Outside of Fear

Chapter Twelve

"Ew, you can see the bandages through this. They're so bulky."

Teddy and Cristina roll their eyes. The two cardio surgeons, despite both having controlling personalities and a god-complex, have become fast friends since Teddy started working at the hospital. 

"I still don't like you going out with McDreamy in the first place," Cristina mutters.

"You're just jealous because I have a love interest after being here-injured- for just three months and you're not getting any," Meredith smirks, and Teddy laughs.

"Bitch," Cristina scoffs, "and you're right about the bandages. Wear something loose-fitting."

Meredith sighs. The comfortable black dress she's wearing is form-fitting, and at the moment, she's very unhappy with her form. The gauze dressings protectively covering the wounds on her torso are very bulky and visible. 

She is standing in front of a mirror in the middle of a clothing store at the mall with her two closest female friends. She needs something to wear for her date with Derek tonight.

"It's just a casual thing. I could be fine in jeans, right?"

"You should wear your cammies. That'll be super intimidating. Assert your dominance." Teddy pipes up.

Meredith smiles but ignores Teddy's suggestion. 

"You could do a jumpsuit or something," Teddy says instead, cocking her head and staring at Meredith, as if imagining the clothing item on her.

"A loose-fitting one," Cristina snorts. "It's not a big deal, Mer. Just pick something and move on. I'm hungry."

"Fine."

Meredith stands at the doors of her hotel, wearing jeans and a loose-fitting top that compliments her eyes. Derek should be there to pick her up in a few minutes. She hadn't seen him at the hospital earlier, which was slightly disappointing. 

Meredith is at Seattle Grace every day for physical therapy, and more often than not, she runs into Derek or lingers around after to see some of her friends. It always puts her in a much better mood. PT is rough and painful, and Megan's just serving to piss Meredith off more.

Shaking thoughts of her annoying physical therapist out of her mind, Meredith steps up to the curb as a shiny black Porsche rolls up, right on time.

"Hey," she greets with a large smile. 

"Hey," Derek warms at the sight of her, gently illuminated by the lights from the hotel. "You look amazing, and I brought you these." 

Meredith's jaw drops when she is handed the bouquet of roses, and instantly goes to smell them. "Oh my god, these are gorgeous. They smell amazing. Do you know how long it's been since I stopped to smell flowers?"

Meredith chuckles at her own unintentional play on words.

"I figured it had been awhile." Derek leads her to his car and opens the door for her, Meredith smiles as she gets in. Pain fires through her as she does so, but she ignores it. "Okay, I'm glad you're dressed pretty casual, because we're not going anywhere remotely fancy." 

"Oh, thank god. I was worried." 

"It may seem like a kinda crappy place, but I promise, it's amazing." He keeps his eyes on the road, maneuvering through Seattle traffic to get to his destination. 

At their most recent post-op appointment, he had weaned her off of some of the meds she was on, which will be much easier on her stomach. She has near-complete freedom on what she consumes. Meredith had rarely left her hotel room besides for PT, and had been living mostly off of room service and whatever Cristina or Alex or Teddy brings over when they visit.