Well, I didn't get my chapter up as quick as I wanted to, so I made it the longest chapter to date. I want to thank you all so much for your reviews. I received more reviews from my last chapter than any previous ones. You guys rock.

The silence was peaceful. The whiteness of everything was soothing. The man standing in front of her was heaven sent. The man—her man—held his hand out to her, grasping her own with his. His gray-blue eyes seemed to sparkle and his lips inched up ever so slightly into a smile. Not a curl of his dark brown hair was out of place as he pulled her close to him. She could feel his warmth and smell his scent. Everything was perfect.

"Open your eyes, Mer," her man whispered into her ear.

She stared at him, confused. As she reached her fingers up to play with his hair, the handsome figure began to disappear. He was fading. She tried to hold onto the nothingness, watching in horror as everything around her faded away. Tears spilled from her wide eyes. She dropped to her knees and cried. Her perfect world was shattering around her.

Suddenly, a loud noise echoed through her ears. A constant noise that would not leave her be. It never ended, it only grew louder until…

Meredith gasped for air as she opened her eyes. It took a moment before she realized she was in a hospital room, and even longer to realize that her man was leaning over her, tears forming in his beautiful eyes.

"Hey," he spoke above a whisper, his voice cracking. "You're awake."

She stared at him, blinking rapidly in attempt to adjust to the sunlight that seeped through her window. "I—" Her throat screamed in protest at its use and she began to cough. Derek handed her a cup of water, to which she drake greedily.

"Don't try to talk just yet," he told her, pushing aside a piece of hair from her face. His tough made her shiver. She had missed it.

She ignored him. "How…?" She couldn't finish. The burning inside was too strong, too intense. She coughed again and took another sip of the cool liquid.

"Shhhh." He smiled slightly, sitting down in the chair beside her bed and scooting it closer. "It's okay. You've had a breathing tube down your throat for five days now, your throat's bound to be a little sore."

Meredith swallowed. Breathing tube? What happened? What else was wrong with her? Before she could even attempt to inspect her body, Derek planted a kiss on her forehead.

"You had me so worried." His voice sounded strained, as though he hadn't slept in a while. "I thought…"

She watched him tear up again. There were so many questions she needed answers to. So much she wanted to tell him. But her body had other ideas. Her eyelids soon became too heavy to hold open, so she shut them for just a second and slipped into the world of the unconscious.

He had been by her side the whole time, only leaving for bathroom breaks and take a quick shower. Their friends would stop by every couple hours, checking up on both of them, making sure there was nothing else they could do. There never was. All that they could do—all that he could do—was wait. And pray. Pray that Meredith would wake up.

She did.

Earlier that morning the machine that had been breathing life into Meredith was removed; as her body was recovered enough to do the basic functions on its own. A couple hours later she had awaken for a mere few minutes. She hadn't been able to talk, but that didn't matter. He had barely said two words to her anyway.

It was past midnight now; most of the hospital had been sleeping for hours now, but not Derek. He wouldn't let himself succumb to sleep. He needed to be here, awake, for when she woke up again. He needed to keep the nightmares of that night out of his mind…

Flashback

"Meredith!" Derek nearly threw up as the stretcher was lowered out of the ambulance, now in plain view. He rushed to his wife's side. He could barely see her pale skin through the stained, red blood. It took him a second to even comprehend that the woman in front of him was in fact Meredith. "How is she?"

The paramedic that was squeezing the tube that brought life into the frail woman glanced over at the nervous doctor. "She was unresponsive when we got to her. We got a pulse, but she's not breathing on her own…"

Derek took over the pump as the gurney was quickly wheeled through the hospital. He couldn't breathe. He wasn't even sure where they were taking her. His hands began shaking so badly that Cristina soon pushed him aside and continue pumping air into her best friend's lungs. He tried to follow the team of doctors into a room, but someone pushed him back. His entire body was shaking now. His wife lay on her that bed, seconds away from death. He had to be with her.

"Derek, please. Go. Let us do our job."

He wasn't even sure who was talking to him. All he knew was he had to see her. He had to see Meredith. He tried for the door, but was yet again pushed away. "My wife is in there!" He shouted, as if no one else knew. "My wife is in there, dying, I have to be with her!"

The door shut in front of him, and Derek backed up against the closest wall, allowing his body to drop to the floor. He buried his head into his hands. Tears sprung from his eyes.

There was nothing he could do. Meredith's life hung in the balance, and there was absolutely nothing he could do… again.

End of Flashback

The small, fragile hand inside his shook slightly. Derek looked up to see Meredith's eyelashes flutter open. He smiled, laying her hand aside he leaned closer to her. "Hey."

"Hey." Her voice didn't sound as sore now. Just tired… and weak.

"How are you feeling?"

She swallowed, wetting her throat. "Like you guys are being stingy on the pain meds."

His lips formed into a smile. "Well, I'll see what we can do about that. I am a doctor, after all."

Meredith chuckled slightly, then winced as the pain it caused.

"I'm sorry," he apologized, quickly reaching over and adjusting the morphine levels. "There, that should do it."

"Thanks."

He nodded, rubbing his fingers across her bruised arm. "No problem."

"… how bad is it?" She asked, hesitant."

Derek shrugged. "Not too bad. You had us worried for a while when you refused to breathe on your own, stubborn woman."

"Der…"

"You banged up your head pretty bad. Fractured a couple ribs, completely shred your radius, had some internal bleeding, nothing that can't heal in time." He tried another smile.

Meredith licked her dry lips. "Scars?"

He patted her arm. "Don't worry about it. Scars are sexy." His humor fell flat as she glared at him, wanting the truth. He grimaced slightly and handed her a small mirror.

Her fingers slid across her bandages forehead. She bit her lip.

"The swelling will go down," he assured, referencing to her swollen face. "And the bruises are hardly noticeable at all."

Meredith sat the mirror aside. "How are the boys?"

The very mention of her abductors sent chills through his spine. "TJ walked away without a scratch, he's in jail now. The rest of them didn't make it."

The brunette closed her eyes.

"Are you okay?"

She nodded. "Yeah… it's just… I don't know… they were just trying to save their friend…"

Derek slid his hand under her chin and turned her face towards his. "Mer, they killed someone. They were going to kill you—they almost did."

She gave him a small smile, her eyes watering. "I know…"

He kissed her. "I love you, Mer. I don't know what I would have done if…"

"I know that too." She sniffled. "I love you too. Derek… I was so scared. I—"

"Shhh," he hushed. "It's okay, there's nothing to be scared of now. I'm right here. I'm not going to let you out of my sight."

She smiled again. "I know."

He leaned in for another kiss. "You know what?"

"What?"

"Next time you have a feeling, we're flying to Hawaii, okay?"

She giggled slightly. "Deal."

The end.

Okay, don't hate me for ending it so. I thought this story was going to be longer. I thought I was going to expand on everything, drag out the angst and drama a bit more, but my fingers and mind had other ideas. I just started writing and next thing I knew it was over. Crazy, huh? I hope you liked it. Please let me know what you think. :)