"Stupid plane," Meredith muttered from the passenger seat of Derek's car as he hurried to get her to the hospital on time to greet her new interns. "Stupid pilot."
"I don't really see how it's the pilot's fault all the planes were grounded because of a storm," Derek commented.
"Whatever. Stupid weather. Stupid airline. Stupid trip."
"Stupid trip?" He sent her a look. "I happen to think it was a wonderful trip. Best trip of my life."
Despite her anxiety at being late on her first day as a resident because their flight home from the Bahamas had been significantly delayed to the point where they hadn't actually made it home yet and were driving straight from the airport to the hospital, Meredith smiled. It had definitely been the best trip of her life too. "Fine. Not stupid trip. But stupid everything else. Today is going to suck. And it's funny, because at first I was pissed the new interns' first shift was only thirty-six hours, and now I wish it was two." She had only gotten an hour or two of sleep on the plane after spending most of a day at the airport. Spending the next thirty-six hours supervising brand new doctors was not something she was looking forward to.
"It'll be over before you know it."
She glared at him.
"Okay," he relented, "It won't. But I'll drive you home when it's over and you can sleep for a day and a half." The interns were all given the day following the end of their first shift off to recover, as were the supervising residents in an effort to keep them on the same schedule for the first week.
"Can't we just fast forward until then?" She whined as Derek pulled into the hospital parking lot. "I'm exhausted already."
"Unfortunately my powers don't extend beyond the ability to save lives and make sexy interns, who at first want nothing to do with me, eventually fall in love with me."
She giggled. "That's a power, huh?"
"My favourite one."
"Just make sure you don't use it on any interns anymore."
"Only residents now," he promised, pulling the car up to the front doors of the hospital to drop her off.
She glared at him.
He chuckled. "Resident," he corrected. "Just one."
"That's better." She leaned across the consol to kiss him.
"Good luck with the interns," he offered. "And congratulations."
"Congratulations?"
"You're a resident."
She beamed. "I am. It's kind of awesome. I'm not at the bottom of the pack anymore."
"Nope."
She took a breath. "This is going to be a better year. Stress free. I've decided."
"I'm not entirely certain you can just decide something like that."
"Aren't you supposed to be supportive?"
He chuckled. "Go to work. I'm sure I'll catch up with you at some point."
She leaned across the consol to kiss him again. "I love you."
"I love you too."
With one last smile, Meredith pushed open the door and hurried into the hospital. Even after two weeks away, she felt like she hadn't been gone for a moment as soon as she set foot on the surgical floor. The hustle and bustle of the hospital swirled around her as she made her way to the Residents' lounge, glad now that the Chief had instructed them to move their belongings from the intern locker room on their last day before vacation.
By the time she pushed through the door, her friends were already dressed in their scrubs, prepared for the day.
"Where have you been?" Cristina asked.
"The Chief is almost done with his introductory presentation in OR 2," Izzy added. "You have about a minute to get ready."
"The plane was late," she offered as she pulled scrubs out of her cubby and began changing, despite the crowd in the room. "Really, really late. We were supposed to be home yesterday afternoon." She pulled her jeans off and replaced them with scrub pants, before doing the same with her top. Her lab coat was next, though the new embroidered name Dr. Meredith Grey caused her to frown.
Moving some money from her jeans to her scrubs and grabbing her ID tag, she turned to her friends, her eyes falling first on Cristina. "How are you?"
Cristina glared at her. "I'm fine."
"But-"
"I'm fine," she repeated. "Let it go."
Izzy offered Meredith a sympathetic look and motioned towards Cristina, telling Meredith she was okay. "Okay." She hesitated. "I, uh, have to-" tell you something was cut off as the door opened and Callie stuck her head in.
"It's time."
"Cristina," Meredith called, hoping to at least have a moment with her best friend, but Cristina ignored her and left the room first, eager to begin the intern torture.
"She's okay," Izzy verbalized. "And she's made it very clear that she doesn't want to talk about Burke or the wedding or anything in the hospital."
"Is he here?"
