SIX

Treading Water

HOUR ONE (9 am)

Meredith ran out of the locker room, still tugging her scrub top on over her undershirt. She shoved her pager onto her waistband and rushed up to where Bailey and the other interns were waiting, almost as soon as she reached them Bailey turned around rushing towards the first room for rounds, calling "You're late Grey!" without looking back. Meredith sighed before following on, tagging herself beside Cristina at the back of the group.

George looked back over his shoulder at her "Don't worry Meredith, she's in a mood." he comforted her.

"Yeah," agreed Alex, "The Nazi is definitely not getting any."

Cristina gave Alex a dismissive look "Whatever Evil Spawn. She most probably just saw your ugly face."

"Shut up Yang." he replied before hurrying to walk with Izzie.

"Evil spawn so wants Barbie." Cristina smirking. Looking at Mer, they both said "Eww." grinning they walked into the first patient of the days room.

HOUR TWO (10 am)

"Hey Pete." Meredith smiled at the Lab worker "Could you put these through ASAP for me?"

"Of course" said Pete.

"How are the kids?" she asked stepping away from the hatch.

"Jamie's been accepted at soccer camp for the summer."

"That's great." she smiled genuinely pleased.

She moved out of the way as Cristina came to the hatch "These ASAP" she ordered, chucking the samples at a stunned lab assistant before turning and greeting Meredith.

"You know" said Mer, "They wouldn't hate you if you were actually polite once in a while."

"That's the difference between me and you Grey. You do nice. I don't." she smirked. "You want people to like you. You care about it. I don't."

Meredith was standing filling in a chart when she was paged and returned to pick up the lab. Pete handed her the paper with results and Mer thanked him, she made to leave before remembering and asking "I forgot to ask how did Annie's recital go?"

Pete smiled at the compassionate intern. "She did great. Wasn't even nervous, me and her mum were though! I heard on the grapevine that you had a kid?!" At Meredith's nod he continued "Why didn't you say? Tell me about him."

Meredith smiled at the man who had become a friend "He's called Lucas Thatcher Grey. Most people call him Luca though. He had his 2nd birthday 5 months ago." she smiled.

"Bring pictures next time. You've seen mine, my turn to see yours." Meredith walked of towards the lifts after agreeing and saying goodbye.

HOUR THREE (11 am)

"Please, Mr Johnson, if you relax this will be much easier." Meredith told the 60 year old man currently bent of the hospital bed.

"Oh, yeah" he replied in a broad New York accent "You shoving your fingers up my ass. Sure I can relax with that in mind."

Meredith sighed as she put the lube on her latex gloved hand. To think she actually wanted to be a Doctor. What kind of idiot was she? Doing rectal exams on old men. Jeez.

HOUR FOUR (12 pm)

Meredith stood at the crowded nurses station with Izzie and Cristina. She looked down at her pile of charts.

"I can't believe I've done 4 rectal exams and have to do 12 enemas in the next.. 2 hours with a colonoscopy patient who has to have his dressing changed ever half hour or so."

"I have a heart valve replacement surgery with Burke in.. 10 minutes" stated Cristina smugly.

"I have a surgery with Dr Webber, stomach tumor removal." smiled Izzie apologetically.

"Why is Bailey riding me this shift?" asked Meredith slamming the charts down angrily.

"Because you were late?" asked Izzie

"No. Because she knows you're doing McDreamy." said Cristina with certainty.

"How could she know that? We've been discreet. And I am not doing him. There has been no doing." retorted Meredith lowering her voice so none of the nosey nurses could hear her.

"Prft. Whatever. She knows."

"But-" Meredith shut up as Bailey walked over.

"Grey" she shoved another folder at her. "A kid just came in, ate a bunch of farm animal pieces."

"You want me to..?"

"Track and inventory the pieces? Yes. Now." she ordered walking off.

"We've all had her be hard on us, but not like she's doing to you Mer." said Izzie.

"Man she's pissed at you." gloated Cristina.

"Why?" said Meredith. "Why isn't she pissed at you? We're doing the same thing. Except you're the one doing! I'm not doing any doing"

"Doing what?" asked Derek up walking up to the shelf of patient charts, to put the one in his hands away. He was dressed in his street clothes. obviously ready to leave before returning later on.

"Seriously?" asked a bewildered Derek. "Seriously?" she stalked of with the new chart to find the kid whose stool samples she had to go through.

"What's wrong with her?" asked Derek to her friends.

"She's sexually frustrated." said Cristina. "You need to man up and get on with it."

"Cristina!" Izzie smacked her arm, glaring at her angrily. "Really sensitive there genius."

"Whatever. Later Losers. I'm off to do valve replacement. I'm going to be standing over a person with their heart out. Damn. That's cool." she swaggered off leaving a still bewildered Derek staring after her.

"I'm.. uh… oh a page.." lied Izzie looking at her silent pager. "Best .. run.." she practically ran from the Attending.

