49. Chapter 49

When the surgery was completed and the patient was in recovery. Meredith collapsed in exhaustion in the locker room as she went to shower and change out of her scrubs and into a fresh pair before grabbing something to eat.

Mark and Derek had followed the patient to recovery, went to speak to the family, went to do the necessary paperwork, and get the congratulatory pats on the back from the Chief and board members. They were going to be tied up for awhile so she figured she'd take the time to get ready for the second half of her shift.

Gathering her stuff from her locker to hit the shower, she halted when Izzy floated in with Cristina and George behind.

"That was such a a I have no words for it, wasn't it? When Dr. Sloan saw my potential and asked me, me of all people to work side by side with him." She praised herself.

"Potential? Side by side? Are you forgetting we were in the gallery watching, all he did was ask you to look at what he was doing. That was hardly an accomplishment Blondie." Christina snarked at her. "If he saw anything in you, it was your rack."

Meredith laughed out loud not being able to hold it in. Cristina surely had Mark pegged.

"Aren't you going to defend him? He's your brother in law after all." Izzy asked of her.

"Ah, no I'm not. Christina has him figured out, but you also should be proud. Having Mark ask you to come closer to take a look, is an accomplishment coming from him." Meredith sided in-between with both of them.

"You did real well too Meredith." George blushingly said to her.

"Thank you." She replied, she was going to call him Dr. O'Malley but she didn't want to seam rude since he used her first name but she still felt uneasy with the way he talked to her the night of the mixer and the way he looks at her. So she just choice to be indifferent and not address him by any name.

Meredith smiled at remembrance of the mixer, or actually after the mixer. Derek hated events like that, called them stupid and he didn't really feel like going after spending all day dealing with paperwork and contracts for his first day as the Head of Neurosurgery. He said he wanted to get himself ready and not meet and greet strangers so they both dressed. He drove her to the hospital, he parked and went over to this bar across the street. Joe's bar, to wait for her as she went over to the mixer to be social as the intern.

She talked to the Chief, met some people she doesn't even remember now. Went to grab a glass of wine and that was when some mumbling intern tried chatting her up and realized Derek was right. This was stupid. She lasted all but 30 minutes before running across the street to the bar to pick up her man.

She saw him sitting alone at the bar chatting with the bartender. After the bartender went to serve a drink. She came up behind him and sat two stools away from his left. He knew someone was there, someone who probably wanted to pick him up so he ignored her. She knew if she sat next to him, he'd instantly know it was her by her smell.

"Come here often?" she asked. As she did he instantly stopped ignoring her, his head shot up and his face brightened with a huge smile.

"First time actually. I'm waiting for someone"

"Really? Me too. My husband." She smiled back as she reached over, took his glass of single malt scotch and brought it to her lips to take a sip of her husbands' favorite drink.

"Your husband is a very lucky guy to have a beautiful wife like you."

"Oh I know he is" she laughed and winked.

She was startled from her day dream as Cristina slammed her locker shut in annoyance.

"What ever. Dr. Sloan asking her to look is nothing since I could look in the gallery just fine. It's not like he let you assist like Shepherd here." She continued to be rude to Izzy.

Meredith figured surgery jealousy played some part in this, she flashed Izzy a look of sympathy while Izzy smiled back in gratitude for before Meredith decided to grab her new scrubs and her bag of shower essentials and go shower in a quieter and less hostile environment.

She quickly left the locker room with her hands full of the stuff before any of them could ask where she was going. She had a key, she'd just go use Derek's private shower since he was all tied up with work.