Derek moved carefully through the darkened halls of the neurology building, fear rushing through his body as he thought about what could possibly be wrong with Meredith. She was in complete danger, and he would never forgive himself for letting this happen. If only he had stayed home….

"Well hello, Mr. Shepherd," Dr. Brown said with a smirk as he stepped out of his office. "Fancy meeting you here."

"Where is she?" Derek demanded.

"Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but did she or did she not tell you she was leaving you earlier tonight?" Dr. Brown asked, tapping his finger on his chin. "Because I could have sworn…"

"Listen you sick son of a bitch," Derek snapped, grabbing him by his collar. "You tell me where my wife is right now, or so help me God…"

"That's interesting," Dr. Brown said, raising his hand that was clasped tightly around a gun. "Because I'm pretty sure I'm in charge here."

Derek stepped back slightly, his eyes wide as they focused on the gun. "Did you…"

Dr. Brown laughed harshly. "Don't be ridiculous," he said. "I could never hurt her. She's amazing. And you…you take her for granted. You don't appreciate how special she is, how her body…"

"Shut up!" Derek shouted, clenching his fists as his anger intensified. He couldn't handle anyone talking about Meredith like that.

"You better watch yourself," Dr. Brown said. "I'm starting to get angry. And we all know what happens when a man with a gun gets angry." He lifted the gun to be even with Derek's head and pushed him towards the door. "Get in there."

Derek stumbled into the room, his stomach churning violently when he saw Meredith sitting in the corner of the room, her right leg darkened with blood. "Mer," he breathed, moving over to her. "Are you okay?"

"I tried to run," she whispered. "So he cut my leg. I can't walk."

Derek swallowed hard as he started to roll her pants leg up to see the wound. "Stay away from her," Dr. Brown said evenly as he turned from the door he had just locked.

"She's bleeding," Derek argued.

"Yes, because if she wasn't, she would have tried to run," Dr. Brown continued. "You move to that corner. And don't talk."

Derek ignored him as he turned back to Meredith. "Are you okay?"

"I said get away from her!" Dr. Brown shouted, pulling the safety latch on the gun as he aimed it at Derek's head.

"Derek go!" Meredith insisted, pushing him away from her. "I'm fine."

Derek moved back to the opposite corner, sighing in relief when Dr. Brown lowered the gun. "That's better," he said. "Now, here's what we're going to do. You, Derek, are going to give yourself over to the cops. Because when you found your wife with her professor in his office, you just became so enraged that you couldn't help pulling a knife on her. And when they take you in, you're going to tell them how you set up this whole situation because you wanted the man your wife fell in love with to be locked away. But when you found them together in the office…you just couldn't stand in the way of true love any longer. So you turned yourself in."

"That's the worst plan I've ever heard," Derek stated.

"I don't care," Dr. Brown snapped. "You're going to do it."

Derek glanced at Meredith, taking in her pale face as she fought consciousness. Blood was trickling down her leg and pooling on the carpet under her foot, and he knew she needed help. "We've got to get her to help," he insisted. "She's bleeding hard."

"She's fine," Dr. Brown snapped without looking at her. "I'm the doctor, remember?"

Derek shook his head as he stared at his wife. "She's not even conscious," he said, pain filling his voice. "She needs help."

"Mmm wake," Meredith murmured. "want….home."

"Shut up," Dr. Brown snapped. "You both need to shut up and do what I tell you."

Before either one of them could respond, the sound of footsteps came from the hallway, and a pounding came on the door. "NYPD, open up!"

Dr. Brown rolled his eyes as he turned towards the door. "Excuse me," he said calmly. "I have to take care of something. And if I find out that either one of you moved as much as an inch, I won't hesitate to make sure you'll never move again."

Derek watched as Dr. Brown opened the door and stepped into the hallway.

"Lucas Brown, you're under the arrest…"

Two gunshots rang through the hallway followed by a loud thud, causing Meredith to cry out in fear. Derek didn't waste two seconds as he moved towards her side, taking her into his arms. "It's okay, Mer," he whispered. "We'll get out of here."

"He just killed someone," Meredith whispered. "You need to go back…he's going to come back, and I can't…you have to go back."

"I'm not leaving you," Derek insisted.

"Derek," she whispered. "I didn't…you know I didn't mean anything I said. I don't want to leave. I love you. I'm sorry."

"I know," Derek nodded softly, reaching out to brush her hair back from her face. "I love you too. Whatever happens, I love you."

"Derek," she whispered.

"Hey!" Dr. Brown shouted as he walked back into the room. "I told you not to move!"

"Alright, I'm going back," Derek said, pulling his hands up in surrender. "I'm going back."

"Stop pointing the gun at him," Meredith whispered.

Dr. Brown turned to look at her. "Meredith," he said softly. "What will you do for that?" he whispered softly. "If I don't shoot him…will you do something for me?"

"What?" Meredith whispered.

"Hmm," Dr. Brown sighed, pulling her up to balance on her foot, holding her tightly against him and ignoring her cries of pain. "I seem to remember that you were looking beautiful in some lingerie under this sweater," he murmured, tugging at the bottom of it. "I think I need to see it."

"No," Meredith whispered, trying to fight away from him and remain balanced at the same time.

"No," Dr. Brown nodded. "Alright." He turned to Derek and cocked the gun, causing Meredith to grab his hand and turn him back towards her. "Okay," she whispered. She glanced at Derek, fear and apology mixed in her eyes before she said to Dr. Brown, "I think I need your help."

Dr. Brown hummed in appreciation as he set the gun on the desk, his hand moving to the bottom of her sweater. "That's what I like to see," he said softly. He stepped back as Meredith's sweater dropped to the floor. "Oh Meredith," he whispered, taking in the sight of her. "You are so beautiful."

