-1Cristina placed a hand on Derek's arm hoping to waking him without disturbing Meredith. He turned and looked at her for a moment.
"Go home. Get some sleep." He told her, reaching in his pocket for a key. "Just come back around seven." Cristina nodded, grateful that she'd get to sleep in a real bed, but aggravated that she had more driving to do.
"How is she?" She asked before she left.
"She keeps waking herself up coughing, but she hasn't needed another treatment so that's a good thing. She's still on the iv though."
"She'll probably be on the IV most of the time she's here. Do I need to bring her anything when I come in the morning?"
"Yeah, you'll see everything in her room. You can sleep in the guest room. You're welcome to whatever to eat. If you need to get online you know where the office is."
"Alright D." She said closing the door behind her.
The next morning Cristina made it back to the hospital a few minutes before seven and made her way back to Meredith's room. Meredith was sitting up in bed by herself absentmindedly flicking the remote.
"Where'd your other half go?" Cristina asked.
"To get coffee." She answered.
"I would have brought breakfast, but I wasn't sure if they were letting you have coffee."
"Why wouldn't they let me have coffee?" She asked.
"Because of your tendency to migraines after intense asthma attacks."
"Oh. See this is why I speak French and you're in med school." Meredith laughed ending with a few coughs. "Besides what they know won't hurt them."
"Scoot over sicky." She ordered, sitting down beside her on the bed.
A few minutes later Derek walked in balancing two bags and a tray of Starbucks. "Ah Cristina you're here already. I got you breakfast too." He announced passing everything out.
"Alright. Keep her in line." Derek laughed as he picked up his things. "I'm going to go to home and get ready. I'll try to come back here in between the 11 o'clock service and youth choir. But I don't know what may come up."
"I've got it Derek." Cristina assured him. "After all we're already in the hospital."
Derek shrugged her off and bent down to drop a kiss on Meredith's cheek. Meredith wrinkled her nose and turned away. "No kisses. You've got me all poked up with needles. No kisses." She explained childishly.
"Fine no kisses." He agreed. "I'll have to remember that."
"You can't give up kisses." She challenged.
"I can and I will. Maybe I'll even give up kisses for lent." He said lightly, closing the door behind him.
"Sick, Mer. Sick."
Meredith rolled her eyes and started eating. "Why did he call you down here?" She asked with her face stuffed.
"To babysit. What's the story anyway? How did you get that sick with him watching over you?"
"We fight. I sleep. He does his thing. I do mine. And my thing included a lot of not drinking."
"You're an idiot."
"Perhaps." She shrugged.
"No Mer. You are such an idiot. You could have easily killed yourself. Why the hell would you take xanex when you couldn't breathe anyway!? That is one of the stupidest things I have ever heard. That's how you got so dehydrated, I bet. What did you do, take 'em to sleep? Fuck, Meredith you have got to start thinking. And thinking doesn't include taking meds that knock you on your ass when your lungs are all shitty. Grow up."
"I am grown." Meredith countered. "I have been on my own for quite some time."
"No Meredith. You had an absent mother and you took care of yourself. Now you have Derek taking care of you. You're turning into a spoiled child. You are emotionally dependent on Derek. And God knows he's the same. Honestly, you need to take a step back and look at what the hell you're doing. Since when do you need a babysitter? It isn't healthy, nor is it healthy for Derek to be uncomfortable leaving you by yourself while he goes to work. Before you start bitching that I can leave shut up. If I didn't want to be here I wouldn't be. But you need to understand that it is not necessary to be a baby about everything. You two are starting an unhealthy relationship. I think you both should learn distance. Take some time to be apart. Otherwise it's going to cripple the entire relationship.
Cristina quieted down allowing what she has said to sink in for a moment. Meredith continues to fume at Cristina's outburst as they sat there in silence. She eyed her feet and tugged at her blanket.
"Maybe I have a right to a screwed up relationship?"
"How so?"
"Because I've been unhappy all of my life. I am in love and…"
"You can't tell me you are truly happy. You are happy with Derek, yes, I'll give you that. But real happiness, the good deep lasting kind, only comes from being happy with who you are, finding contentment in yourself. Not in some guy. You still haven't found that out. Derek doesn't make you who you are, you happiness doesn't depend on him. You two are making a pretty good go of it, but he's compensating for you and you're conforming for him. You're happy right now, but I can see this developing to a point where you lose your identity and Derek winds up with another broken heart. That's unacceptable when you can fix this. You need to talk to Derek about this. And maybe you should start going back to your shrink."
"Fine." Meredith sighed. "I'm tired."
"How are you feeling besides that?"
"Achy and sore. But my headache's subsiding."
