The Importance of Trust

Chapter 2

"Hey," Christina responded quietly to the scared looks on both Meredith's and April's faces.

Cristina was a few minutes behind Derek and Meredith by the time she stepped into his room. Meredith and April had just finished settling him and making him comfortable. Meredith pulled up a chair next to her husband's bed and resumed holding his hand. After all the violence and stress that all of them had just experienced, it was nice to have a minute of peace in a quiet patient room.

Sitting in a chair against the wall, Cristina took in her surroundings. Derek's vitals were strong and steady, and his monitor was currently the only noise in the room since both April and Meredith had stopped crying. Cristina took a deep breath and looked out the window. It was dusk now; several hours had passed since Derek was shot in front of them in broad daylight.

Now that the tension in her body had somewhat disappeared and Cristina knew that she was safe and the people she loved were safe, she looked at Meredith again. "Oh My God!" Cristina felt the tension in body return as she jumped out of her chair to approach Meredith.

"What?" Meredith and April both said in panicked voices.

"Mer, there is blood stains running down your pants! What happened? Are you okay?" Meredith stood up to face Cristina. Meredith eyes closed as Cristina put her hands on Meredith shoulders. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah," Meredith said simply. "Yeah, I'm okay. Everything is okay."

"What Happened?" Christina repeated, shaking Meredith a little. Meredith's eyes opened. "What Happened, Mer? Why do you have blood stains running down your pants?"

Meredith's eyes met Cristina's eyes and instantly she knew. Of course she knew. Cristina's hands wrapped around Meredith and Cristina could feel Meredith's hands around her, returning as much pressure as Cristina was putting in.

"I'm Okay," Meredith repeated. The pair stood silently for one more moment before they both released each other.

"You need to go clean up." Cristina demanded.

"No" Meredith argued. "I am not leaving him."

"I will stay with him," Cristina promised. "April, please take Meredith to the bathroom so that she can clean up." Cristina looked at April and she nodded.

"I am not leaving his side," Meredith said.

"Meredith. You don't want him to wake up and see you like that. Everything is safe now. Derek is safe. I am safe. The hospital is safe. I will let you know as soon as he wakes up. Go clean up. Take a moment for yourself and give me a moment of peace." Cristina demanded of Meredith in the most loving tone she could.

"Cristina…" Meredith begged.

"Please…" Cristina looked at Meredith and Meredith nodded, understanding. Meredith kissed Derek on the forehead and gave him one last look before leaving. April followed Meredith out the door. When the door shut, Cristina walked over to the light switch and turned off the overhead, only allowing the natural dusk light to fill the room. Cristina took Meredith's seat next to Derek and closed her eyes, finally able to enjoy the quiet.

The door opened and Cristina sat up in alert, tension filling her body again.

"Cristina." Owen voice was tortured with worry. He closed the door behind him after realizing that she there to enjoy the quiet. He pulled up a chair next to her and the pair sat together in the quiet. While Cristina's eyes closed once again, Owen couldn't keep his eyes off of her, checking again and again if she was okay.

"Where's Meredith?" He finally asked her, breaking their silence.

"Changing. Hopefully taking a shower. There was blood all over her legs," Cristina said.

She is so strong, Owen thought as he said, "Cristina, I am so sorry-"

Cristina turned to him, their eyes searching each other. Owen brought his good hand to touch her.

"I can't do this right now," Cristina whispered as a tear spilled from her left eye.

"Cristina," Owen begged once again in his tortured voice.

"Please," She cried as another tear escaped. "Can you please just go? I need a few minutes to myself." Owen's hand went to her face to wipe her tears drops away. Cristina's hands went to his, slowly removing his hand from her face. "Please."

They held hands for one more second and then Owen stood up from his chair and quietly went to the door. With one more look at each other, Owen silently left the room as the tears ran down Cristina's face even faster.

It seemed like hours passed before Derek's eyes opened.

"Hey," Derek whispered to Cristina who was still quietly sitting in the dark. She had finally stopped crying though her face was still tear-stained.

"Hey," Cristina responded, a slight half-smile emerging on her face. After what seemed like hours, but what Cristina knew only minutes passed from when first sat down in the chair, she rose to check Derek's vitals.

"Meredith…" Derek desperately asked.

"She's fine. They got the shooter. Everything is okay. The hospital is safe. Meredith went to change. I told her I would go find her when you woke up," Cristina said this almost as a question, not sure if she should leave Derek side quite yet.

"Meredith…" Derek repeated. The yearning and desperation in his voice seem to give Cristina the answer she was looking for.

But still she waited for a moment longer.

"Okay. Okay. I will go find Meredith. But, you have to promise me something," Cristina and Derek, weak as he was, locked eyes. "Seriously, no funny business McDreamy. I don't know where the nurses are at the moment. Promise?"

"Promise" Derek firmly said.

With his promise, Cristina took one last look at the dark room and open the door momentary to let some light in as she walked into the hallway. She tried to close the door as quietly as she could as she stepped into the hall. She felt more comfortable leaving him once she saw that police officers were everywhere.

Somehow, Cristina walked passed the police without them stopping her for a statement into the Resident locker room. Meredith was there as she had hoped.

"Mer," Cristina said finally smiling.

"Huh?" Meredith turned around to look at Cristina.

"Derek is asking for you."

"Okay," said Meredith as she sighed a breath of relief as Cristina went out of her sight.

The time alone watching Derek had allowed Cristina to recuperate enough for her to wonder where she could find Owen.