Izzie walked to the door and opened it. "Mark what are you doing here?"
"I didn't want you to be alone. I know your parents are out of town so I thought I would come over. Are you going to let me in?"
Izzie stepped aside and let Mark in closing the door after him. "I'm not alone. Mer is over. We just fell asleep so keep your voice down. Where's Derek?"
"He said he was heading home and I got board. I thought Mer was coming over tomorrow?"
"She was but Beth was going to be away with some friends for the weekend so she decided to come tonight. We watched a couple movies and had some pizza."
"Sounds like fun." Mark smiled as he leaned in to kiss Izzie however before he could capture her lips they both jumped apart when they heard a scream.
"NO DEREK!"
Both ran around the corner where they found Meredith sitting up panting. They approached her and both kneeled down in front of her. Izzie placed her hand on Meredith's shoulder. "Mer are you alright?"
Meredith blinked a few times and looked between Izzie and Mark. She then looked back to Mark. "Where's Derek?"
"He went home. I…"
Meredith jumped up and ran to the door with Mark and Izzie following behind. "Bye Iz I'll call you tomorrow."
"Meredith wait, where are you going it's the middle of the night?"
"I gotta go there's…I have to get home."
Izzie looked at Mark before turning back to Meredith. "Mer, the Shepherds know you are staying here so you don't have to go. Besides you don't have a car, I picked you up remember?"
"I just…I have to…Derek…I have to see Derek…"
Mark looked concerned at seeing Meredith so worked up. "Mer why do you have to see Derek at 2 in the morning?"
"I have to make sure he's okay Mark."
"Of course he's fine Mer, why wouldn't he be?"
"Iz I just have to go."
"I'll take her home Iz. Why don't you get some sleep and I'll call you in the morning?"
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah I'm sure." Mark gave her a kiss goodbye as he followed Meredith out of the house.
Meredith practically ran to the car and jumped in. As soon as Mark got in they headed to the Shepherds.
Mark soon pulled up and Meredith jumped out of the car. She looked for her purse and realized she left it at Izzie's. "I forgot my purse."
"I'll let Izzie know in the morning, Mer what is this about?"
"He's not here. Mark he's not here."
"Meredith calm down, I'm sure he's upstairs sleeping."
"No Mark his bike isn't here." Meredith said as she ran to the door and started knocking loudly.
"Meredith?"
"Something's wrong Mark. I had a dream that Derek…I know something's wrong."
The door swung open and Cindy looked at the two standing before her. Before she could say anything Meredith pushed her way through and ran up the stairs. "Meredith? What on earth is going on Mark?"
"I don't know mom. I stopped by Izzie's and Mer woke up and…she said she had to come home to see Derek."
Meredith came running down the stairs. "Where is he mom? Where is Derek?"
"What do you mean where is he, he should be sleeping."
"He's not there. He's not in his room. Something's wrong, I know something is wrong."
"Maybe he decided to stay at Alex's."
"No he wouldn't he should be…"
Meredith was cut off by the phone ringing. Cindy went to answer. "Who on earth would be calling at this time of night? Hello."
"Cindy?"
"Michael what are you calling for at this time of night?"
"Cindy, it's…"
"Michael you're scaring me. What is it?"
"It's Derek, he was brought in."
"Derek?"
"Yes, he was in an accident. I'm sending someone to get you, I don't want you driving."
"No, no it's okay. Mark is here."
"Mark? What is he doing there?"
"He brought.." Cindy paused as her eyes connected with Meredith. "Meredith home."
"Okay..."
Cindy cut him off. "We'll be right there." Cindy said before hanging up without saying goodbye to her husband. "Mark, I need you to take us to the hospital."
"What is it mom?"
"Derek was in an accident and was taken to the hospital."
As soon as the words left her mouth she started up the stairs to change.
Meredith heard Cindy and her knees started to shake. She quickly grabbed onto Mark to keep herself from falling.
