137. Neuro Dream Team

Disclaimer: I wish I owned it, but I don't.

Ahh, sorry for the delay! Nursing school is already kicking my butt. But I'm still 100% committed to this story and every single one of you awesome readers!

The holidays were over, which meant January was upon them. January was a notoriously stressful month at Seattle Grace, but this year, with Lilly now seven months old, and the race to the end of residency officially begun, it was even busier. And today was the first of many neuro surgeries Meredith was doing with Derek as part of his Christmas present.

Meredith sat on the floor of the resident lounge next to Lilly, who was on her playmat, rolling around in amusement. When she rolled onto her belly and wiggled her bottom in an attempt to push herself forward, Meredith dropped her textbook on the nearby coffee table.

"You are so cute. How am I supposed to get any studying done for my surgery with Daddy when you're just cute all the time?" Meredith laughed. She moved Lilly over slightly on the mat and lay down next to her. "It's okay. You're spending the afternoon with Aunt Cristina, so I may as well get in some Lilly time, anyway."

Lilly smiled at her mom, then went back to her task of trying to reach her Elmo doll on the other side of the mat. When wiggling didn't work, she pushed her bottom up and down like an inchworm, and made it just as far: an inch. But it was progress, and both of her parents knew that crawling was imminent.

"Good job, baby girl!" Meredith praised, pressing a kiss to her daughter's chubby cheek. "Here, how about I help you?"

Meredith pushed Elmo within Lilly's reach, and Lilly successfully grabbed him, celebrating by putting his foot in her mouth and chewing.

"Does he help your gums feel better?" Meredith asked. "I don't know what'll happen first, the day you start crawling or the day your first tooth decides to pop up. What's your vote?"

The door to the resident lounge opened, and Cristina walked in, stopping when she saw Meredith sprawled out on the floor. "What're you doing?"

Meredith quickly sat up and turned around, relieved that it was just Cristina and not Bailey, who would surely give her a lecture for not working. "Oh. Hey. I'm just studying; or, trying to. I'd much rather play with Lilly."

Cristina hung her sweater in her cubby, then came over and sat down next to them. "What big, bad neuro case did Derek find you?" she asked, scooping Lilly into her lap.

"A nine year old girl with Moyamoya disease," Meredith replied.

Cristina's mouth went agape and she blinked in surprise. "Are you freaking kidding me? Moyamoya?"

"Yeah. Derek's one of the handful of surgeons in the world that can save her. He did one back when he lived in New York, so he decided to take the case," Meredith said.

"And he's letting you take the lead on it?" Cristina asked.

Meredith shook her head. "We're doing it together. I've never seen Moyamoya before, so I can't fly solo on it. The little girl is only nine. She and her parents flew in from Portland last night, but all of her paperwork and scans arrived last week, so Derek and I have been preparing for it. He got pulled into a surgery this morning after an MVC came in, so once he's done, we're going to meet with them," she said, handing Lilly her teething ring before she decided to put Cristina's hair in her mouth.

"Moyamoya," Cristina said in awe. "You lucky B-I-T-C-H."

"I thought you hated neuro," Meredith laughed.

"No, I hate ortho. Neuro is about as exciting as watching paint dry, but it has its merits once in a while. Moyamoya is so rare. I'd give up a cardio surgery for that," Cristina admitted. "Instead, I get to watch your kid for five hours. No offense, Lilly."

"Lilly is just as much fun as any surgery. I packed her Yo Gabba Gabba DVD, her wiggle penguin, light-up stackers, Take Care Teddy Bear, Elmo, and her baby doll, which we take everywhere because it's her favorite thing," Meredith said.

Cristina looked at her blankly. "The only part of that sentence I understood was baby doll," she said. "And I'm kind of freaked out that those things are part of your vocabulary."

"I'm a mommy, Cristina. I speak baby," Meredith said, taking Lilly when she reached her arms out for her.

