Chapter 7: A Friend in Need

A/N: I am so very sorry about the delay. I knew where I wanted to go, but it took me a while to work though the plot. Next chapter will be up soon. Please let me know what you think.

Meredith watched as the image of Derek's office faded, and one of Miranda Bailey came into focus. Standing at the nurse's station, Bailey was deep in thought, thinking through a treatment plan. She did not want to treat this patient. She wanted to go home and spend the evening with her son. But she put on her big girl panties and with an exhausted sigh, she opened the door to Joe's bar. Her new patient, Derek Shephard, was at one end of the bar staring into his glass of scotch.

"You are so stupid," she said as she hit his arm and grabbed the stool next to him.

"What?" he exclaimed, surprised and pulled out of his deep thoughts.

"When are you going to stop moping and realize what you have?" she asked as she motioned to the bartender and mouthed "white wine."

Derek barely looked at her, eyes darting around his scotch for what seemed like an eternity. Miranda's eyes were directly at where she would meet his eyes. Finally, he resigned and asked, "Why are you here?"

"Look, if you think that I'd rather be here than at home with my child, you are crazier than I thought. I am just tired of watching you sulk around the hospital. You've got the hair," she moved her hand back and forth in front of his face, "You've got the eyes, and when you lean against the nurse's station, the nurses swoon." Her hand moved to her hip, and she continued "Yes, I said swoon. And you don't see it. When you are not with a patient, you look like someone just killed your dog. I know that nonsense with Addison was bad, but you weren't in love with her. Everyone at the hospital could see that. And it's been months, so what the hell is going on with you?"

Derek shrugged, glancing at Miranda's questioning face. "I don't know, Miranda. When I came out to Seattle, I hoped I would find myself again. That the hurt and betrayal from New York would slip away. I didn't know if I could make it with Addison, but I was trying. And then what happens," Derek said as he raised on hand in resignation before he plopped it back on the bar. "Mark shows up and sleeps with my wife. . .. again." Miranda hesitantly patted his arm. He continued, "I'm not dwelling on them anymore. I love my job and the excitement of the hospital, but something is missing, and I don't know what it is."

"So, what do you do when you're not working," she asked softly suddenly feeling sympathy for Derek.

He smirked and rolled his eyes. He stayed at the hospital as much as he could, he thought but said nothing.

"OK, OK," she continued, "You're here. Do you come here often? And don't think for a moment that I'm trying to pick you up. You are enough of a headache when we're working."

Derek shrugged again, "I was supposed to meet Burke for a game of darts, but at the last minute, he got paged for a consult."

Miranda looked around the bar with a purpose, then spotted what she was looking for. "See that girl over there," she pointed to the girl at the end of the bar. Her dark hair framed her doe eyes and translucent skin. "Name's Rose. She's one of the scrub nurses, and she's been eyeing you all night. Why don't you buy her a drink?"

He scrunched his nose slightly as he shook his head no. "Miranda, really? She works with us?"

Exasperated, Miranda hit him on the back of his head. "You fool, she was in the OR with us today. And she was making googly eyes at you."

Derek got serious and shook his head, "She is not going to solve my problems. I am missing something. I feel like half of my heart is. . .. I don't know. . .. at the bottom of Elliot Bay."

Meredith stood up, staring at the image of Derek, her hand reaching up to try and touch his face. "He's looking for me," she whispered to Mr. Clarence.

Derek sighed heavily and looked directly into Miranda's kind and questioning eyes. "On my days off, I ride the ferry back and forth. I stare at the water." He stopped, shrugged his shoulders and sighed again. "That girl is lovely," he said, gesturing toward Rose, "but she's not for me."

For once, Miranda didn't know how to cure her patient. "Want to come to dinner?" she asked quietly. "I'm making fish sticks for Tuck."

Derek laughed. "I'll pass this time. But I'm holding out for Mac and Cheese."

The scene above Meredith's head changed to hospital. Derek was running to the pit, and Dr. Burke caught up with him. "Shepherd," Chief Preston Burke said smugly, "I need you to go the accident scene. Assess the closed head injuries and bring them back alive." He loved being Shepherd's boss.

Derek was seething. He was promised the Chief position. But he put on a fake smile and headed out.

