Meredith was running, or at least she was attempting to. Running did not come easily with a knee brace, but she was trying. She was aided by the fact that Joe was at least holding her pursuer off, but she knew that he would break away. She stepped onto the grass at the edge of the hospital parking-lot and grimaced, the grass made it even harder for her to move with any speed.

She heard a yell behind her, and she knew that he was gaining on her. Damn it, she thought desperately, nearly falling off the curb and lunging into the parking-lot. His voice rang in her ears.

'Meredith baby, get a drink with me!' he said, grabbing her arm and steering her towards the bar.

'No. Josh, I don't drink. Not any more.'

'Sure you don't. You expect me to believe that? You're Meredith. Come on, for old time's sake.'

'Let go of me!'

'Oh, what? Too good for me now that you're a surgeon?'

'You know what? Actually, I am too good for you. But not because of my job! Now let me go!'

'Oh, please. You liked it Meredith and you liked all the attention you got. I never really hurt you.'

'You're hurting me now. Joe!'

Joe had come over to see what was happening and Meredith had done what came naturally as soon as she was let go. She had fled, just like she had fled as soon as she could after graduating college. She always claimed that it was to get to her mother as soon as possible, but that was not the real reason, it was because she was getting away from Josh. She was digging herself out.

Blood was rushing in her ears, and all she could hear was the uneven sound of her footsteps as her shoes hit the concrete. She was almost to her car when she finally fell. Her leg twisted underneath her and she threw her hands out to catch herself. As soon as she landed she looked back to see Josh vaulting over the grass median.

She wanted to cry out, but she couldn't catch her breath, it was coming too quickly. Her mind was reeling, going backwards in time to over a year before. She could hear him yelling at her; feel his rough hands against her body. Her vision tunneled to focus only on the man who was getting closer and closer to where she had landed on the pavement.

"Meredith?" a female voice reached her conscious, and she reached out for the person who was kneeling next to her, still unable to speak. "Meredith, what is it?"

"What's going on here?" a male voice. It was him, he had caught up. She shrunk away from the man, clutching at the other person who she could not focus on. It was getting even harder to breathe.

"She's hyperventilating. Meredith? Meredith, can you hear me? Did you fall on your leg? Slow deep breaths, Meredith."

"Meredith? Look at me. Meredith? It's me, I'm not going to hurt you. Meredith, look at me. I need you to calm down, and breathe. Can you do that? Slow deep breaths."

The man moved fully into her line of vision, completely blocking Joe's and the grass median from her sight. His voice was calming, his face was familiar. It was not Josh. It was Derek. Slowly her vision cleared and she could focus. She then concentrated on her breathing, willing her lungs to fill with air. He murmured to her, holding her gaze with his eyes, until she was breathing regularly.

"Okay," he said, calmly. "You're going to be all right, tell us what happened."

It was then that Meredith realized that she was clutching onto Addison's jacket. She let go, her hands sliding to her sides, and looked at Addison, chagrinned. Addison smiled at her, and stood up.

"Are you okay here?" she asked Derek, without really looking at him.

"Yeah. I have her."

"Yes. You do."

"Thank you, Addison," Meredith whispered, and Addison nodded.

Derek sat back on his heels. "We'll have to take you inside to get your knee checked." Meredith nodded, noticing for the first time how badly it was hurting. "But first, can you tell me how you got here?"

"I was running." Meredith said; her voice hoarse.

"From what?" Derek asked, gently, lacing her fingers with his.

"Him," she replied, her voice little more than a whisper, and her throat constricting. "He found me here."

"Who did?"

"Josh."

"Who's Josh, Meredith?"

"He…. He…. He was…. He was my boyfriend before I came out here. He….He…." She could not finish. She had never said it aloud.

"Did he hurt you?" Derek said, suddenly forceful and Meredith shrank from him, her back hitting the exhaust pipe of the car behind her. "You can tell me," he added, quietly, and she allowed him to move closer to her.

"Not….not tonight. Joe stopped him. But he came after me."

"But he has hurt you? Before?"