Cristina leaned against the coffee table, wiping some spit-up off her scrub pants. "Speaking of... did you ever talk to Derek about having another one? I'm sure he offered to knock you up on the spot, right?"

Meredith smiled. "I did, actually. And no, he didn't. We both wanted to try again sooner than a year from now, so we decided that August would be a good time. Residency will be finished, I'll be an attending, and Lilly will have just turned one in June. She'd be a little over two by the time I had the next one, if it takes the same amount of time to get pregnant again," she said.

"Shouldn't take that long. You two have more sex than anyone I know," Cristina shrugged.

"Thank you?" Meredith said, accepting the statement as a compliment. "Oh, before I forget, here are my keys. You can take my car to your place because I have the car seat, and Derek I will pick her up in his car," she said.

"Okay." Cristina took the keys and put them in her pocket, then checked her watch. "My shift's over now, and Owen gets done in a half hour. I'll wait for him before we go. I know I'll need his help."

Meredith breathed a sigh of relief, knowing that Cristina and Owen would be tag-teaming the babysitting endeavor. It wasn't that she didn't trust her person; she just knew that babies weren't exactly Cristina's forté, so having Owen there for backup was reassuring.

"Good; that's good," Meredith said, kissing the top of Lilly's head. "Does this make me a bad mom? Should I feel guilty?"

"Guilty for what?" Cristina asked.

"I don't know. Being away from her to do surgery," Meredith said.

Cristina shook her head. "You're not Ellis Grey, dumping your kid off at the nurses' station all day, every day," she pointed out. "It's one surgery a week. Don't feel guilty about it."

"Thank you; Derek and I really do appreciate it," Meredith smiled, glancing at the doorway when she heard footsteps. Derek walked into the room holding a patient chart, and Meredith waved Lilly's hand. "Hey. How was your surgery?"

"It went well. The guy's got a great chance of recovery. I asked Landis to close, so you and I could meet with our patient a little early. But first, I need to see my Lillybug," Derek said, taking a seat on the table.

Meredith handed Lilly to him, and he pressed kisses to the baby's cheek. "Hey, Princess," he said. Lilly laughed when she felt his stubble tickle her skin. "Are you having girl talk in here with Mommy and Aunt Cristina?"

"Screw girl talk. Moyamoya? Seriously?" Cristina said.

Derek nodded, handing Lilly his penlight to hold. "Yeah. Should be a pretty good surgery."

"You get how jealous I am, right?" Cristina asked.

"Oh, come on. You get to spend the afternoon with the smartest, cutest baby there is," Derek countered.

"That may be true, but Owen is changing any and all diapers. I refuse to get near baby feces," Cristina compromised, nearly gagging at the thought.

Meredith laughed, rolling up Lilly's play mat. "Poop isn't that scary. You could handle it if you tried."

"Nah, I'm good."

"That's the spirit," Derek joked as he fixed Lilly's pant leg. "What do you say, Lilly? Ready to hang out with Aunt Cristina while Mommy and I go do our surgery?"

Lilly babbled up at him, grabbing at his chin, and Derek kissed her hand. "Okay, good."

"All of her stuff is in this bag. I packed two bottles. She likes them heated for twenty seconds in the microwave. There's puréed strawberries and carrots in the Tupperware containers. I fed her recently, so she'll probably be hungry again in two hours. Oh, and I packed frozen bananas if she seems fussy from teething. Diapers, wipes, cream, and powder are in the side compartment. Don't hesitate to call if you need to," Meredith rambled, always overprotective when it came to her daughter.

"If I can run the ER, I'm capable of basic childcare," Cristina said, accepting Lilly after Meredith hugged her. "She's my best bud. We'll have fun, I promise."

"Okay. We love you, peanut," Meredith said.

Derek tickled the bottom of Lilly's foot. "We'll see you in a little while."

Lilly smiled at both of them, content to be with Cristina as she shook Derek's penlight in amusement. They waved goodbye, and quickly slipped out the door, breathing joint sighs of relief when there was no sign of crying on the other side. Derek put his hand on the small of Meredith's back.

