Hello all. Here is the next chapter. I hope you all enjoy, but you must REVIEW! Reviews are good happy things that bring joy and happiness and stuff like that. Anyway enjoy ~
"Damn it!" Bailey exclaimed in frustration as she packed the wounds. "There is just too much bleeding in the spleen." Meredith groaned in pain a small drip of blood falling from her mouth. She couldn't register what was going on around her. The world seemed a blur. She could vaguely make out the shape of Bailey who's head floated into her line of sight every now and again, her mouth would move as if to say something, but Meredith couldn't quite make out the words. Now that she thought about it, she couldn't really hear anything except the heavy thudding of her heart. It was a slow, silent world. Everything seemed to move at a snail's pace. She could see herself as she slowly faded away into the darkness.
"Take the baby," Cristina whispered.
"What?" Owen asked barely hearing the words as she had spoken so softly.
"Take the baby," this time she spoke much louder.
"Why? Cristina what's wrong?"
"For god's sake Owen just take her," she yelled almost throwing the baby into a bewildered Owen's arms.
"Cristina, what's wrong?" he asked as he nursed the crying baby.
"Nothing, I'm just tired. That's all."
"Well she still needs a name. Any ideas?"
"I don't know. You pick something." She said dismissively.
"Cristina, this is our daughter's name. It's a big deal." Cristina ignored this.
"Where's Meredith?" she asked suddenly, sitting up in bed a wave of realisation crossing over her face. Owen didn't answer. "Where's Meredith?" she repeated. "She should be here, but she's not."
"Cristina," he began solemnly, and she knew what was coming.
Meredith's eyelids opened slowly. She blinked a few times adjusting her eyes to the sudden rush of light. She groaned. She was uncomfortable her whole body ached and on top of that her lips were dry and parched. She heard a movement and her eyes flickered to the door.
"You know," Derek said as he leaned on the door frame. "I have been standing outside, pacing for hours. Unable to bring myself to come in. So this is as far as I have gotten," he said referencing to his position in the door frame. "You see," he continued. "While I was standing and pacing, I was trying to think of what I would say to you." Meredith gulped. "I couldn't think of anything that would make things better. Make up for what I've done."
"Derek –" She had not expected that. She had presumed he would be angry at her for crashing the car or endangering Zola's life, or something like that. She didn't really know, he just always seemed to find something to be angry about these days.
"No." He cut her off. "How am I supposed to apologise, when I denied you that right time after time?"
"Derek." She held out her hand beckoning him forward. "Step inside." He did as she wished, crossing the floor until he stood beside her bed. She slid her hand into his.
"Meredith," he whispered, brushing her hair behind her ears. "I'm so sorry," he pleaded crumbling onto the side of the bed, still gripping her hand tight in his. Meredith looked into his deep blue eyes, and at his ruffled hair, she presumed he had been nervously running his hands through his usually perfect hair. He looked exhausted, she could tell from the way he moved and talked that he didn't have much energy and he had gotten to a state where he was pleading for Meredith's forgiveness at her bedside. That made her worried though. Was he really sorry? Did he really want forgiveness? Perhaps he was just in a state of delusion. But she wanted it to stop, she had wanted the fight to be over for so long, and whether he would regret it or not she could bring herself to pass the opportunity to love him again.
"Ok," she said at last, rubbing his hand in comfort. "Ok."
The sight of Lexie sitting alone on the stairwell was enough to break his heart. He knew this would happen and he kicked himself for not telling her sooner. He had hoped to spare her some pain but perhaps it just caused her more hurt.
"Lexie," he said softly as he pushed the door open, entering the stairwell. She looked up startled by the sudden entering of Mark. When she looked up at him her face was wet with tears, her eyes red and puffy as if she had been crying awhile. His eyes softened at the sight of her broken. He didn't know what to say. What could he say? She looked so miserable as the silent tears ran down her face. He moved over towards her, slowly taking a seat on the step beside her. He had decided not to say anything. He thought that was best. He thought the best thing he could do for her would be to just sit and be there with her. Yes, that would be best. So they sat. They sat for a long while, in silence which was only broken by the occasional sniffles on Lexie's part. She turned to look at him, he seemed to stare blankly at the wall, just staring as if deep in thought.
"April Kepner," she spoke at last. Mark jolted out of his daze caught by the sudden break in silence. "I didn't think she had it in her." Lexie paused for a second before letting out an abrupt laugh, singular as in one HA. Mark was confused. It didn't seem like a laughing matter to him. "You know what she is? She's a dirty mistress. An adulteress bitch." She paused allowing herself to calm down and the anger to float away. "It's all just so crazy. Jackson was sleeping with April and Meredith, Meredith was in a car accident. I mean that is huge."
"She's ok," Mark reassured her.
"I know. It's just, Meredith she was dying. My sister was fighting for her life while my boyfriend was screwing someone else in a bloody broom closet."
"A broom closet?" Mark asked confused. "I thought it was the on call room. That's where normal people do it."
"Well, it was," Lexie admitted. "But doesn't it just sound worse if they were doing it in a broom closet?" Mark didn't reply and they proceeded to sit in another round of silence. "You know what the worst part is?" Mark didn't reply. "I don't even care." She whispered more to herself than anyone. Mark's heart skipped a beat he knew he shouldn't but he couldn't help the wave of satisfaction that rolled over him. "I know I told him loved him. But—" She paused. "I don't know." She concluded dropping her head to look at her knees.
"Hey," Mark said in a comforting voice. He wrapped one arm around her as she laid her head on his shoulder. Lexie let out a breath of relief, she felt at ease.
As they sat there she let her thoughts drift away. She didn't love Jackson, it was true. Perhaps she had just spoken the words in an attempt to convince herself, she wasn't quite sure. But she didn't blame him. It had hurt her to see them in bed together but in a certain way she felt she had driven him to it.
"Meredith!" Cristina let out a relieved cry as she awkwardly fumbled into the room. "I'm so glad you're alive!" She said hugging Meredith as she casually helped herself into Meredith's bed.
"I'm glad too," she smiled as she moved over making room for Cristina. "Oh Cristina, I heard while I was dying you were squeezing out a person."
"Yeah," Cristina breathed, snuggling in closer to Meredith. And then the speaking part was over. They both seemed to drift off almost instantaneously. And so at last they slept. The long awaited sleep.
