Let It Go

5.

Meredith looked up at the sound of her office door opening. It opened a few inches before it quickly shut again. She grinned and waited for the knock. It came moments later. "Come in!" she called. Just as she'd thought, Derek opened the door and entered her office.

"I knocked," he said matter of factly. "I see you did. Very good Dr. Shepherd," Meredith said, a smile forming. "I don't like knocking. But I knocked. Because you would have sent me out in the hall and had me do it all over again had I not knocked." Meredith giggled a bit. "Yes Dr. Shepherd. I would have. And thank you for knocking." Derek smiled at her. "You're welcome," he said. He continued to gaze at her for several moments."What?" Meredith finally asked, a bit unnerved by his staring.

"You didn't tell me," he stated. "Didn't tell you what? Is this about the bar? Because I was just going with what you started..." "Not about the bar," Derek cut her off. "I read your file. You are Ellis Grey's daughter. Ellis Grey. A surgical legend and pioneer. And you are her daughter." Meredith sighed. "Do you do background checks on all of your employees or are you making an exception for me?" she asked. Derek shrugged.

"I try to know my staff. You. You're the daughter of Ellis Grey. You finished first in your class at Dartmouth. You did a residency in Seattle - one of the best programs in the country - and a fellowship in Chicago - again, one of the best programs in the country. You came here with glowing recommendations from your superiors and apparently you have a big house with built in floor vacs - according to what you told me at Joe's a few nights ago." Meredith rolled her eyes, wondering of Dr. Shepherd actually had a reason for being in her office. "And now, you're wondering if there's a reason I'm here," Derek continued, picking up on the eye roll. "Actually, I am," Meredith agreed.

"I just stopped by to remind you that we will be in OR 4 at 10 am. And to make sure you had enough coffee in your system to function. It's a long surgery." Meredith held up her own cup of coffee. "I'm good on the coffee front and I'll see you in OR 4 in..." Meredith checked her watch. "An hour and 15 minutes." Derek nodded. "An hour and 15 minutes," he agreed. "Sure you're good on the coffee?" Meredith nodded. "I'm good on the coffee. And actually, I have a patient in the neuro ICU I want to check on - Dr. Shaffrey told you I'd be taking over the care of his spinal tumor patient?" Derek nodded. "He did - a rather long spill about being thankful he had a little more help around here or something. And if you're good on the coffee, I'm going to go get good on the coffee. See you in surgery Dr. Grey." Derek said, leaving the office. Meredith sat back in her desk chair, convinced that the conversation she had just had had been one of the most pointless conversations ever.

*************

Meredith watched in awe as Derek carefully manipulated the scope he had inserted through the smallest of holes in their patient's frontal lobe. His full concentration was on the screen projecting the images from the scope. He worked the scope carefully, going farther into the frontal lobe in search of the tumor he planned to remove. He barely spoke, save for muttering the occasional word to a scrub nurse or the anesthesiologist. Meredith's attention was rapt. Had she been attempting to remove the tumor herself, she would have had half of the man's brain exposed by now. She watched Derek's hands, so strong in apperance, as they delicately worked their magic.

"See this?" Derek asked, drawing Meredith's eyes to the screen. She saw what he was looking at almost instantly. "That's the tumor," she stated. "It is," Derek agreed. "Now watch." Meredith watched Derek insert another narrow instrument into the small hole with one hand, holding the scope steady with the other. Her eyes darted between the screen and Derek's hands as he calmly and delicately navigated the instrument towards the tumor. She held her breath. Derek's hands worked with such finesse. He showed no sign of nerves. She knew the slightest mis-step could kill the patient and yet Derek looked as though he were doing something as simple as suturing a wound.