"I hope she has enough patience to handle the next few hours," he said.

"She'll be fine. Owen will be there to help, too," Meredith said as they rounded the corner.

"I was talking about Lilly," Derek smirked.

Meredith laughed, nudging him with her elbow. "True. God help Cristina if that bottle comes two minutes late," she said.

"It's a shame we couldn't have secretly put in a nanny-cam. Cristina managing a rare Lilly flip out... that'd be comedy gold," Derek chuckled. "So, are you excited?"

"For the surgery? Hell yeah," Meredith said.

"Me, too."

Derek knocked briefly on their patient's door when they got to her room, then opened it, greeting the family with a smile. "Good afternoon; I'm Dr. Shepherd. This is Dr. Grey. You must be Kayla," he said, shaking the little girl's hand, then her parent's. "Mr. and Mrs. Reynolds, nice to meet you."

"Trust us, we feel blessed meet you," Kayla's father said politely.

"Kayla's been to a dozen doctors, and when they heard 'Moyamoya,' they all ran for the hills, so when you agreed to take her case, we just... we couldn't be more grateful," Mrs. Reynolds added.

"It's my pleasure," Derek said humbly, handing Meredith the chart. "So, Kayla suffered a seizure last summer, and that's when all of this started, correct?"

"Yeah. She was playing with her friends in our front yard, then she fell on the grass and started seizing. We called 911, and when she got to the hospital, the doctors misdiagnosed her with epilepsy. It runs in the family, so we figured Kayla got the gene. We were devastated, of course, but knew she could live with it. The doctors sent her home the next day, and a few weeks later, we were at the grocery store, and she had a stroke," her father said.

"Again, she was rushed to the hospital. By the time she got there, she was paralyzed on her left side. After a few days in the ICU, she'd regained most of her function, but she's still weak, even today. She had a CT done, but when the doctors saw no signs of a clot in her right hemisphere, they discharged her," Mrs. Reynolds said, shaking her head in frustration.

Meredith nodded, taking down notes in Kayla's chart. "And that's when alarm bells went off?" she assumed.

"We knew it wasn't a coincidence, but the doctors at our hospital back home kept brushing us off. We knew something had to be going on, so we took her to see a neurologist, and he did a higher level CT scan. That's when he diagnosed her with Moyamoya," Mr. Reynolds recalled, his arm around his wife in support.

"Isn't that a funny word, Kayla?" Derek asked in an attempt to make the situation less frightening for the little girl. He put the CT scan on the light box, then flipped the 'on' switch. "See here? Moyamoya means puff of smoke. That's what it looks like in these pictures of your brain."

"You know how at Christmastime, the tree lights can get all tangled up, and you have to get all the knots out? That's what Dr. Shepherd and I are going to do in surgery. And once we do that, you'll be all better," Meredith said with a smile.

"So, you really think you can cure her?" Mrs. Reynolds asked.

Derek nodded in agreement. "Dr. Grey and I have been studying her labs and scans for a week now, and we're confident we can do a full revascularization. We're going to do something called an indirect brain bypass at the base of her brain. That means we're going to use one of Kayla's scalp arteries to redirect blood flow, and within a few months, that artery will branch out into new vessels. Her brain will have all the blood it needs to work, and she'll never have another stroke or seizure."

"Tomorrow, you'll even be up walking. You could even go downstairs and eat lunch in the cafeteria. How's that sound?" Meredith asked.

"I'm scared," Kayla admitted shyly, not letting go of her mom's hand.

Derek sat on the edge of Kayla's bed and took his phone from his pocket. He pulled up one of the many pictures of Lilly, then showed it to the little girl. "This is Lilly. I'm her dad, and Dr. Grey—Meredith—is her mom. We love her more than anything in the world, just like your mommy and daddy love you. I promise we're gonna take really good care of you. Lilly's still really little, so she can't talk yet; but if she could, I know she'd tell you that you can trust us," he said softly.

