Home (Grey's Anatomy Series)

You Are Loved, Always.

"When someone you love dies, and you're not expecting it, you don't lose her all at once; you lose her in pieces over a long time—the way the mail stops coming, and her scent fades from the pillows and even from the clothes in her closet and drawers. Gradually, you accumulate the parts of her that are gone. Just when the day comes—when there's a particular missing part that overwhelms you with the feeling that she's gone, forever—there comes another day, and another specifically missing part."  

- John Irving

Leaning back on the table, I watched as Meredith and Jackson spoke about Diane's scans.

Knowing that the surgery had only removed the small amount of tissue from her breast, Jackson and Dr. Montex weren't able to remove everything like they planned.

Feeling my back heat up, I glanced over my shoulder to find Maggie looking at us from through the window. A single tear fell from the right side of her cheek before she walked away.

Pushing myself off from the table, I walked out of the room undetected by Meredith and Jackson, I followed Maggie down the hall.

Turning the corner, I leaned on the door frame as Maggie glanced around the room and found Diane sleeping as her chemo treatment was still going. 

Crossing my arms in front of my chest, I saw Maggie smile for the first time since she received the news about Diane. Removing her glasses, she took a seat beside her before she closed the book and they started talking.

"Dr. Shepherd, are you looking for someone?" The nurse asked me.

"No, I was just wondering. Thank you, though."

"Of course."

Watching as she left, I glanced back over at Maggie and Diane one last time before heading up to her room.

~

"I thought you said you and Dr. Montez had clean margins in the mastectomy," Maggie asked Jackson.

Standing behind Meredith, I rested my head on my chin as Maggie asked Jackson about this surgery Diane had a few days ago.

"Yeah, we did. But then, a spot showed up on the latest scans alongside the chest wall here."

"So, you didn't."

"It could be nothing-"

"Or it could be leftover cells the weren't taken out and kept growing."

"Maggie!" Diane blurted out.

"I'm sorry. I...keep going." She sighed.

"We don't' know what it is, really, until we get in there," Meredith whispered before looking back at me.

"Yeah, I'll do a wide local excision, explore the area, remove anything I find. We may need to do a muscle flap just to cover the defect, but simple." I said, standing up straight.

"Tomorrow." Maggie blurted out.

"No, we're thinking next week."

"No, it has to be tomorrow. The next day at the latest." She blurted out again.

"We should let her get stronger first."