If that's what it takes

46

"She's awake?" Cristina asked, her mouth slightly open as she stared at Derek.

"Her eyes are open, she's responding to light, she's responding to..."

"But she's awake... really awake?" Cristina said as she moved quickly to Meredith's side and watched as her eyes moved to Cristina.

"Why doesn't Sleeping Beauty move?" Zoey asked as she pulled from her hug with Meredith, looking her in the eyes. "DD? Why doesn't she move if she's awake...?" She asked as she looked to Derek and back to Meredith.

"She needs her rest, sweetheart..." Derek said softly as he reached for her, lifting her tiny body from the bed.

"But she's been sleeping all this time... she doesn't need rest... she needs to wake up... she's my family... isn't she?" She began to panic. "Isn't she my family, DD? Isn't she my family... why doesn't she move or talk? DD... tell her to talk to me... tell her to talk to me..." Zoey started to panic as she pulled on his shirt.

"Zoey, calm down... calm down..."

"No! No I can't calm down... calm down... no..." She started to breath deeply as she watched Meredith's eyes. "She can look at me but she's not talking to me... why isn't she talking to me?" She panted as she stared Derek in the eyes, the look of fear on her face as her lower lip stuck out and tears began to roll down her cheeks as she began to cry.

Derek looked down to Meredith as tears rolled down her cheeks and her eyes blinked rapidly. She did it harder each time she blinked, sometimes holding, sometimes it was quickly. Long blink, two short blinks, followed by another quick blink, another short long and short blink. "Oh... Meredith..." Derek whispered as he tried to wipe her tears with a tissue. "Cristina... it's like she's trying to..." Tears rolling down his cheeks as he held Zoey close.

"Communicate with us..." Cristina said softly. "Meredith... start from the beginning..."

"The beginning?" Derek asked as he held the crying little girl in his arms as he watched Cristina watch her carefully, writing something in the pad in her hand.

Cristina watched her, writing swiftly as Meredith continued to blink in a pattern, her eyes on the crying girl in Derek's arms. "Cristina... tell me what's going on." Derek begged as he watched Meredith's blinking finally stop as her eyes stayed on Cristina as tears filled her eyes.

"She said..." Cristina stood for a moment as she wrote down something on the paper. 'Derek, Zoey... no more cro.'

"No more cro?" Derek asked as he gave her a confused glance. "First of all, what does that mean... second of all... how do you know?" He asked as he watched Meredith's eyes blink once short, once long, and six short blinks.

Ass...

"Hey, watch your... eyes..." Cristina said as she gave Meredith a smirk. "It's not my fault you haven't been brushing up on your Morse code."

"Morse code?" Derek asked. "Cristina... I don't understand...explain to me what's going on."

"She doesn't want you and Zoey to be upset..." Cristina said, looking at Derek as he continued to watch Meredith.

"And she told you through Morse code?" Derek asked as he looked to Meredith, who blinked a series of letters.

"She said yes." Cristina sighed as she watched Derek continue to watch Meredith, moving closer to her. "It was how she communicated before she fell completely out of consciousness. I don't understand why she's out of it now... It appears to only be her mental faculties... physically... it would be too painful for her to move... despite the physical therapy, her muscles have still atrophied... and her muscles are all relaxed, including her vocal muscles... which explains why she can't talk.... But she is awake..." Cristina stared at Meredith for a moment and then turned back to Derek. "Besides that...Are you going to explain to me what I interrupted in here?"

"You didn't interrupt anything." Derek said swiftly as Cristina glowered at him. "You didn't interrupt anything... I was talking to her." Derek replied as he watched Meredith's eyes shoot to Cristina as she started another series of blinks.

"She claims you kissed her."

"I... I... can we take her for an MRI now? She's... she's communicating... and ... and we need to know why... how... she needs tests done, Cristina!" Derek said as he bounced Zoey in his arms as her crying slowed and her eyes fell to Cristina as she listened to the adults.

"We need permission from the chief!"

"Well, get permission... this is a breakthrough!" Derek exclaimed as he turned to walk toward the door, suddenly being grabbed by Cristina. "What?"

"He's not going to do it, Derek."

"He has to do it! Her status has changed!"

Cristina looked down to Meredith as she blinked another message. "Oh, Meredith..." She whispered.

"What?" Derek asked.

"She wants you to take her hand." Cristina whispered. She watched Meredith's eyes as she looked to Derek. Derek reached forward slowly and took her hand in his. "Warm hands..." Cristina said softly, reading her eyes. "Derek, watch her eyes..."

"I'm watching." He whispered as the three of them stared at the woman lying on the bed.

"Just... Derek... good... daddy..." Cristina whispered. "Do... not... tell... my... baby... yet."

"She has been listening to us." Derek whispered.

"What is she doing?" Zoey whispered as she sniffled, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

"She's talking to us, Zoey..." Derek said as he tried to control his emotions.

"I don't hear her..."

"She's using her eyes..." He whispered as he carefully 'read' her words.

"What is she saying now?" Zoey whispered as Meredith began to blink again.

"She says... 'Tell Zoey... I ... love... her... and I ... am trying... to ... get better." He whispered to the little girl as she stared at the woman on the bed, her eyes wide with wonder as she listened to Derek's words.

"She loves me?" Zoey whispered.

"She does..." Derek replied. "She knows who you are... you've been talking to her for days now... and now she can finally see you."

"You have very pretty eyes, sleeping beauty..."

"She says thank you..." Derek whispered as Meredith's eyelids began to droop as she continued to watch them. "She appears to become fatigued quite quickly..." Derek whispered to Cristina as he refused to take his eyes off of Meredith.

"You would too if you had been sleeping for six years..." Cristina said as she reached forward and touched Meredith's face. "You rest, Mer... we're going to see if we can fix this... but we're here... and we're not going anywhere..."

I love you.

Her eyes blinked one more message before her eyes closed heavily, leaving them all in an awkward silence.