Slightly breathless, Meredith stood in the doorway of Exam Room 1. "Did you page me?" She downed the lukewarm remains of her coffee and trashed the empty cup, the mystery of the generous coffee tab tucked firmly in the back of her mind. And the disappointment of Derek's non-involvement in the mystery lingered against her will.
Mark nodded, carefully removing protective gauze bandages from the badly lacerated cheek of the 15-year-old girl seated on the exam table. "I see you got your coffee."
"That was you?" If asked, she couldn't describe her feelings in that moment. She wasn't sure if she was feeling much of anything.
"I value my pretty face too much to buy you that much of anything." Mark corrected her. "I was instructed to do it." He gently angled the girl's face for a better view of her injury.
Meredith stepped into the room, smiling at the poor girl stuck in the middle of their conversation. She knew they should change the subject, but curiosity overrode her professional common sense. "So what do you know?"
"Brian." Mark grinned, as if he was enjoying some inside joke, as he continued the exam. "Let's say you made an impression. He was disappointed breakfast was interrupted, and pissed off by Shep's page. He didn't want you to forget him since he swears he's coming back to claim his breakfast raincheck."
"I'm pretty pissed off too." Mark's reference to Brian's return skated unnoticed through one ear and out the other but the pain at how Derek went out of his way to impress Rose almost bent her in half. Meredith couldn't remember him doing anything similar for her. Would choosing other women over her count? "Derek's actions with his nurse shouldn't be affecting my work schedule."
"They're not." After telling his patient he'd be back in a few minutes, Mark pulled off his gloves and threw them in the trashcan as Meredith followed him from the room.
"Yes, they..."
Mark hesitated, as if making a spur-of-the-moment decision. He walked Meredith into an empty conference room, closing the door behind him. "Trust me Meredith, Derek's actions with the nurse are not affecting your schedule. He bumped the surgery for you, not her."
"For me?" Denial swiftly replaced confusion, crushing hope. Meredith refused to believe the line of bull Mark was feeding her. Did he really think she would buy into it? "You are wrong." Ignoring the chairs surrounding the conference table, Meredith took a seat on the tabletop. Folding her arms across her chest, Meredith resembled the poster child for skepticism.
"I know Derek. He wasn't happy when I told him about the favor, and he went ballistic when he heard about your breakfast date." Mark took a seat on the tabletop next to Meredith. He was unapologetic. "You were the only suitable available female I could think of."
"You do remember Derek and I are not together anymore?" Meredith pointed out the obvious, asking herself if they ever really were together. "He's with her. He's not owed any explanations about my time outside of this place." She shifted on the table, anxious to end the conversation and escape the room.
"All I know is he came into Joe's last night minus the nurse. I knew he had dinner plans with her, but he was in there looking for you. So, I told him why he was wasting his time."
Meredith forcibly snuffed out the small ray of hope radiating behind her heart. It has caused her too many disappointments in the past. "He's moved on with her. Derek wanted someone ready for his master plan right now. I wasn't." Thinking of his stunt with the house plans and that damn kiss made Meredith's eyes water. She blinked the moisture away.
"Derek hasn't moved on. He's panicking. He's drowning in his denial and stupidity."
"He wants what he wants now. And he wants it with the nurse." Meredith argued. Actually he'll take any female with a pulse, but then so would Mark. "Is he happy?"
"What?"
"Is he happy with her?" Waiting for his answer had Meredith biting hard the inside of her lip. A little more pain didn't matter now.
"He may think he is, but I know better."
"But its what he thinks that counts. And if he thinks he's happier with her..." Meredith avoided looking at Mark as she slid off the table. "Then he's happy. I want him to be happy. Do you need me for anything else?" The need to end this conversation was too great.
Frowning, Mark stood up. Meredith's calm acceptance of Derek's assy behavior wasn't what he expected. "No." He needed to talk some sense into her. "Do you want to hit Joe's tonight? Get a drink?"
Inching her way to the door, Meredith politely smiled as she declined. "Thanks, but no thanks. I have a thing tonight."
"Tomorrow night?" She was making him feel anxious, which was nuts. Derek should be feeling anxious over her, not him. "Drinks?"
"Can't. I'm off the next two days. I'll be out of town. Maybe when I get back." With a firm wave, Meredith walked out the door. Loosening her tense muscles once Mark was out of sight, she headed down the hall on limbs made from limp noodles. Later on, she wouldn't remember finding the dark utility closet, or sitting on its hard floor for three-quarters of an hour allowing the tears to stream down her face til they ran dry.