Forbidden

Chapter 131: The Meeting

Meredith didn't tell Derek. She didn't utter a word. Her first thought had been to call him at work and say it so fast that he would never understand what she said, all while she was pacing around their office. She didn't do that. She stopped herself. She had just chastised him the night before for getting his picture in the Journal of American Medicine Association. She wasn't going to tell him that she was trying to contact her mother, possibly outing herself to the world. She knew that her mother wouldn't do that. No mother could be that cruel. It was going to be a heartfelt reunion and hours of the explanation and solace she needed so badly.

All of her excitement quickly faded as she thought about what she already knew. She knew that there was a hospital dinner that accompanied Derek to every fall. It was important to Dr. Webber, and now she realized why. She knew, but it didn't really matter, nor click in her head. It wasn't dedicated to his wife, the woman she suspected was her mother, it was dedicated to another person. It was a person she had never heard of, but she remembered the speeches of the last several years, Dr. Webber always referring to his wife. His wife. Her mother. A woman who suffered from the reason for that evening and the others. A woman who suffered from Alzheimer's disease.

Her mother had no memory. And with that realization, she felt sick and depressed. All these years, and now there was no hope. She remembered at the dinners how she would hear people talking. Apparently at some point Ellis had to move into the nursing home. Richard had nearly killed himself trying to care for her but there was nothing he could do. She required too much work. As Meredith thought about everything she remembered that Richard and Ellis had a daughter. She had a sister. She had a half sister walking around. She had even seen the beautiful girl with her light cocoa colored skin and deep brown eyes. She had been in the same room with her and never knew who she was.

"How can this be?" Meredith asked herself as she sad there, only sadness in her eyes and heart.

Meredith wondered if she would have been happier finding out she was dead. Years the woman had been fine, and still no answers. Her mom lived a life without her. She wondered if she missed her. Or if her father had forced Ellis away. She wondered so many things. She knew that if she left Francesca, she wouldn't be able to go on. Let alone have another family like she never had one before. Her anger grew. Ellis went on, seemingly unfazed. She was quickly feeling anger towards a woman she didn't know, for reasons she wasn't even sure existed.

She had to know, and she had to know now. She quickly grabbed the telephone book and began looking. She wasn't sure that she even knew the name of the place where her "mother" was living. She was hoping it would pop up in bold lettering and begin flashing. It didn't, and nothing seemed to. She sighed as she felt the tears welling up. Her mother wasn't in Paris. She was in Seattle Washington, having lived a happy life with her family. Somehow that hurt more than anything. She moved on, without her.

"Hello, I was thinking I wanted to visit Ellis Webber today, how is she?" Meredith said sweetly as she sat there at their desk. She had used that line over and over, everyone saying there was no one there with that name.

"Let me connect you with her nurse." A sweet voice said with a smile. She didn't know how, but she knew the woman was smiling.

"This is Sharon." The nurse said when she answered the phone. Meredith's eyes got wide. Her mother was there. She found the place.

"Um... Hi. My name is... Meredith. I work at Seattle Grace. Actually under Dr. Webber. And um... Well, I'd like to come visit Mrs., I mean... Dr. Webber. I am studying Alzheimer's. And well, he knows I'm coming." Meredith lied, immediately regretting it. She would be caught, she was sure of it. "I was just wondering what state she is in today."

"She is actually doing fairly well. In and out. But if you come around lunchtime, you will have the greatest chance to see her as close as she gets to lucid." Sharon said with a smile. "Should we be expecting you today?" She asked with a hopeful voice.