Day 12!

Today's work was based on a request from 05155mel519 ), centred around 8x09.

I was planning on doing a rewrite of the scene itself, and then this but I did the latter first and I don't have anything else to post...so I'm going with this for today. I plan on writting the prequel to this in a couple chapters time.

Enjoy! :)

Derek Shepherd had a lot of experience with grief.

When his father died, he held it together. He didn't speak much, except when he comforted his mother, and his focus remained on his sisters.

When Michael's accident occured, he ran up the stairs, slammed the door, and wrapped himself up in blankets for almost a week, staring into the abyss. He felt like an empty shell.

Today, he felt like an empty shell too.

The call ended, and he just stared at it. He didn't know what else to do.

"Hey." She whistled. "Earth to Derek."

"Huh?" He asked, his blank face morphing into a confused one.

"You okay?"

"Yeah. Sorry just-" He swallowed. "That phone call...when you- I thought you had-"

She squeezed his hand with her good one. "I know. I get it."

He gave her a brief, sad smile before diverting away from their previous topic by asking, "Dinner?"

"Yes please."

"Okay. About half an hour, is that fine?" He asked as he stood up off of the sofa that he had been perched on. "Need me to bring you some snacks in the mean time?"

"No, no. I can wait. Maybe something to drink though. Some water?"

He kissed her. "Of course. One glass of water coming up."

"Woah, woah, woah, woah, woah!" Derek couldn't help exclaim as he turned around to find his wife stood - kind of - in the doorway. "What are you doing out of bed?"

"It's been 45 minutes." She explained. He had said it was dinner in 30.

"I know, I had to put the dishwasher on too but- you're supposed to be resting. And you're supposed to be 10% weight bearing- like...you're allowed to put your foot on the ground, not like you can walk around with one crutch- Meredith-"

"I'm fine Derek. Besides, using a crutch on my left hurts my shoulder."

"Callie said your ankle was more important than your shoulder. She said you could still use both even if it did hurt."

"I'm a surgeon, I don't want a messed up shoulder."

He stared at her for a long second before sighing. "Give it here."

"Give what where?" She asked.

"The crutch-" He explained before she hesitantly passed it over. He rested it against the wall.

"What are you going to-" Derek forced her to stop talking as he picked her up, fireman-style with one hand below her knees and one hand going behind her back. "Derek!"

"Me carrying you involves no ankle nor shoulder use." He pointed out as he took slow steps out of the kitchen, careful not to fall or let her slip. "It's a win-win situation."

She giggled. "And it's hot."

He smirked. "Okay. And that maybe too."

They stopped both of their smiles when they reached the sofa - Meredith's temporary bed - and he carefully placed her back down there. He grasped her booted ankle and carefully placed it up on a pillow as she sat back. "Now...you're going to stay here this time, okay?"

"Maybe I want to do it again so I can get scooped up by you again." She winked.

He rolled his eyes, but smiled inside. "Dinner in 5, for real this time, okay?"

She sighed. Damn. "Okay."

"Are you sure you don't want me to set up downstairs too?"

"I'm fine by myself here, Derek. Really." She reassured him.

"What if you need something in the night?"

"Well you set up all the things I could possibly need, and I'll be able to get myself to the toilet easily enough. It's not that far from the lounge to the bathroom."

"Are you sur-"

"Derek. I'm sure. Stop worrying." She reassured him, cutting him off. "Unless-"

"Unless?" He repeated with a creased brow.

She couldn't help but giggle again. She loved this. She didn't know why, but she did. The little bit of morphine still in her system probably helped accelerate her laughter.

"Okay- okay. You know when you laugh it makes it harder for me, right?" He said, just as he reached the top of the stairs.

"Sorry. I just...I like this."

"Yeah, I can tell." He said with a smirk. "How about kicking open doors, are you a fan of that?"

"Well, I think it would be hot, but you better not ruin my doorframe." She said as she used her good arm to reach out, grab the handle and push the door open for them.

"Good point." He agreed as he carefully settled her on the bed.

"Now we can sleep together." She said with a smile.

"Yeah." He agreed as he started collecting a set of both hers and his own pyjamas. "But not together-together. You heard Callie, no exercise for 6 weeks means no sex."

"That's okay. I have your fireman scoop-ups to make me smile."

He rolled his eyes. "Sure you do."

"You're not doing it again?" She asked with a pout. "What if I beg? What if I use my extra special wife-powered convincing skills? What if I-"

"Meredith." He named softly, cutting her off. "It's okay. I love you, and if you promise not to almost get yourself killed again, I will scoop you up as many times as you want."

She smiled. "Well then I promise."