章節 100: 100. 48 Uninterrupted Hours
AN: Welcome to chapter One Hundred!
A little more than five weeks had passed since Meredith's first shift as a full-fledged resident, and it was only now that felt able to work a few less hours a week and leave her interns to fend for themselves more. The little bit of extra sleep she was getting was nice, not to mention it was incredibly nice to have dinner with her husband more than once a week.
She had been on call the night before, but had actually gotten a few solid hours of sleep. She was scheduled to be off at four that evening, and didn't have to be back for the entire weekend. It was the first time since returning from her two week vacation that she had more than one day off at a time.
And the best part was that Derek's schedule was the same. They had decided to forgo their – as of yet unsuccessful – house hunting for the weekend and head out to the trailer for some privacy. She just had to get through the next eight hours.
Rounds were over, her patients were stable and her interns were all assigned for the day. She wasn't scheduled to be in surgery for an hour, so she had taken the opportunity to head downstairs to the coffee cart.
Her coffee was still too hot to drink, but there was nothing to stop her from inhaling the steam wafting though the lid. The halls were quiet as she meandered back to the elevators, and when the elevator doors opened, the elevator was empty. She stepped on and pressed the button for the surgical floor, inhaling the steam from her coffee cup again. Just eight more hours until she had an entire weekend off with her husband.
Just eight more hours.
She couldn't wait.
The elevator doors began to close, but a hand shoved between them at the last moment, and they opened.
Meredith looked up and smiled as her husband joined her. "Morning."
"Morning," he echoed, his hands finding her hips as he leaned in to kiss her. "How was your night?"
"Better than expected. I actually got a few hours of sleep."
He smiled. "Good." His lips found her neck.
"You're in an awfully good mood this morning," she commented.
He chuckled, his breath warm against the sensitive skin in the crook of her neck. "Let's go away this weekend."
"We are going away this weekend," she pointed out.
He moved away quickly, leaving her momentarily confused. And then his palm found the emergency stop button. A heartbeat later, she was back in his arms, her back pressed up against the wall. "The trailer doesn't count. Let's go somewhere else."
"Like where?"
"Wine country."
"Wine country?"
"Mmm, yes," he murmured into the crook of her neck.
She grasped onto his arm with her free hand and struggled to keep her coffee upright as he pressed into her. "Are we wine country type of people?"
His breath was hot against her neck as he chuckled. "We like wine. We like being in the country. It just makes sense."
Meredith giggled. "What's wrong with a bottle of wine at the trailer?"
"It's not the same."
"Wasn't the theme for this weekend that we had forty-eight uninterrupted hours together?"
"Forty-eight uninterrupted hours," he agreed.
She buried the fingers of her free hand in his hair. "I'm not seeing the point in driving all that way just to spend the weekend in bed..."
He pulled his lips from her neck so that he could meet her eyes. His were shining with the level of enthusiasm she had seen a year before, when he had spent so much of his time trying to convince her to go out with him.
She knew he wasn't about to relent now. Not that she wanted him to.
"It's romantic," he insisted.
"That is true," she agreed, pretending to be thinking about the idea. In truth, she had been sold on the idea of a weekend away with her husband the moment he had mentioned it. "The trailer isn't all that romantic."
"Exactly." He pecked her lips. "And we wouldn't have to cook. Well, I wouldn't have to cook. You never cook anyway."
She mock glared at him. "That's not very nice. You being mean to me doesn't exactly fill me with willingness to spend my weekend off with you."
"It's our weekend off," he corrected. "And it's a special weekend. We could even call it a honeymoon."
Meredith couldn't suppress her smile any longer. "I thought we had our honeymoon?"
Derek shook his head. "That didn't count. We weren't married until the end of the trip."
"You know, Derek Shepherd, you're giving me very high expectations of what a husband should be like. I'm going to start expecting things like this in the future."
He smirked. "It's okay. Your husband can handle it. He's always up for a challenge."
She giggled.
"So," he prompted, "Are you in?"
"Oh, I'm in."
