"What is taking so long?" Meredith fumed as she paced the hospital corridor. She had tried to call Jackson again but typical of him, he ignored the call. This time though she did leave a voice message, telling him to get his ass here ASAP.
The day had been going so well... it had been ages since she and Lexie had done anything together so when Lexie had suggested spending the day at a spa, Meredith had jumped at the chance. They had been there an hour when she noticed that Lexie was a little pale, and the second her sister told her that she was bleeding, Meredith knew what was happening... she was having a miscarriage.
She sat and held Lexie's hand telling her that everything would be okay whilst the ambulance had raced them to the nearest hospital. She had already called their parents and they were currently flying back to Seattle... she had even called Cristina and Finn; it was just Jackson who would not answer his phone...
The nurses had told her to wait here and they would get her in a minute...that had been thirty minutes ago and Meredith was really beginning to panic now.
She had started to pace the corridor again when she heard a familiar voice come from behind her...
"Meredith?"
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For Amelia it felt strange being back in the hospital. She remembered the long hours, the rush of adrenaline and the dreams of becoming of a hot shot surgeon, but truthfully she was happier being the local doctor... her brief surgical training certainly came in handy at Glacier, especially in the middle of a harsh winter.
Charlotte could never understand why Amelia did not pursue the lure of a being surgeon, and sometimes neither did she. But as she stood and looked around the chaos it made Amelia appreciate her little practice even more... she never had to request next of kin details, as she knew the patient and where the family could found. She never had to request medical files because she knew the medical condition of every resident in the area. There were no long hours, and there were very rarely any deaths.
In the car journey to the hospital Charlotte had asked if she wanted to jump in and help but Amelia had declined. It had been a long train journey and she badly needed a shower and some time to think. In all her life she had never seen her brother so devastated, so empty as what he was now and that was saying something, after the number Addison had played on him and not to forget their father's death.
Charlotte had offered her the use of her en-suite shower room in her office; now all Amelia had to do was find the said office.
She thought she had left the emergency area of the hospital when she walked through the double doors and turned to walk down a long corridor, she never noticed the young woman standing up against the wall until she started to pace and play with her watch strap ...
"Meredith?"
Meredith immediately recognised the voice and turned around slowly.
"Amelia... what are you doing here?" she stuttered.
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Amelia replied as she folded her arms across her chest. "Derek is going out of his mind trying to contact you. I have even contacted you via face book but never got any reply..."
"I'm sorry... things have been crazy..." Meredith muttered.
"We know about the trial... the stabbing Meredith," Amelia explained as she lowered her voice.
"How?" Meredith asked.
"It was in all the papers, I'm going to call Derek, he is here in Seattle... god of all the places to find you..." Amelia rambled as she searched for her cell phone.
"No."
"Excuse me?"
"No, don't call Derek... that is the last thing... he the last person I want to see..." Meredith said, still in shock at the fluke meeting.
"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Amelia snapped back "He is going out of mind; he is so worried about you... and the baby."
Meredith frowned for a second – how does Derek know Lexie is pregnant?
"What are you talking about?" Meredith asked Amelia.
"He knows about the baby Meredith... you have to speak to him... let him in, he wants to be a part of his child's life," Amelia answered.
"Baby?"
"Oh for goodness sake Meredith," Amelia yelled as she started to lose her patience "we found the pregnancy test in the bathroom of your cabin the morning after you left."
"Oh my God," Meredith sighed as she ran her hands through her hair. "That was not mine."
"Yeah right," Amelia yelled back "You know what? I can understand why you never told Derek about your friend's death and your attack, hell I can even understand why you never told us who your father was... but this... not telling Derek he was going to be father..."
"He's not," Meredith yelled.
In that instant Amelia saw red and before she even thought about it she slapped Meredith so hard across the face that Meredith landed up against the wall.
There was a moment of silence before Meredith calmly spoke.
"That test was not mine – it was my sisters..."
"Of course it was," Amelia bit back.
"Okay Amelia... what I really want right now is to be in that exam room with my sister but they won't let me in, instead I have you yelling and hitting me, you are accusing me all of all sorts of things, you want the truth...? Fine..." Meredith yelled back.
"I loved your brother... there I said it... those three and half months were the happiest I have ever been in my entire life. For the first time ever I could actually imagine myself being somebodies wife... God I even imagined having children with your brother," Meredith explained.
"When dad turned up I expected him to run a mile... but he didn't. He believed that I had nothing to do with the hotel development and I was going to tell him all about the court case, the attack everything... then Lexie needed me. You know how protective you are of Derek?" Meredith asked her.
Amelia nodded her head in reply.
"Well that is me with Lexie, she is not as strong as me, she thought she was pregnant to that waste of space of a boyfriend of hers and she really needed me... When that test showed positive I knew that I should really have stayed in Seattle after the trial to support her because I knew that Jackson wouldn't. But no, I was going to meet Derek in the bar and tell him that for once in my life I was going to stand up to my family, and that as soon as the trial was over I would come back to West Glacier... that I wanted to live there, with him...as a couple," Meredith explained as she let her head rest back against the wall.
"That was until I walked into the bar and saw Derek shaking hands with my father and accepting a cheque from him with open arms," Meredith finished.
