Driving Sideways

38.

Derek walked downstairs following the boys, and he heard the sound of two voices arguing in the kitchen. He glanced to Greyson and Richie and nodded towards the couch. "You two hang out here... daddy will be right back..."

"Where are you going?" Greyson asked, watching Derek as he looked towards the kitchen.

"Just hang out in here, will you? You can ask questions in a little while..." Derek said with a chuckle as he pointed toward the couch, where the two boys sat down and watched him walk into the kitchen.

Mark was standing at the table, his hands on the surface while Ellis sit reading a newspaper. Mark's face was red and angry, while Ellis sit with her patented 'I hear you, but I'm clearly not listening' look on her face.

"So what's going on in here?" Derek asked with a sigh, seeing that Mark was clearly frustrated and Ellis was not impressed by his angry demeanor.

"Doctor Sloan here is tossing around his masculinity as if it were the hairspray that you use in your hair... which is looking increasingly thinner lately.." Ellis said without looking up, smirking at her newspaper.

"Hey! That was a low blow! I'm being good..." Derek exclaimed as he ran his hand through his hair, giving Mark a light punch on the arm. "Hey... just leave her alone..."

"But she's being a stubborn goat..."

"She's being a person with free will and personal strength..." Derek said, watching out of the corner of his eye as Ellis looked up at him. "It's not every day a person with two bright and beautiful grandchildren and a family that loves her can make the decision to put herself at risk at the hands of a egomaniacal surgeon with a unhealthy love for his follicles." Derek said with a smirk as he watched Ellis laugh to herself and shake her head.

"So you're going to do the surgery..." Mark said, furrowing his brow. "You're a goddamned..."

"No." Derek shook his head. "I'm not going to do the surgery... and she knows I'm not going to do it... so either way, she gets what she wants...she wants to die... let her die..."

"Hey I'm sitting right here..." Ellis said as she looked up at the two of them.

"I know you are...but dead people can't hear... and they rarely care what is being said about them." Derek said as he watched her glare at him.

"No... I mean I am here, and my coffee cup is empty... refill it please..." She said as she held up her coffee cup and waited for a moment.

The two men stared at her for a second, unsure of exactly what to do, when suddenly Mark grabbed her cup and walked to the coffee maker. "Goddamned slave driver..." Mark muttered as Ellis only smirked as Derek shook his head and chuckled.

💫💫💫

Derek and Mark showered and left for the hospital together, but not before picking on Ellis for a few more minutes until Meredith came in and set them straight. The two men were gone and Greyson had found his Snuggle bear in the bedroom that his parents had been sleeping in. The two boys were sitting on the couch while Ellis remained in the dining room a little longer with her crossword puzzle book and coffee.

Meredith spent some of her time looking through some of the boxes of old belongings and heirlooms, smiling at a memory of something here or there that she remembered, or a picture from when she was a little girl. Meredith looked up when she thought she had heard her mother's voice from the dining room and she glanced to the couch and moved towards the door. Listening carefully, she heard her mother talking on the telephone. She waited a few moments and when her mother stopped talking, she walked over to the phone on the table.

"Who are you calling, Mommy?" Greyson asked, promptly receiving the 'shush' symbol from his mother with her finger to her lips, he smiled and whispered. "Who are you calling, Mommy...?" He whispered softly as she pushed redial. She waited for the ring to stop and she heard what she thought she had heard when her mother was talking.

"A taxi..." Meredith whispered as she hung up the phone. She looked down at her son and smiled. "I'm calling crazy..." She said with laugh as she leaned down and pressed her forehead to his.

"Crazy?" He asked with a giggle.

"Yep... I'm calling crazy, because that's where I'm going!"

"You're going to crazy?" Richie asked, laughing loudly.

"I am... that I am..." Meredith laughed. "Go get your shoes on... you both can come with me..."

"Yeah!" Richie exclaimed as he jumped from the couch.

"Yay!" Greyson giggled as he followed her brother. "We're going to crazy with mommy!" He said with an excited shout. "Where's that?" He asked, his smile disappearing as he asked her seriously.

"We'll just have to wait and see, won't we..." She asked with a wink. She stepped over to the table and grabbed her keys. "Get your shoes on, Mommy is going to tell GG where we're going." She said with a half smile as the boys struggled to pull their sneakers on. Meredith stepped into the kitchen and glanced into the dining room as she sighed. "Mom... I'm taking the boys out... would you like to come with us?"

"No, dear... I'm fine here..." Ellis nodded. "Thank you."

"Are you sure? We can take you anywhere you want to go..." Meredith said with raised eyebrows.

"I'm going to stay in today." Ellis nodded. "But thank you..."

"We'll... see you later then..." Meredith sighed with a weak smile.

"See you later..." Ellis waved as she finally looked up from her puzzle.

Meredith waved slightly and turned to walk out of the kitchen. She could feel the anxiety over her mother's purported future trip. She sighed. "You're feeling alright?"

"Meredith... go... have a good time with the boys... go..." Ellis said with a sigh.

"Bye, Mom... you have my cell phone number, right?"

"Yes, Meredith! Go!" Ellis exclaimed, her voice serious as she shook her head at her daughter. "Just go..." She sighed.

"I'm just going to... go..." Meredith sighed as she turned and walked out of the kitchen. She gathered the boys and packed them into the car and climbed into the car herself. As she pulled out of the driveway and started to drive down the road, she passed a taxi cab coming in her direction. She slowed and watched it, her eyes following it closely, and just as she had suspected, it pulled into the driveway of the house.

💫💫💫

Derek and Mark walked through the door of the hospital and were immediately greeted by Richard. "You look like you're pretty together for someone who was so smashed last night." Richard said with a chuckle, watching the younger doctor smile softly as he shook his hand.

"I can cover up hangover very well... though... with growing up with four older sisters and having two children... it takes more than a little bit of liquor to knock me down." Derek said with a chuckle.

"How is Ellis?"

"She's a pain in the ass." Mark muttered as the other two men laughed.

"Stubborn as usual... and she knows I won't do the procedure..." Derek sighed. "We're going to have to do something..." He shrugged.

"Come on up to my office, there's a few journal articles I'd like to show you on the procedure..." Richard said as they walked toward the elevator. "Doctor Sloan, you don't mind, do you?"

"Actually... I need to give my girlfriend a call... let her know we got in alright... though I'm sure Meri already called her." He said as he nodded. "I'll catch up with you."

"You're going to call Cris?" Derek laughed. "He's so whipped."

"I am not whipped...I just... like to let her know I'm alright... even if she doesn't care." Mark shrugged. "But I'm not whipped."

"Did she tell you to call?"

"Maybe..." Mark mumbled.

"He's whipped..." Derek and Richard replied, laughing as Mark scowled and pulled his cell phone out and walked toward the lobby as Derek and Richard stepped into the elevator.