Endless Summer Nights

31.

"Derek?"

Derek whips his head around as he hears his name roll of her tongue, all of his previous thoughts forgotten as all of his attention returns to her. He is instantly by her bed, his fingers finding their home in her hair.

"Mer," he says as he searches her face in a reverent tone, almost as if she is the answer to all of his prayers.

"What happened?" she manages to choke out as she glances at the unit of blood they are now hanging.

He glances up at his mom, not knowing the full extent of the matter. Mrs. Shepherd walks over to the other side of Meredith's bed. Meredith instinctively grabs Derek's hand as she fears the worst. As painful as the situation is, he can't help but feel his heart flutter slightly as he feels her hand once again fit perfectly within his own.

"Your stitches didn't hold and you were bleeding out, but we have got the bleeding under control and the baby's heart rate is stabilized," his mother tells her in a soothing, motherly voice.

Almost as if she is too tired to speak any more, Meredith simply nods and allows her head to fall back on the pillows. Derek instinctively begins to rub the top of her hand with his thumb, causing her to turn her face towards him. It is then that he notices the dry blood on her face, put there by his earlier frantic behavior.

He releases her hand, prompting her to question him with her eyes. "I'm just going to get a wash cloth to clean up the blood on your face," he tells her as he leans closer to her as he continues his attempts to sooth her.

She closes her eyes for a moment before nodding. Derek turns around to get a wash cloth from the cabinet which is also covered in Meredith's blood. He hesitates momentarily before opening the cabinet and retrieving a wash cloth. He then proceeds to the sink, where he impatiently waits for the water to turn luke warm.

Once he has dampened the cloth he turns around to clean her up, but he is stunned to find her staring at him, tears welling in her eyes.

"What's wrong?" he asks her as he slowly begins to clean her face, each gentle stroke removing some of the blood.

She shakes her head, refusing to answer him. She looks into his eyes as he takes his take and exercises great care in cleaning her.

"You don't want to talk about it?" he asks her as he tosses the soiled rag into the nearby biohazard bag.

Once again she shakes her head. He can already notice a slight flush returning to her cheek as the blood is pumped into her body. He almost fails to notice the body that moves next to him in order to sew Meredith's wound back up.

"Okay, Meredith, I'm going to sew you back up. I'm sure that you don't feel much because of the pain medicine we have given you, but I'm still going to apply some local anesthetic," Mrs. Shepherd tells her as she begins to inject the lidocaine into the open wound as well as the surrounding area.

Derek can hear the sharp intake of breath that Meredith takes as she feels the burning sensation from the numbing agent.

"So," Derek begins in an attempt to distract her, "after she finishes with the stitches, how would you like to change out of that hospital gown and into some of your own clothes?" he asks with a small smile.

He notices her eyes light up instantly at the suggestion. "What did you bring?" she asks in a tired, yet somewhat excited voice.

He chuckles as he turns around and grabs her bag. "What didn't I bring?" he asks as he unzips the stuffed back. Instantly the clothes spill out, his sweater landing on the edge of her bed.

He notices her glance at the sweater before blushing furiously. "I...sorry... didn't mean to steal it...okay...I did...but...I didn't mean for you to know that I did... didn't think that you would miss it...smelled like you...and I just...I had nothing else to wear but that tiny black dress...and I really didn't feel like putting that back on...Sorry.." she rambles as she looks at her hands and bites down on her bottom lip.

Derek chuckles. "Mer?" he says in a light voice, lighter than it has been in what seems like forever.

"Yeah?" she responds as she forces herself to look at him.

"It's yours," he responds before handing the sweater to her. He never would have given that sweater to anyone else. It was his lucky sweater. The sweater he wore to every test. The sweater that he had had since his freshman year of high school, the year he decided that NYU was the school for him. The sweater that he had missed, but not as much as he had missed the thief that had lifted it.

Meredith bites down on her lip and nods in response, understanding some of the significance of his words, but not their entire meaning. She grabs the sweater and brings it up to her nose, inhaling deeply.

"Derek?" she asks.

"Yeah?" he responds as he continues to dig through her bag, looking for a pair of sweats for her to wear.

"Thanks," she finally answers after a momentarily silence.

He stops his movements and smiles at her. "You're welcome," he responds as he places the bag at the foot of her bed. He places his hands on the bed rail, leaning forward slightly and placing some of his weight on the rails.

"Now, about that apartment..."