"It's Derek."

Meredith stares at her. "What about him?"

"He. . .he was brought into the hospital last night. He was in a car accident."

Meredith keeps staring stupidly at her. "Car accident?" She repeats numbly. Everything about the previous is beginning to rush back. . .what Addison told her, and what Derek said to her in the elevator. . .

"He was drinking." Izzie said gently. "And he ran off the road into a ditch somewhere, and his car rolled over."

"Rolled over?" This isn't real. She looks around the room for some sign of abnormality that reveals this as some sort of a dream. There is none. She sees the sympathy in Izzie's eyes and begins to speak really fast. "I bet he's really mad, isn't it? I mean, I bet the car was totaled, and, and Derek loved that car. He's probably really pissed off, it isn't he?"

Izzie sees what she's doing and she feels a lump forming in her throat. She can tell Meredith desperately wants her to smile and say, yeah, he's really mad about the car. Instead, she puts a hand on Meredith and says quietly, "No, Mer, he's not. He's in a coma."

"Coma?" Meredith feels frozen with shock. She sits silent for awhile before she hears herself saying, "He's going to be okay. Right?" She looks desperately at Izzie. She's thinking of that conversation in the elevator, the way he'd gone after her and yelled her name.

"We don't know, Mer, we haven't heard anything except what I just told you."

"We have to go. . ." Meredith jumps out of bed, walking to a closet for clothes, a kind of roaring in her ears. She can barely think, and it's not just the hangover. "I have to see him."

Izzie looks at the guys helplessly. "Okay, Mer, we can go to the hospital early and see him."

"Now." She mutters hurriedly pulling out some clothes. "We have to go now." He'll be okay. He'll be okay. He'll be okay.

"We can go now." Izzie has the soothing tone of a mother trying to reassure a child.

Meredith stares at her suddenly, her eyes wide and haunted. "You said he was drinking?"

Izzie nods silently.

"I. . . we had a fight. Earlier." She doesn't know why she's saying all this.

Izzie looks helplessly at Meredith. "It's okay." It's not, but it's what you're supposed to say.

Meredith goes out of the room, pushing past Alex and George. When she gets into the bathroom she's shaking. She stares at her reflection in the mirror.

She's almost unrecognizable. Black smudges of eyeliner and mascara mask her eyes from going to bed without taking it off last night. Her eyes are squinty and red rimmed. And now, they are full of terror.

She washes her face hurriedly and pulls her hair back. Izzie and the others are waiting in the hallway.

The ride to the hospital is quiet, the atmosphere tense. The car radio plays softly in the background, but no one hears it.

Derek's room is on the fourth floor, 437. Izzie barely has time to get this information to Meredith before she runs to the nearest elevator. They quickly jump in after her.

Everything is a blur from the elevator to Derek's room. Meredith is the first one inside.

Bailey, Chief Webber, Christina, and Addison are all there. Addison is slumped in a chair, looking overwhelmed. She turns and gives Meredith a surprised look, which fades quickly to something like anger. The other three look at Meredith, surprised for a moment, then sympathetic. They look confused, like they don't know what to say to her.

Meredith only stares at Derek.

There are deep cuts on the left side of his face and neck. He's hooked up to many different machines, machines Meredith has seen on patients hundreds of times.

But this is different. This is Derek.

Christina was on call lat night, when he came in. She moves slightly between her friend and Addison. She, more than anyone else, senses what's coming.

Bailey moves toward Meredith and puts a hand on her arm, wondering what you could possibly say to a guys ex-girlfriend with his wife sitting there. Of course, everyone knows Meredith is more to him than an ex.

Meredith doesn't take her eyes off him. Her voice is quiet, "Is he going to. . .will he be okay?"

"We don't know yet." Bailey's voice is heavy. Meredith gives her a desperate look, wanting an answer. She moves her eyes to Christina's, pleading for information.

Bailey and Webber exchange a look. "I'll go book the O.R." He says quietly. He leaves the room, walking past Alex, Izzie, and George who are hovering awkwardly in the doorway.

Meredith moves toward Derek, but Addison steps in front of her, and Meredith starts, noticing and remembering her for the first time.

"Get out." Addison says quietly, in the same firm tone she used earlier that day to kick Meredith off her case. That seems like forever ago.

Meredith just looks at her blankly.

