Nothing to Do But Wait
a Grey's Anatomy story
by chaos&creation
“Ahh–ahhh – ugh,” Derek sighed, rubbing his index finger vigorously under his nose. “Fuck this.”
He pulled himself off the floor, rolled up his sleeves, and ran a hand through his hair. The on-call room was about to be flooded with interns, and he didn't want any of them to see him like this – least of all Meredith. He didn't want her to think that he couldn't handle the pressure that was steadily building up at Seattle Grace, what with the decision he had to make, the whispers that were hard not to hear and the strange cases that had been popping up lately.
Derek was used to stress. What he wasn't used to was not knowing what to do. What he was doing now, though, clearly wasn't helping. He'd stayed up late the other night, pacing up and down behind the trailer, trying to find a logical solution, and for the past two nights he'd been on call, with surgery after emergency surgery, piled up like pancakes.
Breakfast. That seemed like a good idea. Or at least some coffee. Filled with purpose, Derek pushed off against the wall and strode out of the on-call room and into the hallway, pumping right into Addison.
“Derek!” the redhead exclaimed.
“Ah– *ahem* Addison,” he replied. “ 'Morning.” With that, he walked away, puzzled at the new pain in his throat. This wasn't usually the reaction he had to his estranged wife. Normally, he felt a mixture of tension and anger, with a hint of lust. He shook his head to clear away the feeling. Coffee was definitely in order.
“Have you seen Burke.” This was not a question, but Meredith didn't mind. Her best friend's early-morning bluntness was kind of refreshing.
“Not yet. Why?”
Christina slammed her locker shut with a frustrated look. “No reason. I'm not sex-deprived.”
“Well neither am I.”
“Good.”
“Good.”
Derek's head felt like a watermelon. A very large watermelon full of watermelon shit. The coffee had only burned his throat more, and he thought he heard his heart pounding in his nose. He wished he could hook himself up to an IV and pump some epinephrine into his system, or take enough morphine to get a few decent hours' sleep. Why the surgical floor didn't have any cold medicine was beyond him.
As he made his way down the hall, Derek was aware of a cluster of nurses behind him, whispering like his basilar membrane was malfunctioning. I heard he doesn't want either of them; he's just stringing them along. No no, he's just not sure which one he hates less. If Derek weren't so completely exhausted, he might have turned around and snidely asked for their advice, but, though the thought crossed his mind, he wasn't sure his throat could stand it.
As if on cue, a sharp pain ran through Derek's chest and up to his burning throat. He looked up and down the hallway; there were people everywhere. Meredith and Christina were directly in front of him. To his right, Alex was flirting up a mousy scrub nurse. George and Izzie were sitting on the floor, laughing about something, and the hens behind him had changed the subject to which of Preston's scrub caps was best.
Suddenly, Derek was aware of a certain small supply closet a few meters away. He walked brusquely toward it, trying to look like that was where he'd been going all along, and ducked inside. Shutting the door, he exploded into series of harsh, wet coughs. Mouth closed and face in the crook of his arm, Derek felt a little awkward, even though he was totally alone.
As the fit subsided, Derek's energy dropped even lower than it had been before. He shivered; sniffled; sank down to the floor; pulled in his legs, and rested his head in his hands. Rubbing his eyes, he wondered what he was doing with his career; his love life; his whole stupid existence.
“Stevens – you're with Doctor Montgomery-Shepherd. Karev, O'Malley – sutures. Yang – Doctor Burke wants you for something. Grey – find something to do until someone pages you; all your patients are stable. Go!”
Rounds were over and everything was quiet. Meredith looked through a few files; ate half of an energy bar; considered sleeping and decided against it. Someone would want something soon, and she was going to be ready.
It occurred to her that she wasn't very useful when it came to fetching. The dog would do a better job when it came to getting medical supplies from the closet. Meredith decided to brush up, and headed for the little closet in the middle of the floor.
When Meredith found Derek, he was fast asleep. He was curled up in a ball on the floor, his face hidden, snoring slightly. Poor guy, she thought, and, since his pager wasn't beeping, let him rest as she sifted through the containers on the shelves.
Glancing over at the sleeping attending, she couldn't help but hope he'd choose her over his errant wife. So what if Meredith was a screwed-up intern; at least she hadn't cheated on him. She might not be totally sure of her feelings, but at least she wasn't a creepy gyno bitch. And even if she was still kind of mad about the whole not-telling-her-he-had-a-wife thing, she seriously wanted him back in her bed.
Derek wheezed a little as he snored. He was like a little puppy, and Meredith wanted so much to be near him for a while, even if he didn't know it. She crouched down next to him, and saw soft tremors running through his body. The poor bastard was shivering. Meredith stood and, with surprising speed, located an unused set of scrubs. She unfolded the top and bent to cover Derek's sleeping body. As she did so, he suddenly drew in a sharp breath and sneezed, spraying Meredith's legs with a fine mist. ASHHEW!! ISHOO! ATCHOO!! AH-ISHOO!! Heh – ah – ATCHEOO!!!
After a solid minute of sneezing, Derek's eyelids fluttered open. As his vision slowly came into focus, he was aware of a thin blonde with an unopened tissue box in her hand and a worried look on her face.
“Beredith – ” he started, then stopped. It was almost as hard to breathe as it was to speak.
Meredith tore open the box and pulled out a wad of tissues. Propping Derek's head on her lap, she held a few to his nose. “Blow,” she instructed. He only looked at her. There was a tinge of hurt pride in his watery blue eyes.
“Look,” Meredith said. “It's not like you have much choice. Do it before your head explodes.” Derek did it. “Thank you. Now let's see if you can sit up.” She lifted his upper body into a sitting position. He balanced for moment, then fell back, hit by a tsunami of dizziness.
She felt his cheek and shook her head. “Seriously Derek. How did you get this way?” He tried to shrug; failed. She ran her fingers through his wonderful hair. He was so beautiful, so helpless. She wanted to scream at him, HOW CAN YOU BE SO STUPID? SHE'LL NEVER TAKE CARE OF YOU! I'M THE ONE YOU NEED!! But she couldn't. All she could do now was stroke his head and wait.
Inspired by pnkelephante's Week #188 Bunny:
Dr Derrick (sic.) Sheppard comes down with a cold, but still continues his work in the hospital. Set around the time when his wife was there and him and Meredith are not quite together but is implied (season two).