Until I Found You - merhayes

4 - care

. . .

Cormac's perspective..

Cormac was sitting on the bed of an on-call room, when Jo Wilson walked in. They'd become somewhat friends during these few weeks.
"Oh, sorry Cormac. I didn't realize anyone was in here," Jo said, pausing as she noticed Cormac, who is burying his head in his hands.

"What's up with you? Aren't you on Grey's service again?" She asked, ever so slightly tilting her head.

"If she still even wants me on her service. I made a fool of myself." he groaned.

"Oh come on, what did you even do? Whatever it is, I'm sure it can't be that bad." Jo chuckled lightly while going to sit beside him.

"I.. I had a panic attack, in front of her. It was so bloody embarrassing, she probably doesn't want anything to do with me."

"Are you kidding me?" Jo laughed, "She cares about you, Hayes. I mean, how could you not notice?"

"How could I notice? I mean, she never said that she cared about me." Cormac said in a questioning tone, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh Cormac.. you're in for a good one." Jo pats his shoulder, stands up and walks out, leaving him confused. What does she even mean by that?

. . .

A few weeks later..

Meredith's perspective

Today felt gloomy. It was freezing outside, and it also happened to be.. Derek's 8 year death anniversary. The weather seemed very fitting for such a sad day. Unfortunately, the show must go on. Meredith has to get the kids ready for school, and herself ready to go to work.

After a few weeks of having other interns on her service, finally she has Cormac back. "Good morning, Dr. Grey." She hears a familiar Irish accent from behind her. It's Cormac, smiling and holding two coffees in his hands.

"Good morning, Hayes." She forces a small smile back. Inside, she's happy to have him back on her service. But with everything going on that day, it was hard to find joy. She accepts the coffee and took a sip.

"Are you feeling alright?" Cormac asks.

"Yes, I'm fine." Meredith responds, although not very reassuring.

"That doesn't sound very reassuring." They both begin to walk down the hallways.

"Well, I assure you, I'm perfectly fine." Meredith says, stubbornly. She stops walking and turns to look at Cormac. "Now if you'll stop worrying about my feelings, we have lives to save." It seems like Cormac was a little taken aback by this.

. . .

During surgery..

Meredith stood over the open body, her hands cutting with muscle memory. "Talk." She suddenly says, breaking the silence. Cormac looks up at Meredith, raising an eyebrow.
"I thought-"

"Not about earlier. Talk about something, silence makes my head hurt."

"Okay," Cormac chuckles lightly "well, I was married."

Meredith looks up at him. "Was?"

"Yes, was. She passed away a few years ago."

"I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." He smiles.

"My husband passed away too. 8 years ago today."

"I'm sorry about that. I'm sure the kids must miss him." Cormac says, looking up at her eyes, focused on the open body on the table.

"They do."

"You know, after Abigail died, I left with my boys and went to the farthest place I could think of, Switzerland."

Meredith chuckles, looking up for just a second.

"Don't usually get a laugh when I say that." He responds.

"I'm sorry.. it's just, I did the exact same thing." They both look at eachother and smile for a split second.

. . .

Scrubbing out

"So, guess I know why you're gloomy today." Cormac says, looking at Meredith out of the corner of his eye, while scrubbing his hands.

"And why is that?"

"Your husband. It's been 8 years since he passed." He turns off the faucet and grabs a cloth to dry his hands.

"I guess you're right." She quickly follows and then turns to face Cormac. "It's just.. it's always hard this time of year."

Cormac places his right hand on her shoulder, and looks in her eyes. "I get it. It's only been 3 years since Abigail died, and the boys miss her everyday."

She gives a sad smile and they both continue to chat about their lost loved ones.

"I.. I don't know. It just feels like I will never get over him," she pauses "every lover I've had after him just didn't feel the same." Tears form in her eyes, one falling on her cheek.

Cormac's thumb quickly wipes it away. She flinched slightly at his touch.

"Dr. Grey.."

Tears stream down Meredith's face. Cormac instantly brings her into a tight embrace. Meredith sobbed into Cormac's chest.

He ran his fingers through Meredith's dirty blonde hair, gently rocking her back and forth.

"It's okay.. hey, Meredith. You're okay."

Finally, Meredith starts to calm down, leaning on his chest. Cormac hugged her even tighter, and they stayed like this for a few moments.

Meredith pulled away, "Oh God, I'm sorry, your scrubs are all wet.." she sniffled.

Cormac chuckled, "Don't worry, Dr. Grey." He said, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear and smiling.

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care | verb
providing support, attention, and protection to someone to ensure their well-being

to care for someone

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Author's Note:
this chapter is extra long yall😭 let me know if you guys prefer longer/shorter chapters