Meredith swallowed hard as she looked at him, hating what she had to do in order to make things right. "You're right," she said softly. "I can't deny it any longer. I've been wanting you since the first time I stepped into that classroom." She hopped slightly to the side, causing Dr. Brown to turn his back further from Derek. "And you know….I don't think I can hold off on my desires much longer."

Dr. Brown smiled slyly as he moved towards her. "I knew it," he whispered. "I knew you felt the same way."

Meredith tried to look convincing as she smiled at him. "I do," she whispered.

"Good," Dr. Brown said, wrapping his arms around her, his mouth moving to her neck. Meredith squeezed her eyes shut tightly for a moment before she opened them to meet Derek's hard eyes. She pleaded with him silently to do something, and he nodded, standing slowly to reach for the abandoned gun on the desk. Tears filled Meredith's eyes as he advanced towards them. When he offered her a small nod, Meredith put her arms on Dr. Brown's chest and pushed him away from her with every ounce of strength she had in her. He stared at her, confused for a moment before his eyes landed on Derek and realization dawned on him.

"I see," he said, nodding knowingly. "You were playing with me. I don't think I like that, Meredith."

Meredith swallowed hard as she sank to the floor, the room starting to spin around her as blood continued to trickle don her leg. Derek glanced at her for a moment before he turned back to Dr. Brown.

"I really don't think you have any more power over this situation," Derek snapped. "Now it's out of your control."

Dr. Brown shook his head. "Are you going to shoot me?" he laughed. "I don't think you are. And you know what? This situation is not out of my control."

Before Derek could even process what had been said, Dr. Brown lunged towards him, tackling him and causing Meredith to scream in terror. She tried to limp towards them, but her leg collapsed underneath her and she cried out in fear and pain. She felt the room start to spin around her, and just as she slipped out of consciousness, she heard the unmistakable sound of a gun go off.

XXXXX

Everything hurt. That was all that Derek could think about as he slowly woke, light blinding him even from the protection of his closed eyes. He tried to move his body, only to have pain sear through the entire left side of his body. He moaned before he was finally able to open his eyes, his vision blurry and unfocused as he looked around the room. He squinted for a moment before his eyes finally landed on his mother, who was sitting beside his bed, a necklace of rosary beads clutched tightly in her hands.

"Derek," she said eagerly as she stood, leaning over his bed. "Can you hear me?"

"Mom?" he asked, his voice hoarse. "Where's Meredith?"

Emma smiled slightly as she squeezed his hand. "She went to take a shower," she said softly. "She's refused to leave your side."

"Where am I?" Derek asked.

"You're in the hospital," Emma said softly. "Derek, do you even know what's going on?"

"I don't…" his voice trailed off as he looked at her closely. "There were pictures," he frowned. "And then…oh, God. Where's Meredith?"

"Derek, she's fine," Emma said, easing him back down. "She's in the shower. Addison's helping her."

"Her leg," Derek whispered. "He cut her leg."

"I know," Emma whispered. "Derek, how are you feeling?"

"I…" Derek frowned, his own pain coming to the surface for the first time. "My arm hurts."

"You were shot," Emma said softly. "In the shoulder."

Derek frowned. "What the hell happened to him?" he asked. "That son of a bitch…"

"Derek, you have to calm down," Emma said firmly, her eyes moving towards the heart monitor as it sped up. "Calm down."

Derek winced as he moved his arm slightly. "Where is he?"

"In prison," Emma assured him. "You and Meredith are safe."

"Okay," Derek sighed. "Will they give me morphine?"

"Is the pain bad?" Emma asked, reaching to stroke his hair gently.

"How long have I been asleep?"

"Five days," Emma sighed.

"Oh," Derek said. "Mer…she's okay?"

Emma sighed. "Her leg is in quite a bit of pain," she said. "And she's quite the emotional mess."

"I want to see her," Derek whispered. "I know she's not here, but I need to see her. So much happened and…she just needs to know that I love her."

"She knows," Emma said softly. "And I know you want to see her. But she's not well, Derek. She refuses to leave your bedside, and they've had to sedate her once. She's blaming herself for this whole thing."

"That's…" Derek frowned, then groaned in pain as pain shot through his arm again. "That's insane."

"I know," Emma sighed. "That doesn't mean she'll stop. Derek, I'm going to see what I can do about getting you some morphine."

"No," Derek shook his head. "Later…later I'll definitely need it. But I want to be sober when I see Mer. She needs me right now. Me, not high me."

Emma frowned as she watched him carefully. "Are you sure?" she asked.

"Yeah," Derek sighed.

Before Emma could argue again, there was a knock on the door, and Addison poked her head in. "Emma, I…Derek!"

"Derek," he heard Meredith gasp from the hall. "Is he awake?"

"Hang on, Mer," Addison said. "Is he…can she come in?"

"Yes," Derek said eagerly, groaning as he struggled to sit up.

"Derek," Emma sighed. "Please take some medicine."

"Later, Mom," Derek sighed. "I need to see Mer."

Emma turned and nodded to Addison. "Alright, let her in," she said.

Addison turned out to face the hallway for a moment before she opened the door wider, allowing a pale Meredith to hobble through on a pair of crutches. She was dressed in sweats, and her damp hair was tied back in a ponytail. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen her look this exhausted, but he'd never been more grateful at the sight of her than he was at that very moment.

"Meredith," he whispered, and she was at his side faster than he could have imagined, crutches or no crutches as she leaned into him. He wrapped his eyes tightly around each other as they clung tightly to each other, never having been so grateful embrace than they were in this moment.