Meredith smiled as she saw her daughter open her eyes. Since Chrissy had been hospitalized, she was relieved every morning when she saw her daughter open her eyes.
"Good morning, sweetheart."
"Good morning, Mommy. Where's Daddy?" she asked, looking around.
"He has some things to do this morning," said Meredith. "And he's going to have to go back to New York tomorrow. But he's coming back on Friday, so he will be gone just a short time. And his mother is coming today." Maybe it was a good thing that Derek's mother was coming. In just a few short days, Chrissy had become a daddy's girl, and Meredith was worried that she would miss him a lot when he left.
There was a knock at the door, and Izzie and Cristina entered. Both said, "Good morning, Chrissy" at the same time.
Chrissy smiled. "Good morning, Aunt Izzie, Aunt Cristina."
"Meredith, Operation Immaculate House is a success. I don't think that house was cleaner anytime since it was built," said Cristina.
"Thank you so much."
"Mommy, why does maculate mean?"
"It means that Aunt Cristina and Aunt Izzie along with Uncle Alex and Uncle George cleaned the house thoroughly so that it was perfect for your grandmother."
"Grandmother?"
"Yes, Daddy's mother, your grandmother, is coming to visit, and I said she could stay at our house. Then I was worried it was messy, so your aunts and uncles cleaned it."
"Meredith, can I read Chrissy a story?" asked Izzie.
"Please say yes, Mommy."
"Sure. I'll go talk to Aunt Cristina." Meredith got up and left with Cristina. They walked to the nearest on-call room. "What's up?"
"Derek tells me you'll be sleeping at my apartment tonight."
"Is that okay?"
"It's great. You really need a good night's sleep. I am a little jealous, though. I told Derek that Izzie, George, Alex, Bailey, and I had all offered to stay overnight with Chrissy."
Meredith looked Cristina in the eye. "You all wanted me to go home, and I'm not going home without Chrissy."
Cristina looked into Meredith's eyes, and saw the fear lingering there. "Having you stay at my place was a great idea. I'm sorry it took Derek to think about it. I should have realized it would be better than going to your house."
"It's no problem. I've been happy to stay with Chrissy. I treasure every minute with her," Meredith said, dissolving into sobs. Cristina hugged her, reflecting that she had hugged Meredith more in the last six weeks than she had in the four years before.
"So why are you going to leave her tonight?" asked Cristina, curiosity compelling her to ask the question.
"I feel so guilty for depriving Derek of the past three years with Chrissy. If he wants to stay with her, I can't say no."
"You have nothing to feel guilty about. Derek is a doctor, and he was married to an ob/gyn for twelve years. He knew that skipping a condom at the prom was a risk, and he did nothing to check up on you."
"Maybe. But his bone marrow could save her. I owe him for that. And Chrissy adores him."
"She adores her aunts and uncles, too, Mer. She would have been happy if one of us stayed with her."
"I know. She has a lot of love in her life. And I'm so grateful for all your help. You've been with me since the beginning." Meredith thought back to the beginning.
Meredith had been nauseous three days in a row. At first, she thought she had the flu, but she didn't have a temperature or any other flu symptoms. On the third day, Cristina had approached her after she finished throwing up in the restroom.
"Mer, you've been sick three days in a row."
"I know, Cris."
"Have you taken your temperature?"
"98.6. No flu. Not food poisoning, either."
"Are you late?"
"Late? I'm late for rounds."
"Not what I meant, Mer. When was your last period?"
Meredith looked Cristina in the eyes. "Seriously? You think I'm pregnant?"
"Well, morning sickness is a symptom. And you did get together with McDreamy at the prom, six weeks ago. I grabbed a pregnancy test for you," she said as she passed her the box.
"Okay. I'll take it. It would be just my luck for the one time I have sex with him this year to knock me up."
"You have options, you know, if you are."
Meredith nodded and went into the stall. She came out with the stick, and said, we have to wait three minutes."
"I'll wait with you."
"You'll be late for rounds."
"I'd rather wait with you."
"Seriously?"
"Seriously. You were there for me when I was pregnant."
A nurse came in to use the facilities.
"Let's go," said Cristina and took Meredith to the nearest on call room, which, fortunately was empty. They waited in silence, and, after three minutes, Meredith said, "Okay, one, two, three, here we go," as she turned over the stick, and they both saw the plus sign.
"Shit," said Meredith.
"You have options, and Mer, no matter what you choose, I'll be there for you every step of the way."
"Thanks. We might as well go to rounds."
And Cristina had been there for her every step of the way.
"It's just now I have to figure out what to do with Derek. He's going to try to save her life, and he's her dad. I think that in less than a week she's become a total Daddy's girl."
