Enjoy! :)

Disclaimer: I don't own any of Grey's Anatomy. Not the characters. Not the plot. Not anything. Nor do I own anything to do with the NHL. At all. But it would be pretty cool if I did.

Meredith walked out of the operating room dejectedly. They had been ready to close when the patient's blood pressure bottomed out and he couldn't be revived. Dr Patrick, the attending, said there was nothing they could have done but it still didn't make it any easier.

She leaned heavily against the nurses' station, pouring over the chart for her next patient, she was in desperate need of coffee, her and Derek hadn't slept much the night before and had woken up fairly early. She had left the key for her locker at home, so she had to find some spare scrubs and they felt all itchy. She groaned and thought she must have been delusional when she heard Nurse Rose say, "Is that Derek Shepherd?" And sure enough, it was.

"Hey," his soft voice came from behind her.

She turned to find him holding up a cup of coffee and her locker keys.

"Oh you beautiful man," she moaned in appreciation, taking the keys in her pocket and taking the steaming cup of coffee.

"You're welcome. Although by now I was hoping I'd be more use to you than just eye candy."

She rolled her eyes and pecked his lips quickly. "Well, that does make me feel better," he grinned.

"Thank you," she said quietly. "These scrubs are all itchy and I was going to be uncomfortable for the rest of the day, so thank you."

"I'm glad I could be of service," Derek leant next to her on the desk.

"Where's Aiden?"

"He's in the car, apparently there's a fair that he desperately needs to go to."

She laughed and bent back over her chart.

"Mer," he heard from down the hall. Turning, he saw a confident Asian woman walking purposely towards them. She took the coffee from his girlfriend and sipped it before giving it back. "Burke is an ass," she stated.

"I know," Mer giggled, "you keep telling me."

She made a passive noise and turned her attention to Derek.

"Hey McDeamy."

He was confused, "Hi. Do I know you?"

"No of course not. Well done Mer you got yourself an idiotic one."

Derek's brow furrowed as Meredith defended him, "Come on Cristina, he's never met you and you already have a nickname for him."

"Oh, you're Cristina. I was informed by Aiden that you think ice hockey isn't 'cool'," he said with air quotations, "so I am here to tell you that it is."

"Wow, convincing," Cristina scoffed.

"I said I'd tell you it was, not that I could convince you," he chuckled.

Cristina stared at him, "Ice hockey is for weaklings, surgery is hardcore."

"I can't argue with the surgery part," he saw Meredith smile next to him," but I think you'll find that ice hockey is hardcore, or at least in the world of sport. Name another where you are subjected to being thrown against boards and have some other guy's body weight thrown against you at full force."

She narrowed her eyes, "Fine, ice hockey is hardcore."

"Thank you," he grinned.

"But surgery is still better. I'd like to see you cut open a heart."

"As much as I'm loving this debate, Cristina you literally have surgery in 20 minutes." Meredith interrupted.

"I do. I'll see you suckers later." She walked away. "Cardio is hardcore!" She called over her shoulder.

"That was intense. I've never had to prove that ice hockey is hardcore before."

"That's a word for her," his girlfriend laughed. The sparkle that was brought to her eyes was almost immediately distinguished when she looked over his shoulder. Derek followed her gaze and found an average sized guy with brown hair and beard, he looked kind of European, but Derek couldn't be sure, coming towards them. "I am so sorry," Meredith groaned. Derek looked at her quizzically as she went to stand in front of him, still next to the nurses' desk.

"Hello Dr Grey," the man spoke, "I brought you a cup of coffee," he placed the cup on the desk.

"Thank you, Dr DeLuca, but I already have one."

"Well, I for one know that being a surgeon means that you won't turn away another cup," he smiled.

"Fine," Mer sighed.

"So, I was wondering, Mer," he saw her cringe, "If you wanted to go out with me tonight?"

Derek tensed behind her, moving a hand onto the desk, almost trying to protect her.

"As I've told you before DeLuca, I have a boyfriend. Who is currently standing directly behind me."

Derek smiled tightly at this other man and moved his hand to Meredith's waist. DeLuca turned his attention to the other man who he had completely dismissed earlier, focusing only on Dr Grey. He looked up and his jaw dropped. "You, you're dating Derek Shepherd?!"

