take my hand, wreck my plans

CHAPTER 1 : people you know

Another exhausting day where Meredith had to run all around the hospital because her interns and residents were useless, she really was convinced she was never that clumsy and clueless. She sighed as she took off her latex gloves and threw them in the trash. It was already so late, she couldn't believe that she had, once again, stayed at the hospital until the middle of the night for an emergency surgery. But she was the chief of general surgery, responsibilities came with the job.

She wondered if Alex and Cristina were still here or if they had gone home already. Knowing Cristina, she was probably in surgery right now, doing what she loved the most, but she was sure Alex was comfortably sleeping in his bed with Jo. Meredith let another sigh out, she was happy for her friends, but Alex had been absent a lot lately and Cristina was always so busy with work.

She dried her hands and got out of the scrub room, longing to be home already, her whole body ached. The hospital was rather calm at this time of night, especially the surgical floor.

She walked tiredly to the attending lounge to get her stuffs and finally go home and get some well-earned rest. She didn't pay attention to the man sitting at the table enjoying a cup of coffee.
"Long surgery?" the shadow asked
"Huh?" Meredith turned around to see Derek Shepherd lazily sitting on a chair, smiling slightly. He looked exhausted.
"Yeah, emergency surgery, car crash, you?" she quickly replied after that long pause.
"Same thing", he let out a long yawn and closed his eyes for a bit.
Meredith figured it was the end of their conversation and swiftly got out of the room while mumbling a mix of goodnight and goodbye.

She never really talked to Dr Shepherd, they were cordial but he didn't really have friends, nor did he try to have some. She knew he moved from New York a year ago but that was it. The few times she had a conversation with him were usually at the head of departments' meetings.

She let her mind wander while she walked to her car, to her surprise, the same dark-haired neurosurgeon was arriving on the parking at the same time. 'Stalker much' she thought to herself and let out a little giggle. Derek Shepherd immediately turned his head around to see where the noise was coming from. Meredith felt embarrassed but continued her way to her car and pretended she didn't see him.

Derek wondered if she was laughing at him? Did he embarrass himself? He shook his head and opened his Porsche, today had been a long day and even though he wasn't really excited about going home, he couldn't wait to sleep. He loved his trailer and his land but sometimes he regretted not being closer to the hospital because he could use a few more hours of sleep every day. He knew the way by heart and almost let the car drive itself. It was pitch black outside, he couldn't see a thing but he still found the way to his trailer and immediately passed out on the bed.

Sometimes he missed the comfort of his New York life, he was not happy but at least life was easy. He had money, a great house, a wife and a great job. Every day was the same but he found some comfort in that. His life had been completely turned upside down a year ago and now it had been more hectic than ever. Seattle was never his top choice in cities but when Dr Bailey offered him the job of head of neurosurgery when everything around him crumbled, he saw it as a perfect opportunity.

He hadn't seen Addison since they signed the divorce papers and he was glad but he did wonder what she was up to sometimes. Did she move on so easily after shattering him to his very core and leaving him a shell of a man with no self-confidence or trust to give to anyone? Is she miserable because he left her? He would probably never know and it was honestly better that way. He should've left her years ago, they were happy only for a few years, then it quickly became a relationship of habit, there was no love or passion, just caring and habit. Instead, he stayed and waited for her to hurt him in the worst way possible.