"Grey's Anatomy" fans launch petition to bring back McDreamy

"Grey's Anatomy" fans are still mourning the death of Derek Shepherd during last Thursday's shocking episode, but some of them are taking Dr. McDreamy's sudden departure harder than others.

One fan has even launched a Change.org petition asking "Grey's" creator Shonda Rhimes to bring the character, played by Patrick Dempsey, back to the medical drama.

"Why Shonda, Why? Why would you do us like this? Dedicated and die-hard fans! We DO NOT deserve this!" Courtney Williams wrote, adding, "It's like you've killed the President of Grey's Anatomy!"

She continued, "People are not sleeping nor eating because of this tragic turn of events and you are not there to help them in any way shape or form!...You cant continue the show without McDreamy. It's not going to happen. We won't allow it to happen!"

As of Monday afternoon, the petition has gotten more than 22,000 signatures from fellow fans hoping to appeal to Rhimes and ABC to change Derek's fate.

Unfortunately for those fans, McDreamy seems to be gone for good. In an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Dempsey said plans for his character's demise "just sort of evolved."

"It's just kind of happened. It really was something that was kind of surprising that unfolded, and it just naturally came to be. Which was pretty good. I like the way it has all played out," he revealed.

Which leaves Meredith Grey to carry on without her husband and longtime love. Ellen Pompeo, who plays Meredith on the series, took to Twitter on Monday to share a note with fans about that heartbreaking plot twist.

"There are so many people out there who have suffered tremendous loss and tragedy," she wrote. "Husbands and wives of soldiers, victims of senseless violence and parents who have lost children. People who get up each day and do what feels like is the impossible. So it [is] for these people and in the spirit of resilience I am honored and excited to tell the story of how Meredith goes on in the face of the impossible. I hope you will all join me on her journey."

"Grey's Anatomy" returns Thursday night at 8 p.m. ET on ABC with a two-hour episode, picking up with Meredith and the other Grey Sloan Memorial doctors as they grieve Derek's death.