The Seventh Sense is Love

A Minor Setback

"Derek?"

Meredith feels uncomfortable as she looks for Derek in the house later that night. Something feels off - not quite right.

"Derek?" she calls again and hears a slightly muffled moan as she steps into the dark bedroom.

He's laying on the bed - curled into himself. Almost in a fetal position but not quite. Her heart leaps in alarm and she quickly goes to sit beside him. Putting her hand on his shoulder, she whispers, "Derek, what's wrong?"

"Bad headache Mer," he groans. "Just a really bad headache."

"Have you taken anything for it?"

"Don't be Doctory," he snaps.

Meredith lets that slide and asks again, "Have you taken anything for it?"

"No."

"How bad is it? On a 1 - 10 scale."

He doesn't answer her and she reaches up to gently stroke his forehead. She says, "You would want to take care of me."

Several moments go by before he whispers, "It's an 8, maybe a 9."

"Jeez Derek," she leans down and kisses his forehead softly. Then whispers, "I'll be right back."

She leaves the room and comes back a minute later to sit beside him again. "Take this - it's a Tylenol 3."

Derek leans up and she puts the pill in his mouth and then a glass of water in his hand. After he's taken the pill she asks, "Is this the first time you've had a headache like this?"

He doesn't answer. "Derek," she says, with a touch of irritation in her voice.

"No," he snaps. "All right? Can you let it go now?"

"Yes, for now," she answers. "I'll let it go while you sleep the headache off but when you wake up - you're going to tell me about these headaches."

"Bossy," he mumbles.

Meredith starts to get up to leave the room but stops when she hears him say, "Stay here, please."

Meredith puts the empty water glass on the night stand and crawls into bed with Derek. She wraps her arms around him and holds tight. It isn't long before the medicine takes effect and she feels the calm breathing of his sleep.
*

"Meredith?"

She feels Derek's warm breath and stubble on her cheek as she slowly wakes up. "Hi," she mumbles. "How do you feel?"

"Much better," he says with a smile and leans down to kiss her fully on the lips. "Thank you for taking care of me, Dr. Grey."

"You're welcome," she states. "Now tell me about the headaches."

"I should've known you wouldn't forget about that," he says with a heavy sigh.

"Of course not," she says. "Last time I checked - I am a Doctor. And it hasn't been so long since you've practiced medicine. You know as well as I do headaches that bad shouldn't be ignored."

Derek quietly admits, "I have an MRI scheduled for tomorrow."

Meredith is silent for a long time as tears well in her eyes. Finally she asks in a whisper, "Were you going to tell me?"

"Yes," he answers immediately, "after I had the results."

"Okay," she sighs. "How many of these headaches have you had recently, Derek?"

"One per week for a month," he answers. "And the last time I had headaches like this I lost my sight."

"A month?" she asks angrily. "You've been having these headaches for a fucking month and haven't said a word to me?"

"Because I didn't want you to worry," he yells! "We're going to Maui in a few days. I didn't want anything overshadowing that for you," he says more quietly. "The headaches could be nothing, Mer."

"I know," she admits, chewing on her bottom lip. "You still should've told me, Derek. How would you feel if I kept something like this from you?"

"I wouldn't like it," he admits after a long, tense silence. "I'm sorry."

"Okay," she says. "Are you going to let me be there with you tomorrow? Or are you going to be a macho pain in the ass about it?"

"I want you there with me," he admits.

"Good," she says. "You said you had headaches like this when you lost your sight?"

"Yes," he answers. "I had a tumor on my optic nerve. It showed up on an MRI and I opted to have it removed. I never regained my sight after the operation."

"And how often do you have testing done to make sure everything is all right?"

"Every six months for the first three years. Then we moved it to once a year. The last MRI I had was right before we met - so about ten months ago."

"Okay," she sighs, wringing her hands together.

Derek reaches out and takes her hand in his, lacing their fingers together and squeezing tight. "Don't worry Mer," he whispers.

She gives a tiny, humorless laugh and replies, "Yeah right. In case you haven't noticed, I'm in love with you. Worry comes with love."

"I know," he relents then pulls her to him and kisses her. "We'll have answers tomorrow. Can we try to have a normal evening?"

"Yes," she agrees, knowing that she will do anything for him.