Addison repeats herself, "Get out of here, get away from him. I don't want you in here."

Meredith whirls around and looks at Dr. Bailey, who looks a little caught off guard by Addison's order. Meredith's eyes slide to Christina's, giving her a desperate look, waiting for them to protest.

Christina shakes her head at Addison. "You can't do that, you can't just throw her-"

"He's my husband. If I don't want her here, she can't be."

"Addison." Meredith is almost surprised to hear her own pleading voice. "Please. I just want to see him, I want to find out if he's-"

"Well, you've seen him now." Addison's voice is cold and hard.

"Dr. Bailey. . ." Meredith meets her boss' eyes, pleading silently.

Bailey gives Meredith an apologetic look. "Meredith, why don't you go to the locker room with the others? I'll be there soon to give you your assignments." Meredith stares at her, stunned.

Christina looks like she might say something in protest, but a warning look from Dr. Bailey stops her.

It doesn't, however, stop Alex. Moving in slightly from the doorway, he addresses Dr. Bailey, "Come on! She can't just do that, she can't just decide for him who can see him or-"

"Dr. Karev, that's enough!"

Unwilling to be outdone, Christina speaks next, "Alex is right. . ." She turns to face Addison, a look of disdain on her face. "He'd want her here. You know he would, and it kills you, but you know he'd want her-"

"Dr. Yang!" Bailey's voice rises in volume. She turns and looks at Meredith, who is looking scared and desperate. Bailey lowers her voice, "I'm sorry, Grey, but I'll speak to you about it in a moment. Just do this for me." Meredith doesn't move. Her eyes are fixed on Derek. Bailey glances at Izzie. "Stevens, would you. . ."

Izzie understands, coming inside and gently pulling Meredith by the arm. "C'mon, Mer."

Meredith walks numbly out of the hospital room with Izzie. George follows, and Alex throws Bailey an angry look before following. Christina is left with Bailey and Addison.

XXXXXXXX

Bailey enters the locker room in a short time. Meredith sits on the floor, back against the lockers, her knees drawn up to her chin. She doesn't even look up at Bailey when she comes in. She is in shock, numb with terror.

Bailey's voice is subdued. "O'Malley, you're in the pit. Karev, you're with the chief to pick up the slack on Shepard's patients. Izzie, you need to do post-op notes on all of Addison's patients." She passes out files and slowly, with backward glances at Meredith, they file out.

Bailey sits on the bench and faces Meredith. She doesn't speak for a moment, searching for words. "Meredith, I'm. . .I'm sorry, but this is. . .an awkward situation. With his wife here. . ."

"I know." Meredith says in a hollow voice. "With his wife here you can't really bring in the ex-mistress."

Bailey looks at her sadly. She thinks of the day Derek had told Meredith he'd picked Addison, the night of the train wreck. The whole hospital heard that's when it happened. She thinks of how he broke down in the elevator that night. She thinks of his requests to get Meredith assigned to him every day. "You know you're more than that. To him."

Meredith glances at her, a little surprised that Bailey would say something like this.

Bailey continues, "They're taking him into surgery. He's got a lot of internal damage. . .lot of head injury. The surgery will do everything it can but. . .nothing's for sure."

"I just. . .I just want to see him." Meredith mumbles stupidly.

"I know. You know Yang'll probably tell you the minute Addison steps out of that room." Bailey smiles slightly.

Meredith nods. Then, struggling to keep her voice level, she asks, "So what do you want me to do today?"

Bailey stands from the bench. "Burke needs someone on his case today. But not right now." Meredith looks at her questioningly. "I'll give you a few minutes."

"I'm really fine-"

"I always said you're a bad liar." Bailey nods at her and leaves the locker room.

Meredith sighs, closing her eyes, emotionally exhausted. This is all so surreal. She feels like she should be crying. But it hasn't hit her properly yet. Half of her still expects to wake up any moment.

But then again, she felt like that when Addison showed up. When Derek picked Addison.

She never wakes up.

Bailey

Bailey walks swiftly down the hallway to Derek Shepard's hospital room.

She enters and sees Addison leaning against the wall. Addison looks at her, expressionless, when she walks in.

"You're hear to make me change my mind." Addison states flatly. "Well, I won't. Don't waste your time."

"What am I making you change your mind about?"

