Love gives hope

Chapter 11 "their first date"

"Thank you John!" she beamed, I inwardly rolled my eyes.

"Hey I heard a wild rumor, perhaps you can answer it for me Richard."

"I probably could." Dad smiled, "Especially if it has to do with my hospital."

"I heard that Derek Shepherd is working for you." John beamed, I was suddenly all ears "If it's true, excellent decision on your part, I tried to get him into my hospital for years, but he was comfortable in New York. I tried to get in touch and make a better offer a few months ago but they said he left, so I supposed you beat me to the punches again hey?"

"No John." Dad frowned and shook his head, "I wish that were true, it'd be nice to have him on my team but no."

"Derek Shepherd." Mom frowned, "That name sounds familiar..." she looked at me and I wished the floor would open up and swallow me. "Hey Meredith, isn't that the name of your cancer patient?"

All three pairs of eyes were on me, and I felt like my heart was about to beat right out of my chest and put an end to this stupid award ceremony.

"Just a coincidence." I gasped, finally taking a breath "My guy isn't a doctor, he's just a patient."

"Right." Mom nodded and they turned back to each other "Well, I'm sure he's just gone to the Peace Corps or something."

"Odd." John frowned, "I thought surely you'd snatched him up. Jim Nelson said he could've sworn he saw him standing up in his gallery a few days ago, he recognized that ridiculous ferry boat scrub cap he always said brought him good luck."

"Ferry boats aren't ridiculous." I blurted in defensively before I realized that saying such would get all three sets of eyes staring back at me. "I..I mean ferry boats are nice, they're fun.. a lot of people like them. Maybe he had a thing for them, they're his thing. If it made him feel better wearing them in surgery, and he called it luck, well then so be it."

John frowned and turned back to my parents who were still looking at me. My mom gave me a look that said I need to shut up and only speak when spoken to, and dad...giving me the look that I hated. A look that told me that he knew I was lying or hiding something and the wheels in his head were turning a million miles a minute. I gulped and shrugged out of my chair.

"You know what? I have an early morning. I have surgeries that I need to steal, and I need to go so...congratulations mother, another award.

Before they could try to keep me any longer, I turned, grabbed my purse and jacket, and skipped the hell out of there as quickly as my heels would carry me. I hailed a cab outside the hotel that the banquet was being held. It was a nice night, no rain, clear sky and just a gentle breeze to cool off your face. It would be a perfect night to go walking along the piers or take a ride on the ferry boat. Suddenly, all I could think about was Derek and wondered how long it'd been since he took a ride on a ferry boat, or felt the wind whipping across his face, or drank a good glass of dinner wine on a date.

"Where to Miss?" the driver asked me.

"Take me to the nearest market...and then to Seattle Grace."

He nodded and drove off with me in the backseat with my wheels spinning.

An hour later, I was walking into the elevator in the Seattle Grace lobby carrying a small brown bag with some goodies inside. I looked at my watch, it was almost 11 o'clock and I knew that he was probably sleeping, but for some reason I couldn't, and how barging in on his night like this was selfish and rude..

Oh hell, he was a dying man with nothing to do but sit and hope he didn't die. Who was I kidding?

I walked off the elevator and onto the Oncology floor. Liz looked up at me as I passed and gave me a raise of her brow, I shrugged. Which sent her into a rail of laughter and a shake of her head. When I reached his room, the light was on and he was sitting up in bed watching television, he looked surprised to see me yet managed to smile.

"You're back."

"I told you I would be." I smiled as I set the bag down at the foot of his bed.

"Yes, but not until morning."

"Well what's another hour anyway?" I shrugged and turned as something on the television caught my ear. I turned back to him with a giggle "Look at you, watching trashy soap operas."

He rolled his eyes "What did you bring me?"

"I've never done this, so bear with me." I smirked.

"Never done what?"

"Dated." I answered as I pulled out a place mat and covered the table with it. Then, I pulled out a plate for him and me and set the settings, and a small battery-operated candle. Then, put two plastic wine glasses on the table and pulled out a bottle, "I hope you like sparkling grape juice; alcohol is a big no-no for you right now. Although, we're breaking a lot of rules, I really would like to avoid the ones that would make me responsible for your death."

He looked at the sham of a date table setting.

"You're my date."

"Well yeah." I smirked as I poured the grape juice, "I mean let's face it, I look hot. To waste that on a night spent with a bunch of old medical doctors who are older than formaldehyde and smell like arthritis cream? Well, it's a shame. So, I'd much rather be here on a date with you."

"Well, whatever you brought smells a whole hell of a lot better than the crappy hospital food they're trying to make me eat."

"Yeah, that crap will kill you." I giggled as I dug through the bag more "And sorry, its' nothing healthy. The only food place open at 10 p.m. are burger joints, so how does a double cheeseburger sound?"

I pulled it out and placed it on the plate in front of him, then one on my plate. He looked at it and I could see his mouth starting to drool.

"You know I used to be a health nut." He said with an ironic chuckle "All my life I ate healthy, so much salad and muesli I was the one supporting the businesses. I ate healthy, and I never smoked, hardly ever drank, and I walked whenever I possibly could. I was a health nut. Before now, I would have vomited at the sight of this cheeseburger...because it has obesity and cancer written all over it. But now I have cancer, and I could die tomorrow anyway."

"So you're going to eat it and hope it clogs your arteries before the cancer gets you?" I frowned.

"You know what they told me when I got this disease?" he chuckled again, I looked at him for the answer, "They said it was the healthy man's disease. All that healthy living, and exercise and eating crap that tasted like grass and cardboard? And I get cancer anyway."

"So, you're going to eat the cheeseburger?"

He laughed, almost hysterically before calming down and nodding, "I am going to eat the god damn cheeseburger."

"Good." I smirked as I bit into mine "A little fat a day keeps the doctor away."

"What if I don't want the doctor away?" he smirked into a bite.

I blushed into a smile "You're not going to be a lifelong patient, I won't allow it. I am going to get you all healthy and gorgeous...and then I'm going to dump your ass."

"Talking about dumping your date 10 minutes into it isn't a good way to start by the way."

"Oh really, so what's a good topic of conversation for dating then?"

"At what point in this date do we get naked?" he smirked.

I rolled my eyes and fought the urge to grin, "What kind of girl would I be if I put out on the first date?"

His eyes glossed and he opened his smiling mouth but I put my hand up to stop him.

"Just shut up and drink your grape juice."

"Yes, Dr. Grey."