Little Shepherd

Chapter 10

Derek watches through the glass of the scrub room as the nurses prepare Katie for surgery. When he's finishing scrubbing in he closes his eyes, taking a deep breath as he runs over the surgery in his mind again. He's ready. He enters the O.R. taking his place at the head of the table, waiting for them to be ready to start. His senior resident standing ready by his side. He glances at Meredith, giving her a little nod as she joins them in the O.R.

"Alright people. Its a beautiful night to save lives. Let's have some fun." He says with a smile. The operating table is surrounded. The nurses, the O.R. tech, the residents, with Derek at the head of it all. Meredith skirts around the outside trying to get a good view. Derek goes to work, his eyes consantly moving from the microscope, to the monitors and screens and back. He stays on alert, skilled and calm. He works through a two headed microscope, his senior resident watching him work through the second lense.

One of the monitors begin to flash. Derek stops, looking up at it. The room bursts into anxious action as they recover. The monitor returns to normal and Derek continues. He glances up as he works, noticing Meredith hanging back watching. He casually motions for his senior resident to step back before waving her in, inviting her to look through the microscope. She joins him at the head of the table taking her first look. They look up, they're eyes meeting. He can see the gratefulness, the excitement, the curiosity glowing in her eyes. He bows his head, getting back to work, glad to have her at his side. Soon its time to close. He did it. Most of the other surgeons including Meredith file out of the room with nothing to watch now. He steps back, letting out a sigh of relief when he's finished closing. He takes a deep breath and heads back to the scrub room. He can't wait to update Katie's parents.

When he heads out of the O.R. wing he see's Meredith standing there.

"That was amazing," she says, "you practice on cadavers, you observe and you think you know what its actually going to be like when youre standing at the table but that...it was such a high. I don't know why anyone does drugs."

"Yeah..." He says quietly, knowing exaxtly how shes feeling. They eye each other, a heat rising between them in the silence. But then Derek speaks. "Well...i should go...do this." He says holding up Katies chart. "See you around?" He asks.

"Yeah. See you around," Meredith replies before he turns and walks away. He hurries to find Katie's parents in the waiting room, eager to tell them the good news. They stand hand in hand at the sight of him, desperate for information.

"Doctor...how is she?" Katies mother asks.

"The surgery went well. We were able to stop the bleeding. She'll be just fine. She's resting in post op, you'll be able to see her soon" he tells them with a proud smile.

"Oh god...thank you. Thank you" Mrs. Bryce hugs him. Derek chuckles. He shakes Mr. Bryce's hand and directs them to a nurse that will bring them to see their daughter. He looks at his watch. Its late, his poor Josie. He returns Katies chart to the nurses station and makes his way back to the daycare.

"Doctor Shepherd." The teacher says with a smile as he walks in. "She fell asleep" she says in a whisper. She walks him over to the corner of the room. Josie's curled up on a beanbag chair sound asleep with a book laying beside her.

"Thank you" he says with a smile. He squats down beside Josie. Lovingly brushing a stray strand of her rosie red hair from her face. He caresses her cheek before lifting her into his arms.

"Hm?" She mumbles sleeply.

"Shh it's okay love, we're going home." He says quietly as he kisses the side of her head.

"Daddy," she whispers, wrapping her little arms around his neck before falling right back to sleep. He snuggles her closer, draping his jacket over her as they head to the car. He's grateful the drive is short, he's exhausted. He carries her inside, laying her in bed. He slips off her shoes and tucks her in, kissing her forehead.

"Daddy?" She asks half asleep.

"Yeah baby?" He replies, running his thumb along her arm.

"Will you stay?" She asks sweetly. He nods, kicking off his shoes. He shuts off the light and climbs into her tiny twin bed beside her. Her pink night light illuminates half the room. He wraps his arms around her and she snuggles into him, resting her head against his chest. He kisses her forehead again.

"I love you daddy" she manages to whisper out before she's sound asleep again.

"I love you more little bear," he replies before he too falls sound asleep.