Chapter 8

Dr. Barkley escorted Derek and Bailey to his office. Once they all had seats, he began,"So Derek, I assume you read my email yesterday and followed my instructions."

"No food and no drink after midnight."

"That's right. I'm going to retrieve the bone marrow through surgery. That's the preferred approach when working with children. You're going to go under general anesthesia. Since we're starting midday, you get an overnight stay in the hospital, but you can be discharged in the morning."

"And what is the recovery period?"

"It ranges from a couple of days to a week. You should play it by ear. Avoid any strenuous activity."

"I was planning on going back to NY on Monday."

"Air travel is not a problem."

"And I have some surgeries scheduled for Tuesday."

"I'd avoid lengthy surgeries until you are sure you are comfortable. And by lengthy, I mean more than three hours. Do you have any more questions?"

"No."

Dr. Barkley turned to Bailey, "I'd like you to get a resident involved to prep him for surgery."

"I'll do it myself."

"Okay. Go get him admitted and take care of the paperwork."

"No problem. Come with me, Derek."

"Okay." He said as he followed her into a hospital room.

"You shocked Meredith by suggesting having another baby," said Bailey.

"Well, I thought a baby's marrow would have a better chance than mine."

"But you can donate now; we'd probably have to wait a year or so for a baby. You know a baby takes at least nine months. You were married to an ob/gyn."

"I know. I spoke with Addison about it."

"I'd love to see the look on Meredith's face when you tell her that you talked to Addison about having a second baby with Meredith before you even met Chrissy. Anyway, you're not so old. I looked into the age issue before calling you. The National Bone Marrow Registry drops people from the donor registry when they turn 60. You're much younger than that. What's most important is that you're a great match."

"It has to work," said Derek, with some desperation in his voice.

"We all want it to work," said Bailey softly. "I'll be back in a minute. You should get your hospital gown on."

Later that day:

Derek woke up groggy. His hip hurt a bit. Bailey sat next to him. "How are you feeling, Derek?"

"It hurts a little."

"Do you want some morphine?"

"No. I'm good. I'm sure that childbirth hurt more than this. You know I don't even know if Meredith had a vaginal delivery or a c-section."

"It was vaginal, and she was in labor for fifteen hours before Chrissy was born, so you're right that childbirth hurt more than the bone marrow extraction. But you should get some pain medication if you're uncomfortable. No one is trying to punish you, you know. Everyone is grateful you've given your marrow."

"Well some motrin would be good." Bailey gave him the medication. Alex walked into the hospital room with a package. "Hi Alex."

"Hi Derek, hi Bailey. Meredith asked me to give you this package. She thought you might enjoy it while you're recovering. She was going to mail it herself and invite you to Chrissy's birthday party but before she could get it to the post office, she wound up in the hospital with Chrissy. And Chrissy hasn't been out of the hospital since then."

"Thanks." He noted that neither Bailey or Alex moved to leave. "It's nice of you to stop by, but you can both go. I'd like some privacy when I open this package."

"No problem. Please page me if you need any help." Bailey said, as she left the room.

"Thanks. I appreciate it."

"Meredith wanted to apologize for not stopping by. Chrissy was having a tough time with the new chemo, and she didn't feel she could leave," said Alex.

Derek smiled. It felt good to know that Meredith wanted to stop by. "Tell her that I'd rather she be with Chrissy than me. Chrissy needs her mom. And giving the marrow was no big deal. So go and leave me to the package." .

Alex smiled and left the room.

Derek opened the package gently and found a Little Mermaid party invitation to the third birthday party of Christina Grey Shepard at the Seattle Aquarium, an envelope, and a book. He opened the envelope and found a letter

Dear Derek,

I'm very sorry that I didn't write three years ago, but better late than never, right? I 'm writing to invite you to our daughter's third birthday party. Yes, "our daughter." As you may remember, we let ourselves get carried away at the prom, and, as a result, we have a wonderful daughter, Christine Grey Shepard..

When I first found out I was pregnant, I figured that an adulterous love child would interfere with your plan to give your marriage a new start. I thought I'd give you at least a year, and then I'd let you know about Chrissy.

Having kept her a secret from you, it became harder and harder to tell. Anyway, Chrissy is now aboujt to turn three, and she is starting to ask about her dad. And I know that you will be a wonderful father, and she deserves a good dad. So, please come to her birthday party. You can bring Addison; I'm sure she'll be a loving stepmother to Chrissy.

As you will see from the photo album, Chrissy is a real mini-McDreamy, with your hair and your eyes. My friends call her "the mini-McDreamy" when they think I'm not listening, but I've heard them many times. I've been keeping the photo album for you since the moment I knew she was pregnant.

After the party, we can talk about visitation and everything else. Don't worry; I'm not asking for any money. I can take care of Chrissy myself. I just want you to be involved as her dad.

