I know, don't even say it. It's been forever. I can't even believe that I found the time to write this. Basically it all boils down to "I hate school". I've had the first half of this extremely short update on my comuter for like 2 months now and just never finished it. But I like where it's going. So without further ado...Chapter 10

Disclaimer: Not mine. Don't sue.

Chapter 10

Well I was sitting, waiting, wishing

You believed in superstitions

Then maybe you'd see the signs

-Sitting, Waiting, Wishing by Jack Johnson

Derek stood alone, silent, unmoving, an ache somewhere deep in his gut. What was worse, he couldn't seem to wake up.

He had the primal urge to feverishly push the '"up" button, to follow his wife, to hold her hand. He hadn't even been able to touch her. He had stood frozen at the very sight of blood encroaching her still face, her limp hand still bearing the sign of her devotion which, as he glanced down at his own quivering hand, was unmistakably missing from his. There was nothing he could do now; Bailey wouldn't let him within ten feet of her now, and waiting emerged as his only option. A soft whimper sounded from where he had just been, and it suddenly dawned on him that Meredith still sat waiting in the hallway.

He approached the slumped, black figure, her knees to her chest and her face concealed by her mousy-brown hair. She was no longer crying, but rather sniffling and sucking in deep, short bursts of air with her eyes fixed straight ahead. He kneeled next to her, "Mere,".

Her eyes shifted to his and he could see they were still glassy and red, her face sticky and flushed from the crying. She tucked her hair behind her ear with a shaky hand and wetted her drying lips, sniffling again.

"It's bad, Derek...he's hurt b-bad." She stuttered because the tears materialized again in her eyes at the thought. He pulled her into an embrace, feeling nothing other than the comfort of someone who felt the same pain as himself. No words came, and even as he tried an "I know", his lips barely moved. After a moment spent like that, she sensed his reaction was off. He wasn't acting like he was sorry, and even worse, she didn't feel he was sorry.

"Derek, what's wrong? Oh no...he's not...something didn't happen? Oh God," She pulled away and looked him in the eye. No sign of tears. His face wasn't stoic, either. It was indescribable, a look she had never before seen, and she couldn't help but expect the worst from it.

"No. No, it's not that," He breathed deep. He knew that once she had said all she knew out loud the tears had come, and he wasn't prepared for that quite yet, "There were two people in the car. Meredith, it's Addison." He surprised himself when he didn't cry. In fact, the tone in his voice never even changed. Maybe this is what shock feels like, he considered. He felt her hand squeeze his and as he lifted his gaze, he caught her crying again. She's crying for me, he told himself, why can't I do the same? She said nothing, the only exception being what was said through her sympathy, and together they rose to go wait in some other place.

-----

40 minutes later

Meredith's head slumped against a pillow a nurse had provided her, with her body turned sideways and her legs thrown over the adjoin chair to hers. She and Derek had made their way to the waiting room, both silent since their ascension from the Trauma ward. He leaned his face into both hands, elbows resting on his knees, and he looked over at the sleeping woman just four seats away. Her face was anything but peaceful, but he was nonetheless glad that she was resting. An elderly couple with a young boy next to them sat across the room with worried expressions. Everyone was waiting for news, hopefully the kind that would bring relief, and Derek finally understood what the families of his patients felt while he was in surgery. Footsteps broke the silence and four eager heads turned to the surgical ward. Bailey emerged and Derek gently shook Meredith's shoulder to awaken her. She awoke quickly and brought herself to a seated position just in time for Bailey's approach.

"How...how is he? Is everything OK?" Meredith begged, desperation in her voice. Bailey placed a comforting hand on Meredith's knee and looked the young intern in the eye.

"There was a lot of damage, a lot of bleeding, but he's stable right now. So far it looks like the damage was contained to his chest, so he's got a good chance of pulling through this, Meredith. He's got a couple more hours of surgery ahead of him, but get your rest and let me worry about that, you hear me?" Bailey's expression was stern, like a mother lecturing her young child, but still holding a deep sense of compassion. Meredith wiped some more tears from her eyes and nodded, thanking her mentor. Bailey smiled and stood, but was cut short of her return to the OR when Derek spoke.

