Title: Tangled Web
Author: Farrah
Disclaimer: If I owned Grey's Anatomy we wouldn't be waiting until January for new episodes
Summary: Meredith didn't deserve the cards she was being dealt, so she took matters into her own hands. She left, but the death of a loved one brought her back. But when she returns, she's not alone. Post 'Into You Like A Train' episode. Set six years in the future.
I'm so sorry for not updating this earlier. This holiday season has been so hectic. When I posted my last chapter, I thought I would be able to devote all of my time to writing some new ones, in order for Mer, Jer and Mark to be in Seattle, for a Christmas update. But things didn't go as planned, My uncle who isn't much older than me, flew into town. He needed to do some last minute shopping and stuff like that so I had to go with him. And my aunt totaled her car by wrapping it around a tree and had to be hospitalized. Speaking of car crashes, I live in a gated community and the security guard at the gate was involved in a car crash as well, some lady lost control of her car and ran into the booth head on. Thankfully, both were okay.
So here is where I once again say sorry for not updating quicker. I hope you guys like this chapter. The next one should be up by tonight but I'm not making any promises though.
Read. Review. Enjoy
Chapter 8:
- Western Memorial Hospital, NY, June 7th, 2012 -
Meredith walked into the hospital doors with a sense of dread. Mark still had time off so he and Jer decided to go play in central park then go and watch a ball game later in the day. Mer on the other hand had work. She had surgeries to do, patients to check on, interns to boss around, and a meeting with the Chief, which is exactly where she headed after rounds.
Mer walked into the chief's office with a smile on her face, not because of what the meeting was scheduled for, but because she hadn't seen her friend in weeks. Chief Davy greeted Mer with a smile of her own. The two had become good friends during Mer's first year of residency, Trisha was amazed at Meredith's surgical abilities and even more amazed at how she juggled being a single mother with her duties at the hospital. Trisha had also become friends with Mark, when he transferred to the hospital she thought he would be a little hard to handle, after all, that was his reputation; but he acted in an opposite manner to that of which she was told he would. He was indeed arrogant and a little cocky, but not to an unbearable extent. She respected him, not only because of his status a surgeon but also because of the way he was toward Mer, back then it was obvious to everyone that he liked Mer, well everyone except Mer, of course. Any man who would help a woman through pregnancy then raise the child, even though it was not his own, Trisha deemed as one of 'the good ones'.
"Hey Trish" Mer said as she sat in one of the chairs stationed in front of the desk
"Hi Mer, good to have you back in New York"
"Thanks" somehow it didn't come out as enthused as she wanted it to
"So... what do you want to deal with first?"
"Huh?" she said confusedly, trying to figure out what the hell Trish meant
"Come on Meredith, I've known you for almost six years now, in that time, you have only once asked for a meeting to be scheduled between us. That was when you found out you were pregnant with Jeremy. That being said, do you want to deal with the business aspect of this meeting first, or the personal?"
"Business first I guess, that way you can stay in chief mode for now and then switch to friend mode after." Meredith smiled as she thought about the understanding the two had. When they became friends, Trish made it very clear that Mer was not going to receive any special treatment because of it. Therefore causing Trish to have two modes, in the hospital she was in full fledged chief mode, which meant, Mer was to see her as the superior and she was to receive the respect due her; outside of the hospital she was in friend mode, which essentially meant, well... they were friends. They would be able to talk to each other about anything. Very few times did Trish need to be in friend mode whilst in the hospital but it wasn't off limits or anything like that.
"Okay, what can I help you with Dr. Grey?"
"Firstly I would like to say that my time here at WMH has been great, when I first transferred here, everyone accepted me right away, which made me feel very welcomed. This hospital has become my home away from home. You helped me finish my internship, even with a pregnancy, which is something that doesn't often happen, and I am eternally grateful to you for that. Because of you, I am the surgeon I am today. I want to thank you for all your help throughout the years that you have given me."
"There's no need for a thanks Meredith, with or without me, there is no doubt in my mind that you would have become an excellent surgeon."
"Still, you made it possible for me not to have to wash out of the program."
Trish just smiled at Mer and gave her a slight nod, as a signal that she should continue.
"As you know, I have been offered positions from several hospitals around the country in accordance with the start of my being an attending." to this, Trish gave a nod of agreement "I've given a lot of thought as to where I think I should be and where I see myself in the next five to ten years. With that in my mind, I have decided to accept Seattle Grace's offer to join their staff."
"I understand. Thank you for telling me this now, it will give me enough time to look for a suitable replacement. On behalf of Western Memorial, I just want it to be known that your presence will be truly missed. I wish you luck and good fortune in your future endeavors Dr. Grey" Trish extended her hand for it to be shaken
"Thank you Chief" Mer replied as their hands parted and returned to her position in the chair
"I know one person, who is really going to miss you though" she smiled and raised her eyebrows
"Brodey" the both said in unison, then laughed for a while
"Okay this is friends mode now" she placed her hand above her head, in front of her face and moved it in a downward motion below the chin for more effect
Mer only responded with nodding
"WHAT THE HELL!!!!!!!!!!!!?????????!!!!!!!!!"
