Don't Give Up On Me

Chapter 27

Wednesday, 7:35am

Meredith woke up with yet another throbbing headache. She looked around, and saw the man she loved at the doorway.

"Good morning." He said with a smile. "M-morning." Meredith replied. Derek winced at the weakness and pain just evident in her voice alone.

"How you feeling?" He asked, coming over and sitting on the edge of her bed. "C-crappy." Meredith answered honeslty. "I'm sorry. I can ask Tom about pain meds." Derek said.

Meredith nodded weakly. "Please." She said. Derek paged Tom and looked back at her. "I've had interns looking up treatment options and surgical plans all night. I promise, Mer, we'll get the tumor out." He said confidently, although he wasnt too confident inside.

"D-Derek...if I...if I can't m-make dec-decisions on my own...I-I want y-you to m-make them for m-me." Meredith said.

Derek smiled sadly. "I'll do everything I can to keep you alive." He replied. Meredith coughed hard and Derek rubbed her back. "Y-you're the o-only one I trust...t-to make a d-decision if it happens." Meredith said.

Derek found himself tearing up at the true sincerity of her words. "I'll make the right ones. I'll do every damn thing I can." He said, climbing into the bed.

"Hey! You paged?" Tom asked, walking in to the room. "Can she take any pain meds?" Derek asked. "I'm afraid not. We don't want to give her anything that can affect the tumor." Tom said sympathetically.

"Not even acetaminophen?" Derek asked. He hated seeing meredith in pain. It pained him to see every wince, or every grunt of pain.

"No. I'm sorry. If it gets really bad, maybe a light sedative bu I don't know if you'll want to be knocked out." Tom explained.

"I-I'm f-fine." Meredith said. Derek sighed. "Okay. Thanks Tom." Derek said. Tom nodded and left the room.

"Do you want the sedative?" He asked quietly. He knew loud voices and noises hurt her head. "N-no. I d-don't know how l-long I h-have. I-I w-want to be awake, d-despite the p-pain." Meredith replied, her eyes closing.

"Okay. How about you get some rest?" Derek suggested. "M-kay." Meredith mumbled, already half asleep.

•••

Once she was asleep, Derek gently got out of bed and went to a conference room, where he had been studying her scans and reading all he could.

Derek sat back down and went to his work until a knock at the door. "Come in." Derek said tiredly. In came his sister, Amelia.

"Amy, I can't-" Derek started. He couldn't deal with his pushy, judge mental sisters although Amelia was his favorite.

"I'm not here to bother you. I'm a neurosurgeon too, you know." Amelia cut in, sitting down beside him. "It's impossible." Derek sighed.

Amelia picked up the scans and studied them. "Derek Shepherd does the impossible." Amelia said wisely. "It's huge, amy. I don't think I can do this myself, and I'm the best neurosurgeon on the West coast." He said, voice full of defeat.

"What happened to you? The Derek Shepherd I once knew took on the impossible with confidence. I know this is your girlfriend, but I do believe it's operable. And Tom...Tom is the best." Amelia explained.

"She's not just my girlfriend. She's everything to me. She's the love of my life. If she dies, I don't know how I'll go on without her." Derek said, tears in his eyes.

"She's not going to die." Amelia said calmly, putting her arm around her big brothers shoulders. "I called some of my colleagues back home and they're looking at the scans too. Meredith has so many neurosurgeons looking out for her, they will come up with a safe surgical plan." She said softly.

"Thank you." Derek said, his voice full of emotion.

•••

Meredith woke up once again, this time to an empty room.

Meredith had brain cancer. Not just any cancer, but now brain cancer. A goddamn glioblastoma. God must really not like her.

Meredith had tried to come to terms with the fact that she was going to die. But she couldn't. She was a normal 32 year old woman. She was too young. And she had just recently met the love of her life.

She didn't want to die. She and Derek had until 110 to do that, warm in each other's arms. 4 years on and off...it wasn't enough.

It was then Meredith noticed the tears streaming down her face. Her mother always told her crying was for the weak. But brain cancer is a pretty good excuse to cry, right?

Meredith let the tears fall, and soon her cries turned to sobs. Uncontrollable sobbing. She needed someone. Someone to let her pain out too.

And right as she thought that, in came her night in shining whatever. "Mer, what's wrong?" Derek asked in concern, striding over to her quickly.

"I-I d-don't..." Meredith trailed off, her sobs intensifying. "It's okay. Breath, breathe with me. You're okay." Derek soothed, climbing in to bed wit her.

"I-I don't w-want to die. I-I'm too y-young. I-I haven't l-lived." Meredith sobbed. Dereks heart broke for his girlfriend. "You are not going to die. We're gonna have a full life ahead of us. You'll be an attending, you'll win a Harper Avery, we'll get married and have kids. We have a lifetime, mer." Derek said.

"I-I want to be t-there for that!" Meredith cried into his chest. Derek wrapped his arms around her and just let her cry. She hasn't done it, but now Derek felt she was coming to terms with her diagnosis.

"You will be. My sisters a neurosurgeon too, she's talking to people on the East coast. You have so many people in your corner, Mer. The whole hospital practically is studying your case, trying to find a cure. You will survive this, because your Meredith Grey." Derek said sternly.

"I-I love you. I l-love you." Meredith said. They didn't say it enough to each other.

"I love you too. I love you more than you kmow. And I'll keep loving you until we die together, 110 in our bed." Derek whispered, kissing her forehead.

Hey guys! We hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope your all doing well. As always, go follow merderrstan