Chapter 66: Aftermath of the Surgery

"Has he woken up yet?" Bailey asked as she walked up to the nurses station outside of Derek's room.

"No," answered Cristina with a huff as she shut the medical journal she'd been studying for an upcoming surgery. "It's been ten hours since he came out of surgery and Meredith hasn't left him for more than a trip to the bathroom."

"Ten hours is a bit long but nothing to worry about yet. Especially considering the complications that occurred during the surgery."

"Yeah, Grey - Lexie," Cristina clarified, "Told me they were calling time-of-death when she walked into the O.R. She said she flipped out and started yelling at the Chief and Lexington to keep trying with Derek. Lexie's worried about being written up for insubordinate behavior."

Bailey sighed and rubbed her tired eyes. Then she said to Cristina, "I shouldn't have sent her in that operating room. She's family and had no business in there. Tell her not to worry about any negative repercussions. I'm certain the Chief will take the bigger picture into consideration."

"Dr. Bailey?"

"Yes, Yang?" Bailey turned back to her after starting to walk away.

"I'm glad you sent Lexie in to check on Derek's surgery. I'm not positive anyone not close to Derek and Meredith would have pushed the Chief and Livingston to continue."

Bailey just stared at Cristina for several silent moments. Then, with a slight crack in her voice, she said. "Good point, Yang. Thank you."

Cristina smiled as Bailey walked away. Then she glanced toward Derek's room again and her smile faded. Cristina thought that he'd better wake his ass up soon. If he didn't, she was going to hurt him just for putting her friend through so much hell.


Meredith looked up as she heard footsteps entering Derek's room. She tried to smile at Cristina but found that she just couldn't. "Hi," she whispered hoarsely instead.

"Hi," Cristina answered and set a bottle of water, a turkey and cheese sandwich and an apple on the little side table near Meredith.

Meredith glanced at the food and water then back to Cristina. "Thanks," she said, "I'm just not hungry."

Cristina pulled a chair up next to Meredith's. Then, very calmly, she said, "You put some of the crappy cafeteria food into your mouth and feed that kid you're growing. If you don't, I'll strap your skinny ass to a bed and hook you up to an I.V."

Meredith just stared at Cristina and blinked. Then she started giggling and after a few moments the giggles became slightly hysterical sounding.

"Don't," Cristina whispered.

"Don't what?" Meredith asked as her hysterical laughing turned to heart wrenching sobs.

"Don't cry, please," Cristina said even though it was much too late for her plea.

Meredith got up and walked into the hallway. When Derek woke up - she didn't want to be in the middle of losing control. Cristina followed her and grabbed her hand in a show of support but didn't say anything. After a short while Meredith pulled herself together and whispered, "Derek died today."

"He's still here Mer," Cristina said, squeezing her friend's hand.

"Cristina, my sister said they were calling his time of death when she walked into the O.R. My husband," she rubbed her belly with her free hand, "my son's father died today. The reality is - I'll lose Derek someday and that scares me shitless."

"The reality is," Cristina stated emphatically, "that by some kind of miracle your husband," she reached out and - surprisingly - rubbed Mer's belly, "and this little guy's Daddy lived today."

"Cristina -"

"He will die someday," Cristina continued, ignoring Meredith's interruption. "You two are so disgusting about one another that you'll probably die together at 110 years old - wrapped in each other's arms. So, don't dwell on what almost happened today and be thankful that you get tomorrow."

"You're going to make me cry again," Meredith whispered.

"Don't you dare," Cristina snapped and made Meredith giggle.

"I need to eat the food you brought and check on Derek."

"You do that," Cristina nodded and let go of Meredith's hand. "I have surgery, but I'll be back when I'm done."

"Thank you, Cristina."

"Yeah, whatever," Cristina said as she walked away. The truth was - even though she was hardcore - she was extremely thankful that Meredith and Derek were her friends. She would've been crushed to see anything hurt their growing family. She'd be damned if she'd admit it out loud, but she hoped to find a love like Meredith and Derek's someday.


Derek's head felt heavy and he wanted to wake up, but it seemed like a lot of work to do so at the moment. Maybe he'd just sleep for a while longer, he decided but then he heard her voice whisper 'Hi.' Meredith! He thought about smiling and saying something to her but that seemed difficult, too. Then he heard another voice - Cristina's. Wait, why was Cristina at their house? Derek heard them disagreeing about eating and Cristina asking Meredith not to cry.

Don't cry? He wondered why Cristina would be saying that to Meredith and then he remembered his surgery. And his Dad. Oh crap, he'd died today and now he was having a hard time waking up. Mer, he tried to call out but there was no answer. I'm okay, he wanted to shout, frustrated beyond belief that he wasn't coming out of this. What the hell was going on? Where had Meredith and Cristina gone? He didn't hear them anymore. He knew they weren't there. He felt himself falling back into the deep slumber! NO! He shouted in his own head. He didn't want to sleep anymore. He wanted to see Meredith and kiss her and rub her tummy and talk to Ian. Instead, he was going under again, damn it.