Meredith nearly jumped out of her skin at the outburst "Jesus Trish, are you trying to send me into cardiac arrest?" she said, eyes wide and visibly shaken
"Sorry" she pause a moment to calm her self then proceeded: "What. In. The. World. Are. You. Doing?" stopping at every word to get her point across to Meredith
"I don't know, I really don't" Mer sighed
"You don't know? YOU DON'T KNOW!!!" her voice steadily rising "last time I checked, Derek Shepherd was still working at Seattle Grace." her voice bouncing of the walls of the office
"Shhhhhhhhhhh" Mer put her fingers to her lips "keep your voice down, you know you're the only person in New York that knows he's Jer's father."
"Again, sorry. I'm just worried is all" sincereness written over her face "This Shepherd situation is going to be big."
"I know you are and yes it is" she sighed and shook her head
"So tell me, what happened on this trip that made it so different from the others. How come you are so dead set on going back to Seattle Grace?"
"I don't know, maybe it's because I spent a much longer time this go around. I guess I realized how much I really missed Seattle, how much Jer really loves it there"
"How is my little man doing?"
"Oh he's great, he's still going on and on about how great his party was."
"I bet. That reminds me though, I still have his present. I could bring it by you later or I could just wait and give it to him on his birthday"
"You can wait till his birthday, that's no problem, I still have one or two for him at home, knowing Mark like I do, he has a bunch stashed away somewhere I can't find them"
"Of course he does, you think he wants to hear that lecture again about how he's spoiling Jer? I don't think so"
"But he does!!!"
"Everybody knows that, but we also know that no amount of lecturing is going to make him stop, so we don't try. No one except for you that is. Where are those two anyway?"
"Something about a boy's day out. I think they went to Yankee stadium to watch a game."
"Those two do love their Yankees"
"I'm going back to Seattle Grace, Trish" saying it as if it just dawned on her what she was about to do
"I know" Trish replied, unbelief evident in her voice, not unbelief that she was leaving New York for Seattle, but unbelief that she was actually going to do it, going back to work at the hospital that she dreaded "So... are you going to tell Shepherd?"
"I want to... but then again, I don't want to. You know what I mean?"
"I think so"
"I want to tell him , I really do. I've wanted to tell him about Jer since I found out I was pregnant, but I couldn't. I left because he chose his wife, a wife I knew nothing about. He screwed me over royally by not telling me about her in the first place, we were only together for a short time but I fell for him nonetheless. I don't blame him though"
"I know" Trish really did know. She and Mer had had this conversation many a time. But she would listened every time and allow Mer to get it off her chest.
"I mean, he wouldn't be the man I thought he was if he didn't try. So in a way I'm glad he did choose her, it makes me know I wasn't wrong about him. You know how much I hate being wrong." To this Trish smiled "I'm not even angry with him anymore, I've forgiven him. How could I not? He's the father of my child, if I'm angry with him, then by proxy I'll be at least a little bit angry at Jer, and I would never do something like that."
"Of course not"
"I want to tell him, I should tell him, he has every right as Jeremy's father. I'm sure he would make a great father." she paused to fully digest the words that just came out of her mouth 'he would make a great father' "He has the right to know his son, it's his right to be told that he is a father, the right to try to get to know him, but how do I go about doing that Trish? Oh, hi, I know I haven't seen or talked to you in almost six years but I want you to meet your son."
"That's an interesting way to go about it."
"But then there is the part of me that doesn't want to tell him, I left Seattle because he chose his wife, even though I've come to terms with him choosing her and I'm not angry about his decision anymore, facts are still facts. Fact of the matter is, if I had told him about the pregnancy when I found out about it, not only would I have been the 'other woman' but I also would have been a home wrecker."
"True"
"Most importantly, I have to think about Jeremy in all of this. I have to think about how all of this is going to impact his life, he'll surely be upset, I know that much. I wonder if it will be too much for him, maybe he's not old enough to handle something like this. The only father figure he's had is Mark. You know, he's calling him daddy now?"
"Yeah, you told me"
"Oh my God, do you realize how ridiculously bad this can get for Jeremy. He's calling Mark daddy now, what happens when he finds out who is real father is? He'll be faced with the dilemma of which one he is to call daddy. How am I going to rectify that situation for him?"
"I don't know"
"Me neither, me neither" she whispered as she went into a contemplative silence. They both stayed that way for a while, both thinking about the same thing, what Meredith should do.
