68. Blood Drive

Disclaimer: Not mine.

Happy 2010, everyone! :)

It was blood drive day at Seattle Grace. A day when all the doctors rolled up their sleeves and braved the needle in an effort to save lives in more ways than just in the OR. And like all good doctors, Meredith and her friends stood in line, waiting to be blood-sucked. Mostly for the free cookies and juice, along with the required half hour of resting before returning to work. But still, saving lives was a good cause.

"I don't like needles..." George said, rocking back and forth on his heels as he surveyed the crowded clinic.

Meredith smiled sympathetically at her friend. "It only hurts for a second, then you won't even feel it," she downplayed. "I'll hold your hand."

George looked to her and cocked his head. "I'm not five," he reminded her. "But yeah, that'd be good."

"Pretty big turnout this year," Izzie commented, leaning against the wall.

"They better not run out of cookies," Alex said as he glanced at his watch. "This is taking forever..."

Cristina discreetly pulled Meredith aside to talk. "Mer, are you sure you want to donate? I mean, aren't you and Derek still on 'Project: Baby,'" she asked.

"I'm not pregnant," Meredith assured her. "And my doctor said it's safe to give blood while trying to conceive."

"Just making sure," Cristina nodded. "How's that going, by the way?"

Meredith looked to her friend strangely. It was unlike Cristina to ask personal questions, especially ones that involved her and Derek's sex life. "Good," she shrugged. "We've only been trying for a few weeks, but it's been fun."

"Ten orgasms a day sounds like fun to me," Cristina pointed out.

"Last night, I had three in a row. Three orgasms during a single round of sex. I swear, Derek has a magic p--" Meredith said before she was interrupted by a voice.

"Cristina Yang," one of the Red Cross nurses called out into the group of people waiting.

Cristina sighed audibly. "Never thought I'd say this, but saved by the nurse. Which is good, because I really didn't want to hear the end of that sentence," she joked, following the woman to one of the newly unoccupied gurneys.

Meredith just smiled and crossed her arms over her chest. "You're the one that asked," she called out.

"Of course she would get called first," Izzie said, annoyed.

"Maybe they go by blood type," George said. "She's A-positive. So I guess she'd go first."

"I'm AB. Is that after B? Or in between A and B?" Meredith asked as she checked her watch.

"I'm O. Which means I could be in here all day," Alex groaned, rubbing his eyes with the backs of his wrists.

Izzie rolled her eyes at him. "You're in the pit today. If I were you, I'd want to spend the whole day in here."

"Alex Karev," another nurse called, reading his name off her clipboard.

"Sweet," Alex sighed in relief as he pulled off his white coat and handed it to Izzie. "Are you coming with me?"

Izzie smiled at her fiancé. "You're such a baby," she said. "Come on."

"Hey," Lexie greeted, barely able to catch her breath as she finally made it to the clinic a half hour late. "Did they call me yet?"

Meredith shook her head and yawned. "Nope. It's like watching paint dry in here," she said. "Where were you?"

"Hunt's surgery ran long," Lexie explained. "Oh! Mer, what do you and Derek want for your anniversary? It's in two weeks and I have no idea what to get you."

"You guys don't have to get us anything. We're thinking about having a barbecue that weekend though--Friday, the tenth. Derek and I never had everybody over for an official house warming party or whatever. So if you could come to that, that would be great," Meredith said with a smile.

"You don't want...dip, or anything?" George asked.

Meredith giggled. "No, you don't need to make dip, George. Just come and have a good time."

"Okay then," Lexie smiled. "Looking forward to it."

"George O'Malley," another nurse requested from her place at the nurses' station.

George heaved out a sigh and groaned. "Oh God..."

"I'm coming back with you, George," Meredith insisted. "Wanna come? He could use the moral support," she told Lexie.

"Yeah. Sure," Lexie shrugged.

As the three began to follow the nurse to one of the curtains, Bailey entered the clinic doors and called them out. "You three," she said, halting their footsteps. They turned around and waited for whatever it was she had to say. "I need one of you over in the pit. Car accident coming in."

"I'm about to give blood, so..." George explained.

"And we were gonna go with him," Lexie said.

"You two stay, I'll go," Meredith offered.

Bailey nodded. "Alright, Meredith, come with me."

"Okay." Meredith patted George's shoulder and smiled. "Good luck, George."

"Thanks," George replied as he and Lexie continued making their way to where the nurse was waiting.

Meredith quickly caught up with Bailey and the two walked into the ER. "Did you give blood yet?" Bailey asked, helping Meredith tie her trauma gown.

Meredith shook her head. "No, not yet. It's okay; I'll just go back later on."

"Thank you for volunteering yourself, by the way," Bailey said.