Mark quickly put his arm around Meredith to hold her up. "It's okay Mer, he's okay."
"You don't know that Mark." Meredith said just above a whisper.
Mark didn't reply as Cindy came down the stairs and they all went out to the car. Mark quickly drove them to the hospital.
Mark sat holding Cindy while Meredith paced the floor in front of them. "Mer come sit down."
"I'm fine." Meredith replied as she started walking faster. And the thoughts that were running through her head got louder. 'He has to be okay…he can't die…he's all I have.' She kept hearing over and over.
After a while Meredith heard footsteps and looked up to see Michael and Ellis walking towards them. Her breath caught in her throat because she couldn't read their expressions. She heard Mark and Cindy stand and she saw them walk past her to meet them. Meredith took a step but the rest of her body wouldn't move and all the sudden she couldn't breathe at all. She put her hands to her chest and gasped. Within seconds she felt an arm around her and she looked up to see Mark as he led her towards the adults.
"No." Meredith whispered.
Michael walked up to his wife and embraced her. "He'll be okay Cindy."
"Michael where is he?"
"They are prepping him for surgery."
"What's wrong?"
"There's internal bleeding. They need to go in right away to stop it."
"Who is going to do the surgery?" Mark asked still holding Meredith close to him.
Ellis stepped forward. "I have my resident scrubbing in as we speak. I'll make sure that an intern keeps you updated." Ellis glanced to Meredith before turning and walking back down the hall.
"WAIT!"
Ellis stopped and turned to see Meredith running towards her with the Shepherds standing where she had left them.
Meredith had pulled herself from Marks arms and ran towards her mother. Once she reached her she stopped and took a breath before speaking. "Please…please do the surgery."
"The resident can handle it and I have paperwork to catch up on."
"Please. He needs the best and you are the best. I haven't ever asked you for anything but I'm asking you for this. Please do the surgery. I need him to be alright."
Ellis saw the desperation in her daughter's eyes and for a moment she felt something however it didn't last long. She looked towards the Shepherds and then back to Meredith. "If I do the surgery…you come home."
Meredith snapped her head up and looked Ellis straight in the eyes. "What?"
"If I do the surgery, you will move back home and stay away from the Shepherds."
"But…"
"That's it. Take it or leave it. You are not their responsibility and you belong at home. Ray misses you."
Meredith felt a chill run down her spine when she heard his name. For a moment she turned her head and looked toward the Shepherds who had become her family and realized that she owed this to them. She needed to make sure that they got their son back. She looked back to her mother and whispered. "Okay."
"What was that?"
"Okay, I'll move back to your house just please make sure Derek makes it through this okay."
Ellis nodded and continued down the hall. Meredith made her way back to the Shepherds and numbly sat down. Cindy made her way over to the chair next to her and put her arm around her. "He'll be okay Mer."
"I know, I made sure of it."
Michael stood in front of her and asked, "What do you mean?"
"Ellis is going to do the surgery. She told me she would do the surgery."
"How?"
Meredith looked up towards Michael and answered. "It doesn't matter. What matters is that she is going to make sure that Derek makes it through this surgery."
Michael saw the sadness in her eyes and knew it had to do with Derek being in surgery however there was another part of him that was telling him there was more to it. Instead of asking more questions he decided to let her be and took a seat next to Cindy taking her hand in his while they waited.
After what felt like days Ellis finally made her way down the hall towards the Shepherds where she told them Derek had made it through surgery and was being moved to a room. While the Shepherds embraced each other, Ellis pulled Meredith away from the group and spoke softly to her. "I expect you home within the next week. He should be able to go home by then. Don't make me regret this."
Meredith couldn't speak; instead she just nodded, as she watched Ellis walk away.
Meredith honored her agreement. Derek had made a full recovery and by the time he was home she had moved back to her mother's house. She left a note thanking Cindy and Michel for their hospitality and wished them well.