"How's Addison? Have you heard anything?" His voice nearly cracking, Bailey turned slowly around and breathed in deeply. She returned to the seat she had just risen from and rested her hands on her knees. She had hoped the question wouldn't be asked even though her expectations proved correct. The truth was, she had no information despite her eagerness to hear some good news about her friend.

"I don't know, Derek. I haven't heard anything. But you have to believe in those two extremely talented surgeons that are in there saving her life right now, exactly like how everyone of us believed in you to save Burke's arm. And you have to believe in Addison, because we both know that she does not give up a fight easily. That's all you can do, Derek. Pray, hope and believe."

With that she stood and walked back to where she had come from, patting his shoulder as she passed. As her words sunk in, Derek once again buried his face into his hands, this time allowing himself to sob. Meredith put her hand on his back and cried and together they hoped for the best. That was all they could do.

-----

Alex rushed into the lobby of Seattle Grace, it's walls containing an eerie silence so different from the scene he had fled hours earlier. His sneaker squeaked as he jogged up the stairs and pushed the button to summon the elevator. Ten minutes later, he found himself scrubbing into one surgery he actually hadn't hoped for.

-----

25 minutes later

The hands of the clock on the waiting room wall were just a black and white blur to Derek, whose eyes were clouded from his recent lack of sleep. Even with the extreme fatigue he was feeling, he knew there was no way that he could possibly have fallen asleep. The elderly couple that sat across the somber room has risen to follow a nurse to the recovery area, where their loved one was soon to be waking from surgery. The nurse bearing the news has apparently mastered the art of delivering the word on a patient's status softly, because even in the unearthly silence that pervaded every space in the room, Derek could hear nothing of what was being said. Body language let him know that it was decidedly good news, however, and the commonplace family had vanished out of sight.

Tick. Tick.

The pulse of the clock reminded Derek that time was indeed moving forward, perhaps despite its attempts to make him think otherwise. Relativity of time, He thought, I finally understand what Einstein was talking about. The seat was far less comfortable than one could imagine it being, the room's temperature was nearly unbearable, and the silence...that silence. It was deafening. Soon, however, it was broken and time moved forward faster than even Einstein himself could have imagined.

The easily recognizable sigh of the Chief shook Derek out of his reverie and made his heart pump rapidly. What if I don't want to hear what he is going to say? Richard sat next to him but away from Meredith, trying his best not to awaken the slumbering girl. It was far too notable that Derek was a wreck, to say the least. There was never any pleasure that could be gained in informing a family that their loved one was badly injured, but this particular occasion took much more out of Richard Webber than any case he could remember from the last decade, if not longer. He allowed another sigh to escape before beginning.

"Derek, Derek, son, look at me" When he noticed that Derek hadn't raised his head yet, he allowed his hand, full of strength and skill, to gently rest on Derek's back, not unlike a father's would. This caught Derek's attention and he met his gaze with teary eyes.

"Derek, it's going to be okay. She was wearing her seatbelt, which saved her life. She's got a pretty bad gash on her forehead, but there weren't any signs of head trauma other than a concussion on the CT. It looks like most of the trauma was contained to her lower body..." But his words trailed off once Derek began crying into his palms. Richard reached into the pocket of his scrubs and removed a white gold diamond ring and held it in front of the weeping man. As if sensing its presence in front of him, Derek wiped away the tears, dried his hands on his pants, and took the ring.

Able to sense that it was now okay to continue, the Chief continued, "Like I said, most of the trauma was to her lower extremities. Her pelvic CT showed an AP Compression with a pelvic hemorrhage, which explained her sudden drop in blood pressure in the trauma center. Dr. Torres is working on inserting some pins and plates in her pelvis and right femur right now, and Karev and I are suturing a small portion of her small intestine that was damaged from the pelvic fracture. She's lucky, Derek. You and I both know how much worse that could have been. Just a little time in the hospital and some physical therapy and she'll be Addison again in no time." The words, though carrying a scary message, gave Derek a wonderful sense of relief, the kind he had prayed for the whole night.

The Chief walked briskly away back towards the OR and Derek stared at the ring that he clutched in his hand.

Tonight his prayers had been answered.

There you have it. Sorry it was so short and it took so long. I will try my hardest for another update soon, but no promises...R & R though, please!