I Wanna Be Yours

"Chapter 23"

Meredith's life settles into a rhythm that is so well-oiled and easy that she knows something bad is looming on the horizon.

Life cannot go too easy on her.

Especially when she gets a patient with the hiccups. Hiccups is beyond easy, something bad is coming.

She regrets not scheduling two surgery days in a row as soon as she sees the chart. And why they're paging Neuro here is an even bigger mystery for her.

When she reads the chart and notices that Derek is the resident on the case she knows why: the guy is teasing her.

Sometimes Derek pages her for crazy ER cases just for her to unwind for a second during her paperwork-filled days and she loves how much something this simple helps her.

She sees him draw a privacy curtain and move closer to her with a smile on his face.

"So, this lady came in yesterday with the hiccups, they gave her chlorpromazine and she seemed fine. Then she shows up again this morning, still hiccuping, claiming that the drug doesn't really work," he says, sure of himself.

"Have you tried an endoscopic gastroplication?" Meredith says, watching his amused smile again.

"Suggested it. I was just paging you because she said yes and I still need attending supervision for this kind of procedures."

Meredith laughs at the childlike smile on his face, what she dubbed his David smile. That man. "Fine, let's go meet the patient."

They enter the room and before Derek can say anything, she already recognizes the woman. And specifically, her husband next to her.

So much for easy days.

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Derek is so excited to work alongside Meredith in one of what he calls "make your workday better" cases. He likes to surprise her with easy cases that still require attending's supervision, so they can spend some time together and she can take a break from the hard patients.

He's sure Meredith is gonna love meeting Susan.

"Thatcher?" Meredith says, when she spots the couple, the lightness and smile gone from her demeanor.

"M...Meredith," the older man stutters, his eyes wide. Even the persistent hiccuping from Susan seems to fade in the background as the tension mounts.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith says, surprise and maybe a hint of distress filling her tone. Derek is very confused by the behavior.

"Susan...We live nearby," the older man manages to get out clumsily, and it sounds like a big, fat excuse. "This is the best hospital in Seattle."

"Of course I know that." Meredith snaps, and she never snaps at patients, no matter how trying they end up being. Something is not adding up.

"I told you we should have gone to Mercy West," Susan says, which puzzles Derek even more. "Meredith, I'm sorry...hic...I didn't think you would be called to consult. Is there something...hic...neurological I should be concerned about?"

Meredith sighs. "No, not yet. It's just Der...Dr. Shepherd here likes to page me when we find an unusual or rare case to supervise him, so here I am. I will find another attending for you."

Derek really has no idea what to make of this. He can't understand what's going on at the moment, and everybody is acting like this is common knowledge. He hates feeling out of the loop.

Before Meredith can even exit the curtain, though, something even more unexpected happens. Chief Grey slides open the curtain of the trauma cubicle, peeking her head in.