Hello! :)

Why did I subject myself to this writing challenge? I'm a sadist, but you could probably tell that by reading my books.

Anyway, moving swiftly on, here's how I'm setting up each chapter title:

- A = Any universe (vague work which could fit into multiple universes)

- NU = No universe (100% canon Merder, season 1-11)

- AU = New universe (a new universe I've never written in before)

- ND = Set somewhere in the world of Nerve/Organ Damage

- LV = Set somewhere in the word of Love

- RE = Set somewhere in the world of Reconciliation

- SV = Set somewhere in the world of Survivor

- XX/XX = Cross-over

I'm not following any set prompts, so please request as many ideas as you like and I'll have a go at making them into one-shots. I'm aiming for ~1k chapters, so ideas that are only one or two scenes long are best (although, if you have a general request for a longer one-shot/actual book, I'd still love to hear it). :)

Enjoy!

"Oh, God." He croaked. "Not this."

"Yes, this." She said as she looked through the plastic basket that she had just placed on the end of his bed.

"I'm fine, Meredith."

"I'm fine, Meredith. I'm just lying in the ICU after major surgery, but I'm absolutely fine." She replied. She wasn't imitating his voice as she spoke, but she definitely wasn't using her own.

He sighed. She was right. He wasn't fine. "My brain is fine then."

She sat down on the seat beside his bed, a pack of what-looked-like playing cards in her hand. "You died. Like three times."

"And I'm fine."

"You were deprived from oxygen, because you stopped breathing and your heart stopped beating. Ergo, you are not fine." She returned as she opened the packet. For the last few hours, it had hurt her so much to mention any thing like that, but she found the ability to do it when berating him. "So...in conclusion, yes, we have to do this and no, you're not fine. Now, tell me what this is."

"That is a giraffe."

She put the first card - which was, as he correctly identified, of a giraffe - down. "And this?"

"Oh. Difficult one." He muttered sarcastically. This whole cognitive test was ridiculous. "An elephant?"

"Wow. Impressive. Not sure I would have got that one." She returned as she placed the elephant card down too. She shouldn't have joked really; she was just encouraging him.

"Uh oh. This one looks even harder." He said, eyebrows creasing. "That's a dog, right?"

"Cat." She corrected. "How about this one? I'll give you a hint, you were close last time."

"Another cat." He answered, even though he could clearly see that it was a dog (a German Shepherd, to be precise).

She shook her head, fake sadness forming a frown on her face. "Oh no. That's two incorrect answers in a row now!"

"Oh, man. Off to the TBI clinic I go." He sighed, the same sorrow on his face.

She rolled her eyes as she pulled out a new card. "This one?"

"Now that is a hedgehog." He said at the picture of the small woodland animal. "I know that one."

"Maybe you're not off to the TBI clinic afterall."

He smiled before rather abruptly saying, "I like hedgehogs."

"Spiky things though, aren't they?"

"Mmm. I suppose. They wouldn't make very good pets." He replied. He had no idea why in the world they were having a discussion about hedgehogs. It kind of just...happened.

"I don't really like spiky things. But I have to put up with one."

"One what? Hedgehog?" He asked, seriously confused this time. Every other time that tone filled his voice and his eyebrows dropped was a joke, but he was seriously confused by her comment this time.

"Something spiky."

"Something spiky?" He asked. All he could was repeat her.

She smiled as she stood, and sat on the side of the bed at the nearest point to his face that she could get. She raised her right hand, and placed it lightly on his right cheek. "Hedgehog."

"Oh!" He chuckled, only for it to die away, when he winced. Laughing was a no-go after heart surgery, clearly. "You mean...me?"

"Yes, you." She returned with a smile.

"I'm a hedgehog?"

"Your face is a hedgehog." She returned.

He smiled. "You sound like one of my sisters attempting to offend me."

"You need to shave, is what I'm saying." She corrected as she lightly ran her hand against the prickly surface of his cheek. It was too short to lie a little flat and be less harsh, but too long for it not to be seen and felt.

"I'm in the ICU, Meredith. Shaving is not at the top of my priorities, is it?"

"But how am I supposed to kiss you when I feel like I'm being attacked by a hedgehog whenever I try?" She asked, only half-kidding about being upset. Man, she wanted to kiss him.

"I don't know...how am I supposed to sleep tonight when the person sitting with me snores as loud as a freaking train?" He rebutted.

"Hedgehog!" She exclaimed back to his remark.

"Train!" He exclaimed back before the pair simultaneously laughed at each other. Until, of course, the inevitable happened. "Crap...don't make me laugh."

Tension was written over her face for a few seconds as she watched him helplessly as he attempted to stop laughing. Eventually, he did, and the pain faded too. "Derek."

"Mmm?"

"As prickly as they are-" She kissed him. And she enjoyed it. "I think I really like hedgehogs. Hedgehogs called Derek."

"And as loud as they are, I think I really like-"

"Derek-" She whispered. "We're having a cute moment and you're about to ruin it by calling me a train."

"Oh. Right. Sorry." He smiled. "The point is...I love you."

"And I love you too."