Keep Holding On

Chapter 4

Monday morning found the doctors of Seattle Grace a little on edge. Word had quickly spread about the new head of directors and the changes he was already making. It didn't help that Burke's resignation as chief came at the same time, causing the rumor mill to spin even more. Meredith was able to find Cristina before the other interns had arrived earlier that morning, and they'd been able to talk for a few minutes in privacy. Meredith noticed her friend had calmed considerably from her initial freak out the day before.

Several hours later, Meredith had finished checking on her patients and couldn't ignore the rumble in her stomach. She quickly thought about paging Derek to meet her for lunch, but glancing at the OR board, she noticed he was in the middle of an ependymoma craniotomy. She silently scratched that plan and debated whether or not to page George or Izzie, as she dropped off her charts at the nurses station.

Making up her mind, she retrieved her pager from her pocket and looked down at it, as she turned around and ran into something solid. Meredith stumbled a little and almost fell, but a man reached out and caught her arms, steadying her.

"Oh, I'm sorry. Excuse me." Meredith spoke quickly, trying to ignore the way her skin crawled where the man's large hands gripped her firm, small biceps.

"It was my mistake, I wasn't watching where I was going... Dr. Grey...is it?" The man kept his hands on Meredith and flashed a charming smile showing perfect, even white teeth.

Meredith could imagine his smile had persuaded many a woman, but for some reason, he was making her uncomfortable. He was a tall man, probably a few inches over six feet and had brown hair that was gelled perfectly in place. His deep set brown eyes rounded out his perfect features, down to his chiseled jaw.

Meredith took a few steps back, causing him to release the hold he had on her. She could have sworn a hint of amusement flashed through his eyes before he cleared his throat and offered his hand.

"I don't believe we've met. I'm Jon Luckabee. And you didn't answer my question. You are Meredith Grey aren't you?"

Meredith reluctantly took his hand and offered a polite shake, before retrieving her hand back and answering. "Oh, um ya...sorry...yes, I'm Dr. Grey. It's nice to um... meet you Mr. Luckabee."

Meredith politely smiled at the man who apparently was now one of her bosses, but her eyes searched the hall, desperate for an excuse to walk away. She immediately understood what Callie and Izzie had been talking about the day before. She hadn't been in this man's presence more than two minutes and she was already feeling very uneasy.

"Please, call me Jon. You'll find I do things quite differently than your former head of the board. I like to get to know the doctors that work at my hospital. On a more personal level."

"Oh, okay. Sure... Jon." Meredith took another step back under his piercing gaze. Her heart started beating rapidly in her chest and she knew she wasn't imagining the way he was looking at her.

"So, Grey? As in Ellis Grey the great?" Mr. Luckabee folded his arms across his chest and leaned his back against the counter, not taking his eyes off of the beautiful doctor once.

"Um, yep. Same Grey." Meredith shifted uneasy, silently urging her pager to go off. She'd willingly do rectals over standing here making small talk with this man.

"Hmmm." He seemed to study her a moment before continuing. "I noticed in your chart you're five years behind where you should be in the program. You were let back in under special circumstances? I can only assume your mother had some pull there, right? Seattle Grace is a prestigious hospital, medical graduates apply from all over the country to get into this competitive program. It seemed a little odd to me at first that they'd decide to start making special circumstances, but now I'm starting to understand."