Once Upon An Us-MerDer

13.

Meredith woke up around 8am. She was instantly awake, remembering where she was and why she was here. Derek was still peacefully asleep on the couch at the end of the bed. Meredith decided to take a shower and get dressed before she woke up Derek. She walked over to him and pressed a soft kiss in his temple, waking him up. He slowly opened his eyes.

"Hey" he says with a groggy voice.

"Good morning" Meredith says with a small smile on her face. She still feels very sad but after a nice sleep it's going better.

"I am going to the hospital in about half an hour. I have to get some breakfast first. You can just stay here. I'll let you know how long I'll be."

"Nonsense. I'm coming with you to the hospital. I don't mind, really."

"Well if you insist, i guess you can come. I am going to get us some breakfast. Can you make sure you are ready when I come back? I don't want to waste any time. I want to go as soon as possible."

"Sure. I'll just take a quick shower and I'll be ready when you get back" he gives her a reassuring smile.

While Meredith walks out of their room to find them some breakfast, Derek quickly slips out of his pyjama pants and steps into the shower. When he is done he wraps a towel around his waist and brushes his teeth. He than drys himself off and walks back to the bedroom. He finds himself some clean boxers and a pair of jeans. At that point Meredith walks in with their breakfast.

She gasps lightly when she walks back in their room. Damn that man is hot. His perfect abs and v-line show above his jeans and his hair is still wet from the shower he just took. He has a huge grin on his face and looks at her.

"Like what you see?" He smirks

"Oh shut up." She rolls her eyes. "But I do like what I see" she thinks to herself. A smile appears on her face. "I found us breakfast." She hands him a sandwich and an apple. They sit down on the couch and eat it. After they finished they are ready to go. They take a cab to the hospital where they are supposed to meet Thatcher.

"Dad!" Meredith exclaims when they arrive at the hospital. She runs up to her dad and gives him a right hug. Derek is awkwardly standing next to them. They stay like that for a few moments before Thatcher pulls away and faces Derek.

"Hi I'm Thatcher, Meredith's dad. And you are..."

"Derek. Derek Shepherd. I'm Meredith's...friend..."

They great each other and walk inside. Thatcher leads them up to Ellis's room but before they go in Thatcher warns them.

"Listen Meredith. It all looks pretty scary right now. She is unconscious and on a ventilator. You can go in, take her hand or sit besides her but it doesn't look good."

Meredith takes a deep breath before walking in. When she opens the door her eyes well up and she reaches out and grabs Derek's hand. Her mother is laying there in silence, the only sound in the room is the sound of her heartbeat. She walks up to her and takes her mothers hand in her own. She sits down in the chair next to the bed and hold on to her hand right. Derek sits down on the chair next to Meredith's and Thatcher gives them some privacy. He hasn't been home sinds Ellis was first brought in so he decided to take a nap at home. He is glad someone she loves is keeping her company.

After a long while Meredith fell asleep on Derek's shoulder, still holding on to her mother. Derek gently runs his fingers through her hair, making sure she is comfortable. He tilts his head to the side and rests his head on top of hers. He falls asleep as well, tired form everything that has happened the past 24 hours.

After a few hours he wakes up. The chair is not comfortable at all. Meredith is still asleep but he feels her stir and shift next to him. He gently picks her up and places her on the couch on the other side of the room. He grabs a blanket and lays it on top of her. He heads out of the room to find himself some coffee. On the way to the coffee cart he meets Thatcher.

"Hi. Good morning. How have you been?" He asks him.

"I am okey. I couldn't really sleep last night so I'm still a little tired but I can manage it. How are you? How is Meredith?"

"We are okey to. Thanks. Meredith is still asleep. She has slept for most of the time sinds you left yesterday evening. I think the tiredness was finally catching up to her. I managed to get a couple of hours of sleep myself."

"Good, that's good." He says. "How is Ellis?"

"Still the same. Nothing changed during the night." Derek says with a sad smile on his face. "Meredith stayed by her side for almost the entire night. When she fell asleep on my shoulder we sat there until about half a hour ago."

"You're a good man Derek. Thank you for taking care of Meredith. She need someone to look over her in Seattle. I know she has Lexie but it's always nice to have someone else there to."

"Thank you sir. I'll make sure I keep an eye on her."

"Please call me Thatcher." He says with a smile on his face.

"Thank you. Thatcher." Derek smiles back.

After Derek gabs some coffee for him and Meredith they head back to Ellis's room. Meredith had woken up and sat by her mother's side again.

"Hey Mer. How are you holding up?" Thatcher asks.

"I'm fine dad, thanks. I'm still a little bit tired and my back aches from these chairs."

"I think it's a good idea you two go back to the hotel and take a shower and a rest. I will stay with your mom the entire time so don't worry about that."

"I-I don't want to leave mom..." Meredith says, worry overtaking her voice.

"Don't worry sweetheart. Mom will be fine. I'll call you right away if something changes." Thatcher reassures her.

"Okey..." Meredith hesitates but lets out a loud sigh and lets Derek lead her out of the room. Before they leave she gives her father a final hug before they take a cab back to their hotel.

When the cab arrives at the hotel Derek pays the driver and Meredith gets out. She sees Derek slightly wincing when he gets out of the cab.

"What's wrong?" She asks worried.

"Oh it's nothing. My back just hurts from the hospital chair I slept in."

"Yeah my back and neck don't feel great either."

"Let's just get some rest." He leads them to their room. Meredith changes into her pyjama's and Derek into his pyjama bottoms. Derek is about to take place on the couch when Meredith offers to switch places for the night.

"You slept there last night and besides, your back is hurting you. I don't mind sleeping on the couch."

"No Mer, your back is hurting you to and I don't want you to sleep on the couch. I'll be okey."

"Fine I won't sleep on the couch but you won't either. Just come and sleep in the bed with me, please."

Derek hesitates for a moment. The have never slept in the same bed together yet. Not that he doesn't want to. He wants Meredith as close as possible. After a few moments he walks over to the bed and slips under the covers. He feels Meredith moving closer toward him, wrapping her arms around his waist. He doesn't need to think twice and he puts his arm around her, resting his hand on her stomach. They drift off to sleep after an exhausting day.