After Afterall

28

I have four missed called from Richard and two from Derek when I leave my last surgery of the day. The ones from Derek don't worry me because I know I've been flaky with the details for tonight, but the ones from Richard worry me a lot. I call him back immediately.

In the two-ish months since Richard retired and Bailey took over, Richard has been spending his days monitoring my mother, which in the beginning was easy. Most days and most hours, she was Ellis. But time hasn't been kind to her disease. The last few weeks have been especially tough. There were five whole days there where my mom wasn't herself. She didn't even remember Richard. Of course I'm never made aware of her episodes until after they pass, which on some level I appreciate, but I also need to face the reality of the situation. I have very little time left with my mother.

So when Richard offered to throw a big Thanksgiving dinner, I immediately loved the idea. Richard told me to invite my friends, and Derek, so I did just that. I was a little worried about my mom's episodes and if she would be herself, but she's been coherent the last few days, so I'm hopeful. In any case, I warned everyone that should my mom lose herself, they should feel free to just leave.

Richard answers my call on the third ring. "Meredith, great," he sounds relieved, but not panicked.

"Is everything okay?"

"Yes, of course." He pauses. "Oh, you thought...your mom," he says. "She's perfectly fine. She's drinking wine and not helping me cook."

"You told me many years ago I'm no good in the kitchen and to just sit down and drink some wine. I've been very good at that for three decades now," I hear my mom say in the background.

"Yes dear," he says warmly.

As much as I love to hear this moment, I do have a lot to do before I show up for dinner. Mainly wrangling all my friends and Derek. "Is there something you needed?"

"Yes, right. Could you pick up more stuffing? I realized I only purchased enough for inside the bird, but not for a side. I'm told it's imperative that we have stuffing."

I think about the grocery store the day before Thanksgiving and my stomach turns. I want nothing less than to go and buy stuffing, but I say, "Sure. How much?"

After I figure out the stuffing situation, I send a mass text to Cristina, Alex, Callie, Arizona, Bailey, Jackson, and April, reminding them all where and when to show up. I get two texts back, one from Alex and the other from Cristina asking: But isn't tomorrow Thanksgiving? I want to bash my head on the wall. I step onto the elevator and find Alex leaning against the railing at the back.

I hold up my phone. "Seriously? How can my best friends not figure this out?"

Alex shrugs. "It's weird that we're doing this tonight."

"We have a big dinner at the White House tomorrow, you know that. And what do you care? It's free food."

"That's true."

We stop one floor below and Cristina steps on. "Hey, why are we doing this thing tonight?"

"Thanksgiving," I give her the word.

"No, tonight is dinner. Tomorrow is Thanksgiving."

I roll my eyes to Pluto and back. I turn to my friends. "First, you know why. Second, as I just told Alex, it's free good and it's good food. And third, what the hell do you care about Thanksgiving? Neither of you have ever celebrated Thanksgiving in the almost decade I've known you. So show up with a bottle of wine, make sure you're hungry, and don't be late!"

The elevator reaches the ground floor. I stomp out first.

"Jeez, she's so testy," Alex says loud enough for me to hear.