With seven hours to go, Meredith found herself a few minutes early for her surgery so she was taking her time scrubbing in. After extracting herself from her husband, and their elevator, she had checked her patients, ensured her interns weren't killing anyone, and even had time left over to briefly research her upcoming surgery.
She would be assisting the Chief and Bailey in a tumour resection. It wasn't particularly noteworthy, save for the fact that it was wrapped around the hepatic artery; hence the need for Webber and Bailey. With two surgeons already on the case, Meredith didn't expect to assist so much as watch. On another day this may have frustrated her, but today she had something to look forward to.
Derek had promised to take care of all of the details, saying her wanted to surprise her. His smile had been so eager and his eyes so bright that she hadn't been able to do more than shrug and tell him she trusted him to make the weekend unforgettable.
The door behind her opened, and Meredith turned her head. "Dr. Webber," she greeted.
"Dr. Grey," he nodded stiffly. "Have you heard from Dr. Bailey this morning?"
Meredith frowned at his offhand tone. His personality had been different since she had gotten back from vacation. She assumed it was due to the still present conflict between himself and Bailey following his decision to overlook her for Chief Resident.
"I haven't heard from her."
He nodded as he focused on scrubbing in.
"Everything okay, Chief?"
"She's not answering her page," he responded, referring to Bailey.
"Do you want me to go find her?"
Before he could answer, the opened, and Bailey appeared.
"We were getting worried," Webber said, his tone suddenly lighter. "We were going to send out a search party," he attempted to joke.
Bailey's expression didn't change. "I was with a patient. And I'm still two minutes early."
The Chief turned his attention back to his hands.
Meredith felt her brow furrow. His demeanour had lightened with Bailey's appearance, and not the other way around. That meant it was something else.
With a sigh, she rinsed her hands and then headed into the OR to prepare for the surgery.
Six hours to go.
Meredith had never felt so uninterested in surgery before. Webber and Bailey were working together on the patient in complete silence. She was mad at him and he was mad at...something. And nether were paying any attention to Meredith, who had given up trying to get a clear view – or any view – on the procedure. The incision was small and the space very limited. And neither of her superiors – who were supposed to be teaching her – seemed willing to so much as let her have a peek, let alone perform any of the procedure. Her gloves were still clean and dry.
"There's a-" The Chief began, only to be cut off by a, "I got it," from Bailey, the first verbal conversation in over thirty minutes. Meredith didn't know what it had been about, and no one offered to explain.
She sighed, allowing her mind to drift to the coming weekend. She had been so busy in the last six weeks that had she not known she had the weekend off and that it started tomorrow, she wouldn't have been able to tell anyone what day of the week it was. As it was, she wouldn't be able to provide the date if she were to be asked.
Derek had been amazingly patient, probably because he had gone through this as well and knew there was nothing she could do. But still, she could tell he was as frustrated as she was. It wasn't easy to juggle three interns while attempting to learn as much as she could; especially when she was stuck in a boring surgery with two unwilling teachers.
Now that her interns were becoming more independent, her time at the hospital was finally decreasing. Most importantly, that meant she could commit to more intense house hunting. The inability to commit to a time, or even a day, to see a house, apartment or condo meant they could get in to see very few. And even though she had pushed him to go without her, Derek had refused.
We're looking for ourhome, he had insisted, How can I do that without you?
Her heart had melted. And they had decided to look into hiring a realtor after they got back from their weekend.
Five hours to go.
Meredith was daydreaming. She had never let her mind actively daydream in surgery before, but there was a first time for everything. Webber and Bailey hadn't moved. They were still bent over the patient, working silently. Eleven words had been exchanged in the past hour. Meredith knew because she had counted. She had given up even trying to look interested after she had asked a question, only to receive a grunt and a half nod as a reply from her Chief of Surgery.
She rocked back and forth from her heels to her toes, trying to wake up her numbing legs. Normally, when she was in the OR, she wasn't aware of her body. She was focused and interested in the surgery. Now, however, she was simply standing in a silent, boring room.
