"Stupid triage," Meredith muttered as she moved slowly around the kitchen, shoving everything she needed for the day into her bag. "Stupid decaf coffee."

Derek fought a smile as he leaned against the doorframe to the kitchen. Meredith was very obviously not in a good mood, and since she'd entered her third trimester she'd been very cranky. Ethan was kicking a lot now, and although Derek loved feeling his son kick, he knew that Meredith was tired of getting kicked and punched all the time. He'd made her dinner and let her go to bed early the night before, hoping that a good night's sleep might help her get ready for the triage Bailey was taking her interns on today. But apparently Ethan had already inherited his mother's love for staying up late, and Meredith had barely slept for three hours.

"You know you can call in sick," Derek offered. "Bailey's baby is only seven months old, she remembers what it's like to be pregnant."

"I can't call in sick," she rolled her eyes. "I have a triage today."

"That can be rescheduled."

"No, it can't," she snapped. "Because I am eight million years pregnant, but I still have another two months to go. So it can't be rescheduled, because I'm only going to get more miserable."

"You're right," Derek nodded, having learned quickly that those were the two most important words he could say throughout the duration of her pregnancy. "I shouldn't have even suggested it."

"Thank you," Meredith sighed. "Let's go."

Derek nodded, making sure to grab the bag she had left sitting on the floor of the kitchen. She was forgetting more as the pregnancy progressed, and he had learned to always be one step ahead of her and pretend like he was helping her out instead of reminding her what she was forgetting.

"I'm so tired, Derek," she sighed as she dropped into the passenger side of his car.

"I know," he offered her a sympathetic smile as he started the car. "He'll be here soon."

"Seven weeks is not soon," Meredith said, leaning her head against the window.

"Well…your maternity leave starts in five weeks," Derek offered. "Which means you can lay in bed and eat ice cream all day."

"That sounds amazing," she said. "Five more weeks."

"Five more weeks," he nodded. "But seriously, Meredith, if the triage is too much…"

"I'll stop," she promised. "I won't do anything to hurt Ethan. But I don't want to fall behind in my career either."

"You won't," Derek promised. "Just a month."

"A month is a long time," she sighed as he pulled into the hospital.

"You'll love it," Derek smiled. "Six weeks to play with Ethan all day."

"That will be fun," Meredith said, running a hand over her stomach. "And he can kick all he wants once he's out on his own."

"Still bad?" Derek asked, parking the car and turning to reach for her stomach. "Hey buddy. Calm down a little bit, Mom's got to work now."

"He's always quiet when I'm in surgery," Meredith said as she pulled herself out of the car. "Christina says it's because he's going to be hard core."

"His parents are both surgeons," Derek said. "And he's my son. Of course he's a genius."

Meredith rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure it's the heart monitor," she said. "It calms him down."

"Could be," Derek nodded. "You're sure you're okay to go on a triage? Because if you're not…"

"Derek," Meredith snapped. "If you ask me again I'm naming someone else as Ethan's father."

"Fine," Derek rolled his eyes, unable to stop the smile that spread across his face as he leaned down to kiss her softly. "But you can't do that. You love me too much."

Meredith shook her head, pressing her lips against his again. "Have a good day," she said softly.

"You too," he said. "Page me when you get back, I want to hear how it went. I'm sure you'll do amazing."

"Hopefully," Meredith smiled. "Bye."

"Bye," Derek shook his head, watching her walk slowly towards the elevators before he turned to make his way towards the stairs.

"Dr. Shepherd," he heard a voice say from behind him, and he turned to see Preston Burke smiling at him as he clutched a chart to his chest. "Good morning."

"Dr. Burke," Derek nodded. "How are you this morning?"

"Excellent," Burke nodded, rocking forward slightly on his toes. "I was just wondering if you and Dr. Grey have started to plan your wedding yet."

Derek frowned, but shook his head. "No, we're waiting until after the baby comes and the house is finished. Do mind telling me why you're asking?"

"I asked Christina to marry me last night," Burke smiled. "And I just wanted to make sure that we don't book any of the same plans that you have because that wouldn't look good to anyone at the hospital."

Derek raised his eyebrows and nodded slowly. "Congratulations," he nodded. "And I think that our wedding might be a different…style than yours. You plan, and we'll be sure not to take any of your plans."

Burke nodded slightly. "Thank you." He paused for a moment before he asked, "Has Meredith said anything?"

Derek sighed, beginning to get frustrated with the way Burke was dancing around the topic. "No," he said. "I don't think she knows."

Burke nodded slowly. "I just felt that Christina would have wanted to tell Meredith right away," he said. "I find it a little discerning that she didn't want to."

