If that's what it takes

53

The morning went by fairly quickly, two surgeries and a half hour of paperwork later, Derek found himself on his way down toward Meredith's room. He was beginning to feel the wear of the day, his eyelids drooping, his knees wobbling slightly in weakness as he gripped his bag of lunch in his hand.

He couldn't help but think he was forgetting something as he wound his way down the hall of the psychiatric wing, his hand reaching his mouth as he yawned. He stopped for a moment just outside Meredith's door, preparing himself for her sleeping form. He had talked to Cristina that morning, and it had put a damper on his day.

Derek stood in the scrub room, scrubbing out of the second surgery of the morning that he had assisted in. He kept his head down as he scrubbed at his hands, his head lifting as he heard the voice behind him speak, sharp and direct. "She didn't wake up today." Cristina's voice was disappointed and worried.

"What?" Derek said as he stopped, turned his head to face his boss, her eyes were sad and concerned. He knew what she was talking about, but he needed to hear it from her own lips before he believed it.

"After you left last night, she closed her eyes... we haven't seen any brain activity since." She said with a sigh.

"No..." Derek said with a disappointed sigh as he watched Cristina sigh.

"The chief of surgery said that if she doesn't show activity for more than six hours, he won't see her. He said we can have a psychiatrist come in, but no surgical measures will be made unless she is conscious for more than six hours." She said, watching the anger building in Derek's features. "He also says that he wants her discharged from the hospital by the end of the week, they're going to put her into a nursing home." She swallowed as she watched the rage build in Derek's features.

"That is bullshit." Derek said with a growl.

"On a personal level... yeah... it's bullshit... on a professional level, it's protocol. He doesn't want to feel like his time is being wasted."

"His time isn't wasted! This is a patient's life we're talking about!" Derek exclaimed.

"But it's not his patient, Derek. She's not even your patient... or my patient... it's an unfortunate situation, but there is nothing we can do." She said, watching Derek turn and mumble something into the sink as he continued to scrub out. "Excuse me, Doctor Shepherd?"

"I said you're a fucking robot!" Derek shouted into the sink.

Cristina remained silent for a moment, allowing the stares of the two nurses in the room to burn into her frustration. "Doctor Shepherd, you're off surgeries for the rest of the day... You can do some paper work and some clinic duty... and you're on call tomorrow night and the night after, so you had better find a babysitter. Insubordination will not be tolerated." She said angrily as she turned and swung the door open, slamming it hard as she left the scrub room.

Derek swallowed hard as he stepped into the room, immediately noticing that there was someone else inside. He stepped inside and closed the door behind him. "I'm sorry..." He said softly as Izzie looked up at him for a moment, surprised by his entry. She had Meredith's blanket pulled down, her legs exposed to the air as Izzie lifted a bowl from beside the bed and brought it to the sink.

Oh... great idea Izzie... show him my goods... as if I actually have any dignity left to hold onto anyway.

"No, it's alright, Doctor Shepherd... you can come in." She said softly as she watched the flushed look on his face at the exposed skin of Meredith's legs. "I...do a little bit of hygienic maintenance for Meredith... shave her legs..., brush her hair...and other things she obviously can't do for herself." She said as Derek looked to Meredith's face.