HOUR FIVE point FIVE (1.30 pm)

"I could see the snake going down easily but the porcupine. That had to hurt."

The little boy, Daniel Hunter grinned. "It was worth it."

"How? What was the purpose of it?" she asked the 13 year old.

"Stopped my little brother Tommy playing didn't it." he raised his eyebrows.

God thought Meredith, I pray that Luca is never this stupid.

HOUR SIX (2pm)

Meredith, Alex and George all sat at together for lunch. The two other female interns were still in their surgeries leaving the three others to cover the floor, do scut, pit, and general crap jobs.

The three munched their lunches in silence. After they had sat down Alex had made a mistake by taking the mickey out of Meredith. This was not a good idea. Meredith then told him to "shut up" and threatened various ways she could harm him permanently damaging him. Since then there was tense atmosphere at the table with Meredith looking up every few seconds from her sub and glaring at Alex.

The tension made George nervous. The men quickly finished and rushed off leaving Meredith alone. Possibly the smartest move they had made all day.

HOUR SEVEN (3pm) to HOUR THIRTEEN (9 pm)

"Okay, Dr Bailey, I did the enemas, the rectal exams, tracked the animals and inventoried them, replaced the dressing on Mr Fumire in 3189, booked surgery for Helen Scott in 2134 for her bowel obstruction in OR 2 tomorrow afternoon at 4. Got Mr Lucas a CT, and MRI, CT'd the car crash man in 1. Monitored Mrs Hess in 3185 and sutured in the PIT. I had a request from Dr Shepherd to be the intern in his surgery is that ok?"

"Yeah whatever. Go." said Doctor Bailey not looking up at the intern. She waited for the intern to leave until turning around with a smile on her face and walking to Chief Webbers office where he, Head Nurse Debbie and Burke were waiting. She nodded at the others. "She's did it."

Richard leant back in his chair. Smug.

Debbie, nodded "Hopefully people will stop whining about her now. They've seen that she works hard. Nobody can say different."

Preston grinned. Glad that his friend had proven herself, although he was irritated that she had had to. Cristina didn't have to. But Meredith was working for every bit of respect. She was earning it.

"I think she's the best intern we've got. Yang's good, she knows her stuff. But Meredith, she has nurses on her side, patients, lab assistants. Knows the theory, can do practical, has confidence but isn't cocky. She'd damn good" said Bailey.

"I know" said the Chief "She can get results back from them faster than anyone. Including me!"

Bailey smiled. She was pleased. Her pain in the ass interns were the best on the programme. Even the bumbling O'Malley. But she still didn't like the fact two of them had hooked up with two top attending Doctors. Nasty Nasty she thought to herself. Although she respected Meredith, as both a single mum and a Doctor. But it didn't mean she was pleased with her choices.

HOUR FOURTEEN (10pm) to HOUR SEVENTEEN (1am)

Derek pulled the mask down and announced it. "Time of death – 12.53 pm."

He walked into the scrub room and Meredith followed. He pulled his gloves off and the surgical mask, chucking his used clothing into the laundry bin, and hazardous waste bin. He breathed in deeply, before expelling his frustration in a whoosh of air. He washed his hands, as did Meredith and the walked out of the room. Meredith was amazed as she watched Derek step through the door into the hallway, she could literally see him shrug the frustration, disappointment, and anger off, to become his normal self. Leaving the traces of his failed surgery behind.

"It happens." He said to Meredith. After all he was her teacher. "Sometimes, even with a simple op, the patient doesn't make it. I can do everything perfect, and if they don't have the energy to fight too then we lose them. Its like doubles tennis. Both need to have their head in the game so they can win."

"Tennis eh?" she teased "Who do you think you are? McEnroe?"

"Damn straight! I am rock and roll." he looked at the OR white board and wiped his name and the patient info off. "So meet you in the lobby in an hour?"

"Yep. I have to go collect some labs and do a dressing change on a patients, plus post op notes, then I am free."

"In a bit then" he smiled walking off down the corridor to his office.

END OF HOUR 18

She stood in the locker room and brushed her hair out from where it had been pinned up under her scrub cap. It fell in curls around her shoulders which were now covered by her normal street clothes. She put the brush in her bag and closed her locker. She folded her jacket over her arm and left the room. She walked across the surgical floor, calls of goodbye rang out to her from patients and night nurses. She returned them with a smile. As she stood in the lift watching the lights flash for each floor she breathed in. She'd made it through. Bailey had pushed her hard, and she had survived. The doors opened and Meredith smiled, she walked out to see Derek leaning against the wall.

She looked left and saw Bailey with a frown on her face. Meredith looked back at Derek and didn't even pause. She reached her hand out to him, and he took it with a grin.

"Come home with me." She whispered. "It's time we did some doing." Derek smiled and tugged her to his side walking out of the lobby into the dark world outside.