The movement helped, so she stretched her spine upwards and then flexed her shoulders.
She caught the gaze of the anaesthesiologist. He offered her a sympathetic smile.
She smiled back through her mask.
He went back to his magazine.
Meredith sighed. The surgery was only expected to be three hours, so at least she was two thirds of the way through.
She flexed her unnecessarily gloved fingers. Then she flexed her neck.
Her head bobbed to a silent tune for a few moments.
She sighed again, feeling as if she could leave the room and no one would notice. It was tempting. She'd never bring herself to do it, but she definitely wanted to.
Suddenly feeling as though she were being watched, she looked up to the gallery, meeting familiar blue eyes.
Derek offered her a warm smile from his perch on one of the gallery chairs. He held an unopened chart in his hands, so he must have just shown up.
She smiled back, knowing he couldn't really make it out under her mask, but would recognize the intent.
As if he had been aware of her movements through the surgery, the Chief's gaze shot up as soon as hers did. "Grey," he barked, "Go and update the patient's family. The procedure's going to take an extra hour at least."
"Of course, Chief," she said quickly, rushing out of the OR.
Four hours to go.
Cristina and Izzie were at the Nurses' Station, updating charts as Meredith passed on her way back from updating the patient's family. The update had been long. She had struggled to answer their questions, because despite their worry over the extended timeframe, Meredith didn't know the reason for the delay. With Webber and Bailey silent and unwilling throughout the two hours she had spent in surgery with them, Meredith had no idea how the surgery was progressing.
"Aren't you supposed to be in surgery?" Cristina questioned as Meredith collapsed onto a free chair.
"I'm trying to waste as much time as possible before I have to be back in there. I didn't know surgery could be boring. But I was wrong. Very, very wrong."
"Tumour resection?" Izzie asked.
Meredith nodded. "Only Bailey and Webber aren't talking to each other. And neither of them will talk to me. Or let me close enough to see. I literally stood there for two hours doing absolutely nothing. It's like time doesn't exist."
"Bailey's still pissed that the Chief made Callie Chief Resident," Cristina said. "I'd be pissed too."
"She's hurt," Izzie added. "She's always done so much extra for this hospital. She deserved the job more."
"I get why they're not really talking, and why she's not happy, but what's up with the Chief?"
Izzie shrugged. "He hasn't been any different."
Cristina nodded her agreement.
"How can you say that? He's been all short and snippy since we became residents."
"Maybe it's just the stress of new interns and we just didn't notice last year because we were the interns?" Izzie offered.
Meredith sighed. "I don't know. But I do know I have to get back in there before they notice I'm still gone." She stood and said a quick goodbye to her friends before making the trudge back to the OR.
Once she had rescrubbed, Meredith walked into the OR and announced that she had updated the family. She stressed that they had had many questions, in an effort to excuse her absence for so long. Neither looked up.
The scrub nurse offered her gloves, but Meredith shook her head. Clearly she wasn't going to need them.
She glanced up at the gallery, but there was no more Derek.
She was alone in her boredom once again.
Three hours to go.
The procedure was finally over. Four words had announced its completion.
The Chief had said to Bailey, "Can you close?"
Bailey had said to the Chief, "Yes."
Meredith had released a breath of relief.
Dr. Webber removed his gown and gloves as he strode past her and disappeared back into the scrub room.
"Do you need any help, Dr. Bailey?" Meredith offered.
"I got it, Grey." She responded. "Can you check on my post ops? Mrs. Gutterman first. Her blood pressure dropped overnight."
"Of course." Meredith turned for the scrub room to scrub out.
The Chief was at the far sink.
Uncertain to his attitude, Meredith chose the first sink and scrubbed out quickly. Seeing as she had not touched the patient, it was really more of a formality. She had dried her hands by the time the Chief finished at the sink. It wasn't until he had paper towel in his hands and she was reaching to unclasp the chain from around her neck that he spoke.
"Good work today, Grey," he offered, although his tone portrayed that the statement was automatic.
