"Seriously, Derek?"
Derek swore and sat up straight, raking a nervous hand through his hair. His wife towered over him, wearing her stupid pink neonatal scrubs and clutching binders full of patient records. "There are on call rooms for a reason, you know," she mused.
"I know," Derek grunted as he stretched out his stiff shoulders. Addison frowned and sat down beside him.
"I heard about Meredith," she began slowly.
Derek forced the corners of his lips to turn upwards. "I'm sure she'll be fine."
"Oh, really. And that's why you're camped out in front of the trauma wing?"
Derek shrugged, eager for a subject change. "How's Dr. Bailey?" he inquired innocently. "Boy or a girl?"
"Boy," Addison replied, still looking slightly unsure of herself. "First name Tucker, middle name George."
Derek scoffed. "As in O'Malley? The puppy dog intern?"
Addison nodded. "He helped deliver him. Sat by her the whole time. She was- you know- nervous." She tilted her head slightly to the side. "How is Tucker?"
"Stable," Derek answered shortly. Staring down at his hands, he wondered when the conversations he was able to have with his wife had become limited to medical banter.
Just then the chief rounded the corner, still clad in surgical scrubs and looking harassed. Derek didn't miss his momentary surprise as he registered that Addison was with him. " I thought you might still be out here," he said slowly, glancing cautiously between them. "Dr. Grey is stable."
"That's great," Addison said sharply. Abruptly, she stood, gathering her binders. "I have to check in on Dr. Bailey and Tuck. Excuse me, sir." With that, she brushed past Dr. Webber and clicked off down the hallway.
Derek exhaled loudly. The chief pretended not to notice. "The surgery went smoothly for the most part. There was a ruptured artery, but Dr. Burke took care of it."
Derek winced. "Did she-"
"Dr. Burke took care of it," the chief said firmly.
"Right." Derek stared down at the speckled linoleum. "Thanks, chief."
Dr. Webber stepped forward and squeezed his shoulder. "I am passing this confidential information from the chief to attending," he muttered lowly. "And for no other reason." With that, he headed off to the cardiac ward.
Just when Derek was starting to believe he might be able to snatch another moment's peace, Cristina Yang came trampling down the hall. A few specks of blood dotted the front of her surgical scrubs and stray pieces of curly brown hair strayed from her braid.
"Meredith-" she heaved breathlessly. "What did the chief say about Meredith?"
"He said she's stable," Derek said, baffled.
"Oh, thank god." Cristina sank to her knees. Derek simply stared at her in silence as she caught her breath, gathering herself. "I killed her."
"What?"
"I killed her. She coded and I froze." She said all of this in an emotional rush Derek doubted would exist had she been any less frantic.
"She flatlined?" Derek asked in a small voice.
Cristina nodded. "For a minute thirty. The chief brought her back."
Derek's shoulders hit the back of the bench with a thud. "He brought her back," he repeated dully. If Meredith kept this up, he'd be lying on his own operating table for a stress aneurysm.
"Yeah," Cristina breathed. "Thank god."