After an hour of sitting by Derek's bedside, I knew there was something I needed to do. Two calls to make. So I got up and first called Derek's mother. I explained what happened. She offered to fly out to Seattle, but I told her we would be fine. We had family here.
The next call was even more difficult to make. I called Amelia. When she picked up she answered with some snarky response, but as I told her, trying to keep my composure, what had happened, I heard her breakdown. She said she was on her way here.
I went back to Derek's room and sat by his side. I held his hand, and thought about everything we had been through. I realized that this could have almost been the end of us. That it could still be the end of us.
"Mer," a voice said, interrupting my thoughts. I turned around to see Amelia standing in the doorway to Derek's room. I got up and walked over to her in silence, and we hugged.
"Thank you for calling me," she whispered into my ear.
I told her that she could have some time with him. I was going to talk to the doctors. I went over to the nurses' station outside of Derek's room and waited until I recognized one of Derek's doctors. I saw the redhead first. I tried to remember what her name was…Dr. Blake, I think.
As I talked to her, it became apparent to me that she was smart, but insecure. She knew what she was doing, but would have a difficult time standing up for herself. After a while, I took the chart from her hand to look at it myself. What I saw took my breath away.
I looked at all the scans and saw so many injuries. His pelvis was crushed. His right leg where the semi had hit was fractured in three places. Broken ribs. A severely injured chest. What worried me most though was his head. Looking at the scans, I knew to be expect the worst when he woke up. We wouldn't know if his memory would be intact, if he could speak, or even if he could understand us.
All of a sudden, it all became too much. I felt hot and flushed, and I threw the chart down onto the counter and ran outside. The cool air of the night felt good on my face, but I still felt nauseous. I turned around to see that Dr. Blake had followed me outside. Of course.
"Dr. Grey," she said. "I need you to know that…that we did everything we could. Your husband is lucky. We weren't going to get a head scan, but I pushed. If we hadn't gotten one, he would be dead."
Upon hearing this, the feeling of nausea overwhelmed me, and I ran to the bushes and promptly threw up. They almost hadn't done a brain scan. The dumb hospital almost killed my husband out of negligence.
One my gut was empty, I turned around expecting Dr. Blake to still be standing there, but she wasn't. I guess she had the sense to leave me be.
I walked back into the hospital and back into Derek's room. Amelia said she would take the kids back home and be with them.
Once she and the kids left, I sat down again by Derek's bedside. I laid my head on the bed, my right hand holding his, and my left hand on his legs. I soon fell asleep, waking up every so often, hoping by some miracle that he would be awake when I woke up.
In the morning, I was woken up by a nurse doing an examination. I looked at my watch: 5:15.
"Who do I talk to about transferring him to Grey Sloan?" I asked the nurse.
"I'll go get his doctor," the nurse responded. Twenty minutes later, Derek's doctor, the stuck-up man, was in Derek's room. I asked him about the transfer. He said it would be about two more days until he was stable enough to be moved to another hospital.
I stayed with Derek for the rest of the morning until I felt I hand on my back. I turned around to see Richard. Before I could say anything he spoke:
"Amelia called me. She said you'd need someone here. Now I know you, Meredith. You're going to say you're fine, but it doesn't matter. I'm staying."
I looked at him gratefully. What he had said was spot on. I stood up and hugged him, starting to cry again. After some time, he told me he would be right outside, if I needed anything.
I stayed with Derek for the rest of the day, only leaving his side to go to the bathroom. I ate only when Richard brought me food. I felt numb, without any emotions.
That evening, Amelia came back to the hospital. She told me to go home and get a good night's sleep. I didn't want to leave Derek, but when I tried to protest, Amelia gave me a look. We both knew he was not going to wake up overnight.
When I arrived home, I found Maggie waiting there watching the kids, dinner already cooked.
I thanked her, then took Zola and Bailey into Zola's room. I tried to explain to them that Daddy was hurt. That they couldn't see him just yet, but hopefully they would be able to see him soon. They were both crying, and it broke my heart. The emotions they were exhibiting on the outside were the same ones I was feeling on the inside.
After that, I ate dinner with them, then went upstairs to shower. As the warm water rushed over me, I broke down into tears. I sobbed uncontrollably. I was mad at Derek for getting hit by a semi. I was mad that something like this happened to us after we had been through so much already. I was mad. It was just incredibly unfair.