Reaching Forward

21

Everything in Meredith's life had been going well the last couple of months after the accident and her mother's death. So, according to Murphy's Law, things should be taking a turn for the worse. But, in Meredith's case, things weren't just about to take a turn they were about to do a complete 180.

Things with her father were going amazingly well. In fact, she believed that Susan was faking the hiccups just so they could spend time together, however, that was not to be the case. By some rare twist of fate, Susan became the 1 chance on every procedure she underwent that day until it ended in her death and leaving Meredith to be the one to tell her father.

Slowly walking down the hallway, she fiddled with her scrub cap. Utter sadness wracked her body. As she approached her father, she tried to find the right words to say. But, there were never any 'right' words for this type of situation, just ones to try and ease the blow even though they never worked.

As her heart began to race, she knew she had to tell him. Her voice cracked as she began, "We did everything we could."

Meredith waited for his reaction. At first there was nothing then almost a smile; not that he was happy at the notion that his wife was dead but the sheer audacity of what she was saying to him. This had to be some kind of cruel joke because Susan couldn't be dead. But, it was then the realization came to him that she wasn't joking. Susan really was dead. Having an expression that was a mix between disbelief, sadness, and anger, he mumbled, "You said it was really simple and that it was a small thing."

Trying to make sense of it all, she said, "It was."

It was then that Thatcher became irate. Raising his right hand, he swiftly brought it down against Meredith's cheek causing her fall into the chair behind her, "She had the hiccups!" The extra weight she was carrying in the front had caused her balance to be off and needless to say when she was slapped she couldn't control her balance any longer.

During this time, the Chief, Bailey, and Derek were watching from afar as she gave her father the bad news. Derek didn't know what was going on until the Chief told him while Meredith had already started to tell Thatcher. A part of him ached; he knew that Meredith was becoming close to Susan even after the whole baby shower debacle and to have her die so suddenly... there wasn't any way to describe how that could affect a person.

Even before Meredith became pregnant, Derek was protective of her and that doubled when he found out she was carrying his child and tripled when they almost lost their son. So, when the next thing he witnessed occurred, he saw red.

Rushing over to Meredith, in mid stride, he punched Thatcher Grey across the jaw sending him to the ground. Quickly, turning around and kneeling before Meredith who was trying to recover from the shock of what happened, he looked her over, "Are you all right?"

Tearfully, she just pressed her head into shoulder and began to cry and Derek began to gently rub her back and helped her to her feet and led her away from her father who was shouting out something incoherent about Meredith and Derek ruining his life.

Later that night, Meredith lay alone in bed staring out the window while caressing her stomach. Entering the room, Derek came in with an ice pack on his right hand. Padding over to the bed, he slid into bed next her and placed the ice pack on the night stand. Turning to face her, he placed his hand over hers, "Do you want to talk about it?" He asked quietly.

In an almost monotonous tone, she replied, "Susan died and my father blames me for it."

"There was nothing else you could do. These things just happen. The Chief, Bailey, and yourself: the best surgeons Seattle Grace has was on her case and she still died." He told her with concern in his voice.