After eleven seasons of "Grey's Anatomy", there have been a lot of deaths that fans had to deal with. Mark and Alex, anyone? However, when Patrick Dempsey's Dr. Derek Shepherd was killed off at the end of the last episode, it struck a nerve with a lot of fans considering that he has always been a central character to the story.

In an interview with Entertainment Weekly about his character's exit, Dempsey said that is was the right time for him to leave the show, however, questions about his contract surfaced. As USA Today noted, he just signed a two-year deal before the start of the eleventh season, but obviously, his death means that he won't be around to finish up Season 12.

Dempsey said about McDreamy's exit, "It's just kind of happened. It really was something that was kind of surprising that unfolded and uh, and it just naturally came to be, which was pretty good. I like the way it has all played out."

With fans reeling and unable to accept McDreamy's tragic death, Courtney Williams started a Change.org petition for Shonda Rimes, ABC, and Patrick Dempsey for the return of his character, stating the betrayal she and the thousands of "Grey's Anatomy" fans felt upon his demise. She stated, "This is important because you cannot have people invest a decade into a character and then you just terminate them like that," Williams wrote. "You have people out here donating blood and organs trying to save lives, wanting to become doctors and all from committing to this television show ... just to let us down like this. You've destroyed us."

According to People Magazine, Williams was angry primarily because of the way the death was handled, stating that "Because of the negligent hospital he can't even donate his organs and live on in other characters!"

Neither Rimes, ABC, nor Dempsey has responded to the petition, but when asked about the final days as McDreamy, the actor said that he didn't cry during the final days of shooting. He told Entertainment Wekkly, "I'm still processing it. This is part of the mourning process, the post Grey's experience. ... (The final day of shooting) was very quiet. It was very poetic and I very quietly left. It was beautiful. It was raining, which was really touching. I got in my Panamera, got in rush hour traffic, and two hours later I was home. I'm emotional now talking about it because you start to look at the reality of it."

How are you dealing with McDreamy's tragic death?