So I wanted to update this weeks ago, but life seriously got in the way! Between the holiday, and my stepdad getting in an accident it has been hard to find inspiration but here is another chapter!

Anyways, enjoy as always!

My eyes hover over the surgical board, searching for his name. I find his name next to a valve replacement in OR two for this afternoon. I sigh, knowing that I will more than likely bump into him sometime today. Being off work for the week made it easy to avoid him, but now that I'm working again, it's going to be a little difficult.

I sip my coffee while watching the nurses write more stuff on the board. My name is written next to bowl resection at 3 this afternoon. Amelia has got an aneurysm clipping, and Alex's name doesn't end up on the board, or at least not yet.

First days back are always tough, but it feels especially tough today. Bailey had a nightmare last night, and crawled into bed with me. I love that boy to death but he is a crazy sleeper. He punched and kicked me most of the night, causing me to lose my much needed sleep. Then there is also the problem of Nathan, and the avoiding. I already know that will be an interesting conversation whenever we do see each other.

My thoughts are interrupted by my pager. I pull it off my waist to find the Chief paging me. I work my way to her office, hoping she isn't brushing patients off on me today, because I just want an easy day. That's all a girl can ask for on her first day back.

I knock twice before entering. "You paged?"

"Yes I did Grey. Come in." She motions me to come in, and I sit in the chair in front of her desk.

"I am in trouble?" I blurt without thinking. What on Earth could I be in trouble for? I haven't been to the hospital in a week. I laugh internally at my stupidity.

Bailey raises an eyebrow at me. "No, you're not." She hands me a file folder. "I've got a case coming in, and I think it's best you take care of this one."

I stare at the file in my hands, not bothering to open it. It's been awhile since I've held a completely paper chart. "I, uh, don't see why not."

"Great. She will be here shortly, and she is a very important, may I stress very important." She smiles.

I glance down at my hand, which is still wrapped. I'm supposed to be getting my stitches removed by Maggie in like 10 minutes. "How soon does she need an operation? My hand is still under question. No pain, healing nicely just not sure how well it will do while operating. I already have a surgery scheduled today and I think one is enough."

"The sooner the better. Well, what are you waiting for? Open the file."

I eyeball her suspiciously, but flip open the file to read the name. Rachel Jonas. The name doesn't sound familiar. "So who's this Rachel, and why is she so important?"

The Chief just nodded. "Keep reading."

I scan the pages, looking for anything significant. That's when I see it. She has an unhealed injury to her abdominal area from an explosion, and she was found being held captive in a hole, probably the same one Megan was in. "Why me?"

"Meredith, you're talented, that's why. They thought it's best to bring her here, with Megan. They spent years together down there, and they understand each other. When we broke the news to Megan, she asked for you to work on her friend. Said she wasn't completely okay with your choice in a boyfriend," I cringe a little and she continues. "But thinks that you would be best at saving her friend's life."

I blinked a few times, making sure I wasn't dreaming. "She's never seen me operate."

Bailey nods in agreement. "This is true, but I don't have the time. I'm still in over my head in paperwork from the hospital fire. It's been awhile but still, there is paperwork everywhere. Webber, he is still pissy about Minnick and won't really talk to me. So that leaves you, and everyone in that room praised your skills. She also recognized the name, your mother." I scoff. Of course, it always comes back to my mother. "Anyways, Rachel should be here by this evening. You know the drill, go over what details we have, and just wait till she gets her."

I stand up with the files in my hand. "Thank you for the opportunity, and I whenever she gets here, I let you know the plan of action."

She nods absentmindedly as I turn to leave, not before she adds one last thing. "Just let me know if it's too much for you to handle or need help or anything. Also remember that she will more than likely have PTSD just like Megan does."

"I know. It's not going to be an easy one, but I can handle it." I smile before turning to leave.

Megan had told me last week that she wants to try with Nathan, and that why I had avoided him. I am respecting her wishes. She also said that she needed people around her who understood her, so hopefully it will be good for the both Rachel and Megan to be brought back together again, as well as her and Nathan. It will be for the best.

I find my way to the nurse's station where Maggie was supposed to meet me so that she could take out my stitches. I glance at the time, then around me. She was supposed to meet me here a couple minutes ago. I look around again, and see Nathan coming right towards me. I grab the nearest tablet and pretend to be busy.

He slides by me, picking up a different tablet. He clears his throat, getting the attention of some of the nurses around, but I pretend like I didn't hear it at all.

"Doctor Grey, I didn't know you were coming back today." I can feel his eyes on me. "It's great to finally see you again, isn't it?"

"Yeah." I mumble.

