I'm sorry , I'm sorry ! I'm like the queen of evil, not updating very fast anymore... I keep saying that I'll update quicker now, but again, life keeps getting in the way. I'm going to try very hard to update faster, just like I'm going to try to reply to more of your reviews, but sometimes everything is just too much ! Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter !
The storm that was now just above Seattle was making life difficult at Seattle Grace. The wind was causing several accidents on the roads for the people stupid enough to leave their homes, the rain was making the roads even more terrible for the ambulances and on top of it all, the power had just been lost, and most of the hospital was only lit by the small emergency lights scattered around the building. The only places that were still with complete function were the OR and the ICU, as Richard had explained to Teddy and Cristina earlier that day.
"We have just been informed that the hospital is without power," a nurse said as she hung up the phone in the corner of the OR. Teddy and Cristina nodded, and continued on with their surgery.
"It's amazing how we never would have realized it until we left if it weren't for that phone call. The lights didn't even flicker in here," Cristina mentioned.
"They can't let it happen here," Teddy said. "Patients are in critical conditions in the OR. Even just a second without power could cause everything to go awry."
Cristina nodded and they finished up with their patient before witnessing the hospital in utter darkness.
"It's seems so dreary, even more than usual," Cristina mumbled as they wheeled their patient towards the elevator.
After pushing the down button several times, Teddy shook her head in frustration. "You'd think the elevators would work even without power. What happens to patients who need to get to the OR?"
Cristina shrugged, followed by a sigh. "Where do we put him then?"
Teddy motioned for them to bring him back to the OR so they could let the anesthetics wear off and they could explain to him why he wasn't in his room.
"I'll go inform his wife," Cristina said as she left and headed towards the staircase. They were even more dark then the halls, and Cristina found herself stumbling around. She lost her footing on the bottom step and if it weren't for a pair of sturdy arms that caught her, she would have stumbled face first unto the floor.
"I'm sorry," she apologized quickly, but as she tried to stand straight on her own, the arms that had caught her wrapped themselves around her and the voice laughed.
"Not a problem. I don't mind being the prince that comes to save you."
"Jackson?" Cristina asked with a giggle.
"I believe the storm has made us all a little bizarre," he said as he kissed her and finally let her go so she could stand straight. Her eyes had finally adjusted to the dark and she could see Jackson's smiling face. "I thought you were off today?"
Cristina nodded. "I was supposed to be, but by the time my shift ended the storm had already started to become a little more violent then my driving could handle so I decided I'd stay here. Plus, my patient had some complications so we needed to go in for surgery and now we're not sure how we're getting him off of the OR floor."
Jackson nodded. "Well I was just heading up to tell Richard that there are people who need answers about what is going to happen with the power outage. The day Derek decides he's not working and there is a power outage."
Cristina laughed. "Well, I'm sure he wouldn't know what to do anyway. Richard's probably a better candidate for answers since I don't believe Derek has lived this in his time at Seattle Grace and he doesn't always have his head screwed on right anyway. I can't imagine what it would be like in a storm like this."
Jackson gave her a quick kiss and laughed before continuing his way up the stairs. "We'll talk later," he called out before he disappeared into the darkness.
XOXOXXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
When the lights had gone off in Mark's office, both Carolyn and Lexie had been caught off guard. They both jumped slightly, and unlike the rest of the hospital, emergency lights weren't set up in the offices.
"Let's get out of here," Lexie suggested. Carolyn nodded and the two of them went off in search of some familiar faces that could explain to them how things would go from there.
When they reached the cafeteria, several people had assembled and were sitting in various tables around the spacious room. A lot of nurses, doctors, surgeons and other staff were trying their best to comfort the families of patients that even though the power was out, their loved ones were still safe and that the power outage would cause them no harm. They found Mark and Amy in a corner discussing emergency case scenarios incase the power outage lasted more than seventy two hours.
"The files containing that information are in Derek's office," Mark explained.
"Has anyone tried contacting Derek?" Lexie asked.
Mark and Amy looked up at the newcomers and shrugged. "Somebody must have thought of contacting him by now."
They looked around them and noticed that there were more and more people gathering.
"Let's go see if we can find Richard, he might know something more than we do."
They all nodded and headed towards the lobby, thinking they might find someone who would have an idea where to find him, or if they were lucky, he might be there himself. But when they approached the lobby, they noticed the crowd that was gathered in front of the elevator. The elevator…
"Oh god, I bet you someone is trapped," Amy mumbled as they noticed the security that was gathered around the door. Other doctors were mumbling to each other, and things seemed to be chaotic.
