Their initial shock had clearly not worn off, but with the prying eyes of gossiping nurses in the room, both of them knew that a conversation regarding earlier events was not even up for consideration. Once Meredith had decided that their patient needed an appendectomy and Derek needed to do a craniotomy, they were off to surgery together.
Scrubbing in was beyond awkward for them both, the tension thick in the air as neither of them quite knew what to say. To say the surgery was a success would have been an understatement, as they worked quickly and effectively, all the while making sure they made an occasional educational comment for the new interns who were sat eagerly in the OR gallery.
An unspoken decision was made between Meredith and Derek to stay behind after the surgery, so once everyone else had cleared out of the OR they made their way back into the scrub room. No different to earlier, they scrubbed out in complete silence.
"Meredith, I had no idea you worked here."
"Not quite something you mention when you meet someone at a bar is it?" She giggled, a hint of nerves evident in her voice.
Derek immediately fell in love with that giggle, a small smile growing on his face as he listened to the music to his ears.
"Come with me to get a coffee, I'll pay." He suggested, intrigued by the beautiful woman he had known less than 24 hours.
"I make it a rule not to date co-workers. Besides aren't you still on shift?"
"When did I ever say anything about it being a date? It's just a neurosurgeon and a general surgeon going to get a coffee together. As for my shift, I'm only on call there's no scheduled surgeries for me until tomorrow. What about yours?"
"My shift ended 20 minutes ago, but I was planning on staying another couple of hours just to check up on our patient."
It didn't take much convincing for Derek to get Meredith to sit on one of the outdoor cafeteria benches with him, talking about themselves over a much needed cup of coffee. After they got over the initial awkwardness of the events of the morning, the night before was not mentioned yet both assumed the other enjoyed it, the conversations flowed easily.
"Tell me about yourself" Derek asked, catching himself staring into her green eyes.
"I've just become a general attending, after completing my 7 years of residency here at Seattle Grace. I was born in Seattle, moved to Boston when I was six and moved back here about a month before I started residency. There's really not much to say. What about you, why did you move here?"
"Aha, that's a complicated question with a lot of layers, but to put it simply, the Chief offered me a job and my previous relationship was clearly not going to be repaired so I decided I should just go for it. I lived in New York before I moved here, was born there and grew up there, so I'm surprised I've adjusted so well."
The two of them continued to exchange life stories and an hour went by before either of them noticed the time, Meredith's shift having ended a good hour and a half ago and Derek's soon to conclude. They said their goodbyes, but laughed as they both walked in the same direction, them both thinking to check on their patient from earlier.
With her stats looking good, and of course and intern to observe her over night, Meredith left to go to the attending locker room and Derek parted from her to go meet Ash, a part of his life he had failed to mention in their hour long conversation. As Derek approached her, Ashley had her head buried in her math book, completing the homework her teacher had set for the following day.
"Ready to go home Ash?" Derek asked, placing a hand on her shoulder as he looked at the page scribbled in notes.
A simple hum was all he needed in response as she typed a few more numbers into her calculator and scribbled down the answer. She looked up to see the smile that he had on his face, one she hadn't seen on her father's face on a long time.
"What's that smile for, I haven't seen you this happy in so long?" Ash asked.
Derek knew he couldn't tell her off the general attending he's pretty sure he's fallen for so rather goes down a different route.
"Well my surgery was a success and I get to go home after my first day of work to my daughter so if you ask me that's something to smile about." He replied, being honest in his answer but avoiding a major factor for his happiness.
"Seattle has all of a sudden made you very cheesy and I'm not sure how I feel about it."
The two left the hospital together, but didn't go unnoticed by the gossiping of nurses, or the eyes of Meredith as she walked out of the attending's room. She paid close attention to the features of the girl as they walked out of her view, her chestnut hair being the only defining feature as her back faced Meredith. Being the curious person she was, questions were running through Meredith's head and she knew she would ask her, assumed to be, newfound friend the next day, trying not to feel potential betrayal regarding their previous encounter the night before.
"That new neuro attending, what an ass." Cristina stated, catching up to Meredith in the crowded corridor.
Rather than replying to her friends comment, Meredith bit her tongue waiting for her to elaborate, rather than exposing both her night spent with him and the long conversations held over coffee less than an hour earlier. She raised her eyebrows, her way to telling Cristina to begin her rant, but already Meredith had lost interest. Maybe he was an ass. Maybe he had used her for the night and only had coffee with her to try and redeem his professional status.
An occasional hum and widening of her eyes got the uninterested general attending through the long winded explanation of the cardio attending and she smiled her goodbye as they parted to their cars, not having listened to a word of the one sided conversation.
When she arrived home, Meredith took a glance around her house, reflecting on Derek's reaction earlier that morning. Boxes stacked upon each other and a lack of anything resembling a homely environment encouraged her to begin the long awaited unpacking. Or well, at least the start of it. After unpacking three boxes and neglecting four with her mothers belongings to one of the spare bedrooms, Meredith called it a night.
It wasn't normal for the general surgeon to be hung up over a man, but as she changed into her pyjamas, she couldn't help but compare her sleeping arrangements of that night to the night before, leading her to the thought of Derek Shepherd.
आप पढ़ रहे हैं
Merder: Different Circumstances
फैनफिक्शनWhat if Meredith and Derek had met under different circumstances? A fanfiction where Derek already has a teenage daughter from his previous marriage and Meredith isn't starting off as an intern.