"So, you still have wrap on your hand. I'm assuming you still have the stitches in then?"

"Yeah," I don't bother looking up, even though I can feel his eyes on me. "Maggie was supposed to take them out a few minutes ago but I don't know where she is."

My eyes stay on the tablet, but I watch him out of the corner of my eye put his tablet down and step forward. "Meredith, I can take them out for you. I saw your name on the board and I know that you are gonna need them out if you want to do that surgery."

I bit my lip, and force myself to look at him. "That would be great, actually, but I'm still waiting on Maggie."

"Meredith, I can do it. Wouldn't you rather have it done and over with?"

"I would but-"

"But nothing." He interrupts. "I can do it, Meredith. I am a very capable surgeon with very skilled hands." He smirks.

My mouth drops open just little, and I close my lips into a fine line. "You're inappropriate!"

He puts his hands up. "Hey, you were the one that took it that way. I was talking purely about my surgical skill."

I raise an eyebrow at him. "Mhm. Okay Mr. Confident."

"Do you want me to take out your stitches or not?" He sighs.

"Fine, let's go." I abandon the tablet at the nurse's station and head to grab the stuff needed with Nathan following me. I lead him into the attending's lounge and take a seat on one of the couches, and hand him the stuff.

"So, you've been avoiding me." He snaps on his gloves.

I place my hand on the plastic paper in front of him. "No I haven't."

"Meredith, I'm sorry but you are a terrible liar. You can't even look at me when you say it." He locks eyes with me, testing me.

"Bet I can."

"Do it then."

"I haven't been avoiding you." I smile, seeing as I succeed.

"Ha! You smiled!" He bursts out.

"I smiled afterwards so it doesn't matter." I retort.

"Still, you are lying." His tone gets more serious, and he starts to unwrap the wrap around my hand. "Just tell me."

"It's just better for us if we are friends, nothing else. Okay?" I think back to my conversation with Megan.

"Megan?" I called as I entered her room.

"Meredith." She responded softly from her spot in the chair next to the bed.

"You wanted to talk?" I ask, getting straight to the point.

"You can sit." She nods to the bed. I slide over to her side and sit at the door of the bed. "Meredith-"

I'm quick to interrupt her. "Look, about the other day, I understand you were upset and you have every right to be-"

"Meredith," She is the one interrupting this time. "That's partly what I wanted to talk you about to say. I wanted to apologize, and you are right. I was angry and said something in the heat of the moment."

"Well, I accept your apology." I give her a soft smile.

"Good." She sighs.

"You said that is partly what you wanted to talk about, what's the other part?"

She sighs softly. "I would like to try with Nathan."

"Oh." Is all I can muster.

"Yeah. I want to try. I want people around me who understand me, and he is one of those people you know?"

"Makes sense." I nod.

"May I ask how long you guys were together for?"

"Not very long actually. A couple months maybe? It hadn't been very long. He chased me for months before I finally gave in."

"He chased you?" She asked.

"I uh, kept turning him down, but he was persistent." I fold my hands in my lap, and look at them to avoid looking at her.

"I can see why. You're very pretty, and if you are a surgeon, you are obviously smart." My eyes find hers now.

"Thank you. Megan, you're beautiful too, you know." I add with a smile.

"Thank you." She half smiles. "Don't tell him I want to try. You can push him in that general direction, but I want to see if the spark is still there without him forcing himself. You know what I mean?"

"It makes complete sense. He is gonna kill us when he finds out we are conspiring against him." I laugh.

"He'll get over it." She pauses. "Eventually."

This causes us to both erupt into laughter. "I gotta go Megan, but it was nice talking to you. I'll keep what you said in mind." I wink at her, before turning to leave.

As I walk out of that room, I know that Megan and I's idea are going to be different. For me, the easiest thing to do will be to avoid him. So that's what I'll do when I get the opportunity.

That opportunity came quicker than originally thought, when we were messing around in the coffee shop.

"Okay." Is all he responded with. He now focuses on my hand, and removing my stitches. One by one, he removes them gently.

One that last one, he moves a certain way and I can't help by wince. "Ow."

"Are you okay?"

"Fine, that last one just hurt a little." I smile through the pain.

"Well, it looks good to go." He takes his gloves off, and puts them on the tray with the rest of the stuff.

"Good." I pull my hand back into my lap.

"Well, I should probably go check on my patients." He stands to leave.

I don't want him to leave quite yet so I think of anything to get him to stay a little longer. "Did you, do you know that someone Megan knows is being transferred here?"

He spins back around to face me, with look of curiosity on his face. "No, I didn't. Who?"

"Someone named Rachel, who was stuck with Megan."

