Chapter Sixteen: Day Two, Afternoon
By the time Meredith made her way home and had crawled into her bed, her eyes were so heavy that the instant she shut them she was fast asleep.
And Meredith found herself in the realm of dreams.
She dreamt she was back in Derek's trailer and that she was lying quite comfortably in his bed.
But she was alone.
She looked around but Derek was not in the trailer. Quickly she got up out of his bed and looked down to see that she was wearing one of his shirts.
And that was it.
Sighing in relief that she was not fully naked, Meredith slowly made her way out through the door of the trailer and went outside in search of Derek.
Outside there was a thick fog that covered the entire land and she could not see the lake, which really upset her for some reason.
Spinning a few times around in circles, looking for Derek, Meredith suddenly felt a fierce sense of panic.
Where was Derek?
"Derek?"
As she called out, her voice sounded scared and it echoed loudly around her as she made her way through the fog towards the lake.
She did not know why, but Meredith knew that Derek would have to be at the lake.
The fog around her seemed to be suffocating her as each step seemed to become harder and harder, but it was the iron-will inside Meredith to find Derek that drove her on.
But that did not stop her heart from racing nor the sweat that began to easily slide off her body with every step that she took.
The fog blinded her from seeing anything, but Meredith knew the path as well as her home because she had walked along it countless times with him.
"Derek?!" she called again, her voice now sounding more frantic and scared.
Again there was no answer but as her voice continued to echo into nothingness, Meredith heard the unmistakable sound of water.
Beginning to run forward, Meredith followed the sound with hope, as it became her beacon to find Derek.
I'll find Derek at the lake, he must be fishing again...but he will be there!
The fear and slight claustrophobic sense caused from the fog, Meredith started to panic as she raced down a hill towards the water's edge.
She was going so fast that she could not feel the pain in her feet as they were being cut open on the many sharp sticks and rocks that were on the ground.
But the instant that Meredith suddenly ran into freezing water, she stopped running and gasped out loud at the sudden shock of the temperature.
Looking down to see that the water was up to her knees, Meredith looked around the surface of the lake to see if she could see Derek anywhere.
The thick fog stopped at the shore so Meredith could see across the lake's mirror-like surface with the utmost of clarity.
But still she could not see him.
"Derek?!"
she called again, "Where are you?!"
She turned around in the water and she saw in utter dismay that he was not anywhere.
"Where are you?" she whispered to herself as tears began to rise in her eyes.
"I'm right here…" a voice suddenly answered.
Instantly Meredith turned around and saw on the shore a familiar figure standing there.
Meredith felt her heart sink in disappointment and slight fear when she saw it was Addison on the shore.
She was wearing Derek's dark blue scrubs and she had Derek's fishing jacket on.
Addison stared hard at Meredith and gave her a triumphant smile.
"Meredith
why are you searching for my husband?"
Her voice was so harsh and smug that Meredith looked away and turned her back on her.
"I am not telling you." Meredith replied with fierce determination as she began walking further out into the lake, allowing the freezing water to rise higher and higher against her body.
But she could still hear Addison's taunting voice, "Then why are you still wearing my husband's shirt?"
Suddenly the water felt much colder and Meredith glanced down into the water and saw to her horror that she was now completely naked!
Instantly immersing herself out into the deeper water to cover herself up, Meredith turned herself around in the water to glance back at Addison.
Seeing Addison on the shore, watching her with such smugness and triumph that Meredith felt the coldness of the water begin to seep through her body and into her soul.
"Where is Derek?" Meredith asked helplessly.
Before her eyes, Meredith watched in shock as the form of Addison suddenly began to melt into the form of the man she had been searching for.
The instant Meredith's eyes locked with Derek's newly formed blue ones, Meredith could not help but cry out to him, "Why did you not answer me when I called for you?"
Derek stared at her blankly, "Because I could not. She would not allow me…"
Meredith felt her heart double over in pain.
She watched helplessly as Derek suddenly began to walk into the lake and swim over towards her.
The instant he stepped into the water, it warmed up and Meredith could feel it surround her cold body.
Meredith frantically began to swim closer and closer to him, happiness bursting through her at seeing that he was ok and that he was within distance of her being able to touch him.
The instant she reached him in the water, Meredith wrapped her arms around him and clung to Derek with all of her strength.
The rough, yet warm, material of his jacket felt so real against her skin that Meredith buried her face against it and inhaled deeply.
It smelt completely of him and she just could not make sense of the fact that they were swimming in his lake and that it still felt dry to her.
But at this point in time she just could not care.
As she clung to him, her cold wet naked body wrapping itself around his warm dry strong familiar form.
The tears that had been rising in her eyes began to fall when she felt his arms wrap around her upper, wrapping around her in total circumference.
She slowly felt the water begin to rise against her as she stopped kicking and fighting to stay at the surface.
Within seconds the water was above their heads, but the soothing feeling of the water that surrounded both him and her made Meredith just relax against him even further.
