The end is just the begining

Part twenty one - New beginnings

It had been a week since Meredith had been awake, she was now home and itching to go back to work. She needed something to get her mind off of things and tv was not working. She needed her friends and she needed to help people that needed it. She was able to go back under one condition, she had to be by someone's side at all time for a while. She didn't care, as long as she was out of the house.

"You're early!" Cristina spoke, she sounded surprised. As Meredith walked into the locker room, setting her stuff in her locker.

"Yeah, I couldn't wait to get back to work," Meredith muttered, her eyebrows began to furrow as she focused on what she was doing.

"Well, looks like you're with me today."

"Sounds like a blast," Meredith spoke, and turned to face her friend with a serious facial expression "I am not going to get you coffee, I will not be your slave."

"Nah, I wouldn't do that to you," Cristina responded, emphasizing the you part of her sentence.

"Good, now let's go so we can be the first for rounds!" She told her as she tied up her Converse, put on her lab coat, and began to head towards the door.

"Are you okay Mer?" Cristina whispered, following her friend's lead.

"I'm fine," She muttered, her voice growing cold. She didn't want to think of it, she already was talking to her therapist about it. The last thing she wanted was to talk about it at work. "Please don't ask again, unless I am dying or something."

"Alright then,"

The two walked down the hallway in silence, Cristina was still worried about Meredith. Her odd mood swings caught her off guard, that wasn't like her. They caught up with Dr.Bailey, and the other interns joined behind them. Their eyes were on Meredith, their worried eyes. And she could feel it, but they didn't say anything. They all knew what her answer was going to be.

"Nice to see you back," George whispered, Meredith just smiled and gave him a quick nod. A few days will go by and everyone will stop mentioning it, She thought.

Everyone turned their focus when Dr. Bailey began to speak, telling each of them where they were for the day before going in and meeting the patients. Meredith and Cristina were with Derek on a case. Izzie was with Dr. Montgomery, George was with Dr. Sloan and Alex was with Dr. Webber. They all had their assignments.

After rounds, they began to focus on one patient for the day. Her name was Grace, an elderly lady who was a war veteran. She has a rare tumor that Derek was going to dissect from her brain, but it was a risky surgery. The two both stood in the room, prepping her for surgery.

"So you two young ladies will be in my surgery?" Grace asked, looking between Meredith and Cristina.

"Yes, but only observing," Meredith told her, she gave the woman a soft smile.

"We're interns," Cristina added, as she brought over the blood pressure cuff to check Graces blood pressure.

"Right," she mumbled "Are any of you single?"

"Huh," Meredith chuckled, glancing over at Cristina nervously "no."

"That's too bad, my son Jimmy needs a girlfriend."

"We're both in happy relationships," Meredith spoke, a smile plastered on her face. Derek made her forget about everything, he was a great distraction. All she needed to do was think about him and all the bad stuff would disappear. Thats easier said than done.

"Dr. Grey, Dr. Yang, how lovely it is to see you two here," they heard a voice rang. It was Derek, walking in, his hands clasped together and a grin was formed in his face. They both glanced over at him. Meredith held Graces chart and Cristina was taking her vitals.

"Good morning," Meredith mumbled, she realized she hadn't said anything to him this morning. He didn't even know she left. She was in such a hurry that she didn't even tell him where she was going.

"Dr. Grey," Derek spoke softly, walking up to her. She glanced over at him a nervous smile formed on her face "How is Grace doing."

"Um, she is great!" Meredith stammered, fumbling on her words and fidgeting with the pen in her hands. She felt bad for him.

"Is she ready for surgery?"

"Uh, n-no," Meredith stammered once again, Cristina gave her a worried look and glanced over at Derek. Why was he making her so nervous?

"Her blood pressure is great and she should be able to go up soon!" Cristina spoke, she gently nugged Meredith and frowned.

"Dr. Shepherd, these ladies are so sweet," Grace spoke, she took Meredith's and held it, giving her a sweet smile.

"Especially her," Derek spoke and gave Meredith a quick wink before existing the room.

"What did you do?" Grace asked, glancing between the two interns.

"Yeah," Cristina added

"I left and didn't say anything,"

"Meredith!" Cristina muttered, "He must have been worried sick about you, you better go say you're sorry!"

"Yeah," Grace chimed in, nodding her head. She pointed towards the door. Indicating for her to go now.

Meredith sighed and took off after him, he couldn't have gone too far. To her surprise be wasn't. He was in the hallway waiting for her, his arms were crossed over his chest. He didn't look impressed with her.

"Look, I'm sorry. I was so excited to go back to work I literally got ready and left."

"You can't do that again," Derek sighed, he walked up to her and hugged her. He didn't want to let go "I was so worried and scared, I called the hospital and they said you were here. But Meredith I was worried for at least an hour." he rambled on, but she listened. That's what he'd do for her.

"I am so sorry Derek, I'll make it up to you I promise,"

Derek continued to hold her, tears clouded his vision. He didn't want to let her go just yet. She held onto him tightly, she ti didn't want to let go. He made her feel safe and calm. Someone clearing their throat caused them to pull away, their eyes landing in the individual who made the sound.

"I'm sorry, but if you want to hug. Do it somewhere else, no one wants to see that." a nurse growled, and walked into Graces room.

"S-sorry," Meredith stammered. She was doing so good today, now all her confidence is starting to disappear.

"Hey, don't be sorry," Derek sighed, rubbing her back "It's okay to hug your boyfriend, she's just jealous." he gave her a quick kiss before walking back into Mrs Grace's room.

Meredith and Cristina both sat in the gallery while Derek did the surgery. The two talked back and forth while watching. There eyes glued to what was going on. Neither of them talked about their personal lives or the fact that Meredith really wasn't okay. She was Terrified.

That was okay, she was getting better. Learning out to get back up on her feet again. Gaining that confidence. She had the people who loved her at her side. She noticed when watched the surgery, a familiar person was in the gallery. Someone who she didn't want to acknowledge, someone she probably didn't want to know.

The surgery went smoothly, lucky for Grace she was all good. Derek had gotten the whole tumor. She was back to asking everyone if they were single or if they wanted any baked goods. It made Meredith happy, seeing the nice old lady looking out if people. Maybe one day she'd be able to be that happy old lady with no care in the world. Just not right now.