"Oh," Izzy paused. "You haven't heard."
"Heard what?"
"Burke quit," Alex spoke up. "Gave his resignation and took off."
Meredith sighed. "Crap."
"Whatever. People leave. That's life," Alex muttered, before following in Cristina's footsteps and leaving the room.
"Everyone is so bright and shiny this morning," Meredith stated sarcastically. "We're residents. That should count for something, right?" She glanced at Izzy and George, debating. She had wanted to tell Cristina first, but if her best friend was going to avoid her, she may as well-
"Guys, seriously," Callie demanded, once again at the door. "Interns are waiting."
Meredith sighed. Her news would have to wait.
Callie pointed her in the direction of three nervous looking interns in crisp white lab coats. She forced her personal thoughts to the back of her mind and strode up to the interns. "I have five rules. Memorize them."
Only a few hours into her shift and Meredith was ready to go home. The three doctors following her around like lost puppies was already grating on her patience – even if she had instructed them to follow her. She had come into contact with Cristina twice, but both times her best friend had refused to talk. She had also bumped into Izzy, Alex and George, but hadn't been able to say two words.
She ran her hand through her hair as she escorted her interns through the halls. She was exhausted already, and wondered how she was going to keep going for another thirty hours.
"Dr. Grey, where are we going?"
"Coffee," she replied without slowing down. "You'll learn to rely on it very quickly." She reached into her pocket and pulled out the two dollar bills she had grabbed from her jeans as she changed. She stopped and held them up. "Always carry enough money for a coffee. You never know what's going to happen and you could find yourself with only a minute of free time and a massive need for caffeine. You don't want to not be able to get a coffee because you don't have time to get back to your locker."
Three heads nodded as her interns wrote her advice in their notepads.
She started walking again and there was a delay before she heard the tell-tale scuffs of her interns hurrying to catch up. Deciding against taking them to the coffee cart – because she was sure none of them had money on them and she would feel guilty for being the only one getting a drink – she took a detour through the General Surgery ward and left her interns to evaluate post-ops with very specific instructions that they were not to make any decisions and were to page her if there were any problems.
Once she had her coffee, she headed for the tunnels, somehow knowing that's where her friends were hiding. And she was right.
Alex, Izzy, Cristina and George were sitting on a gurney, in that order.
"Hey, Mer," George called as she approached.
"Hey," she responded, standing in front of the gurney. "Finally. I feel like I've been chasing you guys all morning."
"How was your trip?" George asked.
"It was great. Actually something happened that I need to tell you about-"
"We don't need to hear about you getting McDreamied in the Bahamas," Cristina cut her off.
"That's not exactly what I was going to say."
"Fun, single stories only," Cristina stated. "Right?"
Izzy laughed and nodded, knocking her knuckles against Cristina's. "That's right." She turned to Meredith. "Mer, we found the best bar ever after you left. You should have seen it. Tons of cute boys. And they made mojitos that were to die for. Fresh mint and everything."
"Sounds great," Meredith commented, "But seriously, guys, I-"
"You know what time it is?" Cristina cut her off, her voice high and practiced.
"Mojito time!" Izzy called, this time giving Cristina a high five.
Alex glanced at Meredith, sending her an amused glance, as if saying now we're the normal ones.
"Okay, seriously," Meredith repeated. "It's important-"
"How are your interns?" Cristina asked. "Did you give them the Bailey speech? I did. I was awesome."
"Oh, I rocked it," Alex answered first. "I'm the new Nazi."
"You're so not the new Nazi. I am."
"You people are both pathetic," Izzy shot at them, before sighing. "Mine was hideous. I feel like a fraud."
"I got rule three and four mixed up," George admitted. "And they don't make as much sense that way." He sighed. "I hope Bailey doesn't find out."
"How did you do, Mer?" Izzy asked.
Meredith blinked as she tried to calm down. Were they purposefully sabotaging her every attempt to tell them something? Or were they just caught up in their first days as residents? "Fine. It went fine. But I really have to tell you guys something. It's important." She took a breath. "Derek and I -"
"Hey!" Cristina shouted, her attention down the hall at a group of approaching interns. "This area is for residents only!"
