Until I Found You - merhayes

3 - concern

. . .

2 weeks later..

Meredith's perspective

Meredith was standing by the nurses' station, doing charts, when Maggie approached her with that look. She definitely wants something..
"What is it, Maggie?" Meredith asks, her eyes glued to the tablet in her hands.

"Good morning to you too, Meredith! I'm great, thanks for asking." Maggie replies sarcastically, leaning on the table, looking at Meredith.

"I know you want something. Just tell me what it is."

"Ah, you caught me. Well.. I'm performing a complex surgery later today, and I need another pair of hands. Specifically, a third-year resident's hands."

"No." Meredith says, while starting to walk away from the nurses' station.

"Mer! He's been on your service for two weeks now. He's a surgical resident, he needs to experience being on other departments. There are other residents, you know." Maggie pleads.

"I said no. If you take him, I'll have no resident. You can take another resident. Besides, I like him. He's good at his job, and we also have a case later today. So, no."

"You what now? You know what, nevermind. You can have him for as long as you want. Besides, you like him." Maggie teases, winking at Meredith and chuckling.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Oh you so do!" Maggie adds before walking away. Meredith can't help but smile a little at her sister's antics.

. . .

Cormac's perspective..

Meredith and Cormac walk into their patient's room. Gayle, an African-American woman, in her mid-thirties, who developed fibroids in her uterus which is why she is scheduled to get a hysterectomy later that day. The case sounded familiar.. and the woman looked an awfully lot like, Abigail..

"We'll do everything we can, sir." Meredith smiles warmly at the concerned husband. "Dr. Hayes, please prep Gayle for her surgery and page me when she's ready. You'll be scrubbing in." Meredith pats his shoulder and walks out of the room.

. . .

After the surgery

They had just finished the surgery and are scrubbing out. "You did great in there, Dr. Hayes." Meredith smiles at Hayes, thoroughly scrubbing her fingers. However, Cormac seemed a little.. out of it. The only thing Cormac could think of was Abigail.

"Hayes?" Meredith says, trying to find his eyes.

"Sorry. Thank you Dr. Grey."

"If you're not feeling well, that's okay. I'll go tell the family." Meredith says, clearly concerned about Cormac.

"No, I'm fine, Dr. Grey." Cormac replies. His body is there, but his thoughts are elsewhere.

. . .

"The surgery went very smoothly, and we expect her to make a full recovery. A nurse will come take you to her room." Meredith smiles widely at Gayle's husband and two children.

"Sorry, excuse me please, I have to go." Cormac says, walking away. A few seconds later, Meredith excuses herself as well to go after Cormac. This was.. out of character for him to leave like that. Meredith practically runs to the nurses' station. "

"Hey, have you seen Dr. Hayes?" Meredith stops to ask a nurse.

"Yes, he went to one of the on-call rooms, Doctor."

Meredith nods and continues looking for Cormac. Now, she's in front of the on-call room door. She knocks a few times. "Dr. Hayes?" She slightly opens the door, to see Cormac with his head buried in his hands, hyperventilating.

"Hayes." She runs over to him and crouches infront of him, putting her hands on his arms. "Hey, it's okay. You're okay. Breathe, Cormac. Breathe with me. In... out..." Meredith says, trying to slow down his breathing.

Slowly but surely, his breathing starts to slow down and he begins to calm down. Meredith is sitting next to him, carressing his shoulder.

Damn it, this is so embarrassing. "I'm so sorry Dr. Grey." Cormac says, turning away his gaze, looking at the floor.

"No no, it's okay." She says, slightly carressing his shoulder.

"I'm just.. going through something right now."

"I understand. If you wanna take a break, you can."

"I.. I think I just need to go to sleep. And again, I'm so sorry Dr. Grey." Cormac says, now looking at Meredith. Meredith smiles softly at Cormac and stands up. "Well.. I'll just let you sleep then. You need some rest. And.. it's okay, Cormac. It's okay to acknowledge your problems." She pats his shoulder and walks out the door.

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concern | verb
worry someone; make anxious

to concern someone

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