54. Bad Day Made Good

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The last time Meredith had slept for twelve hours straight was...maybe in college. So getting the chance to do it again was something she'd gladly welcome with open arms. After falling asleep with Derek while they were watching the movie in bed, neither of them had woken up until early the next morning. Derek woke to a gurgling, nauseous feeling in his stomach. And Meredith woke to the sound of him emptying the contents of it.

Charlie was still snuggled up at her feet, looking happy as a clam. He really didn't have a care in the world. Meredith kissed the top of his head before gently removing her body from the bed, careful not to disturb him. Meredith softly padded into the bathroom. Only the night light was on, so it was still fairly dim, but Meredith could still see him hunched over the toilet. She wasted no time in kneeling down next to him and rubbing his back. "It's okay," she soothed. "You're okay."

"Oh Mer," he sighed, flushing the toilet then running his hand over his eyes. The color had since drained from his face, and his eyes were heavy and tired.

Meredith stood up and got him a small glass of water to rinse his mouth. "Spit it into the toilet," she said after he'd swished the cold water around in his mouth. Derek laid his head down on her lap. She could feel his hot breath against her abdomen as he breathed in and out. "You could have woken me up," she whispered, cradling his body as she'd done the day before.

"You needed sleep," Derek said. His lips felt pasty and he had the chills. And right now, Meredith was the only thing that could comfort him. "You...go back to bed. I'm okay."

"The alarm is going to go off soon, anyway," Meredith reasoned. There's no way she could leave her husband on the bathroom floor. She felt his forehead, noticing the beads of sweat that knitted his brow. She really wished she could take off with him today, but doing so was next to impossible. "You're warm, Derek."

Derek sighed heavily into the fabric of her shirt. Even doing that had to have taken great effort. "I feel like crap."

"I know," she said softly. "After you get back into bed, I'll get you another pill. Then you can just sleep. You can't work today, so you just need to rest, okay?" Meredith didn't want to make it sound like he was helpless; she just knew that he needed to be taken care of. Just as he'd do for her.

"Okay," he conceded. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood for a debate, and Meredith was thankful. The last thing she wanted to do was pick a fight was her sick husband at five in the morning.

Meredith kneaded the muscles in his shoulders and neck, hoping to relieve some of the tension he held in his body. "How long have you been in here?"

"A half hour or so," Derek answered.

"Want to get in the shower? The warm water will help you," Meredith suggested, really hoping she didn't sound naggy. When he didn't answer, she tried again. Derek looked significantly better after his shower the day before, and if there was a chance she could get him feeling like that again, she'd just have to make it sound more appealing. "What if I showered with you...helped you. I wanted to get one before work anyway, so instead of wasting water, we could both get in..."

Derek licked his lips before speaking. "Okay," he nodded weakly.

With a little effort, Meredith managed to get them both back on their feet. She grabbed two towels and turned on the hot water spray. Their shower was large enough to fit them both with extra room to spare. She quickly pulled off her own clothes and tossed them in the hamper. Her body prickled with goose bumps as the cold air hit her her. Derek, too, managed to get himself undressed, then took her hand as they stepped into the shower, so neither would fall. The last thing they needed was a trip to the ER.

Meredith hugged him close, her breasts pressing against his chest. It normally would have been a turn-on, one that ended with Meredith's legs wrapped around his waist as they both came down from their mutual sex highs. Now though, it wasn't about sex. It was about caring and comfort. She knew the skin on skin contact always made them both feel better. As the water rained down on them, Meredith pressed her cheek against his.

She grabbed his shampoo off the rack and squirted some into her hands. She knew he was perfectly capable of taking care of himself, but something inside of her felt this need to care for him, so she did; Derek let her. As she lathered it through his curls, Derek managed a weak laugh. "I can do that, you know."

"I know," she nodded. "I want to."

"Okay."

Derek decided to return the favor, so he washed her hair too. Meredith had to smile. Sick or not, he always knew exactly how to touch her. They washed their bodies off; the sudsy soap pooled at their feet before it swirled down the drain. After getting dried off and dressed, Meredith made him get back under the covers. She would have done anything to join him under there, but any more dawdling and she'd surely be late for work. Meredith quickly put on a pair of jeans and a red shirt, then pulled her wet hair back into a ponytail.

