Chapter 10

Derek's eyes flutter open to see a Korean woman standing before him. His blurry vision produces a head of dark, curly hair and dark eyes. "Cristina?"

"Hey, how do you feel?" Cristina asks.

Derek tries to ease himself up in a sitting position but winces in pain. "Like I've been stabbed." Derek looks at Cristina. "What are you doing here?"

"Owen told me about Meredith." She slaps Derek on the shoulder. "Because you never did."

Just then Bailey walks into Derek's hospital room. "Well look who is up." She pauses for a second. "I had to go in repair your vena cava and your small intestine. You were bleeding pretty heavily in your abdomen and the contents in your bowel were spilling into your abdomen. I'm confident that there will be no infection and you can leave in a couple of days. I did a pretty good job if I do say so myself." Bailey smiles and pulls her white coat tighter around her body. "And your hand…"

Derek's eyes land on his hand and he sees that it is in a cast. He hadn't noticed it before.

"…Dr. Torres had to reset it," Bailey finishes. Derek only catches her last words.

"What about Meredith?" A rush of panic hits him as he eagerly waits for the answer.

"They haven't found her," Cristina says. "I've been talking to Terry. They checked out his house but there's no sign of him or Meredith."

Derek quickly uncovers himself and struggles to twist his body so that he can get out of bed. Pain shoots through his body but he never thinks about stopping.

"Not so fast," Bailey scolds, "if you get out of bed, your stitches might bust and you'll get an infection for sure." She walks over to Derek and encourages him to get back in bed. She grabs his hand and pulls him gently back. "I know you're worried about Meredith but there's nothing you can do even if you weren't lying in a hospital bed.

Derek sighs sadly and takes his original position on his bed.

"Now, everybody is going to come in and visit you soon. After the plane crash and then this… They're going to bring encouraging words and I know it's hard but you should listen," Bailey soothes. "We are all worried too."

As if on cue, Richard Webber, Owen Hunt, April Kepner, Jackson Avery, Arizona Robins, Alex Karev, and Callie Torres files into the room.

It takes Derek only a second to notice Zola in Callie's arms. When Zola sees her father, she immediately wales and squirms. Callie places the baby on Derek's legs, careful of his abdomen and hand.

"Hi Zola," Derek coos. "I've missed you so much." He runs his good hand through her hair.

"Oh my god," April says, interrupting Derek and Zola, in a high pitched voice, "I am so sorry that I wasn't home. If I hadn't been working so long, I could have found her."

Derek smiles sadly. "It's not your fault." His gaze travels from April to the rest of the doctors. "Thank you all for your support but you all need to return to work.

"How's the hand?" Callie asks.

Derek glances at his hand. "Well I wasn't better off before this."

Arizona slowly moves her way from the back of the pack of doctors to the front. She limps on her crutch and her fake leg. She places a strong hand on Derek's shoulder. "We're all praying for her."

Richard uncrosses his arms and points at Derek. "Don't lose hope." He points his finger around the room to all the doctors. "We won't."

Just then, Zola lets out a scream of happiness as if confirming what Richard just said.

xoxo

It's more beautiful here than the pictures, Scott thinks. He pulls up in front of a log cabin located in the Cascade Mountains, just east of Seattle. Trees surround the quaint but cozy cabin. The porch leading off the front door has a wooden swing hanging from the roof that extends over the porch. Snow covers every inch of the ground as well as the tall pine trees the jut from the ground.

Scott gets out of the car and takes a deep breath, taking in the crisp mountain air. He smiles. Having never been here, he is excited like a child on Christmas morning.

He only heard of this quaint cabin in the woods when he was a child from his mother. Right before his mother died, he can remember her showing him a picture of this cabin. She told him that this is where her grandfather lived and she would come up here to visit him as a child. Scott's mother told him that when she was here she felt safe and warm. She felt as if the whole world and its problems disappeared. She told him stories about her playing in the woods when she was his age. She told him of a grand fort she made with her grandfather and how they would pretend it was a fortress that needed to be protected from the evil soldiers that tried to attack it. She told him of all the warm memories she had. When Scott was a child and his father was beating on him, he would often fantasize about being in this cabin where every care in the world would dissipate. He'd always wanted to visit, and he figured that this is the perfect place to start a new life with Meredith as his wife.

Scott walks around the car and pops the trunk. He grabs Meredith and pulls her out.

The bitter cold begins to prickle Meredith's skin as Scott leads her to the front door. She quickly surveys her surroundings but to her dismay only sees snow and trees for miles.

All of the furniture inside the cabin is covered with white sheets. Dust and cobwebs have collected on every surface of the cabin. All of the blinds are closed so sunlight struggles to get in.

"What do you think?" Scott asks once they step foot in the cabin. "It was my great-grandfather's but when he died, nobody ever moved in. This is my haven."

To Meredith, it's hell.

Scott heads deeper in the cabin leaving Meredith by the front door. He looks around and takes in the smell. He's so enthralled with the cabin that he misses the signs from Meredith.

Meredith has no interest in this cabin. All she can think of is getting back to Derek and Zola. She turns around and looks around her. Running away crosses her mind immediately.

"Don't," Scott warns.

"Don't what?"

"Don't run away. There's nobody around for miles. You'd die of starvation or freeze to death before you reach anybody that can help you."

Meredith looks at her feet. She doesn't want to admit it but she knows that Scott's right. There is no way that she would ever survive out there in her tennis shoes, jeans, T-shirt, and thin sweat shirt.

Scott begins to pull the sheets off of the furniture revealing a dark green sofa. "Might as well come in and close the door. Help me clean."

Meredith steps in the cabin and closes the door behind her, closing the door on her hopes of escape.