Book Three, Part Twenty-One: Trouble in the Hospital (Part 1)

Meredith's Point of View

The Pitt was chaos when we got there. Nurses and interns were gathering up supplies, setting up trauma beds, and manning the phones. Bailey was shouting out orders, as was Owen. I caught Mark's eyes and he looked worried. I made my way over there, Derek following me closely.

"What happened?" I asked him.

I smiled at Lexie off in the distance, but she averted her eyes and scurried off.

"Shooting at Peninsula Community College. All hands-on deck. So far, we have six victims incoming, but more have just been found. Shooter had a semi-automatic weapon and they still haven't found him."

"Damn." I heard Derek mutter.

"How far out?" I asked.

"Ten minutes."

"Okay so why don't you tell me why Lexie is avoiding me." I said Mark.

Now he averted his eyes.

I hit him in his chest.

"Ow! Shit Mer!" He complained, rubbing his chest.

"Answer me Damnit!" I scolded.

"I went to see her last night, just to talk. I told her how I felt and then I said that she could take all the time she needed to decide if she wanted me." He explained.

"Okay but that doesn't explain why she doesn't want to talk to me."

"Isn't she your sister?" Derek interjected. Mark and I both whirled around to face him. Derek took a step back. "I mean, wouldn't she find it, I don't know, slightly weird to date the man her sister was with for fifteen years? Just a guess."

"Huh." I said. "Well that won't do. I will talk to her, put in a good word for you." I told Mark.

"Thanks Mer, you are the best ex-girlfriend ever." He teased.

I laughed.

"She is, isn't she?" Derek asked.

We both looked at him again.

"Tough crowd." He joked.

I smiled at him and nudged him with my hip.

"Okay folks, Look alive!" Bailey yelled.

We all rushed into motion. Mark, Derek and I were on point. As the attendings we were the go-to people for questions. I took the first ambulance pulling up.

"What've we got?" I asked.

"19-year-old female, multiple gunshots hitting the torso, leg and head. She coded en route and we had to bring her back. BP is 70 over 35, pulse is 32. Has not gained consciousness since we found her."

"Okay everyone, shotgun! Mostow, call down and get me four pints of O neg, Bonner, get CT down here now! I need to know what those bullets hit." I examined her head wound and then looked for Derek. "Derek, you busy?" I asked.

He met my eyes and shot me an incredulous look.

Okay so that was a stupid question.

He said something to Dr. Torres and tore off his gloves and disposing of them before coming over to me.

"What do you have?" He asked then looked at the patient.

"Oh wow." He said.

"I know, I think it might have hit the midline."

"God, I hope not. You getting a CT?"

"Yeah."

"Okay let me know what you find out and if you need help with the surgery." He said before squeezing my arm and rushing off to help someone else. I looked down at my arm that was still tingling.

God I was still hot for that man…

"Okay take her up and I will go speak to her parents for a minute." I told Mostow. He nodded and wheeled the patient off.

I walked to the waiting room. There were so many people. I sent a prayer up that it wasn't Mia's school. Of course she wasn't in school she was in at work….here. She made a mental note to have Mark or Derek check on her.

"Mr. and Mrs. Cochran?" I called out.

A woman's head popped up and she bolted towards me, the man following closely behind her.

"How is Lucy?" She asked.

I looked at the crowd.

'Come with me, please."

They followed me to a quieter hallway.

"Okay, Lucy is in critical condition. She was shot four times; once in her leg, once in her chest, once in her abdomen and once in her head."

Mrs. Cochran gasped and looked faint.

"We are going into surgery now."

"Can we see her first?" Mr. Cochran asked.

"I'm sorry she is already being prepped. Go up to the third floor waiting room and it is quieter than down here. I will have someone update you as often as possible."

Mrs. Cochran started crying.

"I know how hard this must be. I have a daughter and if she…We have the best surgeons working on her." I said. "I'm sorry but I have to ask. Did you know she was pregnant?" I asked.

The shocked looks at their face told me no.

"She…oh my god. Is the baby…"

"I don't know. She is still pregnant at this point, but I can't say I know how that is going to turn out. I really have to go now. I will have someone speak with you soon."

I rushed off into surgery, praying I could save Lucy. I didn't want to even think of the alternative for those parents.

"How is her pressure?" I asked Ben.

"Steady." He said.

"This woman is like swiss cheese." Cristina observed, trying to extract the bullet near the heart. "It is right by the aorta. I was hoping for simple."

"There is nothing simple about this. I mean, you go about your day and then someone shoots you and why? This world is one fucked up place."

"It sure is."

I briefly let my eyes fall on Derek, who had just walked in.

"What's the body count?" I asked.

"We have seen seventeen victims and so far, six are in surgery, four more just got out, two have mild injuries and five have died. How are you all doing here?"

"Hoping to not make it six." I murmured, finding the bullet and carefully trying to extract it. I got the pick-ups around it and slowly took it out. I triumphantly dropped the bullet into the metal bin Bokie lifted up for me.

"There!" I said.

"How big of a mess is it in there?"

"Not as bad as I originally thought. She is probably going to have to have some rehabilitation but not many long-term effects. If you want to be shot in the head, this is where the bullet needs to land." I stared closing up. "How is it on your end, Callie?"

"It hit the muscle so she will probably always have a limp. Sucks." She said.

"Alex?"

"Bullet missed the uterus, instead it hit the spleen. I took it out, so you didn't have to bother General. You can thank me later for being such a fine surgeon." He teased.

"The baby?" I asked.

"There's a baby?" Derek asked me.

I nodded.

"Surprisingly stable. She is only about thirteen weeks, but everything seems fine."

"Good. She just might come out of this with very few problems. Great work!"

Derek was looking at something over my head. I followed his glance and saw Mia who was watching.

"I should really stop her from going up there." I surmised.

"She is at home here." Derek said.

"Yes she is."

A sudden beeping snapped my attention back to Lucy. Cristina was frantically working.

"What happened?"

"Bullet slipped, and I snipped an artery." She said.

Oh shit.

I handed off my instruments to Mostow and went to help. Derek did as well. I suctioned while he sopped up the excess blood with sponges as Cristina worked.

"Okay…there we go. Perfect." She said.

We all breathed a sigh of relief.

"Mom, Dad! Look out!" We all glanced up at Mia and then the window to the scrub room shattered.

Standing there was a young man, probably no more than twenty. He was bloody and shaking…

And he was holding a gun...