Let It Go

70.

"Dr. Shepherd?" Derek groaned inwardly. Patricia's voice meant he had something else to do because apparently, he didn't have enough to do already. He turned around with a smile plastered across his face. "Yes Patricia?" he asked. He was damn good at faking the 'I'm happy to see you' face.

"You need to send out an e-mail to the surgical staff reminding them of inclement weather procedures, emergency management protocol, which rooms are designated safe rooms, and who is considered essential personnel," she told him. Derek gave her a blank look, considering what she said.

"Why would I do that?" he asked. Patricia rolled her eyes. Richard would know. Richard would more then likely have already sent out the e-mail. She liked Derek Shepherd just fine but he was no Richard Webber when it came to running the whole surgical department. At least not in her opinion. He was a lot more personable then Preston Burke however. He just needed a little prompting here and there as to what to do.

"Dr. Shepherd, have you been paying attention to the news?" she asked. "Oh yes, I've been watching CNN in between surgeries, paperwork, seeing patients, and babysitting half the hospital," Derek said pointedly. Patricia pursed her lips. "Dr. Shepherd, there are storms coming..." "Ah yes, the storms Norm mentioned on the sunrise news," Derek interrupted. "Well it's going to get ugly here later. You need to remind the staff what to do in the event of an emergency." Derek raised an eyebrow.

"We're having thunderstorms Patricia. It's not like a tsunami is moments away from ripping through Charlottesville. Sending out an e-mail about safe rooms and who has to stay here in case a disaster hits is a bit drastic when it's just a little thunder and lightening," he said. "Dr. Shepherd, these storms have spawned dozens of tornadoes all across George and the Carolina's. They're moving into the southern parts of the state now and heading our direction. These aren't just thunderstorms," Patricia argued. Derek sighed.

"Patricia, I'll keep an eye on it. I don't think there's anything to worry about though. Like I said, thunder and lightening." With that, he continued towards his office, hoping he'd be able to spend the next hour solely on paper work and then maybe, if luck was on his side, join Meredith for lunch. Patricia watched him go, shaking her head in dismay before heading back to her desk to monitor the weather from her computer.

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

"It's really dark out there," Izzie stated, standing at a large picture window on the pediatric floor and watching the sky grow steadily blacker before their eyes. "Yeah," Meredith agreed. "Did you notice how still it was this morning?" she asked curiously. Izzie shook her head. "Alex and I were too busy arguing over whether or not his parents were going to stay with us when they come up here for the wedding to notice anything." Meredith giggled. "I forgot about getting to meet Alex's family!" Izzie rolled her eyes. "If you disown Alex after you meet them, fine. But you can't disown me. I'll only be related to them by proxy." Meredith laughed again. "I won't disown you Iz," she assured her.

"I mean, I know I grew up in a trailer park and that's not exactly glamorous, but seriously, at least I have some class. At least I have some poise and made the effort to do better for myself then my very own trailer home. Alex's family? I have no freaking idea how he's related to them. He has one sister who's half normal. The rest of them? Larry the Cable Guy could find enough material after spending one hour with them to fill a whole hour-long Comedy Central special and still have stuff banked for the sequel," Izzie vented. "I should probably bring a video camera," Meredith replied. "That way, if the whole surgeon thing somehow falls through, I can start a career making jokes about Alex's family." Izzie laughed.

"How is Derek doing?" she asked Meredith. Meredith continued gazing out the seventh floor window. "He's... I don't know. He's not sleeping. He's eating which Mark says is an improvement over other years but he's having flashbacks - flashbacks he tries to hide from me. Things are weird between us. I mean, they're less weird, but they're still weird. We haven't been talking much. I mean, we talked about the weather at breakfast Izzie. We don't talk about the weather!"