Keep Holding On

Chapter 19

Meredith walked quickly down the dark halls. It was late and she didn't pass any one as she made it to the surgical floor and turned towards Derek's office. His door was cracked open, sending a lonely light reflecting off the shadowed white tile. The other offices along the corridor were dark and locked up for the night. Derek was the sole occupant of the wing. She stepped quietly to his door and peaked in.

Her heart fell to her stomach when her eyes settled on his defeated form. He sat hunched at his desk, one hand propping his tired head up, the other tediously scrawling something with his pen across an open folder.

Meredith took in his disheveled appearance and tears filled her eyes. He looked broken and beaten. Dark circles lined his dull eyes, and new lines seemed to appear around his turned down mouth. He looked sad and alone and Meredith couldn't stand the pain he seemed to be feeling.

She pushed the door open and stepped in, standing timidly in front of his desk. Derek looked up startled, and a large grin slowly spread across his face. His eyes seemed to come alive and the lines around his mouth immediately disappeared.
Meredith slowly stepped around the desk and stopped a couple feet in front of him. Derek looked her up and down and shook his head in astonishment.

"Wow. You look...I mean... Wow." Derek kept his eyes on her, not bothering to hide the lust that was quickly growing.

Meredith blushed. She had completely forgotten about her little makeover but smiled at Derek's obvious approval.

"Mer, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be across the street...enjoying your very first birthday party?" Derek tilted his head at her and winked.

Words couldn't express what was going through Meredith's mind, so she closed the remaining distance between her and Derek and took his face in her two hands and lowered her head to meet his. Her lips pushed against his softly at first, but quickly intensified as she pressed harder and forced her tongue into his mouth. She moved it skillfully around the warm inside, savoring the taste she had almost forgotten.

She heard Derek moan into her mouth and she pulled away satisfied.

Derek slowly opened his eyes, not wanting the moment to end. "What was that for?"

Meredith smiled and sat softly on his lap, leaning against his chest as he wrapped his arms around her tiny waist. "That was thank you. Thank you for everything Derek. Today has been amazing... and I can't even believe...just thank you."

Derek smiled and nodded, running a hand through her soft hair.

"So were you surprised?" Derek sighed, but still kept his smile. "Man, I wish I could have seen your face." Derek's eyes stared off, as if imagining the sight in his head.

"Why weren't you there Derek?" Meredith's mind raced with a million questions, but she settled on the most important.

"I'm so sorry Mer." Derek looked down, his smile completely gone. "I tried so hard. I had everything planned; finished my work early, made sure the OR board was set for the night. As I was getting ready to head over to Joe's to make sure the flowers and balloons had arrived and the caterer was on time, Mr. Luckabee found me and said it was imperative that these reports be finished tonight. I tried to get out of it, I was going to finish them tomorrow or later tonight... after the party even... but he was unyielding. He basically said if they weren't finished immediately, he'd go to the board to denounce my efforts as chief."

Anger swelled in Meredith's chest as she watched Derek rub his face frustrated. Her mind was completely made up about Mr. Luckabee. There was absolutely no denying that he had purposely tried to keep Derek away from her tonight.