What You Come Back To
So this is chapter three, in which I try to write myself out of the hole I wrote myself into in the last chapter. Oh, does Ava/Rebecca's baby daughter have a name???
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Meredith sat in the gallery later that afternoon, quietly watching Derek perform a craniotomy while contemplating her new job back at the hospital, among other things. Evelyn was still in the day care centre, so she was all alone when George came in and sat beside her.
"Hi," he whispered, not looking at her, but at Derek.
"Hi," she replied.
They sat in silence for a few minutes.
"I missed you," George said suddenly. "Why did you leave?"
Meredith sighed and turned to look at him. "Because I couldn't handle everything; the rumours, the dirty looks, you know. At least in Florida no one talked about me, but that was because they were scared. I was the best neuro resident they had there, and I was respected."
George smiled and returned the friendly gaze. "I would have stood up for you. Alex too."
"Yeah, I know that, but having you guys there for me wouldn't have changed the fact that Addison and Mark and Derek and the nurses would all be talking and lots of dirty looks and rumours would be going around. I didn't want to jeopardise your careers and everything just so I could be happy, which I wouldn't have been." She took a breath and turned her gaze back to Derek. "I really regret leaving, but for Evelyn's benefit, I'm sorta glad I did. I hope you can understand that."
They fell silent for a minute, both thinking about their respective lives.
"Tell me what I missed," Meredith said impulsively, turning to face George. "Tell me about your wife and kids."
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Derek looked up from the brain he was tending to see Meredith and George in the gallery, talking to each other, both smiling and looking at ease with each other. He smiled to himself under the mask as he returned his attention to the man on the table. He was glad to see that Meredith was trying to make up with her old friends, even if she had to overcome serious obstacles on the way.
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Christina Yang stood in the door of the gallery watching George, the traitor, talk to Meredith. She couldn't believe that George would be the first one to 'make nice' with the runaway, but in some way, she had a feeling it would be either him or Alex. That was after McDreamy, of course.
Christina couldn't help overhearing what the pair were talking about, and the particular comment made her sick once she overheard it.
"…So what did we miss out on? You know, the important stuff; first step, first word, the sentimental baby stuff," George asked.
She watched Meredith sigh. "Evelyn took her first step at 10 and a half months; her first word was 'mama', and that was it for at least a month after that; she was somewhat potty trained at 7 months, and completely independent by age 2…"
Meredith trailed off and George sighed, knowing he'd have to prompt her.
"Favourite toy?"
"A cuddly white Russ bear named Ted."
"Favourite book?"
"The Very Hungry Caterpillar."
"Favourite food?"
"Chocolate cake, fairy bread, watermelon, spaghetti bolognaise and chocolate tiny teddies. She hates the honey ones and any green food."
"Okay, favourite movie?"
"That's a tie between The Little Mermaid and Aladdin."
"Favourite TV show?"
"Sesame Street."
Christina scoffed at that admission and had to express her opinion. "You've got to be kidding! You actually let your child watch that crap?"
George looked horrified at her comment. "Christina!" he almost screamed.
"No, it's okay George, I can handle whatever she has to say," Meredith assured him.
"Oh, so now you can handle me?" Christina asked in a patronizing voice. "What about when you left; couldn't you handle me then?"
Meredith dropped her head into her hands. "I don't want to talk about that any more, Christina," she mumbled. "I made a mistake, okay! I admit that. You of all people need to get over yourself so we can both do our jobs properly!"
Yang smiled from the doorway she was leaning on. "Nice to have you back, Mere," she said.
Meredith looked up and smiled.
"But you still need to earn your place in the food chain."
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"What was that argument about with Yang in the gallery?" Derek asked once they reached his office several hours later. He tiredly threw his favourite scrub cap on his desk, rubbed his eyes and fell onto the couch, beckoning for Meredith to join him.
"The Chief resident doesn't agree with my choice of television programs to let my daughter watch. She thinks Sesame Street is not an appropriate show for a young child to teach them about some of the harder points in life."
Derek sighed. "She's just jealous. For the first few months after you left, she bitched about you leaving and was constantly voicing her opinion of your running; that stopped after Izzie grew a backbone and screamed at her. I just think that she was jealous. Christina had a suspicion that you were pregnant, and the running confirmed it. She only told me this after you came back; but she was jealous of you."
Meredith was almost shocked. "Christina Yang, jealous of me?"
Derek nodded. "Yep. After her non-wedding, the only part of Preston she had left was her memories; I think she was jealous of you because you ran, but you had a part of me with you, and that was what she wanted; a part of Burke to have for herself."
Meredith sat in silence, processing the shock of Derek's admission and all that meant for her. "I think I need to talk to her. She is her godmother, you know. I might have named her after your parents, but if anything happens to both of us, I think Christina's really the only person I can trust to screw her up the right way."
Derek laughed at her last comment. "The right way?"
Meredith nodded. "The way I would want her to be screwed up; you know, pretty much living in the hospital, going to all the best schools that feed into Dartmouth and Stanford, the whole nine yards. Christina is the only person who completely understands my dark and twisty-ness properly, and she should be the one to continue the last piece of me Evelyn may have if something were to happen, god forbid."
Derek nodded at her explanation. "I understand, and I think Christina will too if you tell her what you told me. It's something I have again with Mark; after you left, he was the only one I could turn to who wouldn't bite my head off or interrogate me about you, again. So, for that I am grateful, and I would love to name him godfather, if that position hasn't already been appointed."
Meredith smiled. "I was hoping you two would make up some day, so I named him godfather when I named Christina godmother."
The shock on Derek's face alarmed Meredith. "What, that's not okay?"
Derek's face immediately softened. "No, I'm just shocked that you knew."
Meredith laughed at his sincerity. "Of course I knew you two would eventually make nice. I'm a woman; we know everything."
Derek rose and walked towards the door, holding it open for her to exit first. "I'm sure you do, Mere."
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"I'm not sure I'm happy about this," Christina said, slamming the charts down on the nurse's station. "She finally grew a spine and stood up to me."
Izzie looked up from the computer screen she was studying to look at her friend. "Who?" she asked tiredly, her voice barely peaked with interest.
"Who do you think?" the sarcasm in Christina's voice didn't even cause Izzie to break a smile she had heard it that many times before when the Chief Resident was referring to her old best friend.
But Izzie was fed up with it. "Well, maybe you should just get over it, Christina. You're just jealous that she didn't tell you why she left of where she was going, and now you think she's come back to claim the credit for everything you have done! So just get over yourself and apologize to her so I can have some peace at work!"
Christina took a step back and raised her hands in submission. "Fine Barbie, whatever you want." She turned to walk away. "You two should form an 'I've grown a spine' club," she muttered under her breath.
Izzie's jaw dropped as she watched Christina walk away. "Bitch," she muttered under her own breath.