If that's what it takes

31

Derek paused for a moment, the girl's eyes looking directly into his as her posed question floated into the air for just a moment and slammed into the ground like a box full of bricks, shattering on impact as she continued to look at him. "Just Derek?" She whispered, swallowing hard again as her voice rose to a near whimper.

Derek stepped forward and reached for the chair beside the bed. "You think that a kiss would wake her up?" He asked softly as he reached his hand to her. She took it gently and pulled on his hand as she lifted herself into his lap. He reached up and helped her pull her coat from her shoulders, hanging it over the side of the chair, he pushed his chair even closer.

"That's how the story goes, isn't it?" She whispered. "The prince came to the sleeping beauty's house and kissed her, and she woke up... maybe you should kiss her to see if it works..."

Encouraging relationships with people she hardly knows... she's definitely my daughter...

"She doesn't even know who I am..." Derek whispered as he reached out to touch Meredith's hand.

"That's okay... the princess didn't know who the prince was... and he kissed her..." She shrugged.

"Maybe I should introduce myself first..." Derek nodded. "So she knows who I am."

"But she's sleeping, Just Derek... how is she going to know you're here?"

"I have a feeling that she knows that we're here... I think she knows that you're here to visit her...I think that she is very happy that you're here to visit with her."

That's the understatement of the century.

"Okay then... get on with it." She sighed. "Meet her and kiss her and then she'll wake up..." She huffed impatiently as she waited for Derek to make his move.

Derek paused for a moment, looking to the other side of the room where her bag was leaning against the wall from when he walked in. "I have an idea..." He said softly as he pointed to the bag. "Why don't you get your crayons out of your bag...sit on the floor... color for a couple of minutes... and I'll talk to Meredith... and when I'm through, you can come back up here and visit...and describe to her what your picture looks like..."

Smart man, I like you already...

She looked at Derek curiously for a moment, as if he were trying to pull one over on her. She looked to Meredith and back to Derek. "Alright..." She nodded. "But don't hog her too much... I want my turn..."

"Don't worry, you'll get your turn..." Derek said with a soft smile as he felt the little girl slip from his lap. He sat for a moment in silence as he watched Zoey pull her coloring book from her bag. He then turned his attention to the sleeping woman. "Meredith..." Derek whispered as he very gently squeezed her hand in his. "My name is Doctor Derek Shepherd.. I'm a... surgeon here at Seattle Grace... I am twenty six years old...a third year resident, actually... and I would like to get to know you better." He said softly.

"I... hope you don't mind me visiting you... and if you can hear me... deep within your sleeping trance... I hope that you know who this very sweet young lady with me is..." Derek swallowed hard and continued. "I feel a little funny right now, talking to you... since obviously you can't reply, and you don't know me... but... um... there might be some things that you don't know about... I think that Izzie... that's her name... right? I think she probably keeps some of the most important information from you... and as... her mother, you deserve to know the truth." He nodded.

"I don't want this to sound like a confession, and I don't want it to sound like I'm using you as a form of therapy... but really, truly... you should know what is going on with your little girl... and I think it's very important that you're a part of her life." He whispered.