"I'm going to go get you some toast with jelly. That should help your stomach. Do you want some more ginger ale? It's only five thirty, but..." Meredith asked quietly as she sat on the edge of the bed, running her fingers through his hair.

"Yeah. That's fine," he yawned. "Thank you."

Meredith kissed his forehead then exited their bedroom. Charlie had since woken up, eager to go outside and get something to eat. Within minutes, Meredith had gotten Derek's food, taken care of the dog, and was walking back upstairs.

"Here you go. I'll leave it on the nightstand. After you get something in your stomach, take your pill," she instructed, pulling the covers over him.

Derek found the nurturing, hovery side of her completely adorable. He really couldn't love his wife any more than he did. "Okay," he nodded. "I will."

"I'll call you at lunch. And if you need to call me for anything, you can," Meredith said, nervously biting her lip. "Are you sure you don't want me to call out sick with you?"

"No, go to work," Derek said encouragingly. "I'll be fine. I don't want you having to work three nights on-call in a row just so you can stay here. I'm fine, Mer."

Meredith pressed a lingering kiss to his forehead, wishing desperately that she could kiss him on the lips. But she didn't want to risk anything, for having them both home sick in bed wouldn't do anyone any good. "I should be home around six," she whispered. "Just watch TV or sleep or something. Rest so you can feel better. I love you."

Derek wrapped his arms around her and she did the same. It was these small moments of intimacy that they both cherished. "I love you too."

--

Meredith arrived at work with only a few minutes to spare before rounds. All of her friends watched as she frantically changed into her scrubs and ran her fingers through her damp head of barely brushed waves. It wasn't until she was pulling it back into a ponytail that she noticed her friends eyeing her curiously. "What?" she asked, clipping her ID badge to her coat pocket.

"Why do you look all skittish and weird?" Izzie asked, sipping on tea in her pink mug.

"I do not," Meredith argued. "Derek is sick, so I was just busy this morning, rushing around making sure he was okay before I left..."

Cristina rolled her eyes and sighed. "He still has a tummy ache?"

"He has the stomach flu. And a fever. And was throwing up at five this morning. Don't mess with me today," Meredith reprimanded. She realized she hadn't had time to make a pot of coffee this morning and sighed. Without coffee, she was no good at doing her doctoring. "Damn. Coffee," she groaned.

"Bailey's gonna be here any second," Alex said.

Meredith dropped down on the bench and ran her hands over her face. No coffee, no make-up, no time to run a brush through her hair. She could already tell this was going to be a challenging day. "You're not sick, are you?" George asked, concerned.

"No, I'm not. Just tired," she breathed. When Bailey entered the room, they all sat up straight, ready to hear whatever news Bailey needed to give them.

"It appears that there's a stomach flu going around...I'm guessing that's how Shepherd caught it. So I need one of you to volunteer yourselves over in the clinic to treat incoming flu patients--and bring your interns with you. I can't...choose which of you gets to go, so fight if out amongst yourselves. Hunt needs someone down in the pit, Torres needs someone for an ankle allograft, I need someone covering Shepherd's post-ops from this week, and one of you has to go up to peds. for a leukemia case on a nine year old boy. I'm not assigning who does what. I trust you to make the decisions on your own. You're third year residents. You need to start thinking about a speciality in the next few months. Think of this as an exercise in delegation," Bailey said with a nod. She gave them a small smile than turned to walk out of the lounge.

"I call Shepherd's post-ops," Cristina announced, raising her hand high.

Meredith looked to her curiously. "You realize that there's really no "op" involved with post-ops, right?"

"Well, I don't want to spend my day in the pit, the clinic, ortho, or with little kids. So yeah..." she shrugged.

"I know the most about Derek's patients, so I think I should take that," Meredith argued. "He wanted me to call him and update him, too."

"I'm taking the peds. case," Izzie announced, briskly running out of the lounge before any of the others could rebut.

Alex sighed. "Well, I'm not getting stuck in the clinic all day, so I'm taking the ortho case," he said.

"Fine, then I'll take the pit," George announced. He grabbed his coffee and his coat and walked out the door. "See you later!"

"Don't make me fight you for post-ops," Cristina said dryly. "That would make us both look pathetic."

