The end is just the begining

Part Eighteen - Eternity

It felt like forever to him. He sat there by her side, waiting for her to wake up. He was cautiously checking her pulse every once in a while. She was alive, the monitors told him that. But she was also very injured, he could tell just by looking at her. Meredith's skin was pale, her eyes had dark circles underneath. She had many bruises, many he couldn't see. She was wrapped up in a blanket, with various wires sticking out, such as her IV and the monitors. She also had a Nasal Cannula to help her breathe. Her body was weak and tired. 

Derek sighed as he looked up from his book to check up on her again, he was nervous. Dr. Bailey had told him she had a small brain bleed that Dr Nelson had taken care of. But did he do it right? Derek questioned. He was afraid that she wasn't going to be herself again after she woke up, but Dr Nelson was a good surgeon. He should have nothing to worry about. 

"She's not awake?" A familiar voice spoke, bringing him out of his daze. He just shook his head and looked over at her, his eyes glazed over with worry. It's been two days since she's been back. She still hasn't woken up. 

"Well, as doctors. We know that she's probably just recovering and she needs time," Cristina spoke, walking into the room. She was just as worried, but on the outside, she wasn't really showing it. 

Derek stayed silent, looking back over at Meredith, she looked sad. Her eyebrows were slightly furrowed, and her mouth formed a frown. It pained them to see her like that, their person lying there looking almost lifeless. Christina's pager went off, breaking the silence. She sighed as she looked at it and looked back over at Derek. 

"Let me know when she wakes up, okay?" She told him. She didn't want to leave, she wanted to wait for her to wake up. But work was calling, maybe it would help take her mind off of things. All Derek could do was nod in response. 

An hour passed, and Derek was woken up to his pager blaring. He groaned as he wiped his eyes and looked at it. It was the ER. Which was odd, because today was his day off. He got up and began to head out the door. He turned to face Meredith, a somber look on his face. 

"I'll be back okay?" He told her "I love you." He turned to leave, closing the door behind him. 

When Derek got to the ER, he glanced around looking for the culprit who dared to paged him. He sighed as he saw Callie and Bailey standing next to a few police officers. What were they there to tell him? Did they catch the kidnappers? He slowly approached them, their backs turned towards him. 

"What's going on?" Derek asked, they all turned around to face him. The police officers nodded toward Callie and Bailey. 

"Dr Shephard right?" One of them asked, reaching out to shake his hand. 

"Y-yeah," He stammered looking between the two men. 

"Let's go somewhere private to talk shall we?" 

"Yeah," Derek spoke, leading them into a private space. A conference room. Callie and Bailey stayed behind, their worried faces watching as the three disappeared. 

"I-Is this about Meredith?" He asked as they all sat down, each on a swivel chair. 

"Yes," One spoke, Derek read his name tag. It had said Officer Mauer on it. "We have come to inform you that the men who have abducted your wife have not been found." 

"Wh-what should I do, what can I do?" He stammered 

"Right now there isn't anything you can do, but for your safety and your wife's safety. We are offering an officer on-call to make sure this doesn't happen again." The other officer spoke, his name tag had Officer Grubb on his. 

"Well, of course!" Derek told him, his voice rose a little when he said it. He wasn't mad, but he had wanted something at least. 

"Great, we can start today," Officer Mauer spoke. "Officer Grubb will be up with the chief, then he will find you in a little bit." 

"Okay," Derek told them, reaching out a shaking their hands once again. Then it hit him, He was so naive. "May I see your badges? I-I need proof that You're not messing with me." 

"Well, of course!" Officer Grubb spoke, pulling out his wallet, and revealing his badge. Derek Touched it, feeling the cold metal against his fingertips. 

"Smart man," Officer Mauer spoke, doing the same as Grubb. Derek felt like it was legit, they both were decked out in police gear, and their badges checked out as well. 

"I love my wife," Derek spoke, looking between the officers. They seemed legit, he felt like they were. But he was still nervous. "I don't want anything else to happen to her again." He added, his voice was more firm. 

"We can assure you that we can protect her," Officer Mauer, told him. They both exchanged glances and began to walk out the door. 

Derek exhaled, sitting back down in the chair. Was this the right decision?