I'm juggling a few other fics at the moment but this kinda just came to me so I'm going to go with it and see what happens. If you read, please take the time to review, even if it's something short. I really appreciate any feedback. I hope you like this.

CHAPTER ONE

"It's raining!" George shouted loudly from downstairs. There was no response. "Izzie! Meredith! Our clothes are getting soaked!"

"Coming!" Izzie and Meredith shouted back, rushing down the stairs. The three doctors raced outside into the freezing cold rain and gathered their soaked clothes that had been left out to dry. They rushed back inside the house and shivered from the cold.

"Turn the heater up," Izzie said, her teeth chattering. "It's freezing."

"So much for the sunshine that the weather man promised," George muttered unhappily. "I hate Seattle weather." He noticed that Meredith hadn't said anything. "Hey, are you okay?" he asked her, noticing that she appeared a little short of breath.

"Yeah I'm fine," Meredith said, even though she wasn't feeling fine. She hadn't felt fine for a few weeks now.

"You look exhausted," Izzie said, pouring a glass of juice. "You look how I feel."

"Thanks," Meredith said sarcastically.

"Oh crap, look at the time!" George shouted out.

"We're so late," Izzie said, grabbing her bag from the kitchen counter and accidentally knocking her glass of juice from the table. It hit the ground and smashed sending orange juice and pieces of glass everywhere.

"We don't have any time to clean it up," George said. "I'm an intern. If I'm late I'll be doing rectal exams all week."

"But it'll stick to the floor," Meredith said, looking at the mess.

"Later!" George shouted heading out the door. Meredith and Izzie followed him. They climbed into George's car and barely had their seatbelts on before George tore out of the driveway and headed down the street.

"Shit!" Meredith said to herself as George turned the corner.

"What?" Izzie asked.

"We have to go back home, George."

"Look, Meredith, I'll clean the juice up later," George said. "You'll never know it was there."

"No, it's not that," Meredith said. "I left my notes on the kitchen counter. I need them to study up before my surgery." George looked annoyed.

"I'm sorry," Meredith said. "Look, just drop me off and I'll take my car to the hospital. You don't have to wait." George made an illegal u turn and drove back towards the house. He barely stopped long enough for Meredith to get out of the car. Meredith ran to the house. If she didn't hurry, she was going to be late herself. Meredith grabbed her notes from the counter and rushed back towards the door. As she took a step forward, she slipped on some of the orange juice and well backwards, her head slamming on the ground, knocking her out cold. Meredith lay there on the kitchen floor unconscious in the silent, empty house.

Xxx

"Where's Doctor Grey?" one of Meredith's interns asked George.

"She'll be here in a minute," George replied.

After forty minutes, Meredith still hadn't arrived at the hospital and George found himself worrying. Meredith was never this late and she would never leave her interns standing around with nothing to do. He had called her cell and there had been no answer. Suddenly George spotted Derek Shepherd walking through the hospital towards the doors.

"Doctor Shepherd!" George called out after him. Derek stopped and turned around slowly. He looked exhausted.

"O'Malley, I've just come out of an eight hour surgery and I have another one this afternoon. I need to sleep. Can you please page someone else?"

"It's about Meredith," George said. Derek's demeanor immediately changed.

"What's wrong?" he asked, concerned.

"It's probably nothing" George said. "But I dropped her home to pick up some notes forty minutes ago and she was supposed to come straight back but she's not here."

"That's not like Meredith" Derek said, thinking.

"I know," George said. "So if you're leaving can you-"

"I'll check it out" Derek interrupted, walking away.

Derek jogged to his car and drove off as fast as safely possible. He and Meredith had only just got back together and Derek still had what some would call an irrational fear of losing her ever since the drowning incident.

Derek sped through the congested traffic and pulled up outside Meredith's house, relieved to see her Jeep in the driveway. He rang the doorbell but there was no answer. He searched through his bag for the key that Meredith had given him and unlocked the door.

"Meredith?" he called out. The lights were switched off and everything was still. It didn't look as though anybody was home. "Meredith?" Derek called out again, turning the living room light on. He went upstairs and into her bedroom, expecting to find her in there but it was empty. Derek was really worried now. He checked every room upstairs but there was no sign of Meredith. He raced down the stairs and searched the rooms. When he reached the kitchen, his heart felt as though it was going to leap out of his chest.

"Oh God," he said to himself, spotting Meredith on the floor. He knelt down beside her and shook her slightly, checking her vitals at the same time. "Meredith!" He repeated her name over and over again trying to get her to wake up but she was out cold. Derek rested his hand under her head and felt something familiar. He pulled his hand away and it was covered in blood. He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed 911 requesting an ambulance while searching for a towel to contain the bleeding.

As he spoke, Meredith started to stir a little. She opened her eyes but everything was foggy. Her head was hurting and she had the same difficulty breathing as she'd had that morning.

"Thank God!" Derek said, relieved when he saw Meredith open her eyes. "You're okay," he said gently placing a towel under her head. "It looks like you've slipped over and hit your head. You'll probably need stitches and you may have a concussion. There's an ambulance on its way." Derek flicked the little pieces of glass from the orange juice incident away from Meredith and looked lovingly into her eyes.

"Say something," he said. Meredith tried to take a deep breath but felt too weak to talk.

"It's okay" Derek said soothingly as he heard sirens in the distance.

Xxx

"What've we got?" Izzie asked as an ambulance pulled up at the hospital.

"This is Meredith Grey," the paramedic said. "Possible head injury resulting from a fall."

"What?" Izzie asked, confused. It wasn't until Derek stepped out of the ambulance that she believed what she had heard.

"I want you to do a CT scan," Derek ordered Izzie. "Get her in as soon as possible. I'll take her up."

"We can handle this, Doctor Shepherd," Bailey interrupted as she spotted Meredith being wheeled in. "There's a conflict of interest bigger than Mount Everest right here so if you don't mind, I'll call the shots for now." Derek looked as though he was going to protest.

"I know what tests to send her for and if it's anything neuro you'll be the first to know." Derek took a step back, reluctant but knowing that Bailey was right.

"It was the juice wasn't it?" Izzie asked Meredith who nodded weakly in response. Izzie looked guilty.

"Pupils are equal and reactive," Bailey said, shining a light into Meredith's eyes. "Doesn't look like a bleed but we'll do a CT scan anyway just to be sure. After you stitch her head back up that is." Bailey felt Meredith's wrist. "Her pulse is racing!" she said, surprised. "Meredith, you're gonna be just fine," Bailey said reassuringly, assuming that her resident was frightened. Izzie put her stethoscope on and checked Meredith's heartbeat. She was about to take the stethoscope away when she heard something that wasn't quite right.

"Doctor Bailey," Izzie said, in a concerned tone. "I think you should listen to this." Bailey looked confused.

"She's in here for a head injury, Stevens."

"I know," Izzie replied. "But I think you're gonna want to hear this." Bailey put her stethoscope on and listened to Meredith's chest. At first nothing seemed out of the ordinary but then she realized what Izzie had been concerned about. She pulled Izzie aside out of Meredith's earshot as Derek went over to her and kissed her on the head.

"I need you to page Doctor Hahn right now," Bailey instructed Izzie. "Tell her that it's urgent."