5 Months Later..

Ellis Grey was now living in a home; has been for two months now. She had gotten to the state of the disease where it wasn't safe to leave her alone at home anymore, and that did break Meredith's heart. She hated seeing her amazing mother go downhill this quickly.

Meredith was visiting Ellis at the home. But when Meredith left to get her mother some water she had requested, she returned and saw that her mother had collapsed on the floor. Meredith quickly yelled for help, and an ambulance was called.

Ellis was quickly taken to Seattle Grace Hospital, where they were greeted by Richard. Ellis was immediately taken up to a room on the surgical floor, and Meredith talked to Richard outside her mother's room, explaining to him what happened.

Richard brought Meredith in for a hug. "We'll make sure your mother is okay. Do you need anything?"

"No, but thank you." Meredith heard a familiar voice say Richard and she looked in that direction, seeing Derek. Apparently he didn't quit being a surgeon. Meredith made a quick escape and went back into her mother's room, where Ellis began to gain conscious again. "Hey, mom. You're in the hospital right now. You had a fall."

"Get this IV out of me!" Ellis ordered. "I don't have time for this! I have surgeries to do!"

"Okay, mom. I'll be right back." Meredith went back out of her mother's room and found Richard in the same spot she had left him a few minutes ago still talking to Derek. "Richard, my mom's awake. She thinks she works here still... What should I-"

"We'll talk more about it later, Derek. I have far more important things to take care of." Richard said, entering Ellis's room.

Derek stopped Meredith when she started to follow Richard back in. "Your mom's here? What happened?"

"Remember that thing I wasn't allowed to tell anyone? That thing is the reason why my mom is here." That was all Meredith said and returned in her mother's room.


"I heard your mom's here." Lexie asked, hugging her sister. She is now works at Seattle Grace as a surgical intern. "Are you okay?"

Meredith shook her head. "I don't know... I don't know what hurts more; seeing my mom like this or seeing Derek."

"Well he was a total jerk."

"The thing is, he's not. He was drunk and depressed and I probably shouldn't had handled it how I did."

Meredith went back to her mother's room, finding Ellis ordering a nurse around like she's still chief. Meredith apologized to the nurse on her way out, telling the nurse her mom thinks she's still works here.

Richard entered Ellis's room, but this time had Derek, well, Dr. Shepherd with him. Dr. Shepherd told Meredith Ellis's condition is advancing quickly, and asked when her mother was diagnosed.

"A year ago she was diagnosed." Meredith said. "Told me she had been getting forgetful; couldn't remember the steps of a simple surgery she'v done thousands of times. And now, she barely knows who I am."

"Have she been to a specialist?"

"Of course; she'v seen the greatest. They all said there's nothing they can do to help her. Is she okay from her fall?"

"Her scans came back clean." Richard said. "She probably just lost her balance, but we'd like to keep her here for a day or two just to be sure."

Meredith nodded. "Thanks, Richard."

Richard left the room, but Derek stayed because he wanted to talk to Meredith.

"You should had told me about the diagnosis."

"There's nothing you could have done." Meredith crossed her arms in front of her. "I know there's clinical trials; my mom did research on them when she was still sane, but she couldn't find one that could give us hope." Meredith was fighting her hardest not to cry.

"Were you really pregnant?" Derek just needed to know. It's been on his mind heavily ever since Meredith told him that day at the trailer, and she's obviously not pregnant right now.

"I miscarried." This time Meredith did shed some tears because at the very end, she really did want that baby.

Derek brought Meredith in for a hug because he just knew she needed to be comforted. It hurt him knowing that he wasn't around when she most needed him. "I'm so sorry. You don't deserve any of this."

It felt good hugging Derek, and Meredith didn't want to let go, but she knew she had to. Meredith took a step back and wiped the tears out of her eyes. "I'm gonna go home."

"How is Doc by the way?"

Meredith shook her head. "I had to put him down. He developed cancer and..." She shook her head not being able to finish. "I had to put him down."

It broke Derek's heart seeing Meredith like this. Doc is gone. Her mother is basically gone. She lost the baby. He acted like a total jerk when all she was trying to do was help him. Meredith is alone, and he can tell how much she's hurting in the inside from it all. This year has definitely not been kind to Meredith Grey.

Derek recalls how in the beginning of the year Meredith told him she had a lot going on in her life, and she just needed him for support. He promised he would be there, and he failed. She shouldn't had been the one trying to help him; he should had been helping her. He failed Meredith and now he feels awful for that, now knowing what was all happening. Meredith went through more than she was probably anticipating at the beginning of the year when she found out of her mother's diagnosis, and he wasn't there.


"Next please." Meredith waved over. Before she could look up to see who the customer was, she asked, "What can I get you?"

"Surprise me." Meredith looked up definitely surprised to see who it was. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Can we talk?" Derek asked.

Meredith nodded and had someone else take over for her. She walked around the counter and she and Derek sat down at a table in the corner.

"What are you doing here?" Meredith asked.

"I want to apologize for everything. I promised you I would be there for you, give you support, and I failed. I failed because I was too busy feeling sorry for my dead patient; too busy beating myself over that. You were right, mistakes happen, but you need to learn from them and move on." Derek paused. "I made a mistake walking away from you. I learned from that mistake because I lost the best thing that ever happened to me. When I met you, I was drowning, and you were like coming up for fresh air; you saved me... I don't know. That sounds stupid, but that's how it felt to me."

Meredith smiled and shook her head. "It's not stupid."

"This year hasn't been kind to you at all. You're drowning now. I see you drowning, and I want to be your coming up for fresh air. I want to help you; be there for you like I promised. You don't have a family; I was your family; my family is your family. Mom told me to get my head out of my ass when she heard I lost you. I'm probably doing this a little too late, but I don't see it like that. I love you, Meredith. I want to spend the rest of my life with you; grow a family with you; live in the house I'm building with you and our future children. I want to grow old and die with you."

"You walked away. How do I know you're not going to walk away again?"

"Meredith." Derek gave her his most apologetic look. "Please."

So I did tell you there would be a cliff hanger. What is Meredith going to do? The next chapter will be an epilogue that will be set about a year and a half in the future, but I'm not going to to post it until Sunday I think. So I'm just going to keep you guys wondering what's going to happen.

I hope you liked this chapter! Review, follow, and favorite!