Officer Shepherd✔️

Sleepwalking

DEREK

I woke up the next morning. I remember the actions of the night before. I turn to my side and see that Meredith was no longer in bed. I get up and put on a pair of sweatpants that were on the floor. I left the bedroom and went into the kitchen.

I saw that she wasn't in there either. I remember that a lot of mornings she would read s I went into the living room to see if she was in there. she wasn't in there either. I looked out through the glass doors and see her laying on the ground on the balcony.

I stand up and open the sliding doors and went over to her. she was unconscious and blood was pouring from her left wrist. "Meredith, Meredith!" I tried shaking her awake. she wouldn't wake up. I carefully lifted her into my arms and carried her inside.

I laid her down on the couch. I lifted her left arm and looked at her wrist. there was a large cut going down her wrist, she'll definitely need stitches. I laid her arm next to her and went into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit.

I cleaned up her arm before I wrapped it up. I put my hand against her head, and she felt fine. she was breathing fine she was just... asleep. it looks like she might have fallen, but how could she have fallen if she was standing outside... unless she was standing on the railing.

she was fully dressed and her hair was done so she must have woken up early. I sat down on the edge of the couch. I kept saying her name until she finally woke up. she woke up. she quickly looked at her hand and tears filled her eyes from the pain.

"what the hell happened?" she asked as she sat up. "I was hoping to get that answer from you," I tell her. "you don't know what happened?" I ask her. "No, all I remember is waking up on the railing," she says. she grabs my shoulder and looks at her hand.

"How bad was it?" she asks as I wipe the tear that fell from her eye. "it was bleeding a lot. I think you should go to the hospital with it, it might be broken... you said you woke up on the railing?" I ask her again.

"yes... I used to sleepwalk a lot when I was younger and something like this happened when I was a kid but I haven't done it in years, over a decade. I don't know why it's starting now, my parents used to have to put a lock on my door because I almost hurt Lexie one time,"

"other than the time you tried drowning her in a tub of hot water?" I joke smiling at her but she only glares back. "you're also fully dressed and your hair is done, your hair is curled, did you do that in your sleep too?" I ask.

"I do a lot of things in my sleep, I once cooked a turkey on thanksgiving, the only downside was I took the turkey out with my bare hands," she said standing up and going into the kitchen. "my leg hurts too, it's probably from the fall," she says.

"you fell? I thought you laid down and went back to sleep on the floor?" he says. "No, I woke up on the railing. I got scared and fell backwards and I guessed that's what made me go unconscious," she says. "you fell backwards! what if you had fallen forwards?" I say walking over to her.

"Well... then you wouldn't have to worry about working things out with me," she smiles. "yea, because I already did," I kiss her on the lips as she tries to open her water bottle. "you could have died, Mer," I wrap my arms around her waist and pull her close. I take the bottle out of her hand and open it before handing it back to her.

"I know but it wasn't on purpose. I'm terrified of heights I never would have gone out there in the middle of the night," she says as she takes a sip from her water and leans into me. I hold her close I press my lips against the side of her head, running my hand up and down her stomach.

"last night was nice, thank you for not being like most guys and want to have sex the first night they meet a woman," she says softly. "are you sure it didn't make you feel uncomfortable?" I run my hand over her hair.

"No, the last guy that tried making me do something I didn't want got a heel in the face... other than Andrew, I was always too scared of him to do something but you dealt with him so I guess that should be enough,"

"why were you only scared to do it to Andrew?" I ask her. "Andrew was... different, our relationship a few years ago... I wasn't the healthiest relationship, I'll just say that," she says quietly looking down. " can talk about it later, we need to get you to the hospital,"

"it's not that bad, Derek," she says. she places the bottle on the counter and tried walking away but I pull her back. "grab your coat, put on your shoes and I'll make you something to eat when we get back," I whisper in her ear.

I kiss her cheek and she does as I say. I grab my keys and we leave the house. "this is stupid, Derek. I'm fi-Ow!" she says as she bumps into the wall. "see? your hand is not fine," I tell her. "that was the wall's fault, not mine. it had nothing to do with my hand, the wall is too far on this side," she says as she starts to walk down the hall.

I lock the front door and follow her out to the car.

***

we get back from the hospital and Meredith goes inside first. Her hand was in fact broken. They put a brace on it and said she should be fine. She hit her head pretty hard but nothing major.

I walk her into her house and she quickly goes into the living room to read. She hasn't said anything since we left the hospital.

"Meredith, what is it?" I ask her. "It's nothing, I just don't like talking about Andrew," she says as she sits down in her reading chair.

"Meredith, can we talk about it? Maybe when you're finished reading?" I ask. "Maybe," she says not looking at me.

I stand up and kiss her head. I go into the kitchen to make her something to eat.