My pulse quickened as the door opened. It took everything I had not to vomit or pass out. Christina's head popped around the corner, searching for the chief. "Chief? Hello?" She opened the door wider and made eye contact with me. The shock on her face was priceless. Christina Yang was not easily the surprised type. I could only imaging what she was seeing though. For the first time in six months Christina saw me and I looked like hell. My jeans and sweater were not exactly my style- then again, maternity clothes really aren't anyone's style. Addison bought me a new wardrobe when I finally couldn't fit in my college sweatshirts anymore. My very pregnant belly stuck out so far that I couldn't see my feet anymore. On any given day, I was lucky to wear matching shoes. My face revealed how terrified I was by my flushed cheeks and what I was sure was a growing greenish color from my nervous stomach.
She opened the door further and stepped toward me. One by one, my old friends filed in. Alex then Izzie then George all entered the office with curious faces, all expecting to see the chief. All blindsided by my presence. The room echoed the awkward silence. Finally, Christina spoke up, "Meredith?"
I smiled reassuringly, trying to recover from my terrified state. "Hi Christina." With those words, my friends crowded around me, smothering me with a hug. I breathed a sigh of relief. Reconciling with my friends was going far better than expected. They were going to forgive me and everything was going to go back to normal. "Aren't you supposed to yell at me?" I questioned.
"Shh. Hug now. Fight later." Izzie said and squeezed tighter.
Everyone released from the hug and I started to tell them how glad I was to see them, but Alex interrupted, "Where the hell have you been?"
"Yeah, Mer. What the hell?" Christina added and hit me on the shoulder. "You disappear for months and come back knocked up? No explanation. No goodbye." I quickly realized that this wasn't as easy as anticipated.
"I know. And I'm sorry." I took a deep breath. "I'll tell you everything you want to know."
"We want to know everything." George spoke up for the first time, clearly angry.
I cleared my throat and began to relive the last seven months.