A/N: Sorry this chapter is so short. And sad. FYI there is some angst coming up...I apologize. And thank you for the reviews...comments make me happy. I'll try to have another chapter up tonight!

-animummedicinae :)

Chapter 13

"Welcome back, Dr. Grey. I trust that you're feeling rested. O'Malley, you're off Grey's patients. You and Karev are in the pit. Yang, Burke. Stevens, you'll be joining me today. Grey, you're with Shepherd if you can keep your clothes on. Can you do that, Dr. Grey?" Bailey asked with a hint of bitterness in her voice.

Meredith nodded as a blush spread across her face. She turned around quickly and headed for Madeline's room.

"Hello Ms. Shepherd, I'm Dr. Grey." Meredith smiled and picked up Madeline's chart. She flipped through it, looking for the biopsy results.

"Madeline. Ms. Shepherd was my mom's name. And you don't have to keep smiling; I know I have cancer."

"It appears that the biopsy results aren't back yet. It's not certain that you have cancer. The tumor could still be benign." Just as Meredith finished her sentence, Derek walked into the room.

"Dr. Grey!" he exclaimed. "It's good to see you back."

Meredith nodded. "It's good to be back." She winced at Derek's pitiful attempts to cover up their relationship. They both knew perfectly well that he had seen her just that morning.

"Madeline, I need to talk to you about the results of your biopsy," Derek said, a serious look overtaking the cheerful one that had been on his face just moments ago. "They were abnormal."

"I told you," Madeline hissed at Meredith.

"I'm so sorry," Derek said. "You do have cancer." He tried to push back the tears that were welling up in his eyes. First his sister, now his niece. And he was powerless to do anything. "I'm so sorry," he whispered again.

"So, what can we do? Can't you take it out or something?" Madeline asked.

"It's very advanced." He tried to steady his wavering voice. "Had you had any seizures before the one that sent you to us?"

"Not really. Maybe my hands or legs were kinda shaky, but I never fell down or anything."

"Did you have headaches?"

"For at least, like, 4 or 5 months. But I always get headaches."

"What about the nausea? When did that start?"

"I guess whenever I got the headaches. But I just thought they were migraines, or whatever. Mom got them too. So what can you do to get rid of it?"

"I – I'm afraid," Derek stuttered. He ran his fingers through his hair nervously. "I'm afraid we can't do anything."

"What?" Madeline asked in disbelief. "Why?"

Seeing Derek trying to choke back tears, Meredith decided to step in for Derek. She took a quick look at Madeline's biopsy and her MRI. They were bad.

"The tumor is too advanced. It's spreading to too much of your brain, and the surgery would have too many risks. Your body wouldn't be able to support you through the whole surgery," Meredith said softly.

"So you're going to ignore me too? Just like you ignored my mom?" Madeline asked angrily.

"Madeline –" Meredith started.

"We did everything we could," Derek interrupted. He sat on the edge of Madeline's bed. "And I loved your mom. She was my sister. How could I have ignored my own sister? There wasn't much we could do."

"Go," Madeline commanded.

"Madeline, I loved her just as much as you did."

"Just go."

"I – I'm sorry."

"Go away!" Madeline yelled. "You can't have loved her as much as I did! You left her with him."

"Maybe I should go," Meredith whispered. She walked out behind Derek and left him to talk with his niece.

…

"How's Madeline?" Meredith asked quietly as she slipped into bed next to Derek.

"She's getting worse."

"Oh. How much time does she have?"

"It's impossible to tell. It could be as little as a few days. The headaches she had were symptoms of the cancer, but she didn't do anything. If she had come in just a month ago, we would have been able to do so much more."

"I'm so sorry," Meredith whispered. She turned onto her side and pulled Derek's arm around her, taking his hand in hers. She felt tears drop on the back of her neck and squeezed Derek's hand. Silently, he squeezed back.

…

One week. In one week, Derek's life was turned upside down. He had only known his niece one week, and for most of it, she had hated him. And then, she was gone. Suddenly, one week after she had been admitted to the hospital, the cancer won. He knew it was going to happen, but he couldn't anticipate what it would be like. How hard it would be. He hadn't even known her that well, but now that she was gone, he wished he had.

…

"Derek, I'm so sorry. Are you going to go to the funeral?" Meredith asked softly.

"She didn't want one," Derek replied solemnly.

"You don't look good, maybe you should get some sleep. Take some days off or something."

"I barely even knew her. I don't need to take any days off," he snapped.

"Sorry," Meredith said defensively, "I was just trying to help."

"No, I'm sorry. I just need some time to think, okay?"

"I wish I could help you," Meredith said gently.

"Maybe you shouldn't. I'm damaged goods, Mer."

"Yeah, well, we can be scary and damaged together." She shifted under the quilt to rest her head on his chest. He stroked her hair as they lay together in silent thought. When he thought Meredith was finally asleep, Derek whispered, "I love you," into her hear. Meredith smiled, a single tear running down her cheek. In all of the chaos and confusion that had hit them in the past weeks, those three little words made a world of difference.