Here I am with CH3, I have been revising all morning but I thought I would take a 20 minutes break and upload this chapter.
Also, if you haven't already please go and check out my oneshot "Done Talking"- but don't say I never warned you it's a tear jerker ;)
Hope you enjoy and don't forget to review!
Cristina took a deep breath before entering the room, the sight that greeted her was one she would never forget. Nobody bothered to kick her out or even speak, because they knew it would fall on deaf ears. The only sound that filled the room was the flat line of Meredith's heart and the sound of someone manually ventilating her, each puff every few seconds making Cristina shiver. She stood in complete shock at the bottom of her bed, gulping nervously as she stared solemnly at her best friends still form. She looked to her feet and back up again, wrapping her hands around her feet and staring at Bailey.
"Try again" Nobody moved, everyone staring at Cristina in agony. She took in a sharp intake of breath, turning her glazed over, icy gaze to Richard.
"Try again!" She shouted, Bailey nodding slowly, snapping everyone out of their haze. They injected her one more time, charging the machine and shocking her chest, her body rocketing off the table, slamming back down again. Everyone was silent, her monitor still flat lining until suddenly-
Beep, beep, beep.
Everyone looked around in utter awe.
"Do we have a heart beat?" Bailey asked, knowing that at times the machine can pick up something that isn't actually there. Burke stepping forwards to double check her heart, nodding with a sigh, standing back up again.
"We got it" Bailey let out a relieved laugh, Cristina closing her eyes for a moment as the monitor continued to beep along with her pumping heart. She was back. It didn't take long for Meredith to be breathing on her own, Bailey ushering unwanted members of staff out while she removed the breathing tube. At that moment, Addison walked into the room, the sight blowing her back momentarily.
"She's breathing on her own?" She asked, the wind taken out of her as she stood beside Cristina who was still at the foot of her bed, unmoved.
"Yes she is" Bailey nodded with a smile, not ashamed to admit she was happy as anything that Meredith was on an upward ride currently. They pushed her bed up to a sitting position, Meredith still unconscious but all in all, doing everything she needed to be doing without the assistance of machines. Addison rounded to her side, feeling her forehead slightly, still shocked at how cold her skin was.
"She has erm- she's been down a long time. Do we know the brain function yet?" She hated to be the one to say it, but someone had to because it was right. She had been on bypass for almost 2 hours, meaning her brain had suffered more than it should have.
"We don't know" Addison knew that it was Derek's expertise that was needed now and noticed that he wasn't in the room yet.
"Derek? Does he kn-?"Bailey interrupted her, shaking her head.
"I haven't paged him yet. I wanted to-"She stopped mid sentence, looking down at Meredith one more time, a stray tear rolling down her cheek before she looked back up at Addison.
"I'm giving her more time" She nodded to Cristina who was fixated in that same statue position, Addison glancing over with a nod. Bailey rubbed Meredith's hand under the blanket before leaving the room, motioning for the last remaining nurse to follow her. Addison slowly made her way back to the door, Cristina clearing her throat catching the woman's attention.
"Thank you Addison" It was the first time Cristina had looked at the woman with such passion and it made her heart swell, a tear finally being released from her watery eyes.
"Page me when you need me okay?" She nodded, Addison leaving the room, letting her emotions get the best of her. As the door closed over, a muffled sob escaped her lips, the relief that Meredith was alive rushing over her body. She will be fine. Cristina watched as the door closed over before turning back to Meredith, the fact her chest was rising and falling bringing her much comfort. A few minutes passed and suddenly Meredith's head twitched, a inaudible mumble leaving her lips. Cristina jumped into action, running to her bed side.
"Did you just say something? Did you just speak? Oh- Meredith. Okay, Mere I can't understand you. Just try, try again. Try again for me okay?" She seemed to be waking up more, another few inaudible words leaving her mouth.
"What? I can't, come on please. Please don't be-" She closed her eyes for a moment, taking a deep breath before placing her hands either side of Meredith's face, opening her eyes.
"-You're brain works okay? So all you need to do is form a word- please" A few more moments passed, Meredith's eyes fluttering under her eyelids before she opened her mouth, Cristina on the edge of her toes begging that she would just speak.
"Ouch" It was quiet, but it was there. Ouch. Then it happened, for the first time Cristina had never been so happy to make eye contact with someone in her life. She laughed, multiple tears rolling down her cheeks.
"Oh- hi! I'm getting married to Burke- not that that should be anywhere on your lists of thoughts right now, but just in case you slip in the hall later" A pained smile spread across Meredith's face, a stray tear falling down her cheek.
"You are the one person I wanted to tell" From outside, Bailey stood in the window watching with a smile on her face.
