One Of Those Days
It was a bad feeling. Like the one she had the day she was nearly blown into a million pieces from a bomb. A feeling that was twisting in her stomach and giving her tunnel vision. Something bad was going to happen. She wasn't sure when. It didn't seem very pressing. But Meredith knew something…something terrible was going to happen soon. She just prayed the bad juju didn't touch Derek or Zola.
The plane jumped, but settled quickly, gliding peacefully above the clouds. Meredith closed her eyes and leaned back in her seat. Her thoughts went back to her beautiful baby girl and what moving to Boston would have in store for her. The image of Zola with a Boston accent filled her scenes and she grinned. The thought of leaving Seattle, however, caused the grin to fade and the twisting feeling in her stomach reappeared. The bad feeling, the one she had experienced when the bomb had been brought into Seattle Grace had made a home in Meredith's stomach for a second time a few weeks ago. Now, Meredith realized, it was because everyone was leaving. Nothing good can come from her family being torn apart.
She heard Christina talking with Arizona; both their voices were low, almost sad. So many things were pressing on everyone's minds, not just hers, Meredith realized. These next few weeks were going to be very trying. The small family Meredith never thought she would have was being splintered down the middle. Meredith wasn't sure she was ready. She took a sharp intake of breath and closed her eyes tighter. She felt Derek's hand cover hers on the armrest and she smiled slightly. At least she would still have him and Zola. But what about her person? Well…her other person? What about Christina? Her second soul mate?
Could she really leave Seattle for good? Sure, she didn't have the happiest memories there but they were still memories, they were a part of her and made her the woman she is today. Could she really just leave that in the dust and expect not the look back?
The plane jumped again.
"Stupid fucking turbulence," Meredith heard Mark mutter from the seat in front of her.
"Oh yeah, I forgot you were scared of flying," Derek said. Without opening her eyes, Meredith could see the teasing smile on her husband's face. She had seen it so many times before and knew from his voice when it was present. She loved that smile.
"What? Big shot plastic surgeon is scared of a little turbulence?" asked Arizona, her voice laced in a giggle.
"No," Mark said. "I'm not scared. I'm just not a fan of flying, sue me."
It was comfortable, almost soothing to hear familiar voices speaking around her. Meredith leaned her head on Derek's shoulder and continued to listen to her husband chuckle at his best friend and his phobia.
"I remember that one time the two of us were going down to Florida in college. Mark begged us, practically pleaded on his knees for us to drive down. Once we were on the plane we nearly had to sedate the bastard,"
"You're exaggerating, Shepherd." Mark said, speaking over the laughter from Arizona and Christina.
"I'm not a fan of flying either," Meredith heard Lexie say from the back of the plane. "It's always been a phobia of mine ever since I was a little girl,"
"Considering there are more car crashes than plane crashes statistically, I think your phobia is with the wrong form of transportation." Christina said.
"I'm not scared of flying. It's not a phobia." Mark said, his voice growing more aggressive. "I'm not scared of anything. Except maybe Yang,"
"Smart man," Christina said before joining in on the laughter that surrounded her.
Meredith smiled and kept her eyes closed as she listened to her friends and family laughing together. She wondered if this would be the last time they would have the opportunity to do this. She wasn't one for sentimental moments. She barely recognized her attachment to these people in herself until they were leaving.
The plane jumped again and started rocking a bit. This time it didn't even out.
"Fuck," said Mark again.
"No," said Derek, sitting up straighter, forcing Meredith to remove her head from his shoulder. "This isn't turbulence…something is wrong…"
The sound of panic in her husband's voice made Meredith open her eyes.
"What do you me-" Arizona's question was cut off when the plane violently jumped one last time before tilting forward and falling from the sky.
Meredith couldn't comprehend what was happening. Screams were filling her ears from all directions. Everything was happening so fast Meredith couldn't connect everything together. Crashing? They were crashing? No..no, this wasn't happening. It couldn't be.
She heard Mark screaming out a slew of obscenities and Arizona was screaming so frantically that it was almost deafening. Meredith found she couldn't make a sound. She had lost the ability to speak.
She looked over at Derek who was gripping her hand tightly. His other hand was bracing his body against the seat in front of him.
"We're gonna die," Meredith managed to squeak out. She wasn't sure if Derek heard her over the sound of the plane free falling or the screams from everyone else in the cabin, but he looked over at her with wide, panic filled eyes and leaned in, kissing her with more passion than she had ever experienced in her life.
The oxygen masks sprang free and fell into their faces, causing them to break apart. Meredith looked to her left towards Christina who was crying and shaking her head. Their eyes met but they didn't say a word. They knew this was the end, they were going to die.
"Lexie!" Mark screamed. "Lexie!"
Meredith, her eyes still on Christina, heard Arizona still frantically screaming but she didn't hear Lexie. Before she could turn to see her sister for the last time, there was a hue exploding sound and suddenly there was lots of wind and air, sucking and pulling her. She screamed and felt Derek's hand get forcibly pulled away from hers. She vaguely heard him screaming but the sound of the wind was consuming her senses.
The plane crashed. It hit the earth with a maddening blow, causing Meredith to be ripped from her seat and slam onto the ground. Her body was flung down the aisle of the plane, slamming into everything and anything. She felt no pain. She heard nothing. All she saw was darkness.
This was it. This was death. Her life was over.
"Derek," she heard herself whisper. Or maybe it wasn't her. It sounded far away.
More darkness. More deafness. And then, nothing.