studying used to be meredith's favorite activity, the joy and rush of learning new things intrigued her, another reason why she couldn't pick one specialty, she needed them all. but as time went on while she crammed for her boards, studying was becoming the thing she dreaded, American medicine was definitely easier for her to comprehend but the plethora of concepts drowned her to the point where she was about to burn out. luckily derek was by her side, helping her understand the concepts while going on runs or even staying up till they had to go to work.
"schiller-duval bodies are classic pathologic findings in which type of tumor?"
derek questioned meredith as they sat eating strawberry ice cream with medical textbooks sprawled out on the bed. they were on their final specialty, fetal, which was meredith's second favorite, neuro being first.
"yolk sac tumors, that's too easy go harder on me"
"ok encyclopedia brown" derek laughed as he flipped to the next flashcard
derek enjoyed helping meredith, he was shocked at how well of a learner she was. her ability to pick up intense concepts in such quick time was fascinating, she was like a machine when it came down to studying.
"why are you so good at studying?" he interrogated her as he flipped through fetal surgery books in order to find a challenging question
"i had no friends in college because i was literally twelve and cristina was my only friend throughout med school so i taught myself how to learn without the need of a person teaching me" meredith licked the spoon clean, almost finished with her pint of ice cream
"so you were your own teacher?"
"yes derek, are you mentally challenged?"
"i was just making sure jeez lady"
"don't lady me, i'm kinda stressing out here"
"why we are in the home stretch and then you can be a kickass surgeon here"
"what if i fail"
"you won't"
"how do you know? are you god?"
"i'm not god but i know for sure you're going to pass because you are doing way better than i did when i took my boards"
"are you sure?"
"positive"
meredith leant into his kiss and rolled on top of him over all of the textbooks.
"are we going to have sex over the textbooks?"
"i don't care meredith i just need you right now"
they both fell into sync and relieved the tension after spending the past three months studying.
***
day of the boards...
meredith was pacing the lobby of the building she was about to take her test in, derek standing right next to her trying to calm her down.
"you're going to be fine, we've been studying non stop for the past four months. you could do this in your sleep." derek hated seeing meredith panic, he tried to reassure her but she just kept thinking of every possible way she could fail
"no you do not understand derek. if i fail that means i'm stuck being a resident for another four years and i will only be able to specialize in one specialty which i refuse to accept. not to mention, i can't go back to fucking London because my mother has Alzheimers and left it up to me to take care of her. i'm going to end up selling slushies at the mall while you are living your best life cutting into people."
"you're just rambling now, meredith you are prepared. show them the badass surgeon that you are, i'll be waiting for you."
meredith sat down in a lobby chair until her examiner greeted her. first specialty was neuro, her best one, it was a breeze for meredith, she answered every question thoroughly with no mistakes. after neuro, the examiners followed through with ophthalmics, fetal, and lastly general.
it was a beautiful saturday in Seattle, derek admired the ferry boats that sailed around. he wasn't nervous for meredith at all because he knew she was going to pass. after she got certified he was going to tell her that he loved her, he put it off for a while knowing she was stressed and didn't need some dude telling her he loved her. after spending even more time with her during those four months he fell more in love with her, he wanted to marry her her in the spur of the moment, everything about her was attractive to him.
it was now 8:00 pm and meredith was finally finished with all four of her exams, she went over to derek quickly who pulled her into a tight hug.
"how was it?" derek was quick to notice how tired she was
"fine i guess, i'm so tired," meredith mumbled into his chest
"lets get you home"
***
they sat in her bed as she explained to him what had happened during the exams.
"i genuinely don't know if i passed or not, if you asked me about one thing that was on the test i would not be able to tell you because i forgot"
"well when are you getting the results?"
"24 hours"
"go to bed, make sure your alarm is set, i'll be here"
derek cuddled into meredith as she slowly fell into a dream state.
"derek wake up, they're out"
meredith's hands were shaking as she opened the email that held whether she passed or not.
"well did you pass?" derek asked as a peeked over meredith's shoulder
"oh my god"
-------------------------------
4/6/21
cliffhanger:)) very much sorry for leaving you on a cliffhanger, i'll prob update tmrw so you won't be left wondering for too long. see you when i update again:) don't forget to vote and comment<3
- H.L
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a force of nature
Fanfictionmeredith grey grew up in a complicated household. her mother was never around to care for her due to being a world renowned surgeon and her father left her at a young age. at her own expense, meredith pushed herself to be better than anyone on the d...
