NEVER LEAVING YOUR HEART ALONE

CHANGES

Franceasca. That name cut like a knife. Meredith couldn't even focus on her work. All she could think about was Derek. He denied it. If there were nothing going on, he wouldn't have denied it. Franceasca is not a name you pull out of thin air. She had obviously caught him. And instead of being a man about it, he was trying to cover it up.

"Dr. Shepherd, are you going to work, or do you enjoy being in fantasy-land all day?" Dr. Burke asked.

"I'm sorry, Sir." She said as she straightened up and focused on her task.

"Is something on your mind? Because I'd rather you leave your personal issues in the scrub room like I do." He pointed out as he went to work on his patient's heart.

"Okay, Sir." She said as she struggled to focus. But how do you focus? What do you do when you think your husband may be cheating? Derek wasn't a cheater. And she wouldn't have thought so. Even when Alex pointed out the obvious, she still had a glimmer of hope. But Derek seemed to confirm her fears.

The surgery was long, and her back was screaming at her. She wasn't that pregnant, and yet at the end of the day, her body was yelling. She could only imagine how bad it was going to get. She had managed to avoid Derek at all costs. Earlier, she had been ready for the battle of a lifetime. She was going to tell him how it was. But as the day went on, she lost her nerve. Now she wasn't ready. She was in her favorite place, the land of avoidance.

Dr. Burke insisted that Meredith stay at the hospital. She was on-call, and she wasn't too upset about it. She looked at her cell phone and noticed several missed calls from Derek. She wasn't calling him back. A small vindictive part of her was hoping that he was suffering just as she was. She nearly cried out in relief when Dr. Bailey suggested that she go to an on-call room and catch up on her sleep. As she neared, she heard him.

"Mer-" He said from down the hall. She heard him, and it just made her walk faster. She had to get away. "Meredith!" He shouted as he began to walk faster. It only made her walk faster. "Dr. Shepherd." He finally resorted to.

Oh, now he thinks he can be my boss. I'll call her Dr. Shepherd and she'll stop. Well screw you, Derek. Screw you.

She quickly walked into the on-call room. The door was shut and locked just seconds before he made it there. He ran his fingers through his hair, and stood there at the door. Staring. Just staring.

What the hell have I done? And how do I fix it?

Meredith crashed onto the bed. She couldn't do this at the moment. The stress was too much. There was only one thing she wasn't sure of, if confronting him was better, or worse than avoiding. At the moment, avoiding was sounding perfect.

"Meredith." She heard him say outside the door. "What's wrong?" He asked dumbly. He stood there stewing. "Damn-it, Meredith, open the door." He said angrily. "I thought we were done with avoidance." He shouted. He looked over her shoulder, to see people looking. He sighed and walked off. He had an idea.

He left. I cannot believe he left. Fifteen words. Fifteen words and he gave up. He walked away. This is not the man I married, and definitely not the man I fell in love with.

She heard a key in the door. A key. Only maintenance had keys for doors. She rolled over and looked at the door. Anticipating it's opening. She was shocked when she looked up, and there stood Derek. She couldn't see him clearly. Just the outline of his hair. His hair always stood out.

"Thanks, Joe." She heard him muttered before walking in and shutting the door. She felt him sit down beside her. "So this is how it's going to be?" He asked firmly.

"What?" Meredith snapped back. Even in the dark, she could tell his eyes were dark and angry.

"Avoiding. Accusing me of whatever it was you were trying to accuse me of. In front of my boss, and father-in-law, no less. And then you stormed off. The rest of the day you spent ducking in doorways and running away. She basically you can yell at me, at your connivence, but you don't wait for the explanation." He said strongly.