what i'm here for

Chapter 32: a night off

"Here it is," Derek announced as he navigated his car down the winding dirt drive toward the trailer. His only patient of the day had sailed through surgery that morning, and no other neurosurgical patients had presented themselves, unfortunately leaving Derek free to play tour guide to his family for the entire afternoon. And all Derek wanted to do was drag Meredith out of the hospital at six, and do whatever it took to make all of the events of the previous day up to her. The speed at which things went from wonderful to horribly tense and stressful really hit home the importance of being open right from the beginning.

The morning had been awkward; very few words had been exchanged. After a stressful evening and a relatively sleepless night, they had slept late, leaving very little time to interact as they rushed to get ready for work. And because Derek had been planning on this little tour guide gig, they had been forced to take separate cars. He had smiled supportively at her as she had stepped into her Jeep. She had smiled back and nodded. And that was the last time he had seen her.

"It's a beautiful piece of land, Derek," his mother offered from the passenger seat beside him. She had been relatively silent since they had departed the ferry boat and begun the short drive through the country roads to his land.

He nodded noncommittally as he pulled up to his former, now overgrown, parking space. The sound of his three passenger doors opening filled his ears and he sighed and followed suit. He stepped away from the car and paused as Natalie appeared beside him, her arm looping comfortably through his.

"Derek," she said with laughter in her voice. "I just..." She giggled. "I just didn't believe it until I saw it. You actually lived here?"

Derek nodded.

"I mean, really, Derek? You moved out of the Hampton's and into a trailer? For a year?"

He rolled his eyes as he allowed a small smile to flitter to his mouth.

Anna joined them, also displaying her amusement with the situation. "Yeah, Derek. I don't actually know what's funnier, that you lived in a trailer, or that you made Addy live in a trailer. That is something I wish I could have seen." Although Anna had been friendly with Addison, she was the only sister that had never completely warmed up to her former sister-in-law.

Carol turned and smiled gently at her three children laughing together. "Your sisters are right, Derek. I can't believe you made Addison live out here."

Natalie nodded. "It was a good way to get your revenge."

Derek scoffed gently. "It was never meant to be revenge."

"Oh, please, Derek. This would have been torture for her. I understand why you and Meredith chose to live in town."

"Actually, Meredith loves it out here too. It's just too far away from the hospital for now. She'll have interns and early rounds for a few years yet. We talked about living out here, but it would have meant too much commuting."

"You mean Meredith would actually want to live out in the middle of nowhere in a trailer?"

"What's wrong with living out here?" He asked, suddenly defensive.

"Nothing, dear," Carol responded. "But we're glad you put your time in and have moved on now."

"What did you mean by it's too far away for now?" Natalie asked suddenly.

"Hmm?"

"You said it was too far away while Meredith had so many hours. Are you planning on downgrading back to the trailer in a few years?" She asked sarcastically.

Derek rolled his eyes good naturedly. "No, well, not long term at least," he sighed and ran a hand through his hair, hesitating about whether or not to continue. However, his words had attracted the attention of Anna and his mother, as well as Natalie, so the choice was made for him. "We were kind of thinking about moving out here in a few years, and building a house."