"Hey," Derek heard Meredith whisper. He felt her softly kiss his lips and then stroke his cheek. "Derek, can you wake up now? Please. Even if it's just for a few minutes so I'll know you're all right?"

He felt her lace her fingers with his and then heard her sigh softly. He tried to say something but couldn't because his throat was really dry. He swallowed and then slowly opened his eyes. Derek's heart rate accelerated happily because he was awake, Meredith was there, and he could still see her.

Meredith's head whipped up to the bleeping machines that indicated Derek's change in heart rate. Then she quickly looked at him as he squeezed her fingers with his. "Hi," she said, her own heart going into relieved overdrive.

"Hi Mer," he whispered hoarsely. It was, without a doubt, the most beautiful sound she'd ever heard in her life. He swallowed again and Meredith asked him if he was thirsty. He nodded his head yes and then drank carefully of the water she brought to his lips. Then he swallowed again and said softly, "I can still see you."

"You can?" She asked him as her eyes filled with tears. Derek was awake. He was all right; he was talking to her. If all of that wasn't wonderful enough - he could still see.

"I can," he answered and gave a small grin.

"Let me check you out," Meredith said and started to move away from him for a moment to get what she needed.

"No," Derek said and grabbed her hand again. "Let someone else give me a checkup. You just stay where I can see you."

Meredith laughed and swiped at the tears on her cheeks. "Okay," she agrees and thread her fingers with his again as she sat back in the chair beside his bed. "Will you just tell me a couple of things real fast, though?"

"Always a Doctor," Derek teased.

"True," she nodded, "but more importantly, always your wife."

"True," he echoed, his heart swelling with all of the love he felt for her. "Okay, what do you want to know?"

"Are you feeling any pain?"

"No," he answered.

"Good," Meredith said. "Of course, you are on pain medication, but I want to be sure. How well can you see?"

"Slightly better than before I went into surgery. I'm glad it's so dim in here. I'm not quite ready to find out how my eyes react to the light."

"You're going to find out soon when Webber or Livingston come in to check on you. Is there any remaining blurriness?"

"Yes," Derek answered. "We're going to have twin daughters."

Meredith had been about to ask Derek another question, but his statement so alarmed her that she forgot what she was going to say. Instead, she carefully stated, "No Derek, we're having a son. We named him before you went into surgery. Do you remember that?"

"Oh Mer," he said and tugged her hand until she was leaning close enough for him to kiss her. "I'm sorry I scared you. My brain is functioning fine - I promise. We are having a son this time and we're naming him Ian Christopher."

Meredith released the breath she hadn't been aware of holding and said, "That's right - Ian, our son. Okay, so why the daughters comment?"

Derek went on to tell Meredith about seeing his Dad. About how he'd yelled that he didn't want to leave Meredith and Ian and how his Dad had asked if he was sure. He told her about his Dad telling him they'd have two little girls in a couple of years. "The girls will be identical. One of their middle names will be Ellis after –."

"My Mom," Meredith whispered, clutching Derek's hand tightly with both of hers. "Oh my God," she said and started crying again. "Damn it," she muttered, "I'm tired of crying."

Derek gave a very small chuckle and pulled her to him again - holding her as best as he could from the hospital bed. A few moments later his sister came in and he said, "Hi Kathleen."

"Derek," she said and grinned. Then, "Can you see?"

"Yeah," he replied, still grinning at his sister. Kathleen immediately joined Meredith and cried. "Okay," Derek sighed. "It's definitely time for my checkup. Kath, maybe you could bring David in with you. Or Mark. Just someone with testosterone to help balance out all this crying," he teased.

"Hey," Meredith said around her tears and poked him in the side.

"Jackass," Kathleen mumbled happily as she left the room to go to the nurse's station.

Meredith took a deep breath to calm herself and said, "I love you, Derek."

"I love you too, Meredith."

"Don't ever scare me like this again."

"I won't - I promise," he said and then kissed her. A few moments later Chief Webber came in to check Derek out. He was doing fine and recovering nicely. Mark came in to visit for a few minutes. Derek started showing signs of fatigue and Meredith said everyone had to leave.

"Including you?" Mark asked and Meredith just glared at him.

"Meredith," Derek said, "go home and get some rest. I'm fine now. I'm just going to be sleeping. Plenty of people will be here to monitor me."

She put her hand on her hip and asked sweetly, "Would you leave me to go home?"

"Not the same thing," Derek grumbled.

"It's exactly the same thing. I'm staying, deal with it." Of course, Meredith got her way. Truth be told, Derek didn't really want to be away from her. He felt himself going back to sleep but was quite happy to know that Meredith would be there when he awoke again.