"I wonder how they are planning on getting them out," Lexie said as they approached one of the security personnel.
"What's going on?" Mark asked the one who didn't seem to be as busy as the others.
"We have reason to believe that the elevator contains people and we are trying to find a way to get a response from them to confirm that there is in fact a necessity of accessing the car."
They didn't know. But they were about to find out soon.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
As soon as Catherine had started heading down the hall, the power had shut off. She continued on her way towards her patient's room without thinking anything of it. Her patient was a little shook up by the sudden darkness in her room, and Catherine assured her that everything would be fine.
After making sure that she and two others of her patients were okay, she made her way back to the lobby where she had then noticed the crowd gathering. She spotted Mark, Amy, Lexie and Carolyn amongst them and decided to inquire on what was going on.
"Apparently, the security here have 'reason to believe' that there are people trapped in there, but they don't know for sure."
Then the realization hit her. The elevator wouldn't have had enough time to make it to the fourth floor between the time she had left to check on her patient and the time the power went out.
All color streamed from her face when she realized who was trapped in there.
"Oh god!" she gasped as she fell into a chair. "Stephanie's in there! She was going home with Finn and they had just gotten into the elevator before the power went out."
"You need to go tell the security!" Lexie exclaimed.
"Was anyone else with them?" Amy asked.
Catherine looked up at them, knowing this wasn't good at all. "Addie… Addie and Meredith –"
"Meredith!" Mark exclaimed as soon as Catherine had pronounced her name. "This is really not good."
The five of them rushed to the security guards. "Sir, there are at least four people in that elevator," Mark explained. "One of them is a seven year old little girl and another is pregnant. They need to get out of there as soon as possible."
The security guard nodded as he asked Mark a few questions. "Is there any way we can know for sure?"
Mark thought about it, but Amy was faster. She pulled out her cell and dialed Meredith's number as fast as she could.
"Amy!" Meredith exclaimed on the other line. "We're trapped in the elevator!"
"We know," she answered. "Who else is in there?"
"Addison, Stephanie and Finn."
Amy repeated the information to the security guy. "Okay, stay calm. They're doing everything they can."
Meredith nodded even though she knew that Amy couldn't see anything. "Okay… We'll try."
They hung up due to the terrible reception and waited patiently for the security to pass on the information to the others as they tried to figure out how to fix this.
With all the chaos surrounding them, no one, not even Carolyn, had thought of informing Derek of what was going on.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
"Stephie, everything's going to be okay," Meredith tried to comfort the little girl, although she was also trying to comfort herself. The phone call from Amy had reassured her slightly, but they were all still a little shook up. Finn and Addie were both pacing, and mumbling incomprehensible things that Meredith didn't know if she wanted to hear.
"How are you feeling Meredith?" Addie suddenly asked, forgetting that this could be the last straw for Meredith's stress.
"Addie, I'm feeling –" she suddenly stopped as she felt a sudden pain in her abdomen.
"Meredith?"
She took a deep breath as she slid down the wall. She was trembling all of a sudden and her vision was blurring slightly.
"Meredith!" Addie exclaimed as she knelt down beside her. "Can you hear me?"
Meredith rocked back and forth, but nodded anyway, assuring Addie she could still hear her, even if she couldn't see her very clearly.
She then felt a wet fluid seeping down between her legs, and she knew what was happening. Her water had just broken…
"Addie…" she mumbled as she grabbed her hand, and Addie noticed right away the liquid seeping through her scrub pants.
"No no no… this isn't happening now," Addison said as she grabbed her pager. "Finn, I need you to page Derek. I'll walk you through –"
Meredith shook her head. "His pager is in his office. It stayed there last night… I saw it… it there last night."
Addison sighed and started to panic as Meredith started to fall over to her side. Stephanie had moved out of the way as soon as she had noticed Meredith falling over.
"Umm…" Addie said as she searched her pockets. She felt her phone in her pocket. "My phone!" she exclaimed as she pulled it out. "Call Derek. He's speed dial number seven."
Finn took the phone from Addison, still not understanding what was going on. But when he took in Meredith's state and realized that Derek was Dr Shepherd, the famous Neurosurgeon, he jumped to conclusions.
"Oh god, is she okay? You said Derek… Dr Shepherd… is it bad? He's a Neurosurgeon, it has to be bad."
