Baby Makes Three

Chapter Two

"Amy." Derek turned to one of the nurses, pulling his scrub cap off and tossing it into the garbage can. "Have you seen doctor Shepherd?" He'd managed to make it through the surgery. His patient was stable, but he had no idea how Meredith was. He hated that. Derek Shepherd hated that his patient had come before the woman he loved. He hated it, but he knew there was nothing he could do. It had been hours though, and he wanted to see her. He needed to see her.

The nurse walking by smiled cheerily at the former chief of surgery. The urgency in his voice made it obvious that he wouldn't be too happy with a simple no. "Doctor Sloan took her downstairs a few hours ago, but I think they are in your office now."

"Thank you," Even if he was grateful for her help, Derek was brief. Instead of hanging around to chat or to finish up post-op notes, he headed straight for his office, determined to see his wife before another patient tied up any more of his time.

"Shep," Mark smiled when he saw Derek coming down the hallway, rounding the corner with a bottle of water and a bowl of soup from the cafeteria in hand. "She's okay." He didn't have to be asked. Mark Sloan knew exactly what his best friend wanted to know. "I took her down to the emergency department. She was dehydrated."

"Dehydrated." Derek let it sit for a moment before he frowned, guilt suddenly weighing heavily on him. "I told her not to overdo it. I told her to be careful. To eat something, to make sure she had water."

"She said she had something. Doctor Davis came down. She thinks it was caused by the throwing up. They gave her some I.V. fluids, then I brought her up here so she could sleep. I offered to take her home, but she said she wanted to wait for you."

"I.V. fluids." Derek sighed. "I should have told her no, about the surgery. There are surgeries every day. She told me she was sick last night. I should have made sure that she rested and got something else in her stomach."

"Derek." Mark frowned. "You can't protect her from everything. I know you want to, but you can't. And she's okay. That's what is important, right? Meredith is okay, and the baby is fine. I don't think it's anything you need to worry about. This is par for the course with pregnancy." Realizing that he wasn't in a mood to really chat, Mark simply handed the food over to him. "She wasn't really too big on the idea of eating, but I wasn't really taking no for an answer."

"Thanks," Even if it was difficult for him to admit, Derek did appreciate Mark's help. He'd needed Mark's help.

"Meredith," Derek walked in to find her laying on his couch, and he set her food down before sitting next to her. Still not convinced that she was okay, he took a minute to look at her for himself, trying to decide if she had just put a brave face on for everyone else.

"Hey," Meredith smiled and looked over at him, one hand resting on her nearly flat stomach. "How was your surgery?" Even if she was still a little unsteady on her feet and had definitely been a little freaked out by the events just hours ago, she wasn't didn't want to make him worry. Derek had enough on his mind, enough things going on. She wasn't going to add to his list any more than she already had.

"How are you feeling?" A smile spread across his face. Even if he was worried about her, and even if he could tell she wasn't fine, he was amused at how calm she pretended to be. "Sorry I wasn't here sooner. Patient is stable though."

"That's good," Meredith smiled, sitting up slowly so she could take a sip of the water he brought in for her. "Did Mark bring this to you? I told him I didn't think I could eat anything, but he insisted that soup was safe." She grabbed the bottle of water, avoiding his question.

"Mer." The smile soon faded from Derek's face, and he sighed, taking her bowl of soup out of the brown bag. "I want you to tell me how you're feeling."

"I'm okay, Derek. Really, I'm okay. I was scared earlier, but I'm okay now. Just a little tired. " She screwed the cap back on the bottle of water after taking a few sips, hoping he would take her explanation at face value rather than continue to question her.

He still looked skeptical, and his disappointment over her brief explanation was obvious. "Meredith, I spent the last three hours in surgery, worrying about you. I want to know what happened. I want to know what doctor Davis said. We're talking about your health Mer, and the health of our baby."

"Mark took me down to the emergency room, when I passed out, in the freaking operating room." She sighed. "People are going to talk, Derek. People are going to talk about the McWife fainting in the middle of a surgery."

