It's been a long time

Chapter 11

Meredith 21, Derek 22

Meredith was in the middle of a lecture when she got a phone call. She excused herself from the room and took the phone call outside.

"Hello?" She asked. "Meredith. This is Dr Allen Webster at Boston Med. I, uh don't know if you remember me, but-." Dr Webster started. "I do remember you. Is everything okay?" Meredith asked, starting to get worried. "Your mother was brought in earlier from Roseridge. She had a heart attack. She's still unconscious, and we aren't sure if she will wake up. I'm so sorry Meredith." Allen said. Meredith gasped in shock. "I'll be there soon." Meredith said as she hung up the phone. As she was about to text Derek, the class got out and Derek, Addison, and Mark all came over to her. "Who was that?" Derek asked. "Boston Med. My mother had a heart attack." She said shakily, tears welling in her eyes. Derek enveloped her into a tight hug and cradled her head against his chest. "Is she..." Derek trailed off. "The doctor said she was still alive, but she may not wake up." Meredith explained.

"I gotta go. I'll email my professors." Meredith said. "Wait! I'll come with you." Derek said. "You don't have to." Meredith replied. "I'm coming with you if it's okay." Derek said sternly. Meredith nodded and they started walking away before Addison and Mark stopped her. The group of students all engaged into a hug. "I'm so sorry Mer." Addison said quietly. "Thank you." Meredith said as she pulled away from the group and walked off with Derek.

"Are you sure you don't want to grab anything from your dorm?" Derek asked. "No. I have everything in my backpack." She said. Derek nodded and got into the car.

The two drove away back home in silence, making small talk along the way. Meredith sent a few emails to her professors.

They arrived at the hospital and got out of the car. Walking in hand in hand, dr Webster approached them. "Meredith." He said as he held out his hand, which she took and shook. "And this is..." he trailed off. "Oh. This is Derek Shepherd, my boyfriend." Meredith explained. The doctor nodded. "Your mother is right this way." He said as he led them to a room.

Meredith inhaled sharply as she saw her mother intubated and swallowed a lump in her throat. Derek grounded her with a hand on her back as she felt her breathing quicken. She stepped into the room and walked toward her mother. Derek was right behind her, worried for his girlfriends mom. Meredith picked up her chart and thumbed through it. "So what do we do now? Wait?" She asked. "It took a while to restart your mother's heart. There's no way of telling if her brain was deprived of oxygen too long. But her brain activity is going down. I'm not sure if she'll wake up, but there's always a chance."The doctor said softly.

Meredith turned her body towards Derek and wrapped him in a hug, needing to be close. Derek held her to his chest and the tears starting flowing full force. The doctor excused himself from the room and let the grieving young lady cry.

"It's okay. I'm here. Your okay." Derek murmured as Meredith cried. Meredith didn't have a very good relationship with her mother, but still, it was her mother. Derek knew that. "I'm tired." Meredith said as the sobs died down. Derek nodded and led her over to a couch, which she laid down on. Derek found a blanket and wrapped it over her small body, as she closed her eyes and fell asleep.

Derek grabbed her phone and saw 5 messages from the Mark and Addison. "How is she?" Addison asked. "How's grey?" Mark asked. Derek typed back a response. "Mom isn't doing well - may not wake up. Meredith is having a hard time coping, asleep right now." He sent back as he put his phone away and left the room quietly.

He found the doctor and approached him. "Derek, is it?" Dr Webster asked. "Yeah, uh Derek Shepherd. I was just wondering, I know that doctors sometimes sugarcoat patient outcomes to family members, and i just wanted to know if you were being straight with Meredith." Derek asked. The doctor sighed. "I've known Meredith since she was a kid, when her mother worked here. I don't want to hurt her, but yeah I sugarcoated it. Her mother's brain activity is 1 to nothing. I don't have high hopes that she'll wake up." The doctor explained. Derek frowned and looked back at his girlfriends slumbering form. "Damn." Derek muttered. "Hey, I noticed Meredith thumbing through her mother's chart. Is she a Pre med?" He asked. Derek nodded. "She is." Derek confirmed. The doctor nodded and walked away to go check on other patients.

Derek made sure Meredith was still sleeping when he called his mom. "Derek?" Carolyn asked. "Hey mom." Derek said. "Is everytbing okay? Why are you calling?" Carolyn asked worriedly. "Uh, not exaclty. Ellis had a heart attack and she probably won't wake up. Meredith and I are in Boston med with her right now. I just wanted to let you know." Derek explained. "How's Meredith?" Carolyn asked after a short pause. "She's struggling with it. She's asleep on the couch after crying for an hour. She doesn't know why she's crying, since Ellis was never there for her, but she is." Derek answered. "It's her mother." Carolyn said simply. "Mr Shepherd. Ellis is coding. Please help get Meredith out." The doctor said frantically. Derek nodded. "Mom,  I gotta go. Love you." He said. "Okay derek. Keep me updated please. Love you too." Carolyn said as Derek hung up the ohone.

Meredith woke up in a haze, hearing alarm bells blare. She looked toward her mother and her eyes went wide when she saw her heart monitor flatline. She stood up and The code team came bustling in. "Mom!" She yelled. A nurse tried to usher her out, but Meredith wasn't having it. "Mom!" She repeated, tears streaming down her face. Derek came running in, and grabbed Meredith by the arms. "Come on Mer." He said as he pulled her out of the room. Meredith got outside and buried her face into his chest. Derek cradled her head and held her tight.