Home

38

Meredith and Derek were waiting in the waiting room

"It's taking long.." Derek sighed

"It always takes long, we're just not used to it as doctors." Meredith told him

Today she had to get her yearly CT scan taken to see how her spine was doing. Derek would come along but he had never seen this side of his job. Of course he had been to some specialists but anyone recovering from a spinal cord injury usually wouldn't easily come back to him except if there was a chance of ever walking again

"I was thinking of cooking some fish tonight on the grill, we could invite mom, dad, Addie and Mark?" Derek suggested

"Sounds good to me." Meredith nodded, leaning into Derek's side

"Doctor Grey?" The technician called out

"Yep." Meredith nodded and wheeled off, Derek following her

"I'll be fine." She chuckled.

"I know, I just wanna be here." He said and closed the door so she could get changed into the gown

"Doctor Grey, you can lay down on the machine." The nurse told her and Derek helped a little. He had to get out, waited until it was finished and helped her back into her chair and clothes again

A long while later they were waiting to see Meredith's doctor, the one that had operated on her ever since the accident, done her follow ups and much more

"I'm so tired from waiting." Meredith groaned, leaning into Derek's arms. "I'm never letting my patients wait anymore."

Derek had to chuckle at how cute she was

"You're aware no doctors do that on purpose, right?" He chuckled and kissed her head

"I know." She groaned and closed her eyes for a minute but got interrupted as they could enter

"Meredith, I'm glad to see you." Her doctor smiled. "Hello Dr Shepherd."

"Hello. And today it's just Derek." Derek laughed softly

"Well, I'm glad to see you both, let's have a look at your scans." He started clicking on things, not showing them the screen yet

Meredith squeezed Derek's hand softly. It was always a bit scary as this visit was pretty important to know how her lower body was doing, how her paralysis has been affecting her and much more

"Okay.." Her doctor sighed. "How has work been?"

"A bit stressful with my promotion. I spend less time in an OR and more in my office." Meredith gave him an honest answer

"And how have things been with your daughter?" The doctor kept on asking

"She's doing amazing. Six and a half already, she's really growing up." Meredith smiled. "It's getting easier now she can do things for herself more easily, I've also noticed my spasms can get bad if she's been on my lap for too long."

"She's getting bigger of course, which is normal for those spasms to get triggered." Her doctor nodded as he understood. "What about the pain in your back?"

"Not too bad. I barely have to take meds for it, most of the days I can keep up perfectly." She smiled

"Because you don't wanna take anything or because you're not in pain?"

"Both." Meredith sighed. "But when it's bad I usually go lay down for a while, I feel like that helps most."

Derek reached for Meredith's hand and squeezed it softly. He noticed she found it really hard to talk about this

"So when I look at your spine it shows your fusion is still doing a great job." Her doctor started. "Overall I'd say your body is in good shape, I won't tell you to stop working but I still think it's smart to reduce hours."

Meredith sighed, it had been one of their talks for ages now ever since she returned to being a doctor

"But I'm a bit worried about your nerve pain. We don't want this to start again, Meredith." Her doctor sounded serious but Derek had no idea what they were talking about. Was it that bad before?

"I know, I don't want that either." Meredith muttered

"Just maybe take an extra day off once every week. Keep going to physical therapy, keep swimming and back massages won't hurt." He turned to face Derek who nodded

"The scars hurt less?"

"Yeah, Mark's surgery helped a lot." She nodded, suddenly realizing how little she had told Derek

"I'm really glad to hear." Her surgeon smiled softly

After a whole lot more of agreements and questions it was finally time for them to leave. Derek opened the door and let Meredith wheel out.

"Sorry if that was overwhelming." Meredith said, reaching for Derek's hand

"Don't apologize, I was here for you." He squeezed her hand softly and leaned in to kiss her. "Do you want to go home?"

"Yeah.. Maybe we can pick up some sushi for everyone." She suggested and they started leaving the hospital