For some reason she did not feel panicked nor scared as she glanced up at the light that danced on the surface of the water, or at the rising darkness as they sank deeper and deeper.
Meredith looked at Derek's face and saw that he was looking at her with an adoring smile.
She smiled back at him and said with sad humour, "I think I am dreaming Derek…"
He tilted his head to the side and looked at her with slight amusement, "And why would that be Mer?"
Meredith leant forward and kissed him softly on the lips. Leaning back to look at him she smiled, "Because only I would dream about drowning in your lake, naked, with you and that it would not be so bad…and that we can somehow still breathe and talk underwater at the same time."
Derek smiled sadly at her and nodded, "Then I think you are dreaming Meredith..."
She nodded and looked around the surrounding water as it became darker and darker, hiding his face from her view but she could still hear his voice.
"But at least we aren't alone when we dream Meredith…at least we aren't alone."
His voice began to fade and Meredith clung to him tighter and shut her eyes.
The warmth from his body began to seep into her and Meredith felt drowsiness begin to creep through her.
"I don't want to leave you Derek…" she whispered, "I love you."
"I know Meredith…I know…" he whispered back in her ear.
She felt his grip on her tighten and that was all it took for Meredith to relax and to fall into a deep sleep.
Causing Meredith to finally leave her dream, and Derek, behind.
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Several hours later when Meredith finally woke up, she saw in utter dismay that she was alone in her bed and that it had only been another dream she had had of him.
Glancing at the glowing numbers of the clock on the nearby table, she groaned in exhaustion when she looked at the window and saw that the sun was just about to set.
"The end of another day…" she whispered to herself. "Twelve more to go."
Exhaling deeply in sadness, Meredith could only lay her head back on the pillow and shut her eyes again.
Hoping that she would dream and that he would be there again.
A/N: Hey guys. I just wanted to slow things down a bit in this chapter and have a nice simple one, which I know is probably boring to you but I like it. Anyhoo, thank you so much to all of those who reviewed! :D More than 90 reviews! Good grief! Who knows, maybe we could make 100. Lol. Just kidding. :) But sorry the slow update too. I'm on Easter Break at the moment and I have just been typing furiously for this story to get it going and to try and develop some sort of story line…well smaller ones…just to keep it interesting and not to let it be all about Meredith and Derek, although it is simpler to have it that way.
But thank you again to all of those who reviewed and I hope you will all continue reading. :)
MissRe: Hope you get better soon. :) I love writing Bailey and the Chief, especially Bailey. I just could not resist putting in the hug. Lol. I just love the expression that Bailey has when George hugged her in season 2. XD That was my inspiration for the hug. LOL. Glad you liked and I hope you will continue reading. :D
McKenzieMac: Yeah Addison did indeed. Lol. Well as for what now…well you are going to have to continue reading because I am not going to reveal anything sorry. :) Thanks for the review.
lilxjames: Yeah, I was a bit hard with how I portrayed Addison but I couldn't help it really towards the end because I needed her out for a while and that was the only way I could think of doing it. But I'm glad you liked though what I gave her and thanks for the review. Sorry the update was a tad slow, I needed to rewrite this chapter a few times…
DeniseSB: Well I am glad you liked how I managed to turn it around. :) Yes I was pushing her character a bit too far but I didn't push her beyond the limit. I hope I am staying true to the onscreen characters…I would hate to think that I am not. But I hope you will like what is going to happen next, even though this chapter is a little slow. Thanks for another fantastic review. :D I love reading them because they are the most insightful and to the point. Thank you very much!
TVHollywoodDiva: Thank you very much and thanks another the review. :)
KcKendra4Ever: Thank you very much! :D Thanks for the review. I hope you will continue reading it then.
sv3: I wish Derek would too but he is a very silly man. I had fun writing the fight between them. I don't know why I do but it is just so much fun to write conflict because you can solve it however you want. I hope you like the update even though this newest chapter is a much slower one compared to others. Thanks for another review. :D
ilovemclife: I liked the idea of a bet just for pitch. It would make things interesting. :) And I added the transfer into my summary just because I thought it would be easier to be upfront about what the story was about. But it's great to know that you wouldn't have seen it coming. :) AND who says they'll get back together? Is my story that predictable? Lol. Well maybe it is a bit, but we have a little while before we get there. :) Thanks for the review!
InGreyEyes: You will? Woot! :D Thankyou very much! :D Bailey just rules! And the Chief is fun to write because he controls everything and is such a presence in the hospital. Yeah Addie got what was coming to her. :D That was even more fun to write. Hehehehe. Slightly evil of me to say that. Lol. Thanks for the review though! :D
sweetgreuy: Hahaha, hardball. :D Yeah she is. And you are right about Derek and the Chief and whose side they are on. That's normal to feel bad for her, I was hoping that I could get that across to the reader instead of it just being a victory of karma. But yeah the morally right bit I had to add in because I think that is a small factor as to why Derek stayed with Addison. Just a very small factor though.
Derek is going to enjoy the new arrangement. :) Elevator interludes here they come! Lol!