A/N: So so sorry for the wait! Life is hectic. High school sucks.

XXX

"Chief? Are you busy?" Meredith queried, sitting in the doorway with Amelia behind her. Derek had been pulled back into surgery so she took the opportunity to seek out the chief.

"Meredith," smiled Richard Webber. "Come in, come in."

Amelia pushed her up to the Chief's desk and bowed out. "I'll be right out side," she quietly assured Meredith who nodded as Amelia pulled the wooden door closed.

"How are you doing?" inquired the Chief with sympathy in his words. His voice sounded like that of a concerned uncle or father. He interlaced his fingers, placing his hands in front of him on his desk. "And how's Derek?"

Meredith gulped trying to come up with and answer, or how to lie about one. How was she? Her best friend, the man who was most likely the love of her life, was in surgery, with almost no chance of ever walking again. Bruised, battered, and maimed, he laid half a shell of the man she knew. The woman he planned to marry walked away, shattering his heart in addition to his body, leaving him putty in life's hands. Not only that but she had a sizable recovery ahead of herself with two fractured ribs and a broken tibia. "I'm fine and Derek," she sighed and pushed a stray piece of hair off her face. "He'll be okay… eventually."

"He's in surgery, isn't he?"

"That's why I came to talk to you now," said Meredith.

"What can I do for you?"

"I need to talk to you about time off."

The Chief nodded. "You'd like to take care of Derek? And yourself, of course."

"He needs me," she said weakly, almost a whisper. After her talk with Bailey, she'd been anxious to talk to the Chief. Derek was her best friend and the man she was in love with. His emotional and physical trauma needed care and she wanted to be the one to care for him.

"I understand," he replied with a nod. "How much time are we talking about?"

"Three months?" said Meredith questioningly. "I-I'll take it unpaid if I have to," she added quickly, nervousness lacing her words.

The Chief looked to his computer screen and quickly typed in Meredith's name. "Well, according to the records, you've been working well over eighty hours a week lately. That combined with the fact that you've taken very few and short vacations, I can give you two weeks of paid leave and another five for recovery leave," he told her.

"If I take the other four or five weeks, will I have a job when I get back?" questioned Meredith nervously, twisting her watch on her wrists. Peering down she noted that Derek had been in surgery for an hour already, only a bit more to go.

"Yes," he answered quickly. "You're a brilliant surgeon, Dr. Grey. It'd be stupid of me not to hold your place."

"Thank you, Chief." Meredith grinned softly at him, a large weight hoisted off her shoulders.

"Do you need me to push you anywhere? Back to Derek's room?"

"No. Amelia—Derek's sister—is waiting outside. Could you just push me towards the door?"

"Of course." Richard smiled, walking around his desk to grasp the plastic covered, metal handles of the chair. The wheels turned easily as he swiftly pushed her towards the door. He opened it and pushed the chair out into the receptive hands of Amelia.

With a final smile to the chief and a nod from Amelia to the chief, Amelia pushed her away, back towards the surgical waiting room. "How was the meeting?" questioned Amelia.

"Successful," smiled Meredith, satisfaction lacing through the letters of the word like a shoelace. "I got a two weeks of paid vacation and five for recovery leave. So, I'm just taking another four or five weeks and I'm guaranteed my position when I return."

"That's perfect, Mer."

"I know. It worked out well for once."

There was a short pause in the conversation, the silence standing between them thinly. "I actually have something to talk to you and mom about," said Amelia

"What?"

"I'll tell you when we get to the waiting room."

"Tease," grumbled Meredith. She sucked in a deep breath as Amelia continued towards the elevator and down to the waiting room. The meeting with the chief was a good, yet short, distraction from the fact that her best friend was lying on an operating room table with his skull open. But now that very real, very scary fact slapped her across the face as the metal chair's wheels rolled under her. There were plenty of complications that could go wrong even from the simple surgery; she knew every one. But, so not to drive her self mad waiting, she pushed it aside.

The waiting room and Carolyn Shepherd came into view as they turned a corner. "How did the meeting go, dear?" asked the older woman sweetly as Amelia parked the wheelchair.

"It went well," said Meredith. "I got everything I needed out of it. I have three months off."

"Good," smiled Carolyn. "And remember, I'll be around as long as you and Derek need me."

"I know. You're such a huge help, Carolyn. I have no idea what we'd do without you."

"I'll be around too, if you ever need anything, Mer," said Amelia.

"What? No, Amelia, dear, you have work. Meredith, Derek and I will be fine," Carolyn assured her daughter caringly, placing a hand on her leg.

"Well, that's actually what I wanted to talk to you about," she said, turning to Meredith.

"What?"

"I'm moving to Seattle," she said. There was a pause between the three women as surprise and other emotions boiled. "I talked to the chief yesterday and he gave me a good offer because I did that fellowship with Dr. Ginsberg, which gains a lot of prestige," continued Amelia.

"You're moving here?" said Carolyn slowly, wrapping her mind around the fact that her daughters wouldn't all live near her anymore.

"I think it'll be good for me. I don't have much back east besides you, mom. All my sisters have families, I'll hang out with this part of our family. And, I can help Derek and Meredith as much as they need," she supplied. Silence hovered in the waiting room as the recipients of the news comprehended it. "So…"

"I'm thrilled you're moving here," grinned Meredith. "I'd hug you if it didn't hurt to move my upper body."

"Rain check." Amelia grinned a wide smile of relief that she had her friend in her corner. "Mom?" she fished.

Carolyn took a deep inhale and smiled. "I'll miss having you near me but, I'm happy that Derek and Meredith will have you with them."

"Thank you for supporting this, Mom."

"Of course."

Meredith laid her head slightly back, letting her eyes drift closed slightly. Her fractured ribs didn't allow for comfortable sleep, which, coupled with the pain medicine making her drowsy, made her eyelids too heavy to bear.

The next thing she knew, Amelia was gently shaking her thigh and telling her to wake up. She lifted her eyelids to see Dr. Nelson and Dr. Bailey standing in front of her. Shaking her head, she tried to blink the sleep out of her eyes. "Did it go well?" she asked hopefully, her tired voice coming out gravely.

"There were some complications," said Dr. Bailey slowly. Meredith's eyes widened and she gulped nervously.

When I get to the bottom
I go back to the top of the slide
Where I stop and turn
and I go for a ride