Kayla smiled at the picture of Lilly, then looked to Derek and Meredith with her accepting green eyes. "Okay," she said.

"Okay," Derek echoed, patting her leg. "Oh, almost forgot. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?"

"Strawberry," Kayla answered.

"Mine, too!" Meredith said as she gave the girl a high five. "So, after your surgery, Dr. Shepherd and I will make sure there's ice cream waiting for you. Doctors' orders."

Kayla perked up even more at that, and her smile grew. "Okay."

"Good. So, Dr. Grey and I will meet you down in the OR in just a few minutes, and before you know it, you'll be back up here," Derek said.

"Thank you," Kayla's mother said gratefully.

"It's our pleasure," Derek said, smiling at them with reassurance.

He and Meredith excused themselves from Kayla's room, and walked toward the OR hall so they could scrub in for surgery. "She's a cute kid. I feel bad for her," Derek said.

"Me, too. But you're one of the dozen people in the world capable of saving her life," Meredith said, smiling when he pulled the Clash scrub cap she'd gotten him from his pocket and put it on. "Ready to go make Lilly proud, so you can brag to her later?"

Derek chuckled, holding open the door to the scrub room for her to enter. "Let's do it."

...

Lexie yawned, setting her coffee mug on the roof of her car as she rummaged in her bag for her keys. Just as she spotted them and went to unlock her car door, she noticed Cristina a few parking spots away, trying to clip Lilly's car seat into the base. If it weren't so pathetic, Lexie would have laughed, but instead, she took her mug and walked over to her former resident.

"Need some help?" Lexie asked, trying not to mock Cristina's obvious frustration.

Cristina turned around, sighing in relief when she saw Lexie standing there. "I can't get the freaking car seat to click in the thing," she said.

"Move. I'll do it," Lexie offered as she shoved the mug in her bag. "Hey, Lilly. How about I fix this for you before Aunt Cristina has a meltdown in the parking lot?"

"Owen was supposed to leave with me, but he got pulled into another surgery, so I get to be Mary Poppins by myself for five hours," Cristina said, narrowing her eyes when she recognized potential opportunity.

Lexie finished securing Lilly's car seat, then glanced at Cristina, immediately realizing what she was hinting at by the look on her face. "Oh, come on. I just worked a thirty hour shift. You really can't handle the world's most well behaved baby by yourself for the afternoon?"

"Don't make me beg you."

All of Lexie's resolve melted when she saw Lilly smiling at her from her car seat. Even at seven months old, she could make someone smitten over her with very little effort. Lexie nodded in resignation. "Fine, I'll help you."

"Good. Get in," Cristina said, opening the driver's side door and dropping into the seat.

Lexie rolled her eyes as she closed Lilly's door, then walked around to the passenger side. "I guess that's as good as a thank you."

...

Meredith and Derek were two hours into Kayla's surgery, and so far, all was going smoothly. The first stage of harvesting the little girl's artery from her parietal lobe was completed, and with Derek's assistance, Meredith had done the initial craniotomy at the back of Kayla's skull.

Having a child on the table was always a challenge, even more so since becoming parents, themselves; but also because it was surgery in miniature, which called for more delicacy and fine-tuning of skills. But between Derek's experience and Meredith's training under him for five years, Kayla was in the very best of hands.

"Okay, Dr. Grey, now that we've removed a portion of Kayla's superficial temporal artery, what's our next step?" Derek asked as he and Meredith stood over Kayla's open brain at the OR table.

"We locate the M4 branch of the middle cerebral artery, and anastomose the superficial temporal artery onto it in order to redirect the blood flow," Meredith answered.

"Very good. Is she still within the parameters for temp. and heart rate?" Derek asked.

"All within normal limits," Kelly, one of the scrub nurses, replied.

"Okay, then," Derek said, glancing at Meredith. "Dr. Grey, which type of suture would you use and why?"

