Seven Thousand Hours

Chapter 55| The Best year of my life

Time jump of a few months, it's now September time.

"Which has been shown to decrease vasospasm post aneurysm?" Derek asked breathlessly as the ran along the Seattle waterfront. "Um- HHH therapy" Meredith replied before pausing. "No wait!Antiplatelet drugs!" She shouted at him. He laughed and nodded. "Good, you had me scared for a second." He smiled as they continued jogging.

"Derek it's 5am. You have to give my brain a minute to think" she laughed as they headed back towards the hospital. "Your mom said 5am was the best time to study. And it was her dying wish, I told you this" he laughed. "I get that, but why do we have to run at the same time" she asked breathlessly. "Because it helps my depression, and you get your studying out the way. We're killing 3 birds with one stone" he explained before they finally made it back to the trailer. "3? What's the other one?" Meredith asked as they began to stretch outside. "I get more time with you outside the hospital" he smiled before he walked over and began kissing her passionately, pinning her against the trailer.

"Mmm" she moaned as he held her body close. "Well that made it worth it" she giggled as he pulled away. "Come on, let's get showered and go" he said as he pulled her into the trailer. Once they were showered and dressed, he grabbed their bags and they were soon back out of the door and into the hospital.

"What do you have planned for today?" Meredith asked as they stood and waited for their coffee. "Well me, you, Lexie and Amy have a skills lab session at 7am, I have my meeting with Dr Perkins at 2 and then I'm with Callie for an hour at 3" Derek explained. "I'm glad you found a new therapist. Wyatt obviously just didn't work for you" Meredith smiled as she grabbed his bad hand and he slowly tightened his hold on her hand.

Things hadn't been easy after the accident. His depression was at its worst and physical therapy felt like nothing but a waste of time. He still had little function of his left hand but he was making slow progress; the first thing he'd managed to do was squeeze his hand as he wanted to be able to squeeze hers. It was a small gesture but they both were so excited when he did it. It was a baby step but it felt so massive.

"Wyatt was okay, I just think she focused too much on giving me anti-depressants instead of actually treating it. Perkins knew from the moment he met me that it was also PTSD" Derek shrugged casually. It felt like forever ago since the accident, but it had only been a few months.

"How are you feeling at the moment, sweetheart?" Derek asked as he handed her coffee. "Tired, very tired"she laughed weakly. He nodded. "I know. You've only got a few days before your boards. We've nearly done the 7000 hours. Just one more morning of our study runs and then you have the rest of the week off to recuperate" he said sadly as they made their way to the skills lab.

"I'm going to miss it. I can't believe we're going to be in D.C in like 10 days!" She said. "Yeah. You need to start packing" he laughed. "I'm not jinxing it. We need to consider that I might actually fail my boards" Meredith said as she took a seat. "Oh hush! No you won't" Derek nudged her. "And how do you know otherwise?"she raised a brow at him. "Because you've had me as your teacher and you haven't had a question wrong in weeks now. You're ready and you can do this" he wrapped his arm around her. She whimpered jokingly. "I'm so tired" she yawned before leaning against his shoulder. "Just one more week" he whispered.

Lexie and Amelia walked in and joined their conversation. "Have you booked your flights to Texas yet?" Lexie asked her sister. Meredith shook her head. "No, I probably should." Meredith laughed. "Sweetheart...oh my god...no. Let me book it for you. Why the hell haven't you booked flights for your boards?!" Derek exclaimed before pulling out his laptop and finding flights, making them all laugh. "Because you've had me in this hospital 20 hours a day this week and I just forgot" Meredith laughed as she helped him pick out the flight she needed.