There was a collective gasp of shock from the group of doctors and nurses in the crowd. Meredith felt Derek stiffen but she didn't dare speak or move until Ryan was gone, mumbling under his breath as he walked out. The crowd parted to make way for him, their heads turning as they watched him exit the hospital doors. As soon as he was out of sight, they turned their heads as if in a trance to stare with peaked interest at the couple standing before them, her arms still embracing him. Slowly moving her head to one side, Meredith glanced past Derek's shoulder and winced when she saw that everyone stood rooted to their spot, waiting with bated breath to see what would happen next.

"You lo—,"

"Do not utter another word!" she hissed, her voice low and demanding. "Your office. Now!"

"You're being bossy. I like it," he teased, a wicked glint in his eyes as he moved to wrap his arms around her waist, pulling her closer to him. He was either oblivious to the crowd of people still milling around or he didn't care, but either way Meredith had to stop it before she let herself succumb to him. His fingers were wreaking havoc on her nerves as they gently stroked her bare midriff that was left exposed just above the waistline of her pants.

Summoning up all the strength she had, she yanked herself out of his hold and slapped him. "Whoa…," she gasped, running her hands through her hair as if by doing so, it would ease the numbness from the sting of the slap.

For a second time that afternoon, the crowd let out a collective gasp as the people pushed up on each other to get a closer look. Absently rubbing his red cheek with his hand, he looked at her with a half shocked; half amused look on his face. He could see her open and shut her mouth a couple of times as she struggled to speak. Finally finding her tongue, she said "I…I'm sorry. Did I hurt you?"

"Yes," he said, smiling when she gave a gasp of horror at his unexpected response. "But I deserved it."

"Can we go to your office where it's private and I don't feel so much like a fish in a fishbowl?" she asked, lowering her voice as she nodded her head in the direction of the crowd.

"And ruin the show?" he smirked.

"This is not a show. We are not a show here for their entertainment. If you don't want to talk, I will just—"

"Fine. My office. Now" he responded, placing his hand on the small of her back as he led her out into the hallway. Their eyes never leaving the couple, the crowd parted once again to let them through. Meredith heard a few of the female nurses snicker as she walked by and her back stiffened, prompting Derek to ask "Are you okay?"

"Just get me out of here." Together, they walked down the hallway in complete silence.

"Mer?"

"What?" she snapped, her voice agitated.

"Can you say it again?"

"Say what again?"

"Say that you love me."

"I…," she paused when she saw the satisfied smirk on his face. "I hate you!" she snapped, pulling him inside his office and slamming the door shut. Releasing his arm, she walked to the opposite end of the room and stood with her arms crossed over her heaving chest, fuming with anger. "What the hell was that?" she demanded.

"What was what?" he asked, feigning innocence. The look of mischief dancing in the deep blue of his eyes, his perfectly shaped mouth spreading into a big grin.

"Don't play the innocent with me, because the way you were hitting and choking Ryan, you were anything but innocent."

"He provoked me."

"So? You are a doctor. Doctors are supposed to help save people, not inflict pain…and in a room full of patients no less! I mean, what were you thinking? Were you trying to prove your manhood? Prove who is the better man?" Letting out a bitter laugh, she continued "I'm surprised you didn't whip it out to see who had the bigger penis!"

"Meredith…"

"No! You had no right to do that. Ryan did not deserve any of that. He's the innocent party who unwittingly got dragged into this mess…our mess!"

"You're right," he agreed. "I am a doctor and I should have known better. It was juvenile and beneath me and I'm sorry."

"Well, okay then," she said, a little surprised that he agreed without so much as a fight.

"Is it true?" he asked, looking deep into her eyes searching for the answer. "What he said about the divorce…is it true?"

"I…we…it's…yes," she finally said, lowering her head in shame.

"You're not going to go through with it now, are you?"

"I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You said you love me and you meant it. You did mean it, right?" he asked, sounding unsure.

"I…I don't know," she said, clearly struggling with the decision.

Taking a few short strides, he moved to stand right in front of her. "Meredith, please don't end this. Don't end us. I shouldn't have kissed Dani…I know that. It was stupid and if I could go back, I would change it in a heartbeat. I screwed up and don't deserve your forgiveness but I'm begging you. Please give us a chance." Placing a firm hand under her chin, he lifted her face so he could look into her eyes and said "Please forgive me."

"You hurt me," she said, her voice filled with pain.

"Yes," he agreed, saddened by the pain in her voice. "I'm sorry."

