Hope this one satisfies your hunger for more 3


Chapter 12: The Trouble with Traumas

"Can you finish this?" Mark turned to Callie.

"Yeah," she looked surprised.

"Good, I gotta get out of here," Mark tore off his mask and left the room.

"Derek!" Meredith pushed the plunger as she counted the seconds on the clock,' Not too fast or I'll kill him, but not fast enough and he'll go into shock and start seizing and convulsing and...'

"Dr. Grey," Hunt put a gloved hand on top of hers as the plunger met the syringe," If you're not calm, he won't be either," he nodded at Derek.

Derek felt his fingers tingling, but his legs seemed gone, as if Callie had removed them completely. The sound of the suction and the whir of the instruments as they slid in and out of his knee was almost maddening,' And I do this to peoples' heads while they're awake?' his mind raced and he gasped for breath.

"Stay calm, Derek," Hunt's voice seemed muffled and distant," You're doing great," the words sounded foreign to him as if Hunt was speaking a different language.

Meredith repositioned and opened the laceration she was working on with forceps to get a better view," Owen," she poked his arm.

"I'm a little busy," he nodded to his work.

"Owen, what does this look like?" Meredith gestured at the depth of the incision.

"Hold that I'll see if I can't get that out," he picked up a fresh pair of forceps and reached in between Meredith's fingers," Oh God," his eyes grew wide.

"Is that...?" Meredith and Hunt looked at each other for a moment," Silk?"

"How the hell are we going to get all this out?" Hunt began looking through the wound further to be sure they had gotten the last scrap from that wound.

"We'll have to open up the rest of those..." Meredith felt dizzy.

"I should have thought of this," Hunt mentally kicked himself," Of course, he's been stabbed so many times I was worrying about him bleeding out."

"You saved his life! How could you know?"

"What's going on up there?" Callie was still working the handles of the instruments inside the laproscopes.

"There's pieces of his shirt inside the wounds."

"WHAT?" Callie almost pushed the screw in too far," So how do you get it all out?"

"We're going to have to close up and get another OR, he has to be fully under instead of just sedated stupid!" Hunt was frustrated," even then there's no guarantee we can find every fiber inside every one of these."

"Unless," Meredith was suturing in deep thought, Hunt looked at her puzzled," unless we do it with locals and one at a time."

"No way," Owen shook his head," You want him *awake* for this?"

"No, just listen," she began dressing the area," If we sedate him there's a risk due to the recent drug overdose, but if we do one small procedure at a time instead of all at once we can take our time and be sure we get everything out."

"How about we let him decide that when he wakes up again?" Hunt continued working," Until then I'm getting everything out I can."

Mark had barely gotten to the sink before he threw up, his head spun and he couldn't move,' He's gonna die' his back arched as another wave hit him sending the sausage biscuit he'd had for breakfast into the basin in front of him. He fell to the floor and curled into a ball, crying.

Callie tried to stay cool but for once her hands shook when she prepared her tray,' Poor thing,' she thought as she surveyed the damage. Meredith and Owen had started their examination of their previous work and both were obviously worried sick. She tried to focus as she began fingering the knee to assess the break for herself,' Compound fracture, this isn't going to be easy,' even through all this it was slightly amusing to think of Mark as her scrub nurse. She turned to him," Scalpel," she held out her hand, and saw Mark's was shaking a bit too.

"Just..." his eyes seemed to plead with her.

"I'll do what I can," she tried to assure him,' Okay, focus,' she made her first incision and pushed a laproscope through the opening,' What do I see?' she looked at the screen at the foot of the table as she explored the damage internally,' Patella's out of place, no wonder there was swelling,' she sighed,' I wish I could have been here sooner,' she snaked her way around to the inner area of the leg and down,' Compound fracture of the tibia too?' she almost heard Mark cringe, but continued around the epiphysis (top end) of the tibia to the fibula,' Surprisingly this one is only hairlined,' she began pushing more feed inside to get a better look,' Whoever attacked him must have kicked his leg from an angel like he wanted to immobilize him,' she surveyed the rest of the fibula and moved on.

'Muscle damage is extensive, this won't be an easy recovery,' she winced when she thought of him wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life,' Focus,' she reminded herself,' I can fix this.'

