Surgery

Derek Venturi feels gross. Not dirty, just gross. He's actually probably the cleanest he's ever been in his life. That's what happens when someone cuts you open— they make sure you're as sanitized as you can possibly be to prevent infection.

So, Derek is technically clean, but his pain medication is making him feel woozy and just gross. He needs a shower. But that might prove to be difficult given the very large surgical dressing wrapped around his right leg.

"I think I'd feel so much better if I could shower," Derek whines, walking slowly towards the sofa, sitting down beside his roommate.

It's the summer following his second year at Queens, and because he and his roommate have an apartment together, neither decided to go home for the summer. Their lease is for the year, so it just made sense to stay for the summer. Their parents would come visit soon anyway, once Derek is feeling a little better.

"Can you stand long enough for a shower?" she asks, her bright blue eyes meeting his brown ones as she fixes a pillow underneath his leg. "You're supposed to keep your leg elevated."

Derek shrugs.

"I think so. I'll just have to be quick," Derek replies, frowning. "But I might need help with the sleeve thing, and Megan is working today, so she can't come help."

"Well, I can help you, Derek. I don't mind."

Derek contemplates that for a moment. Something tells him that that would be a bad idea.

"I don't know, Case. I can just wait until Megan can come help me. It's no big deal."

Casey rolls her eyes, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Don't be ridiculous, Derek," she says, standing from the sofa and reaching her hand down to help him stand. "Plus, George told me specifically to take care of you. Helping you take a shower is part of that."

Derek exhales heavily, taking his step-sister's hand and allowing her to help him stand.

"I'll close my eyes if that's what you're worried about," Casey says quietly, walking alongside her step-brother toward the bathroom, her arm floating behind him, outstretched, in case he falls.

Derek laughs lightly.

"I'm not embarrassed, Princess. Believe me, I've got nothing to be embarrassed about."

Casey rolls her eyes, but smiles. She's glad that even just three days post-op, Derek is still Derek.

Once inside the bathroom, Derek sits down on the toilet, exhaling heavily, already tired just from walking across the apartment, while Casey fishes through the cabinet for the cast sleeve she bought.

Derek lifts his t-shirt up over his head and drops it to the floor. At least that he can do on his own.

Derek stands slowly, reaching toward the shower to turn it on and let the water warm up.

Casey unfolds the plastic sleeve, lying it on the sink before turning to her step-brother.

Derek's surgeon made it clear that his incisions cannot get wet, hence the plastic sleeve for his leg. Casey has been making sure Derek is following all of his surgeon's instructions. Derek wouldn't ever tell her, but she's been taking really good care of him. Even his girlfriend only checks in once or twice a day by text message. Casey rarely leaves Derek's side. He appreciates that.

"Do you need help with your sweats?" Casey asks, and when Derek nods, she drops to her knees in front of him.

Casey tugs on the waistband of his sweats, dragging them down to his knees. Derek rests a hand on her shoulder to balance himself and steps out of his sweats with his left leg, before sitting back down and letting Casey carefully remove the garment from his right leg.

Casey slides the plastic sleeve over Derek's surgical dressing and makes sure it's secure before helping him stand and get into the shower.

"Thanks, Case," Derek smiles weakly before closing the shower curtain.

Casey sits down on the toilet, gathering up Derek's clothes and tossing them into the hamper.

"Any time, Derek," Casey says back, smiling, although he can't see her. "I'm going to stay in here just in case you need anything."

A few hours later, after Derek has showered and after Casey has helped him get dressed, he hears a knock on the front door.

Casey went to take a nap, so Derek slowly makes his way towards the door, opening it and leaning against the doorframe to give his leg a rest once he gets there.

"Megan," Derek smiles at his fairly new girlfriend, letting her into the apartment and closing the door behind her.

"Hey, D," Megan says, striding past him and dropping down onto the sofa, kicking her feet up onto the coffee table.

Casey would hate that. And Megan hates Casey, so she probably did it on purpose.

Derek heads over to the living room, sitting on the opposite side of the sofa from Megan, attempting to stretch his leg out and elevate it like Casey told him to do.

"Did you shower?" Megan asks, remembering Derek mentioning to her that he hoped a shower would help him feel better and noticing his still-damp hair.

Derek nods, leaning back against the arm of the sofa.

"You could've called me, I would've helped. You can barely stand."

Derek sighs. Well, this is probably going to cause a fight.

"Casey helped me."

Megan's eyes widen and she crosses her arms over her chest.

"Do you have a problem with that?" Derek asks, although the answer is obvious.

"Do I have a problem with your female roommate helping you take a shower? Of course I do. You should've called me," Megan hisses, standing from the sofa, her leg bumping Derek's, causing a shock of pain to shoot up his leg.

"Oh, come on, Meg," Derek groans, looking up at her. "You know it's not like that."

Megan rolls her eyes.

"Actually, no, I don't. You won't tell me anything about her. In two months, I've only met her once. You don't ever talk about her, but you've bailed on multiple dates with me for her. So forgive me for feeling like something is going on that I don't know about."

Derek sighs.

"Casey's just a friend. My best friend. And if you're asking me to choose between you and her, I'll choose her every time."

Casey wakes up with a start. She heard the front door shut and was about to get up and check on Derek when she heard another voice. Megan's voice. Derek's girlfriend's voice.

Casey frowns. Megan hates her. She knows she does.

Casey decides Derek is probably in safe hands with his girlfriend, resigning to stay in her bedroom until Megan leaves, hoping to avoid an argument.

That's when Casey realizes how tense the voices in the living room sound.

Casey sighs.

They're fighting again. And considering Casey hears her name a few times, she assumes this fight is about the same thing Derek and Megan always fight about— her.

Casey wouldn't have a problem trying to be nice to Megan. She's never been a huge fan of any of Derek's girlfriends— yes, even Emily— but she'd try, for him. But Derek keeps the two women far away from each other.

The only time Casey met Megan had been an accident. Derek thought Casey had class, but it had been canceled, so he briefly introduced the two women before ushering Megan back out of the apartment within minutes.

Casey doesn't usually eavesdrop. Especially not to Derek and his girlfriends. But this time, she hears something that both makes her feel happy, and guilty.

"Casey's just a friend. My best friend. And if you're asking me to choose between you and her, I'll choose her every time."

Casey smiles. She'd choose him every time too— without a second thought or a moment's hesitation— she'd choose him.

Hello, friends. So. In the finale one-shot of the "Red-Handed" series ("Up All Night") I asked what y'all wanted to see next. I'm going in order of request. So, this one was requested first, so here it is.

This one-shot was inspired by my recent surgery. I needed help to shower and had one of those big plastic sleeves for my leg to keep it dry. I know this is really only Dasey if you squint, but I promise, the next one-shot will be more blatant Dasey.

Thanks for reading.