A/N- Part two is here! Sorry it's a little later than usual, I haven't been home the last few days and I was reluctant to post an unpolished chapter before I left. The response to the last chapter was phenomenal, it really makes me happy to see that people are not only reading it but enjoying it and leaving reviews. It's rare that I get the chance anymore to be able to reply, but I'm definitely going to try and send you all the massive thank-yous that you deserve! This follows on pretty much from where the last chapter left off, because I literally split the chapter into four because it was so long! Enjoy
Meredith silently cursed whoever had paged Lexie at the exact moment that Meredith had been certain that her half-sister would spill all. She looked around quickly to see if she could see anyone watching her. Frowning at the lack of an obvious spy, she leaned back on the bench, and opened the envelope.
The right size shoes I presume?
You were born at the hospital, you died here too. Find the place where you remembered it wasn't your time to go.
(Run up there in those shoes and you will again be saying 'ouch' so save them for later.)
Meredith didn't know how she felt about going back to the room she almost died in. Cristina still hated to use that trauma bay after what she was forced to witness the day Meredith drowned, and most of the other residents and attendings made a point of not assigning her to any cases in that room so as not to upset her at all. She walked back inside, taking a deep breath before walking in, reminding herself that the room had nothing to do with what happened even if it did dig up memories of the pain of being brought back from the dead, and the awful thoughts that she could easily have died there. She walked in slowly and found it seemingly empty, that is until Mark jumped up from below the window, making her scream.
"Mark you're an ass." She told him.
"Fine I'll leave." He said, feigning hurt. "I'll take this with me." He tried to walk away with her envelope and a purple rose. "I'm kidding; here is your flower, and envelope number 8."
"Thank you." She said, placing the rose with the flowers she'd taken back from Lexie just before she ran off. She opened her mouth to ask Mark what was going on, but he simply grinned and pulled a bag out from behind the bed.
"Derek asked if I could give you this for when you're done at work. He said to say if he came home and you were only wearing this that'd be great. Just don't tell me what's in there, I really don't want to know what Derek likes his ladies in when they have sex." He held the bag at arm's length, not even daring to peek inside to see what the man who had been like his brother for years had chosen for his future fiancée to wear that night in bed.
"Says the guy who dated Addison!" she snorted taking the Victoria's Secret bag. "Would it make you feel better if I told you it was a breastplate and a chastity belt and that we don't really even ever have sex?"
"It would actually." He replied heading towards the door, mindful that Meredith was on a time limit, and not wanting to get a telling off from Derek for causing her any sort of delay. "Enjoy the rest of your day of being a treasure hunter. I'll catch you later, preferably in the clothes you're currently wearing." She gave him a slight slap as he walked away back to Derek's office before his rhinoplasty. Meredith stared at the eighth envelope, praying that there were no more references to her brief encounter with the other side.
You did amazing work the day the ferry crashed. But you were in too deep in life and needed rescuing. I want you to go back to the edge and a friend will be there to make sure you're still smiling.
The docks. She hadn't been there since the crash. A lot of work had been done to fix it up, and she was fairly sure there were a lot more railings than there had been before, but it still terrified her. She was shaking a little as she got into her car. Her breathing a little ragged as she drove the short distance to the ferry docks, whispering to herself quietly. She reminded herself over and over that today there would be no carnage, no screaming, no patients to tend to, it was just her and whoever she was meeting. It was safe, and it most certainly wasn't her time to go yet, not whilst she was happy. Leaving her new shoes and lingerie on the back seat of her car she hesitantly walked towards the edge that she was knocked over. The card was true to its word though, and as Meredith turned the corner, she spotted Izzie who waved at her, walking towards her so that she wouldn't have to get too close. She gave her friend a hug when she saw the look of fear on her face at being back there alone. Before handing her a purple daisy and her ninth envelope.
