From now on |1/2|

17

"Someone needs to prep Meredith's wheelchair. I need her to scrub in!" Derek said as they were in surgery

"You, go!" Link pointed at a random resident that wasn't of much use in this surgery if Meredith wouldn't join them

What they didn't know was that it's Murphy who left together with a nurse as the entire hospital was busy because of an accident

Meanwhile Meredith was already scrubbing in and waiting for her chair.

"What did you do?" The nurse frowned as Murphy wanted to move it and instead of using the handles she pushed on the backrest, only for them to hear a crack

"I don't know! The backrest made that sound." Murphy shrugged. The two then hurried to move the chair to the other OR and made it sterile again

"You can transfer, Dr Grey." The nurse said, her and Murphy scrubbing in again

"Shit- my backrest broke." Meredith transferred and heard a loud crack, feeling her back fall back. "Get my regular chair ready!" She ordered, fighting the tears that were welling up. In all these years she never had these kind of issues but it made her feel very vulnerable

"Of course." The nurse nodded and started. "It's ready." She said and Meredith realized she couldn't push her wheelchair. Her other one had motorized controls so she didn't need to touch something with her sterile gloves

"Someone push me to the table, please." She ordered sternly, not wanting to treat anyone badly but she was so close to crying

Murphy rolled her eyes and pushed her up to
The operating table, Derek started to frown

"What's wrong?" He asked her, Murphy abandoning Meredith at the table, really not well positioned and her brakes unlocked.

"Can you?" She pointed at her brakes. Derek nodded and used his elbows to help her get closer and locked her brakes. He knew she was way too low from this position. Luckily her chest strap was on

He noticed her eyes getting wet but she fought through. She leaned forward, the chest strap catching her as she tried to start

...

Meredith and Derek were scrubbing out. They were done with the surgery, Link was already paged for another surgery

"What happened to your backrest? It broke off." Derek frowned. "But I think I can fix it."

"Don't know. I think I did when I transfered." Meredith shrugged. "Let's go inform his family." Meredith said but felt an almost unbearable pain in her back. It had started during the surgery, she wouldn't wanna admit it but she felt some stabbings above her injury line

"Are you okay? Do you need to lay down? I can tell them on my own." Derek offered

"Maybe." Meredith nodded, her breathing starting to get louder

"Okay okay." Derek nodded and quickly wheeled her into an on-call room. He lifted her onto the bed and kissed her head. "I'll be back soon." He promised.

Derek quickly informed the family while Meredith was laying down. She felt her back uncomfortable but had no idea how to reposition herself with out making the pain worse

"Mer, hey." Derek walked inside. "Is it that bad?" He asked, seeing how she was biting her lip

"Hmm.." She nodded her head. "Can you try to put a pillow behind my back, please?"

Derek nodded and wanted to roll her over when she winced in pain. "Mer.. This isn't normal." He muttered sadly

"I never should have operated like that. But I couldn't admit that I'm a bad surgeon."

"You are not a bad surgeon." Derek said sternly. "Any other general surgeon would have needed him to undergo a transplant. But you're a wonderful surgeon. But you saved him." Derek kissed her neck. "I'll page Amy. I want her to check you out." Derek said. He had learned over the years to not be Meredith's doctor. It was better if they waited like any other patient would

"I wanna take a nap first.. Maybe it will all be better." She muttered

"Are you sure? Is the pain bearable?" Derek asked her, worried as he noticed she's not even moving an inch

"I wanna try." Meredith nodded sternly and closed her eyes

Derek kept stroking her hair in a try to calm her down but quickly noticed she wasn't really asleep. He noticed her breathing remained too loud and too labored.

"Mer.. Can I now finally page Amy?" Derek worried

Flashback

"Derek-" Meredith groaned. She was recovering from 2nd spinal surgery in less than a year

"Shh, I'm here. I'm here." Derek nodded and kissed her head. "Are you okay?" He asked her

"I feel as if someone butchered my spine." She tried to joke but chuckling made her wince. "I can't laugh."

"You should have learned from the last time. No laughing. Yet." He winked, trying to keep her spirits up

"Yet.." Meredith nodded, still pretty out of it because of all the meds

"Your surgeon said you're doing an amazing job so far. You've been sitting up for more than 10 minutes yesterday." Derek brushed some hairs out of her face

"Of course. I'm an expert in sitting." She harshly joked

"Hey. Positive thoughts only. When you're out of here I'm taking you to our favorite restaurant, we'll ride the ferry for hours. We'll only do things we like." Derek tried easing her

"How long till I can fly again?" She asked him

"Probably at least three months." Derek rubbed her arm

"Maybe we should plan a trip to Seattle once I'm back on track." Meredith suggested

"Sounds like a good idea. But maybe I have even better news." Derek smiled softly at her. "Mom and dad arrive at the airport this afternoon. I'll go pick them up and they are staying for a bit. But you're in charge. Mom will probably suggest staying until you're doing better but you're the one deciding yes or no." Derek said

"I think I'd like to have them close. But I don't want them to have to help me every five minutes." Meredith said, but her parents' visit would hopefully cheer her up and help Derek who was now spending all his time around her, she was scared he'd lose himself

"Sounds perfect then." Derek kissed her again

Is everyone still enjoying this story? Not too much murphy or something?