Franceasca. That name cut like a knife. Meredith couldn't even focus on her work. All she could think about was Derek. He denied it. If there were nothing going on, he wouldn't have denied it. Franceasca is not a name you pull out of thin air. She had obviously caught him. And instead of being a man about it, he was trying to cover it up.
"Dr. Shepherd, are you going to work, or do you enjoy being in fantasy-land all day?" Dr. Burke asked.
"I'm sorry, Sir." She said as she straightened up and focused on her task.
"Is something on your mind? Because I'd rather you leave your personal issues in the scrub room like I do." He pointed out as he went to work on his patient's heart.
"Okay, Sir." She said as she struggled to focus. But how do you focus? What do you do when you think your husband may be cheating? Derek wasn't a cheater. And she wouldn't have thought so. Even when Alex pointed out the obvious, she still had a glimmer of hope. But Derek seemed to confirm her fears.
The surgery was long, and her back was screaming at her. She wasn't that pregnant, and yet at the end of the day, her body was yelling. She could only imagine how bad it was going to get. She had managed to avoid Derek at all costs. Earlier, she had been ready for the battle of a lifetime. She was going to tell him how it was. But as the day went on, she lost her nerve. Now she wasn't ready. She was in her favorite place, the land of avoidance.
Dr. Burke insisted that Meredith stay at the hospital. She was on-call, and she wasn't too upset about it. She looked at her cell phone and noticed several missed calls from Derek. She wasn't calling him back. A small vindictive part of her was hoping that he was suffering just as she was. She nearly cried out in relief when Dr. Bailey suggested that she go to an on-call room and catch up on her sleep. As she neared, she heard him.
"Mer-" He said from down the hall. She heard him, and it just made her walk faster. She had to get away. "Meredith!" He shouted as he began to walk faster. It only made her walk faster. "Dr. Shepherd." He finally resorted to.
Oh, now he thinks he can be my boss. I'll call her Dr. Shepherd and she'll stop. Well screw you, Derek. Screw you.
She quickly walked into the on-call room. The door was shut and locked just seconds before he made it there. He ran his fingers through his hair, and stood there at the door. Staring. Just staring.
What the hell have I done? And how do I fix it?
Meredith crashed onto the bed. She couldn't do this at the moment. The stress was too much. There was only one thing she wasn't sure of, if confronting him was better, or worse than avoiding. At the moment, avoiding was sounding perfect.
"Meredith." She heard him say outside the door. "What's wrong?" He asked dumbly. He stood there stewing. "Damn-it, Meredith, open the door." He said angrily. "I thought we were done with avoidance." He shouted. He looked over her shoulder, to see people looking. He sighed and walked off. He had an idea.
He left. I cannot believe he left. Fifteen words. Fifteen words and he gave up. He walked away. This is not the man I married, and definitely not the man I fell in love with.
She heard a key in the door. A key. Only maintenance had keys for doors. She rolled over and looked at the door. Anticipating it's opening. She was shocked when she looked up, and there stood Derek. She couldn't see him clearly. Just the outline of his hair. His hair always stood out.
"Thanks, Joe." She heard him muttered before walking in and shutting the door. She felt him sit down beside her. "So this is how it's going to be?" He asked firmly.
"What?" Meredith snapped back. Even in the dark, she could tell his eyes were dark and angry.
"Avoiding. Accusing me of whatever it was you were trying to accuse me of. In front of my boss, and father-in-law, no less. And then you stormed off. The rest of the day you spent ducking in doorways and running away. She basically you can yell at me, at your connivence, but you don't wait for the explanation." He said strongly.
"Okay, fine, Derek." She said nastily as she sat up. "Who is she? Because I don't want to hold anyone back from happiness. If you want her, you can have her. But you could have went about it a little better."
"Who is who?" Derek asked with confusion.
"Franceasca." She snapped.
"Franceasca?" He said in confusion. Then his face formed a smile. "Oh! Frannie." He said with a chuckle. "That's what this is about?"
"Yeah!" She said as she rolled her eyes and shook her head.
"Frannie is-- Oh my god, this is hilarious. Frannie is Addison's sister." Meredith's face dropped. She was so embaressed.
"Addison's sister?" She asked in confusion.
"Yes, Franceasca. It didn't dawn on me. She's always been Frannie to me." He said as he cocked his head.
