bright and shiny continued

Chapter 2

After pouting which didn't work, trying to get her to eat which didn't work, trying every trick he had learned to get her to calm down didn't work, he realized there was nothing that was going to make her relax unless she made it to the hospital on time. Breaking almost all the speed limit laws in the book, when he pulled the car into the parking lot, she took off running before he even had the chance to unbuckle his seat belt. All of a sudden, she turned around and started running back towards him. She raced over to his side of the car which he had slowly emerged from and lunged herself into his strong embrace. She wrapped her arms around his waist and tightly hugged him, his warmth comforting her.

He reciprocated the embrace, wrapped his arms around her tighter, and placed a chaste kiss on her forehead. He whispered the words he needed to say all morning and that she was now ready to hear. He slowly tilted her face so that she was gazing directly into his piercing blue eyes.

"You are the best there is. It's not just me saying that. I know it because I've seen your test scores. You are going to do amazing on your first day. I am so incredibly proud of you. You have nothing at all to be scared or nervous about, ok?"

"Ok," she whispered back slowly. Tears were glistening in her eyes, and she stared back at him in awe of the love she had for him. It was hard not to believe all his encouraging words coming from his mouth when he looked at her like that. Like she was the only woman in the world. She has always believed in his love for her, and if he believed that she could do it, she knew that it was true. She really didn't have anything to be worried about.

"I guess I have to go now," she said glancing at the large hospital behind her.

"We have to go now," he added, taking her small hand in his own. Together, they both took their first steps towards the place they were going to be spending more time at than home.

He walked her all the way to the front doors and kissed her cheek. "Knock 'em dead," he whispered.

As she walked into the hospital all by herself, she secretly wished he had gone inside with her. She knew it was stupid. Doctors didn't need to have their hands held like it was their first day of Kindergarten. She needed to be brave and fearless. You can do this, she reminded herself.

As she slipped into the back of the room unnoticed by the other interns, she heard the tail end of the welcome speech from the Chief of Surgery.

"Each of you comes here hopeful, wanting in on the game. A month ago you were in med school being taught by doctors. Today, you are the doctors. The seven years you spend here as a surgical resident will be the best and worst of your life. You will be pushed to the breaking point. Look around you. Say hello to your competition. Eight of you will switch to an easier specialty. Five of you will crack under the pressure. Two of you will be asked to leave. This is your starting line. This is your arena. How well you play, that's up to you."

As she walked to the intern locker room, Meredith pondered those words, facing the fact that she was already going to have a target on her back. She was then changing into her new light blue scrubs when some sweet and innocent-looking guy started talking to her.

"Which resident are you assigned to?" he asked. "I've got Baily, the Nazi. You've got her, too? At least we'll be tortured together, right?"

Meredith just stared at him quizzically, not a word coming from her mouth.

"Uh, I'm George O'Malley. We met at the mixer last night. You had a black dress with a slit up the side, strappy sandals," he stuttered.

"Um, yeah... I think I remember you," she replied back with a wary glance at him. "Meredith Shepherd."

At the mention of the mixer, porny thoughts entered her mind. Thoughts of the fun and flirty games she and Derek played last night after she ran away from that awful event. Talking to this guy George didn't even register on her mind when all she could think about during those few awful minutes she stayed at that mixer was escaping to meet Derek at the bar across the street.

She was shaken out of her daydreaming when she realized she was at work and shouldn't be having those dirty thoughts about her husband. He was banned for the day. Then, she deduced that George must be gay, considering he was rambling on about her outfit. She reluctantly smiled at him and pretended to fidget with things in her locker to diffuse the awkwardness of their conversation.

"Now you think I'm gay," he blurted out, "No, I'm definitely not gay. It's just um... It's just that, you know... You were very unforgettable."

"Thanks, I think," she replied, now feeling uncomfortable. She intentionally shut her locker with her left hand to intentionally show him her very large diamond engagement ring. She hoped he could see that she was very much taken and not interested at all.

She was grateful when her new resident, Dr. Bailey, walked in at that moment to save her from that awkward situation.

"Alexander Karev, Cristina Yang, George O'Malley, Isobel Stevens, and Meredith Shepherd. You're all with me."