"Mer, he's new, so it's no wonder she's fascinated by him. But she loves you very much."
"Oh, I know that. And she loves you and Izzie, George, Alex, Bailey, and Richard. Do you know Derek asked Richard to sit with her?"
"Mer, I think that any Seattle Grace employee would be delighted to sit with her. Everyone joined the bone marrow registry."
"Do you think anyone's mad that I didn't ask Derek first?"
"No. I think by now, between our hospital and Mount Sinai, nearly a dozen people have been given a chance for life with new people joining the registry."
"It has to work for Chrissy," Meredith said with another sob.
"I'm sure it will," said Cristina, hoping that she will be proven right.
"But first she has to go into remission," said Meredith with yet another sob.
"She will, she will."
"Thanks for saying that even though it's possible she won't."
"We have to stay positive, Mer, even in the on-call rooms. I know it's tough, but we're doing everything we can for Chrissy?"
"What if that's not enough?"
"We can't worry about that now. We have to stay positive. Being dark and twisty on this won't help Chrissy."
"I know, but I'm so worried."
"The odds were 1 out of 200 Derek would be a match, and he's a match, so there's good news. And your house is cleaner than it's ever been. I did housework for you, Mer, that's another miracle."
Meredith chuckled. Then she heard a knock at the door. Puzzled, she opened the door. Nurse Olivia said, "Meredith, there's a young girl to see Chrissy. She wanted to talk to you first."
"Sure. Do you know anything about this Cris?"
"No."
Meredith left the on-call room and found a teen-ager outside Chrissy's door. She looked about fifteen, wearing khaki pants and a blouse, with short brown hair, and was holding a big colorful jar in her hands. "Hi, I'm Chrissy's mom, Meredith Grey."
"Hi, I'm Carmen Avila. I'm here to give Chrissy a NEGU Joy Jar."
"What is that?"
"It's a jar of fun stuff for children her age to help in her fight against cancer. NEGU means Never Ever Give Up. Jessie Rees, who had cancer, started this project. I'm a cancer survivor, and I'm doing this to help other kids who are fighting cancer."
"That's great."
"Does Chrissy know she has cancer?"
"Yes, I'm a doctor, so I've told her a little about her disease. She is just three, so I share what she can understand at her level."
"That's good. Some parents don't explain the disease to their children. So is it okay if I give her the Joy Jar?"
"No problem," said Meredith with a smile. "Let's go in."
They walked in together. "Chrissy, you have a visitor. Carmen has come to see you," said Meredith. Izzie was fascinated, so she stayed.
"Hi Chrissy. My name is Carmen Avila. I learned I had cancer when I was eight, so I know what it's like to spend months in the hospital and go through chemo. I'm here to give you a Joy Jar," and she placed the jar next to Chrissy. "Let's open it together."
She opened the jar, and she took out a Seattle Mariners baseball hat, a purple knit hat, pink fleece socks, purple fleece socks, a couple of books, and some toys.
"Thank you so much," said Chrissy with a big smile as she looked at each item. "Pink and purple are my favorite colors."
"Do you like baseball?"
Derek opened the door before she had time to answer.
"Hi Daddy, this girl brought me a Joy Jar. She had cancer, too."
"Hi, I'm Carmen Avila."
"Hi Carmen. I see you brought Chrissy a baseball hat. Being from New York, I'm a Yankees fan, but this summer I'm going to take Chrissy to a baseball game."
"That sounds like fun, Daddy. Can Carmen and Mommy come?"
"Sure. Carmen, you're welcome to join us, if you can."
"That's very kind of you. Just let me know the date, and I'll see if I can come. I can give you my card." She took out a card and gave it to Derek.
"Can I take a photo of you with Chrissy?"
"Sure." Derek got out his phone and took a few photos of Chrissy and Carmen. He realized that he had never seen Chrissy with another child, just with grown-ups. Being in the hospital was so unnatural.
Chrissy looked at Carmen and said, "You have hair."
"Yes, I do," she said with a smile. "I have a picture with me showing my bald head when I was in the hospital," and she took out a photo of a young girl, perhaps seven or eight, with a bald head sitting in a hospital bed.
"That's you?"
"Yes, that's me. But it's eight years ago. I'm sixteen now. I was in the hospital for a total of six months, but now I'm fine. Your hair will grow back, too."
"Did you get marrow?"
"No, I didn't have a bone marrow transplant. I just had surgery and chemo."
"Did you have kemia?"
"No, I had bone cancer. The doctors had to cut off my lower leg. Here, you can see."