"Mer." Derek reached over and ran his fingers through her hair, kissing her gently. "I told Mark, about the baby. After you passed out. I wanted to make sure that they paged doctor Davis."

"In the middle of your surgery?!" Meredith frowned. "Derek." She sighed and laid back down when the room began to suddenly spin. "Now I'm the McWife who is pregnant and fainting in the middle of a surgery."

"I'm sorry, I really am. I needed to make sure that you and this baby were safe."

"People are going to be talking about the McBaby now." She groaned, closing her eyes.

"I want you resting. When we get home, you need to get some sleep. I'll talk to the chief about letting you taking a couple of days off."

"I don't need days off, Derek. I was dehydrated, today. But that doesn't mean I'll be dehydrated tomorrow. I can still work."

"Meredith."

"I don't want to be home all day, Derek."

"You need to eat something." He wasn't taking no for an answer.

She shook her head, her eyes still closed as she rested there. Even if she didn't want to, she had to admit that despite the I.V. fluids that had been given to her, she was still weak on her feet and completely exhausted. The last thing she wanted was to eat something that was going to cause another episode of hugging the toilet. "The baby doesn't like it when I eat."

"Meredith."

"I can't, Derek. If I eat something I'm just going to throw it back up again, and I'm really tired of sitting on the bathroom floor while you hold my hair back for me. No offense."

"Just a little, please. You don't have to eat all of it, but you do have to eat some." He opened the top of the bowl, putting a little bit in the spoon to let it cool off. "Sit up. Just for a few minutes."

"I'm tired, Derek. Really tired."

"I know you are. But I'll help you." Derek knew he was probably coming across a little fatherly to her, but it was something that seemed unavoidable in their current circumstance. His wife was sick, again. Ten weeks into her pregnancy, she was sick. He was holding back fear, but barely. If something happened to this baby, they'd never be okay.

Meredith knew she wasn't going to win, and she sat up slowly, leaning against him a bit while she took a few bites of the soup. "That's all I can handle, Derek."

Derek could tell she was completely serious, and he closed the top on the soup, carefully putting it back in the bag. He hoped she would be able to eat it later without being sick. "We're going home."

"Don't you need to finish your shift?"

"I'm taking you home, Meredith. The only other surgery I had today was an elective Mark wanted me to help with." He got up from where he'd been sitting, taking her hand to help her up just as the chief came through the door.

"Shepherd." He frowned, glancing a bit at Meredith before looking back at the neurosurgeon in front of him. "We've got a thirty-two..."

"I'm taking my wife home, Richard. Page someone else."

"You're scheduled to work in this hospital, Shepherd, so you're going to work. If Meredith is sick, she can sleep there, or someone else can drive her home."

"I'm taking my wife home." Derek ignored him, scooping Meredith up into his arms as soon as he noticed how unsteady she was on her feet.

"Shepherd." Richard Webber's voice held a warning tone. He'd heard all about Meredith Grey passing out in the operating room. It was her pregnancy that he was still in the dark about, even if most everyone else had been talking about it for hours.

"I'm taking my wife home, Richard!" Derek didn't bother lowering his voice. "She's pregnant and sick, and I'm not letting someone else keep an eye on her."

"Pregnant." Surprise was clear on his face.

"I can walk, Derek."

"You can barely stand." He walked past the chief and out the door of the room, leaving him standing there with the same shocked look on his face.

"People are going to talk. If you carry me through this hospital, they're going to talk. I don't want people talking."

"Would you rather pass out again? Because that's what is going to happen, Meredith. If you don't start eating and taking better care of yourself, you're going to end up passing out and being admitted."

Realizing that he was no longer able to separate fear from anger and his anger for the chief from her, she gave up. She'd already been humiliated enough, and Meredith figured it couldn't get much worse. "Seriously," She mumbled, though she rested her head against his chest anyway, and closed her eyes.

"I'm calling Addison. When we get home, I'm calling her."