"Yes. Not a lot, or anything. I mean, he didn't beat me. But…."

"But he hurt you. Physically? Emotionally?"

She nodded, miserably, and whispered: "Both" letting her head fall against Derek's chest as she began to cry. He stroked her hair, gently.

"Oh Meredith," he breathed. "I am so, so sorry."

"You see?" she whispered. "That's why I love you so much, you showed me that I could have a healthy relationship, even after that."

"And then I lied," he finished. "Meredith…."

She shook her head, reassuring him through her tears. "You couldn't have known. I didn't tell you about it, after all."

Derek held her closely, and then asked cautiously, "Mer…. He never….?"

"No," she said, sitting up and wiping her face on the back of her sleeve. "I hope that I wouldn't have stuck around at all if he did that."

Suddenly, her leg attacked her with a spasm of pain and she collapsed onto Derek. They had both forgotten where they were, but that combined by a car whizzing past them served as a reminder. He stood up. "I'm going to go get someone."

'No!" she cried out, reaching out for him. "Don't leave me! He could still be here, I--." She began to lose control of her breathing again, and Derek quickly lowered himself.

"Okay," he said soothingly. "Okay, I'm not going anywhere without you." Gently he lifted her into his arms, and she whimpered as her leg throbbed, but she felt safe in his arms. "I'm sorry, if this hurts you."

"S'okay," she murmured, burying her face in his neck. "You've got me."

They went into the hospital, and Derek bypassed the ER, carrying her straight to the elevator and onto the surgical floor. "Page Dr. Torres," he shot at a nurse, taking Meredith into an exam room and laying her down on the bed. As he did her cell-phone went off. Shakily she pulled it out of her pocket and nearly dropped it when she saw the number.

"Is it him?" he asked, taking the phone from her hands. She did not acquiesce, but she knew that it showed on her face.

"Hello?" Derek said, flipping her phone open. He sounded perfectly cheerful, and she watched him, wide-eyed. "Is this Josh? Hi Josh, this is Derek. I'm Meredith's friend. Yeah. Listen, I just wanted to tell you," his voice turned instantly from cheerful to threatening, "That if you come near her again, I will personally make sure that you regret it for the rest of your life. Just something you might want to keep in mind." He snapped the phone shut and put it down next to Meredith, as Callie came in. Meredith saw that his hands were shaking.

Insertlinebreakhere

"You did not totally reverse it," Callie said, two hours later, examining Meredith's x-rays. "But when I said no strenuous physical activity, I meant it. I'm putting you back on the crutches for a week, and then the brace for a month after that. No running on it until then, at least. Got it?"

Meredith nodded meekly. Derek squeezed her hand as Callie started to leave, revealing George rushing down the hall.

"Meredith!" he said as he ducked in. "There you are. What happened?"

Meredith bit her lip, and looked up at Derek, then back at George. "Remember the breakdown I told you about?" she asked him, and he slowly nodded. "I lied when I said I didn't know why it happened. I did. It was the guy I was dating. Josh. He caused it. And he's in Seattle. He was at Joe's."

"Why were you at Joe's?" Cristina asked, coming into the room. "I thought you were sober."

"I am! Stick a needle in my arm and check if you don't believe me," Meredith cried, offended by Cristina's implications. "I had to ask Joe something. I kind of freaked out though….. Well, because he came onto me, so I guess I had a reason to."

"Damn right you did," Derek growled.

She glanced at him warily, before turning back to Cristina and George, "Forgive Dr. McDreamy here, he's feeling a little protective. I'm okay now, though. Sentenced to another week on crutches, so probably back to the pit, but hey, could have been worse."

Cristina's pager went off, and she glanced at it. "911, gotta go. Glad you're okay, Meredith."

George lingered for a minute, watching her. "You're okay now?" he said. "Because I can only take so many Meredith-emergencies in a month. You've reached your quota."

She laughed. "Yeah. I'm done with the emergencies. I hope."

