'So, this is your room,' Meredith opened a wooden door in the hallway into a pretty little room with ivory walls, a silky black bedspread and thick, velvety curtains.
'Like it?' Meredith smiled, and I nodded ecstatically.
'It's better than the cupboard I had at home,' I laughed, 'The room I was in barely had space for a single bed.'
'How did they let you stay there?' Meredith asked incredulously, and I shrugged. 'Never mind that,' I mused, 'This is gorgeous. Thank you.'
'It's no problem, kid,' she smiled that crinkly eyed smile, 'Now, come on, we have to take Zola to school. In fact, do you fancy keeping an eye on Bailey, and I'll take Ellis with me to the school to drop Zo off. Then we'll pop the other two into day care this afternoon and go for a little pizza date. How does that sound?'
'You've got a whole day off?'
'They were going to give me a day for you, Lola, they all adore you.'
'And they adore you.'
'Yeah, well, I am pretty adorable,' shrugged Meredith, and I nodded dutifully. She laughed. 'Come on then, go set up the train track for Bails.'
Bailey was a beautiful little boy. He smiled and laughed all the way through our game, and when Meredith returned with little Ellis she stood in the doorway for a moment, watching us. I couldn't quite make out her expression, but she looked proud. I wasn't used to that. Nobody was ever proud of me before.
At about four o'clock in the afternoon, we got dressed up, brought Zola from school to daycare with her little brother and sister, and headed over to Callie's apartment. Dr Kepner, Dr Karev, Dr Bailey and Dr Robbins were all there, Dr Torres in the kitchen.
I wasn't expecting so many people, and had a few nerves when we entered the house. However, with a comforting hand on my arm from Meredith, I seemed to swell with confidence, especially since I knew these people wouldn't be here if they didn't want to be.
'How did you all get time off?' I asked, incredulously.
I never really got an answer, just laughs and a toast and a glass of champagne before Callie brought the pizzas out of the oven.
It was mid-conversation over some gruesome, engrossing surgery story told by Dr Bailey that everything started to get a little blurry. I felt Meredith's hand on my arm again, except when I turned her hand was by her side. I could hear noises, like someone yelling in my ear, and a banging... and there was still the feeling of pressure on my arm, and then on my chest, and then my head... and then everything was dark again.
But this time, somehow, it was different.