completely honest with you Meredith, if you were anyone else I'm not sure I would be hiring you. And I think you have discovered that if people contact your previous employer, which any hospital will, you probably won't ever be hired." Richard paused, looked at her, as if he was waiting for her to dispute his statement. As much as Meredith wanted to tell him wrong, she couldn't. Seattle Grace had been a last hope, after so many other hospitals told her no, most refusing to even meet with her. Meredith had pulled every connection and favor she had, and the most she had gotten was a pity interview at some small hospital in Ohio, and even then, they told her no. She knew Dr. Gorid wasn't her biggest fan, but she never expected him to blackball her from ever working in a hospital again. Sensing she wasn't going to say anything, Richard continued.
"Dr. Gorid basically told me not to hire you, and that you would be a huge liability for this hospital. But you know your mother and I were close friends, and I think I owe it to her to give you a chance to succeed here like she did."
Under any other circumstances, Meredith would hate getting special treatment because of her mother. She spent most of her life avoiding any perks from being 'Ellis Grey's daughter.' But right now, in this moment, Meredith could kiss Eliis.
"Sir, you really have no idea what this means to me. I can't thank you enough, and I will not let you down here."
"I have no doubt that is true. Unfortunately, given all the circumstances, there are a few terms of your employment that I will need you to agree to." Richard leaned forward and handed Meredith a piece of paper. "I couldn't exactly place you on probation, as that requires a lot more oversight of these terms, which means involving more members of the staff. I know that is not what you wanted, and frankly I don't think it gets us off on the right foot here. So, your completion of these terms will be followed up by me, and then a few trusted members of the board."
Meredith read through the list, gripping the paper tighter as she made her way through. Once she finished reading, her eyes went to the ceiling to hide that they were filled with tears. She wasn't going to cry right now. This was the grave she dug for herself. Now it was time to dig herself out.
Richard patiently waited until Meredith returned his gaze.
"This all seems fair." She tried to smile, but both parties knew it wasn't what she wanted. It probably wasn't what he wanted either, but she understood. "I do have one thing to ask for, if possible."
Richard raised his eyebrows, slightly surprised she was asking for anything. He nodded, and she continued talking.
"I will occasionally need Saturday's off so that I am able to take care of…everything. I'm hoping to have most of the dates figured out in the coming weeks, so I'll be able to get them to you."
"Of course. Do you need me to set anything up here for you?"
"No, I think it's best this is handled somewhere else. I tried that before, and you can see how well it worked out for me." Meredith chuckled, despite the situation being anything but funny.
Richard gave her a weak smile, and nodded.
"I understand. As long as you can get me some dates soon that should not be a problem at all."
Meredith nodded, suddenly wanting this meeting to end very badly.
"Is there anything else you need from me?"
Richard paused, then shook his head.
"I don't think so Meredith. I've arranged for you to meet the chief resident briefly after this meeting ends so you two can be familiar with each other. Let me have Patricia page her over. Hold on." Richard then reached over to the phone on the desk and asked Patricia to have "Bailey" come to the office. Meredith was suddenly nervous, as she wasn't planning on having to meet anyone else besides Richard today. With her tract record, authority figures didn't usually like her. Taking a deep breath in, Meredith tried to calm herself. She was in the middle of this when Richard started speaking again.
"I think it's best that you spend your first week or two working with her so you can get back into working and see how we do things here at Seattle Grace. Because we have had a lot of new staff members come on and old ones leave with the merger, having a new resident shouldn't be as much of a shock. There have actually been quite a few new hires in the surgical department, so you'll fit right in." Before he could say more, there was a knock at the door. A small African-American woman opened the door and walked in.
"You paged Chief?" She stated, placing a hand on her hip.
"Yes, this is Meredith, the new resident I was telling you about. Meredith, this is Dr. Bailey, one of our best residents." Meredith turned toward the woman, placed her hand out and smiled.
"Nice to meet you Dr. Bailey." Bailey started at her hand then looked at Richard.
"All due respect, is there a reason I need to meet her now instead of her first day of work on Monday?" Meredith immediately sensed that for whatever reason, this Bailey person was unhappy about her joining the staff, and placed her hand back in her lap.