"Uh, thank you," she responded unevenly. Cleary she hadn't done good work because she hadn't done any work at all. The chain came loose and she pulled her wedding band free, before refastening the chain with her engagement ring still on it. Although she had been hesitant to wear her engagement ring on her finger in the hospital, she found she liked wearing her wedding band when she wasn't expecting to be in surgery.
"Your mother would be proud of you," Richard said as she was slipping the band back onto her ring finger.
"For...?" She trailed off.
He glanced down at her hand and then back up to her eyes.
"For getting married?" She chortled. "You and I both know she wouldn't be proud of me for this, Chief. She'd be disappointed. She'd probably say something like I'm giving up my future and I'll never amount to anything."
"Your mother wasn't a bad person."
"I know," she said honestly, "She just wasn't a good mother. She was always a surgeon first. Personal lives were just...distractions."
"And you don't feel that way?"
"I know it's easier to be alone than to be with someone, but it's better to be with someone than to be alone."
Richard regarded her for a long moment. "I assume he told you that I offered him Chief."
Meredith nodded. Derek had told her he had been offered the position, but had turned it down. He had decided he didn't want to do it anymore. He liked his life the way it was. "I haven't told anyone, if that's what you're worried about. Everyone else thinks you just decided to stay before a decision was reached by the board."
"I know you wouldn't tell anyone," he responded.
Meredith hesitated, uncertain how to respond. Webber was clearly unhappy about something.
"He told me he didn't want to job because he wanted a full life outside the hospital."
Meredith nodded. Derek had told her the rationale behind his decision, and as much as she wanted to believe he could have both, she knew how hard it would be to balance. She wondered suddenly if the Chief's attitude was a result of his strained relationship with his wife. Derek had mentioned Richard had been fighting to get Adele to take him back.
"I just didn't realize..." Richard continued, but trailed off quickly. He stared at Meredith for a long moment, as if he wanted to say something, but wasn't sure if he should. In the end, he shrugged and left the room with the reason of, "I have patients to check on."
Meredith frowned as she left the room moments after him. Something was definitely going on, but she didn't have time to dwell on it. She had to round on Bailey's patients, check on her interns and update her charts so that she could leave on time for her weekend away.
Two hours to go.
Meredith would almost certainly be able to get out of work on time. She had gathered her interns to round on Bailey's patients, so as to kill two birds with one stone. All of Bailey's patients had been stable, save for Mrs. Gutterman, the patient Bailey had been concerned for. Meredith had made some minor adjustments on the woman's medication that should help. The only other thing she had left was to update her charts.
She was so confident in her anticipated shift end that she was actually taking a few minutes to get something to eat. She had grabbed breakfast from the coffee cart early that morning before rounds, but had missed the opportunity to get anything for lunch.
After purchasing a sandwich and a bottle of water, Meredith planned to head to the Residents' Lounge to update her charts, but she spotted her husband sitting alone across the cafeteria, his head bent over his own charts, and she couldn't help but walk towards him.
"Hey," she greeted, running her hand across his shoulders as she crossed behind him to sit on his far side.
He looked up, smiling happily at her. "Hey," he echoed, eying her food. "Don't spoil your appetite. There's a restaurant near where we'll be staying that's known for its steaks."
She shrugged. "I'm freaking starving. I haven't eaten since five. But don't worry; I will be ready for dinner. Especially for a steak."
He smirked. "Sometimes I forget how much you can eat..."
She glared at him. "For that, I'm not going to offer you half of my sandwich."
"How about a bite?"
She continued to glare at him as she lifted one half of the sandwich to her mouth and took a bite, not making any move to offer him any.
Derek chuckled, and snaked a hand across the table to pick up the other half. He took exactly one bite and then put it back.
Meredith giggled.
"How's your day been, other than the fact that you're starving?"
"Boring," she responded. "Most boring surgery ever."
He nodded. "I noticed. Why wouldn't they let you do anything?"
She shrugged. "The Chief's being weird and Bailey is still mad at him."
"I noticed the Chief's being weird too."