"I take it Mark will be in here soon though...giving me a speech similar to yours, ending in him telling me he's decided not to re-sign his contract and he's moving to Seattle to take a position there." Trish said, trying to break Meredith away from her problems
"Well uh, I uh, we haven't really, well um, you know, sat down, cas we've not had a chance to, well you know discuss, anything" she stuttered, not being able to make a coherent sentence
"Your telling me you haven't told him yet"
"No" she said lamely as she found her sneakers to be really interesting
"Then what are you still doing here? I want you to finish up your shift then get your ass home and talk about this with him. Understood?"
"Yes"
Trish turned to her computer and started looking at something on the screen "The way I see it, your going to need about a week to move down there, so, officially, your last day of employment at WMH as a surgical resident will be on the 23rd of this month. That gives you a little over two weeks left here. I'm going to miss you Meredith"
"I'll miss you to"
"Now, go on, get out of here."
Meredith made her way to the door, placed her hand on the knob, then turned around.
"Thank you" Trish smiled "For everything" with that Meredith exited the office and was off to finish the rest of her shift and tell a few choice people of her departure.
- Meredith's apartment, NYC -
Meredith entered the apartment at half past eleven, all the lights were off except the one coming from her and Mark's bedroom. She figured he would be up. They hardly ever spent a night apart since they became a couple. They both had trouble sleeping without the other being close by. She laid her keys and purse on the counter, then proceeded to the family room. The room was dark, yet she made no attempt to turn on the lights. She sat on the couch thinking of how she was going to tell Mark that she was moving to Seattle. Mer knew she should have talked to him before making any decisions, Mark would always say they were in everything 'together', yet she made the decision without consulting him first. The reason for that though was because there was the chance that he didn't want to move to Seattle, if she knew he was definitely not going to go with her, then she might have changed her mind, and that was not an option.
"Hey" he said in one short burst of air from behind the couch she was sitting on
Meredith leaped out of the chair and nearly jumped out of her skin, which caused Mark to rush to her side and pull her into his loving embrace.
"It's just me babe, just me" he whispered into her hair and ran his hand up and down the side of her arm, tenderly.
"You scared the crap out of me" she muttered into chest
"I know, I'm sorry." he said as he let go of her
"It's okay"
" I heard when you got in, but you didn't come upstairs so I figured I'd come down and see if everything was okay" he told her as he turned on the light then when in the kitchen to get them some drinks.
Meredith remained silent until he returned. She was thinking of ways to approach the subject of moving to Seattle but was finding the task to be very difficult. When he began to look strangely at her she decided to start with light conversation. "So, how was your boy's day out?"
He put on a full- fledged smile " It was great! We slept in late, then went out for brunch. After that we headed over to the park, he's getting so good on that skateboard of his now Mer, you should have seen him, he did this thing where he jumped in the air, flipped the board under his feet and then landed on it again. It was unbelievable" Mark was wide- eyed, exhibiting how truly excited he was about it.
"Kick flip, at least I think that's what he called it" Mer informed
"Yeah, that's it. We played catch for a while after, just killing time until the game started. Get this, he caught Derek Jeter's home run ball with his new mitt, I got the ball signed after the game for him. I personally think he's in love with the thing, it's understandable though, it's his first home run ball." he beamed, he always beamed when he spoke about Jeremy
"Wow. That's so cool"
"Yeah it is... so what were you thinking about?"
"Excuse me?"
"Earlier, when I startled you, you seem to have been thinking about something. Must have been something big too, because people don't usually catch you off guard like that."
"You're right, I have been thinking about some stuff, some big stuff." Mer bowed her head to avoid his gaze
Mark pushed the strands of hair that were in front of her face, behind her ear and raised her face so she could look in his eyes, the very thing she was trying to avoid. "Mer just tell me, whatever it is, we'll deal with it. We're in this together, remember?"
Damn you, with this 'in this together' thing. Why do you have to be so sweet all the time? What I am about to tell you can either break or make our relationship and here you are being all caring and supportive. You are just making this soooooooooo much harder. Damn it.
"Mer" he questioned, trying to figure out why she wasn't saying anything, just simply staring
She took both of his hands in hers and positioned her body so that they were facing each other "Mark, we've been together for almost two years now and its been great, really great, and we were friends before that, good friends. We use to talk and watch movies and do friendly stuff like that, not that we don't talk and watch movies anymore, because we do, we do that a lot, and I like it. It's good to be in a relationship where you can do stuff like that, you know what I mean? Of course you know what I mean, you always know what I mean, it's like this sixth sense you have, sometimes it's sexy, but sometimes it's annoying, but mostly sexy." she rambled
Mark was smiling from ear to ear "Babe, you know I love it when you ramble, its ridiculously cute. But, you have something important to tell me, so just tell me."
