Million pieces

4

"How is she?" Addison asked as she entered Meredith's room

"She's finally asleep" Derek sighed

Addison picked up Meredith's chart and started reading "She woke up 4 times?"

Derek nodded with a sad expression

"When is she gonna get a psych consult?" Addison asked

"They wanted to mainly wait until she could hear so I assume they'll start soon" Derek told her as Meredith started to stir in his arms

"Mer, Mer.. calm down"

She was groaning in pain so Addison walked out of the room to get something for the pain

Meredith was groaning stuff but her wired shut jaw made it impossible to talk.

"Mer, don't talk, please" He begged as he rubbed her arm

She started to point at her chart

"Mer, I don't think it's a good idea" Derek said as Addison walked back in

She pointed again, her hand shaking as she kept pointing until Derek grabbed the chart. Slowly he started to show the scans of her torn ACL, broken fibula, broken femur, shattered elbow and the scans of her jaw just made it too much.

Derek could see how much this broke her, how broken she was and not just some broken bones. Mentally she would need so much time, therapy, her family and friends and god knows what else to make this bearable.

Meredith started sobbing as Addison administered the pain meds. Derek held her as close as her injuries let him and he kept going through her hair with his fingers, whispering that everything will be fine.

"Derek, go for a walk" Addison said

"No! I'm not leaving her" He almost snapped

"Derek, no! You can't do this" Addison said as she pulled him into a hug

"I.. Maybe I should go see the kids for a bit.. Can you or someone else sit with her? I don't want her to be alone, what if-"

"Derek, it's fine. I'm staying here with her."

"Thanks, I'll page Callie and Bailey, I want them to check on her when I'm back"

Addison nodded and Derek left the room, slowly making his way towards daycare.

"Daddy!!" The three kids yelled as they saw their father

"Hey, munchkins" He smiled

"Where's mommy?" Ellis asked

"We've missed you" Zola frowned

"We've had fun at uncle Alex!" Bailey told him

"Can we go to my office? We need to have a small chat" He told them

All three kids were frowning

"Daddy, is everything okay?" Zola asked

"Let's go" Derek said as he picked up Ellis on his hip and grabbed Bailey's hand who immediately grabbed Zola's hand as all three of them made their way to Derek's office.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Zola asked

"Mommy had some kind of accident-" He started as he saw the kid's their panicked expressions

"Don't worry, mommy will be fine" He assured them "She was brought to the hospital and the doctors took very good care of her!"

"I wanna see mommy" Bailey said

"Bud, mommy is sleeping"

"No! I wanna see mommy!" Bailey cried it out, followed by Ellis

"Is mommy in pain?" She asked

"She's getting a lot of meds so she won't feel a lot of pain" Derek tried to calm them down

"I wanna see mommy" Zola spoke up

"Kids, I don't think that's the best idea. Mommy needs to get better first"

"But daddy, when I'm sick you and mommy stay with me and then I get better faster" Ellis stated

"Ellie.. I-" He sighed "Mommy might look a bit scary now"

"I wanna see mommy!" She yelled

"Ellis, maybe tomorrow" Derek tried to calm her down

"No!" She yelled and went to hide in the corner of the room

"Dad, I wanna see mommy too" Zola and Bailey said

"I know guys, but I'll have to ask mommy first. She has a lot of bandages and casts and it might be a bit scary"

"Dad, I'm almost 11!" Zola stated

"Zo.." He sighed, tears welling in his eyes

Ellis kept sobbing when Zola and Bailey kept asking questions. Derek was desperate and paged Alex.

"Hey, what's going on?" Alex said closely after when he ran into Derek's office

"They keep asking to see Mer and I don't.. I don't know if I should give in or-" Derek was close to having a panic attack

"Hey, Shep. Calm down and breathe" Alex tried to bring Derek back to reasons

"I- God! Why'" He said as he tried to fight the tears

"Is Mer asleep right now? Maybe we should ask her first?" Alex suggested

"She was asleep when I left.." Derek replied.

"I'll take care of the kids and we'll wait here until you're back. You go and see if Mer is up for them to visit, okay?"

Derek nodded and hugged Zola and Bailey "Ellis, please come over here" Derek pleased

Ellis shook her head and clutched her stuffed animal close to her chest

"Ellie, baby" He stood up and slowly made his way towards Ellis

"I miss mommy" She whispered

"I know.. I''ll go to mommy's room and see if she's awake, okay baby?"

Ellis gave him a small nod and grabbed his hand, returning back to the couch

"Why don't you color while I'm gone?" Derek asked as he handed them a few coloring books

Derek made his way back to Meredith's room. Gently knocking the door as he saw her flinch

"Hey, it's me" He smiled as he saw that she calmed down again

She gave him a small smile back and he sat down on the bed next to her

"I've just been seeing the kids. They wanted to see you" Derek said but he saw a feared expression on her face

'I need to see them'' She wrote down

'Should I go get them now?" He asked

'Give me a couple of minutes. I can't break down in front of them' Meredith wrote down

Derek nodded and adjusted her pillows a bit

"We'll do some touch ups, Meredith. Pull a blanket over your legs, stuff you up a bit, okay?"

Meredith nodded

"Should I go get them now?" Derek asked after couple of minutes

Meredith nodded again. She needed them. She needed her innocent kids.