As always I would like to thank everyone for reading my story. A special thanks to those who reviewed my story: LaFilmeMichelle, MeredithandDerekfanforever, TVHollywoodDiva, salmonscrubs, emsoreoangel, greys5824, Murgy31, ilubga, munchkin4444, shell36799, IluvMerDer, himmli, McsteamyIsMcGorgeous, Meredith and Derek, kitykat17, merder81, Izziefan, and NaleyOTH23. Well with that said, here is the next chapter. Please read and review...and enjoy :)

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Disclaimer: Don't own Grey's Anatomy...blah blah blah

Chapter 8

Derek laid silently next to Meredith, holding her tightly in his arms. They stayed like that for a while, until the door suddenly opened. Christina came in and sat in the chair next to Meredith's bed.

"Meredith I need to talk…" she said. She sat and stared at Derek until he got up.

"Well…I have some researching to do anyway…" he bent down and kissed Mer gently on the lips. "I'll come back later…I can stay the night with you, if you'd like."

Mer shook her head and smiled. "No, you go home. I'll be fine, besides I want my surgeon well rested."

He gave her a half hearted smile and nodded. "Alright…I'll see you in the morning then." He turned around and walked out the door.

Mer stared at the door for a few moments before turning her attention to Christina. "So you needed to talk?" she asked.

Christina just stared at her.

"What?" Mer said.

"What do you mean by 'I want my surgeon well rested'?" Christina said, imitating Mer's voice.

Mer sighed. "It's nothing." She looked at the disbelieving look on Christina's face. "Seriously it's nothing to worry about."

"What is going on?" Christina demanded.

"Its this damn thing in my head. It turns out that the world really doesn't like me, so now I have to have my brain cut open." She said, tying to make it sound less serious that it was. She saw fear suddenly come across her friend's face.

"You're having an operation…tomorrow?" she asked.

Mer nodded. "Well yeah, but its not big deal."

Christina stood up. "No big deal? Meredith do you know…"

"Christina." Mer said. "What I need right now, is to act like everything is normal. Can you do that for me…please?"

Christina looked at Mer and sighed. "Fine. Whatever." She sat back down and looked at Mer, not talking.

"So…" Mer said, hoping Christina wasn't mad at her. "You needed to talk to me?"

"No"

Mer sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

They sat in silence for a few minutes, until Christina finally gave in. "He wants me to wear a big, ugly, poofy white dress."

Mer looked at Christina and smiled. "Awe. Little Bridal Christina…"

"Oh shut up!" Christina said, rolling her eyes. "I'm not going to wear it…no way."

Mer laughed. "Yeah, like you weren't going to have wedding cake either huh?"

"You know what, if I'm wearing a dress, you're wearing one too! And it's going to be really ugly too!"

"Who says you get to pick my dress?" Mer said, mockingly.

"Because" Christina said. "You have to be my Maid of Horror or whatever. And the bride gets to pick out the dress…"

Mer smiled and her eyes watered slightly. "You're asking me to be your Maid of Honor?" she asked.

Christina looked at her. "Well duh. But don't get all gushy about it or anything."

Mer looked at her friend and smiled. "Yeah yeah okay."

Christina sighed and stood up. "Well my shifts over, and you look tire so…" she started walking towards the door.

"No wait." Mer said. "Stay…I don't want to be alone right now."

Christina nodded and laid down on the bed next to Mer.

Christina eventually fell asleep, but Mer just laid there, wide awake. She heard Izzie come in sometime later. She heard her talk to someone outside the door, then sit down in the chair. Sometime around 3 or so, Mer fell into a light, restless sleep.