Hello every one::waves::

So, yeah. I have been away for about a month now. I said I'd update after episode three aired (its up to like what episode 7 now) and, well, technically, this is after, LOL. But seriously, I'm really sorry. I hope I didn't leave anyone waiting... no, wait, yes I do. Because that means that there are actually people waiting to continue reading my story, and that's always cool. But yeah, I kinda got behind with "All in Due Time." I got a little sick with a cold, then school came with all its papers being due and midterms and books to read and all that good stuff... so I didn't have time to write. But I did have time to watch "Grey's" every Thursday, LOL... but enough of that... this is the next chapter, which I rewrote from its original version (not that you care about that, hehe), hope you guys like it, and I promise to try to update more regularly... but remember, the story is winding down to the end from here on in, so I really, really hope that you have been enjoying it.

Okay... on with the story!

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Chapter 14: Waiting

Derek quietly closed the door to Meredith's room and made his way out into the now quiet and deserted hallway. He scanned around looking for either Christina or George, knowing that they wouldn't have wandered to far off without any additional news on Meredith's condition. He rounded the corner of the hallway and spotted them sitting on the floor talking quietly amongst themselves. As soon as they were aware of his presence they stopped talking and quickly stood up.

"So, umm... I'm guessing that you guys heard everything that Addison said?" he asked him.

"Oh, well... umm... we... we where just..." they both stammered in unison.

Derek couldn't help but smile a bit at their flustered expressions, and raised his hand to quiet them down, "It's alright," he said, still smiling to let them know that it was okay. "Don't worry about Meredith, she's going to be fine. She just needs some rest."

"So, she had a panic attack because of the... umm..." Christina said, gesturing with her hands, trying to get across her meaning without actually saying it.

"Yeah," Derek said understanding, the smile fading from his lips, "Plus, I said and did a few things that didn't help much either," he said looking down at his feet, Christina didn't really understand what he meant by that, but she didn't pursue it.

"So, can we go in and see her?" George asked.

"She actually wants to be alone right now," he said, turning back to glance in the general direction of the room as he spoke, "Besides, I'm pretty sure that they gave her a sedative, so she's should be sleeping for the next few hours or so," he explained.

Just then Christina's pager went off again, "Damn it. I got to go, excuse me," she said, then to George, "Let me know how she's doing." George just nodded as he and Derek watched Christina head towards the elevators to respond to her page.

Derek started to walk away, but something was bugging him, something he needed to know, just for the sake of knowing, "George?"

"Yeah?"

Derek paused for a second before asking, "Just out of curiosity, did either one of you have one of the nurses call Finn?"

"What? Oh, no. No, not us," George said, but upon seeing Derek frown, he knew that he was curious as to how Finn had come to know Meredith was at the hospital, so he proceeded to explain it to him as best he could, "I think that Finn is listed as her emergency contact. I know that Meredith didn't want anyone of us from the hospital to be one, you know, since we're always so busy. So I guess that she must have put down Finn's information not to long ago."

"Oh, okay," Derek said, accepting the explanation. He let out a loud sigh as he slid down the face of the wall to sit down on the floor below, taking a position much like the one he had found the two interns in only minutes before. He brought his knees up to his chest and rested his head on them, just staring off into the distance.

George noticed that Derek was lost in his own thoughts once more. He figured the man was rattled beyond belief trying to formulate solutions to the various problems in his mind; he couldn't even begin to figure out how Derek was managing with everything that he must be feeling. He knew that he had been worried and filled with concern, and the situation in the hallway earlier probably did nothing to calm or alleviate his nerves and anxieties. George figured that he was probably only now starting to come down from his adrenaline high.

"So, Meredith's going to be out for a while, right?" George asked.

"Yeah. A couple of hours at least," answered Derek, never lifting his head.

"Alright, then, I'm going to go home and check on Izzie. I'll be back soon," George said down to Derek.

"Sure."

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TBC... So whatcha think!? Okay, I know that that was really short and I know its not necessarily the best chapter (I'm not sure I like it to much, it didn't come out like I envisioned it...), but its kinda just an intermission chapter since the previous chapter was so intense. At least I think it was intense. Please let me know! I just absolutely love it when you guys leave reviews and comments. You rock!!! I'll try to update before Thursday since I have a midterm tomorrow and whatnot... so yeah. )

A/N: So yeah, completely off topic, but since this story is ending, I've begun tinkering with a new idea for a Grey's fic. It's been nagging at me, so I finally started writing some notes down for it. It's something completely different than what i've seen done within "Grey's Anatomy" fan fiction, so if you like my style of writing, keep an eye out for it, most likely than not it will be titled "The Promise." )