Dreams On Fire

You, Me, and the Beat

Three months flew by quickly, and suddenly Meredith found herself in the car with Derek, the five of them driving to the hospital. It pained Meredith to have to leave Ellis at daycare all day; she was only three months old, but her maternity leave was over and she had to get back to work. Her scar had stopped hurting in the middle of the second month, thankfully, and her body had slimmed down to her pre-pregnancy weight, probably from running after Bailey and Zola half the time with Ellis in a wrap clutched to her chest.

She was thrilled about coming back to work, especially back to her fellowship. Striding through the front doors of the hospital, she and Derek made their way to the daycare, ready to drill Ellis's protocol into the teachers there. Zola was at school so they just had Bailey and Ellie; Bailey ran straight for his friends while Meredith acted the role of paranoid new mom.

"She likes her bottles room temperature so don't refrigerate them, although when I need to feed her I'll likely come down. She's feisty but sweet, if she's crying check her diaper first since she's not usually fussy. She likes the swing a lot, put her in it and she'll sleep forever. She's a good baby.." she trailed off, looking down at her in the car seat. She really, really did not want to leave her and she sighed, pressing a kiss to her forehead. "Goodbye babygirl, mommy will be back soon to feed you," she said, drinking up all she could of Ellie. Eventually, Derek had to drag her out of the day care and upstairs to the attending's lounge so that they could change into scrubs.

Once she was changed, she braided her shorter hair, pinning it at the nape of her neck so it wouldn't get in the way today. She was on Derek's service which was great; she loved it more than Amelia's since Derek wasn't as harsh. They had a few simple surgeries scheduled for today which Meredith could easily do herself, and Derek was going to let her. She made rounds with her interns and residents, resisting the urge to roll her eyes when no one knew answers and she had to speak up for them.

"Make sure you know the patients chart and history inside and out when you walk into that goddamn room," she yelled at them. This was why she had earned the name Medusa. There was a new resident in her group today, one who looked familiar, and she dismissed the rest, zero-ing in on Dr. Blake.

"You. You're new but I know you from somewhere," she said sternly. Dr. Blake, for her credit, looked incredibly nervous.

"I just transferred into the program. I, uh, worked at Dillard, which closed because they didn't have enough money."

Meredith continued to gaze at her and suddenly it clicked.

"You're the doctor who took care of my husband when he came in from a car crash. You saved his life, you insisted on the head CT," she said. Meredith remembered being rude and bitchy to the woman, this woman before her who had saved Derek's life. Dr. Blake nodded slightly. "Thank you," Meredith mumbled. "You're on his service, and mine, until further notice," she said, before turning to round on the next patient.

Meredith found Derek in an on call room and she went in, sitting on the edge of the bed.

"The doctor who saved your life is one of our residents today," she said slowly, still comprehending that she was here and on their service. He propped himself up on his elbows and looked up at her. "I thanked her. I was such a bitch to her that day but I thanked her," she mumbled her head in her hands. She took a deep breath before getting up. "I have more rounds to do, I'll page you when the first patient is prepped," she said with a smiled, kissing his forehead before exiting the room.

It wasn't too long before they'd finished rounding on the patients, and Meredith sent Dr. Blake to prep their first patient while she headed down to the daycare to feed Ellis. The feeding room was quiet and dark, filled with a few rockers, and she and Ellis had half an hour of bonding time while Ellis suckled hungrily on her breast.

"I miss you during the day, princess, it's just not the same holding you all the time," she said, taking in her daughter gorgeous blue eyes and curly black hair. She looked just like Derek and she loved it. She had to admit, she and Derek made perfect looking children. All too soon, Ellie was done feeding and Meredith had to head back to the surgical floor. She handed Ellie back to one of the teachers and headed back upstairs, tying her scrub cab around her head just in time, as they were rolling the patient into the OR. It was just a simple crainiotomy, but it was her crainiotomy. Flying solo during neuro procedures were things she lived for, especially since her fellowship would be over in May and she would be a board certified Neuro attending.

The surgery went well and as the interns and residents brought the patient into recovery, Meredith couldn't help but smile. She had been on a streak before her maternity leave, and she was looking to continue her streak. Derek caught her in the scrub room and drew her into a kiss, grinning.

"So my wife is kind of brilliant," he smirked, and she shook her head.

"I'm only brilliant because that's what you've made me," she insisted, shrugging her shoulders. She'd been a great general surgeon before her fellow, but it hadn't satisfied her. She didn't want to follow in mommys footsteps; she wanted to be extraordinary and change people's lives.

" Besides, you're the one that wants to cure Alzheimers," she teased, and he laughed.

"I do, and I want to cure it with you by my side," he promised her, embracing her in a hug. She let her head fall to rest on his shoulder, the two of them standing there for a few minutes.

"I love you so much," she said with a smile, inhaling his scent of soap and a lingering bit of his aftershafe.

"I love you too, and don't ever forget it," he promised her, touching the rings on her hand.

"Tonight let's start planning the renewal of our vows, since it's in June," she said, and he nodded.

"Absolutely, just have to get through a few more surgeries today," he teased, before taking her hand and walking out of the scrub room with her.

Once they were home and the kids were asleep, Meredith sat with her computer open and a notebook in her lap, pouring over things that needed to get done for the vow renewal. She was just too tired to do anything night and fell back into the cushion of pillows with exhaustion, shutting her computer. Derek came into the room not even five minutes later to find her sound asleep, notebook and pen in her lap. He couldn't help but lap, moving her computer and notebook to a chair, and gently tucking her under the covers before climbing in with her.