Are Meredith (Ellen Pompeo) and Derek (Patrick Dempsey) headed for Splitsville? That’s what Shonda Rhimes, the mastermind behind the medical drama “Grey’s Anatomy,” teased during an interview with the Hollywood Reporter.

Before Rhimes discussed the duo’s fate, viewers were already fearing the worst for their favorite couple from the hit ABC series. In the Season 11 winter finale it was revealed that Derek was moving across the country to pursue his presidential career in D.C. as a result of another heated argument with Meredith.

However, Rhimes gave MerDer shippers a shred of hope when the two doctors rekindled their relationship at the very end of episode 9.

After a heart-to-heart with her nanny about how important a supportive partner is in the midseason premiere, Meredith decided to call Derek moments before his fight left for Washington, D.C. They came to the conclusion that they didn’t want to throw away their marriage for a silly fight. Derek then proposed the idea of returning home, but Meredith wouldn’t hear of it. Instead she insisted that the two of them work through their long distance relationship.

“We can do this,” she said.

“We can do this," he agreed.

But Rhimes revealed to the Hollywood Reporter that she isn’t so sure they can. In fact, she even warned viewers not to invest too much in MerDer’s relationship.

"Meredith is trying really hard, and I think fans should be worried about them, because whenever people grow in different directions, that makes it much more difficult," she explained.

Rhimes, who previously revealed to TVLine that Meredith would be the theme of Season 11, explained that the second half of the installment would explore Meredith’s solo situation now that she doesn’t have a husband (Derek) or best friend (Cristina, played by Sandra Oh) to lean on.

"This is the first time that's happened for her in a long time," Rhimes spoke of Meredith’s solitude. "I wrote a line in one of the episodes that comes up where Amelia (Caterina Scorsone) says, 'I have a feeling that if necessary you would be the middle spoon in a Derek-Cristina spoon, and that would be fine with you.' And you get this idea that that is who she has been for a long time — supported on either side with those people — and she has to let that go now," Rhimes said.

The showrunner then explained that Meredith’s lack of companionship would force her to grown into her own skin as a doctor. "For Meredith, this journey is really about her coming into her own as a surgeon, figuring out who she is and who she wants to be, standing on her own two feet and trying to be her own person for the first time without the support of Cristina and without the support of Derek," Rhimes concluded.

But Meredith won’t be completely alone as Season 11 continues. She’ll seek out the support of her new “person” Alex (Justin Chambers) after Derek leaves Seattle for good. "It comes off as somewhat begrudgingly, but underneath it all, I think he's really happy to have that connection," Chambers admitted to TV Guide about his character’s growing bond with Meredith.

“Grey’s Anatomy” will air episode 10 of Season 11 on Thursday, Feb. 5, at 8 p.m. EST.

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