Disclaimer: I definitely don't own Grey's Anatomy. If I did, 411 would be on…right now.
Meredith's head was pounding. She was sick to her stomach and she had no desire to get out of bed. Ever. Tequila and Derek were to blame for how crappy she felt. She's my wife. His words kept repeating over and over like a broken record. He had promised her that he was going to get a divorce. And then his cheating wife had showed up and he had decided to give her a chance.
"Meredith, are you okay?" Izzie asked as she filled her mug of coffee.
"No. Ya know what? I'm not okay. I'm in love with a man who has a wife who said he was getting divorced but now he's staying with his wife. So, no. I'm not okay."
"Oh. He made a decision," Izzie said sympathetically, "I'm sorry, Mer."
Little did she know, her day was about to get worse. She went to the locker room and changed into her scrubs with the rest of the interns just like she did every other day.
"Meredith, can I speak with you" the chief said discretely as the other interns got their assignments, "It's your mother. She fell and she's refusing to let the doctors look at her."
"I…um," Meredith stuttered.
"She has Alzheimer's. Why didn't you tell me?" Dr. Webber asked.
"She made me promise. I'll see what I can do," Meredith avoided anymore questions and headed into her mom's room.
"Mom? Mommy, you have to let the doctors do their jobs," Meredith coaxed.
"What the hell is she doing here? I told you never to bother me at work!" Ellis screamed.
Meredith walked backwards out of the room and closed the door, leaning up against it and trying to catch her breath. This was definitely not what she needed today. Not only would she have to deal with Derek and Addison and their back together wedded bliss, but she would have to deal with her mom, let alone the crap she was going to get for keeping the Dr. Ellis Grey's condition a secret.
"Grey, you okay?" Bailey asked.
"Fine Dr. Bailey," Meredith lied.
"You're fine. And I'm a cuddly puppy. You good to work today?"
"Yeah," she sighed.
"Okay. Then you're on scut." Bailey stated.
"I just said I'm…" Meredith protested
"I know you said your fine. But your mother is in the hospital, you've got other things going on and I don't need you getting distracted. So, scut."
"Scut," Meredith repeated.
A day of doing scut definitely wasn't going to take her mind off of the crap that the day had become. An awesome surgery maybe,definitely not scut. But she was a surgical intern. She had taken an oath to save a life. And even if her own life was in shambles, at least she could do something to save somebody else's.
"Dr. O'Malley, how's Meredith?" Derek asked eagerly when he saw George doing charts.
"Her mother just got admitted and you broke up with her. How do you think she's doing?" George slammed the chart shut.
"Her…is her mom okay?"
He knew that Ellis had Alzheimer's. Very advanced, early onset Alzheimer's. Meredith had confided that in him, despite having promised her mom that nobody else except her and the nursing home staff would know.
"She's really sick. She fell and she's refusing treatment. She has…"
"Alzheimer's" Derek finished.
"Yeah, how did…Meredith told you? Meredith told you and she didn't tell anybody else. And you still did this to her?" George questioned, "Bastard" he muttered under his breath.
"I'm sorry," Derek rubbing his eyes.
"You're sorry? Meredith, she's amazing. But you don't see it. You took advantage of her. You lead her on. And now she's drinking herself into oblivion and somebody else has to pick up the pieces. Don't say you're sorry. Fix it."
"Just take care of her okay?" Derek said defeated. George had now idea how he felt about her, how amazing he knew she was. But all of that was irrelevant now.
"Somebody has to," George muttered as he walked away.
Derek was thankful that Meredith had her friends to protect her. Especially when he couldn't be there to do it himself. He could deal with being glared at by all the interns in the hospital if meant Meredith was being taken care of. She was self-destructive and the last thing she needed now was to be alone.
"Can you believe him?" George asked taking a spoonful of yogurt, joining in on Alex and Izzie's conversation at the nurses station.
"Have you seen the She-Shepherd? She's McHot," Alex laughed.
"She's in love with him. Of course you wouldn't know anything about that, would you Evil Spawn?" Izzie raised her eyebrows.
"I need an intern," Derek said, approaching the three as they stood in the hallway.
"I'm with Burke," George scoffed.
"Bailey has me in the pit," Izzie said.
"I'll take it," Alex said despite the glares from Izzie and George, "What? It's better than doing sutures."
He had to find her. She, understandably, had been avoiding him all day, But had to talk to her. Not to explain his decision. It was too soon for that. But he had to make sure she was okay. It was killing him that he hurt her and now the mess with her mother just added to it.
"I heard about your mom. I'm sorry," Derek said leaning against the doorframe of the on call room where he found her..
"Yeah me too" Meredith stared straight ahead.
"I can take a look at her if you want. There are some new trials that…" He tried as he entered the room.
"Stop it Derek."
"Stop?"
"You're not my boyfriend. Stop acting like you care. You left me. You chose your wife. So just stop."
"Meredith…I care about…"
"Don't," she protested, and walked out of the room.
Derek sighed and ran his hand through his hair.
After visiting with her mom one last time before going home, Meredith realized exactly what she had to do. Reluctantly, she went to find Derek. If she wasn't going to have him, she would have her mom. And oddly enough, it was Derek who was the one who could help with her mom. She found him sitting in one of the conference room's typing on his laptop.
"Tell me about the trial," Meredith whispered as she quietly entered the room.
"Okay," Derek said with a sad smile.
Meredith listened as Derek pulled up a chair for her and told her all about the trial that he could get Ellis into. It wasn't a cure, but it was a way for Meredith to have more good days with her mother. And right now, she needed something good. She needed some hope where there looked like there wasn't any.
Don't you know that I'm your place to run?
Again, I have a love-hate relationship with my writing. I think it needs a lot of help. But I do love the George defending Mer part. Don't worry, there won't be any George/Meredith sex though. You know what to do…READ AND REVIEW!!!