Addie looked up at him with an expression that was filled with surprise. He seriously couldn't figure this one out?
"No…" she shook her head quickly. "There's nothing wrong with her brain…"
"Then what's wrong?"
Addie sighed. "What's wrong is that she is going into labor a month and a half early, in the middle of a power outage, Derek isn't at the hospital and we are stuck in an elevator! That's what's wrong! Now call him!"
Finn was speechless. How had he not figured it out? His eyes suddenly glanced over Meredith's left hand, where two rings were placed on her wedding finger. And now that he really looked at her, she did look slightly pregnant…
He pressed the number seven on the phone, and when Derek's name popped up on the screen, he pressed the phone up to his ear.
"Everything is going to be okay Meredith…" Addison mumbled. But when she thought about it, it wasn't Meredith she was trying to convince. It was herself.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
He felt his breath catch in his throat when Addie's name came onto the screen. He knew it was Meredith even before he answered.
"Addison?" he said, worry clear in his voice.
There was a short silence before the person on the other end of the line cleared their throat. "Umm no… Derek?"
Derek was confused. What was some man doing calling from Addie's phone?
"Yes, and who is this?"
Another short silence. "It's… it's Finn… Dandridge."
Derek didn't know whether he was asleep or not. Why the hell was Finn, Meredith's ex vet boyfriend calling him from Addie's phone? Things didn't add up.
"Umm, I'm confused."
"Derek I know, it doesn't make sense… weird things like this just seem to keep happening and… "
Derek let out a frustrated breath. There had to be a reason Finn Dandridge was calling him. "You can explain later. Right now, I'd like to understand why you're calling me from Addie's phone."
There was a short silence and Derek could hear voices in the background. It sounded like Addie's… "I don't know how to… it's hard to explain… The power just went off in the hospital… and we were in the elevator when it went out… and things were fine… but Meredith… she's… she's…"
Derek was waiting for the worse. He didn't know what to expect. He just held his breath.
"She's in labor."
Derek's jaw dropped as he hung up his phone and rushed to stand up and grab his jacket.
"You can't go out there in this storm!" Saul called out.
He shook his head. "I have no choice. Meredith is in labor."
Dylan stood up. "I'm coming with you. There's no way I'm letting you drive. You look like crap."
"She's… she's stuck in an elevator… when the power went out she was in… and now she's in labor."
Dylan rested his hand reassuringly on his shoulder before they rushed into the rain and the wind. It would be quite the drive, but it was an emergency. His wife was in labor.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
The crowd had gotten bigger in front of the elevator. Everyone who had noticed the crowd had approached to find out what was going on. Those who hadn't seen it for themselves had heard through the hospital gossip that people were stuck in the elevator and some had even heard who those people were.
"I just heard there were people stuck in the elevator!" Cristina exclaimed as she approached Mark, Lexie, Carolyn, Amy and Catherine. "Anybody have any idea who it is?"
They all stared at her incredulously.
"What?" she asked.
"Addison, Meredith, Ste-"
Cristina cut them off in horror. "Meredith?" she nearly yelled. "Do they realize what kind of delicate situation she is in? If something were to happen…"
"Cristina, they know. We've already told them. But they haven't figured out what they are doing yet. You'd think they would have thought of this in advance…"
Richard and Jackson suddenly appeared, nearly running towards them.
"We just heard Meredith is in the elevator," Richard said out of breath. "How is she?"
"We talked to them just a little while ago. They all seemed to be doing okay, according to Meredith. The reception wasn't great though, so we let them go. But they were fine…"
Richard nodded. "That's good to know."
They stayed silent for several seconds when suddenly a thought occurred to Lexie.
"Has anyone informed Derek?"
They all just looked back and forth between each other as they realized that no one thought of letting Derek know that his pregnant wife was trapped in an elevator.
"No one has informed Derek?" Jackson nearly yelled.
"I… I guess… with everything going on… we just forgot…" Amy mumbled.
"Someone call Derek!" Cristina exclaimed.
"No need."
They turned around and were faced with a very pained, out of breath Derek Shepherd. His eyes were filled with fright and seemed to be slightly misty. His hair was everywhere, as if he had spent a lot of time passing his fingers through it.
"Derek!" Mark said. "We… we didn't think… we were too preoccupied… we didn't think of telling you that Meredith was… well was trapped in the elevator…"
"Who's in charge of everything here?" he asked, his voice shaky.