"You know we're not allowed to say anything until it's over. I know you probably hate that, and everyone who keeps telling you that, but for the record, I love this idea, and I really wish someone had put this much thought into something for me. You're an extraordinary lady Meredith Grey." The pair walked back to their cars in silence. Izzie squeezed her friend's hand, trying to reassure her that everything was going to be fine. The day was tough for Meredith, she was reliving scary stuff, but she was getting the best reward for doing so. She got the perspective that came from seeing her past mistakes and learning from them, but also she got a forever with Shepherd. She got romance, and a shot at a happily ever after, something which Izzie was a great believer in. Her pager sounded, a signal from Derek that Meredith needed to be moving on soon.
"I have to get back to the hospital, but I'll see you later, smile the end is going to be amazing!" Izzie said in a sing-song voice, grinning as she got into the car she borrowed from George, started the ignition and began to drive away. Meredith added the flower to the growing bunch on her seat, and set about Opening the next envelope.
Even though you snore like a trucker, you found a man who will always show up anyway. That hasn't been a problem since you brought him a waxy little present. Find where he hides them and you'll find your next clue.
Meredith made her way back to the house. She was already exhausted and it'd only been a few hours since she started her mission. Almost no one knew about her giving Derek the earplugs, someone had to have told the chief, and put the envelope in the draw, Derek had to be in this somewhere, he'd love the fact that she'd spent her day running after bits of paper and collecting flowers. Of course he was in on it. She drove the familiar route home, managing to dodge the rain which started falling the second she reached the porch. She opened the door and made her way up the stairs, not checking to see if anyone was home. She was the last to leave that morning, so she hadn't expected anyone to be there when she got in. She sat on her bed and opened the draw to the nightstand Derek used when he stayed, which was most nights at the moment, they weren't officially moved in until Derek had moved in his last box, that's what they'd agreed. It was surprising to the both of them how much stuff could be packed into a trailer. She pulled the drawer a little too fast and a mountain of condoms dropped out as the draw fell to the floor. She blushed a little, hoping that whoever put the envelope in the draw didn't check the contents before they put it there. She placed the condoms on top of the nightstand so that she could pick out the envelope and a white flower that Meredith had never seen before. She put the draw back in its place and stuffed the condoms back in before closing it and lying back on her bed and opening up the envelope.
Not far to go this time. Meredith Grey, child of darkness decided to give up being dark and twisty in favour of bright and shiny. (For almost twelve entire hours!) Find where you were when you decided that, and keep your clothes on this time!
She tutted to herself at the crudeness of the message but walked into her bathroom anyway, looking immediately at the bath. There lay even more lavender along with an envelope and a Seattle grace patient chart. Meredith smiled, maybe she was going to get to practice some medicine today after all. She flipped through the chart, looking to see why the patient had been admitted and checking the symptoms. It looked like a bad case of morning sickness from the look of the symptoms, definitely not surgical. She sighed, as she slid a finger into the envelope, pulling the slip of paper from inside.
Check the blood work on this patient dr. grey and then find her room and let the surgeon there know what your plan is. Easy on the drugs though!
Easy on the drugs? Why would they give a pregnant lady drugs? Anti-nausea medication maybe but that'd be it. She looked back at the chart, flipping it open to where the blood work was. Pregnancy test negative. Meredith's doctor brain began to kick in as she looked at the symptoms again. Vomiting, abdominal pain, she glance at the chart again, high white blood cell count. The woman had appendicitis. All she needed was an appy. Was this her reward, an appy? She flipped back to the patient history so that she could gather any useful information about the patient, and stopped when she saw the name printed on the first line. Meredith Grey, Dr. She groaned out loud. The chart was a copy of hers from back at the beginning of the year. Of course it would be, the whole day was about events in her life, so of course the appy was her own. She thought back to the room she was in up on the surgical floor as she made her way out to the car. She'd had a heart to heart with Addison, or so she'd been told, there'd been a lot of morphine involved. She made a big decision that day though. That was the day she chose Derek over Finn. That was the day she knew that there wasn't another person out there for her somewhere. There was Derek, and no one else. Derek was all that she needed. She smiled as she drove back to the hospital, she'd definitely made the right choice. Finn was a good guy, but Derek was her guy. Finn was good at the girl talk, but Derek was there for her physical needs too, something she was immensely grateful for. She pulled into the parking lot, and made her way towards the room she'd stayed in when she recovered from her surgery. She stifled a laugh when she saw that it was George sitting on the bed waiting for her to come up.
