Seven Thousand Hours

Chapter 45| The surge

It was now a Saturday and their morning had once again started with the same argument they'd been having the past week.

"Der, why don't you just come in and do some paperwork in your office. It's not a lot I'm asking for here!" Meredith said as she searched around the trailer for her watch. "Why can't you just get it in your head that I'm not ready!" Derek shouted from the bedroom. "Because it's been two weeks and you've changed your clothes once. I haven't seen you leave this trailer and you're starting to stink up the place!" Meredith snapped at him as she found her watch and clipped it on her wrist. "I'm not ready!" Derek screamed at her. "Then go to Wyatt and be ready! There is help right there, Derek. And you're refusing it." Meredith said firmly as she put her lab coat on.

"Look, I don't know what happened to the man from a month ago, but he's certainly not in this trailer at the minute." Meredith sighed before leaving and slamming the door.

That one hurt, it offended him, it made him angry. If she wanted Dr Shepherd to come back, then he'd give her Dr Shepherd.

He jumped out the bed and climbed straight in the shower, washing his greasy hair and shaving his beard before styling his hair perfectly. He brushed his teeth and he put on his icy blue shirt that brought out his eyes. As angry as he was and felt a waste of human space, he still opted to keep his sleeves rolled down, hiding the scars from the surgery and his disfigured wrist. He dug out his bag with his laptop and everything before slinging it over his shoulder and walking out the trailer.

He walked into the hospital with pace. "Dr Shepherd, I didn't know you were back!" April exclaimed excitedly. "Yep. Are those some files? Can I steal some?" Derek asked before taking the charts from her hands. "I-" she trailed off confused but he was already gone. "Derek, you're back!" Lexie smiled as she waited in the coffee line. He stood behind her, forcing a smile. They made small talk whilst they waited for coffee. "So are you and Mer coming to Izzie and Alex's engagement party tonight? Are you guys coming?" Lexie asked. Derek frowned. She hadn't mentioned it. "Um yeah she said something about it- I'm not sure if I'm going yet" he lied before paying for his coffee.

He said goodbye and went up to his office and placed his things on his desk when he noticed shards of glass all over the carpet. He frowned as he walked back around his desk and found his picture frame face down. "What the-" he mumbled as he picked it up and turned it around. He smiled at the picture: a picture of him and Meredith at thanksgiving. He remembered that night so vividly; how she dragged him out his depression and how he kissed her that night- their promise for the future. His chest hurt at the sight of the smashed glass, knowing exactly who had done this.

But he stowed away that feeling as he pulled out the files he'd stolen from Kepner. Most of them weren't much use to him, but he's found four patients with neuro problems. He took all the files down to the ER and placed them at the nurses station before going to find his first patient. The day went quick for him and deep down it felt good to be practicing medicine again but equally he just wanted to lay in bed. But he was finally seeing his last patient for the day. "Mrs Capri, I'm Dr Shepherd" he smiled as he reached out his hand for her to shake, but quickly offered her his good hand.

"I hear you're having some numbness and tingling in your leg" he said as he flicked through her chart. His pager was also ringing. He quickly glanced to see it was Meredith but he ignored it.

"Okay, can you feel this?" Derek asked as he ran a reflex tool over the woman's shin. She shook her head. "Have you suffered from any falls recently, Mrs Capri?" He asked her. She looked to her husband. "I slipped on some leaves when we're were out in the garden last week. It was just a stumble, no pain" she explained. Derek nodded. "Right. Well I think I'm going to order you a CT on your spine. By the sounds of it, it may just be some swelling on your spinal chord. But we'll wait for the results before we determine anything." He smiled.

Him and some nurses wheeled the woman out the ER and thought the hallways towards the elevator. The doors opened and his eyes went wide when he saw who stepped off. "Why the hell didn't you answer my page!" Meredith hissed at him as she stepped off the elevator. "Busy" he mumbled as he nodded to his patient. Meredith shook her head in complete disbelief before storming away.

Derek was indeed correct about the woman's scans as he brought her back down to the ER. "So the swelling will go down in a few days and the feeling in your leg should return. I suggest you rest, you don't want any accidents which could cause more damage" he smiled as he helped the lady into the wheelchair and sent her on her way.

He walked back over to the nurses station, not realising Meredith was sat behind it. He sighed to turn away but she was already shouting at him. "You stole my cases!" She snapped at him. He laughed a little, was this seriously why she was angry? "No, I stole the cases from Kepner" he mumbled as he scribbled something on a chart. "Yeah, and those cases were for me and you stole them!" She snapped at him. "Dr Grey, you don't own this hospital or run this department. Nothing belongs to you as a resident." He said before closing his charts and handing them to her. "But they're all yours now" he said before walking away, anger burning inside him.

She was taken back. He hadn't said Dr Grey to her in months. She jumped up and chased after him. "Derek wait!" She shouted after him as she just slipped into the elevator in time. He groaned, trying to escape. "Stop it!" She said before smacking his hand away from the buttons, not realising it was his bad hand.

He flinched away from her and fear filled his eyes. "Derek I am so sorry" Meredith said quickly as she tried to step closer to him. "Derek I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking" she began to cry as he turned his body away from her. At the first opportunity, he jumped out the elevator but she still followed him to his office. "Leave!" He ordered as he tried to keep her out the room but she was small enough to squeeze through the gap in the door.

Once she stumbled through the door, she realised she was stood on glass when suddenly she remembered. She quickly turned to Derek who's eyes were filled with hurt as he held the smashed picture frame. "What the hell is this?"

She swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at the damage she'd caused, the damage she should have cleaned up when she made it, the damage she was hoping he'd never have found...