"Okay. I'm going home. I don't want to come back. Please refrain from jumping in front of a moving car, or falling off the top of the Space Needle." He grinned as he said it, and she mock-saluted him.

"Yes sir." He smiled, and left the room, she suspected actually going to find Callie.

Meredith relaxed, looking over at Derek, then sat up, peering at his face. "What? You're not still jealous of George, are you? Because, let me tell you--."

"No. I know there's nothing like that with you two."

"Are you mad at me for not telling you? Because if so, there's some serious hypocrisy going on there."

The edges of his lips twitched, and he shook his head. "No. Nothing like that either. I just hate that you were so hurt. And you're taking it so well; I mean you were joking about it. You amaze me."

Meredith shrugged, drawing her good knee up to her chest. "It's not easy, or anything. I mean, I'm still shaking inside. I can still hear his voice. I just—I have to move on. I have to be strong, for myself. I'm learning how to do that. It's… it's like I had to see him again, to prove to myself that I could handle it. And then you saved me." She paused, wondering if she were really ready for what she was about to say. "I think I maybe ready for the 'r' word. Sooner than I had planned, I mean."

He turned and gently sat on the bed, facing her. "How soon?" he asked, seriously, and she loved him for how unwilling he was to push.

"Well… "She said. "I have tomorrow evening off. I have a meeting at four, but after that," she smiled, "After that we can go out to dinner, like a normal couple. Then, we'll take it from there."

"Okay," he said, smiling. "Sounds good to me."

"Me too," she said, stifling a yawn.

He stood. "Let me take you home," he said. "I'll use your car tomorrow and drive you to your meeting. I won't go in, if you don't want me to, but you probably shouldn't drive if it's still hurting."

She breathed out, and nodded. "Okay."

"Where're your crutches?"

"In my car,' she said, sliding off the bed. "But I can make it to there, probably."

"Or, you know, I can help you and you can make it, definitely. Your choice."

Meredith shook her head, but put her arm around his neck and allowed him to support her as she hobbled out of the room. By the time they reached the elevator, however, he was nearly carrying her, and so he picked her up off her feet and actually carried her.

It felt weird to be in the passenger seat of her own car, she rarely let George drive it, even when they were carpooling. She let Izzie, sometimes, but mostly she felt more comfortable driving herself. With Derek, she had no objections. She wondered if that said something about her. It probably did, but she was too tired to really think about it.

She almost fell asleep as he drove her home, the streetlights passing over her face and her head against the window. He opened the door for her, but he did not get out the crutches, he just picked her up and carried her inside. She tried to protest, but her voice was not cooperating. He took her up to her bedroom and laid her gently on her bed. She slid off her shoes and he pulled the covers over her.

Hesitantly, he leaned down to kiss her, and she grabbed his hand. "Derek? Don't leave me. I don't want to be alone."

Silently, he took off his jacket and shoes, climbing over her and onto the bed. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her close. She felt safe in his arms, and she slid down under the covers, the back of her head against his chest. "Thank you," she murmured, and she barely heard his reply before she fell asleep.

"I love you, Meredith."

In her mind she replied to him but the only sound she could make was a murmured as forty-eight hours of work, and the events of then night caught up with her. She knew that he would understand.

A/N Review please!

Meredith-like speech:

I wanted to put this in a personal response, but as the review was anonymous, I can't So most of you guys can skip this over and review (please, they make my life!). I didn't want to give the "don't like it, don't read it" speech, because I hate those. The thing is, story is just that, a story. I did do research on the AA, I know about the founding, Alanon the twelve steps (which are, by the way, optional) and I know that Richard wouldn't be particularly likely to mention it in the open. The problem? I needed a device for Derek to find out. I admit, there are other ways. A patient or Adele to name a few. Richard just happened to do it. As for Meredith: Yeah. Okay. In the show she is 99.9 probably not an alcoholic. But that is what fanfic is for, to take things a different way.

I really didn't want to put this on a chapter, because I don't like long author's notes, but I wanted to justify my writing to you guys, because you give me so much by appreciating my stories, you just can't imagine! Please keep reading!