"It's fine, I don't mind," she shrugged. Truthfully, she would have rather gotten the blood draw over with so she didn't have to go back and wait in line all over again, but she could be a team player.

The sirens of the ambulance pulling to the bay snapped them both into doctor mode, ready to take charge. Meredith and Bailey immediately ran over to it as it approached, waiting for the doors to open. An EMT flung the back of the ambulance open and started rattling off stats. At first glance, the woman on the stretcher didn't seem in need of emergent care, but when Meredith noticed her pregnant belly, she changed her mind. Pregnant women were always of the utmost importance in the ER.

"Allison Freemont, age thirty, twenty weeks pregnant, laceration and bruising on her forehead and a possible broken foot," the paramedic explained, wheeling the woman into the ER alongside her husband who was holding onto her hand.

"I'm fine," Allison insisted. "Just check on the baby. Please check on the baby," she said firmly, holding her hand protectively over her belly.

"We're going to check on your baby," Meredith assured her. "Sir, are you hurt?" she asked the woman's husband.

"No, I'm fine. Her side took the impact. They're gonna be okay, right?"

Meredith smiled sympathetically. "Mr. Freemont--"

"Kevin."

"Kevin," she amended. "We're going to take care of them, I promise."

"Trauma one," Bailey directed them. "Make sure you get an ultrasound. And page Shepherd to check for anything neural. Torres is around here somewhere; have her check her foot," she told Meredith.

"Okay," Meredith nodded. She turned back to the couple and kept on her assuring smile. "We're going to take you in here," she said, wheeling them into the first trauma room. "Can you page Dr. Shepherd?" Meredith asked one of the nurses standing by.

"I'm right here," Derek said, entering the room. "Hi, Dr. Shepherd," he greeted the two of them. "Mind if I take a look at your forehead after we take a look at your baby?"

Allison nodded. "That's fine," she said, sighing in relief when she noticed Meredith setting up the ultrasound machine. "We were actually on our way to the hospital. Imagine that," she shook her head. "Today's the day we find out if it's a boy or a girl."

Derek reclined the exam table flat so Meredith could do the ultrasound, smiling quickly at his wife. "Oh, that's exciting," he grinned.

"Would you like me to tell you, or do you want me to page your OB upstairs?" Meredith asked as she squeezed some of the blue gel onto the woman's abdomen.

"You can tell us," Allison nodded quickly. "Just--the baby's okay, right? We just want to make sure it's healthy."

Meredith turned on the monitor and ran the probe over her belly in search of a heartbeat. The woosh-woosh sound filled the room after a few seconds, putting them all at ease. "Heartbeat is strong," she smiled as she looked at her watch. "About a hundred twenty five beats bet minute, which is where it should be."

Both Allison and Kevin breathed a collective sigh of relief. "Good," she whispered, looking over at her husband, who kissed the top of her hand.

"Do you want me to tell you the sex?" Meredith asked again for confirmation.

"Please, yeah," Kevin nodded.

Meredith moved the probe a little to the right in search of the body part in question. "Definitely a boy," she said with a smile. "Congratulations."

"A boy?" Allison asked, her eyes glossing over with tears. "Kev, it's a boy," she whispered happily to her husband.

Kevin wiped a tear from her face and kissed her cheek. "Wow," he said in amazement. "That's his...?"

Meredith giggled a little, freezing the image on the screen and pointing to the referred part. "Yep, right here."

"And he's okay?" Allison asked, unable to take her eyes off her son's picture on the monitor.

"He's perfect," Meredith smiled. "Your OB upstairs will give you a lot of pictures, but would you like some now?"

"If you wouldn't mind, yeah," Allison nodded excitedly.

"Okay. While Dr. Shepherd checks out your forehead, I'll print these for you," Meredith said, wiping the gel off Allison's belly.

Derek stepped in and raised the table to a sitting position afterward and Kevin noticed the name on his coat. "You're both Dr. Shepherds. Is that some freaky coincidence or...?"

Derek laughed. "Nope, she's my wife," he admitted proudly as he examined Allison for possible brain injuries, checking her pupils and palpating her skull. "Okay, everything checks out. After you get stitched up and the orthopedic surgeon takes a look at your foot, I'd like to do an MRI just as a precaution, but from what I can tell, everything is fine, okay?" he explained.

"And so is your son," Meredith chimed in, handing them a strip of the crystal clear, 3-d images.

"Thank you," Allison said softly as she examined every detail of the ultrasound pictures. "It's incredible, you know. Seeing your baby from the inside. It's something you just never get tired of," she said, tracing her finger over the photo.

"I can't even imagine," Meredith smiled.

"No kids for you two yet?" Kevin asked them.

