Author's Note: Hey, y'all! Thanks for sticking with me while I went on a little hiatus. Leading up to the Superbowl, I couldn't post anything because that was all I was focusing on (Cough) #flyeaglesfly. Anyway, I'm still in love with this story and plan on giving y'all updates at least weekly. With that being said, I'm thinking about switching to write for a different TV show. If there are any Nashville fans out there that have any suggestions, I'd love to hear it. Shoot me a message! All right, enjoy. Love y'all.

"Daddy, are you sick?" Kyla leaned her head against her father's shoulder. "Last time we were here, you were sick."

Derek held onto his daughter and cringed a bit, "No, sweetie. I'm not sick." He made his way back down the hall he came from. "Meredith wasn't feeling well this morning, so she's here. The doctors are helping her."

"But, she's a doctor."

He smiled, "Yeah, she is, but she has to have other doctors help her." When they rounded the corner, Cristina and Lexie were chatting in the corner. Mark was scrolling at his phone, probably looking at nothing in particular.

"Uncle Mark!" Kyla beamed, almost jumping from her father's arms to run to Mark's side.

"Hey, kid!"

Kyla looked at him, her eyes falling on the boot on his foot, with crutches sitting right next to him. "You're sick, too? Daddy, why is everyone sick?"

Mark laughed, "I'm all better, now. This is just so I can walk for a few weeks, with some help. "You all right?" He glanced at his best friend.

"Yeah," He sat down, pulling his daughter back down on his lap. "So, where'd you run off too last night? I'm supposed to be taking care of you." Derek had a small smirk playing on his lips.

Mark glanced at Lexie, who just pretended that she hadn't heard anything. "I'm a big boy. I can take care of myself."

"That's debatable," He shook his head, leaning his head against the wall. "She's not going to be able to go to London."

"London?" Lexie clearly heard that statement.

Derek nodded, "We have a game there on Sunday. She was supposed to fly out in two days for some medical conferences. That means neither you, nor her are coming out there."

"You could always hangout with Zack," Mark chuckled, receiving questionable looks from both Cristina and Lexie.

"That's that guy you hit, right, Daddy?" Kyla looked up at him.

Derek shifted awkwardly. "I uh, yeah. And, I shouldn't have done that." Kyla just shrugged her shoulders, continuing to play games on her uncle's cell phone. "I wonder where she heard that one," He mumbled.

"That's not a hard one to figure out," Mark glanced at him. "Oh, that was you being sarcastic, wasn't it?"

"Bingo!"

x.x.x

As the two hour mark hit, Derek was getting anxious. Cristina was pulled into an emergency surgery. Lexie was sleeping, with her head in Mark's lap. Kyla was fast asleep as well, "I don't think I've seen you cuddle in years."

He laughed, "Nothing happened."

"You sure?"

"We stayed up talking all night. I didn't want to wake you up and get yelled at, so I said we could just go to my apartment," Mark glanced down at the girl sleeping against him. "I don't know. It was kinda nice to talk and not just… hook up. I don't know."

Derek shook his head, "It must be a Grey thing." He perked up, seeing Meredith's surgeon rounding the corner.

"Mr. Shepherd, she's asking for you."

"Go, I got Ky."

Derek jumped up, falling into step with Doctor Stewart. "She did well. We'll have her spend at least one night here and then we'll see what tomorrow brings. She's still going to be a bit groggy from the anesthesia. She's in there."

"Thank you," Derek found his seat, right next to her bedside. "Hey, you."

"Hey," She looked over at him, her voice still a bit raspy. "You stayed."

He interlocked his fingers with hers. "Of course, I stayed."

"I just thought you'd have to go because of Kyla."

He smiled at the fact she remembered. "She's with Mark in the lobby. How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," She shrugged. "Should I even ask what dumb things I said before I went into surgery?" Derek didn't know how to respond initially. Should he say that she told him she loved him? "Oh, god. What did I say?"

"Well, you told me you were high, then had Cristina confirm it for you. You also told me that you'd remember everything you were going to say. You told me you loved me," He rushed the last part of his sentence.

She immediately started to turn a bright shade of red. "I did?"

He took a breath, "Then, I told you I loved you, too." Derek gave her hand a gentle squeeze. "And I meant it."

"Y-You did?" She got lost in his eyes for a moment, until she was cut off from his lips on hers.

"I did. I love you, Meredith." He smiled, pecking her lips once again before returning to his seat.

"I love you, too, Derek," She looked up at him.

"Move in with me?" He blurted out. Derek couldn't read her expression. As much as he tried, he couldn't being to decipher what she was thinking. "Think about it. You don't have to make a decision right now."

"Okay," Meredith nodded. "Will you… lay with me?"

"I won't hurt you?"

Meredith just shook her head. Derek kicked his cleats off, really hoping his feet didn't smell too bad. He laid down with her, wrapping an arm around her. Meredith played with the strings on his sweatshirt. "I can't go to London."

Derek played with her hair, "I know, baby. Do you want me to call Alton?"

"I'll call in tomorrow," She yawned. "Stupid, fucking appendix. Well, I mean, at least I'm not pregnant, right?"

He chuckled. "Yes, that's a good thing."

Meredith looked up at him, "Derek, I'll be okay. You should take Kyla home and go relax."

He kissed the top of her head. "Don't worry, I'll texting you all night like a love-sick teenager."

"You better," She smiled.

Derek reluctantly got out of the bed, kissing his girlfriend one more time. "I love you." He headed back down the hall, picking up her daughter. "You ready to go home, sweetie?"

"Can I see Meredith?"

"You can see her when you get home from school tomorrow, okay? She needs to get her rest. Mark, are you coming back to the apartment?" He looked at his friend, who nodded. "I'll meet you in the lobby?"

"Yeah," He pulled himself up, grabbing his crutches. Once Derek and Kyla rounded the hall, he proceeded with his next move. "I figure you'll spend some time with Meredith."

Lexie held her bag and nodded. "Yeah, until she falls asleep, probably."

Mark nodded. He paused, looking at the woman, who was recently making him question himself. He grabbed her chin gently and gave her a quick, but wanting kiss. "Call me later?"

Lexie blushed, with a quick nod. She was speechless, so the best move was for her to almost run down the hall and into her sister's room. "Hey, Lex."

"How are you?" Lexie tried her best to not show her expression, and catch her breath at the same time.

Meredith shrugged her shoulder, "I'm okay. I don't really want to spend the night here. Can you distract me? Please?"

Lexie sat down in the chair, next to her bed and put her feet up. Well, so much for hiding that. "Mark just kissed me."

"Is that the code word we're using?" She raised an eyebrow at her sister. "And how was this kiss?"

"No, seriously. It literally just happened. We just spent the night talking last night. Mark said Derek would kick his ass if we woke you guys up." Lexie was flustered. She couldn't stop rambling. "So, yeah. He kissed me."

"Oh, shit, okay. And?"

"I don't know. You know I don't date professional athletes," Lexie shook her head in the most serious way until both her and her sister fell into a fit of laughter. "I just moved here."

"Your point?" She shook her head. "Lexie, I know you. I just want you to be careful, okay?"

"I can't promise anything," She smiled.

"Oh, I know."