Hunt had planned on suturing what he hadn't gotten to fully fix previously, he'd taken to using steri-strips to hold most of the worse wounds closed for reassessment today. He was now in a race against time to get as much of the scraps from those hundred and fifty dollar shirts that Derek was so fond of, out of his chest,' I should have followed him home that night,' he thought,' this never would have happened,' he took a mental picture and started counting,' Six?' he questioned,' how was he stabbed six times and still coherent?' he shook his head and started irrigating the second wound,' Not to mention the cuts where he must have somehow been able to dodge,' Diaphragm's been punctured,' he picked up a cautery and glanced at Meredith,' I think you're the reason he's alive.'

Callie retraced her steps and moved to the diaphysis (end of) of the femur, her eyes got big as she made a shocking realization,' It's shattered,' she immediately removed the laproscope and, with a surgical marker, started plotting points for her laproscopic probes.

The first went in smoothly, almost no resistance and gave her a great view she positioned the second and had to apply a bit more pressure to get the angle she wanted. She pushed a probe with forceps on the end into the first and one with a small bag attached into the second,' I'm going to have to make him a complete new knee if this doesn't work,' she began putting shards of bone from the break into the small bag and removing them one at a time,' This could take awhile.'

Meredith's new job was to keep him comfortable, a job she felt she was failing at miserably. Hours seemed to drag on and yet fly by all at once, after the injection his eyes had closed but still moved restlessly underneath the lids. He'd started mumbling and talking in his newfound sleep, which she was sure was the first bit of actual sleep he'd gotten since the attack,' Even this is bittersweet and tortured,' she rubbed the back of her gloved hand across his cheek,' I'm getting you a gun and you're not telling me no this time.'

==FLASHBACK==

Her hands wrapped around the butt of the glock, it had a nice feel to it. She looked at Derek and he giggled as she struck a "Charlie's Angels" pose.

"I still don't think I need one, Mer," he kissed her forehead and whispered," No matter how cute you look holding it."

"I know we don't have ninjas chasing us like in the movies and neither of us are involved in the mob," she paused," unless there's something you're not telling me Lansky," her laugh lit up the room and everyone else seemed to disappear and fade into the background.

Holding onto that gun with his hands over hers showing her how to aim down the sight and line up with the targets. The trigger felt good under her fingertip and when she'd squeezed that first shot off he'd giggled when her face flushed from adrenaline. He'd showed her how to "position" her hips and she'd snickered as she knew all he was doing was getting a quick feel of what she was or wasn't wearing under that skirt.

He'd refused to carry a gun in his car, or at all for that matter, saying things like," Hunni, there's no reason for it," and "I don't have any enemies" but she just had this feeling about it that day. He'd reassured her and whispered those sweet nothings in her ears about things to come once he got her home and she'd blushed when she thought of his hands all over her and forgotten her worries and tried to live in the moment.

He'd revved the engine all the way home and sped in and out of traffic, taking back roads and any shortcuts he could think of to get her back to the house. Once home, they kissed all the way to the bedroom, ignoring Lexie and Mark and whoever else happened to be home at the time; and shed shoes and jackets all the way up the stairs leaving a trail of laundry all the way to their door. Meredith hung his tie on the door as a "do not disturb" sign and they'd made love for hours until both were exhausted and breathless.

==FLASHBACK==

She'd felt so powerful when they'd rented the gun and taken it to the range outside, now all she felt was useless and like everything she did would only make his condition worse,' I can't even run my fingers through his hair without meeting the resistance of dried blood or something worse,' her heart sank as she finally let herself assess his condition.

Callie had managed to remove the fragments of bone from the surrounding muscle and was focusing on reconstructing whatever she could salvage so he could walk again, but the prognosis wasn't looking good,' There's too much damage,' she thought to herself as she inserted some silicone implants to try and add some cushion to the broken bones,' Okay, that should reduce friction and replace the bursae that had ruptured,' she added another laproscopic camera for a better view,' Sorry Dr. Shepherd, I don't know how much I can do for this.'

Mark felt dazed as he handed Callie what she asked for and held Derek's leg steady, moving it at different angles when necessary and repositioning cameras. His eyes blurred from threatening tears, which he tried to blink back,' He's never going to walk again,' the thought pained him so much he thought his heart would burst from his chest,' I wish this would have been me and not him.'

Hunt had taken out every suture he'd done previously and had started by giving every wound a quick once over, but he was running out of time," We can't keep him like this much longer," he handed Meredith a box of steri-strips," Use these and we'll let him decide how we proceed once he's conscious," he snapped his gloves off and donned a fresh pair," While he's out I'm taking a look at his head," he parted Derek's hair and began palpating for breaks in the skull," No skull fractures but a lot of cuts and bruises, he hit hard," he slid a hand beneath his neck and continued his exam," Ouch!" he pulled his hand back and almost dropped Derek on the table," He's got...glass in his head?" his glove had torn and a small trickle of his own blood ran down his palm," Grey, finish up and we'll take a look at that back in his room. I'm glad someone didn't think to shave his head or..." he shook the thought away," let's just be grateful."