"You don't need to call Addison. Doctor Davis said I'd been fine."

"Doctor Davis has worked here two years, Meredith. She isn't exactly someone I trust with your life and the life of our baby. We've lost a baby already. Our son, is dead. I'm not taking chances this time."

She winced at the abrasive mention of Grayson, growing quiet as she thought back to how things were when she was first pregnant with him. They'd been happy, really happy. There hadn't been worry or fear. There was just joy. Despite Derek recovering from heart surgery, they'd been happy about the baby they'd been expecting. And now, things were different. This time things were destroyed from the start. Despite how desperately they wanted a baby, despite how badly she'd hoped she would become pregnant, they were scared. Every time something happened, every time she got sick, every time she was dizzy or had the smallest pain in her stomach, they worried that it meant they were going to suffer the same heartbreaking tragedy.

** GA ** GA ** GA **

"What if Derek can't do it? I mean, what if he, what if something goes wrong?" Lexie wasn't comforted by Mark's arms around her. She wanted to be. She wanted to be comforted by her boyfriend's touch, but she wasn't. It just, it was too hard. It was too much. She'd had such a perfect pregnancy. Everything had been fine, or at least she'd thought it was fine. "I don't want our baby to die, Mark. I don't know what I'll do, what we'll do."

"Our baby isn't going to die, Lexie. Derek is a good surgeon. The best. And Addison, you can trust her. You have two of the best surgeons in their fields operating on you." Mark's words were an effort to convince both of them. Even if he was strong and stoic on the outside, secretly he was falling apart. He was terrified, terrified of losing their little girl and terrified that something could happen to the woman he loved. "I don't want you to worry. Worrying is just going to cause more harm than good." He pointed out.

"I was so excited about buying a crib and picking out cute little pink outfits." Lexie's voice was even softer than before, and she didn't attempt to fight back the tears that filled her eyes. "Now I can't even think about going shopping. I can't think about going shopping, Mark." Her eyes met his. "Because if I go shopping and something happens, I'll be like Meredith. I'll have my whole life planned around this baby, and then…"

"Lexie." Mark quickly turned her so he could look straight into her eyes, able to tell that she wasn't even really hearing what he was saying. "Stop. You have to stop this. What happened to Meredith was different. It was..." He sighed. "This baby is going to be fine. Do you understand? I know you're scared. We're both scared. But our baby is going to be okay. Addison and Derek are going to operate, and everything is going to work out."

"I'm so scared," Lexie let him hold her.

"I'm here with you. No matter what happens, Lex. I'm going to be right here." He whispered, rubbing her back gently as he held onto her. "We're going to walk through this together. And I know Meredith wants to be here for you too. You aren't alone in this."

It was a side of Mark Sloan that didn't come often, and Lexie was grateful for it. She needed it every once in a while, especially with their current circumstances. "Alex said that something happened today, with Meredith. That he heard she was pregnant and that you had to take her to the emergency department?"

"She passed out in the middle of Derek's craniotomy. Turns out she was dehydrated, so I think she should be okay."

"So she is pregnant?" Lexie was hurt. She was hurt that she'd heard the news from Alex Karev instead of from her sister directly. She was hurt that Meredith hadn't confided in her.

"Yeah. I don't think they were planning on telling anyone though, at least not right now. Derek sort of told me as I was carrying her out. I think just to make sure someone checked the baby out."

"And they're sure that everything is okay?"

"Doctor Davis came down from upstairs and took a look at her. She didn't seem concerned that it was anything more than the dehydration. So, yeah. Everything is okay. Derek ended up taking her home early though. Pissed Webber off. You should have heard him. He was ranting and raving the rest of the afternoon."

"Because of that patient that came in after the motor vehicle accident." Lexie pointed out. "Alex said that she was pretty bad off, that they paged Derek right away but he couldn't come. She ended up dying."

"She could have died whether he came or not." Mark pointed out. "She probably would have, no matter what."