"Do you know what's up? Is it Adele?"
"Could be. Who knows? He's not talking to me."
"Maybe it's Burke and Addison leaving?" She suggested. "He still hasn't found replacements."
Derek shrugged. "Must be stressful for him."
"Was he upset when you turned down the job?" She asked quietly. As a resident, it wasn't something she should know about. But as Derek's wife, it was something she had to know.
He offered her a soft smile and a shake of his head. "No. He seemed relieved it anything. I don't think he ever wanted to retire in the first place. Why? Did he say something to you?"
"He just mentioned that he knew that I knew. I told him I wouldn't tell anyone, and he said he knew that, too."
"And then?"
"And then he left." She made a face. "Like I said; he's being weird."
"Well, just think of it this way, in a couple hours we'll be away from this place, and won't have to deal with anything all weekend."
She smiled. "I can't wait."
He narrowed his eyes at her for a long moment.
Meredith cocked her head. "What?"
He opened his mouth, as if he were going to say something, but then his lips closed and he shook his head.
"What?" She repeated.
He smiled. "You really have no idea, do you?"
"No idea about what?"
He chuckled. "A question that answers my question."
Meredith glared at him. "You're being crazy today too."
"No, I'm being normal."
"And I'm being crazy?" She extrapolated, still glaring.
"I didn't say that."
"But you implied it."
"I didn't," he insisted. "You've just been working a crazy amount of hours and you're exhausted. It's not unreasonable that you've overlooked something."
"Derek. Seriously. What the hell are we talking about?"
He leaned in to kiss her cheek. "I'll tell you at midnight if you haven't figured it out by then."
"Tell me now," she demanded.
He shook his head.
"Tell me," she repeated, "Or I'm not going anywhere with you this weekend."
"Oh, you'll come with me."
"And why is that?"
He raised an eyebrow. "Forty-eight uninterrupted hours."
Meredith laughed. "I guess I can't say no to that."
One hour to go.
"Page Dr. Bailey," Meredith instructed to the nurse as she pulled her stethoscope off her neck and used it to listen to the patient's heartbeat. After having a brief lunch with Derek, Meredith had checked on Bailey's patient, Mrs. Gutterman, who hadn't responded as well as she would have liked to the medication adjustments. Meredith had contacted Bailey, who was in surgery, to have her approve another medication. She had then retrieved all the charts she needed to update and had taken them to Mrs. Gutterman's room, so she could monitor and update.
It was as if the older woman had waited for Meredith to finish her charts before giving up on reaching any level of stability. The moment the last chart had been snapped shut, Mrs. Gutterman's heart rate had decreased dramatically. Meredith had leapt up to assess.
The patient was responding to stimuli, but wasn't completely lucid. Something was very wrong.
Closing her eyes, Meredith listened directly to the heartbeat through the stethoscope. "Damnit," she muttered to herself. She could hear a murmur that hadn't been there an hour ago.
Turning to the supply cart, Meredith extracted a syringe and then drew blood from the patient.
The nurse came back in. "Dr. Bailey's in surgery. OR 2. She said to call down."
Meredith nodded, reaching for the phone and typing in the extension to OR 2. "Can you get these to the lab?" She asked, handing the nurse the vial of blood. "CBC and Chem-7. Top priority."
"Of course."
The phone rang only once, before a scrub nurse picked up, and quickly held the phone to Bailey's ear. Meredith updated Bailey on her patient's condition.
"We're going to need to go back in," Bailey responded. "I have another fifty to sixty minutes in here. Get her for a scan so I have an idea of what I'm going to run into. I'll book the OR. Get her down here if she gets too unstable."
"Of course, Dr. Bailey." She ended the call, and then called down to book the scan.
4PM. The end of Meredith's (scheduled) shift.
"I got your page," Derek announced as he entered the imaging booth.
Meredith looked up from the chair beside the CT technician. The patient was unstable, but not yet critical. She was now in the CT, and the tech was making some adjustments. It would be another minute or two before any images appeared. She stood and met Derek in the doorway.
