Let It Go

83.

Mark watched Derek roll his shoulders and then shake his head, all the while keeping pressure on Cedric's head. Derek look up and blink his eyes several times, fighting off the exhaustion that was trying so hard to take him over. Mark grunted as he began to move from his spot against the wall towards Derek. He maneuvered around Jimmy who had finally fallen asleep near his father.

"Let me take over," Mark said. "What?" Derek asked, watching Mark's face twist in pain as he moved. "Let me take over for a little while. You need some rest." Derek looked at Mark as though Mark had just suggested they take a trip to the moon.

"You can barely sit up straight. How are you going to hold pressure to a man's head?" he asked. "I've gotten used to the pain," Mark replied. "I'll use my good arm. Just... You need to get some rest. I know you Shep. When we get out of here, you're going to go with this guy into surgery, regardless of the fact that you've been up for nearly an entire day now. Both of us know any surgery this guy has is going to be long and grueling. Take a power nap or whatever." Derek shook his head.

"You're the one who needs to rest," he argued. "No," Mark shot back. "I've done nothing but rest since the damn tornado hit. Let me have a shot at this whole hero thing." "Hero thing?" Derek asked. "You know what I mean," Mark answered. Derek sighed. "Come on Derek. Take a break, get some rest," Mark pressed. He and Derek looked at each other.

"Are you sure you can do this?" Derek asked. "I'm always sure," Mark retorted, a hint of his usual cockiness making an appearance. It served to convince Derek to trade spots with Mark. He slowly, reluctantly, released the pressure he'd been holding. He felt his body relax as the tension he'd built up from being in the same position for hours released. Mark moved in as quickly as he could and reapplied pressure while Derek took Mark's spot at the wall. They sat in silence for a while.

"Meredith is terrified," Derek finally commented. "She was furious when she answered the phone. She chewed me out for not coming back, making her worry. And I know she freaked out. If I know her, she held it together long enough to tell Burke what happened and then she freaked out. She's probably demanding someone bring her out here so she can help." "Think she'll get her way?" Mark asked. Derek shook her head.

"Burke will want to keep her there where he'll know where she is. Otherwise, he'll have two doctors missing and a third in unnecessary danger. At least I've convinced myself that's what he'll do. I can't think about her being out here." Mark nodded. "Burke'll make her stay," he agreed. Personally, he figured Meredith wasn't going down without a fight over staying at the hospital or coming to White Hall, but Derek needed to believe she was safe so he'd reassure his brother that Meredith was going to remain safely in the hospital. Neither of them mentioned what both were thinking - would the rescue crew be able to find them?

Derek let his eyes close, thinking about what he was going to do if and when they got out of the mess they were in. He was going to find Meredith and hold onto her as long as he possible could. He would have to break away from her at some point since, like Mark guessed, he was going with Cedric into surgery if they got him out alive. But the second he was out of the OR he was going to hold onto her like his life depended on it. In some ways, his life really did depend on holding onto her. That thought both comforted him and scared the hell out of him. Thinking of Meredith's small body tucked next to his, the smell of lavender floating around them, he drifted off to sleep.

*****************

Meredith sat across from Izzie in the near empty cafeteria, staring at the now luke warm cup of tea that Izzie gotten her. Derek was trapped. Trapped. The word kept repeating itself in her head. He was trapped. Others were trapped too, namely his best friend, but Derek was trapped and she couldn't bring herself to focus on anything or anyone else besides that fact.