Shooter

Lexie walked slowly and silently, finding supplies and rolling the cart around, putting on as much as it would hold. Alex had to be okay. There was no way that she was going to let him die right now. Her mind drifted to her friends and then to Meredith, but then she saw something that made every thought in her head disappear. It was the gunman…and it was Mr. Clark. Every muscle in her body froze and she could barely take in a breath.

"Mr. Clark…" Fear enveloped every nerve ending in her body as she held onto the cart for dear life.

"I never meant to hurt all those people…" Lexie's mind went to the dead nurse and to Alex.

"Of course you didn't…you were sad…you were grieving." Lexie spouted off something that wouldn't set the man with the gun off.

"I only wanted to shoot Dr. Shepherd…and Dr. Webber…and you." Mr. Clark raised the gun that was, until that moment, pointing idly to the ground. Lexie swallowed back the paralyzing fear and gritted her teeth. She saw his finger move slowly to the trigger and she closed her eyes, waiting for the pain.

A shot rang out and pain erupted from her shoulder. She fell to the floor and her head cracked against the linoleum floor. There was a second shot and Lexie pushed herself up on her elbows, but as soon as she put weight on her right arm, she fell back to the floor with a groan. She saw Mr. Clark on the ground, shot in the shoulder as well. Lexie had to get out of there. She stood up, staggered by the pain, but the adrenaline pushed her forward. She pushed the cart, half-running-half-tripping to the room where Mark and Alex were. As she ran, she saw what had put Mr. Clark on the ground. There was a man from the SWAT team motioning for her to come to him, but all she could think about was getting the supplies to Alex.

Lexie got to the room, breathing hard, and tears running down her face.

"Lexie, what the…" Mark saw fresh blood seeping through Lexie's scrubs and white coat. "Lexie!" His eyes were wide and he grabbed her by the arms. Just then, the SWAT team came and rushed around, helping Mark get Alex and Lexie out of there.

….

Callie and Arizona were helping the little girl Ruby when Callie's eyes grew wide with fear. Arizona's brows drew together and she turned around to see what Callie was so afraid of. Her jaw dropped a little as she eyed the gun in his shaking hand.

"There are only children here." She said this and turned back around, shielding the little girl from all harm. "There are only children here. There are only children here." Arizona whispered this over and over, zoning out of everything around her. She had to protect Ruby; it was her job. Ruby whimpered and tears streamed from her innocent eyes. A silent tear fell from Arizona's eye and she repeated her sentence again.

Callie looked at Arizona and closed her eyes for a second, determining her plan. She stood up straight and walked slowly toward the gunman. Callie's hands shook as she picked up some bandages to hand to the bleeding gunman. Maybe he would go away if she helped him. Callie walked forward and held out the bandages for him to take. As soon as she did so, the man moved so quickly that Callie didn't have time to react or run. The man grabbed her and wrapped his muscular arm around her neck, squeezing until no air would come into her lungs. Callie began to panic, fighting against the constricting arm with all the strength she had. Even though the gunman was wounded, he was still very strong. Tears fell from her eyes and she tried to yell for Arizona.

Arizona turned around quickly once she heard Callie's yelp and shock washed over her face. She swallowed and took a deep breath, hoping the oxygen would clear her mind enough so she could think of a plan. She could see that Callie was fighting for air; the very air that Arizona was so easily breathing. It made her sick to think that she had been arguing and yelling at her earlier and now she might lose her. All of Arizona's fear now turned to disgust. This man, who she was sure hurt so many people, was choking Callie. She had to do something.

"Pick those up." He barked gruffly at her, still choking a combatant Callie. Callie's eyes were turning red from effort and she grasped at the man's arm that was closing off her airway desperately. Arizona watched as Callie suffered and struggled and she picked up the bandages as quickly as she could.

"Please…let her go." Arizona's voice cracked as she pleaded.

"Get some morphine and a syringe and put all of it in a bag. Hurry before your friend here passes out. I'm not letting go until I get what I came here for." His voice was harsh but Arizona heard a slight undertone of guilt and remorse. She quickly ran around the room and got what he wanted. She gathered it into a bag and held it out, breathing hard.

