First off, a huge thank you to everyone who has subscribed to story alert or has done favourite story- an extra big hug for thos who reviewed!
This chapter doesn't have much, I just wanted to show you how the relationship between Lexie and Meredith has changed.
I DO NOT OWN ANY OF THE CHARACTERS
Jesus, this accident had been big. Meredith had been working for three hours solid and ambulances were still coming in every few minutes, she had changed her gloves more times than she could count and there were blood stains on her scrubs. She realised that the traumas were becoming worse; they must be getting closer to the centre of the crash. Owen leapt from patient to patient, a gaggle of interns close behind him, at each patient one of them broke away to continue his work.
"Doctor Grey!" She rubbed her eyes tiredly and spun round, the origin of the voice- Doctor Bailey was sprinting toward her, her hands grasping the rails of a gurney on which lay a man covered in blood and unconscious. He was in the worst condition of anyone Meredith had seen so far, his face was bruised and cut, his right leg was at an impossible angle- Meredith pulled his shirt open and her eyes widened in shock. A huge purple bruise spread across the man's abdomen and when she put her fingers to it she realised it was rock solid. This man had a severe case of internal bleeding. As they raced down the corridors an intern reeled off his stats.
"John Doe, about 36 year's old, broken leg, possible fractured skull..."
"And a severe case on internal bleeding, this man needs surgery now!" Meredith continued, pushing the intern out of the way as they headed into the operating room. People parted before them without a word, those who had only been slightly injured by the crash stood in the overcrowded corridors, some holding gauze to their bleeding noses, others nursing cuts or broken bones. As they prepared him for surgery Meredith found a wallet in the man's trouser pocket. Opening it she saw a bloodstained photo of a young woman standing on a ferry, a child clung to her hand with grim determination. Dragging her eyes away from the photo, she took in the name on the credit card 'Adam Smith'. "His name's Adam Smith" she murmured to Bailey who nodded.
"I'm going to need you to leave Doctor Grey; I can take it from here"
"But...why the hell did you call me in the first place?" Meredith replied, angry.
"I called you here because I thought I would need your help" Bailey kept her tone calm as she pulled on the surgical gloves "But this man was the cause of the crash and it's going to take a miracle for him to survive. So, I want you to get your ass out there and tell those people waiting to see whether their loved ones are alive or dead that we have found the cause of all of their pain and therefore" she paused, watching Meredith's startled eyes. "All of the people who were injured in the crash should either be here, being treated- or they will have been transferred. Karev's way of identifying John and Jane Does is being used and the list of people who have been transferred will be complete. Go out there and tell those people who are terrified that their family members are dead, what is going on" she paused "now!"
Meredith nodded, pulling off her gloves and running into the crowded waiting area. Immediately she was swamped by people, pulling at her from every side. She could hear their cries as they pleaded with her for information of Johnny, Sam, Lizzie, Kate, Josie, Ben, Dave; the list went on. She threw up her hands, pulling free of everyone around her and the room became silent. "Listen" she hollered "We have the man who is responsible for the crash in surgery now. This means that we should have found everyone involved in the crash" as soon as the words were out of her mouth a murmur went around the room. Meredith continued "We have photos of everyone who hasn't been identified. They have been sorted into three groups, those that have come in unconscious and we need to keep them in the hospital for the time being, people in surgery..." she paused, not knowing how to phrase the next category.
"What's the third?" A tall woman called from the back, her cheeks covered in tear tracks.
"The third is those that didn't make it" Meredith finished and a man beside her gasped, she felt a hand constricting at her heart as she saw the pain in everyone's faces. "If your loved ones' photos are not up on the board please see reception as they may have been transferred to another hospital" but hardly anyone was listening to her. They were all crowded around the board but no one was talking. Some people clutched the photos to them, hugging the nearest person in relief; whilst others pulled the photo of the board with disbelief, tears falling freely down their cheeks. She had to get away.
She turned to go when a small hand caught her arm. A small boy with a mop of tousled red hair and green eyes looked up at her. "Thank you" he said quietly and a lump formed in her throat. She nodded and gave a small smile, turning and leaving. She hurried down the corridor, trying not to take in all of the people standing around. She headed for the broom closet and opened it...to find it already occupied. Lexie sat on an upturned bucket, wiping her eyes with a well used tissue; it was almost like seeing Addison in there again, "Lexie" her voice was questioning, over time she'd become fond of her baby sister. She climbed into the cramped space, turning up another bucket and sitting down "What's up?"
"I'm sorry Meredith, it's not professional to be affected by all of this but...there are just so many people and..."
Meredith shushed her and put her arm around her, this was an extreme show of affection even after all of this time and Lexie was extremely surprised. "I know Lex, I know" Meredith murmured "Why do you think I came here?"
"So, it doesn't go away?"
"For some people yes, normally I'm not so emotional" she wiped her eyes with her sleeve "It just reminds me of the ferry accident"
"Yeah, Derek told me about that"
Meredith didn't know whether to be upset or just plain pissed, that was her business, not Lexie's, she sighed, now wasn't the time to fight with her boyfriend "When I woke up there were so many people waiting around to find out if their relatives were alright. Izzie told me that Derek sat in the corridor for hours" the thought was painful, her loyal boyfriend, she didn't deserve him. If she told Derek that, he'd just get angry. She gave a small shake of her head; she'd never leave him though...even if she didn't deserve him.
"Meredith" Lexie mumbled "when you were...you know"
"Dead"
"Yeah" Lexie continued uncomfortably "was there anything? Like a special place?"
"You mean heaven?" Meredith asked with a small laugh, she stopped as soon as she saw her half-sister's face "You're thinking about Susan aren't you" Lexie nodded, looking down at her lap "Well..." she wasn't sure if she wanted to tell her this, it was to personal. She stood up, "I have to go" then she noticed the tears falling down Lexie's face and she sat back down, resigned "Ok, I was... in the hospital"
"I know, you were..."
"No Lex, I was in the hospital- in the afterlife sense"
"Do all the patients go there?" This was Lexie's worst nightmare, her mother hated hospitals.
"No, I think it's different for everyone, Denny said it was my afterlife"
"Denny? Wasn't he..."
"Izzie's fiancé? Yes, he was. There was also two other old patients- one had been my mother's scrub nurse, and a young girl who we couldn't save. There was Dylan who'd saved me from a bomb that had been in the hospital," she paused "and Doc" she smiled "my dog"
"But why were they all there? Surely the old patients couldn't have been that important to you."
Meredith sighed "They said...that they were all there to save me, that they had to before the could truly be at peace"
"But the man who saved you from the bomb..."
"Dylan said he could travel from my afterlife to his"
Lexie nodded slowly and finally said "Didn't your mother die moments before you came round?"
There was a long silence and Lexie wondered if she'd overstepped the mark, but Meredith nodded "I saw her briefly...but it was enough to make up for all of the time we spent apart"
Lexie looked at her half-sister who was no longer watching her, her hands were tightly clasped in her lap and her eyes firmly fixed on them. "Thank you Meredith" Lexie said finally and got up from the bucket, squeezing herself over to the door. Meredith nodded, not saying a word "Meredith?" she lifted her eyes to her sister who was standing by the open door "You should tell Derek, I know it was none was none of my business to ask but I think he'd like to know. You're good together"
Meredith chuckled and smiled "Thanks Lex"
"No problem" Lexie answered with a smile and left Meredith to her thoughts.
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