Grey's Anatomy: Never leave me (fanfiction)

We'll Make It

The second time that day, Derek woke up. And for the first time since being conscious, he felt pain. He opened his eyes with more effort then should have been needed and realized that he wasn't the only person in the room. But It wasn't Meredith or the kids that greeted his blurry eyes.

A young nurse, maybe in her late 20's, walked away from the table she had just set a pitcher of water on as she noticed him wake. "Welcome back, Mr. Shepherd. Your wife went to get some coffee, she'll be right back." She smiled as she patted him on the arm before leaving, closing the door softly behind her.

Derek was glad to be alone. He needed some time to think about everything, everyone. There was a soft glow of sunlight leaking through the window, who's blinds were half open. He let out a stressed breath, and pushed himself up into a more sitting position. He struggled for breath, as a bead of sweat appeared on his forehead. He could feel his breathing straining.

Derek sat back against the pillow and rested his arm across his chest, waiting for his lungs to start pumping oxygen again... but it didn't happen. He could hear his heart monitor begin to beep feverishly as is O2 stats began dropping.

In a split second a doctor and nurse were at his side. The bed was lowered and he could feel an oxygen mask placed over his face as a nurse brought over the intubation kit. Out of the corner of his eye, where he could feel a tear falling, his lungs burning with the need for oxygen, he could see Mere standing by the doorway holding her hand over her mouth. He closed his eyes, feeling groggy, some sort of sedative kicking in.

The Doctor was waiting for the spasm in Derek's lungs to stop, the sedative finally working. His eyes were fixed on the O2 monitor, waiting for it to begin climbing again. Finally, it did. Relief washed through everyone in the room. The doctor walked to the doorway where Meredith stood.

"What happened?" She asked. "He was fine when I left." Her eyes were red and watery.

"The nurse said he was awake when she left. I think he tried to sit up, which caused a spasm to start in his lungs. It caused severe respiratory distress. He'll be okay. His O2 stats are up again, so we didn't need to put him back on the pump." He grabbed her shoulder, "That's a good thing, Mere. You know that, he's going to be fine." He said with a pat on her shoulder.

She did know that. Having him off the pump to keep his lungs working was an extremely good thing. Before he was put into surgery, the doctors were forced to intubate him, due to how weak his lungs were. They were afraid they'd lose him to low oxygen before they could even get him into surgery. Thankfully, after he had woken up for the first time afterwards, his lungs were working almost completely on their own. So the tube was removed.

Meredith let herself fall into the chair she had placed by his bed. Her hair was dirty and oily from being at the hospital for two days. Doctor Chase--Derek's doctor and both of theirs friend--had given Meredith the option of using the on-call room to sleep and take a shower, but she had refused to leave Derek's side.

She gently wrapped her hand around his still one and placed her head on the bed, her arm wrapped under it. Her coffee all but forgotten on the table beside her.

This is going to be a long recovery she thought to herself. A wave of fear and sadness sweeping over her. But we'll make it, Derek... We'll make it.