You're Like Coming Home

12.

"Mer?" Derek asked, looking at the pale, fragile girl clinging desperately to him. "What is it?"

She shook her head as tears sprung into her eyes and she clung desperately to his jacket. "Der," she gasped. "I...I need...I need...Derek."

"I'm here," he soothed gently. "What is it, Mer?"

"Mom," she whispered, burying her face in his shoulder. "Derek..."

"Mer, let me see," Derek said gently, easing the letter out of her hands. "It's okay."

Her grip loosened on the piece of paper, and he gently took it, his eyes searching over the paper.

Alzheimer's.

The word stuck out on the paper like a sore thumb, and Derek inhaled sharply, knowing that this would traumatize his poor girlfriend. "Meredith," he breathed softly. "Oh, Mer, come here."

Her entire weight was practically leaning on him, and he gently scooped her into his arms, carrying her to the elevator and holding her close as they rode up to their floor. When they were safe in the privacy of Derek's room, Meredith finally let herself go and allowed sobs to overcome her body. Derek held her closely, letting her cry herself out before he managed to calm her down at all. When her sobs finally managed to subside, she remained curled on his lap, clinging tightly to him.

"Mer," he whispered. "Are you okay?"

"I..." Meredith whispered. "No. I don't know what to do, Derek."

"Do you want me to drive you home?" he asked gently.

"No," Meredith shook her head. "She would just want me to come back, to keep working at school. And I could never explain you to her."

Derek decided to ignore the sting of her not wanting to introduce him to her mother in favor of comforting her. "Okay," he said softly. "Mer...what do you want to do?"

She was silent for a moment before she whispered, "I want to call her."

"Okay," Derek nodded.

"Can you..." Meredith started. "I mean, it's okay if you don't want to. Never mind, forget I even asked, it's stupid."

"Can I what?" Derek asked, ignoring her ramble.

Meredith avoided his eyes as she whispered, "can you come with me?"

"Oh, Mer, of course," he said. "You want to go over to your room?"

She nodded, and he stood, grabbing her hand to pull her to her feet. They walked across the hall to her room, and she curled onto Derek's lap on her bed as she grabbed her phone and dragged it onto the bed, punching in the numbers to her house.

"Hi, Mom," she said softly. "I...I just got your letter. Do you want me to come home?... That's what I thought....Well, if you've got Alzheimer's, I don't think you should be operating either...I know, Mom, but maybe it's for the best. You can come visit me, we can do some traveling before it gets too bad...Oh....well, if that's what you want to do, that's okay. Just...be safe okay?...I know, Mom...I just wanted to talk to you, make sure you're okay...okay, I will...Mom? I love you...okay, bye."

She gently placed the phone back in the cradle and Derek eased it out of her hands before wrapping his arms tightly around her again. "What did she say?" he asked gently as she rested her head against his shoulder.

"She's mad because she had to stop cutting," Meredith replied. "And she's going to spend some time writing, getting her affairs in order. She wants me to stay here and focus."

Derek nodded, trying to hold back his criticism of Ellis Grey's parenting style. He didn't think any child should have to learn something like this through a letter and then be dismissed over the phone after offering to help. "I'm sorry, Mer."