Ch.5

"I'm waiting Dr. Shepard…Meredith or Addison…who's it going to be?"

Derek closed his eyes.

"I have to get Meredith out of here," he whispered.

"So let me get this straight. You would risk the life of your precious wife in order to save Meredith's?"

Derek looked out the window at Addison. She had know idea what he was saying. He hated himself.

"OK, fine. Let Meredith go."

"No," Jonathan said. "I want to hear you say it. I want to hear the words come out of your mouth…that you're choosing some hospital slut over your wife, the woman you're supposed to honor and love for the rest of your life."

"You son of a bitch-"

"Just say the words Dr. Shepard. I choose Meredith."

"I choose Meredith," Derek whispered, his voice hushed. It surprised him how easily the words came out; like it was something he had been holding back, wanting to say his entire life.

"I can't hear you…"

"I CHOOSE MEREDITH!" he yelled. He stood up, reaching down to lift her.

"I don't think so." Jonathon said. She's stays."

"What are you talking about? You just said…"

"So I lied…get over it."

Derek stood there, unmoving.

"What, do you honestly think I would be stupid enough to let her go? She's my ammo, Dr. Shepard. She's my revenge against you. I would have to be a complete idiot to let the woman you love get out of my grasp? What kind of revenge will it be if I harm the woman you "sorta like but not really but you have to pretend you like because you're married to her. Give me a break."

Derek was about to speak when he heard a small groan.

"Mer?"

She stirred, her eyes opening slowly.

He ran to her, dropping to his knees, gently placing his hand on her cheek.

"Meredith, can you hear me?"

"Derek," she whispered, her eyes trying to focus. "What happened?"

"Do you know where you are?"

She looked around the room.

"The hospital…what am I doing here?"

She looked over at Jonathon.

"Oh yea….now I remember…"

"Meredith, can you tell me how many fingers am I holding up?" Derek asked, holding up three.

"Well god Derek, I hit my head, I'm not stupid."

He laughed, a feeling of relief washing over him. She was ok. He could breathe again.

He put his arm around her, helping her sit up.

"Easy," he said. "Don't get up too quickly."

"I'm ok," she said standing, her knees immediately buckling out from under her. Derek grabbed her before she hit the ground.

"I'm ok," she said again reassuring him. "Just give me a second."

She looked around, her eyes darting out the window.

She saw her.

"I see Addison made it."

Derek nodded.

Meredith nodded back.

There was nothing more to say.

"We have to find a way to get them out" Addison said, nervously pacing.

"We're working on it," Bailey said. She had just arrived, along with Richard.

"We just need to calm down…this guy is scared more than anything. I say we give him a little while longer to come to his senses." Alex chimed in.

"That's the stupidest thing I've ever heard," Christina said. "If this guy is scared, he's going to panic. Panic equals that gun going off and killing our friends. We have to do something; we can't just stand around like a bunch of damn fools."

Burke placed his hand on her shoulder.

"We'll figure it out. I promise."

"They're going to be fine," Addison said. "As soon as the cops come, they'll be ok…."

Everyone turned to look at her.

"Cops?" Christina asked. "Addison, you didn't…we told you not to call them…"

"Well what was I supposed to do? HUH? Some psychopath has my husband hostage…the cops are going to come and take that guy down, and everyone will be fine."

"He said no cops!" Christina got in her face. "Once that guy hears those sirens, it's going to be all over. He's going to kill them! That's my best friend in there!"

"And that's my husband!" she yelled.

"Oh please, he doesn't even love you" Christina spat, immediately regretting what she had said.

Addison stood there, her face expressionless. Her eyes began to water.

"I know what you all think of me…I know you think that I'm some evil woman who stole your friend's boyfriend away. But I love that man in there. And you're right Christina, maybe he doesn't love me…but I do love him. And that means I will do whatever it takes to save his life."

She turned and walked away, sitting in a chair in the nearby lounge. She brought her face to her hands and sobbed.

Everyone turned to Christina, their mouths hanging open in shock.

She shrugged.

"Well, crap,"

Jonathon glanced down at his watch.

"What's happening Jonathan? Talk to us."

