Meredith's pager went off, she looked down it was Derek.
"Your results are in," she said.
"Let's go then," said Grace.Chapter 5
"Uncle Derek," shouted Grace when she spotted Derek at the nurses station.
"Gracie," he said leading her and Meredith into Grace's room.
"Well…." Demanded Grace.
"It's not Leukemia," said Derek.
"Okay….that's good," said Grace, "So what is it then?"
"I…don't know," said Derek, "But I am positive that you haven't come out of remission"
"Okay, that's good. So what happens now?" said Grace.
"Dr. Grey you saw her chart, you know her history. Her symptoms are nausea, headaches, tiredness and she has fainted four times in the past weeks. What do we do next?" said Derek in a professional tone.
"We run an MRI, blood tests and a CT scan," said Meredith.
"Right. Do it, you are her doctor now, the chief won't let me," said Derek.
"Okay," said Meredith startled by the sudden change in Derek's tone.
"Is that okay Meredith? I might not even be surgical, you should be on real cases," said Grace, who know all too well how the hospital system worked.
"Grace stay out of this, I am her boss and I say she is on this case," said Derek sharply.
"Was he this controlling when you were going out?" Grace asked Meredith.
"Madeline…." Snapped Derek.
"Madeline?" said Grace hurt that he was shouting at her and he never called her Madeline unless she was in real trouble, like when cut up one of his Armani suits when she was 6, to make her Barbie a Business woman.
"Dr. Shepherd could I have a word outside please?" said Meredith.
"Fine," said Derek storming out.
"He's just worried and your little comment about us is not helping," said Meredith, before following Derek into the hall.
"What is it?" said Derek.
"What is the matter with you? Why are you snapping at Grace? This isn't her fault or mine," said Meredith.
"Fine you don't want to take on her case, fine I'll get a doctor who will," said Derek.
"Don't be ridiculous I'll be her doctor. What is wrong with you? What came up in those results?" said Meredith snatching the results out of his hand.
"This doesn't mean anything," said Meredith reading it, "We won't know anything until we do the MRI, it could be side effects from her chemo a few years ago. Organ failure,"
"It could be a brain tumor, she has had headaches and passing out," said Derek, punching his fist into the wall.
"That is not her fault, you can't take this out on her. She is 16, scared and in a strange city," said Meredith.
"It is her fault if she has let it get to this stage. She has been passing out which means that the tumor is probably inoperable," said Derek.
He heard a small gasp behind him, Grace was standing at the door and had heard everything he had said.
"I'm sorry," she said fighting back tears.
"It is not your fault, we don't even know if it is a tumor," said Meredith glaring at Derek, "go back into your room, I'll be in, in a minute and take you for an MRI and then we will know. Please sweetie don't worry," said Meredith.
Grace just nodded and went back in her room.
"Look, go and get a coffee and calm down. Grace really doesn't need you like this right now, she is terrified and you panicking and blurting out the worst case scenario is not helping. So go and calm down, I'll stay and look after her," said Meredith.
"Right of course, you're right. Thank you," said Derek running his hand through his hair.
"Okay, go and calm down. I'll page you. Did you call Mark?"
"The nurse did, he's getting the hospital jet out here. He should be here in a few hours," said Derek
"Okay good, now go," ordered Meredith.
"Thank you, I know you don't have to be doing this," said Derek.
"It's no problem," said Meredith.
"I'm glad you're here, I wouldn't want anyone else treating her, I wouldn't trust anyone else," he said.
"Not even Addison," came Grace's retort from inside her room where she was shamelessly eavesdropped.
"Gracie," moaned Derek while Meredith pushed him in the direction of the elevator.
------------------------------------
4 HOURS LATER
"Okay we got the results," said Meredith walking into Grace's room, where she and Derek were.
"About time, I'm starting to feel like a human pin cushion. Are you sure about these ones?" said Grace.
"They are conclusive," confirmed Meredith.
"Well come on then, what is it?" said Grace.
"You don't have a tumor. The reason you've been feeling so lousy is because your kidneys are failing, this could be a side effect of your treatment for Leukemia. Your kidney failure has brought on a form of diabetes, which is why you've been fainting your sugar levels haven't been controlled," said Meredith.
"Okay is that good?" said Grace looking to Derek for answers.
"Not really," he said honestly.
"But it's better than a tumor?" she asked.
"Yeah it is," said Derek sitting next to her on the bed, and putting his arms round her, hugging her.
"How bad Meredith?" asked Derek.
"The Diabetes, it's bad but it can be controlled. She will need daily insulin injections, and a controlled diet," said Meredith.
"And my kidneys?" asked Grace.
"We won't know until we take a closer look, but it is likely that you will need to be put on the transplant list, and be put on dialysis until we find a donor," said Meredith.
"Okay, well it could be worse. Can I go home or am I stuck here for a while?" said Grace.
"You need to stay here for now," said Meredith.
"Okay. See Uncle Derek it isn't that bad. The Leukemia isn't back and I don't need you to cut into my brain," said Grace trying to be cheerful.
"Yeah," said Derek pulling her closer and pressing a kiss to her forehead, "you'll be okay Princess"
"I'll go and arrange your treatment and get the diabetes specialist to talk to you about diet and treatment, and we'll get you started on dialysis in the morning," said Meredith.
"You should go home," said Grace, "You must be exhausted"
"She's right," said Derek, "It's late, we need you on top of your game tomorrow"
"No I should go and arrange…" said Meredith, who for some reason found she didn't want to leave.
"No you should go home, and Uncle Derek you should take her," said Grace.
"Gracie I'm staying here with you. I'll get a cab," said Derek.
"No, you're going to take Meredith home and thank her for staying so late and for finding out what is wrong with me. Then you are going to go to my hotel room and bring me my stuff, and on your way back if you could drop by McDonalds and get me a Big Mac I'm starving," said Grace.
"Is there anything else?"
"Yeah if you feel like coming to your senses and divorcing Addison that would really cheer me up," said Grace.
"Grace come on, I don't know why you are so against her. She made a mistake…."
"A mistake that tore both of our lives apart," Grace interrupted.
"Look I'm not going to argue with you. I'll take Meredith home, get your things from the hotel and bring you some dinner, but it will definitely not be McDonalds that stuff is junk and you have to watch what you eat from now on," said Derek.
"Fine," said Grace rolling her eyes, "my hotel room key is in my bag"
Derek got the key and when he stood up, he noticed that Grace was narrowing her eyes at looking straight out the door. He turned and saw what she was glaring at.
"Grace," said the new comer.
"Dad, what are you doing here?"