Meredith put on her sad face. "Please, Cris? I've experienced enough stomach flu for one week. I need a change from what I'm going home to tonight..." Cristina remained stone faced. Apparently, she was immune to Meredith's pleading. "Fine. Why don't you send Lexie over to the clinic? She's capable of being over there by herself."

"I could..." Cristina said, rolling the idea over in her mind. "But then what do I do?"

Meredith shrugged. "Troll for surgeries? I'm sure Mark has something..."

"Right. Like I want to help him give someone a boob job," she scoffed. "Fine. I'll go over to the clinic. Maybe I'll get lucky and someone will have flesh eating bacteria or something..."

Meredith shook her head at her friend's warped sense of thrills. But at least she won Cristina over and got to work on Derek's post-ops. "That's the spirit," she smirked.

"You owe me!" Cristina called out as the two exited the lounge and walked down opposite sides of the hall.

"Yep..." Meredith called back.

--

As she was making her rounds through her post-op patients, Meredith finally found a minute to head down to the coffee cart for some much needed caffeine. It was nearly ten o'clock before she had the chance, which had to be a new record for her. She paid for the extra large cup, filled the black liquid with the correct amount of cream and sugar, then made her way back up to the surgical floor.

So far, all of Derek's post-op patients were doing well. Dr. Levinson was on hand in case an emergency arose, and Meredith found herself rather bored. She tucked herself behind the nurses' station with a handful of charts to update, hoping none of her interns would come looking for her. She didn't need the extra annoyances today. She jumped a little when Cristina let her charts smack against the top of the counter. "Damn it, are you trying to give me a heart attack?" Meredith gasped, holding her hand against her chest.

Cristina shrugged. "At least I'd get to scrub in on your surgery if you did..."

"Nothing exciting happening?" Meredith surmised, signing her name to one of the charts before depositing it back on the cart.

"No. Not even a broken bone. I have Lexiepedia over there now giving flu shots and cleaning up vomit. How about you?"

Meredith looked up at her friend. "Nothing. Well, charting. Besides that, slow day."

"Yeah," Cristina sighed. They both would prefer OR action, but it seemed Seattle Grace was staying tame today. "So...Joe's tonight?"

"I would, but Derek still isn't feeling well. I wanted to get home after my shift," Meredith said apologetically.

Cristina was silent for a few moments before she opened her mouth to say something. "What?" Meredith asked when she said nothing.

"Seriously? You know what, nothing. Whatever. I have to go." Cristina dismissed. She grabbed her stack of charts and walked towards the elevator without another word.

Meredith rolled her pen between her fingers. Was Cristina really annoyed with her? The last thing she needed was to fight with her best friend. She sighed heavily and tucked her pen back into her pocket. That would have to wait to be dealt with later. Just as she stood up and was walking toward the elevator to head down to the cafeteria, her pager blared.

911. Mr. Malloy. Rm 2850

Meredith recalled from her rounds this morning that Mr. Malloy was post-op from an aneurysm removal two days before. He was an older man, but seemed to be doing well when she checked on him a few hours ago. She rattled off possible reasons for the 911 page as she ran towards his room. Another clot? A stroke? Torn stitches?

The code team was already underway when she entered the room. Mr. Malloy's heart was flat lining despite the paddles sending shock waves through his heart. "Charge to 360," Meredith ordered, taking over the paddles.

No luck.

"Charge again," Meredith said.

Still, no change.

"Starting compressions," she announced, handing off the paddles before pumping on the patient's heart with her hands. Derek liked this guy. She couldn't let him die on her watch. "Damn it," Meredith sighed. Five minutes later, his heart hadn't begun to beat on it's own. She brushed some hair off her face, then bit her lip. Calling a time of death was always hard, no matter what the circumstances were. "Time of death: 12:17 PM."

Meredith left the room solemnly. It was wrong to blame herself, she knew. But the feeling that she could have done something to prevent it was always in the back of her mind. "Can you please page Dr. Levinson and let him know that Mr. Malloy, the post-op from 2850, passed away a few minutes ago? I suspect it was a stroke."

"Certainly," the nurse nodded, putting the phone to her ear and contacting the neuro fellow.

She walked toward the elevator, wishing she could be home with Derek. Being snuggled up with him was a much better alternative than calling time of death and dealing with her friend who was quite possibly pissed off at her. Alex joined her as she waited for the elevator doors to open. "Hey," he smiled.

