Mind over Matter

Chapter Seventeen: 1-800-799-7233

--TW: this chapter will contain mentions of abuse and violence--

The two weeks following Meredith and Derek's night at the trailer were eventful, to say the least. Meredith still suffered from her nightly terrors and avoided the ICU at all costs. Andrew had been awake since the moment he called after her in his room.

He spent every chance he got talking about Meredith and asking where she was. Despite his persistent efforts at getting her to face him; everybody knew not to page or inform her about it.

As Andrew was getting better with every passing moment, Meredith was doing worse. She went from looking like a bomb-shell; to showing up to work in a messy ponytail and baggy clothes. Having Andrew at the hospital was exceptionally hard for her and everybody knew it; yet nobody talked about it to her, afraid she might break.

Meredith knew that they knew; she could see their stares and hear their whispers as she passed staff members in the halls. Still, she insisted to everybody who did dare to ask that she was fine.

Derek still saw her, but not as much as he wanted to. He worried about her constantly and cut his surgical hours down as much as he could; making sure he could keep an eye on her. As much as he didn't want to, he was still giving her space. Derek was terrified that he would lose her if he pushed her too far. So he kept his distance and watched the love of his life slowly fade away right in front of him.

Until suddenly; two weeks had passed and it became time for Andrew to be discharged from Seattle Grace.

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Today was the day; the day that Derek had purposefully been shoving at the back of his mind ever since he knew about it. It was the day of Andrew's discharge and the consequences on Meredith were unforeseeable for Derek.

He didn't know what to do; if he even needed to do anything for her. Meredith had completely closed herself off from others and every time he tried talking to her; she changed the subject.

It was getting harder for him to watch her crumble down inside; not being able to do anything. If Derek were honest; it was slowly killing him as well. But he knew that she would need him when she eventually did face her deepest, darkest demons. That was the thought he held onto.

Derek knew something had to change; he decided a weekend getaway could be the chance for them to spend some quality time together, without the stress of this one patient weighing them down.

He was sitting in his office; looking at a weekend in the vineyards in Italy. He wanted to take her somewhere warm, sunny, peaceful. A vineyard seemed like the perfect place.

Derek's research was interrupted by the shrill of his page. It was a page from the ICU, and he immediately knew why he was needed.

It was standard protocol for a neuro checkup to be done by an attending when someone was ready to be dismissed. Unfortunately, he was the only neurosurgeon attending available right now; Dr. Nelson was in surgery and his residents weren't authorized to sign out on discharges.

Derek took a deep breath as he stepped inside the room, Andrew was sitting up, zapping through the hospital tv's channels. He noticed Derek walking in and grinned knowing how uncomfortable this must be for him.