Suddenly all the images disappeared. Mr. Clarence vanished, and Meredith was alone. She looked out and watched as the rig carrying the interns stop, and she watched everyone, except her, pile out. She saw a sight that was chaotic with fire fighters, EMT's and rescuers running through the crowd. She saw bodies – bodies shrouded in Red Cross blankets, bodies on gurneys and bodies in body bags. She could hear helicopters, sirens, shouting and crying. Meredith took a deep breath and smelled diesel, sweat and fear. She was watching what she had just experienced. She didn't know what to think and she started to panic. Her breath was fast and raspy, but her attention was immediately was captured by a dark haired, blue eyed surgeon.

Derek ran over to a gurney and examined a woman. He bandaged the patient, tagged her, and told the woman that she was going to the hospital and that she would be OK. As he prepared to move on to the next patient, Derek felt someone tug on his jacket. He turned around and saw a little blonde girl in braids. "Is this your mommy?" Derek said, pointed to the gurney.

The girl nodded no.

"OK," Derek said as he took the girl by the hand. "What's your name?"

The little girl was frightened and stared up at Derek with her big brown eyes.

"It's OK," Derek said as he patted the girl on the back. "I know you're scared. Let's get someone who can help you find your mom."

The little girl wrapped her arms around Derek's leg. "It's all right. But I have to work, so we need to find someone to help you," Derek said as he peeled the girl away from him. He took the little girl by the hand and approached a search and rescue worker. "Can you help this little girl find her mom?" he asked hurriedly as his eyes focused on a patient in distress on the at the edge of the water. The man was flailing, rolling on the ground trying to get up.

As Derek ran over to him, he dropped his medical bag. He saw that the man had a piece of metal in his leg. "I need to go. I have a meeting." The man panicked. "This really hurts," the man cried as he pulled the metal from his leg, blood gushing from the wound. Derek knelt next to him, trying to get him to lay back down. "You need to stay here and let me examine you," he said. The man was wearing a suit and clutched his briefcase. The lanyard around his neck said his name was Jim Clarence. Above his name was his picture and below it said, 'Information Technology.' The metal left a nasty gash on his leg and Derek knew that the leg needed his attention before the man bled out.

"Derek," Meredith shouted pounding on the inside of the structure trying to get his attention, "don't go there. Look after some other patient. This one is crazy or something. He'll put you in a snow globe. Derek, please."

Derek could not hear her. He pressed down on Mr. Clarence's leg to try and stop the bleeding. He also tried a tourniquet, but the blood kept coming. He was too far away to grab his medical bag, and he could not take his hands off the cut. He looked up to call for help, and he saw the little girl standing there. "OK, I need your help. We have to work together to save him." He could sense the girl's hesitation. "I really need you to be brave," he continued, and he gave the little girl his best McDreamy smile. "Look at me, he said, "don't look down at the blood." He asked the girl to go to his bag and bring him "a tweezer shaped thing." He tied off the artery, and the bleeding stopped.

The little girl started to cry. "It's OK," Derek said as he tried to console the girl. "This is scary. Sometimes people don't talk when scary things happen." He remembered all the nights he spent at the trailer, lunches alone in the cafeteria or locked in his office; the ferry boat trips where he couldn't say a word to anyone. Maybe Miranda was right. Maybe he needed someone in his life. Sighing, Derek began to clean up his supplies and the man on the ground tried to get up once again. He was shivering and Derek laid his coat over him. As Derek stood up, Mr. Clarence hit Derek's leg with enough momentum that Derek was pushed into the water.

As she watched the scene with Derek unfold, Meredith screamed, "No!" when he fell into the water. She panicked, and knew she had to get out of this structure and get help for Derek. She remembered a night at the trailer shortly after Addison showed up. "You were like coming up for fresh air," he said to her. "It's like I was drowning, and you saved me."

"He was drowning, and I saved him," she shouted. "He was drowning, and I saved him," she repeated as the significance of these words became apparent to her. Meredith kept pounding on the walls of the structure, but she couldn't find a way out. "He's drowning, and I need to save him." It became Meredith's battle cry. She ran to the far side of the structure and propelled herself forward. With all her might, she broke through, ran to the water and jumped in, looking for Derek. "I'm coming Derek," she called.