Extraordinary

Chapter 11

Stella was sitting at the table dressed in her pajamas, with a piece of toast halfway to her mouth, reading about a case when Derek entered the kitchen. His shirt half untucked, he immediately went to the counter where the pot of coffee sat and poured himself some in a cup.

"Hey Derek" she greeted cheerily and he jumped in surprise and turned around.

"Stella. I didn't see you." He mumbled slightly, taking a large gulp of coffee.

"I wish I could say the same." Stella said airily. "Honestly, I need some sleep."

Derek blushed and sputtered a little on his coffee at Stella's words. Stella decided to take pity on him and continued in a different direction.

"So am I still the only one privy to you and Mer's bunny-like tendencies?" Well, not too much pity.

"She...er...we're trying to keep it on the low" he said haltingly. So much for his infamous god complex, his ego was taking a beating from this girl before breakfast.

It had been almost two months since the night they met at the docks and he'd been spending most nights with her at her house. Despite the physical relationship, she insisted they barely interact at the hospital. Stella was the only one who even knew they were together, mostly because they shared a house.

"Ah yes." Stella smiled "Mer's just being her usual self, don't worry." Stella had been very surprised at the longevity of their relationship. It had been Alex, informed of this situation by Stella herself, who had told her that Mer was in denial about the guy. She'd tell him herself when she was ready to acknowledge it. She liked Derek, particularly, she liked teasing him; preying on the arrogance.

"I'm not worried." He said a little defensively. And Derek was fine with the casual relationship. He was enjoying the chase and he didn't mind keeping it light. Besides, it wasn't like he could go anywhere, not when Meredith Grey remained the enigma she was.

"Well, I gotta go take a shower." Stella said, getting up from the table "Unlike you, my boss won't be so happy to see me come in late."

"She's not...my boss" She heard him weakly call out as she walked out of the room with a grin. He decided not long after, that it was time to leave if he wanted to get to the hospital in time.

000

Meredith was paged to the pit for a trauma, and after dealing with a particularly moronic resident, she ran into the ambulance bay, still tying on a bright yellow gown. She found Derek standing there, waiting and went up to stand beside him.

"Hey" he smiled, doing the twinkly-eye thing.

"Good morning Dr. Shepherd." She said, eyeing the intern standing next to him, Yang, she remembered.

Derek was about to continue, when the wail of sirens interrupted them. EMTs immediately brought out a gurney, while giving them the vitals.

"Male, 41, GSW to the head and abdomen, GCS of 8 with pupils equal and reactive, found unconscious at scene." They glanced over to see a man, strapped to the backboard with bloodied gauze over his abdomen. "Ex-wife went crazy on him." The paramedic said resignedly.

Meredith and Derek just shared a mildly alarmed look, before rushing the patient into a trauma bay.

000

They stood, staring at the scans, arguing over the approach they should take.

"I obviously need to go into the brain first. Look at the position of the bullet, he may never speak again!" Derek exclaimed.

"A fat load of good speaking would do if he was dead." Meredith remarked. "His abdomen is distended and the bullet is right up against the liver."

"But it's not actually puncturing anything. Look how deep into his brain it's made its way." Derek insisted.