"Come back soon," Carol tells her son as we stand in foyer, saying our goodbyes.

Derek smiles down at her. "I will. I promise."

Carol smiles and then turns to me. "And you come back soon too, so I can meet my grandchild. But in the meantime, keep him safe," she says.

"Him?" Susan asks behind her.

"Or her," Carol says, shooting a look at her daughter.

I smile. "We will definitely come back soon," I promise her. Carol nods and then pulls me into a hug and for some reason I feel like I want to cry.

"It was great meeting you," Susan says, walking over to me and giving me a hug as well.

"Yeah," Anna says. "It really was." And as she pulls me into a quick hug, she adds, "I've never seen him this happy." I smile and glance at Derek who is currently saying goodbye to Nancy.

"I'll see you soon," Sarah says, walking over to me. "And congratulations."

"Thank you," I say, resting my hand on my stomach briefly. "And I'll make him visit more."

I feel Derek's hand on my arm and I turn towards him, following him towards the door. We wave behind us one last time and then walk outside. I realize I never said goodbye to Nancy and glance behind me, but they already moved away from the door shutting it after us. I feel Derek reach for my hand and look over at him. "So, are you scarred for life?" he asks.

I smile and shake my head. "No."

He grins and leans over, pressing a quick kiss to my lips. "I'm glad."

xxx

By the time Derek pulls up to his trailer, it is already getting dark and I am already half-asleep.

"Can we go to bed right now?" I ask as we step inside. I drop my purse and jacket on a nearby table and walk across the small space to the bed where I flop facedown onto the comforter dramatically. I sigh sheets, my eyes already closed.

I hear Derek chuckle behind me and then deposit his own things onto the table. "You can go to sleep, but me, like most un-pregnant people, enjoy staying up past 7 o'clock."

I sit up and look at him. "It is not 7 o'clock."

"It is," Derek says with a smile. He glances at his watch. "Well, 6:55 actually."

"I'm pathetic," I grumble. "I hate being pregnant."

"Liar," Derek accuses.

"No, I'm serious. It's annoying and I don't like it. I'm tired all the time. I'm nauseous all the time, which is problematic, because I'm also hungry all the time." I frown and let my shoulders slump.

Derek offers a sympathetic smile. "I'm sorry."

"You should be," I tell him. "This is all your fault."

Derek smiles and walks over to me, standing at the foot of the bed and looking down at me. "Do you really hate it?" he asks softly.

I drop his gaze and look down at my hands folded in my lap. I shake my head slightly. "No," I admit, lifting one of my hands to rest on my stomach. "But it would be nice if I could stay up past 7 o'clock," I tell him, looking back up at his face.

Derek glances at his clock and then holds the face up for me to see. "You did," he says.

"Wow, 7:02. Score." But I can't help but smile. I shake my head and reach for his hand, pulling him down onto the bed beside me. He lies next to me and takes me in his arms. I'm silent for a minute and I let myself relax against him. "Just for the record," I say after a moment. "I like being pregnant."

He presses a kiss to my forehead and I can feel his lips curve into a smile. "I know," he says.

xxx

"Hey, you're alive," Christina comments as I walk into the locker room the next morning.

"Oh, I missed you too, Chris," I say cheekily, dropping my bag in front of my locker and sitting down next to her.

"How is the Shepherd family?" she asks, pulling her scrub top over her head.

I shrug and take off my shoes before shoving them into my locker. "They were fine. I don't know."

"Did you tell em' about the bun in the oven?" she asks.

I glance sideways at her and make a face. "Yes, I did."

"How did they take it?"

"They were happy, I guess," I tell her softly. "They were a lot more understanding than I expected."

Christina looks at me for a second. "Well that's good, isn't it?"

I smile. "Yeah. It is."

xxx

For the rest of the day the hospital seems eerily quiet. There aren't many patients. There aren't many surgeries. Most of the on call rooms are filled with people catching up on sleep. I, however, am not so lucky. All I want to do is page Derek to an on call room, but instead I am stuck in the clinic trying to keep my interns from killing anyone. Which is a harder task than one might think.

"Why are you giving Mrs. Anderson a spinal tap?" I ask one of my interns, Dr. Austin. I was going through the charts at the desk when I saw that he was performing the procedure.

"She has a headache…I'm just trying to rule out meningitis," he says, walking over to me. He looks scared, like a deer caught in the headlights. It's annoying.

I take a deep breath so that I don't yell at him. Or strangle him. "She has a headache?"

"Yeah…"

"Dr. Austin," I begin slowly, "do you see doctors performing spinal taps a lot?"

He considers the question, rather slowly in my opinion. "No, not really," he decides finally.

"Do you know why?" I ask, gripping the edge of the counter a little too hard.

"Well, because they're very invasive and painful and…"

"Exactly," I say. "So don't you think it would be wise to rule out some of the many other possibilities for what is causing Mrs. Anderson's headache?"

I watch as realization finally dawns over Dr. Austin's face. "Oh, right, okay."

I nod and squeeze my mouth in a straight line in an attempt not to scream. I hate interns. They are evil. I suddenly have an appreciation for Dr. Bailey that I never had before. I sigh and lean against the table, supporting myself with my hands. I bow my head and close my eyes feeling that familiar exhaustion sweep over me.

I suddenly feel a hand on my back and look up to see Derek. I smile tiredly at him. "Hi," I say.

"Hi," he says, moving his hand to rest on my waist as I turn towards him. "How is your day?"

"I hate interns," I tell him honestly. "Trying to keep them from killing anyone really takes it out of you."

Derek nods knowingly and tugs on my waist, pulling me closer. I move into his body, but only for an instant. "I can't," I say softly. "Not in front of my interns."

He presses a kiss to my forehead anyway, but then takes a step back. "Come find me when your shift is over."

I nod and watch as he walks away. Just as the clinic doors swing shut behind him, my pager goes off. I glance down at it and feel my adrenaline immediately kick in. I look up at my interns and sure enough, their pagers go off as well. They all glance down at them simultaneously and then up at me. I motion for them to follow me as I jog out of the clinic towards the ER.

They trail in after me and gather behind me as I look around. The chief is standing in the middle of the ER calling orders. "There has been a serious accident down town. A bus filled with tourists flipped over. The extent of the damage is yet to be determined, but all hospitals are instructed to send all hands that they can."

I turn towards my interns. "Okay, follow me." I lead them back outside as the first ambulances pull in. They swing open their doors.

"Are you guys heading down town?" I ask the EMT.

She nods. "Yeah, we're here to pick up any available doctors. They're really shorthanded down there."

I motion for my interns to hop into the ambulance and I'm about to follow when someone grabs my hand. I turn to see Derek. "Derek? What-"

"You shouldn't go," he says, his face pointed with worry.

"Derek, they need any doctors they can get…"

"I just…I don't want…"

"Are you coming or not?" the EMT asks behind me.

I look back at Derek. "I'll be careful," I tell him. "I promise." I pull away from him and hop onto the ambulance. His body is framed in the windows, receding further and further as we drive away.