"I know, but the chief probably didn't see it that way. I'm sure he'll understand though, when he finds out why he left. I mean, he loves Meredith. So I don't think he would want to put her in any danger, especially if he knew she was pregnant again."

"Which is why I say it was ridiculous for him to go around pouting the rest of the day. What he needs to do is hire a new neurosurgeon. If Shep is the only guy he can trust, he needs a new one. A back-up, for days like today. Because I don't think Derek is the same guy he used to be. He doesn't seem to love the job like he used to. He's a family man now. I think almost dying and losing his son then almost losing Meredith changed his priorities. It changed mine too." He admitted.

"You were always a family man," Lexie smiled, looking at him again. "You just didn't know it. It took me getting pregnant for you to figure that out."

"Yeah." Mark laughed, not too sure if he agreed with her or not. He wasn't going to argue, though.

** GA ** GA ** GA **

"What did the chief have to say?" Meredith looked over to Derek as he crawled into bed with her, smiling while she pulled the sheet up and snuggled next to him, her head resting on his chest.

Derek slid his arm around her, glad to at least see her with a little more energy, even if he knew she still needed rest and a little TLC if she was going to be back on her feet by the morning. "Well, he apologized."

"For being an…"

"I think he was just upset, Mer. Richard has a hard time trusting critical patients with people other than the surgeon's he is familiar with. That woman ended up dying, and I think he just wanted to see that she had the best care that she could get, especially after what's happened over the last couple of years."

"So now you're making excuses for him?"

"Not an excuse, but I think I just sort of caught him at a bad time."

"The two of you made up then."

"We made up." He kissed the top of her head, running her fingers over her belly. "I talked to him about your hours at work, and we both agree that you should really try and make sure you aren't working doubles, or overnights, and that you aren't scheduled more than a few days in a row."

"I don't need the two of you to baby-sit me."

"You need someone looking out for you, Meredith. Your intentions today were good, but it ended badly. I know you don't want to lose out on your residency, but I think it is worth you cutting back some to make sure you aren't pushing yourself too far."

"I would never do anything that would put this pregnancy in danger."

"You would never do something intentionally, but I think as surgeons, we get wrapped up in what we're doing, and I want to make sure that you're eating and drinking and resting."

"I know. I just hate this." Meredith sighed, closing her eyes as sheer exhaustion began to consume her. "I want this baby more than anything, but I hate that I can't just have a normal pregnancy."

"You have a normal pregnancy, Mer. It's your job that isn't normal."

There was no arguing with that. Meredith realized that what he was saying was true. Even if she didn't like it, she knew he was right. It wasn't about her this time. It wasn't that she wasn't okay or that she couldn't handle being pregnant, at least not yet. It was about the fact that most weeks she slept a total of less than twenty hours, that there were plenty of times when she'd be awake for more than twenty-four hours at a time. It was a demanding job on anyone, much less someone that was just six months out from a life-threatening accident and was pregnant. "Did you ever get in touch with Addison?"

"She told me the same thing that the chief told me. That you need to rest more. And she wanted you to know that if you're worried about it, she'll take a look at you when she comes in on Friday."

"Did she ever find a place to stay?"

"I think she said she was going to book a room in some extended stay hotel."

"She's going to stay in a hotel for two months?" Meredith looked unsure, scrunching up her face a bit. "Why don't we just offer to let her stay in the trailer?"

"The trailer?" His surprise was evident.

"Yeah. I mean, we're not using it. And if she's going to be here for that long..."

"Okay." Derek didn't see that much of a problem with it, despite how odd of an idea it seemed. "I'll call her."

"Okay." She stayed there, snuggled up with him. "Call her soon."

"You should get some sleep, Mer."

"We should both get some sleep."

"I could go for sleep," Derek smiled and reached over, turning the lamp off.

"No hovering tonight. When you hover, and stare, I can't sleep. It's creepy."

"I promise I won't be the creepy guy." He laughed, pulling her into his arms before he closed his eyes.

* Revised 6/2017