"Oh. Hey," Meredith sighed.

"You okay?"

Meredith managed a weak smile. "Oh. Yeah. It's just...Derek's post-op patient just died. And now I have to call him and tell him. Plus I think Cris is mad at me for wanting to go home and take care of my sick husband than go to Joe's with her," she rambled, effectively rolling her problems off onto her friend.

"Crappy day," Alex stated as a fact. Meredith really liked that about Alex. He didn't sugarcoat things, but he always knew how to sympathize with her.

"Yep," Meredith nodded. "You going to lunch?"

Alex pushed the button for the second floor after they stepped onto the elevator. "Yeah. Iz wants my opinion on wedding flowers. Wanna come join in on the torture?"

Meredith laughed. "Yeah, that actually sounds good."

The two spent the next half hour discussing possible flower arrangements for the wedding Alex and Izzie were planning. Meredith knew this would be way more of a production than her and Derek's wedding, which consisted of under twenty guests, a simple white dress, and small ceremony out on their land. This upcoming wedding wasn't scheduled for months, but Izzie wanted everything to be perfect, right down to the butter arrangements. And as the maid of honor, Meredith was being roped into everything. She didn't mind though; Izzie had been a tremendous help in her wedding, and Meredith was happy to return the favor.

George got pulled into a surgery, which explained his absence at lunch. But when clinic-bound Cristina didn't show, Meredith wondered if she had maybe gotten busy, which she doubted, or if she just wanted to avoid talking to her. Towards the end of her lunch break, Meredith found an empty hallway and called her husband.

"Hey," he said when he answered. "How are you doing?"

"I'm okay. How are you doing? Do you still feel sick?" she asked.

Derek sighed into the phone. "A little."

"Did you get sick again?"

"Yeah, I did," Derek admitted. "But I'm fine. Just a little nauseous. I don't think I have a fever anymore," Derek said. He definitely sounded better than he had this morning, but his voice still sounded weak.

Meredith chewed nervously on her lip. She really hated that he was at home while she was here, but that was part of being a surgeon. "So um...Mr. Malloy? Your post-op patient...we think he a stroke."

"I know," Derek said quickly. "Dr. Levinson called to let me know. He told me you were the one to call time of death. Mer, don't feel guilty. That's a common complication."

Meredith sighed. "I know."

"You sound sad. Everything okay?" he asked, the concern evident in his voice.

She had to give him credit; he always knew what kind of day she was having by simply her tone of voice or the look on her face. "Yeah, it's just...Cris is pissed at me, probably because I didn't want to go to Joe's with her tonight."

"You can go to Joe's with her, Mer," Derek said encouragingly. "I'm fine here."

"I know, but I want to come home. I like taking care of you," Meredith said with a shrug. "I mean, I know I haven't been hanging out with her as much since we've been married, but she has to know that you come first, right?"

Derek thought it over for a moment before he spoke. "I think...maybe she's just having a tough time with it. Before we got back together, you two were with each other all the time. Maybe she's just feeling left out..." he said, running his hand over Charlie's fur, who was sitting in his lap.

"Maybe," Meredith agreed, rubbing a scuff mark off the floor with her shoe. "I'll talk to her."

"Okay," he whispered. "Love you."

Meredith smiled softly. "I love you too. Bye."

"Bye."

--

At the end of her shift, Meredith was changing back into her clothes, more than happy to be going home. Charting and pronouncing someone dead and worrying about what was going on with your best friend didn't make for the best day. And the lack of Derek hadn't helped either. Cristina dropped down onto the bench next to her and set her books and pens down on her cubby shelf.

"Hey," Meredith said softly.

Cristina kicked off her shoes, not bothering to look over at her friend to acknowledge her presence. "Hey," she said shortly.

"So I was thinking...we could go to Joe's this weekend? Izzie, George, Alex--we could make a night of it," Meredith suggested, extending the olive branch.

"Whatever. If you're busy don't worry about it," she replied. "Wouldn't want to impose..."

The sarcasm dripping from her voice made Meredith's heart thud faster in her chest. Rather than skirt the issue, she decided to face it head on. "Okay, you're mad at me. I'm sorry I can't hang out tonight. You know I would if Derek wasn't at home hunched over the toilet."