"Dr Bailey- what's happened?" George called from the end of the hall, Bailey ushering him over to the window. He ran up to her side, the sight of Cristina talking, Meredith lying with her eyes open smiling making him laugh with relief. A few minutes later Izzie and Alex joined them, the relief flooding through them as Bailey turned to them all.
"Take the next three days off, you all deserve it" She walked away, leaving them all to knock on the door and see Meredith for themselves. Cristina opened the door letting them all in, Meredith trying to sit up but Cristina stopped her before she could even move a muscle.
"You died, for like, 4 hours Mere. No moving" Much to their shock, she just nodded and settled back down, Izzie coming to her other side.
"Don't you ever scare us like that ever again okay? We were so worried about you" A tear rolled down her cheek, Meredith nodding to her, nudging her leg with her hand for Izzie to grab.
"I'm sorry" Her voice was still hoarse from the breathing tube but everyone heard. Cristina paged Addison, knowing it was only fair and knew she should page Derek as well- but opted to ring him instead.
"I'll be back in a second" Meredith nodded and watched as she left the room, George coming up to her bedside replacing Cristina. Alex stayed at the foot of her bed, still keeping as close to her as he could. Outside, Cristina dialled Derek's number, waiting anxiously for him to answer.
"Cristina please don't say it" The agony in his voice broke her heart, and she felt the weight lift off her shoulders as she told him the news he really needed to hear.
"She is awake Derek. She is awake and breathing on her own and everything is okay" He sighed heavily, laughing slightly at her.
"Is she okay? Has she spoken yet?"
"Well the first thing she said to me was ouch so I think she is going to be okay- all thanks to you"
"I didn't do anything Cristina"
"You found her Derek. Who knows what would have happened if you never brought her in. She is alive right now because of you" There was an awkward silence between the two, Cristina expecting him to be a bit more happy about her being awake.
"Cristina her mother is dead. She coded about 20 minutes ago- I couldn't get her back" Cristina glanced into the room, Meredith looking to George who was crying and holding her other hand, her face starting to gain some redness from the tears she was clearly shedding.
"Come down and see her. We will talk later okay? She needs to see you right now" She hung up, looking up to see Addison running down the hall.
"Is she awake? Is everything okay? How is her brain function? Have you paged Derek?" Cristina smiled, running her hand through her tatted hair as she nodded to the door.
"Go and see her Addison" Addison nodded and walked in, Meredith slowly turning her head to see her.
"What took you so long?" She tried to laugh, her throat still sore but it was enough for Addison.
"Waiting for you to get your damn ass back on earth that's where" She laughed, Meredith rolling her eyes at her. Izzie moved over, Addison thanking her as she say down, rubbing her leg comfortingly.
"Where is Derek?" Meredith asked, her eyes searching the room for the one person she craved to see right now.
"I called him before, he is on his way down" She nodded, taking a sharp intake of breath.
"Are you in any pain?" Alex asked, noticing how her face was strained.
"Of course I am, you have all be shocking my body for the past 4 hours" She said sarcastically, Cristina shaking her head. They all laughed, Meredith smiling as she closed her eyes. Izzie tightened her grip slightly on her hand, Meredith opening one hand slightly. It pained her even more to see the agony on their faces, Meredith squeezing her hand back.
"I'm sleeping, don't worry" Izzie nodded, looking down as tears threatened to overspill again, Meredith nodding and closing her eyes.
"I'll give you something for the pain and we will get you moved to ICU" Addison stated, Meredith merely mumbling an okay before falling asleep, Addison changing her IV and paging Bailey so they could get her a room. George, Alex, Izzie and Cristina waited outside while they prepared her, Derek sprinting down the hall to greet them.
"What happened?"
"They are moving her to ICU, they have given her something to help the pain for now but she should be waking back up when they get her settled" Cristina stated, the door opening. Derek couldn't help the sob that escaped his lips as he saw her, glad that her still, cold form was not the last he was going to see of her.
"She is going to be okay Derek" Addison said, helping Bailey push her to the double doors where everyone followed.
"Let's try and keep her visitors to a minimum for now okay?" Bailey stated, raising her eyebrows at the interns who nodded, Cristina rubbing Derek's arm to push him forward.
"Page me" He nodded, knowing she wanted to talk to him properly. They all stayed behind, watching as they wheeled her to the elevator and disappeared.
"Was I the only one who thought we had lost her today?" George said after a few moments of silence, Alex rubbing Izzie's arm in comfort.
"When you all left I walked in, and I don't think I'll ever be able to look at her again without seeing her like that. I thought that was going to be my last memory with her" Izzie mumbled, George grabbing her hand.
"She is okay though, everything is going to be okay" Alex said, George nodding. Cristina stood back, Addison's words replaying over and over again in her mind. He thinks she went into the water on purpose. She wouldn't do that though, would she? She wouldn't feel that rejected. No, this is Meredith Grey. Meredith Grey is a fighter. She had to be.