Author's Note:

I'm so, so, immensely sorry for the wait. I told you it wouldn't happen again but it did, and I'm so sorry for that. It's okay if you have lost interest in this story, and I don't expect any reviews anymore after this long wait, but I can tell you that I WILL finish this story. There are probably 3 to 4 chapters left and my intent is to finish this story before the new year of school starts, which is the end of August/ the beginning of September.

The chapter is a bit longer so I hope that makes up for the wait, even if it's just a tiny little bit.

Enjoy the chapter and see you soon!

Warm regards,

Isabel Konijn

Disclaimer: I do not own Grey's Anatomy or its characters. I'm just borrowing them for my own fun.

Chapter 9: Please don't go

She hated it to see him like that. Vulnerable and hurt. But she reminded herself that he would get better and that in just a few weeks' time he would be the old Derek again. Laughing and joking, but most of all, making her feel like she was the most beautiful girl in the world…

4 days later…

''No… stay, don't gooo'' Derek groaned as he turned around and lifted his head up to see Meredith rushing into the bathroom.

''I can't. I'm gonna be late for work'' she replied as she quickly turned on the shower and grabbed her clothes.

''You're already too late, might as well stay in bed with me for a little longer'' he mumbled as his eyes were already drooping.

''You're right, and as much as I would love too, I can't. It's my first full day back again and I get to take out a huge teratoma today.'' She beamed as she stared at their tumor on their bedroom wall. Her smile growing even wider as memories of that day flooded her brain again. She still couldn't believe that Derek was actually able to resect such a monster. ''And I still have a some stuff to take over and discuss so no going to be late for me today. Sorry Der.'' she smiled as she walked over to him and give him a quick peck on the lips.

He groaned in return and flew his good arm in the air in an attempt to grab her arm and drag her back in bed.

''No, I really, really have to go now'' she giggled as she planted a kiss on his hand and grabbed her bag.

''Oh, and Mark will be her in a couple of hours with Zola. Said he wanted to show you something. And don't overdo things today okay? I'II be back at 5. Bye Der!'' she said and he heard her run down the stairs before the door closed shut and he closed his eyes again, sighing.

Even though it had been more than a week, he was still feeling weak and tired. He could sleep a whole day but still not feel fit, and he hated it. Hated to feel weak, tired and babied all the time.

He sighed again as he stared at their ceiling and closed his eyes one more time. If he could get a few more hours of sleep he would be ready to face Mark and his daughter and whatever he had in mind for him.

''Mark?'' Lexie called as she rummaged through his medicine cabinet. ''Have you seen my pills? I can't find them anywhere.''

''Oh, shit. Yeah, I picked them up this morning from the drug store when you were still asleep. It's in my bag, just a sec.'' he replied as he put the last of their dirty dishes in the dishwasher and pressed start before sprinting towards his bag and grabbing the pills.

''Here they are sweetie'' he smiled as he stood behind her and pressed a soft kiss on her neck, wrapping her arms around her in a loving gesture.

''Thank you Mark'' she smiled as she stared at their reflection in the mirror, giggling as he put up weird faces for her.

''How old are you?'' she laughed.

''You pick a number'' he winked and she giggled again before slowly turning around, mindful of her hip, and splayed her hands on his chest. She looked up at him and he looked back at her. Their eyes connecting. ''I love you so much Mark Sloan.'' She said as a tear leaked from her eyes and he wiped it away. ''I love you too Lexie Grey, more than you could ever know.'' He replied and cupped her cheeks in his hands before pressing his lips at hers. Enjoying the moment to the fullest.

As they parted, they both looked at each other again and she had never seen Mark so happy before in his life and it honestly made her heart swell.

''It's 1 o'clock.'' Lexie broke the silence and Mark's gaze diverted to his watch, his eyes widening.

''Oh shit, I'm gonna be late.'' he said and rushed towards the living room again where Zola was still watching TV and grabbed the large bag that was sitting near the door.

''Zola, wanna go see daddy again?'' he asked as Lexie joined them in the living room. A bright smile on her face every time she saw the two of them together. They got along with each other very well from the very beginning which made her heart swell even more. Kids liked him and vice versa, and that got her thinking.

''How is it that kids always seem to like you?'' she smiled and Mark turned around at the sound.

''I don't know. Honestly. I've never really been around children. At least not often so I don't know. Maybe it are the looks.'' He winked and Lexie rolled her eyes at his remark.

''Yeah, I think it's just that, Mark'' she laughed as Mark turned his attention to Zola again and made a face at her before he suddenly started tickling her, erupting a fit of giggles from the 2-year-old toddler.