She lifted her leg and showed Chrissy the prosthetic leg that she was wearing. "But I
can do anything I want with my new leg. And I love the motto of the Jessie Rees Foundation, Never Ever Give Up. Chrissy, that's what you and your family have to do. You have to keep fighting, no matter how tough it gets. Okay?" Carmen looked Chrissy in the eyes.
Chrissy nodded and said, "Okay."
"Now I have to go. I have some other Joy Jars to deliver."
"Can I give other kids Joy Jars?" asked Chrissy.
"Yes, when you're better."
"Okay."
"Thank you very much, Carmen," said Meredith and Derek simultaneously.
"And I'm serious about the Mariners game. I'll give you a call," said Derek.
"Good-bye," said Carmen with a smile as she headed out.
A couple hours later Carolyn Shepherd went up to the nurse's station and spoke to the first nurse she saw. "I'm Carolyn Shepherd, and I'm here to see Derek and Christina Shepherd."
"Nice to meet you. I'm Olivia. Chrissy is in isolation, so I'll need to take your temperature first."
"No problem."
Olivia took her temperature. "Your temperature is fine. Now, Dr. Shepherd has mentioned that he has a number of nieces and nephews."
"Yes, fourteen."
"That's great. Have any of them been to Disneyland recently?"
"No, but why is that relevant?"
"There was recently a measles outbreak there, so we are taking extra precautions."
"All my grandchildren have been vaccinated. Their mothers are all doctors, and we
wouldn't dream of not vaccinating a child."
"That's great. But vaccinations aren't 100% effective, and we can't take any chances
with Chrissy because her immune system is compromised."
"I think my daughters are planning on taking all the children to Disneyland after Christmas. They're going to give the children plane tickets under the tree, and leave the next day. How will that affect my ability to visit Chrissy?"
"If you see them on Christmas, it won't affect your ability at all. But if you see them when they get back, we would have you wait three weeks after they have been at Disney before you see Chrissy again. As long as they are infection-free, you'd be able to see her after the 21 days are over."
"Good to know. My plans depend on how things go with Chrissy anyway. How is she doing?"
"You'll have to ask your son. We can't disclose information about her case. As a nurse, I'm sure you know about HIPAA."
"I do, but it didn't hurt to ask. I'm not going to ask him in front of Chrissy, that's for sure. But we'll have some time to discuss her health."
"Okay. You can see her now. Dr. Shepherd is in her room."
"What about her mother?" asked Carolyn. She was very curious to meet Meredith.
"I think she's there as well. She rarely leaves the room. She is a very devoted mother," said Olivia. She thought she might as well put in a good word for Meredith. She wasn't sure how Dr. Shepherd's mother would feel about Meredith's role in the adultery that led to Chrissy's conception, and Olivia was on Team Meredith. Of course, ever since Chrissy was diagnosed with leukemia, every hospital employee was on Team Meredith. And since Derek had agreed to donate his bone marrow, most members of Team Meredith were hoping that they would find a way to reunite. So Olivia was going to do what she could to smooth the way.
"Good. I want to meet her," said Carolyn. She was eager to meet her granddaughter's mother and the woman her son had fallen for after leaving New York.
"I'll take you to the room," offered Olivia, figuring she'd go the extra mile for Chrissy's grandmother.
"Thank you very much."
Carolyn opened the door and was immediately transfixed by her granddaughter and her son. Her blue eyes were sparkling as her father read her a book. When she heard her grandmother enter, she looked up, and said "Daddy, is that my grandmother?"
"Yes, it is," said Derek with a smile. "Mom, please meet Chrissy and Meredith."
"I'm thrilled to meet you both," said Carolyn with a smile. She noticed that Meredith was sitting quietly in the chair next to Chrissy's bed. She had her dirty blonde hair in a ponytail, and she was wearing a purple sweater with blue jeans. Carolyn noted immediately that she was completely opposite from Addison, much more down to earth. She also noted the dark circles under her eyes, and it also looked like she had been crying recently.
"It's nice to meet you, Mrs. Shepherd. You can have my seat," she said, getting up.
"There's no need for you to leave," said Carolyn. She looked at her son, but he seemed equally puzzled at Meredith's decision to leave.
"That's okay. I'm going to take a nap." said Meredith. She had had a difficult time sleeping last night, fretting about Chrissy and about meeting Mrs. Shepherd.
"A nap, Mommy?"
"Yes, I'm tired today, sweetheart. You have fun with Daddy and Grandma."
"Okay."
"Maybe Grandma can read you a book."
"No, Daddy, I want her to tell me some stories about you as a little boy."
Carolyn smiled and sat down in the seat that Meredith had deserted. "I have lots of stories about your daddy as a little boy. Let me tell you about how he hid his sister Amy's toys."