Meredith couldn't help but smirk at the question, one she'd known the answer to since she was an intern. But still, she knew it was the kind of question she'd get asked during her surgical boards coming up in June, so she played along. "I would use tenting suture, because with this type of surgery, we want to avoid intracranial bleeding post-op. Also, tenting suture is most often advised in pediatric neurosurgeries."

"Excellent," Derek said. "Tenting suture and ICG dye please, Bokey?" he requested.

Bokey handed both to Derek, and Meredith reached for the dye to help Derek differentiate between Kayla's brain and her small arteries. Instead, Derek gave her the line of suture and stepped aside.

"You want me to do the anastomosis?" Meredith asked, eyes wide in equal parts shock and confusion.

Derek nodded, gesturing for Meredith to begin the next step. "You've anastomosed coronary arteries before. You can do it here, too. It's the same procedure, only these arteries are smaller and more fragile. Just take your time and make sure you've got a good grip before you suture. I'm standing right here if you need me," he said in encouragement.

"Okay," Meredith said, releasing a breath. She moved into Derek's position and waited for him to drop some ICG dye in the surgical field. Once she had a clear view, she began anastomosing Kayla's arteries one suture at a time. Derek watched through the magnifier, in awe of how flawless Meredith's technique was, better than that of most of the seasoned neurosurgeons he'd met over the course of his career.

After completing three sutures, Meredith paused to survey her work so far. "How's this?" she asked Derek.

Derek smiled with pride beneath his mask. "You're close to putting me out of a job, Dr. Grey."

...

Lilly sat on a blanket on the floor of Cristina and Owen's apartment, engrossed in playing peek-a-boo with Lexie, who sat in front of her. Her mom and dad were better at the game than her aunt was, because they used props and had mastered the element of surprise, but Lilly didn't seem to mind Lexie's version. She giggled loudly when Lexie moved her hands away from her face, and the delighted noise made Lexie smile.

"God, she's the cutest baby ever. And I'm not just saying that because she's my niece. She really is perfect," Lexie said. "Ready to feed her?"

Cristina found the puréed strawberries and spoon that Meredith had packed for her, and set it on the table. "Have at it," she said, tossing Lexie a bib.

"If I'm feeding her, you're changing her," Lexie compromised as she picked Lilly up and propped her in the corner of the couch.

"Oh, I don't do diapers," Cristina replied, securing Lilly's bib.

Lexie rolled her eyes and handed Cristina the spoon. "What if she pooped and I wasn't here to help you?"

"That was supposed to be Owen's job, which is why I'm glad you're here. Besides, you two are related. The biological aunt should deal with all the bodily functions," Cristina stated, dipping the spoon into the strawberries. She braced herself as she guided it to Lilly's lips. "Please don't spew anything on me."

Lilly opened her mouth and accepted the strawberries, puckering her lips at the tart taste. Some of the excess dribbled down her chin, and she used her chubby hand to wipe it back into her mouth. "Seven months old and feeding yourself. Impressive," Cristina complimented her.

Lexie held Lilly's bottle to her lips, and she took a sip from it. "She's the genius baby of a neuro dream team. Of course she can. Right, Lilly?"

"Yeah, two neurosurgeons who are performing a freaking Moyamoya surgery right now," Cristina added as she gave Lilly another bite.

Lexie's mouth dropped open. "He got her a Moyamoya case? That's like a once in a lifetime surgery."

"One that I'm sure he'll be getting sex for," Cristina assumed, scooping some strawberries off Lilly's chin before they dripped onto her shirt. "I don't know how you sleep in that house, kid. You deserve a medal."

"Hot sex and great surgery. I'm jealous of her life," Lexie said.

"Marrying McDreamy has its perks," Cristina sighed.

"Owen let you run the pit on New Year's Eve. That's like getting free reign of a candy store," Lexie reminded her.

Lilly opened her mouth for more fruit, and Cristina complied, giving her another scoop. "Irrelevant."

"Okay," Lexie said to appease her. "It is a cool gift, though. Plus, it gives them a chance to work together. They've barely been in the OR together since Lilly was born."