''Unel Mark.. Unel Mark!'' Zola giggled as he kept on going.

Lexie watched the two of them with delight. Suddenly thinking about what a great father he would be.

She had always wanted kids, unlike Meredith, but she thought she would never find the right guy to start a family with. With Mark it was different. She felt something special whenever she was with him and she couldn't explain that feeling.

Mark finally set Zola down and grabbed his bag. ''I'II be home by 5'' he said and gave Lexie a kiss before he grabbed Zola's hand and closed the door behind him.

''Hey Mer!'' A voice called her. She looked up from the chart she was signing and saw Cristina walking towards her with a big smile on her face.

''You look happy'' Meredith stated as she went back on signing her charts.

''I am, but you're not apparently. What's up? Lacking the sex?'' she laughed.

''Cristina…'' she sighed. ''I'm not in the mood today, okay?''

''You got kicked in the ass by Bailey for being late?'' she smiled and looked at her best friend who, for a quick moment, lifted her head from the chart she was writing on.

''Oh no, really?'' she couldn't control her laughter and the few people who were walking down the hall all turned their heads at the loud sound.

''You're kidding, right? You're a resident Mer. Stand up for yourself.''

''It's not that. It's Derek.'' She said and Cristina immediately stopped laughing. Her tone and face serious.

''What do you mean? I thought everything was okay with him.''

''I don't know. He's tired all the time and he still feels weak. I don't know but I think something's wrong with him Cristina.'' She said, her eyes suddenly watery and her voice skipping.

''That's normal Mer. He's been through a lot. It takes time and maybe this time a bit longer. It's nothing to be concerned of, really. We sent him home for a reason Mer, we didn't sent him home because we needed the space. He's recovering and that takes time and patience.'' She said and laid a supporting hand on Meredith's shoulder.

''Everything's going to be okay. Believe me'' she said, and a small smile formed on Meredith's lips at her friend's reassuring words.

''Thank you, Cris.''

''Your welcome, but I don't do hugging.'' She warned her, which made Meredith giggle softly.

''Well, I have an open heart surgery to get too! Gotta go!'' Cristina beamed as she walked away.

''I have a huge teratoma I'm gonna take out today!'' She winked, which made Cristina groan.

''Okay, you win!'' She yelled as she put her hand up in defeat and disappeared behind the corner.

Meredith smiled at her friend's behavior and shook her head a bit before looking at her watch. It was 1:30, time for her last round before she was supposed to prepare for her big surgery.

It was 10 days after the crash and Arizona was the only one left still recovering at the hospital. Her leg was healing nicely but she refused to get out of bed and try to walk a few steps with her prosthetic on.

''Please, Arizona. It's been 4 days since Hunt and I cleared you. You've got to take a few steps, just a few. If not for me then for our daughter.'' Callie pleaded as she stood in front of her wife's hospital bed. Getting desperate at the situation.

'Just grab the wheelchair, will you?'' Arizona replied and Callie sighed before grabbing the wheelchair and placing it next to the bed.

''Why don't you just try?'' She said softly as she cautiously took some steps forward, mindful of the recent outburst when her wife just woke up from surgery and noticed that they had cut off her leg.

But she got no reaction and Arizona threw back the sheets and stood for a quick moment before slipping into the wheelchair and wheeling herself towards the front door.

''They're not gonna discharge you anytime soon if you don't take a walk with your new leg, you know.'' Callie said, trying a different tactic.

''Can you just open the door for me, please. I need to get to my physical therapist.'' She replied without looking up from the spot she was staring at.

''Fine'' Callie sighed and opened the door, holding her eyes of her wife as she wheeled herself into the hallway. When she closed the door behind her she rubbed her tired eyes before taking place in the seat next to the hospital bed and sighing audibly.

She couldn't take this anymore. It wasn't getting any better and she couldn't take her wife's denial anymore. She needed to accept her situation, no matter how hard it is. They needed to go on with their lives. She had gotten a second chance and she was ruining it. Things needed to change, and soon…

After having showered and making himself an sandwich, it was already 3 hours later and Derek wheeled himself towards the couch before sinking into it and closing his eyes for a moment while he rested his already tired body.

Barely a minute later the doorbell rang and he sighed before grabbing his wheelchair again and making his way over to the front door.

''I'm coming, I'm coming!'' Derek yelled as the doorbell went again. He hated impatience even though he knew he was impatient all the time when it got to his health.

''Hi sweetie!'' Derek smiled as he opened the door and saw his baby girl standing next to Mark, a big smile plastered on her face too as she saw her daddy again.

''Daddy!'' Zola giggled and she quickly run towards him, Derek holding his arms out to grab her and set her on his lap.

