Out of the Darkness

Chapter 5

"Excuse me, Mary?"

The woman, who was most definitely not named Mary, looked up from the place she sat on the floor, papers spread around her in every direction.

"Yes?" she answered Alice, the older woman who was quickly becoming her friend. She had been working in this small office for two and a half weeks and was nearing the completion of her assignment. Alice, as usual, had been amazed at her speed and accuracy and her ease in dealing with all the medical jargon.

"I need to get these files to a social worker upstairs, and I can't leave. I was wondering if you'd mind?" Alice held out a small stack of vanilla colored files towards the woman she called Mary.

"No problem." She jumped up from where she had been sitting all morning and took the files. Alice instructed her where she'd find the office and she hurried on her way.

Only minutes later she found what she was looking for and slowly opened the heavy wooden door. She stepped inside and was immediately greeted by a brown haired woman. She looked to be in her very early 30's.

"Can I help you?" The brown haired woman asked getting up from her desk to greet her visitor.

"Um, Ms. Jenkins sent up these files," she answered handing the files over to their rightful owner.

"Oh yes, of course. Thank you....?" She paused waiting for her to give her name.

"
Mary." There it was again. That awful, twisting feeling, in the pit of her stomach. Would she ever get used to the not knowing.

"Mary," the dark haired girl repeated furrowing her brows. "I'm sorry you just look so familiar. Do I know you?"

"Um... sorry... I don't think so," Mary stammered. "Who... What is your name?"

She tried to be polite knowing that it wouldn't make a difference either way. The likeliness of anyone knowing her in this strange city was quite slim.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" she answered extending a hand in her visitor's direction. "I'm Allison. I'm a social worker for the city of Seattle. I've lived here for almost 6 years, moved here from Arizona. How long have you lived here?"

"Oh, only a few months." She replied to the inquisitive social worker, taking her hand to shake.

"Really? Well how do you like it so far? You know I had an awful experience shortly after I first moved here, but it's made me who I am today." Allison professed.

"Oh? How's that?" She really didn't want to stay and keep up the small talk, but for some reason she was strangely curious about what the woman meant.

"I was walking in the park one day, about three weeks after I moved here and was attacked. I fought back with every ounce of my strength and got pretty banged up in the process. It was an attempted rape but because of my determination he failed. I actually ended up hurting him, and when he came to the hospital to be helped they caught him. It was a very scary experience that I nearly didn't survive. Both of my parents passed away in my early 20's and so I was all alone in a strange city. I owe my life to some very talented and compassionate surgeons at Seattle Grace Hospital. Because of them I made a complete recovery and vowed to do something to help those that might be in the same situation that I found myself. I became a social worker."

Astonishment filled the blue-grey eyes that usually only held confusion and uncertainty. What an amazing story. She searched Allison's face and for the first time saw the slight hint of a few scars. Some were long and traveled down the length of her cheek. Others small. She also noticed some on her hands and arms. They weren't too obvious; time had smoothed them out for the most part. But if you looked closely, you could see them.

"I don't know why, but I feel like we've met before. Are you sure you don't remember me?" Allison brought her attention back to her earlier question.

The hesitant woman searched Allison's face once more. Did she know her? Had they met before? Her stomach turned again, but this time she felt something different. Almost hopeful, optimistic. She felt like the answer was on the tip of her tongue. She was so close. Maybe she did know this woman. She tried to slow the racing of her heart and took a deep breath. She was being ridiculous.

"I'm sorry I don't think so." She said once more, and with that turned on her heals and left.
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Who's that with Shepherd?" Burke asked as he thoughtlessly tossed his dart towards the board. It had been a long day and it felt good to relax with his close friend at Joe's.

George looked across the bar towards the private booth Burke had gestured towards. Two men sat across from each other clearly discussing something significant.

"That's the Private Investigator, Detective Henry, I think it was." George answered taking a long swig of his beer. He had told Burke all that had happened after they had had the surprise visit from the man.

"I wonder what they're talking about, it looks serious." Burke asked still watching the two men.

George just nodded. Meredith, he thought to himself. He hadn't thought about much else since their unsettling visit from the detective 9 days ago.

Burke shrugged and slapped George on the back. "So what do you say O'Malley, best 2 out of 3?" He turned his back to Derek and the Detective, pulling the darts from the board and holding them out to his good friend.
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Derek sighed, frustrated and tired. He ran both hands through his unruly hair and sat back in the booth. He knew he shouldn't have begun this conversation until after he had finished his glass of scotch. Or, truthfully, after he'd finished 4or 5 glasses of scotch.

He still wasn't quite sure what the hell he was doing. Why had he decided to drag all of this up, now, after so long? As much as he had pretended, he still hadn't gotten over it all. It was still as painful and sharp as it had been way back then. But here he sat, his broken heart and tattered feelings splayed on the table before him, for all to see.

"So what, exactly, are you trying to say Detective?" Derek growled, he was irritated at the man who sat across from him. He knew he had some sort of news. Something big, he was intelligent enough to know there was something the detective wasn't saying. And he wished he'd just come out and say it.

The detective stared down at his own drink for a moment before looking back up at the doctor. He hated doing this. The man that sat before him was already broken. Damaged almost beyond repair. But he had to. He had been hired to find out everything he could about Meredith, and so he had no choice.

He cleared his throat and tried to sound as professional as possible, "As I mentioned before, I had the chance to go through her diary and some other personal notes....a n d...." he dragged the word out, "I'm not convinced that she actually left you Derek."

Derek furrowed his brow not understanding what the Detective was trying to say.

"What I mean, Doctor, is I'm certain foul play was involved." Before a stunned Derek could reply, the detective hurried on. "And one more thing. She was pregnant."

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What do you think about this story so far is very different but I really do like it!
Tell me your thoughts should I keep posting the rest of the story or should I just delete the whole thing?