Derek scribbled his name on the chart and shook his head. "We're working on it," he said simply, winking over at his wife on the other side of the exam table.

"Well, that part is fun too," Allison pointed out.

Meredith laughed. "Yep, it is."

--

"So I told Lexie and George about the barbecue. Which means the whole hospital probably knows by now, especially if Izzie got wind of it," Meredith said when Derek met up with her in the lunch line in the cafeteria. "By the way, how were Allison's films?"

"Checked out clear," Derek nodded, grabbing a turkey sandwich and a bottle of water from the assortment of food and dropping it onto the tray next to Meredith's tuna salad and iced tea.

Meredith smiled in relief. "Good."

"You didn't give blood yet, right?" Derek asked as he paid for their lunch.

"No, I wanted to eat something first. One of Cristina's interns passed out because he didn't eat beforehand. I cannot pass out on blood day," Meredith said firmly, but still smiling at him.

"I'll come with you. I didn't get a chance to go over yet either," Derek offered. "What kind of husband would I be if I didn't hold you hand?"

Meredith rolled her eyes playfully. "It's just giving blood; no big deal."

"Still."

"Fine," she giggled.

"So this barbecue...who's on the guest list?" Derek asked before taking a bite of his sandwich.

Meredith shrugged. "I guess just our group. So if you see Mark, tell him he can invite Bridget. If he's serious about her, I want her to know she's welcomed, you know?" Meredith said, drawing a forkful of tuna salad into her mouth.

"Okay," Derek agreed. "Next Friday, right?"

"Yeah, well, I figured we'd want the whole weekend to ourselves. Our first anniversary needs to be memorable," Meredith smirked.

"Aah, sex all weekend," he grinned. "Got it."

"And I thought maybe we could follow through on our plan. You know, outback on the blanket with moonlight and flowers and candy..." She bit her lip and smiled playfully at him.

Derek laughed. "And me, trying to feel you up?"

"Yes," she giggled. "Only there won't be much trying, because I'll just let you."

"Okay then. Sounds like a good weekend," he said smugly.

Meredith smiled. "I can't wait."

--

"Hey! Mark!" Derek called out to his friend.

Mark turned on his heel and looked to Derek curiously. "Hey. What's up?"

"Mer and I are having a barbecue next Friday night. We haven't had everyone over yet and it's been a year, so we figured it was about time," he joked. "You and Bridget are invited, if you wanted to come."

"Yeah, sounds good. I'll see if she's free," Mark said with a nod. "Thanks."

"How's that going, by the way?" Derek asked as the two walked through the crowded hallway toward the nurses' station.

Mark shrugged and ran his hand through his short hair. "Pretty good, I guess. I met the parents last weekend," he said, as though it were a foreign concept to him.

"Nice," Derek complimented. "Meeting the parents is always a good sign."

"I hope so," Mark sighed.

"She's good for you, Mark. Meredith made it a point to tell me to tell you that she's invited. She has good intuition about this stuff," Derek told him.

"And still, she married you," he teased, grinning at him.

Derek rolled his eyes. "I can just as easily un-invite you, you know," he warned, not that either of them was being serious.

"She asked me how I felt about kids," Mark disclosed. "Wasn't prepared for that one..."

"Why not?" Derek asked curiously. "It's a natural question."

"I guess. But no one's ever asked me that before. How do I know if I'm father material?" Mark asked rhetorically.

It was rare that Mark shared this much of his personal life with him, so Derek knew it was important. "Well, sometimes you don't even realize what you want until you meet the right person," he pointed out. "I mean, Mer never thought she'd have kids, or want kids. I'd kinda given up on it, too. But then...I don't know. Now we can't imagine not having them. It's just one of those things, you know?"

"Yeah," Mark let out a breath. "It's different with her. She's the first one that ever made me think about it."

"Don't doubt yourself. If she's the one, she's the one. Simple as that," Derek said, patting Mark's shoulder. "With Mer, it took about half a second before I knew she was the love of my life."

"Yeah?"

"All I'm saying is, not everything is too good to be true, Mark. If she's the one, everything will work out," he said sincerely, thinking of his wife. All of the sadness and strife they went through was worth it. It got them to where they are today.

--

It was the end of their shifts when Meredith and Derek finally made it back over to the clinic. But at least now, it was emptier than it had been earlier. With the exception of a few nurses and patrons giving blood, it was actually kind of quiet, which was rare for the clinic. Meredith signed both of their names on the list and sat in the waiting room chairs for their turns. Luckily for them, it wasn't even five minutes until they were called.

"Meredith Shepherd," a blonde haired nurse named Marie said politely, holding a clip board in her hand.