Derek shrugged as he looked down at his watch. "She probably just wants to keep it to herself for a couple days," he said. "She'll tell Meredith when she's ready."

Burke nodded, but Derek didn't miss the look of concern washing over his colleague's face. Before he could say anything else, however, his pager beeped loudly from his pocket and he reached down to look at it. "I've got to take this," he said. "Congratulations again."

He didn't wait to hear Burke's response and instead turned to head towards the pit without bothering to change into scrubs. Something was wrong, he could feel it, but he had to concentrate on being a doctor right now.

He couldn't think about the feeling that was plaguing his mind.

XXXXX

Meredith couldn't believe this was happening. As she rushed around the ferry boat dock as best she could, people all over the place pleading with her to help and searching for loved ones, she could not believe that this was actually real. From the moment she had gotten out of the ambulance with Bailey and her other fellow interns, she had been unable to believe that something like a ferry boat crash could actually happen.

But here she was, trying her best to ignore her aching back and protesting feet as a small girl trailed behind her, completely silent as Meredith moved from injury to injury. Except her stomach was getting in the way, and she had a feeling that Bailey was very close to sending her back to the hospital to do lab work.

Her body relaxed slightly when she caught sight of Derek walking a gurney over to a waiting ambulance. She wasn't sure when attendings had been called and she knew that there wasn't really any time to talk to him, but she felt comforted by his presence. She would never admit it, but she always felt safer when he was nearby.

"Hey," he said, barely looking at her as he looked down at the head injury she was examining. "How are you?"

"Fine," she said, just as distracted as she turned to look at the shoulder injury beside his patient.

"If this is too much," Derek said, not turning to look at her as she held an IV bag steady, keeping up with him as he moved towards an ambulance.

"Derek," she snapped. "I'm fine."

"Fine," Derek said, but winced as Meredith turned suddenly, her stomach bumping into the side of the gurney and causing the patient to cry out in pain.

"Grey!" Bailey snapped, having witnessed the whole incident. "Go find something to keep yourself busy away from my ambulance."

That was the first time Meredith really and truly hated the fact that she was pregnant. She was supposed to be learning, staying calm on her feet and helping to fix broken people. But she was instead moving slowly towards the outskirts of the tragedy, a lost little girl trailing behind her as she tried to ignore the exhaustion and her baby's kicks of protest at the obvious about of strain that she was putting on her body.

Near the side of the dock she found a man lying in agony, his leg split open and she found her golden opportunity. Setting a badly broken bone wasn't as exciting as treating a brain injury, but at least she would help someone. And she could do this, then rub it in the faces of her stupid fiancé and stupid resident who thought pregnant women were incapable of doing anything.

"Hi there," she sighed, shrugging out of her coat as she knelt beside the man. "I know this is scary, but I'm going to take care of you."

He could only shudder in response, and Meredith inhaled deeply, trying not to let the nausea rising in her stomach to turn into anything. Ethan definitely wasn't happy with her right now. She did her best to crouch down and look at the wound on his leg. A clean break, but she could openly see the bone. It had to be painful, and he was losing blood, slowly but steadily. She had to set the bone and then stop the bleeding before he would bleed out. And it was going to be painful.

"Can you hear me sir?" she asked, snapping on a fresh pair of gloves and leaning over his face. "Your leg is broken, I'm going to have to set it. It's going to hurt, but try to just relax, okay? It will be over in a second."

As she opened her medical kit, she turned to the little girl beside her. She was obviously in shock, her parents having been lost in the shuffle if they were even still alive. And Meredith couldn't help feeling sorry for the little girl. Her maternal instincts were kicking in, and she knew that if something ever happened to her and Derek, God forbid, she would want someone to watch over Ethan and make sure he was okay.

"Close your eyes, sweetheart," she said softly. "I don't want you to see this."

The girl looked at her for a long moment, but then she obediently turned and moved her hands to cover her eyes. Meredith took a deep breath for a moment then gently placed her hands on either side of the man's leg and snapping it back into place.

She didn't realize what had happened until she was already submerged. The pain had caused him to shake uncontrollably, knocking her off of the balcony and into the freezing cold water of the bay. She fought to the surface, but the extra weight of the pregnancy combined with the cold water of the bay, she couldn't seem to find the surface.

As she fought her way towards the top of the water, she thought of nothing besides Derek. No one knew where she had gone, and as much as she didn't want to die, she knew she wouldn't be able to fight much longer.

She could feel Ethan moving inside of her, kicking like crazy from what was probably a lack of oxygen. And the last thing she saw before she drifted off into unconsciousness was Derek's form lingering over the water.

And then there was darkness.

Please don't hate me! I promise I will fix this. Trust me.