"Yeah!" Izzy echoed.
"Get out of here," Alex added. "You're double-oh-sevens in training."
Once the interns had disappeared around the corner, Cristina jumped off the gurney, preparing to leave. "I have to get back. I left my interns trolling for surgeries."
"Can you just wait a freaking moment? I need to tell you something."
Cristina sighed, making Meredith feel like it was a heavy, heavy burden to give her thirty seconds of time. "Meredith, seriously. No one wants to hear about your dreamy vacation."
"That's not exactly what I was-"
"There are more important things going on today."
"It's important," Meredith insisted, knowing her best friend would be angry if she heard the news from someone else.
"I don't have time for your relationship drama."
"My relationship drama," Meredith countered before she had a moment to think about her words. "I seem to remember dropping everything to deal with your relationship drama."
"Whatever. Are we done?"
Though she knew her best friend was probably still reeling from Burke's abandonment, and now disappearance, Meredith ran out of patience. She had done the Maid of Honour thing for Cristina even after Susan died and she had almost given up her vacation with Derek to fly to Hawaii. Not to mentioned all the other times she had been there for her best friend. She deserved a moment of Cristina's time.
"You know what? Whatever. Obviously my news doesn't freaking matter. Heaven forbid my friends can give me thirty freaking seconds of time." She turned on her heel and stormed down the hall to the elevator.
Still frustrated with her inability to tell her friends her news, Meredith was relieved to be paged to the pit, hoping it would lead to a long surgery she could use as a distraction. However, when she rounded up her interns and got to the pit, she was annoyed to find her friends had been paged as well.
"Are you okay?" Izzy asked as they waited for Callie's instructions. "You seemed kind of pissed when you took off."
"Oh, so you noticed that?" She responded without turning her head. And then she sighed, regretting snapping at her friend. She was exhausted already, had a marathon shift still ahead of her and was overly frustrated with her inability to share her news with her friends. She didn't need to add to the stress by creating more conflict. And really, this wasn't Izzy's fault.
"Someone's in a good mood."
"Sorry," she offered. "I just...thought today would be different." She had been unsure of what Cristina's reaction may be to her news, but she at least thought her other friends would be happy for her, Izzy especially. She had never expected not to be able to say anything.
"What's your news?"
Meredith turned to her, appreciative that Izzy actually looked interested and willing to listen, but then she shook her head. They had the attention of six interns and were about to be sent to deal with traumas. This morning in the lounge had been a good time. The tunnels would have been a good time. Now was not a good time. She shook her head, and any further conversation was cut off when Cristina appeared between them.
"Are you still freaking out?" Cristina asked flatly, "Because if you are, I don't want to deal with you."
"I wouldn't be freaking out if you'd stop being you for a freaking moment."
"I have things to do today, Meredith."
"I had things to do two weeks ago," she countered. "I had another plane to catch and I still went with you. I had other things to do when I did the Maid of Honour stuff for you, and hid your secrets from Burke and kept your mother away from you when you were in the hospital. I had better things to do when I stood up for you when every other person in this hospital found out you had been hiding Burke's tremor. I've been there for you a hundred freaking times and all I wanted from you today was a freaking moment."
"Whatever."
Meredith sighed, reminding herself that her friend was hurting. Whereas Meredith's relationship had flourished, Cristina's was over. That meant Cristina needed her more than the other way around. "I am sorry about Burke."
Cristina ignored her.
"Want me to kick his ass?"
Cristina released a laughing breath this time. "Maybe."
Callie jumped in front of them and began barking out orders for the incoming MVC.
Meredith showed her interns how to prepare for a trauma situation, and then led them outside to meet the ambulances.
Cristina immediately took the first patient, but Meredith was in line for the second – a pregnant woman with a severed arm. With her interns watching, she helped Bailey with the initial assessment.
"Okay, Grey, get her inside and page Sloan."
Meredith nodded at her former resident and motioned for her interns to head inside. She followed behind, pushing the gurney with the paramedics.
