You're Like Coming Home

65.

He was here. He was here, and he was alive and breathing as she wrapped herself around him. She cuddled closely to his right side, avoiding any contact with his left shoulder, but all Meredith could think about was the fact that her husband was alive and able to hold her, even if it wasn't as tightly or fully as he usually was able to.

She'd woken five days earlier in the hospital, her leg bandaged tightly and causing her lots of pain, but that had paled in comparison to the panic she'd felt as she tried to find out what had happened to Derek. As she clutched his hospital gown tightly in her fists, she squeezed her eyes closed, remembering the terrible days that had preceded him waking up.

XXXXX

Flashback

"Meredith," Addison said softly as Meredith's eyes opened. "Are you okay? Do you need anything?"

"Where am I?" Meredith asked hoarsely.

"You're at the hospital," Addison said as she handed Meredith a cup of water to sip through the straw. "Everything's okay, you're safe now."

"Derek," Meredith frowned. "Where's Derek?" If she was in the hospital he would never have left her side, and she frowned, trying to remember what had happened after she'd collapsed onto the ground.

Addison sighed as she sat down on the edge of Meredith's bed, squeezing her hands tightly. "Meredith," she said softly, her eyes sad.

"No," Meredith breathed. "Addison, he can't...is he...there was a gunshot."

"Derek was shot," Addison whispered, her eyes filling with tears.

"Derek," Meredith breathed. "He's...where is he? He's okay, right? I need to see him."

"He's alive," Addison sighed. "They had to take him into surgery to get the bullet out, but he's alive."

"Why isn't he here?" Meredith whispered. "Even if he had surgery...Derek would demand that they put us in the same room or something."

"Mer," Addison sighed. "He never woke up."

"What?" Meredith asked, tears filling her eyes as her breath fell from her chest. "But you just said..."

"He's in a coma," Addison said softly. "He had a reaction to one of the medications, and he's in a coma."

Meredith struggled to sit up, frowning at her leg. "I need to see him," she said. "He needs me."

"Meredith, you need to take care of yourself," Addison said softly, easing her back onto the bed. "I'm going to call for the doctor."

As she leaned forward to press the call button, Meredith shook her head. "He's alone," she whispered.

"He's not alone," Addison replied. "Emma's with him. And Mark's been hopping back and forth between the two of you."

"He needs to know that I'm there," Meredith whispered. "I had to tell him that I wanted to leave. I don't want to leave him, I never did, but he had a gun and...he thinks I don't love him anymore."

"That's not true," Addison shook her head. "And you've got to calm down. If you're hysterical there's no way they'll let you see him."

Meredith swallowed hard as she tried to calm herself down. A few moments later, a doctor entered her room, and the next hour or so was a blur. Through the questions, tests, and attempts to get out of bed and use crutches, all she could think about was Derek. When she was finally granted permission to visit him, she had hobbled down the hall so fast that Addison practically had to run to keep up with her.