Illicit Affairs

Chapter 21

Thursday 17th June, 2021

The bus that was bringing them back from the airport was stuck in traffic, and she didn't think she'd been more exhausted in her life. The boards themselves had been exhausting, but she'd also been spending her time getting the necessary arrangements in place for her move to England. She'd spent a lot of time on the phone trying to organise somewhere to move into on such short notice, and she hadn't even told Derek yet that it was her definite decision to move over there.

It's what she needed, though. She needed to get away. Most people would just go on holiday, right? But getting away wasn't her only reason for the move half-way across the world. She needed space to find who she was away from her mother. One thing she had noticed when going through the interviews with various fellowship programmes, this was the only place where they hadn't even mentioned her mother. It was refreshing, to not have her talent compared to that of Ellis Grey.

She would have to leave Derek behind. Maybe that was for the best, though? She shouldn't be making her life decisions based off her seven-month affair with him. They had never even been in a proper relationship with each other, she didn't even know he had actual feelings beyond lust for her until a few weeks ago. This was her career. She had to focus on her career and forget everything else.

Her phone pinged in her lap, pulling her out of her thoughts and she saw the message from the man himself.

Have the results come through yet? Is everything okay? The bus is late.

She laughed softly to herself at his panicked tone and Cristina eyed her from the opposing seat across the aisle, but Meredith just shook her head and looked back at the phone, tapping out her reply.

Results aren't due for another hour; bus is stuck in traffic.

She set the phone back down in her lap, leaning her head against the window as she closed her eyes, ready to make another attempt at getting some sleep seeing as the bus was at least another half an hour away from the hospital at the rate the traffic was moving. Just as she thought she might go to sleep, the bus jerked and her phone pinged at the same time, another incoming message.

Okay, I'll wait here for you. I'll be in my office.

You don't have to wait for me.

I know. I want to.

She didn't respond to him this time and just set the phone back down in her lap, closing her eyes again. This bus ride was truly tortuous.

****

Back at the hospital, Derek was struggling to focus on any of the paperwork he had to do and was half hoping an emergent surgery would come in to give him something to focus on that would actually keep his concentration. He couldn't keep her out of his mind, her smile, her scent, the way he felt when he held her in his arms.

All that could be gone so soon, and he wanted to spend as much time with her as he could. She hadn't responded to his latest message and no one had notified him that the bus full of fifth year residents had returned from the airport yet.

He knew the chances of her leaving Seattle for her fellowship were high and the chances of her staying in the states to do her fellowship were extremely low. Even though she hadn't told him her actual decision yet, deep down, he knew she would go to England.

Once Meredith set her mind to something, it was extremely rare that she would change it and he didn't expect this to be an exception. He knew she'd been organising her move to England as much as she'd tried to hide it from him, but he knew she would tell him when she was ready.