She was stopped, however, by a wide-eyed young intern with dark brown hair.
"Are-are you Meredith Grey?"
"Yeah," Meredith responded, trying to push past the stationary intern who was preventing her from getting her patient into the hospital.
"I'm Lexie."
"Great. Move," she demanded.
"Lexie Grey," the intern clarified. "I'm your sister."
Meredith felt like she was punched in the gut. Lexie Grey. The name was familiar now. Susan had mentioned her eldest daughter several times. And now that daughter was staring at Meredith, expectant.
"I..." She stammered. She had known Leixe was supposed to start her internship this year, but not here. Not at Seattle Grace. Meredith hadn't expected to be working with her. Hell, after Susan died and she had been banned from the funeral by Thatcher, she hadn't ever expected to meet his other daughter. She couldn't do this; especially not now. "I have a patient," she snapped, pushing past Lexie Grey and moving into the hospital.
After dropping Meredith off at the front doors, Derek had parked his car and wandered sluggishly into the hospital himself. His two week vacation had been amazing, despite it's bad start, and he wasn't ready to be back at work yet, especially after spending the previous day in the airport and only getting a few hours of sleep on the plane. And to then be forced to drive straight to work. Though, he was thankful he was only on days this week, and would be able to go home that night. Meredith wouldn't be able to go home until the following night, and he felt horrible for her. Facing a ten hour shift right now was challenge enough; he couldn't imagine tagging another twenty-six hours onto it.
After ordering a coffee from the cart by the front door, he made his way to his office and spent the morning catching up on paperwork. It wasn't until early afternoon that his pager finally went off.
Pulling it off the waist band of his pants, Derek held it up to his eyes. Not a nine-one-one, but he was being called to the pit for a consult, and that could quickly turn into a surgery. He dropped the pager onto his desk and ran his hands through his hair before pushing his chair back and standing. Quickly, he stretched and donned his lab coat. His lips curled into a smile as he watched his hand reach for his pager.
Derek hurried down to the pit and was met by an ER resident who passed him a chart. "Hillary Weathers. 42. Hit by a car in a parking lot. She hit her head when she fell."
Derek offered the patient and her daughter, who was standing beside the bed with tears in her eyes, a comforting smile. "Hello, Ms. Weathers. I'm Dr. Shepherd. How fast was the car going?"
"Not that fast, but the bastard didn't even slow down. And the next thing I know I'm lying on the ground and he's out of the car screaming at me like it's my fault."
He offered her s sympathetic glance and stepped forward, pulling his pen light out of his pocket. "Look straight ahead." Her pupils were equal and reactive. "Has she been altered?" he asked the resident.
"She was a little confused. GCS of 14. And her daughter said she was unconscious right after the fall."
The daughter sniffed at this.
Derek smiled at her. "We're going to take good care of your mom." He turned back to the patient. "How is your pain?"
"My head hurts. The light doesn't make it any better."
"Dizzy?"
"I was. Not so much now."
"Nauseous?"
"Not anymore."
"Good." He nodded and made some notes. "Any other pain?"
"My arm." She nodded her head to the splinted arm on her lap. "I must have reached to stop the car or something."
"And where were you impacted?"
"My hip."
"It's bruising," the resident spoke up. "But she's able to move the joint. I've already got her in line for an x-ray for the hip and the arm."
"Good. Let's add a head CT to that just to make sure." He turned back to the patient. "Ms. Weathers, you probably have a mild concussion. I've ordered a CT just to make sure it's nothing more serious."
She nodded. "Thank you."
He offered her a smile and passed the chart back to the resident. "Page me when you get the results."
"Thanks, Dr. Shepherd."
"That's why I'm here," he responded, earning a laugh from the resident and the patient.
When he turned away from the patient, he spotted familiar dirty-blonde hair across the ER. Meredith was on the phone at the desk, facing away from him. With a smile he approached her.
She hung up and then jumped when she turned and realized he was right beside her.
"Hey," he breathed, "How's your day going?"
