The Arrival of Meredith Grey

The New Normal

(Meredith POV)

I rolled out of bed, noticing that dereks side of the bed was cold. Then I remembered that he was on call that night. I had a pretty long surgery today, and I was very excited but very anxious.

I got ready for the day and changed into a pair of jeans and one of dereks sweaters. My stomach actually didn't hurt too bad right now which is good because of my surgery in a few hours.

I walked downstairs and poured myself a nice cup of coffee. My phone started ringing and I picked it up. "Meredith grey." I said, not knowing who called. "Someone didn't check the caller ID." Derek joked. I laughed. "How you doing?" He asked. "Good. Leaving soon." I said. "Good. Ready for your surgery?" He asked. "Hell yeah." I said excitedly. He laughed. "I gotta go Mer, but I'll see you soon. Love you." He said as he hung up the phone.

I left the house and got into the car to drive off to work.

I got there about 15 minutes later and walked into the building. "Hey!" Derek said as he came up and gave me a hug. He kissed my lips chastely and smiled. "When's your surgery?" He asked. "In an hour. Why?" I replied confused. "I want to watch." He replied, flashing me his signature mcdreamy smile that made me melt inside. I smiled back. "I love you." I sighed. "I love you too." He replied.

"Grey! Stop sucking face and get your ass over here! We gotta prep the patient!" Bailey yelled. I smiled and kissed Derek quickly. "See you." I said as I ran off to find Bailey.

"So you'll dissect down to here, and I'll clean up the margins?" Bailey asked. "Yes. It should be fair sailing after that." I replied. Bailey nodded. "Well, it's time. You feeling okay?" She asked. "Yes. And if I need a break, I'll tell you." I replied with a chuckle. Bailey smirked and we walked to the scrub room.

We stepped up to the patient. "Scalpel." I said as I made the first cut.

(Derek POV)

I finished my craniotomy just in time to go see Merediths surgery. I walked into the gallery and sat down front row, and listened to the intercom as she made the first cut.

I'm really proud of her. I know she wants to go back to the desert, but she took it like a champ and is doing well here. She's taking care of herself too, which is very important for her health.

I was actually off my shift at the moment. It ended after the craniotomy, but I wanted to see her in her element.

About 3 hours in, I noticed meredith was stretching and moving around a bit more. "You need a break?" Bailey asked. "I'm good for now. Probably will need one soon." Meredith replied. Meredith looked up and gave me a reassuring look, as if telling me she was okay. I nodded and she went back to her work.

(Meredith POV)

It's been probably a good 4 hours, and now I'm feeling the strain. "Can I go sit for a minute?" I asked Bailey. "Sure." She replied. I pulled my hands out of the patients body and sat down in a chair by the corner of the room.

It was good that I could stand for more than 30 minutes, like during my first surgery where I couldn't stand through an appy. I took a few minutes to relax before returning to my surgery.

After a few more hours, we finally finished the surgery and I was feeling sore. I left the scrub room and went to Dereks office, where I knew he'd be thanks to the page he left me.

"Hey!" Derek said as I went into the office. "Hey." I said sleepily. I sat down on the couch and he came and sat next to me. I lifted up my scrub top and revealed the big scar. I was about to massage my stomach before Derek stopped me. "Let me." He said. I nodded and his hands worked magic on the pain in my stomach. Little did we know we had an audience watching through the window.

(Writers POV)

Bailey, Richard, and a few other attendings met up at the nurses station to chat. "Grey did good today." Bailey said. "She did." Richard agreed. "Whos Grey?" An attending named Dr Mark Sloan asked. "The new general attending." Richard said. Mark frowned, not knowing who he was talking about. "From the army? Small, blonde hair, shepherds girlfriend?" Richard elaborated. "Oh! Dereks girlfriend!" Mark said in realization.

Meredith walked to dereks office, oblivious of the group of people. "Look." Bailey pointed out. The group of attendings looked through the office window and saw Meredith laying down, and Derek massaging a huge scar. "Damn! What happened to her?" Mark asked. "Ambushed in the field. 6 gunshot wounds to the chest and abdomen. One of her stomach muscles were torn and damaged being the point of recovery." Bailey explained. "She couldn't go back to the army, so we offered her a job here. She's very talented." She added. Mark nodded. "I can probably take a look at that scar. See if I can touch it up a bit." Mark said. "Tell her that. Actually, tell Derek first." Richard said. Mark nodded and walked away.

(Derek POV)

"Want to go home?" I asked Meredith. She nodded. I gave her my hand and helped her up. She was definitely sore, I could tell by her body movements and how slow she was.

I put my arm around her waist and she leaned heavily on me for support. We walked out together and got into the car to drive home.

15 minutes later, we arrived at her house and she immediately plopped herself down on the couch, as she does every night. I got her heating pad from the bathroom and I brought two Advil with me. I handed her the items and she smiled. "Thank you." She said before swallowing the medicine. I nodded and sat down next to her. She curled into my side and we watched some tv.