I was impressed. Meredith's mother passed away two days ago, but she's been handling it well. Ellis had suffered from Alzheimer's disease before the stroke. From what Meredith had told me, the last year and a half had not been easy for either of them. The stroke left her in a comatose state. Adhering to her mother's wishes, Meredith had ended the life support. The funeral was this morning, and all went well. Meredith cried a little, and last night, she had woken up crying a time or two. I held her until she calmed down and fell asleep in my arms. Overall, she seemed to be doing okay.
"Derek?" she wandered sleepily into the living room of the trailer, having just awoken from a nap.
"Hey, sweetie. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay," she answered with a yawn and settled herself into my lap.
I pulled the hunter green fleece blanket over the two of us and cuddled her close. Her hair smelled like fresh lavender; she'd washed it this morning. Her skin had the aroma of honeysuckle in July. I gently kissed her temple, and she snored softly, already back to sleep. I stretched out on the small brown couch, spooning her.
GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA
"How's she holding up?" the chief asked.
"Seems to be doing well. She's been sleeping without meds and eating normally."
"Good. She's your intern today. She needs a little spoiling. Oh, and Addison called."
"She did? What did she want?"
"She didn't say. She just left a message with Patricia to have you call."
"Hmm…"
"When will your divorce be final? What does Meredith think?"
"Well, I haven't told her, yet."
"Shepherd! You know I don't like this!"
"I'm sorry, sir, but I was trying to tell her when she got the page about her mother."
"Tell her, Derek. Tell her today. She has a right to know."
"I will, Chief. I have to go check on a post-op patient that had some problems overnight."
"You better," the response was menacing.
I knew the chief meant business, but I was glad to have avoided talking about Addison. I had been ignoring Addison's phone calls and pages. I had know idea whether she filed for divorce, but I hadn't filed yet. I was thankful that the chief didn't press the issue of my wife. I had to figure out how to tell Meredith about Addison, but I didn't want to hurt her. No matter what I did though, she would be hurt and angry. I wouldn't blame her one bit.
GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA
"Mer? There is something we need to talk about," I decided a straightforward approach would be best.
"I'm fine! I promise. My mother and I had a difficult relationship to begin with. Now, I don't have to worry about it anymore, and she's not suffering either."
"That's not what I wanted to talk about."
"Oh, well, what then?" she asked, obviously grumpy.
"Could we discuss it over dinner? Say, at that Japanese restaurant you like so much?"
"You hate Japanese. Are you trying to bribe me? What did you do?"
"I just have something serious to talk about."
"Well, is it 'I have a serious health condition' serious or 'I have a wife and four kids serious'?"
If only she knew how close she was.
"Why do ask that?"
"Because, from the look on your face, I'm not going to like what you're going to say to me. I just wanted to know if I should be prepared to hate you or help you."
"Oh. So what time do you want to meet?"
"You didn't answer my question."
"What question?"
"Am I going to hate you or help you?"
"Oh, well, I didn't know you wanted me to…"
"Dude, don't finish that sentence," came the passing voice of Alex Karev.
"No, Derek, finish it. I want to know."
"I think it might be a little of both."
"The other question!"
"What other question?"
"Never mind! I get off at 9 pm. That will make for a late dinner, but that's okay with me."
"I'll pick you up at 9 then."
"See you then."
She turned on her Converse heel and walked toward Cristina, who was coming up the hall and looking daggers in my direction. I quickly hopped the elevator and went down two floors. That had not gone as well as I had hoped. Just at that moment, my pager began to beep. I looked at the number to find that Addison was paging me again. Quickly, I cleared her number from the screen and went to follow up on the neuroblastoma patient, a four year old girl with a malignant tumor on her spinal column.
GAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGAGA
When I picked Meredith up at her place, she appeared to be in a better mood. She looked amazing as well. I took her hand and apologized for earlier in the day. In response, she leaned over and put her head on my shoulder. All was well. For the most part, the fifteen minute drive to the restaurant was quiet. Meredith was tired, and I was contemplating how to tell her about my wife.
"So, what's up?" Meredith asked after we had been served.
"Well, I'm not sure how to tell you this, but…Damn it!"
"What?"
"It's Mackenzie, the four year old with the neuroblastoma. I just got paged 911. I'll be right back."
Three minutes later I returned to the table, unhappy with the course of events. Mackenzie had begun having multiple seizures and needed immediate surgery. I was unable to look Meredith in the eyes, yet I knew she would understand.
"I'm so sorry. I have to go. Here, you stay and eat," I handed her my credit card, "and we'll talk as soon as I get home."
"Mackie is my patient, too! What's going on?"
"She's having multiple seizures. There could be a tumor the CT missed."
"Can I help?"
"If you want to," I turned to the waiter. "Could we get some To-Go boxes? This is an emergency."
Five minutes later, we arrived at the hospital. I ran to Mackenzie's room while Meredith took our leftovers to the refrigerator in the lounge. I found the small girl, pale and still, lying on what seemed to be much too large of a bed for her tiny frame. I turned to the nurse and George, who was the resident on call.
"She started seizing about 9:20. Multiple grand mal seizures lasting up to two minutes. It ended at 9:40 after two doses of phenolbarbital. She's sleeping now and doesn't appear to have any significant damage."
"Thanks, Dr. O'Malley. Schedule her for a shotgun CT and an MRI."
"Will do, Dr. Shepherd."
"You and Meredith will be scrubbing in as soon as I know where to cut."
A/N: So he still didn't tell Meredith. I'm thinking there may only be a few chapters left, unless you want some info about what happens when Mer finds out (or a sequel). Please review!!