~*~

Meredith stared open mouthed at the chaos before her. Everything moved in slow motion after that. The ambulance… the speeding car…. George saving Callie….using his vampire abilities. Christina closed her mouth, grabbing Meredith's arm.

"Oh god…. Now what? That little—"

"Yang! Why are you standin' there for? Go call Shepard, get moving!" Bailey ordered. "Grey, you're scrubbing in—hurry!"

"Y- yes B- Bailey!"

Meredith shot one last fleeting look at George, before spriting into the hospital.

~*~

Derek Shepard sighed, pulling off his mask, and looking down at the woman laying out on the table. Without another word, he began pulling off his gloves, throwing them uselessly into the garbage can, and began wiggling his way out of his scrub suit.

"Time of death… 2:30 pm….. damn…"

The young man driving the car had a major heart attack and had died at the scene. His body currently being put through the autopsy process. With Grey, Yang, and Bailey they had tried to save the woman with the abdominal hemmorage…. But after sixteen hours of surgery, there was little to be done. He hated whenever he lost a patient.

I can barely standup I'm so tired…but Yang and Grey… they don't even look that tired!

He looked over at the doctors, bent over the body, stitching it back up, and whispering to each other worriedly.

"Grey, Yang, can you finish up here? I've got to…inform the family…" Derek said. He saw Meredith's head lift up, and her eyes focused on him—and his heart nearly leapt out of his chest.

"I can take care of it, Dr. Shepard. We'll finish up the report and turn it in right after."

He watched as her slender hand picked up her tools, and began stitching up the wounds on the now dead body.

Derek nodded silently, and slipped out the door.

~*~

Christina watched as Derek slipped out the door. Meredith took a slow breath, eying her best friend while keeping her mind on the task before her.

"When this is over, I'm going to kill George! KILL HIM!" Christina vented. "Of all the stupid, things he could have done—"

"If he didn't act, Christina… Callie would have been a pancake by now…." Meredith added sharply, reaching for some more gauze.

"Really? One dead human or our secret exposed? Hm?" Christina ripped at the stitches, before starting a new trail. "Tell me you're not approving of this!"

"Carlisle was there too… plus, he's more level headed…. he can handle this."

" I'm more worried about George," Christina said after a moment. " I mean, the poor guy tries the hardest out of all of us… and then this happened."

"George is stronger than he appears to be." Meredith said, cutting the thread. "He'll bounce back form this, don't worry."

But secretly, inside her head she did.

~*~'

"I'm… SO STUPID! DAMN IT!"

George's hand curled into a fist, and he punched the locker with as much restrained force as he could possible muster. Alone in the break room, he, Izzie, and Alex were lounging. Izzie opened one eye from her meditative stance on the cot in the oncall room.

"Soo… how are you going to explain this?" she inquired.

"That was a pretty risky move, O'Malley…" Alex said, leaning back on the chair only on two legs. George sighed, running his hand s through his messy hair.

"I… I didn't think ok! I didn't think!"

"Gee, that's sorta a given, Capitan Obvious…" Alex muttered, knowing full well with enhanced hearing that George could hear him.

"Shut Up Alex!" George snarled, a growl snaking up his throat. His irises were dark, the dark bruises under his eyes evident.

"Dude…. How long has it been since you've …. Fed?" Alex said worriedly.

"I don't know… two weeks.." George muttered.

"Go and hunt- now!" Izzie said, both eyes snapping open. "You want to rampage on the humans in here? Have you lost your mind?"

"Animal blood doesn't always cut it… sometimes I want a human now and then!" George snarled.

Alex and Izzie looked at each other.

"Its Callie," Izzie said after a moment. "You want Callie's blood…. Oh George…"

"You know, eating your girlfriend isn't a kosher thing…." Alex quipped sarcastically.

George slumped against the wall. "I know… oh god, you don't think I know all of this? I love her..hell, I'm addicted to her… like Mer… to… McDreamy."

"Damn, I know Mer had the hots for Shepard… but she's….. drawn to his blood too?" Izzie asked, eyes shinning with the promise of a secret.

"Oh great…. She told me not to tell…." George muttered.

"Where are they anyways?" Alex asked, toying with an apple.

"Wrapping up that trauma from before. She and Yang apparently…" George said, falling into a plastic chair, burying his head in his hands.

"Where's Callie also?" Izzie asked. "I was too busy, and missed the thing…"

"I convinced Callie that she was merely seeing things…. And Carlisle talking helped tons. That's the second time he's came through for me." George muttered.