"I am," she grinned, leaning back into his chest. "But DeLuca, it shouldn't make a difference, I'm still taken."

He cleared his throat, "Right, I'm sorry for wasting your time Dr Grey," and he walked away quickly. Meredith sighed again, "I'm sorry you had to see that. He just keeps asking and he doesn't get it. Maybe now he'll stop."

"You could've told me," he said gently.

"Oh yeah and what would you have done? Go and tell him to stop? You don't even know who he is."

"Well okay, but, I don't know, you don't have to do it by yourself."

"Thank you," she smiled softly at him. She put her arms around his neck and kissed him. "I know I haven't known you long, I've known you for... what? Two months? And a half?"

"Yeah, about that."

"But you are amazing." She hugged him tightly.

He squeezed her back, "So are you."

He pulled back slightly, "Can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

He looked straight into her eyes, "Do you hate it when I call you Mer? Cause you cringed when that guy said it earlier."

"No, I love it when you call me Mer. It sounds so right coming from you. He does it and it sounds forced and awkward. It's always easy and natural with you."

"Oh, good," he grinned, "Well then Mer, will you do me the honour of going out tomorrow night?"

"Why Derek, of course. I would love to," she giggled.

"Good. Now I've got to take Aiden to this fair, so I'll see you later?"

"Yeah, I should get back home around six."

They said goodbye and Derek walked back down the halls towards the exit. He reached the OBGYN floor and spotted Nancy coming out of a patient room.

"Nancy?" He called.

"Derek?" She turned.

"Hey, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here for a consult from Mercy West. Why are you here?"

"Oh," he grinned, "I came to see my girlfriend."

"The neuro resident? She's your girlfriend now?"

"She is. It's still pretty new, we've only been on one date, but we spend most of our time together, and with Aiden, her son."

"That's great Derek. Is that why you weren't at Sunday dinner the other day?"

He nodded, still beaming.

"I wondered why Mom seemed so happy that you weren't there. It all makes sense now. And does this mean I'm the first to know?"

"Yeah, I guess you are."

"Oh Amelia is not going to be pleased," she laughed.

"Damn it... Oh well, she'll have to deal with it, I'm happy. Not even Amelia can bring me down from that. I'll see you on Sunday Nance, I've got to go and take Aiden to a fair he's dying to go to."

"Bye Der, and I'm happy for you," she said sincerely.

"Thanks Nancy," he called, and rounded a corner.

Him and Aiden spent the day at the fair and they arrived back home with his arms full of stuffed toys and various fairground prizes.

xxxxx

A month past and the Flyers proceeded past the first and second round, they had just beaten the Islanders 4-3. Derek and Meredith spent as much time as they could together, several dates had already been had and they were both loving every minute of it. They had known each other for around four months and Derek started staying longer into the night, with the exception of training and match days. But now, Meredith was at the hospital while Aiden was at home and watching the first TBL vs PHI game which Derek was currently playing in.

She sighed when she saw 911 to the pit, being the neuro resident, she often got called.

She got to the ER pulling on a trauma gown as the ambulance drew up. "What do we have?" She asked as the door opened.

"Male, 27, suspected head injury after blunt force trauma to skull. Patient name..."

Meredith didn't hear the rest of what the paramedic said when she saw Derek being lifted out of the ambulance. The colour drained from her face and her hands started to shake. Derek was on the stretcher, his face pale, eyes closed and forcing raspy breaths. He looked ghostly. This wasn't her Derek; this wasn't the Derek she knew and... and loved. She loved him. They had only been dating him for a month but had known him for so much longer, and she loved him. God, she loved him. And he was currently unconscious on a gurney. She couldn't breathe, she was only taking in raspy breaths and her hand clawed at her chest.

She backed away as he was wheeled through, Dr Patrick was already inspecting him and all she could do was stand there.

"Grey. Grey?" She heard but couldn't focus until she was shaken by Dr Bailey.

"Go and sit in the waiting room, I don't want you on this case."

"But, how do you know?"

"I'm the Nazi, I know everything, now go," she shooed her out of the exam room.

She hadn't been sitting long when Dr Patrick came up to her.

"He didn't need surgery." Relief washed over her.