"Yeah, I guess," Cristina agreed. "Still hate her, though."

"Oh, me too," Lexie laughed, re-clipping Lilly's loose hair bow as Cristina fed her some more.

When Lilly felt Lexie fixing her bow, she took her sticky hand and reached for her hair, smushing strawberries into her tiny curls in the process. The mess was done before either Lexie or Cristina could stop it, and they looked at one another.

"Nice job," Cristina said sarcastically.

"I was fixing her bow," Lexie said in her own defense. She reached for Lilly's bag and put it on her lap. "I'll get a baby wipe and clean her hair with it."

Lilly babbled at Cristina when she delayed the next bite of food, and Cristina promptly gave her another spoonful. "Jeez; someone's impatient."

"She's a girl who knows what she wants," Lexie joked, wiping Lilly's hair.

Like clockwork, Lilly touched her hair again, swiping goopy strawberries across her forehead. Cristina cocked her head at Lexie in disbelief. "I'm this close to flicking these strawberries at you," she said with the baby spoon aimed at her.

"It's not my fault!" Lexie said. "We'll just... give her a bath."

"I don't have a tub."

"Well, we can't send her home covered in food," Lexie pointed out. "She only has a bite left. Just finish feeding her, then we'll wash her in the sink."

Cristina spooned the last bite into Lilly's mouth, then set the container on the table while Lexie gave Lilly another sip of her drink. When she was satiated and happy after her lunch, she looked at both of her aunts expectantly, waiting for them to entertain her.

Since she knew Cristina wouldn't, Lexie made the first move, picking a sticky Lilly off the couch and walking toward the kitchen. "Alright, pretty girl. Let's get a tubby," she said.

Cristina scrunched her face in disgust. "A tubby?" she mocked.

Lexie shrugged. "That's what Mer and Derek call it."

"Your mom used to be cool," Cristina told Lilly with a sigh, giving the sink a quick rinse before plugging the drain.

Lexie set Lilly on the counter, so she could undress her. "We need soap. Can you go see if they packed any in her bag? We need a towel and a wash cloth, too."

"Okay."

Lexie shimmied Lilly's socks off followed by her pants, smiling at the baby's chubby thighs. "Should I save your diaper for Aunt Cristina? I know you'd never do it intentionally, but it'd be pretty awesome if you peed on her," she joked.

"Got it," Cristina said, walking back into the kitchen with travel-sized bottles of baby soap and shampoo that Meredith had packed. "How much water goes in the sink?"

"I don't know. Up to her belly button?" Lexie suggested, pulling off Lilly's shirt. She dipped her hand into the water to test the temperature. Satisfied that it was warm enough, she took off Lilly's diaper, then quickly sat her in the sink, so she wouldn't get cold.

Lilly looked around in confusion, used to her tub at home and not a sink. She smacked her hands on top of the water, laughing in surprise when she splashed herself. "See, this is fun. You're not going to freak out, right?" Lexie asked, reaching for a cup to wash the baby's hair.

She filled it up with water, then carefully poured it over Lilly's head. A few drops rolled down her forehead and into her eyes, and she quivered her lower lip before letting out a small cry of displeasure. "Sorry, sorry," Lexie said nervously as she started wiping Lilly's eyes.

"Here," Cristina said, handing Lilly a spoon from the drawer.

Lexie's eyes went wide in panic, and she gently pried it from her hands. "Cristina, what are you doing? She could poke herself in the eye with this!" she nearly yelled.

"It's a spoon, not a steak knife. Calm down," Cristina shot back.

Lilly's crying escalated when the spoon was taken away, and tears rolled down her face. Lexie frantically searched the kitchen for something to calm her down with, and when she spotted the wash cloth sitting on the counter top, she rinsed it under the water and gave it to Lilly.

"Here, how about this? A fun, squishy wash cloth?" she said, making her best sales pitch with the hope that it would calm her down.

Lilly put it in her mouth and began chewing on it, her sadness dissipating within seconds. Cristina let out long breath, leaning against the counter. "Oh, thank God," she murmured.

