Beginning Relationship with Derek Shepherd Edit

After having a one-night stand with Derek without knowing that he was her boss, she and Derek
began dating, initially discreetly. But soon Bailey, Meredith's resident, caught her and Derek
together and made it her mission to make Meredith's life at work as miserable as possible, as
she was involved with her boss, who was also Bailey's boss. Meredith soon learned that Derek
was still married when his wife, Addison, came to Seattle to get Derek back. At first, Meredith
was angry with Derek for not telling her, but she later admitted to still loving him and begged him
to "pick me, choose me, love me." When Addison handed him the divorce papers to end their
relationship officially, Derek remained hesitant and soon after decided to stay with Addison,
much to Meredith's dismay. Although the two constantly flirted and Derek still hinted at having
feelings for her, they both agreed to remain friends and Addison, too, attempted to be friends
with Meredith.
When Derek's best friend, Mark Sloan, visited Seattle, he was quick to realize that Meredith was
"the one" for Derek and tried to persuade Addison to stop fighting for her marriage as Meredith
was Derek's true love. Meanwhile, Meredith rescued a dog, Doc, in an effort to move on, but
after her housemates, Izzie Stevens and George, gave her an ultimatum to choose them or Doc,
she gave the dog to Derek and Addison. Doc was taken to the vet and diagnosed with bone
cancer. Meredith started to date Finn the vet, much to Derek's annoyance. Meredith dating Finn
also caused Derek to end the friendship with Meredith and call her a whore.

On the night of the Seattle Grace Hospital Prom, Derek went with Addison, while Meredith went
with Finn. The two soon after met with each other in an exam room where Derek confessed that
he still loved her and they had sex. Addison discovered Meredith's underwear in Derek's pocket
and the two finally agreed to divorce. Meredith, however, was still dating Finn, and issued a
contest between the two boys to see which she would settle with. She ultimately chose Derek
and they reconciled.

Drowning in Elliot Bay Edit

Derek saves Meredith from almost drowning in Elliot Bay

Meredith, Izzie, George, Alex, and Bailey went to the site of a massive ferry boat accident. After
Meredith finished stabilizing a patient's badly wounded leg with the help of a little girl just by the
water, the man panicked and pushed Meredith off the edge into the bay. Later, when Derek was
shown Meredith's fate by the little girl, he jumped into the water and then retrieved a pale,
seemingly lifeless Meredith. He tried to perform CPR in the ambulance, but she did not respond.
The doctors all tried to revive her, but she flatlined. Then Meredith entered a seemingly state of
limbo in her mind, where she interacted with deceased acquaintances like Denny, Dylan
Young, Doc, Bonnie Crasnoff, Liz Fallon and her own mother, Ellis Grey. Eventually, she left this
state of limbo, and came back to life slowly. Meredith recovered, but Derek remained concerned
that Meredith was a good swimmer, and that perhaps she had not tried hard enough and had
given up.[1]

Derek's Proposal and Wedding Edit

When one of Derek's patients, Jen Harmon, found out that Derek was going to propose to
Meredith, the two started to become friends and she wanted to help with the proposal. When she
died, Derek blamed himself for her death. He ended up quitting his job and he moved back into
his trailer. Richard told Meredith later that day that Derek was going to propose to her. Later that
night, Meredith went to the trailer to find Derek drunk and hitting empty beer cans into the woods
with a baseball bat. They started to argue and Meredith said, "I know there's a ring!" Derek froze.
Meredith then told him that the chief had told her about the ring and that she was not going to
give up on them. Derek then hit the ring into the woods. The next time Meredith went to see
Derek at the trailer, she told him Izzie had metastatic melanoma and that it spread to her liver,
skin, and brain. And that he was the most qualified surgeon to remove the tumor. Derek later
asked Meredith to marry him, but she rejected his proposal. Derek ended up going back to work
and removed Izzie's brain tumor successfully. That night, Derek proposed to Meredith in the
elevator, which was decorated with surgical scans from their past cases. This time, Meredith
accepted.[2] Izzie Stevens began to plan the wedding, but right before, Derek and Meredith
decided to give the wedding to her and Alex Karev.[3] Later, Derek and Meredith got married in
the resident's lounge, on a blue Post-It note from Cristina Yang.[4]

George's Death Edit

When Meredith was treating a John Doe, who soon would be identified as George O'Malley, he
attempted to write on a pad before surgery, but wasn't successful. While recovering in the ICU,
he attempted again to write on Meredith hand, and she soon realized that it was George after he
traced "007" on her hand multiple times. Meredith was alarmed and alerted the other doctors,
who originally believed her when he was taken in for brain surgery. During George's brain
surgery, his brain swelled and he was declared brain dead. Lexie thought it wasn't George
because she didn't think he was tall enough, so Callie checked for a Texas-shaped birthmark on
his hand, which she saw, confirming it was George.