He was a neurosurgeon, one of the the best. She was just starting off. He had been married with children before his wife left him before one day he received divorce papers in the mail. They had been alone ever since.
Meredith was now eight months pregnant, and pregnancy was starting to become more and more uncomfortable.
Everything was just about ready for the baby to arrive. The nursery was finished, and they had bought many clothes, diapers, wipes, and more.
They had everything they needed except the baby. Derek had still failed to mention the pregnancy to any of the family.
Derek had transferred to the hospital Meredith also worked at. It was a little weird working with people who knew Meredith and respected him a little less because of it.
Things had been especially weird with Cristina because she didn't really see him as her boss, she saw her as her best friend's fiancée.
She never liked Derek from the beginning, she thought Meredith deserved better, and she still did but she knew Meredith loved him and was going to be having his child.
It was how they worked, they didn't like each other's partners but they tolerated them. It didn't matter who the person was, that was just how it went.
But other than that he liked working there. There were better surgeries, he felt like they actually needed him and he enjoyed working there far more.
He was also happy that he would be able to start working with Meredith when she was back.
They also wouldn't have to choose which daycare to leave the child in. They could both see the baby when they wanted in the same hospital.
Derek had been working all day, he had been keeping contact with Meredith through text messages when he got the chance.
He texted her about an hour ago but never got a reply. He figured she had just fallen asleep.
It wasn't until a couple of hours later that he got pulled out of surgery by an intern and was told to meet Richard in his office.
When he arrived Richard had a serious look on his face.
"What is it, why'd you pull me out of surgery? This was a big surgery for both me and the patient," he said clearly annoyed.
"It's Meredith, she's here," he said. "Meredith taking time off and I will be soon too when the baby comes," he said.
"No, I mean Meredith is here as a patient. She called 911 but passed out on the phone. She's having an emergency c-section right now. The placenta tore," he said.
"Which OR is she in?" He asked panicked. "You can't go see her, it isn't pretty, the surgery is almost finished," he said.
"Why didn't you tell me sooner?" He said. "Because you were in the middle of surgery, I was waiting until I was able to pull you out," he said.
"Is she okay, do they know if she's going to be okay?" He asked with tears welling in his eyes.
"Yes, she's going to be fine, they got there in time. They're both going to be fine, the baby will need to stay in the NICU for about a month but that's it," he said.
"You know Addison called me?" Richard said. "What?" He asked. "She asked for a job here," he said.
"What? What did you say?" He asked. "I said I'd have to think about it... but we do need an O.B. and it would be nice to have a fetal surgeon. It's hard to find someone as good as Addison," he said.
"I don't know, hire my sister or something. Anyone but Addison, she'll make Meredith's life hell and mine. You have a soft spot for Mer, don't you? She's like a daughter to you, you watched her grow up. You can't do this," he said.
"... even if I deny her the job that won't stop her from coming to Seattle. If she wants a job here then that means she already plans to come here," he said.
"I can deal with Addison outside of the hospital but not where I work, not where Meredith works, she would be working with my child, my baby with another woman. You're really telling me she's not going to try something?"
"I don't know, Addison's changed a lot over the years," he sighed.
"How long have they been in there?" He asked. "They should be closing up right about now. You can go see her soon. Stay in here you do, have a seat," he said.
He sat down on the couch in Richard's office. "She wasn't supposed to go into labour for another month. Just one month," he said.
"She should be just fine, she was almost full term, the baby will be in the hospital for a month and then you can take your baby home. You work here now, you will be able to visit it every day,"
"Don't you guys know the gender yet?" He asked. "No, we were waiting until the baby was born to find out which means we don't have a name either,"
"I'm sure you'll find something, I'm sure Meredith had plenty of names picked out, you know how women are," he said.
"I don't know, I don't talk to Meredith much during the days, she's at home all day and I'm at work, we text and talk when I get home," he said.
"Still, it's a lot of time at home alone," he said. "Shouldn't they be done by now? Which room is she supposed to be in? I need to see her, I need to see how she is," he said standing up.
"I don't know yet, she must've just gotten out, you'll have to ask a nurse," he said.
"Who did her surgery?" He asked. "Miranda Bailey," he said. He nodded before leaving the office.
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