The Aftermath
Summary: A new chapter to "One of Their Own"
Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy is not mine. Sadly, neither is Patrick Dempsey
Pairing: Derek/ Meredith
Forgive me love,
If I cry in your shower
Forgive me love,
For the salt in your bed
So forgive me love
If I cry all afternoon.
-Alanis Morissette
Less than a week after her attack, Meredith Grey had returned to her chaotic schedule as a surgical intern. Everyone at the hospital was pleased that she was back. Everyone kept asking her how she was feeling.
How the hell did they think she felt? She'd been brutally attacked and nearly raped four days ago on her way home from the hospital. Her mother's illness was advancing quickly. She was about to assume responsibility for her mother's estate, funeral expenses, her will and medical care. She didn't know how she was going to handle that. And the only other person she could talk to about her mother was Derek and that was only because she'd been attacked and he'd been trying to reach her family.
Meredith was standing in the busy hallway of the hospital facing the large window. One foot was propped on the railing. She held her cell phone to one ear.
"My checkbook...six-thirty...I'll be there."
She hung up the phone with a heavy sigh just as Derek appeared from the other direction.
He knew from the expression on her face that the phone call had been about her mother. Instead of pressing her for details that he knew would make her uncomfortable, Derek simply looked at her.
"You want to talk about it?" He asked softly.
"We're adults, when did that happen? And how do we make it stop?"
Before Derek could offer so much as a sarcastic reply, Meredith had turned and walked in the opposite direction. He was left wondering what exactly he could do to help her.
Meredith threw herself into work with an intensity even stronger than before. Since her attack Meredith felt that she had to prove herself not only as an intern but also as a strong independent female.
In short, Meredith was falling apart.
But of course she wasn't about to admit that.
It seemed that the only person that wasn't treating her like a china doll was Derek. She respected and cared for him because of it.
But of course she wasn't about to admit that either.
Despite the fact that she was exhausted Meredith stayed at the hospital for hours after her shift doing charts. She told herself that it was because she was busy but the truth was that she was afraid to go home alone. So she sat at the nurses' station doing charts, waiting for either George or Izzy to finish their rounds. She'd make up something about getting some coffee and then going back to the house together.
She was finishing up her last chart, when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She jumped and if she hadn't been in the hospital she probably would have screamed.
"Crap." She replied breathlessly with a hand on her chest.
She didn't have to turn around to know that it was Derek.
"Crap," Derek repeated. "You know this conversation is strangely familiar. What time does your shift end?"
"It ended at nine."
"And you're still here? It's after eleven."
"I had charts and by the way you scared the crap out of me."
Instantly he felt guilty he shouldn't have snuck up on her like that.
"I'm sorry." He said sincerely. "Why don't you let me take you home?"
"Okay."
Without another word she grabbed her bag and coat from under the nurses' station and walked with Derek out to the parking lot.
As they approached her car Meredith rummaged through her bag in search of her keys.
"Damn it!" Her voice rose on frustration and she blinked back tears.
Then she felt the feather light touch of his hand on hers.
"I've got it. Just get in." He said as he took the keys from her and opened her door first before getting in.
Derek drove in silence and Meredith stared out the window as it started to rain.
When they reached the house it was silent. George and Izzy had already gone to bed.
It was understood that Derek would spend the night so without speaking Meredith trudged wearily upstairs to shower.
After flipping through the television channels and pouring Meredith a glass of wine, he followed her upstairs.
He kicked off his shoes and stretched out shirtless on the bed and dozed off. When he awoke, he heard the shower still running.
He got to his feet with the glass of wine in one hand, he knocked on the closed door of the bathroom with the other.
"Meredith?"
He listened for a moment until he realized that the sound that was barely audible over the running water was her muffled sobs.
Derek quietly pushed open the door and entered the bathroom.
She knew Derek was in the bathroom as she stood under the hot spray with tears running down her face. She didn't care that he could see the blurry outline of her naked body through the textured glass of the shower door.
She didn't protest even when he opened the door and turned the shower off.
"Hey, you okay?"
She shook her head and stepped from the shower and let him wrap her effortlessly in a towel.
"I don't know how much longer I can hold it together Derek. Everyone keeps asking and I tell them I'm fine because I just don't know what else to say but..."
"But you're not...not today, but you will be. You're a dedicated and talented doctor. But after what you've been through you've got to cut yourself a break. You came back to work after four days. You're amazing."
"No, I'm not Derek. My mother's Ellis Grey and I'm just trying to fill her shoes."
"Don't try so hard to be her, Meredith. Being her daughter isn't what got you this far."
"How do you know that?"
"When we were operating on the guy with the spinal hematoma, I told you to read and reference your books correctly."
"Yeah."
"And what did you say?"
"My books got me here."
"Exactly."
Derek pressed his face into her wet hair and inhaled deeply and then kissed her just as deeply. "Your hair still smells good."
Finis