She got home to find the house empty as if she had planned it. Hurrying upstairs, she grabbed a suitcase and headed to her room. Without even thinking, she threw different clothes into the suitcase before walking to the nightstand and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. Settling into the chair behind the desk, she let out a sigh and began to write.
Alex,
As I'm sure you've notice, I've had a lot on my mind the last week or so. I have an explanation for all of it, but right now… I can't think. I asked the Chief for some time off, so I'm spending two weeks at one of my mother's vacation homes. I really just need to think and get everything straight in my head. I hope you understand.
See you in two weeks.
-Meredith.
Folding the letter in half, she wrote his name neatly on the top, grabbed the suitcase, and walked out.
--
"Hey, have you seen Mer?" He asked walking up to Izzie and Christina who were talking to each other at the nurses' station.
"Nope." They both answered at the same time.
He sighed. "I've been looking for her everywhere."
"Looking for a quickie, Kerev?" Christina said raising an eyebrow.
He just rolled his eyes. "I just haven't seen her all day."
"Me neither." Izzie said.
"She was here this morning." Christina sighed going back to charts.
"Maybe she went home." Izzie shrugged.
Alex nodded. Something didn't feel right. They had all been friends for years. He and Meredith were sleeping together. It wasn't like her just to pick up and leave work.
"Yeah. Probably… See you later."
--
He hadn't seen Meredith all day. Figuring she had gone home, he gave up his search. But as he put the car into park, he noticed no movement in the house. Brushing it off, he pushed the door open and headed towards the front door.
"Meredith!" He called as he opened the door. "Mer? You home?"
When he got no answer, worry washed over him. He walked into the kitchen to find it empty. Just as he was about to leave a piece of paper with his name caught his eye. Picking it up, he recognized the handwriting and opened the note. As he read it relief came followed by confusion. Meredith had left out of the blue for no apparent reason? What the hell was going on?
--
Just finishing medical school, Ellis Grey walked away from her first, abusive husband with two things: a bag of clothes and Mark Sloan. When she walked away from her first love, Charles Sloan, she was hardly twenty-six years old. Her last years of school consisted of classes, her son, and being hit around by her husband. Finally growing sick of waiting for him to change, she picked up and left him taking their son with her. She moved to Seattle just as her internship began. Mark was six years old when his sister was born. His mother with in her second marriage and four years into her residency. He quickly grew protective over his younger sister, Meredith. And when Ellis's second marriage failed this time due to her infidelity, the siblings, now eleven and six, were moved to Boston. As Ellis grew more and more absent in there lives, the more protective Mark became. Even into college, he would come home to threaten a boyfriend or two. They had always been close. Even when Mark graduated medical school and moved to New York as Meredith started her second year of college, they remained close shuttling between the two cities to see each other. When she graduated medical school, her was almost an attending and pressured her to move to New York. But when Ellis got sick, she moved her and her mother out to Seattle leaving the two siblings on opposite sides of the country. This never strained their relationship though visits grew virtually nonexistent.
But now she stood in the New York Airport trying to figure out how to tell him everything that was going on. No matter how understanding and supportive Mark had ever been, she wasn't sure how he would take the news that she was so similar to their own mother. It was their mother who when faced with a hardship turned and ran away. And right when this hardship present itself in her life, Meredith wanted to run and left Seattle even if only temporarily.
Hailing a taxi, she didn't allow her train of thought to break not even long enough to call her brother to tell him that she was in New York. She told the driver the brief directions to her brother's home and watched the barely familiar scenes went by outside the window. She waited in silence until they pulled in front of a huge apartment complex. Quickly she paid, gathered her things, and headed inside to the elevator. The elevator finally dinged and she got out on the second to top floor. The top floor was the owner's suite that had about as much square footage as a large house crunched down onto one floor. Below that were the expensive apartment suites were only a little smaller than the owner's suite. Standing in the middle of the small hall, she looked at the two doors on either side of her. One was Mark's that extended to the end of the east half of the north wing and one the other was someone else's that extended the entire west side of the north wing. Sighing, she knocked on Mark's door. No answer. She knocked again a little louder. Still getting no answer she pulled out her key ring and looked through until she found his key. She pushed the door open once she successfully unlocked it.
"Mark? Hello?" She called dropping her bags. "Big brother dearest."
Walking through out the apartment and still not finding him, she finally came to the conclusion he was out at work or some place. She decided to wait there for him and fell back on the couch.
--
It was finally eight when he got off the elevator and started towards his door. Digging through his pocket, he withdrew his key and stuck it in the whole only to find it unlocked. He became instantly alarmed. Robberies in New York weren't uncommon even in up scale places, but this was the first time he ever came home to find his apartment unlocked. Slightly nervous, he pushed the door open. The lamp was on and that first caught his eye.
"Hey, Big brother." Meredith said stepping out from the kitchen. He jumped at the voice.
"Jesus, Mer, what the hell are you trying to do? Kill me?" He asked letting out a sigh when he realized who was actually in his apartment.
"I figured you wouldn't mind if I let myself in." She shrugged walking back into the kitchen. His eyes wondered the room as he followed her in.
"Yeah, no… it's fine." He said. "But what are you doing here?"
"Can't I visit my brother without an arterial motive?" She asked taking a bite of the sandwich she had made.
"I guess… but you don't normally."
"We'll talk about it later. For now, who's this Molly girl?" She asked with that little sister prying look in her eyes. He chuckled pulling her into a tight hug.
"I miss you, Mer." He admitted kissing her cheek.
"I missed you too."