"I'm sorry," she offered. Once she had known she would not be able to leave on time, she had paged her husband to let him know.
He waved off her apology. "This can hardly be considered your fault."
"Bailey's still in surgery. I'll be at least another hour. More if it's surgical, which is most-"
"Oh, it's surgical," the tech announced.
Meredith turned back to the screen and sighed. It was definitely surgical. "Perforation."
Derek nodded his agreement.
"Derek, this could take hours."
"It's okay."
"We can reschedule our weekend. I can see if I can trade with someone; this weekend for next weekend," she offered.
"You're not working this weekend."
"But-"
"We'll still have our weekend."
"What makes this weekend so special?"
"Apparently, it's a surprise."
She didn't have a chance to respond. The tech announced he was going to get the patient out of the CT. Meredith reached for the phone to call up to the OR and announce she was bringing the patient straight there.
"We still have to go home and pack," she told Derek as she hung up the phone. "The only clothes I have with me are what I wore in yesterday morning."
"Forty-eight uninterrupted hours means you don't need clothes..."
She laughed.
He leaned in to kiss her cheek as she passed him in the doorway, heading to help the tech transfer the patient to a gurney. "I'll go home and pack. We can leave right from here when you're finished."
"Are you sure?"
"Absolutely. I'm really looking forward to this weekend."
"Okay."
He smiled. "Page me when you're out of surgery."
7:30PM. Three and a half hours after Meredith was schedule to leave.
"Good work in there, Grey," Bailey commented as she joined Meredith at the sink to scrub out.
"Thank you. Do you think she's going to make it?"
"I hope so."
"Me too."
"If she does it will be your actions that saved her. Another half hour and we would have been too late."
Meredith was taken aback by the compliment. "Thank you," she repeated.
"Are you on call tonight?"
"Uh, no. I was here last night," Meredith responded, holding her breath.
"What time are you scheduled off?"
"Four."
Bailey cracked a smile. "I'll have someone else monitor her post op."
"Thank you," Meredith said again. Bailey had always made her stay when she was an intern, regardless of her actual schedule.
"How are you handling your interns?"
"Oh, it's...okay," she stammered, before shrugging. "Okay, it's exhausting, but I think it's getting better now. You definitely made it look easier than it is."
Bailey surprised Meredith by smiling again. "If your interns put me through half of what the five of you put me through, I'll be happy. And that goes for all five of you."
Meredith laughed. "We didn't mean to cause you grief. Really."
"Well, you did, Grey. Every single day."
"I'm sorry," she offered as she finished scrubbing out and reached for some paper towel to dry her hands.
"Now you're sorry. And trust me, as the year progresses, and your interns start pushing your boundaries, you'll be even sorrier."
Meredith laughed again as she tossed her paper towel into the garbage and reached behind her neck to unclasp her chain in order to extract her wedding ring. "You're not going to accept my apology, are you?"
"I'm going to wait until you mean it more."
Meredith slid her ring onto her finger and then re-clasped the chain around her neck. "Give me another month, and I'm sure I'll mean it more by then."
"I'll expect it."
With permission to leave the hospital, Meredith moved to leave the scrub room, but Bailey stopped her.
"Grey?"
"Yes, Dr. Bailey?" She paused, hand on the door, afraid it was all a joke and Bailey was going to tell her she had to stay. But her former resident surprised her.
"I don't think I've said it yet, but congratulations. After everything you went through at the last few months, it's nice to see you happy again."
"It's nice to be happy again," she said truthfully.
8PM. Four hours late leaving the hospital.
"Are you sure you're okay to drive?" Meredith asked. It was already starting to get dark and they had a long way to go. Derek had already been patient enough to wait for her to have a quick shower and get changed before leaving.
"I'll be fine. And you're exhausted."
"But it's my fault we're leaving so late. We would be there by now if we'd left on time."
"It wasn't your fault," he insisted. "You have a patient."
"You're being awfully perfect today," she commented as he navigated out of the hospital parking lot to the main road that would take them to the highway.
