The Fight for Chief

Chapter 15

Stay with me

"Derek! Derek!" She screamed as she crawled over to his body which had been thrown away from her. "Der!" She shouted as she got up on her knees, gasping in pain. "Come on! Wake up!"

She looked down his body, noticing the blood pouring from his chest. "N-no!" She screamed as she pressed her palm hard over the wound. "Wake up! You hear me? Wake the hell up!" She cried as she slapped his cheek.

He quietly gasped, his eyes beginning to focus on her. "M-m-" he gasped breathlessly. She sobbed hard, running her hand through his hair. "You're okay, you're okay" she tried to reassure him. "M-Meri- y-you're bleeding" he groaned as he grabbed her wrist.

Meredith looked down, blood pouring from her shoulder. "Crap" she whispered before looking back to him. "D-er-" she mumbled as she quickly pulled off her cardigan and pressed it against his chest. "You were shot i-in the chest. But you're going to be okay" she tried to reassure him.

"An ambulance is on the way" someone called. "O-okay. You hear that Der? Help is coming" she cried quietly as she ran her hands through his hair. "You- shot-" he shivered in shock, his body fighting for every chance to live. "I'm okay" she mumbled. "No Meri, you're shot" he whispered, his eyes beginning to feel like lead weights.

"I'm fine, Derek!" She snapped. The faint sound of sirens came into earshot. He laughed a little to himself; nothing about this was funny, but he felt the need to laugh. "W-what? What are you laughing at?" She frowned. "This. Us" he laughed before gasping in pain. "Don't move." She said.

He was losing a lot of blood.

"M-Meredith..." he whispered, panic setting in. "Don't." She said firmly. "I'm going to die" he groaned as he closed his eyes. "Stop it, Derek. You're not" she tried to reassure him. "You're stupid. Standing in front of a gun man like that? I thought you were a brain guy?" She laughed a little as she rolled her eyes.

He searched for her hand, settling for holding her wrist. "I-I'm in love with you. I-I- I've been in l-love with you- f-forever" he whispered, his eyes beginning to close. "I-it w-w-wasn't stupid. I-i- did it to s-save you"

"Come on Derek, stay with me here" Meredith said as she pressed a little harder on his chest. He couldn't open his eyes anymore, but he could hear her crying. "Come on Derek! Stay awake. You hear me? Stay awake!" She screamed as she squeezed his arm.

The sirens were now outside and reality was setting up in when she looked down at Derek who was no longer breathing. "Derek?" She shook him. "Derek!" She screamed as she shook his lifeless body. "I'm sorry, I love you too, okay?!" She sobbed. "I love you so much" she cried as she sat back on her knees, pulling her hands away from his chest and crossing them over her body. "Derek?" She whispered.

The paramedics came running in, 3 attending to Derek and 2 coming to Meredith. "Ma'am, you need to come with us" one of them said. "W-wait" she whispered as she moved back to Derek. The paramedics were busy doing CPR , so she kissed his head instead. "I love you" she whispered before someone pulled her away, but she didn't know who as became things were becoming fuzzy for herself.

They pulled her up. "Um- he's got two GSW's to the chest. Derek Shepherd. H-he's allergic t-to p-penicillin" her chest was now heaving and she felt herself being lowered to the floor, people talking around her before her eyes eventually closed.

______

"Hey" she said quietly as they wheeled her into his room. She climbed out the chair and sat in the chair next to his bed. He was sat up in the hospital bed, eating some muesli.

"Hey" he smiled. "How've you been?" She asked as he grabbed her hand. "Great for someone who was shot" he laughed weakly before squeezing her hand. "Don't make jokes, I was scared" she said. "Don't be scared. I'm not going anywhere" he reassure her. "How are you?" He asked carefully. She shrugged. "Been better, GSW to the shoulder" she said casually. She was trying not to cry in front of him, but she felt safe around him, like she could break down.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Derek asked when he noticed her turn her head away. She didn't say anything, she was trying so hard to keep it together. He sighed before carefully moving himself to one side of his hospital bed.

"Come here" he whispered as he patted the bed. She sighed as she stood up and laid down next to him. He wrapped his arm around her, pulling her to his chest. "I'm okay. We're okay" he whispered before she completely broke down in his arms.

He sighed as he held her tight. It must have been so scary for her. She cried and cried until she couldn't cry anymore.

"Meredith" he whispered when he thought she'd fallen asleep but she didn't. "What?" She asked. He paused for a moment. "n-n-nothing. I just needed to hear your voice" he whispered before holding her tight.

"They're sending us home tonight" she mumbled against his chest. "It only took them 6 days" he chuckled softly. "I wanted to come see you straight after, but they wouldn't let me" she whispered sadly. "I know, me too. Mark tried helping smuggling me in but the nurses caught us" Derek laughed. She giggled and sniffled, sighing in relief. "I'm just glad we're alive" she said. Derek nodded.

The tension in the air suddenly grew think. So much was needing to be said, but neither having the courage to do so.

Meredith coughed a little, breaking the ice. "You were stupid to stand in front of a gun for me" she said. "You know I'd do it again" he said quickly. Meredith frowned, confused and tired by his closed-off response. "Right." She whispered before moving out his hold. She didn't know what to feel anymore.

"I should probably get going, get ready for home" she smiled awkwardly as she looked back to him. "Right, yeah, me too" he said as he watched her. "When will I next see you?" She asked quietly. Derek shrugged. "I'm not sure. Teddy signed me off work for 6 weeks, so..." he looked to her. "Owen signed me off for 4 weeks. Maybe when we feel better, we'll visit each other" Meredith suggested. "And we'll talk on the phone too" Derek added. "Yeah...yeah" Meredith smiled sadly.

Derek slowly shifted and climbed out the bed, walking over to her. "I'm going to miss you" Meredith mumbled as she went to hug him. "I'm going to miss you too" Derek sighed before pulling away from their hold. "But we'll talk, and visit" Meredith said, almost trying to convince herself. Derek nodded. "Right"

She walked out his room and back down the hall, tears streaming down her face as she did.

Leaving, even for 4 weeks, shouldn't be this hard.