"Since when? Since when would you choose a night with me over a night with him?" she challenged.

Annoyed had quickly escalated into angry, and Cristina's comment stung her all over. "I..."

"Exactly," Cristina nodded, pulling off her scrub top. "You don't."

"I know you two aren't each others' biggest fans, but he does like you. He didn't marry me to get revenge on you. You're my best friend and he's my husband. I love him. I took vows to him. And when he needs me, I need you to be okay with it. And I really don't think I should have to apologize for that," Meredith said, her voice louder than she intended. But she knew that it had to be said.

Cristina turned back towards her cubby and pulled her jeans from inside. She finished changing her clothes without another word. Meredith started shifting things around in her own cubby just to drown out the overwhelming silence in the room.

"Whatever. I'll see you tomorrow." She grabbed her coat and scarf, then walked out of the lounge without saying anything more.

Meredith leaned against her cubby and closed her eyes. Her day had gone from okay to bad to worse in a matter of a few hours. The only thing keeping her from breaking down was Derek. Going home, getting under the covers, and letting him hold her always made things better. And she was determined to make it happen.

--

The house was quiet when she got home, at least the downstairs. Meredith wondered if Derek had been downstairs at all today. Charlie had a doggy door to let himself in and out, so she doubted anyone had been down here since she left the house over twelve hours ago. She set her bag down and kicked off her shoes before putting the soup she'd bought on the way home on the kitchen counter, then jogged up the steps to check on Derek.

"Hey you," she said with a soft smile, leaning over to kiss his forehead. Nothing more than a low grade fever now. "You look better."

"I had some saltines and ginger ale. Bland and tasteless, but at least I'm not as nauseous anymore," he said. Derek gently pulled her down onto the bed next to him and wrapped his arm around her. "How are you?"

Meredith groaned. "Let's just say I should have stayed home with you today..."

"That bad?" he asked rubbing her back with his fingers.

"Well, if you keep doing that, it'll help," she giggled, melting into him even more. Not even five minutes had passed and her day had already improved. She really loved her husband.

Derek kissed her temple and continued his massage. "What did she say?"

"That I choose you over her all the time," Meredith frowned. "I don't, do I?"

"No, you don't," Derek said, shaking his head.

Meredith felt Charlie transfer laps from his to hers and she smiled. "Hey, buddy."

"What did you say?" he asked.

"That you're my husband, and I shouldn't have to apologize for wanting to be with you," Meredith replied, scratching the dog behind his ears. "I know we'll get over it, but I...fighting with her sucks..." she sighed.

"Just give her time. I'm sure that by tomorrow, she'll be fine," Derek assured her. He kissed the crown of her head and she closed her eyes, taking in his proximity, letting herself unwind. "I know you feel bad, but you shouldn't. You're right. You know it and she knows it."

Meredith just nodded into his shoulder. He always had a way of seeing the silver lining. "Okay," she whispered.

"You hungry?"

Meredith counted back in her mind the last time she'd eaten. Over six hours ago. "Yeah," she breathed. "I stopped off and got soup...chicken noodle. When you got it for me when I was sick, it helped, so I thought it would help you too," she rambled adorably.

Derek smiled; they were never far from each others' minds. "Thank you," he said softly. "You didn't have to do that."

"Why wouldn't I? I love you," Meredith whispered. She took his hand an squeezed it. His hands were always so warm. "I'll get it and bring it up here."

"No, I can go down. It's okay," he said graciously as he pulled the covers off of himself.

She quickly replaced them and kissed his forehead as she got out of the bed. "No, I want to. All I could think about today was getting back into bed with you. Stay put; I'll be right back."

Meredith clicked the bedroom door shut behind her and went downstairs to get their food. Eating in bed with her husband was more enjoyable than any night out. Sure, when they occasionally went out to dinner, it was always romantic and fun, but they weren't ones for getting dressed up. Spending an evening curled up under the covers with a bowl of popcorn was one of their favorite pastimes. And on crappy days like today, Derek, Charlie, and their bed were the only things she wanted.

