Where You Belong

36

When the alarm clock went off, Meredith moaned and burrowed herself as deep as she could into her pillow. She felt horrible; even worse than she had the previous evening. She was hot, despite the fact that the covers had disappeared at some point overnight. Her stomach was still upset. And the abdominal pain had intensified.

She felt Derek stir beside her, and finally the horrible chirping of the alarm ceased. Meredith sighed into her pillow and willed sleep to come again. At least that way she wouldn't be conscious of how crappy she felt.

"Meredith?" Derek's voice called out quietly. And hand fell onto her shoulder. "Mer?" This time his tone was etched with concern. "Are you okay?"

"Nnnn... Crappy," she muttered.

He shifted again and the light came on. She felt sleep falling away from her, leaving her more and more awake. And more and more miserable.

"Stupid flu," she mumbled.

"You're still warm," he remarked, his cool hands moving along her body. "I think you have a fever."

"You're a genius for figuring that out."

He chuckled. "Sorry. Still feeling nauseous with abdominal pain?"

"Mmm," she nodded.

"Do you want to call in sick? You could sleep through the day to feel better for the flight?" They were scheduled to work until five. And their flight left at ten.

It was tempting, but Meredith shook her head. "No." It wasn't fair to call in sick when she was about to take four days off in a row. Plus, she had been sleeping since early the previous afternoon. "I'll go in."

"You sure?"

She rolled onto her back, wincing at the shot of pain it caused. "Yeah. I'll be fine. I bought an extra bottle of Pepto-Bismol. It'll be fine."

But it wasn't fine. Less than an hour into her shift, Meredith's abdominal pain worsened. The previously broad-based discomfort narrowed into her lower abdomen and became sharper. And the nausea was far worse than it had been the previous evening. She had almost been late for rounds, as she had been unwilling to leave the locker room in case she threw up.

"Ugghhhh," she groaned, clutching onto a cart for a moment as she paused in her attempt to keep up with her short legged, but surprisingly quick moving, resident. Her abdomen sent a sharp flare of pain, coupled immediately with the urge to empty her stomach contents. Not that she had much of anything in her stomach. She had refused all of the breakfast items Derek had tried to force on her that morning. Even the coffee; and that said something.

"Woman troubles?" Cristina asked, falling back to wait with her.

Meredith's free hand came to her forehead, disconcerted by the small beads of sweat forming along her brow. "No..." She mumbled forlornly, wishing that was the worst of her problems. "I think I have the flu."

Cristina made a face and held up her hands. "Then don't be coming near me."

With a roll of her eyes, Meredith released her iron grip on the hospital cart, forcing her tired legs to support her full weight. "It may be food poisoning," she offered as she began to walk again, her steps wobbly as she clutched to her stomach. "My glands aren't swollen and I don't feel...flu-ish..."

This seemed to appease her best friend, who closed the gap between them as they sped to catch up with Bailey. "Food poisoning is better than the flu."

"Not when you feel this crappy," Meredith retorted as they caught up to Bailey, George and Alex.

"Dr. Grey," Bailey called back, shooting them both a glare. "Do you and Dr. Yang have something hospital related to discuss with us?"

Meredith groaned and shook her head. "No, Dr. Bailey. Sorry."