"Crap..." She muttered as she turned her head away and looked at the wall.
"Meredith..." He said as he placed his hand on her shoulder.
"Okay, then why are you talking to her? What's going on? You had a lunch date at "your spot". What the hell is going on?" She asked as her anger began brewing once again.
"You read the note?" He said with a little bit of shock. "You went through my planner..." He said in disbelief.
"I want to make sure you didn't have a surgery scheduled. I'll be it after I saw that she called your cellphone. So yes, I was snooping. I trust you, I just don't-- I'm hormonal, and angry, and I hurt. I hurt all of the time because your demon spawn are tearing me up inside." She rambled. His smiled just grew, he loved it when she rambled, he found it charming.
"Well, Frannie and I did meet for lunch to discuss our plans. She called it "our spot" because we have met for lunch there three times, and every time we get the same table. We are friends. Not even friends, hell when I was married to Addison, she hated me. We are business partners." Derek explained as rubbed Meredith's arm.
"Business partners?" Meredith asked with surprise. "What do you mean? What business?"
"I didn't want to tell you before. I was afraid it would fall through and you would be disappointed. Jack Hudson and I are going into business together, along with Frannie. Jack had this idea to open a private practice, he confronted me awhile back. So that is why I was talking to Frannie. She is in charge of the business end." Derek explained.
"You're going into a private practice? When the hell were you going to tell me? When you walked out of Seattle Grace and never returned?" She asked with hurt in her eyes.
"Lay back." He told her.
"You're getting stressed. Lay down." He said. She laid back and he pulled her shoes off and began rubbing her feet.
"I was going to tell you tonight. I was going to cook dinner. And then this happened. This is a good thing, Mer. I will have a lot more time to spend with you and Anna. I will have a limited amount of cases..." He explained. She closed her eyes and enjoyed her much needed foot rub.
"Derek, a private practice isn't a joy ride. The insurance is out of this world. And you will have rounds. We have three hospitals in this area, you will probably have to round at all three. And you hate Jack Hudson." She reasoned as she opened her eyes and looked at him.
"I don't hate Jack-- Okay, I dislike him. Apparently he has realized that I am better than he is. He needs my name on the door." Derek boasted.
"You are an arrogant ass." Meredith said with a smile.
"He practically begged me. His offer was amazing. Five a year, and he would cover the majority of the hours. I told him that I needed to be home with my family, and he said that was fine. He is unattached. His job is his life. It will work out perfectly. It is going to be the foremost Neurology center in the Northwest. This is a good thing, Mer. I promise." Derek told her as he looked into her eyes.
"Is this what you want?" She asked as she sat up.
"If it means more time with you, which is does...Yes, this is exactly what I want." He said with a smile.
"Then you need to do it." She said as she leaned in and kissed him softly. "But I am going to miss the on-call room sex."
"I gave Richard my notice today. I have a month left of service." He said. "So, we will need to take advantage of it while I'm still here." He said with a smile.
"Yes, we will." She said with a dirty smile.
"And would you like to do that now?" He asked as he raised his eyebrows.
"Yes, I would." She said as she pounced on him. He flew back onto the bed with a smile on his face.
"Crap, Mer." He said in shock as she began ripping his clothes off. Her mouth began sucking and nipping his chest. He gasped as she bit his shoulder hard. "Shit!" He shouted and leaned up. She pushed him back down on the bed, and ripped his scrub pants and boxers off. He gasped as she took him onto his mouth. She hastily began sucking. She ran her teeth up and down his shaft, it's head far back in her throat. She felt him grab her head as he pumped his hips. She could feel him begin to pulsate.
"Shit...I'm...shit." He moaned as he felt his climax coming. She began to increase her suction. She could feel him growing in her mouth. "Fuck...I'm...Oh god..." He moaned as he released in her mouth. He laid there for a moment, coming down from his high. "Thank you..." He muttered. She smiled as she sat up, and pulled off her scrub top, revealing her swollen breasts.
"Wow..." He whispered as he reached around her and ran his hands down her soft skin. His hands nimbly worked on her bra clasp. He smiled as he pulled it off. Pregnancy was agreeing with her, and he was liking it. He tenderly grasped her breasts, grabbing a handful in each hand. She leaned back and moaned. She began untying her scrub pants.
