The Element of Surprise

The process

Meredith was pulled into a dimly lit room. She looked around and saw that on the small sized hospital bed was a gown. Kathleen and Derek walked in behind her. Derek walked over beside Meredith and took her hand into his. Meredith gladly accepted. Something about his presence made her melt, it was a weird thing she had never experienced with any man before.

"Ok, Meredith I am going to step out in a minute to let you change into that gown right there," Kathleen said pointing to the bed, "then I will come back and give you a short physical exam then we start the admitting process." Kathleen then stepped out of the room

"Wait what! Admitting process! Is that why you brought me here!"Meredith exclaimed immediately letting go of Derek's hand. "I knew you were bringing me to a hospital but not to be admitted! What were you thinking!"

"Mer, you need help. I have seen you look at yourself, you haven't be the same since the attack. I know you know that you haven't been eating or sleeping. You know that's not normal." Derek said looking at the tears welling up in Meredith's eyes

"So! That doesn't mean I need help." Meredith said turning around so she didn't see Derek anymore

"Meredith, you know I wouldn't be doing this if I didn't think you needed it. Come on lets get you changed." Derek said wrapping his hand around her waist

Meredith immediately pulled back, away from his touch. "No, I can do it myself. I am going to show you that I am fine!" Meredith grabbed the gown and pushed Derek to the door. Derek got the message and left the room.

Kathleen saw the whole thing, and heard it. She rushed over to Derek.

"Um, what was that?"

"She very independent, as you can tell." Derek said still looking at the door

"Yeah, I can tell. I am glad you brought her in You did the right thing Der."

Meredith on the other hand was not ok in the room alone. She peeled off her big sweatshirt and sweatpants and put on the gown. She then retracted into the corner of the room behind the bed so no one could see her. She felt safe in small places, like no one could see her. She felt like she was in her own little world. She was pulled out of her daydreams when there was a knock on the door, followed by Kathleen's voice. "Meredith? Can I come in?"

She didn't dare to answer. He thoughts led to 'What if it isn't just her? What if the attacker was there too? What if she was on his side?' She huddled closer behind the bed as the 'What if' thoughts filled her mind. She wasn't one to hide form the world. Her mother taught her to attack everything with such a force they couldn't resist not believing you. This was the only thing Meredith's mother had taught her besides "Be an extraordinary women Meredith."

"Meredith? I am going to come in" Kathleen opened the door to find the gown missing from the bed, Meredith's clothes stack on the chair in the corner, and no Meredith in sight. She had dealt with patients like this before, but not to this extreme. She looked around the room until she heard a rustle coming from behind the bed. Meredith was embarrassed, she was a grown woman hiding behind the bed from someone who was in jail.

"You know, the world world would be a better place without me. I mean look at me! I am hiding behind a bed from someone who is in jail! I am constantly thinking everyone is on his side and just trying to get to me so he can hurt me!" Meredith couldn't help but laugh at what she just said. What she didn't realize is that Derek was standing in the doorway. He heard that and looked at Kathleen who was looking at him crouched down by Meredith. She simply nodded her head. Derek took that as 'I got this, you go wait outside' so he left to go wait in the waiting room.

"Meredith, there are more people on your side then his side. He probably has himself and the person who beat him up in jail today. Also look what you do for the living, you are a surgeon! You save lives everyday! The world would be worse without you." Kathleen said getting up offering Meredith a hand to help her get up. Meredith carefully took her hand and sat on the edge of the bed. 

"Ok, I am just going to check your vitals, put a IV in to hydrate you, and have you fill out some paperwork." Kathleen said grabbing her stethoscope from around her neck. She checked Meredith's vitals and put in the IV. She hung up the IV bag and gave Meredith a clipboard with a pen attached. 

"I am leave you here while you fill out the paperwork, I will be just outside the door if you need anything, and remember, you are safe in here." Kathleen stepped out and went over to where Derek was sitting

"So, how is she?" Derek asked looking at Kathleen who came over to sit next to him.

"Well, she has pretty bad anxiety, she has lost a lot of weight but I don't think she is anorexic yet, and most likely some PTSD. I can prescribe some anti-anxiety meds, I am almost positive I will get her to eat something if not I give her a feeding tube but I think that will just make things worse. As for the PTSD I will talk to her and get her to say what exactly happened during the attack and gove tools to help not freak out when talking about it. I think she will be here for about 3 days, short but hopefully effective. I also want to talk to her about going back to work, I think should help." Kathleen finished

"Ok, I agree with everything you said. Can I go see her before I leave? Also, am I allowed to come back a visit?"

"Yes you can go see her now, and maybe to the visit. The visiting will depend on how she's doing that day, it might be hard for her to see people if she has just had intense therapy." Kathleen explained

"Ok, well you have phone number obviously so just just text me if I can see her or not." Derek said getting up getting ready to say goodbye to Meredith

Meanwhile in Meredith's room, she was looking at all the questions on the sheet. She filled out the ones about date of birth, insurance provider, place of work, and who brought her here. Then she looked at all the personal questions, 'What brings you here today?' to that she answered, 'idk.' She was not in the mood for this stuff. She looked at the next question, 'One a scale from 1-5, 1 being the worst, how is your pain?' she just stared. What was this? She answered 3 because it was in middle and she had no idea how to answer. She thought these things were supposed to be helpful. She looked at all the other questions on the form and decided just not to do it. She set the clipboard down and curled up under the covers in the bed. She slowly drifted off to sleep, she didn't even know she was tired, but she let herself fall asleep anyway. Meredith was slightly awake when she heard the door open.

"Mer?" She heard Derek say quietly

She didn't feel like moving, her body felt as heavy as a rock. Derek walked over that he could see Meredith's face, her eyes closed. He leaned down softly kissed her forehead.

"Mer, I will come visit you everyday if Kathleen allows me. You will be on mind, I care about you. I love you Meredith, I really do." With that he brushed a piece of a piece of hair away from her face. As he was walking out he saw the half finished clipboard, he sighed knowing he made the right choice.

"Kathleen, the questions all aren't finished, but she is asleep." With that he walked to his car.

................................................................................................................................................................

It was later in the day at Seattle Grace Mercy West and Dr. Bailey, Cristina, Arizona, Callie, and Teddy were all in the cafeteria. 

"Hey guys I just got a update from Derek" Cristina said

"What's he say? Is is about Meredith?" Bailey said between bites of food

"Yeah he said, 'She just got admitted. The doc says she has anxiety, PTSD, but she isn't quite anorexic. Wants her to get back to work as soon as possible. Most likely here for about 3 days. Don't tell anyone else beside our little circle.' That's all he said." Cristina finished

"Wow, I think he made the right call." Teddy said

The seven doctors (Meredith, Derek, Arizona, Callie, Bailey, Teddy, and Cristina) had all been a pretty tight knit group since the merger. They all helped each other out by getting OR time. Giving the fact of them had been admitted, they were all pretty shaken up.