After averting a full meltdown, Lexie reached for the baby shampoo and squirt some into her palm. "Since I'm basically doing everything, you so owe me drinks at Joe's later," she told Cristina.

"Fine," Cristina agreed. "But for the record? Spoons aren't that dangerous."

Lexie smiled at Lilly as she rubbed the shampoo through her hair. "You're so lucky I'm here right now."

...

Meredith and Derek followed Kayla into a recovery room after her surgery, where her parents sat waiting in anxious anticipation. They both shot up out of their seats when their daughter entered the room, sighing in relief at the smiles on her surgeons' faces.

"How'd it go? Were you able to cure her?" Mr. Reynolds asked worriedly.

Derek nodded happily. "The revascularization was a success. There were no complications. Kayla was a champ," he said.

"Thank you. Thank you both so much," Mrs. Reynolds said, pulling them both in for an unexpected hug.

"Thank Dr. Grey. She's the one who really saved your daughter's life today," Derek said, passing all of the due credit to Meredith.

Mr. Reynolds wiped at his eyes with the back of his hand, the gratitude etched all over his face and his wife's. "Thank you, Dr. Grey."

Meredith blushed at the compliment, biting her lip when she felt the eyes in the room on her. "Oh, I... thank you for trusting me. My daughter is my whole world, so I can't imagine how scary it was for you to put her life in someone else's hands."

"We've been to so many doctors, and none of them made us feel as relaxed as the two of you. And when we found out you were parents this morning, that made us feel even better. Your daughter is very lucky," Mrs. Reynolds said with full sincerity.

"Thank you," Meredith said softly.

Kayla's eyes blinked open slowly as her anesthesia wore off, and Derek smiled at her. "Hey, Kayla. How're you feeling?"

"Good," Kayla replied tiredly.

Mr. Reynolds knelt down next to his daughter's bed. "Guess what, sweetie? They made you all better."

"No more hospitals?" Kayla asked.

"No more hospitals," Meredith echoed, shaking her head.

"And guess what else," Derek said.

Kayla looked at him curiously. "What?"

Derek removed his hands from behind his back, and revealed the pint of strawberry ice cream and spoon he'd been holding. "Ice cream, as promised. The best medicine after surgery."

The little girl's face lit up in a smile as Derek set the dessert on the tray table. "Thank you."

"You're very welcome," Derek said.

"Dr. Landis is the on-call neurosurgeon, so he'll be monitoring Kayla overnight, and Dr. Shepherd and I will be back to check on you first thing tomorrow morning. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to tell the nurse, and she'll have us paged right away," Meredith said, Kayla's chart in her arm.

"Thank you," Mrs. Reynolds replied. "Thank you for everything."

"Any time," Derek said as he and Meredith excused themselves from the room.

Meredith took his hand and smiled as they headed to their respective lounges to change. "You didn't have to do that," she said.

"Do what?"

"Give me all the credit," Meredith said, depositing Kayla's chart in the bin at the nurses' station.

Derek smiled at her. "Everything I said was true. You should be proud of yourself, Meredith. I mean that," he said.

Meredith stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "Well, I have a good teacher," she pointed out, feeling her phone vibrate in her pocket. She pulled it out and read the screen. "Picture message from Lexie."

She opened the text, and touched the picture to zoom in on it. They both smiled when they saw Lilly and Cristina, both passed out sleeping on Lilly's play mat. "This is so cute," Meredith said, saving it to her phone. "I guess Lexie got suckered into babysitting duty today."

"Can you send me that picture?" Derek requested.

"For Cristina blackmail, or showing off Lilly's adorableness?" Meredith asked, sending it to him.

"Can't it be both?" Derek smirked as he pushed the button for the elevator.

"Excellent point," Meredith giggled. "I'll meet you in the lobby, then we can go get Lilly from her world class babysitter."

Derek smiled, stepping inside the elevator. "Can't wait."