"I know." He said "I didn't want to be the appendectomy guy. But Alex and Cristina thought that this would be funny so here I am. I have this for you." He passed her another envelope, and another rose to add to her growing collection.
"Thanks George." She said taking them from him. "Who was it you said told you to be here?"
"Nice try." he said back, "but I'm not allowed to say. I am allowed to give you this though." he told her passing her a banana "I thought you might be hungry by now." She peeled it and took a bite, her first bite of anything since breakfast.
"Did you know, I actually thought I might get to do an appy today, I thought that was what this whole thing was about, took me like ten minutes to realise I was staring at my own chart." The pair laughed as George's pager sounded.
"I have to get to surgery, but have fun with the rest of your quest." He waved to her as he left the room, and she took his place on the bed. Opening the envelope, she felt her cheeks flush red as she was reminded of another misdemeanour from her intern year:
A kind orthopaedic surgeon saved your behind after you left a little something in somebody's jacket pocket. Where did you find them?
She checked that the coast was clear before she walked into the locker room that held the bulletin board that had her black panties pinned to it for far longer than is desirable for any person, let alone someone trying to hide their disgressions. She poked her head through the door checking to see if there were any interns lurking. Seeing the coast was clear, she walked over to the bulletin board expecting to see a note in the place where they had hung. Instead she came face to face with Callie, who had a big grin on her face as she dangled a tiny pair of pink panties off of one finger.
"I think these are for you Grey." She joked as Meredith turned crimson. "These have tags on still, so I'm assuming they're yet to be used." She handed Meredith the panties, who stuffed them in her pocket, looking at the ground.
"This is mortifying." She groaned. "Whoever's plan this was is mean. If I was chief and knew all this had been going on, I'd've fired my ass before I could do the rest of it." Callie laughed and handed her envelope 13. And a lily.
"I think you'll like your reward though. I only found out a couple of days ago, but you're definitely going to love it."
"That's all you're gonna tell me isn't it?" Meredith asked, knowing what her reply would be.
"Yep, but keep going, it's totally worth it." She shot her a grin as she made towards the door. "And Meredith, it is true. You are pretty extraordinary." Meredith smiled as she plopped herself onto one of the benches to open the envelope.
Camille's hospital prom was a beautiful event, despite its disastrous finale. Two of our doctors however decided to have a little fun of their own. I suggest you head back there and ensure you left nothing on the floor this time.
Meredith's heart raced at the memory of that night. However horrible and heart-breaking Denny's death was, her reunion with Derek was mind-blowing. The sex was great, it always was, but the closeness, the intimacy, just being together. There were so few words that night, but there didn't need to be, theirs was an act of love not sabotage. That night was proof that they were supposed to be together. It was so illicit but so right. She'd been to the same exam room a few times since, and it still got her. Even when they weren't getting on, that room was enough reminder of how much they deserved each other. She made her way over to it, sneaking a peek into Derek's office to see if he was around, she wanted to see him badly after having spent the morning thinking about him. She pulled a face when she saw that he was deep in conversation with someone. She stood at the window and blew him a kiss when he looked up at the window. He flashed her his signature Mcdreamy smile and she walked away towards their exam room.
A/N- I hadn't given much thought to where each chapter ended, but how appropriate is it that Meredith was off to reminisce about prom night sex after Prom night 2.0 on Thursday? I have a super busy week, so there is no way I'm going to get part three up anytime before Friday as much as that would please me. It's nearly ready to go though, and the final part needs some gentle tweaking before they can start their happily ever after!