The Call

4

A/N If you are a user, and have voted or commented please know that I usually check your profile and may have read some of your stories as a thank you.

Just a heads up, in my stories, the characters never get along at first. Where's the fun in that? ;)

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

Meredith looked up at the mention of her name and saw two people in scrubs and stethoscopes standing at the door to the waiting room. When they met her gaze, the woman stepped forward. "I'm Dr. Rorish, I attended to Amelia," she said.

"You're the one who called me." It was almost an accusation. She didn't mean it, but that's the way it came out.

For her part, Rorish seemed to not notice or care. She gave a half smile, a sympathy smile. What was that? "I'll take you to her."

Meredith nodded, "wait, my kids, what do I do with my kids?" she asked.

The big man behind Dr. Rorish stepped forward and smiled, "Don't worry, Mama's got it." He made his way past her and sat down next to Zola and Bailey.

Meredith looked back at Rorish and saw that she trusted him, so she followed after the doctor, numb.

"This way." Rorish led Meredith through the hallway in silence.

Rorish walked slightly ahead of Meredith, leading her to the ER. Before she pushed through the door, Meredith touched her arm. "What happened?" Meredith asked, "she's not dying right?"

Dr. Rorish took a moment and analysed what she was seeing. Decades of experience taught her to notice the smallest details- the way Meredith's voice cracked, the hand wringing, the sharp intake of breath, and the fierceness in her eyes. The need to know the truth. "She lost a lot of blood, but we're replacing it and giving her fluids."

Meredith nodded understanding, she seemed to relax a little, "Okay..."

"She slashed her wrists."

Meredith blinked and a haunted look flooded her features. "She slashed her wrists." Meredith repeated, and there was a sudden edge to her voice. She folded one arm over her chest and propped her chin up with the other. "No, this can't be happening... This is so not happening."

Her instincts had been right. There was tension in this family. Rorish set her jaw firmly. If she had to be the bloody scalpel, she would be. "Dr. Grey, this is happening. She tried to kill herself, that's not okay. The cuts were deep, I've repaired the damage. But she's not okay." Rorish saw Meredith fighting to keep herself together "Someone needs to be there."

"You're getting a psych consult?" Meredith asked.

Rorish nodded. "That's protocol, but they won't be here until morning."

"Suicide watch?"

"There's a resident watching her."

"So someone is there."

Rorish took a breath, counted to three and resisted the sudden urge to punch Meredith in the face. The younger woman just didn't seem to get it. "You lost someone. Was it Derek?" Shit. Did she just say that?

Meredith's face contorted in pain, like she had been slapped. "What?" She snapped, "You don't have any right-"

"I do. She's my patient under my watch, and if you knew anything about me it's that I can't stand to lose someone that I have already fixed," A cold memory of the accident rushed to mind- her accident. Her kids, her husband. How she barked orders as she leaned against the minivan, her body broken in a thousand pieces.