Chapter Six:

Three days. Damnit. Derek stepped out of the shower, a frown on his face. He glanced at the pile of paper on the bathroom vanity. Those pages were becoming as precious as gold, and as loathed as getting up early on a frosty morning. He dressed slowly, still glaring at the pages.

"I hate you. I really do. Hate you in a really big, want to set you on fire, throw you in the bin, shred you to pieces, sort of hate you." He groaned. "Great, now I'm even talking in speeches." He paused. "By myself. In my trailer. Dear god, im threatening paper."

He snatched the offending pages up, and stalked out to the kitchen area. Without thinking, he picked up the phone and started dialling.

"Hello?" Came the sleepy voice. What time was it, Derek thought, eying the clock. Ah. 4:30am.
"Ah- hi."

"Derek?" Meredith sounded concerned. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I just wanted to say it's official. You have sent me insane. How am I supposed to top your speech?"

She began to laugh. Derek felt indignant.

"It's not funny! I'm talking to paper! Threatening, even. In my bathroom!"

"I'd feel sorry for you, if it wasn't your fault." She paused. "Am I worth it?"

Derek felt shocked. "Are you worth it? Are you worth it? Yes! You- hang on. No. You have to wait three days for this. Unless you're giving in and accepting the inevitable?"
"Nope. I can wait. What's three days?"

"Long enough to have me sent to the psych ward. You'll pay for this."

"I always like being threatening early in the morning."

There was laughter in her voice, and his reply caught in his throat. This was why he loved her. Moments like these.

"Goodbye, Derek. I'll see you at work."

"Yes. I'll be in psych if you're looking for me."

She laughed, and hung up. Derek grinned at the phone for a while, then picked up the papers with renewed vigour. He knew exactly what to write now.

"Grey! Yang! Stevens! Karev! O'Mall- Where's George?"
Bailey glared round at her interns.

"I'm here! I'm her- woah-oh!" George crashed through the door, and straight into Bailey. She stared at him, unamused.

"O'malley. Lucky you. You're with me today. Yang, Burke's waiting. Stevens, the she-Shepherd. Karev, the pit. Grey, go find Shepherd."

Alex groaned. "I show up on time, and don't try to bowl you over, why am I in the pit?"

"Move, Karev!"

The interns shuffled out, Meredith already fighting to keep a smile off her face. Bailey stared intently at her. "Grey. I wanna see you when Shepherd gets a chance to let you go."

"Yes, Dr.Bailey." She smiled carefully, and hurried away.

"Damn suck-ups. Why do I bother?"

George smiled at her, clueless. "Because you want to teach us to be really great surgeons, and save lots of lives and-"
"O'Malley! Shut it!"

She stalked off, leaving George to trot after her.
"Dr. Shepherd?" Meredith poked her head into a patient's room. Derek smiled at her, eyes lighting up.

"Dr. Grey. This is Dave Winters. Mr Winters, Meredith here is going to take care of you. Trust me, she's very good. Your surgery is in two hours."

The man nodded, giving Meredith a smile.

"Mr. Winters, I'm just going to run these labs down, then I'll be back in an hour to get you ready. Are you feeling ok?"

"yes, I'm fine."

"Good. Page me if you need anything."

Derek and Meredith stepped out of the room together. Derek lent into her ear, whispering.

"So...looking forward to Thursday?"

"Thursday? What's so special about Thursday?" She grinned at the look of fake-hurt on Derek's face.

"I'm crushed. Really, I am. Hey- got a maker?"

Meredith laughed. "No, I left it at home. Thank you. I'm sure it will come in handy."

"I doubt it. No-self control. It's sad. You couldn't stay on your side of the line if you tried."

A discreet cough interrupted them. It was Addison.
"Derek, I need a consult. Am I- interrupting?"
"No, no. We were-"

"Just discussing a patient." Meredith finished. God, this was awkward.

Addison nodded. "Of course. And, um, Derek. Mark's here. On a case."

Derek nodded, expressionless. "Ok. Well, Meredith, you better go get those labs done. Meet me back here in 20 minutes, ok?"

She nodded, and bolted. Addison stared after her for a moment. "You really love her, don't you?" There was a soft wistfulness to her voice.

Derek looked at the ground. "Yeah," He said softly. "yeah, I do."

Addison shook herself. "Right. Well, the patient's in room 4003. Let me know the results?"

"Of course." He watched her walk away. He was surprised at the way she was taking this. Aside from a few tears and pleas to keep trying, she had accepted the divorce calmly. He almost felt that something was going to go wrong. No, he thought, she's an adult. This is fine.

Addison walked through the hospital, thinking. Divorce. Derek didn't love her anymore. She couldn't believe it. She'd forgiven Meredith, openly, but sometimes, she hated her. Wanted to hurt her. What has she got that I don't? I love him. He married me. Why couldn't I keep him?

She thought back to the conversation she'd had with Mark. He'd told her everything she wanted to know about Ellis Grey's surgery. It was a risky procedure. And Meredith didn't know.

It was something to do with the program Meredith had put her in. Addison frowned. This was going to hurt Meredith, if her mother died. How would Derek react? Especially if he found out that she'd known about it.

She remembered the look on his face, whispering in the intern's ear. Love.

No, she wouldn't warn them. She was going to be adult, but only to a point. Helping out the woman her husband left her for- that was going too far. For anyone.