The door swung open, filling the room with artificial light. A shadow loomed in the doorway, arms crossed.

"George." Callie said sternly. "You and I… we need to talk."

George stood slowly, his feet felt like lead.

" Oh… about what?"

"You know what. Now move it."

"Yeesss….."

Izzie and Alex gazed at each other worriedly, as George dutifully followed her out.

~*~

" Do you ever get tired….?"

"Uhhh… sorta."

"Funny. You never look it."

Meredith was sitting down by her locker, rubbing the kinks out of her stiff shoulders. For all purposes of appearances mostly. Derek grinned down at her, before taking a seat next to her. His smile made her undead heart flutter, and she leaned in to kinks him briefly.

Please… don't ask about today! Please!

"You did good work today. Bailey wasn't sure if you could handle it, but you surprised us both."

"Well, unfortunately there wasn't much we could do…." Meredith said, closing her eyes, forcing herself not to inhale Derek's heady scent.

I can't lose control…but… his blood.. .calls to me…

"I heard that O'Malley got Callie out of a really sticky spot too. Good thing, I'd hate to have another tragedy."

"Yeah… George was… pretty.. amazing…" Meredith relented after a moment.

"You're pretty amazing too. I mean, you kept calm for all those hours. I was on the verge of having a breakdown." Derek admitted with a small smile. "You're always… so focused…"

"I've had…." Meredith thought about her reply. "A lot… of experience… elsewhere…"

"Hmmm, well it definitely shows. God, I'm beat after all this. What's say we grab something to eat after we split here?"

"Uhhh… I'm not hungry." Meredith lied. What was she supposed to say… that she was a vampire, and therefore had no need to eat?

"Ha ha. Women always say that, and then get the most expensive thing on the menu. Look, I'm serious… we've hung out at work, had coffee, well, I had coffee, but you claim not to like it." Derek laughed. "But now, I think we should go out to someplace fancy for once. I can't cook if my life depended on it."

"Really, I'm not that hungry… I had… an apple and some chips earlier…" she lied.

"Mer, that was over sixteen hours ago."

"Trust me… it was filling." Meredith said offhandedly.

"If you say so… but I know that'll change once we get to the restaurant…. I mean.. I think we should really talk… I feel as though, I know you but I barely know you.." Derek said. "its been three months, Meredith… what are you afraid of?"

"I'm not… I mean… I'm…." Meredith sputtered.

Then Derek kissed her.

Oh gods… don't…don't!

It was better than ambrosia. More addicting than any human drug. Her cold lips pressed against his warmer ones, his arms touching her body. He was almost leaning over her now, pressing his weight down atop her. She resisted at first, recoiling slightly from his touch. To her, he was as fragile as a baby doll.

I can't… I'll lose… control.. if he…

Her hearing acute, she picked up on the lub dub of his beating heart. The muscle that allowed that sweet blood to course through his body. The relishing red liquid that could sustain her, that her body so desperately craved. Her fingers were gripping his shoulder, she could easily overpower him, and drink him dry…

"N… no….. NO!"

It only took one shove, and Derek went staggering back, hitting the lockers with a solid thud. Meredith scrambled to her feet, and jogged at human speed toward the door. Derek gaped at her, then ran after her.

"Meredith…. Meredith! Mer, wait!"

Meredith jogged out the front door, turning the corner to reach her car that was in the parking lot. She so desperately wanted to use her full speed, instead of slowing her pace for human requirements. She heard Derek's heavy footsteps gaining purchase.

"S- stay away from me, Derek!" she sobbed, skidding to a halt beside her car. Derek's confused gaze met her watery eyes, unable to shed a tear.

"Why…. I'm sorry… did I move to quickly?" he asked, sounding hurt.

"No… it…. Its all me… all of it is me!" Meredith said, sobbing but unable to. Derek pulled her into a embrace, unsure of what to do.

"Don'ttouchme…getawayfromme…" Meredith murmured into his coat. Derek gazed down at her, his eyes full of worry and concern.

"What are you hiding from me…Meredith… what's troubling you so?"

"You wouldn't… understand… now please, leave me alone! I can't do this anymore! I can't stand to be with you anymore."

I can't be with you.. because if I am… I'll kill you.

"But…. Why the hell why?!" Derek exploded in a harsher way then expected..

"Because…. I'm a vampire!" Meredith said, unable to stop herself before the words left her mouth in a flustered burst of anger.

Derek stared, and Meredith felt her undead heart drop into the pits of her stomach.