"Okay," Meredith nodded. She patted Derek's thigh and they both stood up and followed the nurse to one of the empty beds. Meredith leaned back on it, and one cue, Derek took her right hand and squeezed it gently.

"Dr. Shepherd, are you having blood drawn too? There's an available station over there, if you'd like to get both done at once," the nurse offered kindly as she rubbed an alcohol wipe over the crook of Meredith's elbow.

Derek shook his head. "No, that's okay, I'll wait. I want to sit with my wife."

Meredith couldn't help but giggle slightly. "Don't mind him."

"What?" Derek chuckled. "I love you, that's all."

Though she claimed that she'd be okay by herself, she had to admit, it was actually nice to be able to hold her husband's hand. "I love you, too," she whispered.

"Okay, little pinch," Marie cautioned.

Meredith squeezed Derek's hand a little tighter at the slight pain in her arm and he squeezed right back. "You're lucky you get to go first," Derek smiled, pressing his lips to her temple.

"Hmm..." Meredith scrunched her nose, looking over at Derek instead of the needle and the blood. He was a lot more enjoyable to gaze at than that. "Okay, doesn't hurt anymore," she breathed.

"Good," Derek said softly as he gently ran his fingers up and down her other arm. "So I talked to Mark," he said, trying to get her mind off of the needle in her arm.

"Yeah?"

Derek nodded. "He met Bridget's parents last weekend."

Meredith's eyes widened slightly. "Wow."

"I know," Derek concurred. "I guess he's serious about her. You don't meet the parents if it's not long term, right?"

"Well, if you don't count my parents, yeah," she joked. "I think if you met them before we were serious, you might have gone running for the hills."

Derek laughed. "Okay, first off, I fell in love with you the second I met you. Nothing, not even your parents, could ever send me running for the hills."

"Go ahead, lay it on thick," Meredith teased him.

He continued trailing his fingers over her arm, smiling when he noticed her skin prickling with goosebumps. "Just being honest," he said before kissing her cheek.

"Oh, almost forgot to tell you. Izzie is kinda turning this into a baby-making kickoff party, even though technically, we kicked off a few weeks ago..." Meredith said.

Derek eyed her curiously and resisted the urge to cringe. "What does that mean exactly?"

"Dunno..." Meredith sighed. "Hopefully nothing involving my uterus...or parts further south. I would have asked, but I was a little afraid to."

"Yeah, this could be creepy," he agreed.

"Maybe we'll get some gifts out of it," Meredith pointed out. "And Iz said she'd do all the baking."

"There's the silver lining," Derek said with a chuckle. He glanced over at the nurse walking toward them and smiled. "All done."

Meredith ran her palm over his cheek, grateful to have him there. "Thank you."

Marie put a cotton ball and bandaid on Meredith's arm then pointed to the nurses' station. "There's some orange juice and chocolate chip cookies over there; feel free to help yourself," she said kindly.

"I'll get you some. Just take my seat," Derek offered, always the annoyingly charming husband. Just another thing Meredith loved about him.

"Okay."

"Someone won the husband jackpot, huh?" Marie kidded as she set up for Derek's turn.

Meredith glanced over at Derek, watching as he gathered food for her. "Yeah, I guess I did," she giggled. "He's a good guy."

"Here you go," Derek said. He handed her a plate with four cookies and a carton of orange juice and smiled. "You okay? Not feeling woozy, right?"

"No, I'm fine," she assured him, taking a bite of the cookie.

Derek hopped up onto the gurney and presented the nurse with his left arm, ready to donate. Without thinking, Meredith reached for his right hand just as he'd done for her. When he smiled amusedly at her, she laughed. "You held my hand. I can't not hold yours."

"Thank you," he replied. Meredith squeezed Derek's hand when the needle went in, even though he barely flinched. Stupid wifely instinct took over and she couldn't help herself.

"Both of you are AB positive, huh? It's rare enough to see five people a day with that blood type, let alone a husband and wife," Marie remarked as she reviewed the chart Meredith signed them in on.

Meredith took a sip of her orange juice then smiled. "Yep, just a weird coincidence."

"I like to look at it as fate," Derek smirked.

"I'm pretty sure alcohol brought us together, not our mutual blood type," Meredith teased him.

Derek laced his fingers through hers and raised them to his lips. "I'm glad we share a blood type. Who knows? Maybe our kids will inherit that."

"Maybe Izzie could make that a party game. Guess the future baby's blood type..." she giggled.

"Ooh, there you go," Derek chuckled. "I like that one."

Meredith sighed amusedly. "This barbecue is going to be one for the books."

"I imagine so, yeah."

The next chapter will be the barbecue with all of them over at Mer and Derek's house. Hopefully it'll be a fun one. :)

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