"Cheque? What cheque?" Amelia asked, suddenly feeling nauseous.
"Oh Derek didn't tell you...? What a surprise!" Meredith replied "My father has a tradition of paying my boyfriends to dump me and to stay out of my life. The stupid thing is, I really thought that your brother was different..."
"He never said anything about a cheque," Amelia said quietly.
"No he wouldn't, would he?" Meredith answered back but was interrupted as a doctor approached her.
"Miss Grey?" the doctor asked her.
"Yes," Meredith replied as she turned and faced the young doctor.
"I'm Dr Fields, the OB on call, I'm sorry but your sister has lost the baby... she is asking for you."
Meredith bit her lip to try and control her emotions as she looked at Amelia.
The second she heard sister, Amelia realised that Meredith was telling the truth, which meant the cheque was probably true too... she looked up to see Meredith staring at her.
"Meredith I am so sorry..."
"Don't. I am the one who is being honest here. I suggest that you go and get Derek and return to West Glacier... I never want to see him again. Now if you will excuse me, my sister needs me."
Amelia watched as Meredith followed Dr Fields into the exam room and frowned... she was going to kill her brother.
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Derek was the first one to arrive back at the Starbucks coffee shop across the road from the train station. He had checked his cell phone earlier and saw the text message from his sister explaining that she was on her way back and would meet him here.
He ordered a coffee and sat down at an empty table, his head buried in his hands. He needed to do something but what? He had no idea how long he had been sitting there when he felt someone slap him across the back of the head.
"What the hell?" He snapped and looked up, only to receive a death glare from his sister.
"Well hello darling brother," Amelia quipped as she sat down beside him. "Guess who I just saw at the hospital?"
"I have no idea," Derek snapped as he rubbed his head.
"Meredith."
"What?" Derek yelled almost bolting from his chair. "Where is she? How is she? Did you speak to her? Oh god is there something wrong with the baby? I need to see her..."
"Derek shut up!" Amelia yelled back. She took a deep breath before continuing. "Charlotte was paged to the hospital and I went with her, I was on my way to her office when I saw Meredith in one of the corridors."
"How is she?" Derek asked he was desperate to hear how she was.
"I didn't really ask, but she looked tired, and she has lost weight, but Derek..."Amelia tried to explain but was interrupted.
"Lost weight, that's not good..." Derek rambled.
"Derek will you let me explain?" Amelia asked as she looked at him.
"Okay," Derek whispered as he continued to stare at her.
"She is not and never was pregnant Derek," Amelia explained quietly. She saw the look on Derek's face. "Let me finish please."
Derek nodded in agreement.
"That was not Meredith's pregnancy test we found in the cabin, it was Lexie's, her sisters, and before you say anything else I believe her. The only reason why Meredith was at the hospital is because Lexie has just had a miscarriage. I was there when the doctor came to tell Meredith. I'm so sorry Derek, but she was never pregnant."
"Oh God," Derek felt as if his head was swimming...she was not pregnant... there was no baby... if there was no baby, he would never get her back... there would be no need for her to ever contact him again...
Amelia gave him a few minutes to take in the news before she continued the conversation.
"Just when were you going to tell me about the cheque, Derek Shepherd?"
"She told you?" Derek sighed as he looked down at the table.
"What the hell possessed you Derek? She saw you take it..."Amelia whispered loudly to him.
"I know it all happened so fast... I think it was all set up between him and his PA," Derek muttered.
"Oh really? You think?" Amelia answered back "Well where is it now, this cheque?"
"I ripped it to pieces," Derek replied. "Thatcher was not at the office, but Jackson – his PA was. I ripped it up and gave it back to him."
"Hallelujah, my brother finally sees sense," Amelia replied.
"I've lost her... haven't I?" Derek asked as he tried to hold back the tears.
Amelia wanted to answer no, but she couldn't. Instead she grabbed his hand. "Come on, let's go home."
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Thankfully Amelia's slap had not left a mark, but she could still feel the sting of it.
As much as she hated Derek right now, she could not help but also feel sorry for him, he really had thought that she was pregnant was his child...
Meredith had sat with Lexie for the past forty-five minutes and had tried to comfort her as best as she could, until Jackson had arrived a few minutes ago. Whilst she was being a rock for her sister, all Meredith wanted was to run into someone arms and let them comfort her, and the sad thing was, there was only one pair of arms that she wanted to hold her right now... Derek's.
She sighed as she sat down in one of the chairs, she could hear someone calling her name; she looked around and saw Cristina run down the corridor towards her, with Finn following closely behind.
"Meredith, is she okay?" Cristina asked her.
"No," Meredith answered as she looked at her person. "She lost the baby Cristina..."
"Oh god," Cristina replied as she sat down beside Meredith. "Is Jackson here?"
"He has just arrived," Meredith answered.
"You look like you need a coffee, I'll go and get some," Cristina said as she stood up again and dashed down the corridor.
"How are you?" Finn asked as he knelt down in front of her.
"Truthfully... I'm shattered," Meredith said as she looked at him "Despite all the screaming matches with Jackson and my parents, she really did want the baby... I just hope that Jackson will support her."
"He will in his own way," Finn said as he sat down on the chair. "Come here," he said as he pulled her in for a hug. "In the mean time I will support you."
