Hello fabulous, patient, wonderful readers!

Thank you for bearing with me during the brief delay in getting this chapter to you.

As some of you know, school and sickness prevented me from getting this to you sooner, but it is finally here!

Your patience and reviews of praise and encouragement mean so much.

Thank you again and here's hoping this chapter was worth the wait!

Enjoy!

Chapter 4

"We'll talk later?"

Derek's voice was tinged with uncertainty as Meredith all but sprinted down the hallway.

What the hell was he doing?

Meredith brought up many excellent points before they were otherwise occupied. He was her boss, he was her teacher, and he did have a wife. And he bet if he actually stopped to think about it, there were about 50 other reasons supporting that whatever was happening with them needed to stop.

But he didn't want to stop.

Ever since the unexpected death of his father, Derek Shepherd did exactly what he was supposed to. He needed to step up to be the man of the house long before he should have, but he did it anyway. He needed to help with his little sister because he knew his mom had enough to worry about as it was, so he did. He made excellent grades and pushed himself so he could later on go to college and med school. He excelled in his chosen field and became one of the foremost leading neurosurgeons in the world. He met a nice girl, married her, and became half of the competent, power couple everyone expected them to be.

He had done everything right.

Except 'right' doesn't always equal 'happy'. Because despite doing everything right, he couldn't remember the last time he and his wife had a pleasant conversation with each other. He couldn't remember how it felt to enjoy going to work. He didn't know when he stopped recognizing the man in the mirror every morning. He couldn't think of a time when he didn't feel like he was constantly downing.

Because despite doing everything 'right', his wife of 15 years was currently 7 months pregnant with another man's child.

So, no. He didn't want to take the time to think and convince himself that whatever he was doing with Meredith Webber needed to stop. Because, while it may not be the 'right' thing, anything that could finally make him feel like he could breathe again, couldn't possibly be wrong.

"You paged?" Meredith gasped breathlessly as she rounded the door of the scrub room.

"I did," Richard answered from his spot in front of the large sink. "I figured I might give you the chance to actually be a surgeon today."

Meredith cocked an eyebrow in place of an actual reply.

"A nurse told me you've been hiding in the pit all day," he explained.

"The nurses gossip too much. And I haven't been hiding," Meredith defended herself. She walked further into the small room and leaned against the basin next to her adoptive father.

"Meredith," Richard started gently, placing a comforting hand on the back of her shoulder. "You had a horrible day yesterday. And I know your mother didn't make it any better."

"So you got me a surgery to make up for the fact that my fiancé's been cheating on me?"

"Kind of," he answered with a hint of regret, hoping this wasn't about to backfire on him.

"Thank you," Meredith chuckled, leaning in for a much needed hug.

"So what do we got?" Meredith asked, trying to pump herself up.

She didn't even hear Richard respond because the woman on the other side of the glass window in front of her suddenly consumed all of her attention.

There were 3 people Meredith didn't want to see today and she was now officially 2 for 3.

April Kepner stood in the OR overseeing the prepping of the patient her father was currently trying to tell her about and all she could do was stare. The feelings of confusion and betrayal were all surfacing again and all Meredith wanted to do was bolt.

"Meredith? Meredith, what's wrong?" Richard finally noticed she wasn't hearing a word he was saying.

"I can't," she whispered. "Not yet. I can't. I can't scrub in."

"Sweetie, what's wrong?"

"It was April." Meredith's eyes were still glued to the aforementioned woman. "I couldn't tell you yesterday because I was too upset but it was April that's been sleeping with Alex."

"Oh, Meredith," Richard sighed.

"I'll be fine," she said definitively. "I will. But I'm not currently in a place where I'm above stabbing her repeatedly with a ten blade, so I think its best I not scrub in on this one."

"Mer-"

"No, really, it's fine. I'm sure there's someone who needs a band aid or something in the pit," she insisted with a forced smile.

Before Richard could call her on the fake enthusiasm, the shrill cry of a beeper filled the small space.

"Oh!" Meredith exclaimed, looking up from her beeper. "Maybe I will get to practice medicine today after all," she said with a shrug.

She didn't bother to wait for a response before exiting the scrub room to answer the page.

One floor up and an empty elevator ride later, Meredith was striding purposefully over to the large counter of the nurses' station.

"Hello," Meredith greeted the nurse politely. "I'm Dr. Webber, someone paged?"

"Yes. That would have been me," confirmed an all too familiar voice behind her.

Shoulders sagging and eyes closing in an odd combination of exhaustion and denial, Meredith reluctantly turned to face the inevitable.

When she opened her eyes, just as she expected, she saw Derek Shepherd leaning deliciously up against the other end of the counter with a patient chart tucked under his arm.

"You paged me? Really?" She was too damn tired for this.

"You're a doctor, yes? We tend to make and receive pages all the time in the interest of patient care. Aren't you a 5th year? I would have thought you'd have caught on by no-"

"What is wrong with you?" Meredith interjected. "This isn't okay. You can't just page me at work to get me to talk to you." Meredith paused as they both glanced over to the nurse doing her best to act as if she wasn't listening in on their every word. Rolling her eyes, Meredith grabbed his elbow and pulled him into the nearby stairwell.

"No elevator this time?" Derek quipped with a sideways smile that almost made her forget she was supposed to be angry at him.

"Seriously! I don't know what you think we're doing but this is so beyond inappropriate."

"Who said anything about just paging you to get you to talk to me? Honestly, I didn't even think of that. I should have though. I'll have to remember that for later…" Derek trailed off.

"Dr. Shepherd!"

"Do you remember Katie Bryce coming into the ER this morning?" he asked, flipping open the chart he was holding.

"What?" He really did page her for work?

"It's in her chart that you were the one who admitted her. Says you diagnosed a twisted ankle but transferred her to ortho to have an x-ray and an exam just to be sure?" he asked peeking up from the chart.

"Yes," Meredith confirmed. "Honestly I was sure she was fine but her parents were pushing for images because she has a big show or whatever coming up. I didn't see the harm if they wanted to spend the extra time waiting."

"Did you do a thorough neuro exam after admitting her?"

"I went through all the basic exams," she answered suspiciously. "She said she slipped and twisted her ankle. Didn't even bump her head and she showed no signs of neurological damage. It's not like she warranted need of a CT or a neuro consult for a twisted ankle. Which begs the question, why does the head of neuro have her chart?"

"Because Katie started seizing right before they started her x-ray."

"What? Why?"

"I don't know. That's what I have to figure out. She's got no indicators, no history…She's a mystery. And she's already seized again."

"So why did you page me?"

"Because you're her doctor and she needs help."

"Technically I passed her off to ortho, so she belongs to whoever had her there." Meredith countered.

"You admitted her," Derek countered back easily. "Are you on anyone's service yet?"

"No," she answered cautiously.

"Would you like to be?"

Meredith could only gape at him in shock.

"I think once we figure her out, Katie's more than likely going to need surgery. And I could use a resident."

"You never ask for residents," Meredith stated with a stunned expression.

"I asking now," Derek shrugged, studying her face intently. "Are you in?"

Momentarily hypnotized by the steady blue eyes watching her with such intent, Meredith could only stare back. In a moment of clarity or stupidity (she really couldn't be sure at that point), she held out her hand to accept Katie's chart.

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