His hand rested on Meredith's head and stroked her hair absently. His other hand was clenched around hers, which was cold and limp. There was a white bandage wrapped around most of her head, covering a large portion of her scalp.

He sat there for hours, staring at her face. Doctors came in and out to examine her, telling him that she should wake up soon every time. Yet, he still sat there and stared at her eyes, which were shut peacefully.

Her friends came in frequently, fussing over her blankets or the temperature in the room. They would sit across from him and hold her hand, speaking to her briefly and almost always crying, even the men.

At one point, Lexie ordered him to eat something and sleep, but he ignored her. He refused to leave the bedside until Meredith woke up. If it meant they both died sitting there, so be it.

"Derek..." Lexie's voice nagged behind him. He closed his eyes for a moment and shook his head, ignoring the empty feeling in his stomach and the soreness in his hands from holding onto her for so long.

"Derek, you've been sitting there for two days... you need to sleep, you need to eat something!" She cried. He ignored her entirely,

"I think her hand's gotten warmer in the past few minutes. Maybe that means she's waking up!" He told himself. Lexie sighed and left the room, knowing she wasn't going to get him to budge.

Derek repeated the odds over and over in his head, telling himself how lucky she was that she was still alive. The bullet only hit the right side of her brain. She could wake up with only minor disabilities to the left side of her body. Those can be helped with physical therapy. She's going to wake up.

"Come on, Meredith! You have to wake up, you cannot leave me. Do not leave me, Meredith!" He cried, clutching her hand like a lifeline.

Meredith Grey let out a pained sigh, her eyes opening just a tiny bit. Derek shot up, her hand still clenched in his, and immediately started checking her neurological status.

"Meredith! Meredith, oh god, you're awake! Can you speak? Please, say something, anything at all!" He said as he shone his flashlight in her eyes. They both dilated perfectly and were capable of following his finger when he asked her to.

Finally, she tried to speak.

"Ouch."

XxXxX

"What?!" Cristina and Mark both shouted. Derek shrugged and smiled.

"I know. It's so crazy, it's never been documented before." He beamed. Cristina seemed skeptical.

"What if it's just a delayed reaction? Like what Izzie had, what if her memory starts resetting or she just codes out of nowhere?" She asked. Derek sighed and the smile disappeared from his face.

"We are going to keep monitoring her for a few days, but it looks like she has full neurological integrity." He confirmed. Mark's mouth was still hanging open and Cristina shook her head, chuckling to herself.

"Only Meredith would get shot in the head and sleep it off." She laughed. Derek started laughing as well followed by Mark, and soon enough they were all howling with laughter.

XxXxX

Derek face hurt from smiling so much as he sat at Meredith's bedside, holding her hand and talking to her.

"Oh, god!" She suddenly shouted. He jumped up and looked around the room, filled with panic.

"What?! What?! What is it?!" He asked. Meredith's eyes were filled with fear as she looked at him.

"What happened to the baby?" She asked. He sighed as he realized she wasn't dying and sat back down, taking her hand back into his.

"We monitored the baby during the surgery and we got it as much blood as possible..." he started. Meredith's face fell as she realized what he was trying to say.

"I lost it, didn't I?" She cried. He frowned at her and rubbed her hand comfortingly as she let a tear fall down her face.

"It's okay. We can try again someday. Right now, it's a miracle that you're alive and aren't disabled. Trust me, I'm so thankful for that." He soothed. She breathed deeply and nodded, squeezing his hand and then turning over to go to sleep. It didn't take her long and as soon as she was asleep her placed a little kiss on her head and left the room, finally going to eat and sleep.

XxXxX

Luckily, Meredith didn't wake up again while he was gone. When he got back, Lexie was sitting my her bed and smiling at her. He pulled up a chair next to Meredith's little sister and placed his hand on top of hers, smiling lightly at her. She returned the expression and then sighed.

"It's such a miracle. I can't believe it actually happened to us. Now I just feel bad for all the people it didn't happen to." She shook her head, thinking of the doctors who had died the day of the shooting. Derek rubbed her hand gently.

"We just have to make sure that we cherish this for everything that it is. She's... she's tough. She's survived so much already, and I wouldn't be surprised if there's more to come. We just have to be ready for it and know that whatever it is, we need to be there for her every step of the way." He sighed. Lexie nodded and looked back at her sister, sympathy crossing her face.

"I was so scared she was gonna die." She said in relief.

"So was I."