𝐑𝐈𝐒𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐏𝐇𝐎𝐄𝐍𝐈𝐗 ━━ 𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐤 𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐝

sixty three | alone

"C. . .Crisis."

"What-What-What happened?"

Meredith pulls me in through the foyer of her home, leading me directly into the kitchen where Lexie is.

"Did you run here or something?"

"Maybe. . ."

"Leven, you can't do that with C.O.P.D.." She shoves a glass of water into my open palm. "Drink and tell us what happened."

In one gulp, the water is gone. "Derek and I were laying in bed — actually laying bed, not having morning sex — and he brought up kids."

"What kids?"

"Our kids."

"Oh."

"What's so wrong with that?" The younger Grey tosses a bright red apple towards me.

"I am in my prime of my medical career, and he essentially wants me to stay home, pop out a few kids, and take them to soccer practice."

". . .did he say it in those exact words?"

"Well, no. But I knew that's what he meant."

"You don't know that, Lev."

"He's a man. They're all stupid and arrogant."

"He's also your husband."

A sarcastic laugh bubbles.

"Exactly! Who in their right mind would settle down with a basket case like me?"

The two sisters share a similar look before turning their gazes in my direction. I huff a silent sigh.

"I sound insane, don't I?"

"Yes. Yes, you do."

The hospital is just as stressful as home when my father removes the tumor out of a woman who may have stroked out.

"Oh, the patient had a massive hemorrhage." Derek glances through the C.T. scans taken earlier. "Look, you see here? The left temporal lobe? The hemorrhage, it looks like. . ."

I glance towards him when he trails off. "Would you like to continue with your observations, Dr. Shepherd?"

"You look even prettier in your scrubs."

He lets his eyes rake freely over my figure.

"You're an absolute flirt."

I nudge his shoulder lightly.

April clears her throat from beside us. "What are you going to do about her stroke?"

"Nothing."

"Nothing?"

"Yeah, Mrs. Clark has a left temporal lobe hemorrhage that's extended into the ventricular system. There's nothing we can do." The neurosurgeon declares.

"Can I interest you in a cup of coffee?"

"Only if you'll let me keep telling you how pretty you are."

I curl an arm around his as we walk out of the x-ray room. He leaves little butterfly kisses against my cheek and jaw.

"Sorry for running out of the apartment in the morning."

"I thought we both wanted kids, Leven."

"We do. It's just. . .Derek, we should talk about this later."

"When?"

"Back home. When we're back to being husband and wife, not just a pair of doctors."

Dr. Webber, April, Lexie, and I line up alongside Mrs. Clark's bed to break the news to her husband.