Eight year old, Lillibeth Tala Braylon just arrived at Seattle Grace Memorial from Africa along with a bunch of other kids who needed surgery. Lillibeth needed a new heart since she had congenital heart disease.
Meredith walked in Lillibeth's room to check on her.
"This is Lillibeth. She's eight years old, born with congenital heart disease. She had implants to help her heart but never a heart transplant which is what she need." Lexie explained to her sister who just walked in.
"Hey Lillibeth. I'm Dr. Grey. How are you doing?" Meredith asked as she checked the girl's heartbeat.
"Wapi Zozo maharage? Nataka kuona yake." Lillibeth asked in Swahili
The translator/nurse from African orphanage, Odelia said, "Lillibeth wants to know where Zola is? She wants to see her."
Meredith nodded, "Zola's with Dr. Shepherd. He's the best neurosurgeon in the country."
Lillibeth looked at Meredith's blue green eyes. She said in Swahili, "Wewe ni kama mimi. Msichana na macho kusikitisha."
"Lilli, don't say that." Odelia said firmly
"What did she say?" Lexie asked
Odelia replied with a sigh, "She said you're like me. The girl with the sad eyes."
Meredith looked shocked. She didn't know what to say because it was true. Although Meredith was happy on the outside, deep down inside she was really sad.
Then Meredith nodded, "You're right, Lillibeth. That's very observant of you." Lillibeth smiled.
Meanwhile in Zola's hospital room, Jo Wilson stated, "This is Zola. She's six months old, and born with spina bifida."
A little while later, Derek walked into the hospital room where Zola is, "Makena? Hi, I'm Dr. Shepherd. I'm here to take a look at Zola today. Uh, sometimes babies with spina bifida can develop Chiari malformation. It causes fluid build-up in the brain. It could be pretty uncomfortable, but sometimes, if you adjust the patient's head position ... It helps relieve the pressure." Then he added, "Let me see this. Let me see this face."
"We've had her at the orphanage since she was 2 months old. This is the first time she's stopped crying since I can remember." Makena stated impressed that Derek was able to stop Zola's crying so easily and quickly.
"Let's just run an MRI and check to see if she has a Chiari malformation or hydrocephalus. If it's positive, we're gonna have to do a shunt, drain the fluid. " Derek explained "It's gonna postpone the spinal surgery, but I think it's gonna be worth it."
"I think she likes you." Makena stated with a small smile as she watched Zola explore Derek lab coat.
Zola took Derek's lamplight from his pocket and started to suck on it. Derek smiled and then said, "She can keep that lamplight."
Back with Lillibeth, Meredith paged Derek.
Derek walks into the room and looks at Meredith, "Hey. You paged me? Do you need a neuro consult?"
"Yes I did page you, but not for a neuro consult." Meredith replied "This is Lillibeth. She eight. Lillibeth, this is Dr. Shepherd. He's the doctor on Zola's case."
Derek looks at Meredith, "I hope this isn't a social call because I don't have the time."
Meredith shakes her head, "No it's not. Lillibeth was asking for Zola, and I know she can't see her at the moment, but maybe you could tell her how Zola is."
"Oh" Derek replies nodding in understanding. Then he looks at Lillibeth, "Don't worry, Lillibeth. Zola is in excellent hands with me, and she's doing just fine."
"Unaweza simu yangu Lilli" Lillibeth said in Swahili
Derek looked confused, "Lilli? You want to be called Lilli?" Lillibeth smiled and nodded.
Derek smiled, "Okay Lilli."
"Dk Mchungaji, kuwaambia Zozo maharage nilivyosema hodi na kwamba I miss na upendo wake." Lillibeth told Derek
This time Derek looked up at the translator. She translated, "Lilli said to tell Zola hi and that she loves and misses her."
Derek nodded, "I will, Lilli. I will."
When Derek returned with Zola from the MRI, "So Zola doesn't have a Chiari malformation, but she does have hydrocephalus."
"Okay. Let's book an O.R. for the shunt right away, okay?" Alex replied
Derek nodded, "That's the plan and I'm letting you scrub in with me."
Later after Zola's surgery, Derek paged Meredith, " Hi. You paged?"
"Yeah. Zola, this is Meredith. Meredith, this is Zola." Derek introduced "Here, can you hold her for a minute?"
"Uh, sure." Meredith replied unsure of what Derek was doing
"Okay. Zola, can you smile for me?" Derek asked. Then when Zola smiled he got all excited and giddy like a little kid on Christmas, "Yeah. See? Her facial movements are intact. Okay, look. Over here. See that? Watch how she's tracking. Neuro exam is good, even after the shunt."
Meredith replied not as amused or excited as Derek is, "Great. Did something happen? Why did you page?"
"I need to ask you something, okay?" Derek stated and Meredith just nodded. Then he added, "I need you to be completely honest with me. Okay?"
"If Alex said something to you..." Meredith started
Derek interrupted Meredith not interested in what she was saying, "Let's adopt this baby."
"What? Are you serious?" Meredith replied shocked
"Yeah." Derek nodded. Then he explained, "You know, I was holding her yesterday, and she was crying, and then she stopped. And I've-I've held a lot of babies. I've fixed a lot of babies, but I looked down at Zola ... I don't know what it was. I just ... I just couldn't imagine her being with any other parent or any other family. We've been trying so hard to start a family, and-and she needs one. Let's adopt her. I'm serious. Let's adopt her."
Meredith stood holding Zola while staring at Derek clearing still in shock and trying to figure out if he was really, truly serious.
Later when Meredith was taking Lillibeth into surgery.
"Dk Grey?" Lillibeth asked looking up at Meredith with scared eyes
"Yes Lilli?" Meredith replied
"Mimi ni kwenda kufa? Kwa sababu kama mimi, nataka kuona Zozo maharage." Lillibeth said in Swahili
Meredith looked up at the translator who said, "Lilli asked if she's going to die, and if she is she wants to see Zola."
Meredith nodded and then looked back at Lillibeth, "Lilli, I can assure you that you're not going to die. You have the best doctors working on you and you can see Zola when you're out of surgery. " Lillibeth nodded and smiled
It was at that moment that Meredith knew she wanted to be a mother to this little girl. She wanted to adopt Lillibeth and Zola with Derek.
After Lillibeth's surgery, Meredith paged Derek and was sitting in Lillibeth's room waiting for the little girl to wake up, but also she was waiting for Derek.
Derek appeared in the doorway, "You paged again? For a patient who had a bad heart."
"Again I don't need a neuro consult." Meredith replied "I wanted to ask you something."
Derek looked confused, "What is it?"
"What do you think about adopting Lillibeth too?" Meredith asked "Its obvious to me that Lillibeth cares a great deal for Zola, as she has been asking when she can see Zola all day. Plus I don't know what it is about Lillibeth, but I can't imagine not being her mom. So lets adopt her."
Derek smiles amused and then walks over to hug Meredith, "Okay we will, and when Lillibeth wakes up you can bring her by to see Zola."
Meredith hugs Derek back, "Thanks Derek."
"Look at this list ... blood work, financial statements, a home study, I mean, fire alarms. And this is all just to see if the USCIS thinks that we're suitable to adopt." Meredith said in shock
"Look, if you don't want to do this..." Derek started
Meredith interrupted him, "No, I do. They could be our little girls."
"They will be." Derek added "Look, don't get overwhelmed, okay? We're gonna take this list one step at a time, one day at a time, okay? In fact, look, I can see something we could cross off today. Look. Right here."
"I told you, I don't want to do that." Meredith replied
"Well, it's for Zola and Lillibeth." Derek stated