He beamed. "Just today?"
She laughed. "Yes. Most of the time you're remarkably unperfect."
He rolled his eyes, but he was still smiling. "You deserve something special, Meredith."
She reached for his hand. "I have you."
"You most definitely do."
"But why is this weekend so important?"
"You haven't figured it out yet?"
"No. It's just a weekend."
He chuckled. "It's not just a weekend. It's a special weekend."
"Why?"
"I'll tell you at midnight."
"I hate you."
"You love me."
She shrugged. "Unfortunately."
Derek laughed. "Unfortunately for you, maybe, but fortunately for me."
"Fortunately for me, too," she relented. She turned her head and smile at his profile as he concentrated on the road in front of them. "Bailey said nice things to me today. She congratulated me on getting married. And said it was nice to see me happy again."
He squeezed her hand. "It is nice to see you happy again."
"I don't think I've ever been this happy," she admitted. "I mean there's still so much crap to deal with, but overall, I'm happy. And I don't want to crap to get in the way of that."
"We'll deal with the crap together now."
"I love you," she told him softly, unable to not tell him in that moment.
He glanced her direction quickly, a smile on his lips. "I love you too."
Meredith leaned back against the seat. "I'm looking forward to this weekend, even if it's starting a little later than planned."
"Me too."
"Good. How far away are we going?"
"About three hours."
"Are you sure you want to drive the whole way?"
"Yes, dear," he placated.
She giggled.
He laughed. "Mer, you look exhausted. I'd be afraid to be in the car with you driving right now," he joked.
"I am exhausted."
"Close your eyes and get some sleep."
"I don't want to make you drive and leave you with no one to talk to."
He squeezed her hand. "Sleep," he repeated. "It'll give you energy for tonight..."
She giggled. "So, what you're saying is, you'd rather drive in silence now and have sex later, than have company now and no sex later?"
"Yes, that's exactly what I'm saying."
She laughed, and he joined her. "What am I going to do with you?"
"Anything you want."
"How can you make anything dirty?"
"It's a gift," he deadpanned.
"A dirty gift."
He chuckled. "Go to sleep, Meredith."
"Okay. And Derek? Thank you."
He dropped her hand to pat her thigh. "You make me just as happy, Mer."
She closed her eyes, and fell to sleep with a smile on her lips.
10:30PM.
Meredith groaned as she began to be aware of her surroundings. She was still in the car, but it wasn't moving. And she could hear Derek talking softly beside her.
Blinking sleepily, she glanced to her left. Derek was talking on his cell phone. He offered her a soft smile.
Rolling her head to the right, she took in their surroundings. They were parked in a gravel parking lot, along with about seven other cars and a few trucks. Neon lights announced a diner, but the lights naming of the diner had burnt out, and Meredith couldn't make out the letters in the dark.
Beside her, Derek said goodbye to whomever he was talking to and hung up his phone. She rolled her head back to face him. "Where are we?"
"About forty minutes away. I didn't mean to wake you. I just wanted to call and let them know we're still coming."
"Good idea." She yawned. "Wouldn't want to drive all that way and have them give away our room."
He chuckled. "No, we wouldn't. Do you feel any better?"
"I think I will one I've woken up more."
"You can go back to sleep," he offered, as he reached to re-start the ignition, only to be cut off by a growl coming from her stomach, "Or we can get something to eat."
Meredith laughed at the timing. "I wouldn't be as hungry if you hadn't stolen half of my sandwich at lunch," She joked. "I can hold out. You had plans or whatever."
"It'll be too late to go to the restaurant tonight. We'll have to order something when we get there or pick something up on the way."
"I'm good with getting something here if you are."
"Okay." Instead of starting the ignition, Derek pulled the keys out and opened his door. She followed suit.
The diner was very stereotypical. Wooden tables and chairs. Character written all over the walls. A single, older waitress. And a posted sign boasting an all day breakfast.
"I had hoped to take you somewhere a little more..." Derek began as they chose a table in the corner but trailed off when he couldn't come up with the right word.
