If that's what it takes

13

The rest of the interview, the paperwork, the conversations, the discussions went by so quickly that Derek hardly even had a chance to take a breath. There was so much to read, so much to hear and learn. He had to discuss his past, his lifestyle, his history, medical and personal. The social workers covered all of the bases, having Cristina leave for some of the more personal matters, they reconvened and Derek released a slow steady breath as he looked down at the little girl who was by now, sleeping once again against his chest.

"Well, Doctor Shepherd, it was a pleasure talking with you." Ms. Philips said with a nod as she shook Derek's hand without him getting up. He nodded and smiled as he shook hands with Mr. Flynn as well, watching Cristina walk them to the door and say goodbye as he turned his head to face the pile of papers on the table in front of him.

He stared down at the piles of paper, dizzy from all the paperwork that was involved in the process, he could feel his exhaustion starting to weigh on him. He listened carefully to the sound of Cristina walking toward the chair he was seated in, and could feel her looming over him. "Derek?" She said softly, her voice was as tender and soft as her voice could get, the tone was apparent, but she was trying so hard to be supportive. "Derek, are you alright?" She whispered as she stepped forward, leaning slightly on the table, she tried to get him to focus on her, but his eyes were staring straight ahead. "Derek, look at me, are you alright?" She said again, her voice had a tinge of panic within it, when his head turned slightly and his eyes settled on hers, unfocused and slightly confused. "Derek?"

Derek's eyes dipped down to his arms, the little girl lay cuddled against his chest, her mouth slightly open as she breathed in soft, gentle breaths. Her nose twitched slightly as she made a sleepy groan against his shirt, her hand resting on his chest, instead of her thumb in her mouth as she sighed in her sleep. "What did I do?" He whispered as his eyes slowly raised to Cristina's as a look of panic came over her face.

"Derek... don't you dare..."

"Wow..." He whispered as he felt a very slow, steady smile spreading across his face.

"Derek? Are you alright?"

"I am... just fine." He said as he swallowed hard and dipped his hand to the little girl's cheek. "I am... I just... I need a minute." He said as he looked up at Cristina, his eyes seemingly brighter as he looked back down at the little girl. "Could you just give me a couple of minutes?" He asked as he watched Cristina nod and turn for the door.

Cristina stepped out into the hallway and closed the door behind her, taking a deep breath as she leaned on the closed door. She released the breath as if it were a sigh of relief and closed her eyes as she looked to the ceiling for a moment. "Hey!" Her thoughts were interrupted by a strong hand grabbing her arm as she wrenched her arm from the man who had grabbed it.

"Jesus Christ, Mark... hands off..."

"Where's Derek?" Mark asked as he pulled his hand away and gave Cristina a dirty look.

"He's in there." She said, pointing her thumb toward the room as she sighed.

"Good." He said as he walked toward the door.

"Mark, no... Mark, leave him alone." Cristina said, running in front of him as she stood in his way.

"What the hell, I need to talk to him."

"What do you need to talk to him about, that can't wait five minutes?"

"I wanted to tell him Lexie's status..." He said as he reached for the door handle as she grabbed his hand.

"He'll find you when he wants to know Lexie's status, Mark." Cristina argued as she dug her fingernails into his hand. He pulled his arm back and winced as he gave Cristina a dirty look.

"What the hell was that for?"

"That was for not listening to me, you twit... now go find something to do."

"I need to talk to Derek..."

"What you need is to get out of my face so that you don't end up mopping the floors of the OR for the rest of the week." She said with her eyebrows raised as Mark shook his head with a sly smirk.

"You're hiding something..." He said as she shook her head.

"Mark, get lost." She grunted as he reached for the door again. She slammed the heel of her shoe hard into his toe sending Mark into a wild howl that seemingly rattled the walls of the hospital.

"Cristina!" Mark exclaimed as suddenly the door opened, revealing Derek standing with Zoey in his arms. The little girl cuddling into him.

"I thought I heard you..." Derek said with a confused glance as he saw the self satisfied grin on Cristina's face.

"She just crushed my toes!" Mark whined loudly as he bounced slightly.

"I need you to do something." Derek said as he grabbed Mark's hand, ignoring his whining as he pulled him into the conference room, watching Cristina follow.

"What do you need?" Mark asked, holding his breath for a moment as he tried to will the pain in his foot to go away.

"I need you to go with to the police to the...house and get a few things..."

"House? Lexie's house? Why do you...? Derek, you didn't..." Mark shook his head.

"He did... now leave him alone and listen to him." Cristina said with a grunt. "She's staying the day, Shepherd, for observation... you can discharge her tonight...You're off the clock for the rest of the week... if you need someone to get you something outside the hospital today, Mark's your errand boy, I think he'd be perfect for the job... since he won't be involved in any surgeries today..."

"Cristina!" Mark whined as she shook her head and sighed.

"I don't want to hear another word out of you... and it's Dr. Yang... and you..." Cristina said as she grabbed the extra pager from her belt as Derek shifted his weight and held out his hand. "Here's your pager back... Mark told me what you told him to tell me..." She said with raised eyebrows.

"Yes, Ma'am." Derek said seriously as he nodded.

"If you ever tell him that you're going to shove something up anyone's ass, it better be his, and I had better not hear about it. Some things are better left in the privacy of ones own home." She said as she smacked the pager down into his hand. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have things that have to get done here... in case you haven't realized... this is a hospital..." She said as she started to walk away. "We heal people here..." She said as she turned and walked away from them as Derek looked down tenderly at the sleeping girl in his arms.

"So I've noticed..." He whispered, as he shifted her slightly, as he kept his eyes on her for another moment.