Derek leaned over his bed, settling the thoughts in his brain. Addison was moved to another room, due to her growing tumor. Callie was pregnant. Meredith and him were broken up. Dr. MPD was gone and he was left with only Jackie's address.

He stared at it in his hand.

"Dr. MPD"

And the address followed.

He swept his fingers over the words and drank in the still-fresh scent of the Multiple-Personality-Disordered human being that he had cared so greatly about.

"You're learning to miss," she'd oftentimes say when Derek was feeling down about Meredith. It seemed like he was always down about Meredith and it was too detectable – or maybe she saw. Maybe Dr. MPD was the only person in his life that could pick up his emotions with just a simple walk across a room. What was it? How would she know?

But know he knew missing, he told himself, getting back on-subject. Derek Shepard understood missing too well now; his lesson was over-learned. So it was time to get it back.

His fingers, filled with anxiety and nervousness, but egged on by his own true emotions and his "knowing of missing," dialed Meredith Grey's phone number.

Izzie picked up.

"Hello?"

"Hi…it's Dr. Shepard. Is Meredith there? I need to talk to her. Tell her…tell her it's important."

There was the soft pad of footsteps from the other side of the phone and a serene call of "Meredith? Derek!"

"Where?" cried an worrisome voice.

"On the phone!" assured Izzie.

"What?" Meredith's voice was so starch that Derek didn't say anything for a moment. Then he lurched into what he needed to say.

"I know what missing is."

"Huh?"

"I broke up with you because we'd had too much. We didn't know missing, we didn't know … we just didn't know. So it was over. And now I know missing. And now I know you. I can feel you now. I can know you now. I can hear what you're thinking just by looking at you. Take me back, Meredith Grey, because I know how to miss."

- - -

"Derek knows how to miss," sighed Meredith, slumped over on Izzie's shoulder, Meredith's hand accompanied by Cristina's. Her friends by her side, she felt more comfortable talking about it. "I didn't know what to say. I said 'Why didn't you know before?' He told me that he was 'incapable of missing.' Now he says he's learned his lesson too well. That he wants me back."

"Do you really want to be back in McAss's arms?"

Guess who that was.

"CRISTINA!" shouted Izzie. "Meredith, think. Don't just do, don't just say, just because Derek tells you 'he knows how to miss.' I mean, what the hell does that mean? Wait, don't answer that, you've already explained. But it's weird. He's weird and indifferent and it's just on-and-off. It might not be like that. You have to think, Meredith, and not drink tequila and 'sleep with inappropriate men.'"

Meredith's face was twisted in contemplation and her friends gave worried glances to each other. Meredith looked strange with the expression on her face – like she was a philosopher, thinking about dying. It seemed so important that it made Izzie stand up and announced that it was muffin time. Cristina groaned but Meredith looked attentive.

"Can I have blueberry?" she requested.

Cristina just grunted, explaining to Izzie that muffins weren't her thing.

"Two blueberry muffins it is!" smiled Izzie, too chipper. She began to wind her fingers around dough, water, blueberries, and other things needed for baking.

"I know how to miss," said Cristina. "Derek and I have that in common."

- - - -

Callie looked at unconscious Addison.

"Why is she unconscious?"

"She's on drugs," explained Dr. Carson.

"Oh."

Callie neared her and traced her finger around Addison's beautiful facial features. Her fluttered-closed eyelids, her thin, pursed lips, her beautifully-shaped nose, her fiery red hair that spewed all around her in a heavenly way …

Callie felt a pang of random jealousy. She wondered where it had come from, but then immediately knew the answer – pregnancy.

"Hey, Chief?"

It was Bailey.

"Yes?" responded Callie flatly.

"Isobel Stevens is handing out muffins to all the residents, Attendings, patients, and random passerbys. It's … well, you know. Stevens is scaring a few patients with her 'cheery' grin. Could you get the muffins away?"

"Why doesn't somebody else? I can't see Isobel right now."

"Now."

"All right."

Callie scurried down the hallway, hurriedly searching for Izzie so she could get it over with. Sure enough, right in front of her was fake, happy Izzie, handing a muffin to a patient with leukemia. The leukemia-patient was a child of a mere nine years, so the nine-year-old – Nina – smiled graciously and engaged in conversation with Izzie. Callie decided not to ruin that little bond that was forming, so she began to turn around.

She bumped into Mark Sloan.

"Move it," she demanded, when she tried to get around him and all he did was get in her way. "What's your frikin' problem?"

"You're pregnant with George's baby?"

"Yea. What do you have to say about it?"

"I have to say 'big mistake.'" He prodded her stomach and she leaned back, disgusted.

"You're a moron," she sighed, attempting to get past. Mark was a barrier, stopping her from getting back to her office. So instead, she wasn't reluctant and watched his reaction as her eyes grew wide and she rose discreetly to her tip-toes. Staring him down wasn't easy. He responded just like Derek had, agreeing and letting her through. Callie felt a smile caress her lips and she nodded to herself. I'm a good starer, she joked to herself, half mumbling it.

- - -

Meredith leaned over the man she was performing surgery on and ordered a tool from Diane, the intern to her right.

"This surgery's easy," complained Diane, shifting from one foot to another.

"Deal with it," replied Meredith. Diane's eyebrows knitted.

"What's wrong with you?"

"Shut up." Meredith ordered another tool.

"Well, you're whiny today. Oh wait, that's not unnatural."

"SHUT UP!"

"Fine."

Cristina, who was just coming in, saw Meredith saying shut up to an intern and frowned a pointed frown, accompanied with a sigh.

"Stop taking out your anger on the poor, innocent devils of interns," smiled Cristina.

"Meh," responded Meredith. "Whatever." She ordered yet another tool and plucked out the man's gut.

"EW!" screamed a nurse. "Oh god!" She flung a tool tray off from the table and went sprinting out.

"What the hell was that?" cried Cristina.

"A new, afraid-of-blood nurse," shrugged Diane. "That's kind of pathetic."

"Kind of? It's beyond pathetic. It's moronic. Why is she here? Oh god." Cristina leaned down, crinkling her fresh-smelling scrubs (they had just been in the wash), and picking up the tools, rearranging them in their rightful place, and rebounding to where she was supposed to be – standing up and keeping an eye on stressful Meredith.

"Stop watching me."

"I have to."

"Stop it. Now. I'm fine. Just because I've got a little … drama doesn't mean I can't take care of myself. So stop it."

Cristina obliged, taking a tool straight from Diane's hand and plucking out another gut. This time, nobody got the satisfaction of a running-away nurse.

---

AN: Hey!! I'm updating a lot tonight, to make up for all that time I didn't.

I hated this chapter so much.

Whatever...

So, I need some advice on that stick-to-charecter thing!

Am I doing it or not?

And PLEASE REVIEW:D

See ya.

Bye!

I think there'll be an update in the next half hour. ;)