She leaned into him with a sigh. "Can we just go back to the Bahamas? I liked it better there.
"That good, huh?" He pressed a kiss to the side of her head.
"I have a patient with a severed arm, and no one seems to be able to find it. My friends are pissing me off. And..." She trailed off with an angry sigh. "And this year was supposed to be better than last year and already – already, Derek, on only the first day – I'm in hell. It was supposed to be better. Less stressful. You agreed it was supposed to be better. Why do these things keep happening to me?"
Derek felt his brow furrow, wondering what could have gone wrong since he had last seen her early that morning. "Meredith..."
She sighed again. "You'll never guess who's doing her freaking internship here."
"Who?"
Before Meredith could respond, a dark haired intern arrived beside them, flustered and already rambling. "Hey, I'm, uh, sorry about before. I just...was s-so nervous about meeting you. But...don't block the ER doors. I know that now. So that's a...a good lesson."
Meredith stared at her for moment, before shaking her head. "I have a severed arm I need to find, so unless you have it, I have to go." And she strode away.
Derek watched her go, still wondering what could possibly have happened to put her in this mood.
"She hates me. My sister hates me," the intern said, pulling Derek's attention away from Meredith's retreating form.
"What?"
"She hates me."
He shook his head. "No, I meant, your sister?"
She nodded.
"Meredith is your sister?"
She nodded again. "My half-sister."
He exhaled, now completely able to understand Meredith's mood and subsequent reaction. After being devastated time and again trying to do the family thing – with her own family, that is – and having no warning for this, Meredith's reaction was understandable. He cleared his throat. "So, you must be Lexie?"
She looked at him in surprise. "Yes. That's... How do you know my name?"
He shrugged. "Well, if you're Meredith's half sister that would make you my half sister in law."
"You're...Meredith's husband?"
He nodded, unable to prevent the smile from taking over his face. "Derek Shepherd," he said, offering his hand.
She shook. "Lexie Grey. I...I didn't know Meredith was married. My dad...he won't talk about her."
Ignoring the mention of Thatcher, Derek nodded. "Yeah, it's...new." He glanced in the direction Meredith had disappeared. "I should go and-"
"Wait. Shepherd." She pulled a small notebook out of her pocket and checked her notes. "Dr. Yang just sent me to find you. She said it was really important."
With a sigh, he nodded and followed her to an exam room. Cristina was waiting impatiently. "Took you long enough," she snapped at Lexie, before turning to Derek. "Dr. Shepherd, we have a situation."
He nodded in understanding as his eyes fell on the x-ray and he stepped forward for a better look.
"The back of his skull is completely disconnected from his first cervical vertebrae."
"He's been internally decapitated. Holly crap," Cristina responded now that she had confirmation from Derek that she had been seeing what she had thought.
"Ninety percent of these die in the field."
"And the other ten percent?" Lexie asked.
"I've never seen one," he said honestly. And hadn't expected to. It was a rare injury, not to mention the fact that so few made it to the hospital. And of that few, only about two percent survive.
"There's always a first time, though. Right?" Lexie asked. "I mean...he came back from the dead."
Derek glanced at her, trying to remember what if felt like to be so new to medicine.
"You know that expression there's no such thing as a stupid question?" Cristina spoke up, glaring at her intern. "It's not valid here. If you have nothing intelligent to say, keep your mouth shut."
"I'm sorry, Dr. Yang," Lexie said quickly. "I'm just...having one of those days. I met my sister, which I already told you. But I saw her again and it didn't go much better. And then I found out I had a brother in law," so motioned to Derek, "And I'm just trying to stay out of my head, you know?"
Cristina stared at her. "Brother in law?" She glanced at Derek. "Did you tell her that? You're getting a little ahead of yourself, don't you think?"
Lexie spoke before Derek could. "You're not married? You said you were her husband?"
"I am," he turned back to Cristina. "Meredith didn't tell you?"
Cristina stared at him for a long moment. Her eyes flickered to his left hand, and then she turned away. "I'll go book the OR," she called on her way out the door.
Derek sighed. "Well, that went well."