They all pointed to the guy who they had talked to earlier. "Derek, we've already informed him that one of the occupants of the elevator is in a difficult pregnancy and they're doing everything they can but –"
Derek shook his head. "They'll find a way to get her out of there or else I'll-"
"Derek," Carolyn said as she rested her hands on Derek's shaking shoulders. "She'll be fine. Addie's in there with her…"
Derek shook his head. "You guys don't get it… she's… she's… the babies… she's having the babies…"
They all went quiet.
"She's in labor?" Cristina finally exclaimed.
Derek nodded as they made their way over to the security. They were all awe struck at the newly discovered information. This should be a joyful time, not the scariest moment of their lives.
"Chief Shepherd," the head of security said as he recognized Derek. "We're doing all we can, but it may be a little while before we can get anyone out."
Derek shook his head. "No, it won't be. My wife is in there and she's in labor. Now, if you're planning on leaving a woman in labor in an elevator, I suggest you prepare yourself for the heat you'll get from any woman in this hospital who has given birth, because they know how hard and painful it can be. But in an elevator? There is no way this can happen! There must be something you guys can –"
"Derek," Amy rested her hand on his shoulder. She noticed the buildup of tears in Derek's eyes. This was tough on him, but there was nothing they could do. "They're doing the best they can. Getting upset isn't going –"
"Upset?" Derek asked them. "You think I'm upset? My wife, the love of my life, the mother of my first children could be giving birth at this very moment and I can't be beside her to help her through it, to hold her hand, to reassure her that everything is going to be okay. I'm not there for the most amazing moment in our lives. Upset? I'm far past upset. I… I can't describe it."
He was trembling now. This wasn't happening. It was all a nightmare and he would wake up any moment now. This… this was just… it was… it couldn't really be happening. Could it? How many bad things did Meredith have to go through? This couldn't be… this couldn't really be happening.
"Oh Derek," Carolyn said as she pulled him into her arms. "Things are going to be okay. I've been through many pregnancies, my own and your sisters. It takes several long hours to get to the point that the babies are actually born. You need to think about that. There's very little chance she is delivering right now. You'll be with her before she gives birth."
"I need to be with her now. Could you imagine if dad hadn't been there when you gave birth to Kath? Your first child and he couldn't be by your side? Or Amy, if Julian hadn't of been there when Kayla was born? Could you imagine how scared you would have been?"
Both women didn't know how to respond to that, because they knew Derek was right.
"Dr Shepherd?" Derek spun around and noticed the security guard's look. There was a flicker of hope in the corner of his eye. "We've managed to open the elevator doors on the third floor and they are about to open the emergency hatch on the car. We won't be able to get your wife out, but you'll be able to get in."
Derek didn't stay around long enough to thank him or to see how the others reacted. He bolted for the stairs, knowing that he'd be by Meredith's side in no time.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOX
After everyone in the lobby had heard that the woman in the elevator was in labor, their curiosity grew. But when they noticed the group of people who were waiting anxiously to hear how things were going, they decided they owed them the respect of privacy and, led by a few of the nurses, everyone was redirected to the cafeteria.
At this point, a few more people had gathered. Along with Mark, Lexie, Amy, Carolyn, Catherine, Cristina, Jackson and Richard, Miranda and Teddy had heard what was going on and had rushed down right away to get an update, which nobody truly had. Dylan had also found his way in after having found a parking spot. He had just dropped Derek off at the door, knowing that he needed to get in as quickly as he could. Mark and Carolyn gave him quick hugs before explaining what they knew to him and the two others.
"So how does Derek know?" Miranda asked, as soon as Amy explained what they knew.
"I'm guessing Addie or whoever that Finn guy is called him or something as soon as she went into labor," she answered with a shrug.
"Wait, did you say Finn?" Cristina asked.
Amy nodded. "He was here to pick up Stephanie, if I'm not right?" She looked at Catherine as if looking for her to explain.
"We just started dating and he volunteered to get Stephanie since I didn't want her here during this storm."
Cristina wasn't giving up this easily. She didn't know of very many Finn's, and it wasn't much of a popular name... "He doesn't happen to be –"
"A vet?" Catherine asked with a laugh. Cristina's eyes popped out of their sockets.
Mark couldn't help but laugh. "McVet is in the elevator with Meredith and McDreamy while McBabies are being born?"
"Mark, the babies aren't going to be born in the elevator," Carolyn said as she shook her head.
"I wonder how Derek and that jealous ass of his will react…" Miranda mumbled.
"Who's Finn?" Teddy then asked, for not only herself but also for the others who had trouble following.