"Put it on the ground in front of me." There was warning in his voice and she did as she was told. "Don't move…If you move, she dies."

Callie's protests were weak and then they stopped completely. She slumped and the man threw her carelessly to the ground, her head hitting the floor hard. Arizona gasped and worry filled her face. Her legs wanted to move; to be by her side and to get her to breathe again, but her brain stopped and made her stare at the man who grabbed the bag and apologized on his way out. As soon as the man left, Arizona dropped to Callie's side. She listened for any kind of breathing and felt for a pulse. There was nothing. Her heart dropped and she began CPR.

"Come on, Callie! Breathe!" Tears streamed down her face and she put her lips to Callie's, breathing for her. The compressions, she hoped, would restart Callie's heart. Then, a nurse came in with supplies and a defibrillator. "Charge to 300!" Arizona pressed down and shocked her heart. She waited for a second and then went up to 360. Then, Callie opened her eyes and coughed, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. She struggled and made a wretched sound trying to breathe.

"I need O2!" The nurse quickly got it and Arizona gingerly picked up Callie's head and put the mask on. "Breathe, Callie. Come on, sweetie. Just breathe." Callie couldn't seem to get a breath in and she was panicking again.

"Callie! Look at me. Just calm down and breathe. You're gonna be okay. Just breathe." Arizona spoke softly but with authority. Callie's wild eyes stared into Arizona's and she still couldn't catch her breath.

"Gosh…if she doesn't get air soon, we'll have to intubate. Can you get that ready just in case?" She said this aside to the nurse, trying to keep it from scaring Callie. But it was too late; Callie heard her and thrashed against Arizona's restraining hands, shaking her head.

"Shhh…Callie, it's okay. Breathe…and we won't have to intubate. Just breathe." Arizona couldn't help but think that something was obstructing her airway, so she checked. When she didn't see anything she grabbed Callie's face in her hands and made her pay attention. She prayed that Callie would start breathing; she couldn't stand watching Callie in so much pain. "Callie." Her voice was full of fear, love, worry, and determination. It took a couple of seconds, but Callie drew in her first breath. Arizona sighed in relief and grabbed gauze to stop the bleeding from Callie's head wound.

….

"Shoot me!" Meredith's voice was pleading and defiant, her eyes wild with desperation and tears as she stood behind the man with the gun.

"Meredith." Cristina whispered and closed her eyes, praying that this wasn't happening as she shook her head. Meredith saw the gun pressed against her best friend's head and disgust filled her entire being. The pit in the bottom of her stomach grew and she knew that what she was doing was right. She could imagine Cristina's face full of disbelief as she worked tirelessly on her husband, but whatever it took to save Derek, she would do it. There was no living without Derek. Meredith couldn't…and wouldn't live without Derek after she had worked so hard to find him. She had to save him. Getting shot didn't seem like a big price to pay for saving her husband's life.

"You want justice right? Your wife died. I know what happened: Derek told me the story. Lexie Grey is the one who pulled the plug on your wife: She's my sister. Dr. Webber - he was your wife's doctor. I'm the closest thing he has to a daughter. And the man on the table…I'm his wife…. If you wanna hurt them…the way that you hurt…Shoot me. I'm your eye for an eye." Tears streamed from her eyes, but as Mr. Clark moved the gun to Meredith's face, she wasn't scared anymore. Cristina was safe and Derek would be okay. As soon as Mr. Clark shot her, Owen was sure to take Mr. Clark down. She could now see Cristina's grief-stricken face and Avery's shock as they could tell that Meredith's speech was working. "Tell Derek that I love him and that I'm sorry. " It was short and final…and it seemed like a pretty good choice for her last words.

"Meredith." Cristina whispered again, willing Mr. Clark to put the gun to her own head again. "Wait, wait, wait, wait…ssshe's pregnant…you wouldn't shoot a woman who's pregnant...please…" Cristina, breathing hard, pleaded for Meredith's life that she was just giving away like yesterday's garbage. Cristina's eyes filled with tears and she stared at her best friend. Meredith's eyes widened and she swallowed, hoping that Mr. Clark wouldn't care. Mr. Clark's eyes wavered and a sinking feeling overtook Meredith…it wasn't working. Meredith saw a little movement from Owen and she warned him with a look, though it didn't seem to get through to him. Owen's eyes were determined and unafraid. Mr. Clark looked into Meredith's eyes.