He crosses his arms across his chest, and leans his weight to one side. "Does Megan know that she is coming?"

"Yeah, Doctor Bailey said she did." I nod.

He takes a seat next to me again. "What if her being here causes Megan PTSD?"

I can see the worry in his eyes. I know that he still cares very deeply for her, and they definitely deserve their chance to reconnect. "Maybe. Bailey said it might be good for the both of them to have some familiarity around while they both recover."

He shrugs. "I mean I guess. Do you know what is wrong with the girl?"

"Bailey actually gave me a file on her. Her injury, it's pretty bad. She has a humongous abdominal wound that never healed, so she just has this big hole in her abdomen." I shake my head knowing this won't easy. "Bailey is giving me the case, but it's going to be a rough recovery from what I see, and that's only what I know. I haven't even seen her yet, or gotten labs or anything else. I definitely want to help, but it's just a lot."

"Meredith," He puts his hand on my knee, but quickly pulls it away. "You can handle it. You are an amazing surgeon."

I scoff. "Of course I know that."

"Well, you didn't sound to confident a second ago." He puts a hand on his hip.

"I- I was, I was just rambling!"

"Mhm."

I roll my eyes. "Whatever."

He gets up again. "I really do have to check on my patients now. Let me know when she gets here."

"I will." I smile. "Megan might need you, or it would just be great for you to be there for her."

He opens the door. "I will try to be there, no guarantees."

"Nathan," I call before he is out the door, and he turns to face me again. "Be there for her. It would be good for you both."

"Okay." He nods before leaving.

I can just hope I nudged him toward Megan. Megan deserves whatever she wants after what she went through, and if that's Nathan, I'm going to help her. My good deed for the day. More like for the week, but still.

I pull the ferry boat scrub cap off my head before collapsing onto the attending's lounge couch. I fold the scrub cap in my hands, reminiscing about Derek. Nathan's miracle dream came true, and he deserves more than anything to live it out. I rub my thumb over the soft fabric, right over the ferry boat. I would give anything to have Derek back. Nathan better not mess his chance up, or I'm definitely going to get furious with him.

I shove the scrub cap into my lab coat pocket, done reminiscing for the day. No point in dwelling on the past, right?

I glance at my watch and see that Rachel should be here very, very soon. My bowl obstruction was exhausting, and I would rather just go home and snuggle my kids. I lay back, trying to relax before she gets here.

That doesn't last long when Maggie comes flying through the door, probably waking up all of Seattle.

"Maggie, was that entrance necessary?" I snap.

"Meredith! I'm so sorry, I didn't mean to, really." She moves to the coffee machine. "I've been looking for you actually."

"You have?" I ask as I pull my hair from the French braids.

"I was supposed to remove your stitches this morning-" She turns, stopping abruptly. "Oh, you had them removed."

"Yeah, I waited for a little, but Nathan offered to remove them." I shake my hair lose, and it falls on my shoulder in light waves.

"Nathan huh? How was that, since you have been, you know, avoiding him?" She raises an eyebrow before sitting beside me.

"It was fine. He actually asked about the avoiding."

She sips her coffee. "Really?"

"I just told him it's best if we are just friends."

"And he said?" She asks.

"He just said okay." I shrug.

"Doesn't sound like he's happy with that."

I shake my head. "Probably not, but he has Megan."

My pager buzzes, I can't help but let out a groan. I really just need to sleep. It's Bailey, so Rachel must be here. "I gotta go."

"See ya." She calls to me.

I don't bother responding. I find my way to the room where Bailey paged me. I enter the patient room to see a dark haired woman sitting up, and talking.

"Rachel, this is Doctor Grey." Bailey introduces me.

I love to the side of the bed, shaking her hand. "I'm Rachel."

"Hi Rachel. Can I examine you really fast?"

She nods, and I check basics first. Listening to her heart and breathing. I pull up her gown to see exactly what was described. I big hole in her abdomen. I pull her gown back down, and grab the tablet from the table.

"Okay Rachel, we are going to get some scans and blood work. We will come up with a plan of action tomorrow morning once we know more, sound good?" I smile, quickly updating her chart.

"Sounds good. I just want this hole gone."

"I don't blame you. Someone will be by soon to take you down for some scans."

"Okay. Thank you Doctor Grey." She smiles for the first time since I entered the room.

"Just doing my job." I add before leaving.

She seems positive, and optimistic. It's exactly what Nathan and Megan need to see that they should be together. Rachel is the perfect person to help get them back together. No need to avoid Nathan anymore.

So Meredith avoided Nathan, and is now playing matchmaker, what next?

Anyways, always feel free to leave a review :)