==FLASHBACK==

His head spun as he felt the drugs taking effect,' I'm helpless if I don't think fast,' he tried to stand and put his hands on his trunk to steady himself. A hand on his shoulder made him jerk around only to have it move to his throat. He staggered sideways around the car,' Ground is better, I can fight if I don't need to focus on balance,' his head was getting fuzzier.

Clark grabbed a handful of his shirt as he tried to duck and slammed him against the side of the car, he heard glass break and realized his head had busted the window. Blood ran down his back and he felt sick. He slumped to his knees and his assailant watched as he fell forward, his mind willed his hands to catch him but they wouldn't move," Ironic isn't it, Shepherd?" Gary turned him over with his foot," Those are the same drugs you gave my wife, but I added some," his foot almost square on his victim's sternum," Hope you're not allergic, I didn't have time to check your chart," he shifted his weight.

Derek heard another crack as one side of his chest gave,' Punctured lung? Three minutes, or a ruptured Occipital lobe,' his mind was still racing,' my vision's blurring,' he started to panic,' Did he just blind me?' his hand searched the ground for a rock or something he could use to get Clark's foot off his chest. His hand felt the razor sharp edge of a shard of glass from the window; he gripped it, not caring that it cut into his palm, and stabbed,' Right into the Soleus,' he thought as he twisted the weapon, drawing a scream from his attacker,' he won't be walking too well after this,' he rolled away from Clark and got to his hands and knees,' Cell phone's in my jacket,' he pulled himself up and into the car over the broken window,' If I can reach it I can call 911,' his fingers grasped the jacket and pulled it towards him,' Got it!' the world rotated and he felt dizzy, his hands shook so bad he could barely punch the numbers on his phone.

Just when he breathed a sigh of relief his right leg gave out underneath him, he fell backwards and landed awkwardly between the gas pump and the ground. His cellphone clattered to the ground just out of his reach and then, the pain hit. His leg felt numb at first and then he realized Clark had kicked his knee from beneath him,' My leg's broken,' he heard laughter above him.

"Nice try," Clark knelt beside him," I have to say, you're a fighter," he plunged the knife into Derek's shoulder, Derek gasped and realized he didn't have enough air in his lungs to even scream," But now I'm going to kill you."

With the last bit of strength he had, Derek gripped the switchblade that was now sticking out of him and pulled. He doubled over a bit to hide his intention, Clark grabbed his shoulder to turn him around and he jabbed the knife into his stomach," I still have s-someone...to live f-for," Clark's eyes grew wide as he looked down. He gasped a bit and fell backwards," Y-you can't take that..." he tried to catch his breath," from me, I told you it wasn't m-my fault," he leaned his back to keep blood flowing correctly and reached for his phone. Clark got to his feet and staggered for his car,' I won,' Derek looked down, his phone looked miles away,' Damn,' he leaned further and almost had it before his strength gave out and he collapsed onto his stomach," Meredith..." he tried to crawl to his phone but even raising his gaze to see it was a struggle. As his vision faded, he heard the squeal of the tires as Clark sped out of the parking lot leaving him alone. He struggled to reach his phone once more, he coughed and tasted blood. He gave up finally as the shock set in that he couldn't get to his phone and even if he did he wouldn't have the dexterity to dial the number," Meredith..." he felt himself losing consciousness," I love you..."

==FLASHBACK==

Mark walked down the hallway towards Derek's room heavy-hearted, he couldn't get the prognosis out of his head,' We'll see how he's doing after a month or two,' the words echoed in his head and there was no changing it,' If he can't perform surgeries he'll lose hope,' he wiped his eyes and bumped into someone.

"Dr. Sloan?" Bailey took hold of his biceps," Are you okay?"

"Ye-No-...Bailey?" he stuttered.

"I headed here as soon as I heard about Dr. Shepherd," she rubbed his arm lightly," yesterday was my day off and..." she looked at the floor," I'm sorry, Mark."

"He's alive..."

"Yeah, and I know how hard this is for you," she offered a half smile," Can I see him?"

"Yeah," Mark nodded," I'm heading there now," the door squeaked open and Mark put his arm in front of Bailey before she could walk in," Miranda," he looked in her eyes," brace yourself, it's bad."

"Okay," she nodded.

