Endless Summer Nights

20.

Silence fills the room as Meredith fidgets with her watch. She doesn't want to look at him. She can't look at him. She has waited so long to see him, but she can't look at him. She can't look into his eyes, his perfect blue eyes. She can't face him. She can't let him know that she disappointed him. She just can't.

He clears his throat as he hands her a hospital gown. "You should probably put this on. I can hook you back up to the monitors as soon as you are in the gown. My mom is going to want to examine you," he says in a dulcet tone, trying to comfort her.

Her jaw falls open. "Your mom is going to examine me?? As in look at the goods?!" she says in a panicked tone as she sits up in the bed.

Derek chuckles as he sits down in the chair that is next to her bed. "It's okay, Mer, she does this for a living," he says, amusement in his voice.

Meredith glares at him. "It is not okay. It is NOT okay!" She falls back on the bed and covers her face with her hands. "Oh my God, oh my God! Your mom will be down there and all I will be able to think about is YOU being down there! Oh my God!"

Derek chuckles as Meredith blushes furiously, realization of her admission hitting her. She points at him. "You don't get to laugh! You do not get to laugh at me or the situation!" Meredith yells, she opens her mouth to continue, but another pain rips through her body. She reaches out and grabs Derek's hand as she rolls onto her side and curls into a ball, a strangled cry escaping from her now shaking body.

Derek immediately jumps out of the chair and begins to run his hand down his back. His mother and father run back into the room upon hearing Meredith's cries. Mrs. Shepherd glances at her son, a sympathetic look in her eyes. "I'm going to go ahead and put the monitor on your stomach so we can check the heartbeat. I want to make sure that the baby isn't in any distress and then we will do your exam," she says softly while placing the needle and vials on a nearby table.

Derek nods at his mom before leaning down close to Meredith's face. He runs his hand over her forehead as her pain stricken appearance tears at his heart. "Mer," he whispers, "you need to roll over on your back so Mom can check the heart rate."

Meredith whimpers before nodding and slowly rolling onto her back. Mrs. Shepherd raises up her shirt, revealing her swollen abdomen again. She hadn't gotten around to hooking up the fetal monitor before Ellis stormed in earlier. She straps the device around Meredith's abdomen before turning around and flipping on the monitor. She has to readjust the device to find the heartbeat, but it only takes a moment until the swooshing sound fills the room.

Tears run down every cheek in the room as they all listen with baited breath. Derek hears his son's heartbeat for the first time and he feels his own stop momentarily. That is his son. His baby boy.

Derek caresses the palm of Meredith's hand with his thumb as he holds her hand and they ride out the contraction together. Mrs. Shepherd waits until Meredith relaxes and the contraction subsides until she speaks.

"The baby's heart rate is a little fast for my liking, so if we can't get the contractions to stop naturally within the next thirty minutes or so, I'm going to have to get you some medication to stop them. Before I insert your IV and take your blood, I need for you to get into your hospital gown. So, go ahead and change and I will be back in five minutes," Mrs. Shepherd says. She leans down close to Meredith. "Everything will be okay, dear, I promise. I will take good care of you and my grandson," she says with a voice full of love.

Meredith nods at her before watching her leave the room. Derek stays by her side, his eyes trained on the monitor that is reporting the heart rate of the baby. As soon as the door clicks shut he turns to Meredith, tears running down his cheeks. "Are you okay?" he asks, concern and love in his voice.

Meredith swallows before nodding and turning away. She can't stand to see the hurt in his eyes. Hurt that she has caused. She should have taken better care of herself. Oh God, what if she loses the baby? It will be all her fault. She clamps her hand down over her mouth to stifle a cry.

Derek looks at her with concern. "What is it, Mer?" he asks, thinking that she is in pain again.

She reaches for the gown, hoping to avoid answering his question. "I need to put this on before your mother comes back," she says in a somewhat cold voice.

He recoils slightly at her tone. "Okay," he responds. He sees her struggling with the numerous monitors that are connected to her body. He reaches towards her. "Let me help you," he implores her.

She flinches away from his touch. "I got it," she responds.

He sighs in frustration. Ten minutes ago they were talking about his mom examining her and she was gripping his hand, not wanting to let go, and now, now she won't let him help her. "Mer," he implores.

"Fine," she says in a frustrated voice, "but don't look."

He chuckles. "It's not like it's nothing I haven't seen before."

She turns and glares at him. "Ass," she spits in his direction.

She fusses with the monitors for a moment before turning to him. He doesn't even need her to say anything before he is unhooking her, freeing her from their confines. As soon as she is freed from their bonds she looks at him. "You can go stand behind the curtain," she tells him with a pointed look.

He simply smiles at her and nods before doing as she tells him. She manages to get undressed, hiding her tiny thong in the bundle of her clothes, in record time and is about to get back into the bed when another contraction stops her. She doubles over and leans on the bed for support as she cries out. Derek is immediately by her side, rubbing her back. Any other time he would smirk at her bare ass and perfect back, but now he just focuses on making her feel better.

Meredith begins to sob. This is by far the worse contraction she has had so far. It hurts. It hurts so bad. It feels like someone is twisting her insides, slowly tearing them out. Suddenly she begins to feel light headed. She gasps and blindly reaches for Derek's hand. "Der," she manages before everything goes dark.

Derek gasps as he catches her in his arms. Her body is limp. He yells for his mom, who immediately runs into the room. As soon as his mom is in the room he lifts her limp body onto the bed.

"Oh my God," he says as he notices the blood trailing down her leg. Something is wrong. Something is wrong and he can't help but fear that he may be losing the two people he loves most in this world. He may be losing the two people that he loves most in this world that he only just found again.
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sorry guys leaving you on a cliffhanger today don't hate me! i'm so excited for greys and also nervous to see how it plays out on thursday when jackson leaves. i'll be posting a new story later on today called 'let it go' it will be out later so make sure to check it out. also make sure you are following merderland13 because she also has very good stories out too!!