Meredith tried her best to not fall asleep after take-off because when she slept everything she didn't want to remember came screaming back at her. The look in his eyes when he kissed her good-bye for the last time, the page she had gotten down to the pit, his body on a stretcher, his casket being lowered into the ground. These moments were just blurs to her when awake, but when she was sleeping she saw them all in vivid detail. She relived those moments over and over again. This was why she hadn't slept in almost four days. As a doctor she knew it wasn't healthy, but she couldn't do it. She couldn't keep seeing him like that. Meredith preferred the memories she thought of when awake. Memories of happier times. Not that their seven years together had been without problems, but all of the pain seemed to fade away when he was there. He made even the worst days livable.

"Mom, how many times do I have to tell you that I can't come down to Boston this weekend? I have finals all next week, and I need to study! You're the one who is always yelling at me and telling me to make better grades," Meredith exclaimed into the phone at her mother, the great Ellis Grey.

"Meredith, it is imperative that I see you this weekend, and I really can't come up there. Just bring that boy of yours and come down this weekend. I won't take no for an answer," replied Ellis.

"Okay, but we're flying down on Friday and back on Saturday. That's the only way we can make it."

"Fine, I will see you at the house Friday evening, Goodbye."

"What was that all about?" he asked as he came out of the kitchen. They had been dating for a little over a year at this point and were just one week of finals away from being half-way finished with their second year of med school.

"My mom wants us to come down to Boston this weekend. I tried to get out of it, but she wouldn't take no for an answer. She acted like it was really important that she see me, and my mom has never acted like it was important that she see me. When I lived at home she would go weeks without seeing me, so something big must be going on. I wonder if she's getting married, or maybe she's not going to pay for my school anymore? What if I have to get a job? I won't have time to study, I'll fail out of school, then we won't get to do our internships together………"

"Okay, slow down and take a deep breath. It's all going to be okay, I promise. You are not going to fail out of school. I don't get why you're so worried. I should be the worried one considering I have yet to meet the great Ellis Grey."

"I would tell you she was nothing to be afraid of, but then I'd be lying and I know you hate liars," she said as she leaned in to gently kiss him. "Thank you for dealing with my panic attacks."

"You're welcome. You know I love you, panic attacks, rambling and all. Let's go finish studying."

The trip down to Boston was fairly uneventful, but Meredith's feelings of impending doom kept getting stronger the closer they came to Boston. When they finally pulled up in front of Meredith's childhood home, she wasn't even sure if she was breathing.

"Just take a deep, cleansing breath. You're going to be fine, my beautiful green-eyed girl."

"How do you know I'll be fine? I'm never fine after an encounter with my mother. Don't you remember my last weekend trip home?"

"Yes, I do, but I also remember that it only took me, you, a gallon of ice cream, and a corny romantic comedy to make you feel better. Whatever happens, I'm here to take you home and make it all better. Don't forget that."

"Thanks. Just remember, no matter what she says to you that I love you and nothing that comes out of her mouth will change that."

"Well nothing she says to me will ever change the fact that I am totally 100 in love with her daughter. Now let's go get this over with!"

They walked up to the front door hand-in-hand. Meredith reached out to turn the doorknob, and found it strange that it was unlocked. Her mom never left doors unlocked. She slowly opened the door and walked into the house. "Mom! Mom, where are you?"

"I'm right here," said Ellis Grey as she walked into the foyer. "There's no need to yell. Come and have a seat in my office, I need to talk to you."

"Oh, mom this is my boyfriend…" Meredith was unable to finish her sentence before her mom interrupted, "I don't care who he is, and there is no point introducing me. Just bring him into my office and have a seat."

"I'm just going to get right to the point. There is really no point in exchanging fake pleasantries. I've been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's Disease. I have stepped down at the hospital and am moving into an assisted living home on Monday. The home is here in Boston. My only request to you is that you come down to check on me once a month. You have been taken care of financially. All of the money that you will need to finish school has been put in a fund. The houses here and in Seattle have also been signed over to you. You can chose to do what you like with the Seattle home, but the home here is for you to live in while you are doing your residency at Mass General. I will probably not be doing as well by then, so you will be close by to take care of things. Also, when you stop by my lawyer's office in the morning to sign all of these papers, you will also sign a confidentiality agreement. You are to tell no one about my condition, and if you do all of your financial support will be withdrawn, are we clear?"

"You're sick, I need to take care of you, lawyers….." Meredith began to ramble as her breathing became more and more panicked.

"Meredith, stop being a baby. There are some things in life that you just have to deal with. Get over it," her mother strongly lectured as she left the room.

"It's okay baby. We're going to deal with this together. I'll always be there to take care of you. You will never have to deal with anything like this alone ever again. Now why don't you go to the restroom, clean up your face, and take me on a tour of Boston. I've never been here before."

All it took was his simple assurance that he would be there to calm Meredith down. She had never been the type of girl to sit around daydreaming about weddings, babies, and happily ever afters, but with him she did. She knew right then and there that no matter what came her way in this crazy world, as long as he was beside her she could do it. She could survive. How was she ever going to survive without him?

Meredith's thoughts were interrupted by a flight attendant asking her for her drink order. Everyone she knew thought she was insane to leave Boston only two weeks after he was gone, but they just didn't get it. She couldn't sleep in their house. She couldn't even go back to work to try to take her mind off of things because everything in that hospital reminded her of him and his death. A new life in a new town was what she needed. It was the only way she was going to be able to attempt to survive without him.

Thank you so much for your reviews so far! I promise many of your questions will be answered in the next few updates!