Meredith shrugged. "I think this is great. How often can you get pancakes for dinner?"
He smiled at her in the way that screamed to her that he found her special. Her heart tugged at the expression. "Excellent point. Especially when you combine the pancakes with sausage, bacon, eggs, hashbrowns, toast, fruit and syrup," he added, reading one of the meals from the menu.
She giggled. "Does that mean you're giving up on the health kick this weekend?"
He smirked. "I make allowances for special occasions."
11:57PM.
Meredith stretched before joining Derek at the trunk of the car to gather their bags. She had managed to stay awake for the final leg of their drive, following a surprisingly good meal. A little too good of a meal, apparently, as her stomach was still screaming at her.
"Uggghh," she moaned.
Derek chuckled. "I told you not to get the extra pancakes."
"But they were so good."
He shook his head as he passed her the duffle he had packed for her.
She took it with a, "Thank you."
He retrieved his own bag and then shut the trunk.
"Am I going to be happy with what you packed for me?" She bantered as they began to walk through the parking lot to the front lobby of the hotel.
"Mmm, very happy," he bantered back, reaching for her hand. "It's filled with sexy underwear, shampoo and a toothbrush."
She giggled. "Forty-eight uninterrupted hours, huh?"
"Yes. Clothes would just get in the way."
Laughing at his antics, Meredith looked up. It was a remarkably clear night for Washington. Not a single cloud that she could see. Just stars. "It's a nice night."
"It is. Very nice."
They were almost to the lobby doors when Derek's phone beeped. He stopped suddenly and tugged on her hand.
She sent him a questioning look as he pulled her close and slipped the duffel strap off her shoulder. He placed it on the ground next to his.
"What are you doing?"
He smiled, but said nothing, as he pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and held it up. She caught sight of a timer, counting down. Five. Four. Three.
"Derek, what's going-"
He kissed her, cutting her off. She kissed him back, pressing into him when his hands snaked around her waist. Her fingers found his hair on their own volition. And it wasn't until they were both panting that they pulled away.
"What was that for?" She asked, breathless.
He smiled tenderly at her. "Happy Birthday, Meredith."
She blinked. "It's not my birthday."
"It is. It's after midnight."
"That doesn't matter. My birthday is next week."
"No, it's this week."
"No, it's not."
"Yes, it is."
"No, my birthday is the sixteenth."
"Today is the sixteenth."
"No. The sixteenth is next week."
He chuckled and passed her his phone. "It's the sixteenth today," he repeated.
Meredith took his phone. August 16, it read. "That's not right." She shoved it back into his hands and pulled her own phone from her purse. August 16. "But... It's my birthday?"
Derek looped his arms around her and pressed his lips to her forehead. "So, you didn't forget your birthday, you just lost track of the date..."
"Shut up," she mumbled, pressing her face into his chest.
He chuckled.
"Why didn't you say something sooner?"
"I wanted to surprise you. You didn't tell me about your birthday last year, so I didn't get to do anything."
"How long have you been planning this?"
He shrugged nonchalantly. "I may have pulled some strings to get us both off for the whole weekend."
"Derek..."
He kissed her softly. "You deserve something special."
Meredith blinked back a sudden stinging feeling behind her eyes. She would not cry over this. "You're really kicking the crap out of my carrot cupcakes, huh?" She joked, referring to the cupcake she had special ordered for his birthday early in the year.
"Like I said, I wanted to do something special, for my wife, who I love and who has been working very hard lately and deserves some pampering."
Meredith sniffed. And then a single tear escaped from her right eyes. "Derek..."
He brushed his thumb against her cheek, removing the moisture. "This wasn't supposed to make you cry."
She grasped her hand around the collar of his shirt and pressed her forehead to his chin, overwhelmed.
"Meredith," he murmured, running his hands along her spine.
"No one's ever done anything like this before," she whispered. "Birthdays were always just a day."
"Not anymore." He shifted to kiss her forehead. "Happy Birthday, Meredith."
"Thank you."
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