"O-k-a-y" she said dragging out the word for as long as possible, then biting her bottom lip
"Just give it to me straight, no sugar coating"to this Mer nodded her head in understanding
"I've decided to move back to Seattle and take a position at Seattle Grace"
Mark just stared into Mer's grey eyes, trying to accept the news he had just heard. He removed his hands from her grip and turned his body into the proper position. After a while he shook his head and place it in his hands.
Mark sat like this for about eight or ten minutes, he had not spared Mer a single glance in the entire time. She was beginning to grow worried. Usually he would have said something by now, she had already played out a few scenarios of how her news would affect him, but this, this was not one of them.
"Mark, please say something" her voice cracking from emotion
Mark's response to her was to get up and walk upstairs into their room. A lone tear spilled out of Mer's pooling eyes and slid down her cheek, she wiped it away quickly, leaving no trace that it had actually been there. Just then she heard Mark coming down the stairs, she stood up and turned around to face him but he motioned for her to remain seated. He made his way over to her and sat beside her on the couch once again, but this time a black folder was in his hands. He passed her the folder, still not saying a word since she told him she was moving back to Seattle.
"What is this?"
"Open it" he said and Mer let out a breath that she didn't know she was holding, relieved that he was speaking to her and not giving the silent treatment
She did as he told her and was stunned at what she saw "houses?"
"Yes, houses. Houses in Seattle to be exact"
Mer's eyes grew wide and she looked at him in pure shock "S-S-Seattle?"
Mark began to laugh "You should see your face right now"
Mer was still a little confused at what was happening "W-What, H-How did you, I didn't, but you, and I, Huh?."
"I love it when you're articulate" he grinned
"Mark" she scolded, she was really lost here. She wondered how things could go from one extreme to the other. How one second his head was in his hands and he wasn't speaking, to another where he was giving her a folder with photos and layouts of houses, in Seattle no less
"Okay, okay. Remember at Jer's party when you all went inside the house to talk"
"Yeah"
"Well I had to come inside for some barbecue sauce and I overheard something Christina said to you"
"What was that exactly?"
"Well I remember her saying that if I really cared about you, which I do, I wouldn't stand in the way of you going home. So I'm not"
"So ... what does this mean?"
"It means, at the end of this month, I won't be signing a contract to extend my stay at Western Memorial. It means, we are all going to be living in Settle come the end of this month. It means, I want to be with you and Jeremy, if that takes me moving across the country, then so be it."
Meredith was a little dumbfounded, she was so happy in that moment. "When did you figure all of this out?" waving her hands in front of him as well as the folder
"I know your happier in Seattle, I'd be stupid if I didn't realize it. So the day all you women went out to the mall with the kids, I went to a Realtors office. I told her what I was looking for and she put that together" pointing to the folder
"Wait a minute... you got this before we left Seattle?"
"Yes"
"So you had already made up your mind to move to Seattle?"
"Yes"
"So what was the whole, you sitting here with you head in your hands and not speaking to me for about ten minutes for?" she exclaimed laughingly as she playfully hit him on the arm
"C'mon I had to let you sweat just a little bit." he grinned and she gave him what he like to call, the 'sexy pout'
"Not fair. Do you know how hard this has been on me? For the entire day, I dreaded this conversation"
"I'm sorry babe." he placed a kiss on her temple "But now you have to choose a house, so I can call the realtor in the morning. I've pretty much done the hardest part though, It's narrowed it down to three now, don't worry, I made sure there was a little bit of both of us in all of them."
They spent the whole night talking about which house was better and finally decided on the 'perfect' one. It was a mix of them both. They stayed up longer to start making plans. They figured out how they were going to make the move as easy and quickly as possible and when they were going to announce their departure to their friends as well as the hospital. They talked about everything, all bases were covered, even the most minuscule of them all.
This was sort of a filler chapter, but some important (to me at least) things happened. This chapter showed the friendship between Trish, and Mer. I wanted to show it because I think their friendship is a unique one, it's not often that the Chief of surgery and a resident can communicate in the way they do (I don't think so). Mer sees Trish as a sort of mother figure and Trish sees Mer as a daughter. As for Mer and Mark, this chapter I think show's how much she doesn't want to leave Mark. It also shows hoe Mer is putting Jeremy first in all of her decision making. Meredith in this chapter shows how much she has thought about telling Derek about Jer. It also shows that she forgives him and is not angry at him for his choice anymore, that is going to have a big role in the future chapters. But like I said before, she is thinking about Jer first and foremost. She doesn't like the idea of putting her son in a position where has to choose daddy's, Derek is his biological father but Mark is his dad. Mark has been there from the very beginning. She knows Derek would have too, if given the chance, but she was a bit selfish when she first decided not to tell him about the pregnancy, and she realizes that.
I just felt like that stuff needed to be said. I hope you guys Review and tell me what you thought of it.