This is another short one, and I'm sorry, but my creativity only seems to be coming in little spurts. Sorry it's been a while. I've been on vacation :) . BTW, keep those reviews coming! They make me want to keep writing!

Chapter 9

Izzie Stevens walked into the room with her head held high. She glanced slightly at George, then over at Addison and Alex, and kept walking. She sat down on the couch next to Derek and placed her hand on his knee. "Just thought you might want to know she's awake. She's asking for….Christina, but I'm sure she'll want to see you soon." She smiled and stood up, waiting for Derek, who eventually got to his feet, but rose very slowly. Izzie took him by the arm and led him towards Meredith's room. "I think she'll be okay. I really do," she said cheerily. Mark Sloan chuckled at the spectacle before him. Was this the same Izzie Stevens he'd caught crying in the storage closet, like, four times this past week? And what was up with O'Malley and his longing stare? Not to mention…Addison? Why was she looking at her like that? That'd be hot, he thought to himself. However, he quickly reprimanded himself, feeling guilty for such a thought on a day like this.


"Izzie says Burke was here." These were her first words as Christina walked into Meredith's room.

"Yeah, I made her Mer-sit while we talked." Christina said as she sat down in the chair beside her.

"So how'd that go?"

"Surprisingly well, actually."

"Really?"

"Yeah."

Meredith looked up at Christina with a slight smile in her eyes. "I told you he wasn't really gone."

Christina sank in her chair. "No, Mer. He's gone. On his way to the airport as we speak. He's leaving Seattle."

Meredith's slightly hopeful face dropped and tears began to well up in her eyes. "Oh."

"But Meredith, I'm okay." Meredith remained silent except for short gasps of air. "Meredith?"

"It hurts, Christina," she cried.

"What hurts?"

"It hurts! Gosh, it hurts!!" Meredith reached her hand up to her head and sobbed.

"Your head, Mer? Does your head hurt?"

Meredith nodded slightly as Christina rushed out the door to where Derek and Izzie stood in the hallway. "Derek, her head. She's screaming about her head hurting!"

Derek said nothing, but sprinted into her room, where she lay writhing in what appeared to be excruciating pain. "Meredith!" He was at her bedside cradling her within nanoseconds. "What does it feel like? Sharp? Constant? Pounding? Pressure? What is it Mer?"

She sobbed loudly. "I can't take it! Make it stop!"

"Talk to me. I need to know what it feels like." He fell to his knees and cupper her chin in his hand, turning her face towards his. "I need you to help me," he begged through his tears.

"I can't, Derek. It hurts. I can't breathe!!" She took in short gasps through her tears. "I can't!" she was the most hysterical he'd ever seen her, and he was scared.

"1000 mg gabapentin. Now!" he screamed. Outside, Izzie jumped to attention and ran to the nurse's station. "Meredith, shh." He coaxed. "Please. You have to stop crying. The pain will only get worse if you keep crying. Please….don't cry anymore." He slid into the bed beside her and wrapped his arms around her. As he bent down to kiss her on the forehead, she thrashed wildly and the top of her head rammed into his upper lip. He winced in pain, tasting the slight metallic taste of blood in his mouth, but he continued to hold on to her.

"Derek, NO! I can't breathe!"

"Yes. You can," he replied calmly, slightly loosening his grip on her as he realized that he was probably putting too much pressure on her currently very fragile body. Izzie hurried into the room with a syringe in hand. She slowly pushed the needle into the stopper on the lower end of the IV bag. "Chase it with five Ativan!" he demanded. Izzie, already knowing that this would be the case, reached into the side pocket of her scrub pants and uncapped another syringe. She disposed of both in the sharps container in the corner of the room and quietly slipped out. Derek held her for only a couple more minutes, until her thrashing stopped and her body fell limp into another restless stupor.

He looked up to find Sloan propped against the door frame, his arms crossed in front of his chest. "Callie gave her fentanyl and hydromorphone only an hour ago. She shouldn't have been in pain like that."

"I know." Derek took in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He pushed the heels of his hands to his eyes and rubbed fiercely, then stood up tiredly.

"You need sleep," Addison interjected from behind Mark.

"And Meredith needs another scan. Maybe swelling? Pressure?" He grabbed her chart from the foot of the bed and flipped through it. "It just doesn't make any sense. She seemed to be improving."

Alex sauntered into the room, followed by George. They each kicked one of the wheel stoppers on her bed so that it would roll freely and began slowly maneuvering the bed out of its spot against the wall. Izzie crept into the room and stepped around Derek to where Meredith's IV bag hung on a pole beside her bed, and Christina followed, walking to the other side of the bed. Izzie grabbed the IV bag with one hand and held it around the level of her head. She pushed her other hand against the railing on her side of the bed to ensure that it was secure. Christina did the same on the other side and then grabbed Meredith's hand, squeezing it tightly as the bed rolled toward the door. Derek stepped out of the way toward the window first. Then, Mark, and Addison stepped to either side of the doorway as the five former interns squeezed through the door turned down the hallway towards the elevator.