"He has a severe concussion from sliding full force into the boards after being pushed. Thankfully the helmet prevented further injury, but I need him to rest for at least 3 days before he gets back on the ice."

"He will, he will. He definitely will," she nodded agreeing.

"Good. He's resting in room 2405, he's still unconscious but I expect him to be awake soon. I'll keep him for observation just to be safe but then you can take him home."

"Thank you," she breathed, and walked in a daze to his room. He was fine. He didn't need surgery. It was just a concussion. She could deal with that. She would thank God it wasn't anything worse if she believed in that sort of thing.

Her phone rang before she could get there, and she looked down to see the house number. Her breath caught when she realised that Aiden had watched it happen, "Hello?"

"Mom," Aiden's teary voice came over the phone, "What happened to Derek?"

"He's okay sweetie, he just has a bad concussion, he'll be better soon."

"But, but, he has to be okay now, I want him to be okay now," Aiden started sobbing. Meredith's heart broke in half as she tried to console him, "It's okay sweetie, he really is fine, it'll just take him a few days to be completely better."

"Just a few days?" He asked timidly.

"Yeah, just a few days. You can come to the hospital now if you want, Derek's just resting."

"Yeah, yeah, I'll tell Jessie." Jessie was the babysitter; she was a good person so she would have no trouble with bringing Aiden.

She hung up and found Derek's room, breathing a sigh of relief. Only his BP was really being monitored and the colour was returning to his stubbled cheeks. It really wasn't as bad as she'd originally thought. Ice hockey was brutal, she knew that, but it had never really occurred to her that Derek could get hurt. She sat at his bedside and grasped his hand tightly. She held on for dear life and before long Aiden and Jessie had arrived. Jessie excused herself and Aiden sat quiet with Meredith until Lexie came in, "I have some time Meredith, do you want anything?"

She shook her head mutely.

"Aiden, do you want something?"

"Can I have some hula hoops?"

"Sure, come on, leave Derek to rest for a bit." They both left and Meredith was left with her thoughts again.

xxxxx

It was past 10:00 when Derek moved. His mind was swimming, and he couldn't get clear focus, but he felt the warm hand around his. He squeezed it with the energy he had left and felt Meredith leap to her feet, squeezing it back.

"Oh Derek," she stroked his hair, "you're awake, you're awake." She then kissed his forehead and kept running her fingers through his hair. He groaned slightly and forced his eyes open and found Meredith coming into focus. The tears in her eyes made his chest hurt but he saw the love behind them that he felt every day when he looked at her. "Mer," he whispered.

"Hey," she said softly, shock still present in her voice, "you're okay. You're okay. The doctor said you went headfirst into the boards and you have a severe concussion, but you'll be okay in a few days," she reassured him.

He tried to nod but winced at the pain, "Good," he rasped. Meredith reached for the water and he took it carefully. Once he was more restored, he fixed his gaze to her and smiled, "I'm okay Mer. It was a brutal hit, but I'll be fine, I've had worse."

"I know, I just. I know ice hockey is brutal and people get hurt..."

"But you never expected it to be me," he finished for her.

She shook her head and another silent tear fell down her cheek.

"Oh Mer, come here," he opened his arms wide and she crawled into them. He held her close in his hospital bed and pressed a soft kiss to her head.

"I know you're okay Derek," she grasped at his shirt, "I know you are. But you scared me, you really scared me and when I saw you carried out of that ambulance..."

"You were there?" He asked in surprise.

She nodded.

"Oh, Meredith I'm sorry. I never would've wanted you to see that, ever."

"I know, but I was paged, they didn't know. But there's a reason why they don't let people treat the people they love, I was completely panicked Der," she sniffled.

"People they love?" His voice cracked.

"Oh," she looked up at him, straight into his ocean blue eyes, "I love you Derek."

His heart swelled and he felt his cheeks hurt as a wide grin set on his face, forgetting about the pain he had been in and replied, "I love you too Meredith." Before he kissed her with everything he had.

"I love you, I love you Derek, so so much," she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"I love you so much too Mer," he whispered into her hair. They stayed cocooned in their embrace until they both fell asleep, relaxing to each other's regular breathing.

A/N: So Derek's in the hospital. I wonder if a certain overprotective family member will come by to check on him. :)