"Your wife could've lived! After they pulled the plug, we looked over the films again. There was minimal brain activity…but there was hope!" Meredith was making something up – anything to make him shoot her instead of Cristina or Derek.

"No! She's lying. There was no hope!" Cristina yelled but she was too late. Mr. Clark had already pulled the trigger. Owen lunged for Clark, but instead of stopping the bullet, he tackled him after he shot. Meredith saw the man pull the trigger and felt the searing bullet tear through her flesh and she yelled out in excruciating pain. She felt her vision blur and energy seep out of her in the form of hot, red blood. All she wanted to do was tell Cristina that she was alright, but she couldn't even hold her eyes open. It was like she was swimming in water that was so deep that she couldn't swim fast enough to break the surface. Meredith could feel her breathing slow and panic set in. She was getting cold…which was a terrible sign. A dark cloud washed over her and blackness filled the fading light.

Subduing the shooter, Owen looked to Meredith, hoping the bullet had missed her. His heart sank as he heard Cristina's screams and saw all of the blood seeping onto the floor. Mr. Clark was out cold and Owen quickly found something to tie him up with. As soon as he had him restrained, he stood and shook Cristina's shoulders.

"I'll take care of Meredith! You save Shepherd! Do you hear me? Meredith's gonna be okay! Avery! Focus!" Owen brought them back to reality and forced Cristina to turn away from her best friend, who was lying in a pool of her own blood, dying. Tears streamed from her eyes and she whimpered, trying to focus on saving Derek's life when her best friend was dying. This was more than she could handle, but she had to focus and suck it up. Lives were at stake and she was responsible for the one unconscious on the table. She was going to save his life…so she pushed the fact that Meredith was shot out of her mind for the time being for Derek.

"Kepner! Get in here and help me!" Owen's booming voice made April come running and her already shocked eyes grew wider. "Get a gurney ready now! OR 2!" Owen picked Meredith up and ran into the next OR, laying her down carefully, ordering April around. Meredith's lifeless body lay on the table, blood pooling around her. She was shot in the abdomen…Owen took a deep breath and let it out, focusing. They got her hooked up to the monitors and Hunt began running through the procedures, only focused on saving his girlfriend's best friend. If Meredith died, then Cristina would no longer be Cristina anymore. There was no option…Meredith was going to live.

Hours later, the SWAT team had cleared the hospital and taken Mr. Clark into custody. Hunt and Cristina were still working on Derek and Cristina, but now other doctors were helping them.

….

Arizona smoothed Callie's hair as she coached her breathing. Callie was still fighting for oxygen and could barely breathe. Arizona figured that they needed an x-ray to rule out a trachea fracture, but didn't know if they could move through the hospital because of the shooter. It was killing Arizona that Callie was in so much pain…and she couldn't do anything to help her. Arizona was worried about the head injury that Callie had sustained and was intermittently checking Callie's pupils. She whispered encouraging words and glanced around the room and then settled on the nurse who was helping.

"Can you get me a gurney?" The nurse nodded and stood, quickly following orders. When she came back, Arizona and the nurse helped Callie stand up, carefully laying her down and rolling her next to Ruby. Then, as Arizona checked on Ruby, a few men from the SWAT team came in, telling them that the hospital was clear now and they had to evacuate to Seattle Pres. With that, Callie tried sitting up, wanting to walk, but Arizona frowned, gently pushing her back down

"Callie, you need to stay still. We're going to take you to Seattle Pres. and check this out, get scans done, and rule everything out. There's a reason why you're having so much trouble breathing and we're going to fix it." Arizona flattened Callie's hair, smiling sadly as some paramedics came in to help escort the ones who needed medical attention to the hospital.

Not sure if I'm just going to make this a one-shot or not. REVIEW! Tell me what you think! –mlw217-