The tray Meredith held contained more ginger ale, which Derek had been drinking for two days along with water, crackers, two bowls of soup, and bread with butter. For someone who previously couldn't boil water, she was slowly becoming a better cook, thanks to Derek, whom she'd been watching make dinner for months. No longer were there cold pizza dinners or left over grilled cheeses; it wasn't gourmet, but she knew how to make the occasional hamburgers or pastas. Meredith always left the fancy meals for Derek. They were more his forte.

"Here we go," she said, setting it down in between their sides of the bed. "I'm going to get changed." Meredith stripped down nude right in the middle of their bedroom then pulled some comfy sweats from both her and Derek's drawers. She had no qualms about letting Derek see her in all of her naked glory. And she knew that if anything, he'd prefer if she walked around naked all the time. She found him watching with a smirk as she pulled her panties up her legs. "I really don't mean for this to be a turn on..." Meredith giggled. "No sex until you feel better."

"What if I told you I was one hundred percent fine and that we could have sex right now," he asked with a grin before eating a spoonful of his soup.

Meredith rolled her eyes, giving him one last peek of her breasts, then pulled on one of her long sleeved tees. "I'd say you were full of crap. And the answer is no."

"What about tomorrow?" he proceeded.

"If you're feeling better. And by better, I mean actually better. Not fake better," Meredith said definitively. She hopped one leg at a time into a pair of Derek's sweatpants, then crawled back into bed with him. "Are you going to work tomorrow?"

Derek shrugged. "My fever is pretty much gone. And I really don't feel that nauseous. I guess I'll see in the morning."

"Okay," Meredith nodded. She raised a spoonful of soup to her mouth, letting the flavor dance along her tastebuds. Chicken noodle had definitely been the right choice.

"Sorry you had a bad day," Derek whispered against her temple before kissing her there. The familiar feeling of his stubble on her skin made her smile.

Meredith let out a breath. "It's okay. It wasn't all bad. I got to help Iz with wedding stuff which...was fun. She's planning this big church thing with a poufy white dress and making me and Cris wear some shade of pink with frilly lace whatevers."

"When is this happening?" he asked.

"Next fall...ish," Meredith shrugged. "It's only November, so she has time to plan it."

"Fall, huh?" he asked, smiling. "You and I might be busy making babies still..." Each day that passed was a day closer to when they were going to start trying for a baby. The prospect of starting a family was overwhelming, but thrilled them at the same time.

Meredith mirrored his smile with one of her own. "Babies."

"It could take a few months, but trying'll be fun," Derek said, the smallest of naughty glints in his eyes. "Every morning when we wake up, at work, at home...orgasm-pallooza..."

She laughed. He could always make her laugh after a tough day. That was one of the things she loved most about him. "You make it sound so romantic."

"It'll be romantic. We can set out a blanket in the backyard on a warm night...wine, candles, sex. Personally, I can't wait," Derek grinned, pulling her closer to him.

"Hmm...me either," Meredith sighed contentedly. "We just need to be extra careful about condoms for the next few months. Bailey told us we need to start thinking about specialties. In January, they start scheduling us more in the field we pick. Having to take on extra shifts in neuro along with my normal schedule is going to be crazy enough. Adding a pregnancy to the mix is going to put me over the edge," she giggled.

Derek turned his head and looked to her curiously. "You want to be a neurosurgeon?"

"Yeah," Meredith nodded. "I mean, I like general too. But neuro has always been my favorite." She noticed the smile on his face and couldn't help but smile back at him. "What?"

"Nothing it's just--I'm thrilled. I wasn't sure what you were going to choose because you're good at everything. But I'm just really happy you chose neuro." Derek couldn't help himself. He wrapped his arms around her and hugged her close. Choosing a speciality was a major milestone for a surgeon, and he was ecstatic that Meredith had found her surgical passion. "Love you," he whispered, kissing her jaw line.

"I love you too," Meredith echoed, running her fingertips down his back. "So I guess this means I'll get to work with that charming, handsome neurosurgeon more often, huh?"

Derek pulled back from from their embrace a little and smirked at his wife. "He's a world class surgeon, you know..."

"Is he?" she asked coyly as she played with the curls at the nape of his neck. "Well I can't wait to work with him."

"He can't wait to work with you either," he grinned.

After a day like today, a night in bed with Derek was all she really needed for it to end on a good note.

I'm still slowly banking updates. So sorry for the wait between chapters, but I really hope you guys are still enjoying the story. Reviews make my day! :)