New Beginnings

Chapter 39

Ever since her mother's visit, Meredith had become a shell of herself. Barely getting through the days without going back to bed and sleeping. She had even cancelled her interview at the last minute, saying she felt too ill to go.

"Hey Mer." Derek said as he walked into their room, finding Meredith cuddled in their bed with Morgan resting on her chest.

Her full and lifeless eyes tore away from the empty space that was staring straight ahead at to look at Derek, forcing a smile onto her face.

"I'm going to work, are you going to be alright with Morgan?" He asked, watching as she frowned deeply at him.

"Why wouldn't I be alright? I'm more then capable of looking after our daughter. Stop treating me like I'm made out of glass Derek. Go to work." Her raised voice causing Morgan to stir.

Derek decided not to push the conversation any further and just simply closed the door. He missed her. She was there right in front of him but that wasn't his Meredith.

Heading to work, his mind was a mess. He didn't know what to think and he was constantly worried about Meredith. He parked his car in his usual spot before heading inside, grateful to be at work for once.

He wanted nothing more than to be kept busy today, surgery after surgery, to get his adrenaline going.

Changing into his scrubs, his pager immediately started going. 911. Taking a big deep breath in, he ran out of his office and down to the pit, where it was overcrowded with patients. Listening to the hustle and bustle of it all, he realised that it was due to a building fire, some apartment buildings.

His mind clicked straight into doctor mode as he attended his first patient.

Time seemed to fly by as Derek was scrubbing into surgery for the second time. His body all of a sudden didn't feel heavy as the rush of a successful surgery surged through his body.

"Dr Shepherd he's coding!" A nurse came running into the scrub room and pulled Derek's attention to the frantic beeping of the alarms.

"Shit." He finished scrubbing in, where he headed into the OR, immediately having a pair of gloves and a gown on him.

He worked tirelessly for what seemed like hours, thankfully bringing the patient back and now working on getting the brain bleed to stop. The OR doors opening grabbed his attention but his eyes stayed glued to the open brain in front of him.

"Derek." Richards voice rang out out, using his first name in the OR in front of everyone meant he was here on a personal matter.

"Richard, whatever it is, can it wait?" Derek asked not once looking up at Richard.

"Derek."

This time Derek lifted his eyes and found Richard with an empathetic look on his face.

"I need you to scrub out for me, Dr Nelson here will finish up the surgery." Richard said watching as Derek froze before slowly stepping back.

"This better be good Richard, I was right in the middle of an open brain..." Derek was saying as they walked out the scrub room, pulling over his gloves and gown before turning to face Richard as he cut him off.

"Derek, I can assure you this is more important then a surgery. You know the fire?" Richard asked.

"Yeah, it was some apartment blocks. Richard, if you pulled me out of there to question me about the situation then, it's unprofessional." Derek said as he rolled his eyes and turned to the sink ready to scrub in again.

"Yes, Derek some apartment buildings. Your apartment buildings. Meredith and Morgan have just been checked into the hospital." Richard said softly.

Derek's hands froze, dropping the bar on soap in the sink before turning to look at Richard. No sign of a lie on his face. He wasted no time in pushing past him and sprinting as fast as he possibly could. He had to get to Meredith and Morgan.

"Where are they? Why won't nobody tell me where they are?" Derek exclaimed loudly, kicking the nurses station.

"Shep!" Baileys voice rang out, seeing how desperate and broken Derek was right now.

"Bailey, please tell me where my girls are?" He said, begging her as tears started to stream down his face.

"Morgan is currently getting checked out by Robbins, she's seems to be perfectly healthy but Arizona wants to keep a close eye on her and monitor her. Check for smoke inhalation but all seems to be good." Bailey said watching as Derek breathed a huge sigh of relief.

"And Meredith? What about Meredith?" He asked, watching as Baileys eyes softened.

"Meredith definitely has bad smoke inhalation, struggling with severe chest pains and coughing. We've got here on the oxygen. We have done a bronchoscopy and blood tests, both came back clear. But we are going to keep her in for a few days." She watched as Derek's body slumped, clearly crying before he stood back up straight and faced her.

"I need to see her. Please." He never allowed anyone to see him this vulnerable but right now he couldn't care any less. He just wanted to be with Meredith.

"She's just down there." Bailey said pointing at a room, watching as Derek wasted no time and headed straight there.

Derek froze at the door, looking as Meredith slept. Her usual blonde hair, was now a dark grey from the smoke, her face covered in dirty as the oxygen mask sat on her face. He watched as her body was racked with a coughing fit and her eyes shot open, wincing in pain.

"It's alright, I'm here." He helped her sit up and clutch at his hand, squeezing them tight as she finally relaxed.

Her eyes met his, shining bright like she was grateful to see him again. She reached up to pull her oxygen mask down but Derek quickly stopped.

"You need to keep it on. And try not to talk. You need to rest. Morgan is perfectly fine, Arizona is just keeping a close eye on her for now. God Meredith, I'm so happy you're alive." He said leaning down and kissing her forehead, tears streaming down both of their faces.

Meredith smiled at him, squeezing his hand tight. Communicating to him without even having to say anything.

"Sleep, I will be here when you wake up." He said as he kept his hand tight in hers and ran his fingers through her hair.

He watched as her eyes eventually drifted shut, her body exhausted from everything it had been through and she finally slept.

"Knock knock." Derek heart softly from the door and found Arizona stood there with a sleeping Morgan in her arms. "Thought someone would like to have his family all together."

"Thank you." Derek said as he moved over to Arizona and took Morgan into her arms. Smiling down at his daughter, her soft blonde hair and long lashes, her small hands and fingers. He really took this time to look at her. Thankful that she was still here in his arms right now.

"She's perfectly healthy. We put here on oxygen for a bit but she's all good to go. Seems like Meredith here did everything she could to protect Morgan." Arizona said running her hand over Morgan's hair.

"I'll get a nurse to bring a bed for both you and Morgan in. Just rest and look after your girls." Arizona said as she smiled her goodbyes and closed the door on the way out.

Moving back to his seat, Derek sat down, watching as Morgan cuddled into him further, clutching at his top. Smiling he leaned down and kissed her forehead.

He had come so close to losing his family forever without even realising and that was the scariest thought ever. But they were here.

Alive and safe.