Mark found Meredith sitting on the side of the bed cradling Derek's head in her lap and stroking his hair. His eyes were cloed but restless beneath their lids and he was mumbling under his breath," Mark," Meredith looked up.

"Hey Mer, how is he?"

"Even sleep is torture," she wiped his forehead with a cloth from the table.

"Is it okay if I..." Bailey turned as if to leave.

"No, come on in," Meredith put the cloth back on the bedside table.

"How long has he been like this?" Bailey pulled a penlight from her pocket instinctively and lifted one of his eyelids.

"About an hour," Meredith trailed her fingers down his neck," If I stop he starts shaking."

"So what's the prognosis?" Bailey finished checking his pupils and shook her head.

"He's got a forty percent chance," Bailey drew a quick breath," IF he survives the surgeries with no infections."

Derek groaned and buried his head into Meredith's thigh, his hands gripped the sheets and a bead of sweat dripped down his face. His breath came short and quick, his back arched a bit," I didn't...know..."

"Derek, wake up," Meredith rubbed his cheek with her thumb.

"I-I didn't...kill her..." his face twisted in pain.

"Wait this is great!" Mark's eyes lit up.

"What?" Meredith was outraged," How is this..."

"Look!" Sloan pointed," His hands...they work!" Bailey smiled and clasped her hands together," He has a grip!"

Meredith kept rubbing his cheek," Derek, wake up."

"Wait...NO!" Derek's eyes flew open and he tried to sit up.

"Derek," Meredith put a hand on his chest,' Calm down, no one's going to hurt you."

"Mer," he slurred, his body wrought with agony and his nerves shot his stomach heaved again. He propped on an elbow and doubled over the bed, the room still spun and his vision was still unclear. He coughed and prayed he wouldn't vomit, he licked his lips and swallowed hard.

"You okay?" Meredith gently patted his back.

"I...I..." instead of forming a sentence, his stomach wretched up whatever was left in it. Meredith moved her foot and put a hand to her mouth as a mixture of blood and bile hit the floor.

"I'll go get a bio kit," Bailey rushed out of the room," and some Promethazine."

Mark went to the other side of the bed and helped reposition him,' This has almost become a habit now,' Derek's thoughts were jumbled and his face grew hot with embarassment,' How many people am I going to throw up on?' he coughed a bit and clutched at his stomach.

"Derek?" Mark offered," are you okay?"

In too much pain to speak, he nodded slightly and let out a long slow breath to steady himself. He felt weak as a kitten as he lay his head back on Meredith's lap," Mer..." his voice cracked and he nuzzled into her,' She smells so good,' he took in the sweet scent of her perfume and felt his anxiety ease.

Bailey returned with a bio kit and set it on the table, she fished a syringe out of her pocket," Dr. Shepherd," she put her fingers to his jawline to ground herself and steady his head," This stuff stings a bit but it'll take away the nausea."

"Wait...no!" he jumped and threw a hand up, blocking the injection.

"It's just Promethazine," Bailey looked confused.

"Don't take offense," Meredith took his hand and lowered it," Clark gave him a sedative there," she pointed to the raised red whelt on the side of his neck," Here," she held out her hand," Let me," Bailey handed her the syringe and started cleaning the floor.

"I'm sorry, I-I didn't know..."

"It's okay, he's still a bit nervous," she looked down," Derek, can I give you this?" he took a few deep breaths with his eyes closed and nodded," I won't hurt you."

"I know..." his voice shook.

"Just keep looking at me," she scratched the skin surface and pushed the needle in slowly," Good job," she pushed the plunger and withdrew, she felt him relax as she threw the syringe in the sharps container behind the headboard," All over."

"How...how'd it go?" Meredith's touch was velvet on his forehead.

"There were some complications," Mark flipped the chart open," your leg is shattered and you may never regain full function and some scraps of your shirt were found in the lacerations, your diaphragm was punctured which explains the diffculty breathing, and your right shoulder had to be relocated. There may be some permanent damage to your coordination due to a head injury, we're not sure how bad yet; but I've ordered a CT and..."

"What?" Derek shook his head," How permanent?"

"Depends on how well you do in therapy, we're repairing everything we can," Mark's heart sank as he saw the pain register on his friend's face and the tears roll down his face, powerless it was all he could do not to break himself.


So we have a lot of emotions running around...I must remind my readers to look in the description and note that this is NOT I repeat...NOT! an Addison/Derek story, she's in here for added drama; but I left her out of his first few moments of recovery so she wouldn't ruin it just for you ;) see I do listen.

Hope this one was long enough to last you another day or so, R&R pls :)