''Daddy missed you ZoZo.'' He smiled and Zola immediately flung her arms around his neck and occupied every inch of his face with sloppy kisses. ''Me.. miss.. you too daddy!'' she giggled.

''She's been gone for two days and you already missed her? You can't be saved, man'' Mark laughed as he shook his head and stepped into the house.

As the three of them made their way over to the living room, Zola jumped of his lap and immediately run over towards the playing corner. Happily grabbing the stuff she had missed for the two days she stayed at Mark's place.

''You want to drink something, eat something?'' Derek asked as he opened the overfull fridge.

''A class of water is fine.'' Mark replied as he let his body sink into the couch and grabbed a parenting magazine that was laying on the salon table.

He quickly looked into them and then set it back on the table as Derek came into the living room with two glasses of water.

''Yeah, it's Meredith's.'' Derek smiled softly at the memories. ''She wanted to be prepared for when Zola came, and now with the new baby on the way she wants to do everything perfect even though I told her that no mom is perfect.''

''Mom was'' Mark replied, and Derek smiled at his answer.

''Even mom wasn't, Mark.'' Derek smiled as he grabbed the pills lying next to his glass of water and gulped them down.

''You still need those?'' Mark asked curious. Meredith told him that he still was in a lot of pain but was at least doing better. He wasn't grumpy and monosyllabic anymore but just by looking at him he could still see the tiredness in his eyes and it made his insides twist.

''Yeah…'' Derek sighed as he grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, one of the many talk shows at this hour on screen.

''When will you get rid of that walking cast? It's been more than a week now, right?''

''Wednesday, when Meredith has her first ultrasound, they're gonna see if they can lower the dose and if I can get rid of the nasal cannula and walking cast.'' Derek replied as he flipped through the channels.

''Well, that's great right?'' Mark smiled, but Derek's mouth didn't even so much as twitch and Mark didn't get it.

''You're glad about that, right?'' Mark frowned.

''I am. But it's barely an improvement, Mark.'' Derek sighed and shut of the TV, laying the remote back on the salon table.

''You will get rid of the wheelchair, man! Isn't that a huge improvement?''

''I know it is, but it doesn't feel like that, at all. My hand… they don't know if I will ever get to operate again.'' Derek sighed, visibly frustrated. His gaze shifted to his badly injured hand which fully packed in bandages. His finger nails the only part of his hand visible to the outside world.

''Callie will fix it. I'm sure of that. She's the best.'' Mark replied as he laid a hand on his best friend's shoulder and Derek nodded slowly, but not at all convinced that he would eventually get full function back.

''Oh!'' Mark said suddenly and shot up. ''I really have to show you something.'' He grinned and grabbed his big he had set in the corner by the front door.

He slowly opened the bag like he wanted to hold the tension and then carefully grabbed the device before slowly grabbing it out of the bag and proudly holding it up for his friend to see.

''The new PlayStation 4 with your favorite childhood race game!'' Mark beamed as he saw Derek's face lit up a bit.

''How.. how did you find Pole Position?'' Derek said bewildered. '' Mom sold it when I was 14 and I've never seen it in the stores ever since.''

''Let's just say I have good connections.'' Mark grinned as Derek was still staring at the game his best friend held in his hand.

''I take you wanna play?'' Mark asked with a cheeky grin. ''If we play together as a team you can drive and I can control the brakes and stuff.''

''Of course I wanna play, Mark'' Derek smiled and happily grabbed the remote as Mark connected the device to the TV and the two men relived their childhood again. Mark beaming from ear to ear as he had finally found a way to distract Derek from the mess he was in.

The clock on the wall showed 3PM and Meredith had just scrubbed in, ready to remove the huge teratoma from that poor man's body.

''You ready, Grey?'' Doctor Bailey said behind her scrub mask as Meredith took place.

''More than ready, Doctor Bailey'' She said and made the small incision into the man's abdomen.

''Okay… I can see the teratoma.'' She said as she asked Bokey for the sucker. ''Just need to get a clear sight.''

''Clamp'' She said after she had gotten a clear sight and clamped the blood vessels near the tumor.

''Can you get it out?'' Bailey asked as she looked at the tumor encapsulated near the liver.

''I can. If I can just clamp those other blood vessels I can cut the dead tissue around it and get it out without damaging the liver.'' Meredith said as she proceeded.

Almost an hour later all the blood vessels were safely clamped and she had succeeded in cutting the surrounding dead tissue without damaging the liver.

''And… he's out'' Meredith smiled as she placed the huge teratoma into the basin and the people who sat in the gallery all stood up and clapped for her as she smiled once again at the monster she had taken out of that man's body.

