Something New

Chapter Five

Meredith sped away from Derek, even though every fiber of her being begged her to go back and plant another kiss on his lips. Speaking of a kiss, Meredith's head was spinning thinking about those moments, replaying them over and over again in her mind. 

She walked away. She had to distance herself from him, or one of them would get hurt and crash and burn like her other relationships. Meredith Grey didn't do real relationships. She had kissed this man once, but she could already feel her passion for him growing, and she wanted more than just one kiss.

But she had to walk away. To protect herself, to protect him. And he would be discharged in two days, so she'd only have to see him for follow up visits and then hopefully never again. 

Never see him again. 

The four words tore her apart a bit on the inside. She didn't want to never see him again. More than anything, Meredith wanted to see more of him. 

But it was inappropriate. A doctor and her patient. It would be completely wrong.  

"Woah, slow down Mer. Where's the fire?" Alex's voice pulled Meredith out of her internal argument with herself, and she realized she had crossed the hospital and now stood in front of the OR board. 

"I-I uh," She was flustered and couldn't come up with a formidable answer.

"Seriously, you okay?" Alex asked again, concern now hinting in his tone. 

"Alex, I-we...we kissed,"

"Who?"

"Derek Shepherd and I,"

"Wait, your patient? The FBI dude?" 

"Yes!" Meredith let out an exasperated sigh and leaned into the wall. 

"You what?" Came a sharp voice next to her.

"Cristina..." Meredith started but really couldn't defend herself.

Her friend looked like she had just gotten out of surgery, literally. She wore her scrub cap and there was a bit of blood smeared across her cheek. Alex stood, chart in hand, looking very confused.

"Meredith! You kissed him?" She hissed.

"Y-Yes, outside. He wanted more, but I left and told a nurse to take him back to his room,"

"What were you doing outside?" Alex asked, now looking very interested in the gossip.

"I asked if he wanted to get out of his room," Meredith admitted quietly. 

"With you? So, like a date?" The man asked, sounding almost giddy. 

"God, Meredith, can't you see how stupid this is? It's all going to end badly. You can't be in a relationship with your patient," Cristina voiced.

She was right. It was highly inappropriate.

"I know, I know, but I can't just...I don't know, I think I have feelings for him and I can't just deny and hide that," The blonde tried.

"We're not going to have another Izzie and Denny situation on our hands," Cristina hissed. 

Meredith straightened to her full height and stared at Cristina.

"You seriously think I would do something like that?"

Alex had tensed at the mention of his ex-wife. The way Izzie left them had cut all three surgeons pretty deep. 

A pager beeped just as Cristina was going to argue more. Each person instinctively checked their pagers. 

"Damn it, it's me," Cristina growled, "I gotta go, Alex, tell her how stupid she's being," With that, she was jogging off.