"Because I think it would be nice for you to show her around a little bit so she knows where to come on Monday. And she'll be with you for a few weeks while she gets situated." Watching Bailey's face while Richard was talking, it became clear that Bailey did not know that Meredith was basically going to be following her around.
"Whatever you think is best Chief."
"This is what I think is for the best. So why don't you show her to the resident's lounge and help her get a locker, and then she can meet you there Monday morning." Dr. Bailey looked like there was a lot more she wanted to say to the Chief, but choose to nod and walk towards the door.
"You coming?" She snapped at Meredith.
Already unsettled by her chief resident's hostile attitude, Meredith quickly stood up and shook Dr. Webber's hand.
"Thank you so much for this opportunity Dr. Webber." He smiled softly at her and released her hand.
"I have no doubts that you will do great things here." He looked up at Dr. Bailey, and leaned across his desk towards Meredith. "She'll come around, you'll see."
Meredith seriously doubted that, but nodded and turned to follow the angry woman out the door.
Once the pair reached the residents lounge, Dr. Bailey turned to Meredith.
"Pick an empty cubby and stick this on it." Dr. Bailey handed her a sticky note and pen. "Shouldn't be too hard for you to figure out. I'll try to make sure that HR gets your stuff to it, but no promises"
In any other circumstance, Meredith might have demanded to know what exactly Dr. Bailey's problem was with her. But this was a new beginning, and she didn't need to start picking fights with her superior before work even started.
Instead, she silently walked over to a vacant space, scribbled her name on the post-it, and stuck it on the front. Meredith couldn't help but smile, and found herself connected to this space in front of her. In front of her stood a blank slate with her name on it – was she not supposed to notice the similarities? Over the past five years Meredith had become a shell of a person, just trying to get through each day. Somewhere along the way she lost herself, and lost who she wanted to become. A lot was lost, but now she was here, in Seattle, giving herself a real chance at being happy.
"Not that she was one to believe anyone "deserved" anything, but after the past five years, Meredith deserved be happy. She had to fight for every minute she lived, and placing that sticky note was a sign from whoever was up there that she was claiming a spot here, and she deserved to take up this space.
Meredith was pulled from her thoughts by the sounds of laughter coming into the lounge. A group of who she assumed were residents filed in, all moving to their respective cubby's.
"Are you the new resident?" The chirpy redhead with the space next to Meredith asked.
"Um, yea. Meredith." She stuck out her hand and the girl happily accepted it.
"Awesome! My name is April. You're a third year, right?
"Yea I am. Are you guys all third years too?" Meredith saw how close this group seemed to be, and she felt the envy in her core. Despite her resistance to getting too close to people, she couldn't help but want something like this group seemed to have.
"We are! Me and Jackson" April pointed to a tall man across the room. "Just transferred from Mercy West. Christina and Alex," She pointed to the other two people in the room "have both been here since they were interns." Meredith smiled at the group, all of whom did not have the same welcoming energy as April.
"Alright, enough chit-chat. Don't you all have jobs to do?" Dr. Bailey asked, causing the group to grab their things and vacate the lounge.
"Nice to meet you Meredith!" April yelled as she ran out of the room.
"They all seem nice." Meredith said, looking at Dr. Bailey.
"I'm sure they do." Dr. Bailey paused, before sighing and continuing. "Look, I'm sorry if I've been harsh. We have lost a lot of good residents to this merger, and then you're brought on. I know who you are to Richard, and who you are to the surgical community. But I also know that people don't just leave in the middle of programs for the fun of it. I'm not sure why you're here, but right now I don't think I trust or like you."
As much as Meredith wanted to be angry with her, she wasn't wrong. It was reasonable for anyone to question her motives here, and frankly she was glad it was happening to her face instead of behind her back. If anything, it just made her respect Dr. Bailey a little bit more. But that didn't mean she was going to go down without a fight.
"All due respect Dr. Bailey, I hope I can prove you wrong."
A/N
Thanks so much for reading! The next update won't come as fast as this one did - I'm a junior in college with a very busy schedule. I'm trying to set aside a little time each day to work on this, because it does help me relax, but sometimes life doesn't allow it. Please leave me a review!