"You are trying to change my mind about letting Meredith see him. I won't."

"Okay. I was actually just going to tell you that we're taking him into surgery in about thirty minutes to do as much as we can."

"Oh." Addison bites her lips for a second, then starts speaking quickly, "I don't see why everyone's making me into such a villain for keeping her out. What kind of wife would want her husband's ex-mistress in his hospital room! Especially when its her fault he's there." Bailey's eyebrows shoot up at this, but she says nothing. Addison seems to anticipate some sort of protest to her statement, since she rushes on, "Because it is her fault. They had some sort of fight and she yelled at him about something and that's why he was drinking and that's why he was stupid enough to drive a car into a goddamn ditch."

Bailey pretends to study one of the machines hooked to Dr. Shepard, feeling Addison's eyes on her. She's clearly waiting for a response, and Bailey doesn't know what kind of response she wants. So she stays quiet, waiting. People tend to talk more even if they don't get an answer.

Addison does. Her voice is upset, rather than flat or defensive. "Okay, it was my fault. My fault, too, because she was the one who made him. . ." Her voice cracks but she keeps going. "I just thought if I told her some of the things he said, even if it wasn't completely true. . .I thought she'd leave him alone. I didn't know she'd yell at him about or that he'd get so upset and do this!"

Bailey watches her silently, thinking about Meredith's pained expression just yesterday when Bailey had assigned her to Dr. Shepard. She was sure Meredith wanted more than anything to 'leave him alone'. However, Bailey knows this isn't the thing to point out to Addison.

Addison meets Bailey's gaze directly and asks, "So is it really so wrong of me to not want her in here with him!"

Bailey pauses, knowing anything she says could be the wrong thing. Finally, she decides to be straightforward, as she always is. "I understand why you don't. But, Addison, you can't blame her for being worried about him. Grey didn't set out to destroy your marriage, she didn't even know their was a marriage. She's had a hard time with all of this, too."

Addison realizes Bailey is right, really, but she doesn't say anything.

Bailey realizes this and stands. "So the surgery's in an hour."

"An hour." Addison repeats.

Bailey leaves the room and nearly collides with Christina who's coming inside. "Sorry, Dr. Bailey. Did you talk to Addison?"

Bailey's look becomes severe. "Yeah, I have, and I don't want you to concern yourself with it anymore."

"But she-"

Bailey holds up a hand. "I know Meredith's your friend, and I know you feel bad for her. But you are Dr. Shepards doctor right now, and if you can't act like you are just his doctor, I can just pull you from this case. We clear?"

Christina's eyebrows knit together in a scowl but she nods and says reluctantly, "We're clear. But. . .seriously, Bailey, can she really just. . .forbid Meredith from seeing him?"

Bailey rolls her eyes. "Not unless she's planning on physically restraining her. I don't think it's a good idea if Grey goes in there while Addison is, which you're welcome to pass along."

Meredith

Meredith goes through the rest of her day in a robotic fashion. Her mind is only on Derek, but she's unable to form coherent thoughts.

She's writing post-op notes for a patient, toward the end of the day. She heard from Christina that afternoon that Derek's surgery went okay, but there wasn't much they could do except for wait now. She had just nodded.

As far as she knew Addison hadn't left the room all day.

Suddenly, something coming over the intercom catches her attention. "Code Blue, fourth floor. Code Blue, fourth floor."

Her heart nearly stops. Fourth floor. Derek's floor.

She shoves the clipboard at the bewildered nurse next to her and runs up two flights of stairs, sick to her stomach, her throat tight, barely breathing.

She runs by a door and notices the code team inside, shocking the patient's heart. She freezes and stares.

Derek's room is across the hall. His door is slightly ajar, and she glances in. He's still lying there, unchanged since this morning. Addison sits in a chair beside him.

Meredith feels a rush of relief. For now, he's fine.

Her heart is still pounding, and she moves slowly down the hallway, her vision blurring as she steps into the supply closet and sinks onto the floor.

Only now does she begin to cry.

So, yeah, that's all for this chapter. Sorry it took a while to update but our computer had a virus. Anyway, I decided to go with the coma thing for awhile, but believe me, that's not the central plot, just the 'rising action' as English teachers everywhere would say. The main story has barely started, so keep reading. REVIEW this.