"Is your chest tight?"
"Not so much. I wanna go home."
"I'm sure you do. And if you're breathing is under control, they may let you go this afternoon, but maybe they'll keep you for a few days. You have a pretty nasty infection in your chest."
"Well I don't need a babysitter."
"No you absolutely don't. But for now you've got one."
Meredith sighed and cracked a smile, paving the way for a lighter note between the girls.
"Who are you dating these days?"
"I don't have time for dating." Cristina replied nonchalantly. "I am a med student. The only people I interact with are dummies and professors. And dummies cover two categories."
"The other med students?" Meredith asked. Cristina nodded. "Who are you dating?" Meredith pressed again.
"Nobody."
"Somebody."
"Nobody."
"Bitch tell me!" Meredith demanded. "C'mon, you have to tell your best friend."
"What I say does NOT leave this room. Not Derek. Not our friends."
Meredith sighed. "Just tell me."
"One of my professors."
"WHAT!? CRISTINA!"
"Shut. Up."
"You aren't serious. Please tell me you aren't serious. Lecturing me about my unhealthy relationships and you're doing your professor."
"There is no doing. Just coffee and talks."
"So far…" Meredith interjected.
"So far." Cristina agreed with an evil grin.
"I cannot believe you. You are ridiculous."
Derek finally returned late in the evening, walking into the room with a smile. Cristina nodded to let him know she was doing better.
"Are you gonna leave me now?" Meredith asked as Cristina gathered her things.
"You bet your ass I am. I have classes tomorrow." She laughed bending down to kiss the top of Meredith's head. "You behave and we'll get together soon." She teased.
"How'd you make you today?" Meredith asked after Cristina left. Derek stood beside her bed watching her closely.
"I didn't." He replied slyly. Meredith rolled her eyes, but smiled at him.
"I really want to go home and they wouldn't let me go today. I didn't have any problems or anything." She sighed and reached her hand out to tug on the hem of his shirt. "Take me home."
He took her hand and pressed a kiss to it. "I can't take you anywhere. You're still all iv'd up."
"Please? I'd be the happiest princess ever." She asked lightly pulling on his hand this time, feeling a pang of guilt at the mention of happiness.
"Nope." He answered. "But I can spend the night here if you'd like."
"Nah. Go home. Go to work tomorrow too."
"I'm not going anywhere yet. I just got here." He laughed. "Scoot over."
She moved over in the bed as he slipped in, rolling over to lay her head on his chest. He wrapped on arm around her and used the other to brush the hair away from her face. He leaned closer to kiss her, but Meredith held up her hand.
"No kisses." She reminded him. "And you can't give them up for Lent if it's half over already."
"Fine I won't give them up then." He countered.
"See you can't give them up."
"I can and I will. Not for Lent, but just because."
"Maybe you should go home."
"Why?"
"Because I wanted kisses and now you don't have any for me."
"Hmmm…" Derek said trying to kiss her.
"No! Noooo!" She shrieked giggling.
Her giggling led to a coughing fit. By the end of it she was wheezing. Her breathing deteriorated after that until Derek got scared and called for a nurse. The nurse walked in a took a look at Meredith struggling to breathe. She flipped her chart open and hurried out of the room. She returned moments later, hooking the tubing up to the wall and sliding a mask over Meredith's face. But Meredith would not have it. She tried to fight the mask. Derek moved to the other side of the bed and took her hands. Trying to talk her down.
"No!" Meredith grunted, trying to pull away. She tried to breathe, but was met with only wheezing. She began to hyperventilate strangely because she couldn't get a deep breath and the wheezing overshadowed it all. Tears leaked out of her eyes and under her mask.
"She's panicking." Derek told the nurse. "Get her something quick please!" He sat her up and slid into bed behind her, still holding her arms. He wrapped himself around her and began to talk softly in her ear. The nurse pushed a needle into the iv, injecting it with something, Derek didn't know what it was, nor did he care.
After she started to calm, Derek grabbed some tissues and pulled the mask away wiping it off before leaving it on her forehead. He gently wiped her face off and told her to blow. He situated the mask back over her nose and rocked her until the treatment was finished, wiping away the tears that were still leaking out of her eyes.
"I think you won yourself another night here." He teased.
"You weren't going to take me home anyway."
Derek shrugged her comment away as she tiredly leaned back against him. He could tell the drugs were starting to take effect. "I'm sorry I did that." Derek whispered into her ear. "I should have known not to rough house when you're in the hospital."
He held her until she was fast asleep. He got out of the bed and made sure she was comfortable. He leaned down to her, not to kiss her, but to smell the top of her head. "I love you." He said before pulling away to leave.