Let It Go

78.

"You know what I don't get?" Alex asked Meredith nearly an hour later. "What?" Meredith asked, propping her feet up on one of the small tables in the waiting room and leaning back against the uncomfortable waiting room sofa. The tornado had passed, worse then the one before, and she had spent the better part of the last hour delegating tasks and taking on what she could. She was pretty certain the last suture she had done was quite possibly her worse ever but with the hospital in chaos and Derek's brilliant idea to put her in charge, she was being pulled in every direction and couldn't concentrate on one task too long before she was pulled onto something else. She had, however, managed to put clean clothes on at some point.

"There are people out there who actually chase these things for a living," Alex answered. "I don't get it either," Meredith agreed. "And you know we should both be in the pit, working our fingers to the bone," she added. Alex nodded. "True. But we've been working for hours straight. Five minutes of peace won't harm anyone." Meredith nodded her agreement.

"Derek's still not back," she mentioned to Alex. "He's fine," Alex replied. "If White Hall is as devastated as they say, he'll be out there a while. Don't worry about him. Besides, none of the other doctors are back yet either." "I've been watching the weather when I can. I found White Hall on the map. I don't think there have been anymore tornadoes there," Meredith mentioned. "I doubt there has been anymore," Alex said, having no idea if what he was saying was true but knowing Meredith only wanted confirmation that there hadn't been anymore tornadoes where Derek had been. An ambulance drove by the waiting room window.

"Another ambulance is rolling in," Meredith informed Alex. They stood and hurried to the ambulance bay, poised to take on whatever patient came out of it, whether it was their surgery or not. The ambulance doors sprung open, revealing Derek and Mark, an woman on a stretcher, and a man clinging to her hand for dear life. Meredith and Alex jumped out the way as the ambulance began to unload.

"I need a CT and a MRI stat, no questions asked. I don't care how many people are waiting for the same tests, this woman is first. She's critical," Derek ordered an intern who rushed outside behind Meredith and Mark. The intern looked honored to have such specific orders from one Dr. Shepherd. Derek's eyes fell on Meredith.

"Hey," he breathed, brushing his hand over her cheek quickly. "Where's Shaffrey? I need him to take that patient." Meredith frowned. "Derek, you head..." "I got a cut, I'm fine. Where's Shaffrey?" Derek cut her off. "He's in surgery. What did you do Derek?" "Then you're up," he told her. "Page Dr. Grey the second you have a picture," he called after the intern. The intern tossed an okay sign.

"How are things here?" he asked Meredith. Meredith glared at him. "Your head Derek. What did you do to it?" "I tripped, stumbled, cut my head on - something. It's fine. I need a report Meredith. How are things here?" He took a close look at her. "And is that one of my UVA shirts under your scrub top?" Meredith put her hands on her hips.

"How are things here?" she repeated. "Let me tell you how things are here Derek Shepherd. This whole damn place is utter chaos. There are injured people everywhere, tornadoes touching down, and patients sawing off their feet with chainsaws. And to top it off, I'm worried sick about you being out there, only for you to come back with a gash across your forehead and apparently a surgery patient for me!" Derek raised an eyebrow.

"A patient cut his foot off?" he asked. "Yes. Apparently his foot has a mind of it's own. Bailey has him in OR 6 as we speak." "Wow...," Derek stated. Meredith rolled her eyes. "To top it off, a tornado touched down about an hour ago and I had to herd a waiting room full of people to a safe room while wearing my bloody scrubs from having the pleasure of chainsaw guy's blood spew all over me. I've about had it Derek!" Derek's face shifted to concern.

"Another tornado touched down here? Are you okay? Is everyone else okay?" Meredith nodded "Everyone is fine. Now let me look at your forehead." "It's fine Mer..." "Derek!" "Fine," Derek relented. He got that Meredith was not in the mood to be crossed. He followed her around the ED until they found an empty bed.

"Sit down," Meredith ordered. Derek did as he was told. Meredith dampened a cloth and begin cleaning Derek's cut. He winced slightly as the anesthetic on the cloth burned his open wound. "You need a few stitches," Meredith muttered. "Just a few. I should be able to do them before the CT and MRI results are back." She rubbed away the last bit of died blood and located a suture kit from the room's supply cabinet.

"Do you want me to numb it?" Meredith asked. Derek shook his head. "I should be okay," he told her. "You sure?" Meredith asked. "Sure." Derek watched her as she concentrated on her work. He smiled, keeping his head steady as he observed her eyes clouded in concentration, her brows creased together. She chewed on her lip while she worked.

"This is kind of a turn on," Derek confessed. "Derek?" Meredith asked. "Yes?" "I'm suturing your head." "You are," Derek agreed. "Which means right now is not the time to come on to me." Derek chuckled. "Hold still," Meredith ordered. She carefully finished up her job, satisfied with the neat job she had done. She disposed of her suture kit and stripped off her gloves and tossed them in the waste bin. Derek caught a hold of her arm and pulled her between his legs. He hugged her to him.

"You're amazing," he whispered in her ear. Meredith didn't say anything. She put her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you," he told her. "I love you so much." Meredith squeezed him tighter. "You okay?" she asked. Derek nodded. "It's been a long week," he told her. "Yeah," Meredith agreed. "It has."

"It's bad out there Mer." "Is the whole neighborhood really gone?" she asked. "Yeah. Here and there there's a house still standing, missing it's roof or big sections of frame. People are hurt everywhere. Mark and I marked nine dead in just a few blocks. Nine Mer." Meredith hugged him still tighter. "There's one last band of storms heading this way. Then it'll be over," she told him. "Thank God," he replied, nuzzling her neck and breathing in her scent.

"Shep? You ready? They're ready to head back out," Mark announced, interrupting their intimate moment both of them had been craving. Meredith pulled out of Derek's arms and looked at him incredulously.

"You're going out again?" she demanded. "People need help Mer," Derek tried to explain. "And you helped them! You brought a woman back for surgery and you probably helped countless other people..." Derek tucked her hair behind her ears.

"I'll be okay," he told her. "Derek..." "Mer, I'll be fine," Derek said firmly. Meredith sighed. "You promised me you'll be okay," Meredith reminded him. "And I have every intention of keeping that promise," Derek replied. He kissed her. "I love you," he told her. "I love you too." Mark groaned. "Let's go Shep!" Meredith's pager went off. "It's the MRI and CT results," she told him. Derek nodded. "I'll put Burke in charge on my way out. Her husband is named James and he's pretty upset. Keep him informed." Meredith nodded. "Be careful Derek," she said softly. "I will Mer. I love you." He kissed her quickly. "I love you too," he told her. He kissed her one more time before walking down the hall with Mark. Meredith sighed and headed the opposite direction to see what kind of surgery she was about to perform.