Different Story | Grey's Anatomy

• Chapter 3: Hey Sister •

No matter how much she loved to have a day off every once in a while, Meredith was still utterly bored after she came back home with Zola. Sure, she had to empty the shopping bags and cook lunch; however, after Zola fell asleep she had absolutely no idea on what to do with herself. She just sat on the sofa, without any wish to watch TV or read or do anything at all.

She closed her eyes and visioned herself standing in the OR. Whether being used to it or not, the feeling of saving someone's life could not had been described by words. She just felt that inner peace when she stood there, with a scalpel in her right hand, helping someone who couldn't help themselves.

Meredith's buzzing phone distracted her from the vision in her mind as she was forced to open her eyes again. With a sigh, she quickly reached in her pocket and read the name of the caller on the screen.

"Hi, Lexie," she greeted and reached for the remote control to lower the volume of the TV. "Is something wrong? Aren't you at work?"

"I am, but I am not feeling well," Lexie whined over the phone and Meredith crossed her arms on her chest.

"Lexie, you are not a kid anymore," Meredith commented, annoyed. "Suck it up, take a painkiller or two and move on. You only come home if you are sick enough to endanger your patient's health!"

"I knew I'd get a lesson from you... Well guess what, I already knew that, I am not stupid," Lexie whispered into the phone and hung up on her sister. Meredith raised her eyebrows and stared at her phone for a little longer. She shrugged at Lexie's behaviour and stood up from the couch, in order to check on Zola, who was still peacfully sleeping.

"What a beautiful life you have, Zola," Meredith quietly whispered and caressed her daughter's soft cheek. "A life made of playing, sleeping and eating."

She then left Zola's room and gently closed the door, without waking her.

For the next hour or so, Meredith still had no idea on what to do with her bored self. No matter what she was doing, she still did not feel that joy which would fill her body after walking into an OR. She then thought about writing something, so she sat down at the table with blank pages of her notebook staring at her. While fidgeting with her pen, she was trying to come up with something to write down, but her thoughts were not connected.

"Come on, concentrate," she mumbled to herself and bit her bottom lip. "Writing is like a surgery, but with words."

She pressed the pen's point against the paper, but lifted it up again. What could she possibly write about? Relationships? Surgery? Her mind was like a minefield, with bombs exploding all over the place.

"Ah, screw this," she said and put the pen onto the wooden surface. "I do not want to turn into my mother."

"Screw what?" a cheerful voice echoed from the hall and Meredith saw Lexie's figure appear underneath a vault. She gave her sister a look.

"Owen let you leave three hours earlier?" Meredith replied after checking her wrist watch. "Lexie, what is going on?"

"Nothing is going on. Why would something be going on?" Lexie said quirkily. "Although, many things keep going on in our lives. You know, like breathing, being alive. That's always going on."

"Yes, until you stop breathing and die," her sister continued monotonously. "Now, stop avoiding the question."

"I already told you over the phone, I am not feeling so well," Lexie replied and tried to walk upstairs, but Meredith grabbed her by the wrist and stopped her.

"This is the behavior one would expect from a teenager, not from an intern!" Meredith scolded her, in an act of an older sister. She placed her palm on Lexie's forehead, which caused Lexie to look down at her feet.

"Explain, Lex."

"There is nothing to explain."

"But you will. If not to me, you'll have to explain it to your boss."

Lexie sighed and finally made eye contact with her sister.

"Whatever. It was stupid and irresponsible."

"Indeed, but do not pity yourself now. I can see something is bothering you."

Meredith placed her hand upon her sister's shoulder and noticed how she slightly tilted her head sideways. Perhaps it was the sister instinct, which enabled Meredith to understand that something was off. She knew it wasn't sickness, despite Lexie's cheeks turning from slightly rosy to pale within a second.

"Lexie, this is not you. It's like I am looking at my own reflection; dark, gloomy, unpredictable. You are the exact opposite of this."

"Can I just go upstairs? I promise, I'll tell you later," Lexie asked after a moment of silence and Meredith put down her hand. Lexie grabbed her jacket and hurried up the stairs and disappeared around the corner. Meredith shook her head, with hands on her hips. She returned back to her desk and opened her notebook again...

I know she'll tell me. She just needs her time to calm down and think it through. When we are upset, we tend to make rushed and usually completely wrong decisions. In our field of work, the price could be someone's life, but even in our own personal lives we should be cautious. There's no need for rushed decisions, which usually tend to be wrong... I should know.

I know that burning feeling in your chest; it's as if you were suffocating and it's hard to hold your head up high and stand tall, meanwhile you are slowly running out of air to breathe. Perhaps this is why she decided to come home earlier than usual, something was suffocating her.

Meredith placed down her pen and her eyes scanned the text once again, to check for errors. She rapidly closed the notebook and put it on a shelf, which was out of reach for everyone. She then proceeded to the kitchen and poured some fresh water in a glass and carried it to Lexie's room.

"Lexie?" she said after knocking on the door, but there was no reply. Meredith entered the room, however, Lexie was no longer there. She was trying to think of where could she be, until she heard a silent voice coming from Zola's nursery from the other side of the hall. She placed the glass on Lexie's bedside table and walked towards the nursery; this time, she could understand what the voice was saying.

"I won't let you fall in love with boys who play around, you know? No one deserves to have their feelings played like this, Zola."

At this point, Meredith was already standing at the door, looking at Lexie, who was playing with little Zola, with her back against the door. Meredith listened attentively, with her arms crossed on her chest.

"Maybe I should put him in his place... What do you think about that, Zo?"

"I think you should," Meredith spoke up, which caused Lexie to turn around and see her sister standing above her.

"Were you eavesdropping on my conversation with my neice?"

"Maybe," Meredith said and leaned onto the wall. "But talking to a baby is not really much of a conversation. Well, it is, but it only goes one way, it's like you are talking to yourself."

"Except, I am not talking to myself. I am talking to Zola."

"Maybe in this case it would have been better if you spoke to someone, who can comfort you and give you some words of advice, don't you think?"

Lexie broke the eye contact with Meredith and looked at Zola in her arms, with the saddest eyes Meredith had ever seen from her sister. She knew what the problem was, immediately.

"Is it Mark?"

Lexie stood up and faced Meredith.

"Yes."

Oh, if the sky comes falling down
for you, there's nothing in this world I wouldn't do.