Whatever It Takes

Chapter 60

Remember wanting me so much? I used to tingle from your touch..
--Vivian Green




Meredith sat in the dimly lit office behind her dark mahogany desk only lightly cluttered with charts and appointment notes, no pictures, nothing to resemble a personality...

She reached up and adjusted the lamp to give her more light as she stretched out her cramped hand... Her day had started out stressed and so far it looked to be ending that way...

She closed her eyes and rolled her neck stretching out her sore muscles trying to push out her day... she sighed glancing at her phone noticing she had three missed calls from Finn and put her phone down not ready to deal with him either...

She reached down and slid open the desk drawer looking at the small unopened black box wondering if she should just get it over with... she started to reach for it but her stomach churned and she quickly shut the drawer with a slam and went back to her notes..

She heard a light knock at her half opened door and glanced up wondering if it were one of her so called friends come to beg for forgiveness... she sighed as she looked at them and stilled her writing..

"If you've come for another kiss think again, there's no mistletoe in here."

"Hmm." He smiled half heartedly as he stepped in the room "Actually I was just going to give you this."

He sat down in one of the chairs behind her desk and set a medium sized white box on it tied together with a lavender bow...

She looked at the box and just the simple beauty of it took her breath away.. or maybe the fact that it was a safe size... she furrowed her brow and looked at him..

"What is this?" she asked..

"Its your Christmas present... I was going to wait until the actual day but you seemed to be in a bad mood so... Merry Christmas."

"Oh." She said surprised and then looked at him apologetically "Well I didn't get you anything."

"Its ok." He smiled as he tilted his head slightly "A beautiful woman once told me that giving gifts just to receive one in return beats the purpose out of a gift."

She shook her head rolling her eyes and looked at the gift reluctantly...

"Its been waiting 5 years to be opened you know, you should open it." He replied.. she looked up at him quizzically and he smiled "I got it for you 3 months before.... Anyways... I saw it in a store window and thought you would love it... it originally had two airline tickets with it but well.. those are expired now."

He chuckled lightly and she felt curiosity get the better of her and grabbed the box off her desk feeling the strong weight... she carefully untied the bow that happened to be her favorite color and set it down before lifting off the top of the box..

She pulled back the tissue paper and reached in to remove what looked like a glass ball... she took it out and held it before her and couldn't help but gasp at the beautiful snow globe...

"Its Venice." She whispered as tears welled in her eyes..."I... I always... Derek."

"Meredith." He said softly as his head tilted further and his eyes showed such concern "Why are you so stressed?"

She pressed her lips together and set the globe down in front of her as she blinked back her tears... she sighed and shook her head starting to do her usual avoidance and denial routine but she looked across the desk and found those comforting eyes and started to fall for them.. she slouched her shoulders and slightly curled her lip up...

"Finn gave me a box." She mumbled...

"A box?" he frowned.. "What's in the box?"

"I don't know." She grumbled "Its small and black, and I'm afraid to open it."

She slid her drawer open and took the box out of it and set it in the middle of the desk between them.. Derek tried to hide his shock but felt his mouth drop open for a second... he gulped hard and then looked back up at her...

"See." She shrugged..

"It's a box." He choked out "A very small box... and you don't want to open it?"

"I don't know." Meredith sighed "I don't think I'm ready to open it if it means what I'm thinking."

"What did he say when he gave it to you?"

"He said he'll be thinking about how it looks on me and that we can celebrate when he gets back."

"Oh." He said raising his brow and bit his bottom lip... he sighed after a few moments, hearing his pager go off and stood up shaking his head...

"Derek." She said stopping him from going out the door "Tell me what to do."

"I cant." He said with a shrug "Other than... open the box."

"Thanks." She said sarcastically as he started to walk towards the door...

"Meredith." He said turning at the door.. she looked up at him annoyed at her situation "Open the box." He said feeling a smile play at his lips "After all... it could just be a necklace."

She watched him go and turned back to the gifts on her desk... she pressed her lips together not sure what she wanted to do.. she picked up the box and sighed heavily to herself and ripped off the red bow and cracked it open as she held her breath and cringed... she sighed with relief when she saw what was inside...



It was a pretty necklace.. but she couldn't feel very enthused about it... maybe it was because of the stress of the day, maybe it was because it just wasn't her type of jewelry.. or maybe it was something else...

She picked up the beautiful snow globe that Derek got her and turned it upside down to shake the snow around and noticed something shiny on it.. she looked closer seeing an engraving on a golden plaque and read it...

"I promise to cherish and respect you, to care and protect you, to comfort and encourage you, and stay with you, for all eternity."

Meredith felt her breath taken away recognizing the wedding vows they took so long ago.. she set the globe on her desk and looked up at the closed door... she bit her lip and reached over opening the top drawer of her desk and sliding it all the way out until it stopped.. she reached to the back of the drawer and retrieved a small blue box and opened it up...

She felt her eyes fall to the small pieces of platinum and diamonds in her hands... she held them in front of her face missing the way they felt on her finger and hating that such a beautiful heirloom had to sit in the back of a desk drawer.

She chewed on her lip as she looked at them and then at the things on her desk... she reached over and shook the globe once more looking into it and feeling internal turmoil swirl around her and her heart clench at the emotion and the thought Derek had put into it, and him holding it for five years.. she shook her head as she set it to the side and looked at the other thing on her desk...

She wrinkled her nose up as she picked it up... she looked over at the wedding rings in one hand and then back at the necklace... she got a guilty mischievous look on her face as she set them all down and took the necklace out of the box...

She slid the pendant off the white gold chain and set it back in the box and in her drawer.. she picked up her wedding rings and slid them onto the chain and then continued to clasp it around her neck...

She closed her drawer and leaned back into her chair as she put her hand over the rings laying against her chest and felt a smile graze her lips... she knew she would go straight to hell for it but in that moment her day was starting to look up.