Leave a light on

17

"Shep, wake up" Derek heard and opened his eyes. He saw a smiling Alex "She's doing great" He laughed

"I need to see her" Derek jumped up and followed Bailey to Meredith's room

"She's still on the vent but she'll start breathing over the vent soon. Everything looks perfect, Shepherd" Bailey smiled

"Oh, thank you, Bailey" He shouted and pulled her into a hug

Derek sat down next to the bed to wait until Meredith woke up. It took a while until he saw her eyes fluttering but once she opened them he couldn't keep himself from smiling

"Hey" He smiled as she took in her surroundings before choking slightly on the tube in her throat.

"I'll page Bailey. Stay calm" Derek said and held her hand tight as he paged Miranda

Meredith gave a slight nod before Bailey and Teddy came running in "What's wrong?"

"She's breathing over the vent" Derek laughed in relief "She's doing it" He added with the biggest smile possible

Bailey and Teddy joined him in his happy moment as they extubated Meredith

"Grey, how do you feel?" Teddy asked her as she was listening with her stethoscope to her lungs

"Good" Meredith shakily replied

"Everything sounds good. Maybe even better than I had imagined. Your labs don't show any signs of rejection of the new pair of lungs" Teddy told them

Derek grabbed Meredith's hand as she looked into his eyes

"Love you" She whispered as her eyes were drooping

"Love you too. Get some rest" He replied and kissed her forehead

It didn't take long until Meredith fell back asleep

"She's gonna be fine, Derek. Get some sleep yourself" Bailey told him

"I need to call the kids first" Derek replied

"How's she doing?" Cristina's voice was heard as she walked in

"Cristina.." Derek sighed "Thank you so so much" He pulled her into a hug and some tears escaped his eyes

Even Cristina had to fight tears streaming down her face and noticed that Meredith was extubated "She's fine" She sighed in relief

"She is" Bailey smiled at them

"I need to call Alex" Derek said as he stood up

"I'll call evil spawn, don't you worry about that. Just go to bed" Cristina said as she placed her hand on his shoulder

"Thanks" Derek smiled before sitting back in the chair next to Meredith's bed

"We're gonna leave. Page us if one of you needs anything and I really mean anything" Bailey said before they all left

...

After a week, Meredith's labs still came back clear for rejection. In the meantime Meredith already started some PT so her recovery would be over faster but this also meant she finally could be cleared to see the kids again because the risk of infection increased a lot

"When will the kids be here?" Meredith asked as she was laying in the hospital bed, finally dressed in her own pajamas.

"Any second" Derek smiled and saw how excited she was. If everything kept going this good, she could be released at the end of the week and she couldn't wait any longer for this

"Hey" Alex said as he entered her room, the kids following in his tracks

"Mommy! Daddy!" Their smiles grew on their faces and both Derek and Alex helped them on the bed

"Hey babies" Meredith started to tear up a bit as she hugged the kids close

"We've missed you" Bailey told her

"I missed you too" Meredith smiled at them

"Aunt Cris and I eated did a hotdog contest" Ellis told her as she giggled by mentioning the memories

"She did? Did she tell you that she once threw up while we were having one of those in our intern years?" Meredith smiled

"She didn't" The little girl gasped dramatically

"You should ask her" Meredith laughed

"Mommy? Can you come home with us tonight?" Bailey asked her

"Not yet, Bails. But you guys can stay the whole day if you want to" She smiled at her kids

"Daddy? Will you go home with us?" Zola asked Derek

Derek looked at Meredith who nodded in agreement "Yes, ZoZo. I will come home with you guys" He smiled

"Can we sleep in the big bed?" The little girl asked

"Of course" Derek agreed

"I think daddy brought his computer so we can watch a movie if you guys want" Meredith smiled

"Yeay!" The kids yelled