Meredith was awoken early by the sounds of birds outside the bedroom window, of all days to be woken, today was not it. Were birds normally that loud? She was crampy, irritated and hadn't had much sleep, turning to her right she watched Derek as he slept contently, part of her hated him right now that he didn't have to experience the discomfort she was feeling, today she hated the men of society and most importantly, the female anatomy.

Pulling herself up, she decided to take a shower and freshen herself up. The scent of lavender filled the bathroom as she washed her hair, she didn't notice how early it actually was until she read the clock that sat on the counter, 4:46am, she quickly finished up and got out quietly, not wanting to wake her daughter and as much as she hated right now, Derek. She let her hair air dry, the lavender smell staining the apartment as she moved around the kitchen, she refilled her hot water bottle and made some tea as she took some medication to relieve the pain she was feeling.

It had been a little over two hours since she had gotten up and since then she had been sat on the sofa reading a book, the apartment was silent but she was expecting Ellyse to wake up soon as it was just past 7am and she was almost always up early. Luckily for Meredith, her and Derek both had the day off today whilst Ellyse would be at kindergarten so she was looking forward to spending some time as just the two of them, something they didn't get to do that often.

Now, it was 8:10am and there was still no sign of the two she was waiting for to wake up but Ellyse started kindergarten at 9am so Meredith decided it was time to go wake her up if they wanted to be on time. Walking into her bedroom she was met with a sight that brought tears to her eyes, her daughter laid next to her father, his arm pulling her close as she slept peacefully against his chest. Any rage or discomfort she was feeling flew out the window as she watched the two.

Derek began to stir feeling someones eyes on them, he pulled Meredith closer to him with his eyes still closed. A few seconds later he began to open his eyes, them widening when he saw Meredith stood at the bedroom door, his head turned quickly to see who he was cuddling. A chuckle left his mouth when he saw his daughter sleeping peacefully, her mouth open on his chest.

"She snook in again?" he chuckled in a raspy voice which Meredith loved so much.

"Seems like it, she wasn't there when I got up." she smiled.

"How long have you been up?"

"A while." she rubbed her forehead.

"Are you okay?" her frowned, concern filling him.

"Yeah I'm just sore and achy, plus I didn't sleep much last night." she replied with a sigh.

"I'm sorry." he sadly smiled, his hands brushing through Ellyse's hair.

"It's not your fault." she smiled rolling her eyes which made him grin a little. A few moments of silence past.

"It's 8:15, you should wake her, she has school at 9." Meredith said before leaving the bedroom.

Derek stared at the place where she stood and he felt a little worried about her, he knew that this time of the month wasn't always easy but she seemed disorientated and almost confused, not moody like yesterday.

"Ell, time to wake up." He whispered as he brushed her soft hair.

"Noo." She whined as she turned into the pillow. She was more like Meredith them either of them realised.

"I know, but you have to go to school sweetie. Come on."

After a few minutes she got up and so did Derek. Meredith was sat back on the sofa reading her book as he made them all breakfast, she only nibbled on her toast before putting it back on the plate. Ellyse had ordered that she get herself ready this morning so when she was in her room getting dressed he sat down next to Meredith.

"You didn't finish your toast, in fact you didn't really eat any of it." He said gently.

"I know. I don't feel well." She looked at him.

"What's the matter?" He asked.

"You know what's the matter." She rolled her eyes, moving into a different position.

"Your cycle is never normally this bad though right?"

"It's been bad for a couple of months but this is the worst. I feel like I can't even walk."

"Maybe you should see a doctor or something?" He offered.

"I am a doctor Derek." Her eyes rolling once again.

"I know but maybe it'll be best for you to just get checked out."

"No. I don't need to, it's just a period Derek, I'll get over it, we all have to."

He decided to leave it at that not wanting to cause her anymore discomfort, so helping Ellyse finishing to get ready occupied him until they needed to leave. They decided that Derek would take her since Meredith wasn't feeling great.

"Bye mommy. Feel better today!" Ellyse hugged her mom.

"I'll try baby. Have a good day, I love you." She kissed her head.

"Love you." She smiled before taking Derek's hand and leaving the apartment. The door closed and finally Meredith felt relieved as she was left alone.

She took some more pain relief with some water and rested for a little before getting up and going to the bathroom. The reflection in the mirror on the wall in front of her scared her as she saw how pale she looked. The lights of the bathroom seemed heightened, she could practically hear the electricity in the lightbulbs and she suddenly felt really hot, her mouth drying up alongside her skin.

Steadying herself, Meredith gripped onto the sink and closed her eyes whilst taking some deep breaths as a wave of dizziness took over her. This definitely wasn't a normal part of her cycle and she was beginning to get worried, her doctor brain was in overdrive analysing every symptom and what it could mean. Only as she was analysing, she wasn't focusing, her brain was like a dictionary, every random word flying through her eyes, she opened and closed them again before she felt herself fall and the dizziness finally overtook her into a surrounding of darkness.

"Mer?" Derek shouted as he walked through the living room, Meredith not being where he left her.

He had shouted her a few times and got no response. He couldn't imagine her going out when she felt so unwell so she had to be in the apartment, he thought maybe she was asleep but as he entered their bedroom, she wasn't there.

"Meredith?!" He shouted louder, fear rushing through him.

He walked quicker out of the bedroom passing the bathroom, his subconscious recognising the shadow on the floor first causing him to rewind his steps, which led him to find who he was looking for.

"Mer!" He gasped as he kneeled down next to her, rolling her to face him. Panic jolting him as he saw her pale, sweaty complexion.

He pulled her eyelids back to see her eyes still rolled back. He pulled her hair backwards from her face and grabbed a cold, wet washcloth to press against her forehead. Suddenly, her body began to shake.

"Meredith! Meredith!" He panicked.

Turning her onto her side, he let it ride out and once it had he ran quickly to his phone, dialling 911 immediately. He told them what happened and they had dispatched an ambulance to them.

The longest 10 minutes had past when Derek heard the sirens outside the apartment, he ran to the door and opened it before heading back to Meredith. He didn't realise the water spreading down his cheeks until he noticed the wetness on her shirt.

"What happened?" A paramedic asked as they got her on a stretcher.

"I- I don't know. She was feeling ill this morning and I took out daughter to school and- she- she was passed out when I got back, she just had a seizure." He breathed heavily.

"Okay, we're going to figure it out. Let's go."

"We work at mount sinai. Take us there." Derek said.

"Of course." The paramedic nodded as they quickly left the apartment. Derek's hand tightly in Meredith's in the ambulance.

They got to the hospital relatively quickly and during the ride, another paramedic had put an IV into Meredith's arm full of fluids to help her stay hydrated, her body temperature was changing from hot to cold as her internal temperature was rising higher and higher.

"23 year old female, unconscious at the scene, fever and had a seizure. Partner reported that she felt unwell all morning." One of them shouted as they ran through the ER.

"Patients name?" A doctor shouted.

"It's Meredith chief. Meredith Grey." Derek interrupted.

"Take her to exam room 3!" He looked back and forth.