Turned Upside Down - Grey's Anatomy

Chapter 1 - Roseridge

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All recognizable characters belong to Shonda and Disney, I'm just playing with them.

Chapter 1 – Roseridge

Meredith was running. The carryon she pulled behind her flipped over again as Meredith ran through the airport terminal. She cursed loudly. She had been called for final boarding twice already. She adjusted the strap of her heavy messenger bag, flipped her board case over and continued running to her gate. When she finally arrived it was almost cleared. Two gate agents were handling the last couple of passengers. Slightly panting she put her smartphone on the scanner and smiled at the gate agents, who looked at the young distressed woman in pity. Meredith hurried down the gangway into the plane, made her way to her row, stored her carryon in the overhead compartment, squeezed herself into the window seat and prepared herself for a long flight. She closed her eyes, and let out a long deep breath. The plane was pushed back from the gate and the flight attendants started their walk around while the security video began to play on the screens. She had barely made it.

She had rushed out of surgery, already late, had said her final goodbyes, had gotten her luggage and had jumped into her friend's car, who had kindly offered to drive her to the airport. She had stood in the long lines to drop off her bags and to pass security. With every minute she stood there she had one less minute to make her important flight. She had made it, barely, but she had made it.

Meredith stared out of the window as the plane moved around the tarmac, sped down the runway and finally took off. She watched as the buildings became smaller and smaller and the cars on the highway became small dots until there was nothing distinct to make out anymore. As soon as the seatbelt sign allowed her to Meredith got her laptop out of her bag and continued to work, to distract herself from thinking about the inevitable. Just a week ago she had gotten the phone call that brought her entire life crumbling down.

Meredith sat in her small office she shared with three other people. She was alone. Her night shift playlist was playing in the background, the candy jar was bursting with her favorite snacks and her thermos was filled with coffee. Her cordless hospital phone and her fully charged work cell laid in front of her - either ready to go off any minute. Meredith was on-call. It was late at night and she was finishing up some notes that had accumulated over the last week. She hated paperwork. It was tedious and exhausting but unfortunately necessary. It was a call night and on on-call nights she caught up on paperwork and everything else she had procrastinated on over the week.

She was typing up a medical report for a patient when her private cellphone rang. It was midnight on a Thursday. The young surgeon fished her cellphone out of her purse that was sitting on the floor.

"Hey, I'm at work," Meredith picked up the phone after checking the number and assuming who it would be.

"Hello, may I speak to Dr. Meredith Grey?" the woman on the other line requested.

"This is she. To whom am I speaking?" Meredith asked confusedly.

"Please hold." The line filled with hold music before Meredith could muster another word. She put her phone on speaker, putting it aside while she finished the medical report.

"Hello, Dr. Grey. This is Dr. Johnson calling from Mayo Clinic concerning Dr. Ellis Grey. You are listed as your mother's emergency contact," an older male voice spoke through the phone after some time. Meredith picked up the phone again and brought it to her ear.

"Okay. What is this about?" Meredith asked carefully.

"Your mother has been involved in an accident today."