"I need you." She said with a smile. He could see that her eyes were dark with desire. He slowly pushed her onto her back. He leaned forward, his mouth trailing down her body. He gently nipped and sucked her breasts.
"Now, Derek." She said with haste. He looked up at her with a smile. His mouth quickly moved down.
"God you're wet..." He muttered as he moved his tongue around in all the right spots. She grabbed the bed sheets as she felt herself starting to throb. His tongue continued to swirl.
"Oh god..." She muttered as she released. He began sucking harder as her orgasm took over. "Oh..." She moaned as she laid there. Derek smiled as he came back up, kissing her deeply. Meredith ran her hand down his shaft. "I need you inside me." She told him forcefully.
"Already?" He said with a smirk.
"Now, Derek." She said as she pulled him to her. "Now." He quickly pushed her knees up to her chest and entered her with haste. "Oh god..." She said softly. He paused and looked into her eyes. He missed this. Not the sex. It was the time together. It was the passion. That moment when they looked into her eyes and knew that everything was the way it was meant to be. "Come on!" She shouted. "What the hell are you doing?"
"I- Uh-" He quickly pounded into her. It was perfect. It was always perfect. He needed her.
"Harder!" She screamed as she felt herself nearing her peak. She gripped his back. Her nails dug deeply into his flesh. "Damn-it, Derek, harder! Deeper..." She moaned. He grunted as he threw his body, penetrating her deeper. "Oh...shit...I'm...Oh..." She moaned as she felt a rush of heat.
"Oh, god...Mer...oh baby..." He groaned as he released inside of her.
"Thank you..." She muttered as she rolled over, looking at the top bunk.
"That was amazing." He said as he laid there panting. "I love you..."
"I love you, too." She returned softly. An hour ago, she thought she was done. She was convinced it was all over. And now she laid there, thanking god she was wrong.
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Meredith was able to sleep through the night. There were no emergencies from the pit that needed surgery. Dr. Burke's patient remained stable through the night. She was happy to have Derek there beside her, even if it was in the on-call room on a bunk bed. She rolled over and smiled at him as she awoke.
"Der-" She whispered as she shook him awake.
"Hmm Mmm..." He moaned loudly. He opened his eyes with a smile. "You are amazing." He said with a smile.
"I've been told that a time or two." She said as she leaned in and kissed him softly.
"I think we only got a couple hours of sleep." He said with a satisfied smile. She slowly pulled herself out of the bed and stood up.
"I think that would be fairly accurate, considering I am physically unable to walk." She said as she limped to the restroom.
"It's not my fault you're so damn flexible." He laughed.
"Maybe not, but that doesn't mean you have to push it to the limits." She shouted from the restroom. "And your stamina is slightly rediculous." That just made his smile grow even wider. She slowly emergerged from the bathroom.
"And you better take advantage of it while you can. Your children will be requiring a bit more space and I probably won't be able to fit in the bunk bed." She said with a laugh.
"And it will be sexier than ever." He said with a smile.
"I have rounds." She said softly as she bent down and kissed him. "And I love you."
"I love you too." He said as he watched her walk out, ever so gingerly. She headed to the locker room to meet the other interns. Derek quickly dressed himself, and headed out to the hallway. He had a surgery scheduled.
The interns followed Dr. Bailey from room to room. Meredith was in a better place than she had been the day before. And the all night long sex that she had enjoyed last night was no downer, either. She listened as each intern present various cases. Finally they arrived to the neuro patient of the day. The woman was sitting in her bed, Derek by her side, watching the t.v.
"O'Malley, you present." Miranda Bailey said loudly.
"Shh!" Derek said loudly,
"Dr. Shepherd-" Miranda said loudly.
"Shut up!" He said. His patient pointed to the t.v. Meredith looked at the screen, and her heart stopped.
"Oh my god." She muttered as she crossed the room and latched onto him.
They both watched. The interns and Dr. Bailey soon realized what was going on. They took a minute to watch, themselves. They were getting ready to say the verdict. In a few minutes, they would know what was going to happen. They would know if their lives were about to change. Meredith held onto Derek's hand a squeezed tightly. It's now or never...
This would have been up yesterday, but I only got 2 comments for chapter 84. I'm thinking you aren't too interested. So that's why I didn't rush...