Chapter Twenty-Two: Day Four, Afternoon

From the second Meredith had re-entered Viper's room, throughout the entire process of him getting a CAT-scan and an MRI and waiting up until now, waiting for Derek to come and tell them both his diagnosis and what needed to happen next, Viper had been relentlessly flirting and charming her.

Meredith had found herself blushing several times despite herself and she could only think of it being the attention of having another male notice her and to be able to rub it in Derek's face whenever it happened that she was enjoying it so much.

Whenever Viper spoke to her, Meredith had noticed that something always glinted in Derek's eyes and he would always clench his jaw, which Meredith knew it was obvious that Derek was getting angry.

But she did not care one bit.

He was of no concern to her if their patient was flirting with her because it was completely harmless and it didn't bother her.

But Viper had also noticed Derek's reaction to him flirting with Meredith…

And he loved it more than her.

Derek had had to go and leave the pair alone to go and tend to other patients, and the instant that he had disappeared Viper pounced and was flirting with her more than Meredith thought was humanly possible for a person.

As the day had passed and Meredith had done all of the necessary check-ups and procedures on him, she had found herself flirting shamelessly back with him and she found herself to be enjoying it.

It was pushing back the overpowering sadness and pain that still burned deep within her and it seemed that Viper knew all too well about it because he seemed beyond determined to keep her in high spirits and laughing at his charming attempts to pick her up.

But now the two were back in his room and were still waiting for Derek to come back to talk to Viper.

Meredith had paged him several times but something important must have come up for him not to come yet so she was not very worried.

She had checked out Viper's brain scans and had been extremely thankful when she could not see any visible damage or bleeding, but she had told Viper that they would have to wait for Derek to come and make the final decision.

"I think that man has it against me…" Viper replied with slight amusement as he gave Meredith a suggestive smile.

She just grinned back, "Now why would he hate a gentleman like you?"

Viper just grinned and placed a hand over his heart, "Aww luv, now you're just makin' me blush. Somethin' must be wrong with my hearin' if I think you're complimenting me…Must be my dashingly good looks I guess…"

Meredith laughed slightly and shook her head slightly, "Well to be honest he kinda does not like you."

Crossing his arms and looking at her with interest and surprise he asked, "Now why would that be luv?"

Meredith sighed slightly, "Because when you were last here and you…kissed me, he saw and he and I were kinda together at the time."

"You still remember that kiss? I definitely made you fall under my spell luv," he said, smiling suggestively at her and she just laughed.

"Well I am not the only one who remembers." She said warmly, smiling at him.

Viper just raised his eyebrows and looked at her thoughtfully, "Hmm…maybe he wants a kiss from me too if he is still so jealous that it was you and not him. Maybe he is just frustrated like that an' he just needs to come out of the closet. You can tell by his hair."

Meredith laughed till her sides hurt.

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Derek had been walking up the corridor, smiling at the prospect of being able to get rid of Viper tomorrow, tell him that he only needed to stay overnight for observation when suddenly there was a sound that caught his ear and made him stop dead in his tracks.

He immediately knew what that sound was…

It was the rarest sound he had heard for a while…

So rare was it that it seemed that until now only he had been the one to make it be produced.

Meredith was laughing!

Silently Derek made his way to the doorway of Viper's room and peeked in and he felt his insides boil when he saw what was inside.

Meredith was sitting on a nearby chair and she was doubled over, laughing so hard that it seemed she was crying and Viper was sitting very close to her in his bed and was watching her with a look that Derek did not like one bit.

As he watched the pair, he began listening to Viper say something when suddenly he heard the sound of someone clearing their throat loudly behind him.

Jumping slightly Derek immediately turned around and he felt his heart sink when he saw it was Bailey standing in front of him, arms on her hips and looking very unimpressed.

"Doctor Bailey." Derek said professionally, but Bailey would not have a bar of it.

"Why were you standing outside the patient's room and being all sneaky and listening to them?" she asked sharply.

Derek felt himself shrink a few centimetres and he understood for the first time what it was like to be under the stare and temper of the Nazi.

"I was…" he began but Bailey cut in.

"You have no right to stand and listen to her talking to other men, let alone someone she knows and had saved when he was last here!" she said, berating him.

Derek blinked and looked away guiltily but Bailey was still not done.

"Dr Shepherd she may not be your girlfriend anymore because you chose your unfaithful wife over her, but that does not mean you should allow whatever it is you still have fixed in your messed up head that makes you think that you are still important in her life."

Now he looked at her fully and Bailey just gave him a hard look, "Leave her alone and just do your job."

Derek nodded blankly and turned to go into the Viper's room when he suddenly saw Meredith staring at him. Meredith was looking at him with something that came close to shock and near horror at Bailey's outburst but Viper just gave Derek a wink and smiled.

Instantly Derek turned back to look at Bailey but to his horror she was already walking away from him and there was no way that she would listen to him even if he called out to her.

Bailey had always been stubborn like that when she had her mind set on making someone fix their own problems.