Take care,

Meredith

Derek then started looking at the photo album. It started with a photo of a pregnancy test with a plus sign and then went to a series of sonograms. Tears starting running down his face when he saw the first picture after her birth; even as a newborn baby, Chrissy had a full head of hair. Meredith had included a photo every week for the first year of Chrissy's life, and then it slowed down a bit. Derek saw her sitting up, then crawling, and then walking. She always had a beautiful smile, and a beautiful head of hair. Derek went through the book, and then he went through it again and again.

The next morning, Meredith sat staring at her sleeping daughter. She heard the door open and saw both Izzie and Derek enter. She noticed that he was quite pale but still handsome in his button-down shirt and jeans. Her eyes met Derek's, and she smiled. She was so happy that he had donated his marrow; she was glad to have made some progress in Chrissy's treatment. "Thank you, Derek."

"It was nothing, you did the harder part, with nine months of pregnancy and labor and delivery. I would have done it for a total stranger. And thanks for the photo album. It was amazing! I am going to treasure it always. Anyway, I asked Izzie to come and sit with Chrissy while we talked. Is that okay?"

"Sure," she said. She didn't really want this conversation, but she knew that she owed it to Derek to talk with him. "She's still sleeping. The new chemo really knocked her out."

"I brought my latest issue of JAMA to study, so I'll sit and read unless she wakes up. No problem," said Izzie with a smile.

"Okay." Meredith got up and walked over to the door. She followed Derek, who went back to the conference room, which was empty. They sat down in the conference room, next to each other. Meredith remembered they hadn't been so close to each other since the prom.

"Thanks for talking with me," said Derek. He was a bit nervous. He also recalled that he hadn't been so close to Meredith since prom. He smiled, knowing now that was when Chrissy was conceived.

"No problem. I am so grateful to you."

"No reason for you to be grateful. She's my daughter, and I love her even though I've only known her a few days. She's amazing."

"That she is," Meredith said, smiling.

"Thanks again for the photo album."

"I'm glad you liked it."

"There was only one problem with the album," Derek said with a smile.

"What?" she said curiously.

"I didn't see a single photo of mother and daughter."

"I didn't think Addison would want to see any photos of me."

"We're divorced, as you may have heard. I'd love a photo of you and Chrissy."

"I'll look for one next time I'm home."

"Anyway, I want to spend as much time as possible with Chrissy before the transplant."

Meredith met his eyes. They both recognized that bone marrow transplants were dangerous and there was a possibility that Chrissy would not survive. Each moment was precious. But neither wanted to voice these concerns.

"I spoke with the Chair of the Board at Mount Sinai, and I'm going to take a leave. I'm entitled to twelve weeks of family and medical leave, and I also have some unused vacation time that I can use in addition. I have to go back on Sunday, and I have a number of surgeries that I had promised to do. I may also need to set things up for the interim chief for the next couple of weeks, but I'm going to be here Friday to Sunday or Monday next couple of weeks, and then I hope to stay here for a couple of months."

"Okay." Meredith had known that inviting Derek would lead to him being involved in Chrissy's life. "I think Chrissy's become a daddy's girl. She'll be very happy to spend more time with you."

Derek smiled. "She loves her mommy, too. She always talks about you." He paused and thought about his next words. "I was very nervous about seeing you again, but we both love Chrissy, and I think we should be able to spend time with her together. If you want, you can take a break, and, if you want, you could work a few days a week, when I'm here. But we should be able to both be with her at the same time, if we're both available. I don't want to be limited to two or three hours a day. I'd like to be with her as much as possible."

Meredith thought for a few minutes. She had always known that once she told Derek about Chrissy, she would have to work out visitation because Derek would want to spend time with Chrissy. Right now, it was easy; Chrissy was in the hospital and they could both be in the room with her. Derek might some day want to take her back to New York for a lengthy visit. Meredith smiled. She realized she was being ridiculous; all she wanted was Chrissy to get better, and if she was well enough to visit her dad in New York that would be wonderful. "That's fine, Derek. It's good for her to spend time with you."

"I hope you won't mind spending time with me, too," said Derek shyly.

"Derek, right now my focus is on Chrissy. I don't mind being together with you in her room. We need to co-parent Chrissy, I know. It's going to be an adjustment for me because I've been a single mom since she was born, but I know she needs a dad and that you've been wonderful to her since the moment you learned she was her daughter, but I'm not up for flirting or dating or anything like that."

"You say that now . . . "

Meredith smiled, remember when he used the same words in the locker room when she was an intern. "Derek, I've changed. I'm a different person, mostly because of Chrissy. She's my number one priority. I haven't even had a date since she was born."

Derek smiled at that admission. It was good to know there were no rivals for his affections. "She's my number one priority, too. So let's go back into her room together, and we can watch her together."

"Okay." They got up in unison and walked together to Chrissy's room.