A/N: All I have to say about this chapter is that, well a horse gets shot…figuratively. Oh, and, sign this petition for EP and PD to be on a magazine cover. www. petol. org/ MerDer (delete the spaces).

Disclaimer: Promo…MerDer sex on a table…Chief Shepherd…hot. See, I wouldn't be overly excited if I owned the show because it'd be happening every freaking episode.

***

Meredith rushed down to the pit to answer the 9-1-1 page. She seemed to be the one every single doctor paged with any type of neuro consult because of Derek's absence. When he was there, it'd be spit between them but, for the day, she was alone with no surgeries on the board so she was plenty open for consult. "What do we got?"

"Corporal Steven Danforth. A tractor-trailer pushed his car off the side of the road. Lost consciousness in the field. Regained minimal consciousness en route and had one grand mal seizure," an ER resident told her.

"Page Hunt," called out Meredith.

"I'm here," said Owen Hunt, walking into the trauma room.

"Looks like he's hemoriging," said Meredith, picking up his eyelids and flashing her light in both eyes. "Get a CT and then prep OR 3. We got to go in."

"Page Torres," called Hunt. "Grey, look at the leg."

When Meredith looked down she saw his leg was broken and the bone was punctured through the skin. "Definitely page Torres," she murmured. "She can work when he's under."

Suddenly machines beeped. "He's tahycardic. Charge paddles to 300. Clear," she called.

Meredith shocked him once and his heart rate returned to normal. She let out the breath she'd been holding in. "Dr. Taylor," she called to the intern hovering in the corner. "Get him up to CT then scrub in."

He nodded eagerly, pushing the patient up to CT.

***

Meredith ran a hand through her hair as she pulled off her lavender scrub cap. She walked towards the waiting room to see if anyone showed up for Corporal Danforth. As she passed the nurses' station she noticed a man yelling at the nurses.

"Corporal Steven Danforth. D-A-N-F-O-R-T-H!" he exclaimed. "Give me some kind of news!"

"Sir," said Meredith gently.

"What?" he snapped, turning to face her.

"Corporal Danforth pulled through surgery. The next 24 hours are crucial but, he could wake up and be fine," she informed the worried man.

"Oh thank you. At least one person here isn't completely incompetent," he groaned. "When can I see my son?"

"He's in recovery right now. When they transfer him to the ICU, then you can visit for a short while."

"Thank you doctor."

"Of course," she nodded, walking away.

***

The next morning Meredith approached the Corporal's room. She'd been on call and was completely exhausted but when her shift ended at four she still had to go to Dr. Wyatt. But, before she could think about that she had to worry about the patient that if he still showed minimal brain function, he'd probably be on life support for the rest of his miserable life.

Before entering she quickly peered in and saw a young man dressed in uniform holding the Corporal's hand and he gave him a quick peck on the cheek followed by a longer one on his hand. Must be his boyfriend, Meredith thought to her self as she walked into the room.

"I'm Dr. Grey," she introduced herself.

"Corporal Lee Tanner ma'am," he replied, his grasp still tightly on Steven's hand. Meredith quickly examined Steven and her polite smile turned into a frown.

"What are you doing in here?" an angry voice asked from behind Meredith.

"Just visiting, sir," Lee told Steven's father.

"You're not family. Get out!"

"Yes sir," he responded, crestfallen as he exited the room.

"I know that seemed homophobic," Mr. Danforth told Meredith. "It's just…he's my son… my boy… "

Meredith nodded respectfully. "Mr. Danforth. I'm afraid your son is showing minimal brain activity and…"

"He'll be a vegetable for the rest of his life," he whispered sadly. "My wife died the same way."

"I'm very sorry," she said sincerely. "He left no indication if he wanted to be kept on life support so as his next of kin, it's your decision."

"He wouldn't want to be," assured her Mr. Danforth.

"Alright, some one will be back in a while," she said before stepping back out of the room to find Corporal Tanner sitting in a chair down the hall.

"I couldn't leave ma'am," he told her as she approached him. "He's the love of my life. I never told him. Is he…?"

"I'm very sorry…"

"You don't have to say it," he said, holding back tears as he walked away.

Meredith sighed and walked towards her next patient to round on.

***

"So, it was a normal day," concluded Meredith after regaling Dr. Wyatt of her day.

She sighed. "Meredith, you're obviously aren't getting this," breathed Dr. Wyatt. "Look, let me draw the parallels for you. The tragic patient dies alone while the love of his life is literally in the next room. That's you."

"I…no."

"Yes. It may not be exactly you but, generally speaking. It's you."

Meredith took a deep breath and stood to walk out of the office, a determination now coursing through her veins.

***

Derek sat back on Meredith's couch, staring at the door, waiting for her to get home. He'd figured after being on call she wouldn't drive out to the trailer so he went to her. But, it was seven at night, three hours after Meredith's shift ended and he was starting to think maybe she did head out to his trailer.

He stood up, grabbing his jacket and car keys before leaving the house and getting into his car to drive up to the trailer. He drove to the ferry, boarding then when it reached Bainbridge, disembarking.

Pulling up to his trailer he noticed Meredith's car next to where he usually parked. Derek walked over to the trailer and opened the door. "Meredith?" he called inside. There was no response. Stepping outside he noticed a glowing area on his cliff. With a perplexed look he walked towards the hill, smiling when he saw his best friend, surrounded by a heart made of candles.

"Stupid, corny, idiotic, I can't believe I did this," she mumbled to her self, staring at her phone and pacing. "Stupid, loser, son of a... I could be at home instead of… stupid brain man. "

"Meredith..." he said, moving towards her.

