Meredith is clutching the phone to her chest, desperately hoping Derek is going to call, when she sees Police lights come into her drive way. She opens the door to two police officers with sullen faces.
She walks into the hospital room and Derek turns to look at her.
"Hey" he says with a sleepy voice. Meredith smiles as she walks in the room. "What did you do" she asks with a slight mocking tone in her voice. "I did what I always do…except I almost killed myself doing it." She shakes her head at him a little; "don't make jokes I was scared." "Don't be scared, I'm not going anywhere" Derek says as he reaches up to hold Meredith's hand. "Come here" he says and Meredith slides into the hospital bed, resting her head and her hand on his chest so she can hear his heart beat. "I'm right here" he says as he rubs her back to comfort her. He can tell that she had been worrying a lot more than she was willing to admit. Meredith smiles and closes her eyes knowing that just for a few moments all her fears and worries can slip away and she can just be with her husband.
A few minutes later a nurse walks in with forms for Meredith to fill out and she gets up out of Derek's hospital bed. "I'll be right back" she whispers to him as she kisses him on the head. "We need you to fill out his insurance forms and the medical bill forms as well as all the patient history information." "Of course. Is there any way he can be transported to Grey Sloan Memorial soon? We are both surgeons there and I would feel more comfortable if he was being treated there." "I'll have his doctor come talk to you but his stats are looking good so it shouldn't be a problem." Meredith walks back into the front lobby where she left her kids with the social worker. Bailey is asleep in his stroller and Zola is still clutching the purple balloon in her hand as she sits next to the social worker. "Mama is daddy going to be okay?" "Yes sweetie he is going to be just fine" Meredith replies with a smile. She sits down next to Zola and starts filling out the forms the nurse handed her. She drops them off on her way back to Derek's room but is stopped from going in by an older doctor. "Hello Mrs. Shepherd I'm Dr. Cohn I preformed the craniotomy on your husband. His stats are stable and he is awake and responsive which are all good signs." "Its Dr. Grey and yes I can see that. I would like for him to be moved to Grey Sloan Memorial as soon as possible." "My apologies Dr. Grey, I have admired your mothers work for years." She gives him a flat smile but still has a look of frustration plastered across her face. "I believe he is stable enough to be transported, I will go find out if there is a helicopter available." "Thank you."
"How are you feeling?" Meredith asks when she notices Derek starting to wake up. "Like I got hit by a semi." "I thought we agreed no jokes" she says back with a little smile on her face. "Sorry dear" Derek responds to placate his wife. "Your stats are stable enough and they can control your pain with medication so we are transporting you to Grey Sloan. The helicopter should be here in a few minutes." Derek nods in understanding. "Where are the kids?" "They're in the waiting room with a social worker. Last time I checked Bailey was sleeping but Zola seems determined to see you for herself." Derek looks a little surprised but smiles and asks if she can come in. A few moments later Meredith walks in with Zola and Bailey in the stroller. "Daddy" Zola cries! "Hi Zozo!" "Daddy do you have a booboo? Mommy's a surgeon can she fix it?" "Sweetie they already fixed my booboo!" Derek and Meredith lock eyes and share a look, knowing the Zola was extremely intelligent for her age but there is no way they were going to tell her that he daddy almost died. "Oh good. Does that mean you are going to be home again?" "Of course Zozo. And I'm never leaving again."
A young resident named Dr. Blake walks into Derek's room. "Sorry to interrupt but the helicopter is here and I need to prep Dr. Shepherd for transport. "Okay Zola say bye bye to daddy!" "Bye bye I wove you!" Zola gives Derek a kiss and hops off the bed. Meredith gives Derek a quick kiss and says "I'll come check on you as soon as I get the kids home." Derek just nods in understanding, the drugs being used to control his pain keeping him pretty sedated.
