A/N: Shortest chapter in the history of multi-chapters, I know. Sorry about that. Last one will be twice as long, promise!

Thank you Guest Patsy for the review!

The seconds in the elevator were amongst the worst yet. Having nothing to occupy his mind with but needing to keep still and to pull himself together because Burke was standing next to him. All while still not knowing how Meredith was. He had seen the destruction the explosion had left behind, all the debris clattering the floor, the shattered windows and the dust still hanging in the air. The sight had rattled him more than he wanted to admit even to himself. How could she have been near that and survived?

But Burke had said she had. When Derek had run into the corridor as soon as the operation on Tucker was finished, the other surgeon had told him the only fatality had been the guy from the bomb squad. There hadn't even been a corpse anymore. The thought of the force necessary to rip a body to shreds was sickening. And all that destruction.

Derek forced himself to remain calm. He tried to breathe steadily and kept his eyes on the floor in front of his feet. Burke couldn't tell him where Meredith was, but she hadn't been in the corridor anymore so she had to be in safety, didn't she?

The doors of the elevator opened and he looked up. There were people standing a short way down the corridor, apparently waiting for them.

He searched through them while he and Burke walked towards them. There was Richard, next to his wife Adele, a woman in a hospital gown, Alex Karev and a few others he didn't bother putting names to. But no Meredith. He searched again, his eyes flitting across the faces. Still nothing.

"Derek." Burke next to him acknowledged him. He barely noticed the use of his first name and responded automatically while nodding in the other man's direction.

"Preston."

He could feel Burke leaving his side and walking towards the woman in the gown, telling her, her husband was alright. So she was the wife of that ... idiot who had endangered all their lives because he was too stupid to be careful when playing with his weapons. Who had almost killed Meredith.

While the people around him started talking to each other, Derek kept looking for her. She had to be here somewhere! She hadn't been in the destroyed corridor and Burke hadn't said anything about her being in the ICU, so she had to be here. She simply had to!

He walked into every hallway nearby, checked every room twice and constantly listened for her voice but still couldn't find her. So many people crowding the space an none of them was the one person he was looking for.

Once more he turned on the spot, glancing across the whole room. His eyes fell on Richard who was talking to Adele. The couple looked at him.

"Where is she?" he asked, desperate and not caring that he wasn't supposed to be worried about Meredith like this.

"You had to be a cowboy", Richard answered, mildly criticising Derek's decision to stay in his OR, ignoring the Code Black. But Derek didn't care for the comment.

"Whe... Where is she?" he asked again, still looking around. He could see the chief sigh and gesturing to Derek's left.

"She's right here." Derek's head snapped up, looking in the pointed direction. There, coming around a corner, was Addison.

"Derek! You're okay!" She was walking his way, hair floating behind her and tears in her eyes. Relief was radiating off her. A few years earlier he would have been touched by her concern, but right now, he couldn't bring himself to care.

She hugged him closely and mechanically he held her close. His wife. At whom he hadn't spent a single thought.

"You're okay", she repeated into his ear.

While she found reassurance in his presence, his eyes kept searching the room for Meredith. Where was she? Why couldn't he find her?

A few steps beside him he could hear Adele whispering something to her husband.

"That was not the she he was asking for!"