Cristina decided to answer her question. "Finn and Meredith dated while Derek and Addison were still married. But it ended when Meredith had to pick between Derek and Finn after Meredith and Derek –"
"Stop!" Richard demanded. "I know where this is going. The prom idea was terrible, I know that. We don't need to relive the bad decisions that were made in the past. Especially not here and now."
Cristina and Mark hid their smirks, but nodded, knowing they'd have plenty of time for these stories once they knew that everything was okay with their friend. Right now, they were waiting for news.
XOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXOXO
"Addison!" Meredith screeched while squeezing Addie's hand with all her might as another painful contraction took over her body. She was freaking out. This was not how this was supposed to happen. She had expected at least a little more time, and a hospital bed. And more than anything, she had pictured Derek at her side.
"Is there anything I can do?" Finn asked, slightly feeling awkward in this unlikely situation. What had been the chances that he started dating one of Meredith's good friend's, ended up stuck in an elevator with her and have her go into labor? Very unlikely, yet apparently still possible.
"Is Meredith having her babies?" Stephanie asked, slightly frightened by everything.
"Babies?" Finn asked, looking from Stephanie to Addison.
"She's having twins," Addison answered, panicking. She didn't usually panic in tough situations, but this was far past tough. This was… there was no words to describe the situation they were in.
Meredith's grip was tight around Addie's hand. She nearly felt her circulation cutting out. But suddenly, it loosened unexpectedly, and Addie nearly shrieked when she looked over at Meredith.
"Meredith!" she gasped as Meredith crumpled to the ground. She had a feeling since the beginning of her pregnancy that she wouldn't be able to handle labor, but she had always imagined being able to get Derek's consent and she would bring her to an OR for an emergency C-section. But there was no way she could start a C-section now. They were stuck in a freaking elevator! "Don't do this to me Meredith!" she cried out. Tears started to build in the corners of her eyes. She had tried so hard during the past few months to make sure Meredith stayed strong so that the situation wouldn't get to this point. She had everything ready for even the most difficult situation. Medically, that it. She had no way of imagining that something like this would happen.
"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Finn mumbled. "What's going on?"
Addie trembled. "She's unconscious," she said as she let a tear slip out. "She's unconscious and if she doesn't wake up…" Addie didn't want to even think about it.
Finn sat down beside Addison and Stephanie sat between them. They stayed quiet.
Stephanie suddenly grabbed Meredith's limp hand and held it in her tiny one. "Wake up Meredith," she said as she too let a tear slip down her cheek.
"She'll wake up Addison," Finn said as Stephanie crawled into his arms. "Just have a little hope."
Addie nodded as she watched the nearly imperceptible rise and fall of Meredith's chest. She was still breathing. That was a good sign. Just unconscious, she reminded herself.
Addie thought about how she had been the one who had done everything she could to keep Meredith and everyone that was surrounding her to stay positive. And they had. But lately, even Addison had her moments of weakness where she let the fear get the best of her. Right now was one of those moments.
She had never been a very religious person, but in that moment, she couldn't help but pray that something would happen, that if there was a God out there, that he would come to their rescue and make something good of this. Because at the moment, Addie didn't feel anything but pain and loss. No, not loss. Nothing was lost. Not yet.
It was as if her quick prayer had been heard. All three of them jumped slightly when they heard a loud banging noise above their heads. They looked up just in time to see the emergency door open up slowly, then it was flung open wide to reveal Derek. He didn't hesitate for a moment before he jumped in.
"Derek!" Addie exclaimed as she finally let the tears flow. But Derek was too preoccupied with the fragile body lying on the ground in front of him.
"No no no…" he murmured as he took Meredith's hand and let out a silent sob. "You can't… don't do this to me!"
Addie reached over and took his hand. "Derek, she's only unconscious… But if… if she doesn't wake up soon… or if we don't… if they don't get us out of here… I… I don't know what will happen Derek…"
Derek looked to Addie and brought her in for a tight hug and they both let a few more tears go.
"She'll be fine…" Derek mumbled. "She always pulls through."
Cliffhanger ! Sorry, but it was just too perfect to not end it there. I know, I know, the whole giving birth in an elevator thing has been used many times, but there are a few twists in this one. I was inspired by one of my fav shows from when I was younger and used to watch 7th Heaven every Sunday night. Yeah, the whole elevator thing... Anyway, doens't matter right now, because things will get juicy and be shook up even more. I hope you like !