In school she made it a point to stay away from Derek as much as possible which was pretty easy because this year they did not have any classes together however Mark, Izzie, and Alex continued to ask why she had moved back home and were always asking if she was okay. She knew she was a bad liar but she didn't have a choice so she would put on her smile and just tell everyone she was fine. Derek would try to corner her during lunch or after school however she was very careful to stay away knowing it would be even harder to keep her promise to her mother if she talked to him.
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Meredith had been back with Ray and Ellis for 3 months now. Ellis was rarely home and when she was she and Ray spent the time either yelling at Meredith or watching old home movies of Jason. Meredith did her best to stay away from Ray however it wasn't working. In the months she had been back Ray had on many occasions hurt her. The hardest part was making sure that his blows were not to her face or neck so she could cover them up when they bruised. At school she could tell that her friends wanted to ask her how things were going however she continued to dodge them.
It was the Friday morning after Thanksgiving. Meredith woke up to silence. Assuming Ray had went to work she slowly got up, showered, and then made her way downstairs. When she entered the living room she saw Ray sitting on the couch watching the TV. On the screen she saw Jason. At seeing him her heart dropped. He always liked the holidays and this would be the third year that he was gone and that she spent Thansgiving alone however it still felt like yesterday. She turned to walk back out when she heard a voice.
"It's your fault."
Meredith stopped and turned back around and came face to face with Ray.
"He should be here not you."
She felt tears come to her eyes. "I know Ray."
"You are nothing Meredith. It's your fault he's gone."
"I know Ray." Meredith tried not to make him anymore mad smelling the alcohol on his breath she knew he was drunk and from the looks of the cans on the table he had been drinking for awhile.
"You are nothing Meredith."
"Where is mom?"
"She's at the hospital. She doesn't want to be around you."
"I know Ray."
Instead of saying anything further Ray raised his hand and quickly brought it down across her face. Meredith stumbled backwards but didn't fall. She turned to go up the stairs however he grabbed her and pulled her back to him.
Everything after that happened to fast. Ray started to hit her multiple times making it hard for Meredith to block his blows. Finally she was able to get free of him and she ran up the stairs. As she reached the top she felt him behind her. She was able to get a few steps away from the top step before he grabbed her again and hit her. She fell to the ground and before she knew what happened he had kicked her. She looked up quickly and saw him at the top of the steps watching her as she realized that she was now falling down the stairs. Once she hit the ground, everything went black.
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The night of Derek's accident was the second worst night of my life. Of course the night Jason died was the first. I know it was a dream but it was so real. If Mark hadn't been there I would have walked all the way home to check on Derek even though I knew he wasn't there. The look on Cindy's face, I knew right when she found out that Derek was in the hospital. Not knowing if he would be okay or not was terrible. I kept thinking about how much I cared for him and how so far in my life anyone who I have cared for has left me so I was expecting Derek to do the same.
When my mom said that a resident was going to do the surgery I knew I couldn't let that happen. It wasn't that I didn't believe they could do the surgery because I knew they were my mom's resident and there was no way she would let anyone in the OR that couldn't do the job well but they were not my mother. So I did the only thing I could. I asked her to do the surgery.
Ellis Grey is not someone who does anything out of the goodness of her heart so of course there was an ultimatum. For me there was no choice, whatever she asked I would do as long as I knew he was okay. I didn't even think about what moving back meant for myself because it didn't matter.
I remember Ray hitting me and falling down the stairs. The only thing I was thinking about the entire time Ray was hitting me was the Shepherds. Knowing that Thanksgiving was the day before I knew the entire family would be there and they were the picture perfect family as far as I was concerned so part of me had wanted to be there to find out what it was really like to have a holiday celebration with a family. As I was falling down the stairs however I knew that I was not meant to spend the holiday with a family, after all my family as people would say was defiantly not celebrating this year or any year.
And as always, the other shoe defiantly dropped.