Especially when it came to him and hurting her intern.

Sighing deeply, Derek swallowed his pride and walked into the room with as much face as he could but it failed miserably when Viper opened his mouth and said with a lot of amusement,

"You're still pissed I kissed this beauty here and you left her for your cheating wife? You stupid wanker."

Meredith broke eye contact with Derek and looked away at the wall.

Derek watched her as he continued to walk towards Viper's bed but when he realised that she was not going to look back at him, he turned his attention to Viper who was now looking at him with a hard expression.

"Mr Viper," Derek began but Viper's hard expression had not changed, "it appears you were very lucky in your go-karting crash and have escaped with no serious head injury or brain damage."

Viper nodded in silence.

Drawing his eyebrows together, Derek continued, "You have suffered a severe concussion though and we are going to keep you in for over-night observation and then you can be out of here as soon as tomorrow."

Half-expecting Viper to look relieved at knowing he could be released tomorrow, Derek was sorely surprised when Viper stopped looking at him and turned to look at Meredith.

"Will you be observing me luv?" he asked warmly, trying to get Meredith to look at him.

His warm voice hit her ears and the concern in his voice made Meredith smile slightly as she turned to look at him but the smile instantly disappeared when she turned to look at Derek.

"It all depends on Dr Shepherd, Viper." She replied, looking back at Viper with a blank expression but Viper could clearly see her sadness at having Derek in the same room as her.

Derek could see it too.

It hurt more than anything at knowing he had caused her pain and embarrassment at hearing Bailey's outburst at him, but Derek did not want Meredith to spend a night in the same room as this man for fear that they might do…something.

But he knew he had to swallow his fears if he was going to get her to talk to him again and to make everything between them 'fine' again…or as 'fine' as things got between them since he had chosen Addison and Meredith had decided to transfer.

"Yes Dr Grey will be keeping record of her observations tonight." Derek finally said in a tight voice and he could not stop the flow of happiness and satisfaction flow through him when he saw Meredith suddenly look at him with surprise but with silent thanks as well.

"I will be seeing you both tomorrow." Derek said with a small smile and turned and exited the room before Meredith got to say a final word.

The second he had disappeared Viper turned to Meredith with a sly smile, "Luv, either he is wanting me or he sees me as serious competition and still fancies you a lot."

Meredith didn't reply.

A/N: Hello everyone! :D I am so pleased that everyone was happy that I brought Viper back into this story! I love Viper and he just makes things more fun as the plot thickens between Meredith and Derek as they finish working together for the day. He he! Well I have written the next few days and I am going to focus a bit more on Gloria's case so we will be seeing a bit more of Burke so YAY! Thank you so MUCH to everyone who is reviewing (it means a lot and makes me have huge inspirational spell and I just can't stop writing my two Grey's Anatomy stories! :D Although I am a little slow to update because I have so much fun writing…Lol. Sorry about that. :)

But please review if you want and feel free to say whatever you want. :D I love replying to any review I get and I hope you all enjoy this new update. :D

Here are the review replies:

Combo-Shlack: Thank you very much. :D I hope you will continue reading it and thanks for the review. :D

InGreyEyes: Derek is hurt and angry, and I don't feel sorry for him either (and you aren't meant to heehee!). I love writing Cristina but for me she is hardest character to write because she is witty and blunt and sarcastic! Lol. I am writing the 'person' talk at the moment but you are going to have to wait five chapters for it. Meredith is going to do something before then that'll be important in the conversation. But writing how Derek feels is also so much fun too! :D Thanks for great review! :D

MissRe: I just had to bring Viper back because he is too good a character not too. :D Reading this instead of doing homework? Lol. Naughty! Although I do it too. He he. Thank you very much for the review and I hope you will like what happens next. :D

CaptainZeebeth: I LOVE Viper too! :D He is just awesome! That's why I put him in. :D HE never came back in the series so he came back in my story. :D I hope this update was quick enough. :D Thanks for the great review! :D

sweetgreuy: Oh gosh! Sorry I got the chapters mixed up, I'm thinking of another chapter from the upcoming days…. Ek. Sorry. LOL for your song! XD! It made me laugh. :D Burke is Cristina's moral compass in this dilemma. :D Lol. Thanks for the review and I hope you will like the next chapter. :D

McKenzieMac: Viper does flirt with Meredith whenever he can. :D I love it when Derek is all possessive of Meredith even though he isn't with her at the moment, in this story and in series 2. Derek is just yummy full stop but when he is jealous is just an added bonus. :D Thanks for the review!

lilxjames: I'm glad I didn't forget about Viper. :D But I am glad I could refresh your memory because he is a great character. Glad you liked the update and thanks again for another great review! :D I am glad you are still reading it. :)

TVHollywoodDiva: Hey. :D Thank you very much! I hope you will like the next chapter! Thanks for the review! :D

AviatorAllie: Thank you very much. :D I work hard with this story and it is really nice knowing that people are liking it so much and reviewing! (Which is an added bonus for me). Thanks for the review and I hope you will continue reading it.