Meredith had regressed into her thoughts after Derek's revelation. Derek had helped her finish showering and she had changed into a pair of sweats and a shirt Derek had brought her. He guided her back to the bed and helped her lay down and get comfortable. It was only then that she spoke.

"I'm not...mad...just...confused." She whispered turning to look at Derek. He felt a wave of relief wash over him as he grabbed her hand and squeezed it.

"It's okay. No one is pressuring you here Meredith." She glared at him.

"But I...I don't...feel that way" She leaned forward as she began to cough. Derek rubbed her back and handed her some water. He gave her a minute to regroup before speaking again.

"Look I would love for you to meet my family, and I know my family that hasn't met you would love to as well. But this isn't the way I wanted to you to meet them." He paused choosing his next words carefully. "It is hard for me to sit here and watch you be in pain that I can't fix. And if my family heightens that pain, then I will board the door shut, however if you think you can handle it then I will support you and step in if it gets to be too much. I love you and if you want to meet my family that's fine but if you don't then I'll still love you." Meredith's eyelids were fluttering and he could tell she wanted to say more but didn't have the energy.

"I..." She began but Derek cut her off.

"Shhh. It's okay. Sleep on it, you're exhausted." He whispered kissing her on the forehead gently. Meredith considered arguing but gave in to her exhaustion. Her eyelids shut and her breathing equaled out. Derek pulled a granola bar from the bag of food he had brought earlier and began to munch on it, when the door opened. Derek turned to see Nancy walk in followed by Mark who shot Derek and apologetic look.

"Is the slutty intern going to let you spend time with you're family?" Derek rolled his eyes.

"I have been spending time with my family. Unfortunately she is recovering from a major operation and doesn't have a lot of energy and needs a lot of support. Which I am happy to do because she is the love of my life." Nancy looked taken aback and Mark snickered quietly in the corner. Which turned into a half-hearted cough when Nancy glared at him.

"Oh please Derek. When are you going to give this mid-life crisis up?" Nancy scoffed. Everyone was to wrapped up in the argument to notice Meredith open her eyes.

"When are you going to get it through your thick skull that this isn't a midlife crisis?" Derek retorted trying to keep his voice down as he though Meredith was still asleep.

"When the girl is actually age appropriate for you and isn't just looking for sex and money!" Nancy shrieked. Meredith had to fight the urge to start crying so she closed her eyes and attempted to keep her breaths even.

"Seriously Nancy? Even if that were the case, which it isn't, I would give her the world because I love her. Had I been earlier I would've jumped in front of the bullet for her." Derek felt a lump form in his throat and Meredith ached to reach out and comfort him but she was more interested in seeing where this went.

"Honestly Derek the girl never had a father. She's just looking for an older man to fill the gap. Why is that so hard to see?"

"Because it's not the truth!" Derek yelled. He was enraged. His fists were clenched and his face was flushed. He wanted to defend his wife but in that moment Meredith couldn't take it anymore. She grabbed the bucket on the bedside table, ignoring the searing pain that shot through her chest, and emptied the few contents of her stomach into the bucket. Derek was at her side in a flash, holding her hair out of her face and rubbing her back as she began to dry heave. Mark grabbed Nancy by the elbow and proceeded to drag her out of the room. However as he opened the door he was met by a very angry Cristina.

"Alright listen here McBitchy." She spat. "That girl in there, that your brother loves so much it's sickening, is a patient. You're a doctor, you know that post-op patients are supposed to avoid stress if possible. Not to mention that she has been through severe emotional trauma, and questioning her love for her husband is very stressful both emotionally and physically. So you don't have to like her but you damn well have to respect the fact that she is in the process of recovering and while she is doing that I can't trust you to be anywhere near her so you are here by banned from her room." Cristina huffed.

"I...she was asleep." Nancy offered as a feeble excuse, looking guilty.

"And then you started yelling and woke her up!" Mark scolded. "At least Derek was making a conscious effort." Nancy hung her head in shame.

"I'm going to go check on Mer." Cristina excused herself. Mark nodded.

"We'll go find mom." Mark said leading Nancy away. When Cristina entered the room, she found Meredith with an oxygen mask over her mouth staring off into space with her eyes glazed over and Derek sitting on the side of the hospital bed running his hand through her hair.

"Is she okay?" Cristina whispered.

"I think so. She's worn out and she hasn't said anything but she calmed down pretty quick." Derek said never taking his eyes off Meredith. Cristina nodded.

"Teddy sent me in here to change her bandages and check her incision so..." She trailed off.

"Oh yeah sure." Derek hopped off the bed and took Meredith's hand. Cristina left to grab supplies and Derek leaned down to whisper in her ear. 'Cristina's gonna check your incision and change your bandages okay?" Meredith blinked a few times before she nodded imperceptibly. Cristina returned with the supplies and laid them out on the rolling table before she lifted up Meredith's shirt. She was immediately greeted by blood soaking through the bandage.

"Crap" She muttered under her breath. She pulled the bandage back and was relieved to see the blood was simply a result of three ripped stitches. After some poking and prodding, Cristina went to prepare a needle of lidocaine when she caught sight of Derek's concerned face.

"Is she..?" He trailed off almost afraid to know the answer.

"Relax she just ripped a few stitches, it happens." Cristina explained flicking the needle a few times. "Small pinch" She stuck the needle in Meredith's chest. Meredith winced in discomfort. Derek squeezed her hand, well aware of her needle-phobia. Cristina threw in the stitches like a pro, and replaced the bandages. "All good." She snapped off her gloves and disposed of them along with the supplies she had used. "I'll order you some pain meds for when the local wears off okay?" Meredith nodded slightly.

"Thank you" Derek said.

"No problem." Cristina brushed it off as she left the room. Derek turned his attention back to Meredith who had fallen asleep. Before slumping back into his seat Derek pecked her on the cheek.

"I love you" He whispered.

A/N OMG you have no idea how amazing it feels to actually write an entire lengthy conversation that isn't chopped up by ellipses and exhaustion. So I covered Nancy's bitching. The suggestion to have Cristina set her straight came from reviewer GayleLynn, so thank you. Some people have been asking for longer chapters and unfortunately I don't see that happening because I'm not the kind of person who sits down ad writes. I have squirrels that run around in my head and screw with my concentration and imagination. So the only way to stay motivated is to do it short and chopped up. Reviews are also good motivation so you should leave them. See you next chapter!