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Once again, hope you like this one just as much!

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Chapter 6

"Derek?" Dr. Taylor didn't hide his surprise well. "We weren't expecting you for at least another 40 minutes."

"I know. I just wanted to finish this now if that's okay."

He took the same chair he had occupied minutes earlier.

Dr. Taylor looked to Amelia, who still had a look of surprise plastered on her face, for her thoughts. At her slight nod, Dr. Taylor indicated for Derek to begin.

"I'd…uhmm…like to, uhhhh…apologize. For my reaction earlier." He leaned forward and placed his elbows on his knees.

"I told myself I wouldn't snap at you and I obviously failed. But I'm going to try here. Because you're my sister and no matter what, I love you. It's why I act this way. I can't stand to see you hurting. And it frustrates me that if you hadn't put yourself in certain positions, you wouldn't be in this pain. I can't promise we're not going to butt heads, but I'm going to try to be here for you however you need."

Tears were visibly forming on Amelia's eyes as she listened to her brother. A broken sob erupted from her throat as she got up to move to Derek.

Seeing her actions, Derek immediately rose to gather her weeping form in his arms. She felt as small as she looked and the thought made a knot form in his chest. He tried to speak but, for once in his life, he was at a loss for what to say. Thankfully it didn't seem to matter to Amelia, who seemed more than content to stay wrapped in Derek's arms as he rocked her slowly.

Her sobs eventually turned into soft sniffles but she made no move to leave his embrace.

But for the first time since he woke up this morning, Derek actually believed that everything would be okay.

By the time Derek emerged from the mediation room a second time, Meredith was back in her previous seat next Carolyn. The two women were busy cooing and awing over the pictures of Zola that Meredith had on her phone. Derek strode over to them and collapsed exhaustedly in the chair beside his wife.

At the sound of Derek's entrance Carolyn returned the phone to Meredith and they looked expectantly to the man running is hands over his face.

"Derek, say something!"

Derek smiled behind his hands. His wife's impatience was nothing if not amusing.

"She cried, I listened. Not much to tell."

He looked drained. His eyes held a weary sheen and his hair was more disheveled than he probably realized. Meredith decided it'd best to wait until he had a chance to process the day's events himself before pushing for more information.

Carolyn had other plans.

"That is not what she meant, young man, and you know it. You can't come storming out like a crazed man halfway through talking to your sister and not expect there to be questions."

"I'm telling you, there's not much to tell. I went back in, apologized for reacting the way I did, and told her I was here for her. She cried, I hugged her, and we both left."

Both of the women to his right were giving him skeptical looks but kept quiet.

"So what happens now? Before I left she told me to ask you," Derek leaned over to question his mother.

"I'm taking her back home with me for awhile. According to Addison, she'll still have a job waiting for her in LA when's she's ready, but she needs to get better first. Medically she's clean but emotionally, she's nowhere near ready to go back to practicing medicine."

Derek nodded his head slowly, clearly running some ideas of his own through his head.

"Your mom and were talking earlier when you went back in," Meredith started tentatively. "And we thought that if you wanted, we could go to New York with them for awhile. We have the time off and this would give you more of a chance to be with Amelia."

"And you can see the rest of your sisters a couple days before you'd have to leave," his mother interjected. "Amelia told me that she wanted a few days before 'the troops swarmed' as she put it."

"If you want, Derek, we could go," Meredith offered with her head cocked, searching his face for any sign of what he was thinking.

"Why don't you two go back to your hotel and talk about it," Carolyn suggested, getting to her feet. "Despite her best efforts to fool me otherwise, your wife is exhausted and you don't look any better. Take a cab back to your hotel, get some lunch, get some sleep, and you can decide what you want to do later tonight. Our plane doesn't leave until noon tomorrow so you may even be able to wait until tomorrow morning to decide on anything."

Derek rose to his feet and looked down at Meredith. She offered him a small smile and grasped his that offered hand that helped her to her feet as well. She didn't relinquish his hand from hers but instead kept it tightly held between her own.

"Sounds good to me," he said with his eyes still on Meredith.

"Good," Carolyn replied.

"What are your plans for the rest of the day?" Meredith questioned.

"I'm going to go have lunch with my daughter and sit with her for a bit. Then I'll probably just go back to my hotel and relax."

"Would you like to meet for dinner, Mom?" Derek asked as he was hugging his mother goodbye.

"That sounds lovely, Derek, but only if you two are up for it," she said with a final nurturing squeeze to his shoulders.

Back at the hotel room, the couple immediately collapsed into the plush king-sized bed that took up the majority of the room. Neither said anything for a few minutes as their bodies slowly started to release some of the tension brought on by the day's events.

"We should steal this bed," came a muffled voice beside Derek. He shifted the arm covering his eyes so he could incline his head towards her voice. He chuckled at the sight of Meredith face down in one of the many pillows gracing the bed, her hair fanned out in all directions.

"I'm serious. You think I'm kidding but this bed might be the greatest thing I've ever encountered. I love this bed. This bed is the love of my life."

"You love the bed?" He raised himself up on his elbows. "You love this bed more than me?" he joked, rolling over to her and pulling her into his arms.

"Yes," she mumbled with her eyes still closed as she shifted her head from the pillow to the crook o his neck.

"Oh really?" he continued, still highly amused by his tired wife.

"Can the bed do this?" He tilted his head to press a gentle kiss to her lips. "Or this?" he whispered before capturing her lips with a little more force. "How bout this?" he questioned softly as he rolled them both until he was hovering over her and kissing her soundly.

"Hmmm…No, I guess it can't," Meredith replied with a wicked grin. "I suppose I'll just have to keep you then," she teased.

"Well that's good," he said with a smile reserved only for her.

He kissed her one more time before rolling back over and pulling her against his chest. As he closed his eyes and waited for sleep he lovingly ran a hand along her back.

"Just in case I haven't said it yet," he whispered into the darkness, "thank you for everything, Mer. I couldn't have gone through today without you."

"You're welcome, Derek." Her voice hinted that she was already half asleep and probably wouldn't remember this conversation once she woke again.

'That's alright,' thought Derek. 'I don't mind telling her again and again.'

You know the drill ;)
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