The Call

10

A/N Thank you readers for all your support! Happy belated Grey's Day!

Anyway, please enjoy this final instalment of The Call.

Jesse found Malaya on the roof. "Shouldn't you be in bed?" he asked. She didn't answer as he approached. He simply smiled and looked onto the horizon with her. "Best part of the day... when the sun rises, it's a new day Dr. Pineda. Fresh start."

Malaya turned her head a quarter turn to him, and he could see in that instant, a mark of maturity in her he hadn't seen before. They both turned back to the sun and smiled.

xxx

Christa was cleaning up Dr. Grey's bed when something clattered on the floor. A toy car. It must have been Bailey's. She picked it up, but was suddenly overwhelmed with emotion. Her son had a car just like this. He had a whole collection of about twenty. They used to sit on the floor and race them. It was his favorite thing to do. She swallowed and blinked back the tears. The car tumbled into the pocket of her scubs as she finished her work.

Half an hour later she was changing in the locker room. Leanne just entered and was collecting her things for the day, when there was a clatter. Christa looked down, the car had fallen out of her pocket when she changed her shirt. Before she could pick it up, Leanne reached down, "What's this?. Oh." Leanne's expression changed from mild curiosity to pain. "Christa, where did you find this?"

"Dr. Grey's room, I think it was Bailey's."

"Oh."

"My son had a car just like that," Christa blurted. For some reason, she didn't want to give it up.

Leanne placed the car in Christa's locker. "Mine too," she said softly.

xxx

The buzz of people in the airport was a good distraction from Amelia's dark thoughts as she walked beside Meredith toward their boarding gates. "Zola, stay with Mommy!" Meredith called as her puffy haired daughter escaped from her grasp and skipped ahead.

"I got her." Amelia bolted ahead, grabbing Zola's wrist. Zola giggled and squirmed, like they were playing a game. Amelia smiled a bittersweet smile. She would miss this. She looked up at the sign. "Well, I guess this is where we part ways. This is my stop."

"Yeah," Meredith hitched Bailey on her hip as she stopped. "My flight leaves in an hour...Are you gonna be okay Amelia?"

"I'll be... I'll manage, don't worry." It was her usual automatic reply.

Meredith moved beside her and sat down, Amelia joined her, Zola in her lap. They both stared ahead. "You know I kinda had a near death whatever once?"

"The plane crash?"

"No before that. There was an accident, I fell in the water and for a second I just... I thought, what's the point? I stopped swimming. I drowned."

"Oh." Amelia took in this new information. She had always thought Meredith was the strong one who kept it all together, now that perception was changing as Meredith opened up to her.

Meredith pressed her lips together, "It's hard to explain and a long story, but basically I died. And while I was... uh, dead I had this dream or something. I realized that I couldn't give up." Meredith smiled, "I wanted to live, I wanted to be with the people that I loved.

"Meredith, what are you saying?"

"Amelia, you need people. You need to let people in. I don't know how things are between you and Owen... I don't know who you consider your friends...maybe Addison or even Richard, but I know they care about you, and you need to let someone in."