Don't you remember

2

Derek had been sitting in his office for a while. His daughter fell asleep on his lap after the heavy crying session she had. Alex offered to bring her to daycare but Derek needed her for now. He couldn't drop her off at daycare after what had happened

Someone knocked on the door so Alex stood up to open the door, revealing Bailey

"Is Derek here?" Bailey asked with sad eyes

Alex nodded and led her in, Tom following

"Oh my- Is she okay?" Derek looked at them, his daughter still asleep in his arms

"Derek, she suffered from a hemorrhagic stroke. We don't know the extend yet but it's pretty severe" Tom told him

"S-Severe?" Derek gulped

"We'll have to wait until she wakes up" Bailey softly said

"How long do you think?" Derek asked, scared for the answer

"She should be awake by morning" Tom sighed "I'm staying here for the night, in case she wakes up" Tom told him

"Thanks" Alex nodded as Derek held the girl in his arms even tighter

"Can- Can I see her now?" Derek asked

"Of course. It might be easier to not take Grace. We placed a shunt, she's still on the vent" Bailey told Derek "I can take her if you want?"

"Don't bring her to daycare. She made me promise. Can you page me when she's awake? Maybe I can call Amy or-" Derek started freaking out

"Hey, I'll take her when my shift is over and I'll stay at the hospital with her

"There's a bed for her in Mer's office.." Derek whispered

"We'll stay there the whole night, okay?" Alex put his hand on Derek's shoulder

"And for now she's gonna stay with me. I'll grab some dinner with her in Joe's and we'll be back before you even know it" Bailey told them

...

The next morning, Derek was still sitting at the side of Meredith's bed. He was tightly holding onto her hand

He smiled when he felt a twitch in his hand. She was waking up, this was a good sign, a very good sign

Derek quickly paged Tom and Bailey

"What's going on?" They ran inside quickly

"I-I think she's waking up" Derek smiled

"Let's get her off the vent. She has been breathing over it the whole night" Bailey said

"Mer, hi" Derek whispered "Take your time. We're here" Derek kissed her forehead softly

Meredith's eyes opened in the next hours but not once longer than a few seconds

"It's okay. I'm here" Derek whispered as he saw her struggling to keep them open "Hi" He greeted her

"NNN-hhhh" Meredith moaned

"Shh, calm down. Can you say something?" Tom asked and checked her pupils

"D-Der" She slurred

"Hey, it's okay" Derek whispered as tears streamed down her face

"G-ggrr" Meredith tried to get out

"Grace is okay. Grace is good. She's with Alex" Derek kissed her forehead

"Hi Meredith. Do you have any pain?" Bailey asked as Tom was checking her reflexed

"Aaah" Meredith groaned as Tom lifted up her right hand, eventually moving to her right leg and she gave him the same respond

"It's okay" Derek's hand brushed over her hair

"Okay Meredith. Can you repeat some words for me?" Tom asked and she nodded "Pen"

"Nnn" Meredith whispered before trying again "P-Penn" She slurred

"Perfect" Derek breathed as he started crying even more

"Tree" Tom said another word

"T-Tree" Meredith nodded

"Car" Tom asked once more

"C-Car" Meredith breathed

Derek seemed to be at least relieved with his wife's speech. They had so many tests ahead to see what kind of damage the stroke had done to her but her speech was at least slightly okay. She slurred but they could work on that

"You did great, Meredith. We'll be back in a bit" Tom said and left the room, Bailey put her hand on Derek's back before following Tom outside

"You did good" He stroked her good hand

"Hmm?" She groaned

"I said you did good" Derek whispered and saw her nodding slightly

"Grace?" Her voice sounded so hollow

"She's with Alex. Do you want me to page him?" Derek asked softly

"N-No" Meredith shook her head "Uh" She was thinking

"What's wrong?" Derek asked but noticed she was just staring ahead or her "Mer? I'm here, it's okay" Derek softly

"Hmm?" She groaned as she seemed to be responsive again only a few minutes later. She had tears in her eyes as if she wanted to talk to him but just couldn't

"Shh, it's okay" Derek whispered

"I-" Meredith started but had to think "I l-love you"She whispered

"Oh Mer, I love you too and Grace loves you as well" Derek stood up to kiss Meredith on her lips

"Oh-" She breathed and smiled "Uh-" She seemed to be distracted again "I-I see Grace?" Meredith asked

"Now?" Derek asked softly

"M-Morrow? T-Tomorrow" She nodded

"Of course, she would love to see you" Derek smiled softly "Why don't you try to sleep a bit more now, get some rest" Derek suggested

"You, Der.. uh.. stay? You wanna stay?" Meredith asked slowly

"Of course I'm staying. If I leave really quick then I'll tell you" Derek promised

"N-night" Meredith whispered as her eyes were slowly closing

"Night" He breathed and noticed she had fallen asleep. He stood up and walked to the corner of the room, his hands on his head

He was overwhelmed, did this really happen? He should call people, let them know but he just had no idea. He felt lost

He just wanted to go home with his wife and daughter and climb into bed, forgetting about everything that had happened the past 24 hours