[I appreciate all the alerts for this fic and 'Unforgettable.' Almost as good as comments! Still - thank you very much. I think this fic will finally wrap up over the next two or three updates. And I'm still not owning GA or its characters.]
Cristina yanked the sweater over her head, tossing it into her locker with a bit of force. "And why didn't I know about this before?"
Shrugging, Meredith stepped into her sneakers, and sat down to tie the laces. "No reason."
"No reason? Your Fairy Godmother magically appears, you keep her existence a secret for weeks, and all you can say is 'no reason?'" Cristina dug around a few items in her locker before coming up with a long-sleeve t-shirt. A quick sniff of each armpit confirmed it could be worn one more time. "I can't believe you just insulted my intelligence."
"It hasn't been 'weeks.' It's only been four."
"That's more than one week, so it's 'weeks.' It's plural. Multiple." Another sniff determined which scrub top completed her uniform. "And stop avoiding the question."
"What question?" Meredith forced her dirty blonde hair into a ponytail before slipping on her white lab coat. She knew she danced around Cristina's curiosity, but she couldn't help herself. She wasn't ready to share Dee with anyone. Even her person. The whole godmother thing still left her dumbfounded. Ellis had cared enough to give her a godmother? Someone the polar opposite of Ellis, who never did 'nice' or waste time on meaningless relationships. Digging through her life and pain with Dee, still a virtual stranger, was seriously messing up the little equilibrium she had left. So what if she cheated by talking to a therapist who had more knowledge of her life than she did? Sifting through everything without tequila and boys was walking a tight rope in hurricane-force winds and praying she didn't slip. And even if she believed in fairytales, Dee's potential to evolve into her fairy godmother really messed with her mind.
"You know what question." Cristina shut her locker, and clipped her pager to the waistband of her scrub pants. "It hasn't changed in the last 15 seconds."
Enough with the deep thinking. She had work to do. Grabbing her stethoscope and pager, Meredith shut her locker door. "Gotta go, time for rounds."
"Meredith!" Cristina followed Meredith out into the hallway.
"Rounds, Cristina. We have rounds."
Cristina fumed as Meredith disappeared into the hallway crowd. She knew there was much more to the story than what was being told. And she'd get the full story.
Meredith almost hugged Dr. Bailey when her assignment landed in her lap. She was with Sloan for the day. She wasn't up to dealing with Derek today. Or his nurse. Just walking past any nurses' station gave her a near case of the projectile vomiting. Grabbing Sloan's charts had been a minor ordeal, forcing Meredith to take refuge in a nearby seating area to review their contents. Opening the first chart, Meredith began to read, while the back of her mind hoped Mark kept his Derek-defending to himself.
"Grey!" Mark threw out a greeting. Seating himself next to Meredith, he set his cup on a table and reached for a patient chart from the stack.
"Dr. Sloan."
"Keep an eye on Cannon. His mentoplasty was yesterday, and I'm concerned about the swelling. It's not reducing as it should." Mark commented, passing the chart to her. "Oh, and thanks for the espresso."
Meredith accepted the chart. "Chin job. Cannon. Post-op swelling." She scribbled in her notebook, her attention not wandering from it. "You're welcome, I guess. But don't thank me."
"It's on your tab." Mark grabbed another chart.
"I so wish you hadn't started that." Meredith grumbled. "You're making me feel obligated." Some arm-twisting of the coffee clerk revealed the story and wallet behind her tab. Ever since, smacking Mark up beside the head was a daily urge. How had a simple favor gone haywire?
"I think that was part of Brian's plan. Have you heard from him?" After Derek's fit, Mark phoned Brian and told him to find another female. His attention span was known for being short anyway. With luck the coffee tab refill would be the end of the story. And the end of Derek's ranting and raving at him.
"A couple of times, but I'm not planning on hearing more from him." Brian was history. He had been surprisingly nice and witty, but didn't spur any interest on her part.
"So I'm out $200 bucks?"
"You're out $200 bucks." Meredith flipped a page. "And I don't want to hear it."
"Hear what?"
"Your Derek-defense line of bull. Not today."
"Meredith, he didn't really show her the house plans." Mark sighed, still feeling incredulity at being asked by a blonde nurse if he had seen the same house plans Dr. Sheperd had shown Rose. He walked away from the question, the thirst for gossip, knowing Derek wouldn't have shared the plans with her. Not intentionally. But it sounded like his current incredibly stupid behavior. Like kissing a meatloaf slinging, sweets chomping nurse. Like walking away from Meredith.
"He what?" Meredith stilled.
"He wouldn't. Not on purpose." The qualification sounded weak even to his ears.
"She saw the plans?"
"Not intentionally." Mark finally noticed the look on Meredith's face. He didn't like it. "Oh, you didn't hear about that." The slow shake of her head confirmed it was news to her.
"Derek showed his nurse and me the same plans?" Just when Meredith thought the ache couldn't get worse, it did. All she needed was another confirmation she wasn't wanted. Not by her mother. Not by her father. And not by the man she loved. She could only hope her godmother didn't follow. "So now he's flashing them to any and all females waiting to see who bites first?"
"Is there any way you can completely forget what I just said?" Mark uneasily tapped his pen against the chart as he waited for Meredith to say 'yes.'
"Nope." She wanted to, though. Tequila and boys would temporarily make her forget. But the memory, like all the others, would still be there in the morning. Meredith sighed, wondering why she wasn't used to Derek disappointing her by now. Was this how her mother felt? The disillusionment sat like several cement blocks around her neck. It was another discussion item for Dee.
[Thanks for reading!]