Trapped in my head

Chapter 7

"So- you're okay with it?" Meredith asked, still a little shocked by the fact that he just accepted it. For now. Almost everyone who had ever seen her eat called her a picky eater or other offensive names. But it was more than that. "Mer. It's not your fault that you have that disorder so I don't get to judge you for it. I don't judge you at all and if I could I'd be absolutely fine with it. It's totally okay for me that you're different than other women actually- that makes me like you even more." He said, the big smile never leaving his face.

"Really?" she asked, an entirely cute expression appearing on her face. She was so perfect. "Yes, really." He said, stroking the back of her hand with his thumb very gently. As they kept smiling at each other, looking into each other's eyes their pagers suddenly went off, interrupting their moment. ")11 in the ER." Meredith said, immediately jumping up and running out of the cafeteria, Andrew closely behind her.

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"We have to take it out now, otherwise he won't survive." Meredith said, carefully feeling the man's abdomen right around the wound where a wooden stick was still sticking in his body. He was a mountain biker who had landed in a tree after coming off of the road in the forest. "Prep an OR, we need to get him into there as quick as possible." She added.

"DeLuca you're assisting me." Meredith said as they now hurried towards the OR, both on each side of the gurney. "Get a team ready, I also need an ultrasound." She said to a nurse as they walked into the OR. Okay, slow deep breaths she could do this. She could save this man. Everything would be okay for him and his family.

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Andrew kept looking at her in awe every now and then during the surgery as it kept going for almost seven hours since the stick had managed to fracture his liver and spleen and there had been an intense bleeding of which they hadn't been able to find the source for a good ten minutes. But in the end they had been able to save the patient who was now laying in the ICU.

"Wow, that was absolutely amazing. You were so quick, every single stich was neat and perfect. And thank you for letting me do the entire splenectomy I really learned a lot so, thank you Dr. Grey. Thanks a lot." Andrew said as they were scrubbing out. "You did really well Dr. DeLuca, I'm impressed." Meredith said softly, looking up at him.

As Andrew was done washing his hands Meredith was still cleaning her fingernails with the brush and he smiled. "You know only three minutes are recommended, right?" he asked her as he dried of his hands with a towel. "I know, the song just hasn't finished yet. I- I always sing 'Bad romance' from Lady Gaga in my head while scrubbing in or out and I'm not done till the song has finished. The full 4 minutes and 55 seconds." She smiled, somehow feeling comfortable about telling him this. She hated this time period after surgeries. For some reason they were very hard for her, emotionally draining.

"You can sing a song in your head while having a conversation?" he asked, raising a brow. "Sure. When I'm relaxed I can do a lot of things at the same time." She giggled, blushing slightly. "Multitasking, that's really remarkable." He said, making her blush even harder. "I hate the fact that it's just Tuesday." She admitted silently as he was leaning against the sink, waiting for her. "If you want to, we could already go out today, the sooner the better." He said, shrugging. "I'd like that." She whispered, finally turning of the steam and taking the towel Andrew gave her to dry her hands. "Alright. I'm going to send you the menus right now then." He said, taking out his phone and quickly downloading the menus of three restaurants he really liked that were both romantic but also classy and sending them to her. "Take your time to pick they're all amazing. I'm going to pick you up at your place at eight, would that be okay?" he asked, wanting nothing more than to skip those few hours still separating the from going on their first date together.

"Uhm- would seven work as well? I usually eat at 7.30 pm and I- I have some difficulties with changing my routine if that's okay." She said quietly, feeling a little embarrassed. "Sure, seven works fine with me." He replied, not wanting her to feel uncomfortable and wanting to make sure this date would be perfect in every detail.

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"Maggie I can't do this." Meredith said, her hands shaking as she stood in front of the mirror, looking at herself while trying to decide on an outfit. "Of course you can Mer, Andrew is amazing, I'm sure the evening will be great. And you already told him about your ARFID so there really is absolutely nothing to worry about, alright?" Maggie gave back, trying to calm her sister down as good as possible.

"Well I'm still me Maggie. I'll say something stupid or do something stupid and ruin everything." She said, wiping her tears with the back of her hand before sitting down on her bed, grabbing the massage balls again. "I don't know how dates work I- I don't know how I have to act, what I have to do or what we're going to talk about. I have no idea what I'm supposed to do." Meredith continued, laying down on the bed, needing to feel the soft, comforting covers close to her. She really liked Andrew and she didn't want to do something wrong.

Maggie sighed. "Do you want to call him and tell him that you're not ready? I'm sure he'd understand." She said, sitting down next to Meredith. "No, I-I don't want to disappoint him." Meredith whispered, sniffling quietly. She didn't want him to think that she was weak or crazy and she really wanted to go out with him. But she was absolutely terrified to ruin it, only because she liked him so much.

Suddenly they heard the doorbell rang, making Meredith immediately jump up. "He's here, oh god what am I supposed to do? This was a mistake this was a huge mistake. I can't do this Maggie, please you have to tell him I'm sick again. He's better off without me, he'll be disappointed but he'll survive. It would be better like this." Meredith rambled breathlessly. Maggie just sighed, standing up and walking out of the room towards the door.

"Hey, is Meredith ready?" Andrew asked, a bouquet of beautiful flowers in his hands. He was wearing a dark blue suit and even a tie. "No, not really. She's freaking out." Maggie said honestly. She wanted Meredith to be happy and she knew how much she meant to Andrew so she was sure that he would be able to encourage her to go on that date with him. "Can I talk to her?" he asked, looking slightly concerned. "Up the stairs, last door on the left." Maggie said, stepping aside with a big smile on her face as Andrew walked past her. If she needed to push her sister's luck a little she would definitely do that. 

I'm disappointed by 19x06 so I needed some Merluca cuteness. Maybe I'll post another chapter later on... somehow they give me comfort now =) Hope you like it.