A/N – Hey guys I know this chapter took a while to upload but I have been snowed under with assessments so now I'm playing catch-up with all of my stories and to the guest reviewer who asked me "What the hell is taking so long?" there is your answer and while I appreciate the readership of this story I do not appreciate when they complain that it is taking so long to get a new update. When you've had four assessments all at once – one of which was making a short film – you will understand why I've been slightly too busy to update until then can you please stop bitching about it and deal with it.
Aside from my little rant, I will warn you that this chapter does involve a little bit of Grey family love. I always did feel that Thatcher was slightly mistreated, yes he's an alcoholic and yes he left but at least he attempted to heal his relationship with Meredith when so many others wouldn't.
Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own Grey's Anatomy If I did, Lexie and Mark would be alive with three kids by now and Jackson and April wouldn't be having their argument about her religion.
When the night has come
And the land is dark
And the moon is the only light we'll see
No I won't be afraid, no I won't be afraid
Just as long as you stand, stand by me
Meredith had been unable to sleep since Alex had rushed out of the room after witnessing the building across the street collapse, she wanted to see her husband, her sister, her daughter, even her father would do, she just wanted someone to be by her side, to hug her and tell her she'd be alright – as sappy as she knew that sounded.
One of the newer nurses walked into Meredith's room just as she'd been thinking these thoughts for the fifth or sixth time "Er… Dr Grey? Your father is on the phone, he wants to know if you and your sister are okay. What do you want me to tell him?"
"Tell him… tell him Lexie's okay but I'm not… not doing too well," she told the nurse, almost breaking down in tears.
"Do you want me to disclose details or…?"
"No!" Meredith ordered, summoning as much of her Medusa façade as she possibly could.
"Mer, you don't have to yell at her," came Lexie's voice as she entered the room, Meredith gave her younger sister a wry smile "Sorry, I just got Bailey's page, I've been to see Derek for you, he's still unconscious," the brunette explained and watched her sister frown slightly.
"Thanks," Meredith responded, her voice barely audible.
"So… are we going to talk about this or are we going to shove this under a rug like we normally do?"
"Can… can I just have a hug from my baby sister please?'' the elder sister pleaded and the younger obliged. At some point, Lexie ended up doing what she'd done each and every time Meredith had been sick and climbed into the bed next to her, knowing that it had comforted her each time before.
When Thatcher Grey entered his eldest daughter's hospital room, a part of him wanted to smile and another wanted to cry. There lay his eldest daughter, in a hospital gown on a hospital bed, and he still had no idea why she was there but Lexie was there lying with her, like everyone supposes sisters should.
He was finally starting to get along with all three of his daughter. They had Sunday dinners every week – well Molly and Laura were out on the base an awful lot of the time and couldn't make it into Seattle but it still counted (or he thought it did anyway) – he'd gotten to know Derek, liked him even, and he'd made an attempt to get to know Mark. He played games with Zola, babysat her from time to time. He really was trying to make an effort and seeing his two eldest daughters as close as they were made Thatcher Grey feel like – for the first time since Susan had died – he hadn't failed as a father, like he had done the right thing. He sat down in one of the seats beside the bed and waited for his two daughters to wake up.
Lexie woke up in the same bed as her sister, it had happened many times – mainly when one of them had the flu or Derek or Mark had been acting like assholes – she rubbed her eyes before actually opening them to see her father asleep in one of the chairs beside them. Once her eyes had adjusted, Lexie climbed out of the bed and decided to go on a coffee run and to visit a couple of people – I.E. her boyfriend and brother-in-law.
The first person she went to see was Derek, she sat with him for fifteen minutes until she saw him start to blink and fight the intubation tube and she called for one of the nurses. When the nurse entered the room she was asked "What happened?" and she explained. Immediately the nurse paged Cristina and left the room.
Derek tried to talk but Lexie quickly shot him down with the words "You know the rules Derek, you're not supposed to try and talk until the intubation is out," she waited a couple of seconds before saying "Zola's fine she's staying with Callie and Arizona for the moment but Meredith isn't too good but I'll let her explain, I can see if I can get her once the intubation's out if you'd like,"
Derek tried to talk once again and Lexie glared at him "You were in a car accident with Mark, Amy and Liz, you have a case of cardiac tamponade and they had to intubate so while that tube is down your throat, you need to calm the hell down and stop trying to talk. Before you ask, Amy had a slight concussion and Liz just needed a couple of stitches. Mark's pretty fine, well as close to it when you've just had your appendix removed as well as having just had your hip but back into place and your left leg put in a cast," she said with a slight ramble.
When Cristina finally entered the room, her first instinct was to take the intubation out "Okay you should know the rules by now Derek, one big breath now okay. 3,2,1," Cristina ordered whilst Lexie glared at her former resident, she knew enough Bailey had informed her.
"Still want to do exploratory surgery Cristina?" Lexie remarked snidely and found herself being pushed out of the room. "What is it Cristina? Don't want Derek to find out that you caused his wife to miscarry their kid?"
"I have every right to request that procedure," Cristina hissed.
"You had every right to perform an unnecessary procedure when you could have gotten the same answer from a portable X-ray or ultrasound? My god you're delusional,"
"Why don't you go see your little plastics boyfriend for a while, I'm sure you'll find him trying to hook up with one of the nurses," and that was it, the last straw for Lexie, she'd dealt with enough over the previous two days, she didn't need nor did she want Cristina's snide, bitchy remarks so she did the first thing that sprung to her mind and slapped her, hard, then walked off whilst Cristina clutched onto her cheek, going straight to Meredith's room.