Looking up she scowled. "Where have you been?" demanded Meredith. "I've been waiting and waiting for you! And I did this stupid, embarrassing, humiliating, corny thing. And I was just gonna tell you that, I love you and this is humiliating, 'cause I'm here begging."

"Meredith," he tried to interrupt.

"Shut up," she told him. "I'm begging because, I love you. In a really really big, pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window, way that makes me hate you, love you. And, I think we can be extraordinary together rather than ordinary apart. And I wanna be…"

Derek smiled wider than he thought he ever did before. "Meredith," he interrupted forcefully. "Just shut up," smiled Derek, closing the final distance between them.

He placed both hands on each side of her face, pulling her towards him in a searing kiss. She responded, giving into him and placing her hands on each side of his face. Their tongues battled for control, caressing each other's mouths as they shared their first kiss. It was something they'd never felt before in a kiss.

When they finally broke away, breathless, Meredith smiled at him.

"You really love me?" she grinned.

"I do," he nodded.

"I…wow. I've been so scared to tell you and-"

"Me too," he interrupted. She giggled, kissing him again.

"Hmm," he sounded happily. "I have to go."

"What?" she asked, confused. "Why?"

"In order to kiss you the way I want to kiss you… in order to do more than kiss you. I need to speak to Rose. I want my conscience…clear. So, stay here, wait for me," he smiled, pressing their lips together once more before walking away from her. Derek walked down to his car with a huge smile on his face.

He loved her. She loved him.

But, telling Rose was not going to be what he considered easy. She hopefully wouldn't freak out and throw something at him. It was stupid on his part to even start anything with Rose when he was emotionally taken. Rose was nice enough but she'd never be Meredith.

Derek pulled up to Rose's building and walked up to her apartment. He knocked on the door and moments later it burst open. "Derek!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around his neck. He gently pushed her off and looked to the ground guiltily.

"Can I come in?" he murmured.

"Of course."

Derek followed her towards her couch and they sat down. "This isn't working Rose," he told her.

"What?" she asked, her lower lip quivering.

"I can't drag you along anymore."

"But…I love you."

"I don't love you…I'm sorry," he said as kindly as possible.

"No. You're dumping me for that slut aren't you?" she spat.

"Meredith isn't a slut," snapped Derek.

"Yes she is. Stealing another girl's boyfriend…slutty, trampy, hoe-like."

"I tried to do this nicely but you're making it too hard. So, it's over Rose. Goodbye."

As he turned away he heard Rose let out a scream. When he turned around to see what her expression was, a television remote flew at his head. Feeling a sharp pain Derek touched his forehead and looking at his fingertips he found them coated in crimson liquid. Looking at Rose in horror, he ran out of the apartment.

"Derek!" she called chasing after him. "Please, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I love you!"

"Stay away from me," he demanded, running down the stairs and into the car, his hand still firmly covering his head. Sitting in the driver's seat of his range rover, Derek turned on the car's lights and looked in the rearview mirror. The cut on his head was pretty deep and probably needed stitches. Since Rose's apartment wasn't too far from the hospital, Derek searched for his phone to call Meredith, sighing when he couldn't find it.

Hopefully it wouldn't take too long.

***

Meredith paced around the heart she'd made of candles that was now dull and almost extinguished. It'd been three hours since Derek left and it definitely shouldn't have taken him that long to break things off with Rose. So, her mind was starting to think that he either decided he wanted Rose and they were having sex or, he was in an accident. Neither sounded good to her.

But, three hours she'd been standing. He'd told her not to move and she hadn't. She should, but she hadn't. It was getting really cold and her legs were getting a bit tired. She picked up her phone to call Derek but, there was no answer. As she reached to slip her phone into her pocket, it started vibrating.

It was a text from Mark.

Mer, Derek hit in face. Lost his phone. Stitching him up. He'll be there soon. Don't worry.

Meredith sighed. Hit in the face didn't sound good. Neither did stitching him up. But he wasn't in a car crash or sleeping with Rose so, a few sutures were fine. She quickly cleaned up the candles before trudging back to the trailer and letting herself in.

Meredith curled up in Derek's bed with a blanket and one of his medical journals. It felt right to be with Derek. Not just as friends but really with him. They were boyfriend and girl friend or something. And most importantly best friends. No matter where their love relationship went, they'd always be best friends.

She heard a car pull up to the trailer and she smiled. He was back.

"Mer?" he called into the trailer.

"Back here!" she responded. When he came into sight she could see the tape covering his sutures on his forehead. "Are you okay?" asked Meredith, worriedly.

"I'm fine," he smiled, throwing his coat on a chair and sliding his shoes off.

"What happened?"

Derek jumped on to the bed, enveloping Meredith in his arms and kissing the top of her head. "Hi," he said, pressing a light kiss to her lips.

"Hi," she giggled, wrapping her arms around him. "So, what happened?"

"I broke it off with Rose, she freaked out, and threw a remote at my head."

"Wow," said Meredith, secretly laughing inside. "Is it bad?" she asked, running her fingers delicately over the tape.

"Mark said there shouldn't be a scar."

"Oh good…I mean, not that a scar would be horrible or I'd care… just…"

"Mer," he laughed. "I get it."

"Okay."

"I love you."

"I love you too."

Meredith latched her arms around Derek's neck, pulling him close to her and capturing his lips with her own. He let out a small moan as her tongue slid between his lips and she moved to straddle his waist. His arms slid around her petit waist and pulled her towards his chest.

Meredith gasped as Derek's cold hand slid under her shirt, running up and down her sides and traveling up towards her lace covered breasts.

"More thank kissing?" she asked against his lips.

"Hmmm. Definitely more than kissing," he replied huskily, pinning her beneath him.