He looked over at Meredith who was sitting on the floor, Derek's hand in hers.

"You need to tell us what's going on; you haven't said a word in about 20 minutes."

"I'm just thinking."

She nodded.

"Let him be," Derek whispered in her ear. "Let him do what he wants."

"You know, I know what it's like to be alone," she continued, ignoring him.

Derek gave a brief smile, laughing at her stubbornness.

God, he loved that about her.

"You don't know what I'm going through."

"Sure I do," she said. "I have no family. My father is dead. My mother lives in a nursing home. She doesn't even know who I am. The man I love…" she paused for a moment, removing her hand from Derek's. "The man I love chose another woman over me. I know how it feels."

Derek looked at the ground.

"The man you love is sitting right next to you. Just seconds ago he was holding your hand."

She shook her head.

"The man I love is protecting me in this moment."

She turned to face Derek, his eyes meeting hers.

"When this is all said and done and we walk out of here, he's going back to her arms and I'm going home alone. That's reality."

He shook his head.

"You know that's not true." He tried to grab her hand again. She brushed his away.

"I'm not a fool, Derek. Don't treat me like one."

She stood up and walked over to the other side of the room, looking out the window down to the parking lot.

Derek sighed, leaning his head against the wall behind him.

"You have friends," Jonathon said. "You can never be alone of you have friends."

She smiled, still looking out the window.

"You're right. I do have friends. I have wonderful friends, probably the best friends anyone could ever have. And I'm sure you do to."

He nodded.

"We…Mary and I…had a few good friends back in Boston. But then we moved here…we didn't really get the chance to meet people."

She laughed.

"Boston? That's where I'm from too."

He smiled.

She turned to look at him when something caught her eye in the parking lot.

"Oh crap," she whispered.

There they were, at least 10 cop cars, surrounding the building.

"What is it?" Derek asked standing up.

She turned to face them.

"Nothing," she said. "Nothing at all."

Jonathon walked over and looked outside.

"Damn it," he cursed. "I told them no cops…"

Derek grabbed Meredith, pulling her away.

"You need to make a run for it," he whispered. "Now, while he's not looking."

"No," she said. "I'm staying."

"Meredith, he's about to lose it. Please, I'm begging you…just run. Once you're out that door, he won't hurt you."

"He's just a kid Derek. A scared little boy."

He took a step back.

"Mar, he's a psycho. Look at him; he has a gun for Christ's sake. He's already hurt you once. He'll do it again if he gets a chance"

"We need to help him. He doesn't know what he's doing. He's lonely and he misses his wife-"

"And he's going to kill us if we don't do something."

"I'm not leaving him," she said pulling her arm out of his grasp. "I'm going to help him. You can help me if you want. Or not. Whatever. But I've got to do something."

"Why did they call the cops? I told them not to call the cops…"

Jonathan was frantic, pacing around the room, banging his hands against his head.

"Jonathon, it's ok." Meredith said trying to calm him down. "The cops won't do anything; it's going to be fine."

"I didn't want things to happen like this," he said growing emotional. "What am I doing? What am I doing here, with this gun, threatening people? I don't know what's going on anymore…"

"It will be ok," she said. "Listen, we can end this right now. The three of us, we can walk out of here together."

"She's right," Derek said walking over. He looked at Meredith and winked.

She smiled. She knew he wouldn't let her down. It wasn't his style.

"We can tell them it was just a misunderstanding."

"NO, they're going to arrest me. I know they will."

"We'll tell them it was a false alarm." Meredith reached out, grabbing his hand. "Jonathon, look at me."

He gazed into her eyes.

"We won't let anything happen to you. We promise."

He stepped back, looking at the gun in his hands.

"It's not use," he said. "I'm sorry."

He lifted the gun.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked.

"Jonathon-"

"I'm sorry." He said. "I'm so sorry. I never meant for this to happen."

"Put the gun down, nothing has happened" Meredith felt the air leaving her lungs.

He moved, placing his back against the wall. He closed his eyes.

"I'm coming Mary." He whispered.

"Jonathon DON'T!" Meredith yelled.

But it was too late.

He put the gun to his head.

And pulled the trigger.