After about 10 minutes in the car Meredith notices that Zola has gone back to sleep and decides it's a good time to fill people in on the situation. The first person she calls is Amelia to let her know Derek is being transported. "Hey Mer did Derek ever get in contact with you?" "Yeah he did." There's a long pause as Meredith is unsure of how to let Amelia know her brother almost died a few hours ago. "Meredith what's wrong did something happen?" "Derek is going to be okay, but he was hit by a semi." "Omg why didn't you call me sooner how do you know he's going to be okay?" "I just left Dillard Medical Center, this crappy little hospital with no trauma center in the middle of freaking nowhere. I haven't had a minute to call anyone until now because Derek is being transported to Grey Sloan. He had a craniotomy and his stats are great and he's awake and responsive." "Okay, I'll have a room setup so I can do a neuro exam as soon as he gets here." "Great" Meredith replies in a short, annoyed voice. "Meredith I'm sorry I didn't mean to.." "Yeah whatever Amy it's fine I'll see you when I get to the hospital." Meredith hung up the phone, deciding she couldn't handle being sympathetic with Amelia when she was about to fall apart herself. She then called Maggie and asked her to meet her in the lobby so that she could take the kids upstairs to daycare while Meredith went up to see Derek. Meredith was almost to the hospital before she realized she should call Derek's mother to inform her of the situation, but decided that that phone call would take a while and she would do it after she has seen Derek.
Meredith quickly walks over to the nurses station and a nurse points her in the direction of Derek's room, knowing what she was going to ask. Meredith stops outside the door as she watches Amelia, Hunt, Webber, Bailey, and Edwards perform numerous exams and discuss his Cts. Meredith waits outside the door until they are ready to inform her of Derek's condition.
Bailey walks out of the room first and spots Meredith staring into the room. Bailey grabs Meredith's hand and forces her to look away from Derek. "So far his labs are clean, his stats are holding stable, and his exams aren't showing any sign of damage. He's incredibly lucky Grey." "I know" Meredith replies with a shaky voice and turns back to watch Derek. "See, didn't I tell you not to freak out." Bailey says after a few moments in an effort to consoler Meredith. She turns back to look at Dr. Bailey with bloodshot eyes and tears threatening to spill out. "My husband almost died tonight. I almost lost him forever. Again." "I know" Bailey replies, knowing there isn't much she can say to make Meredith feel better. She takes her hand and rubs her knuckles trying to give Meredith some comfort in the face of all her fears.
Webber, Amelia, Hunt, and Edwards walk out of Derek's room towards Meredith and Bailey. They all have smiles on their faces which immediately calms Meredith down a little.
"He is going to be okay Meredith" Hunt says. Meredith just looks at him and nods. "Really Meredith you can stop worrying know" Webber says. Meredith cracks a small smile and just nods again. "I'm going to make a few phone calls" she says. "Page me if anything happens." "Of course" Bailey replies. Meredith and Amelia walk away from the little gathering at the same time and Owen turns to follow Amelia. "Are you okay?" he asks as he grabs Amelia's arm. "Yes. No. I don't know." Amelia looks up at him sadly. She sighs, "I'm so mad at Meredith for not calling me sooner because I was just as worried as she was all day and she waited so long to tell me. I'm trying not to be mad at her but I just can't." "It's okay to feel mad at her but you have to think of what it must have been like to be her. You've seen how upset and shaken up she looks, imagine getting that call that your husband is in the hospital and then finding out he almost died. I'm sure she called you as soon as she had a free minute."
Meredith pulls her cell phone out of her purse and calls Mrs. Shepherd. It's very early in the morning but she picks up anyway, knowing it must be important. "Meredith are you alright, has something happened?" Meredith can hear the panic and worry in Mrs. Shepherds voice because Meredith so rarely calls Derek's mother from her cell phone. The last time she had Derek had been shot. "Derek is going to be okay but he was hit by a truck." Meredith spends the next 20 minutes filling Mrs. Shepherd in on everything that the police and doctors have been telling her. "Well I'm glad he's going to be okay but I still feel the need to come out and see him." "Of course I totally understand" "Alright then, I'll get an early flight and see you in a few hours Meredith."