"How will I know it won't happen again? That you're not going to wake up one day and decide that you want to be with her.

"I won't."

"How can I be sure?" she asked her voice quivering as she fought to hold back the tears that threatened to fall. "You two were engaged! That's a huge commitment. You have history together. How am I supposed to compete with that?

"You don't. There's no competition here. There never was. Dani is a part of my past and that's not going to change, but you…you're my future and that is more important to me than anything. But I can't do this alone. If we're going to make it, I need to know you want it as much as I do. So…" he let out a long deep sigh and continued "do you want to be part of my life?"

"If we're going to do this, I need to know I can trust you."

"I'll do whatever you want me to do."

Smiling at his eagerness, she said "I haven't decided what I want yet. But when I do, it's going to be big." She reached for his right hand and turned it over to see that his knuckles were red and slightly swollen. Carefully running her fingers over the red mark, she looked up and asked "On a scale of 1 to 10…how bad is it?"

Feeling excited from the way her gentle fingers were touching his hand, he pouted and said "Eight."

Bending her head so her lips lingered a few millimeters from his hand, she looked up to steal a glance at him and noticed that his eyes had turned a deep smoky blue color as he watched her, transfixed. He let out a soft sigh when her lips touched the first knuckle, kissing it lightly. "And now?"

"Seven," he replied, his voice barely above a whisper as he felt her warm breath brush over the next knuckle.

"How about now?" She kissed it, letting her tongue dart out to trail a wet path from that knuckle to the next before planting another kiss.

"Six," he sighed, his breathing becoming ragged.

Meredith let go of his hand and moved to stand on tiptoe so she could wrap her arms fully around his neck. She leaned in and kissed him tentatively on his lips, looking deep into his eyes. "And now?" she teased, sucking lightly on his lower lip, their eyes never breaking contact.

Wrapping his arms tightly around her slim waist, he expelled a deep ragged sigh and said in a hoarse voice "Five." He lowered his mouth to hers and kissed her lips. "Four" Taking her lower lip into his, he sucked on it until it was swollen and releasing it, he continued with the countdown "Three" Suddenly, Meredith reached up and pulled his hair down so their lips crashed together and in that instant, the floodgates to their desire came bursting open and they deepened the kiss, letting their tongues explore the inner depths of their mouths, moaning softly and urgently as they sought for more. Moving his hand down her back, Derek reached his hand inside her top and began an erotic trail up her bare midriff, moving across her ribcage to cup an aching breast, loving the feel of its weight in his hands. Slowly, he began to massage her breast, increasing the tempo when he heard her moan his name.

They heard a soft knock on the door and quickly pulled apart. Meredith was blushing like a schoolgirl as she tried to adjust her top. He looked at her and waited until she gave him a nod before answering the door.

"Dr. Shepherd." Meredith heard a female voice on the other side of the door. She recognized the voice and knew it belonged to the Chief's secretary. "The Chief wants to see you in his office."

"Tell him I'll be there in 5 minutes. Thank you." He shut the door and turned to look at her. "I wonder what he could possibly want to talk to me about," he said, trying to make a joke when he saw the worried guilt-ridden look on her face.

"It's all my fault," she said, her voice coming out a little shaky. "I'll come with you and explain that it's my fault and you had nothing to do with it."

Smiling at how thoughtful she was being, he looked at her and said "It's going to be tough believing I had nothing to do with it when it was me that had Ryan's neck in a choke hold." He let out a small chuckle.

"It's not funny!" she said, hitting his arm. "I'm serious, Derek. I feel like it's my fault that you're in this mess."

"It's not your fault and stop saying it is. I'm a grown man and I should have had more restraint. I will explain to the Chief and he will either understand or fire me"

"Stop it!" she yelled, cupping her ears with her hands. "I can't let you take the fall for this."

"Meredith. I love you and I love that you want to take the blame but I can handle this. Promise me you won't beat yourself over this. Everything will be okay."

"It will?" she asked, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"It will. Now wipe those tears off your pretty face. I'm going to talk to the Chief and when we finish our shift tonight, you and I are going on our first date."

"Second."

"What?"

"Our second date."

"Ah… I thought the first one was not a real date. As I remember, you went through great pains to convince your friends and me that it wasn't a date."

"Shut up," she said, smiling at him as she wiped her tears away. "You're late and you don't want to piss the Chief off more than he is already."

"I'll just tell him I have a demanding, bossy wife that wouldn't let me leave. I'm sure he can empathize with me," he winked and leaned down to plant a swift kiss on her lips before walking out the door.