''Great job, Grey'' Bailey smiled and nodded at her former intern. ''Didn't know if you could pull it off.''

She just kept smiling before grabbing the surgical tools again and closed up.

Once she stepped out of that OR minutes later, she inhaled deeply and closed her eyes momentarily before walking towards the dressing room with a big smile on her face. She couldn't believe she had just taken out such a huge monster from that man's body and she couldn't wait to tell Derek.

''Turn, turn!'' Mark laughed as the car was facing a huge turn.

''Got it.. got it'' Derek said relaxed as he took the turn the right way and the car was up for the last lap.

''You're better than I expected you, man.'' Mark said and Derek smiled slightly, the two men completely focusing on the screen in front of them, not seeing Zola running up to them.

''Daddy!'' Zola's giggle came through the living and Derek turned around immediately, seeing the toddler standing in the middle of the room, her mouth and face completely covered in ice cream.

''Oh no..'' Derek said and quickly paused the game.

''Hey man!'' Mark said and threw his hands up in the air as the game suddenly stopped. He turned around at the sound of Zola's giggles and saw the toddler's face completely covered in ice cream.

''You've done a good job, there Zo!'' Mark laughed, but Derek didn't see the humor of the situation. His energy levels were at a low now and he didn't have the energy to get out of that couch and get Zola cleaned up again.

''I'II get it, man!'' Mark said as he saw Derek's reaction to the whole situation. He patted his leg before standing up and taking Zola to the kitchen to get her all cleaned up.

''How did you get that ice cream, Zo?'' Mark asked as he set the little girl on the counter. Zola eagerly pointed her finger in the direction behind him and he turned around to see the full box of Meredith's favorite ice cream laying on the kitchen table behind him, the lid open.

''You're a smart little girl, you know that?'' He smiled and grabbed a towel to start cleaning her up.

When they were done, Mark put her down on the ground and the toddler quickly run of to play with her toys again. He smiled at the little girl whom he adored so much, but when he made his way into the living room again that smile quickly faded as he saw Derek hunched over. Wheezing noises coming from his throat as he visibly struggling for air.

''Derek?'' Mark asked, immensely worried at the sight in front of him.

''M…ark..'' Derek replied between shot gasps as he tilted his head and looked right into his best friend's eyes. Fear and worry evident in both men's eyes and Mark quickly run over to him.

''Derek!?'' Mark replied, clearly panicking. He checked his pulse point: fast but regular.

''Derek, what's wrong?'' he asked as thoughts were rapidly going through his head. Cristina had fixed his heart 2 years ago, he just couldn't have a heart attack. Could he?

''Do you have chest pain?'' Mark asked immediately but Derek quickly shook his head, making the whole situation much more confusing.

''Cant… breathe'' Derek rasped as his throat was slowly beginning to close up.

''I.. I..'' Mark panicked as he was quickly scanning the room. ''A phone.. I.. I need a phone'' He said and searched in his pockets but didn't find one.

''Fuck'' He said and cursed at himself before looking behind him and seeing that Meredith and Derek's house phone was out of its holder.

''No.. no.. no'' Mark said frustrated as he quickly searched the living room for the phone.

When he had found the phone on the salon table near the door he quickly dialed 911.

''911, what's your emergency?'' The operator's voice sounded through the phone and Mark quickly shot another look at Derek before replying.

''This is Mark Sloan. My.. my best friend can't breathe. I don't.. I don't know what's happening to him. Please come quick. I think it's bad.'' Mark said panicked.

''Calm down, Sir. We'II be right there. What's your location?''

'' 613 Harper Lane.'' He said as he kept his eyes on Derek.

''Okay, the ambulance will be there in 5 minutes, Sir. Do you need me to stay on the line for you?''

''No, It's.. it's okay. I'm a doctor.'' He replied and hung up before making his way over to Derek again and quickly dialing Meredith's number.

''Hi Der'' Meredith's happy voice sounded through the Phone and Mark felt almost guilty for going to ruin that. ''I'II be home in 30 minutes. Just grabbing my stuff''

''Mer, it's Mark. Something's wrong with Derek.'' He replied and she got immediately silent.

''I don't know but he… he can't breathe. His lips are turning purple Mer, I don't know what's happening. I called 911, they will be here soon.'' He said and felt a pang of guilt in his gut for not seeing what had happened to him when he was with Zola in the kitchen.

''Oh god.'' Meredith cried and quickly hung up. 'This can't be happening' she thought as she slid down the lockers, her head burried in her hands.

''They will be here soon, Derek. Please hang on'' He said as he saw Derek's eyes slowly beginning to close…