iLove

Chapter 38

Ellis' patient was a gastroschisis patient, meaning the baby boy had a hole in his abdomen inutero and his intestines had grown outside his body. As if it wasn't hard enough to see, being pregnant didn't help. He was also on a ventilator for breathing issues, but other than a few apnea moments he did ok. She wondered if her mother was trying to make her life hell as usual.

She took Addison's orders seriously and sat in the rocking chair next to the isolette except for the trips to the bathroom. If she didn't have to pee so often it was her nausea which kicked in full blast around midnight. She tried to get a little rest and dozed off in the rocking chair around one in the morning and got a little sleep before she felt someone nudging her awake.

"Meredith?" he whispered. Her eyes flew open and she gasped.

"Crap!" she hissed "I fell asleep!"

"You needed it." he smiled. She looked around the NICU nervously.

"What are you doing?" she whispered "What if someone sees you."

"I'm an attending." he frowned "Its expected of me to talk to interns every now and then." she looked at him incredulously "There's only a few night nurses on tonight and they're both across the hall at the moment."

"Ok." she breathed, he held up a brown paper bag "What's that."

"Water and nutrition, keeping something in your stomach might help the nausea."

"I can't keep anything down." she groaned "But thanks."

"Well maybe you just haven't found the right thing to consume yet."

"Maybe not." she sighed.

"Are you feeling sick right now?" he asked.

"No." she frowned. "Why?"

Derek did a quick scan around the room and at the closed door then leaned over her and quickly crushed his lips against hers, she gasped as her breath was taken away and for a second didn't care if anyone saw them, and that it felt damn good to feel his lips against hers again. The kiss didn't last long enough but in a way it was a good thing, he smirked down at her as he looked around to make sure they didn't get caught.

"Thank you." she mumbled through a smile "I needed that."

"Me too." he said "I miss you."

"I have something for you." she said as she pulled something out of her lab coat pocket "Here."

He looked at the paper she handed him, studying it for a second and then his face lit up with a bright grin spreading across his face, she could've sworn she almost saw a tear in his eye. He slipped it into his pocket and smiled down at her.

"Thank you." he smiled.

"You are not to show that to a soul you hear me!" she said through her teeth and then smiled "And you're welcome."

"I'll keep it in a safe place, I promise."

"Ok." she nodded.

They heard the door open and glanced over to see a nurse had walked in but she paid no attention to them. Derek flashed her a sullen smile before walking out of the room. Meredith dug through the bag that Derek had given her and looked for something to munch on. Then got up out of the chair and gave her little patient some medicine that was due. She looked into the isolette at the tiny person with tubes and wires going everywhere, she sighed.

"It must be hard starting out life with so many obstacles and loops to hurdle through, I know how you feel." she mumbled "But I guarantee that if you pull through this you'll be one of the strongest kids in your class."

She got no response from the baby other than him moving his fingers into a tiny fist. She smiled as she looked down at him and thought about the baby inside of her. She hoped that it would be healthy and she swore to herself that she wouldn't anything like her mother was to her.

She managed to stay awake until five o'clock which is when Ellis returned, finding her standing next to the isolette filling out a repost in the chart. She walked up quietly and looked down at the patient. Meredith jumped a little when she saw her standing there.

"He's alive." Ellis said "Imagine that."

"He did well all night." Meredith said "I think he'll do ok in surgery."

"I think so too." Ellis said, she glanced at Meredith and then sighed "Meredith go home."

"Huh?" she asked a little stunned.

"You look like crap." she said "Go home and get some rest."

"Seriously?" Meredith asked with a dropped jaw.

"Before I change my mind!" Ellis said raising her brow.

"Got it." Meredith nodded "Going now."

She didn't know what got into her mother and why on earth she seemed so calm but she wasn't going to question it further. She paid a short visit to the locker room to change before heading home for some much needed rest.

___________________________________________________________________________

<33