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Under flashing orange lights and midnight drizzle, John Elliot witnessed the Coke truck being towed off into the night. Shepherd's car had also just been extracted with the state trooper's arrival. Disguised as one of them, he reported that the car had been empty with no sign of the truck driver either. He speculated to them that they'd gone into town for help, and hopefully would report the accident from town.
Before the police had arrived, he'd stowed the blanket, pillow, and chains in his own trunk. But unfortunately, it would only raise more questions to hide Derek Shepherd's insurance and registration information, so he left it. The police would attempt to follow up in the morning. Hopefully it would delay them a little. The darkness helped too, but though it kept the police from searching far, it made John worry.
Snow was out there. And no one but John knew how dangerous he was.
Finally the police wrapped up their investigation. They hadn't found anything raising suspicions as to foul play and so were on their way back into town.
But it wasn't over for him.
As the final cop car pulled away, John sank into the seat of his own make-shift cruiser. He called Sadie.
"Hey," he said. "I got your text. Meredith is there?"
"Yeah… can you believe it? Izzie's husband picked her up."
"What?"
"Yeah… Snow escaped, chased after her," Sadie said. "I think… I think she shot him. She was covered in blood when she got here."
"Okay," John said. Well, at least the hitman had been slowed down. "Where was she picked up?" With this new information, John put the hazards on and drove slowly down the road. He'd work from the point where Meredith was found.
He pulled off to the side of the road at the approximate point along the bend in the road Sadie described she'd been picked up. With his flashlight, he carefully examined the tall grass and bush on the side, searching for signs of a trail.
It didn't take long. Soon his light fell on the crushed grass and snapped branches indicating Meredith's path. With a huff, he jogged back to his cruiser and scooped up his rifle. An ominous feeling made him shiver.
He honestly hoped Snow was dead. But it was doubtful, the man was a machine. With the rifle slung over his shoulder and flashlight in hand, he tread carefully down the grassy slope, following the signs of Meredith's conspicuous movements.
It wasn't far, maybe four-hundred yards, when the beam of his light stopped on a flattened patch of grass. Meredith had fallen here.
Then he noticed something else.
Blood.
Lots of blood. And no body.
xxx
Crashing through the darkness, she pushed on with every searing breath. The monster roared behind her. Claws snip-snapped at her back. Adrenaline spiked the blood of her veins, but she tripped. The ground rushed at her -
"Oww," Meredith jerked awake. "Ow," she blinked blearily into darkness, clutching her battered torso, before remembering… she was safe. The morphine must be wearing off, she thought.
Derek slept soundly beside her, little Bailey sprawled over him, tiny snores escaping his mouth. Meredith didn't want to wake them, resolving to bear the pain for a few more minutes. She wiped her eyes and gently tried to resettle. "Mm," she grunted.
"Mer?" a voice asked from across the room. Sadie.
Meredith wrapped an arm over her stomach, turning to face her old friend. "Mm… hey," she said.
"Hey," Sadie got off the couch, still wrapped in her blanket, and scooted to perch on the arm of the sofa. Her hand rested on her forehead. "You okay?"
"M'fine," Meredith said.
"Okay," Sadie said, like she didn't quite believe her. "Your kids are beautiful," she said, glancing at them
Meredith glanced at Bailey draped all over his father. "Yeah," she said. "They are." She took a shallow breath, caught Sadie's warm hand. "Jack… I didn't know. I'm sorry."
Sadie's lips turned up ever so slightly. "I thought I didn't want kids," she said. "But the more he grew in me, the more I… fell in love with him."
"I know," Meredith said. "They do that to us," she swallowed painfully. She was so thirsty, and her stomach hurt, damn ribs. "The father?" she asked.
Sadie shook her head. "Just me and Jack."
"Oh. Sorry."
"It's for the best."
Meredith nodded, accepting that. "What happened Sadie? Why was he at the Center?"
"Before Jack was born, my father insisted on an Amnio. When he found out Jack had the mutation he became obsessed. I almost ended it, but Jack was already 20 weeks Mere. I couldn't. We argued, but Father was determined t-to fix him. He thought if he just threw enough money at the problem… he could fix it. But he couldn't. And then he met Mr. Parker."
Meredith struggled to comprehend all this. "And Mr. Parker…?"
Sadie shook her head. "He took Jack a week after he was born. I didn't- I couldn't… I've been searching for him ever since. It's been almost two years."
"Oh God," Meredith panted, partly from the pain of her abdomen and partly from the empathy she felt from Sadie's situation. "I'm sorry," she said.
Sadie got up and opened a bottle of water for Meredith. "You saw him. I know you did," she handed it to her.
Meredith nodded and took several small sips, grateful to quench her thirst. She'd seen Jack, treated him. But that was a while ago. Meredith squeezed Sadie's hand. "He's a fighter."
xxx
It had been an exhausting day. Her research on Hunter's Syndrome had come up at a loss. They were experimenting with CRISPR, a gene editing technique. But so far, no change had occurred in the mice she used in her experiment. She still didn't know why. She finished her report on the tablet, idly stroking her baby bump.
Well, it was happening. At twenty-two weeks her baby was growing by the minute. And moving! Rolling and fluttering around in there. But Meredith didn't mind. It kept her going, kept her alive. Sighing, she put her research away and pushed her chair in. Maybe she'll have better luck tomorrow.
She took her time getting to her quarters. The Center was surprisingly large for being mostly underground. If it was underground.
She was only a few steps from her room when her name was called.
"Dr. Grey? Dr. Grey!"
She looked up to see Donna jogging toward her, a worried expression on her face.
"What? What is it?"
"It's the baby. Come quick."
The baby? Meredith frowned. But Donna just gestured for her to follow.
A few minutes later, they arrived in an exam room where a screaming baby was being held by a disheveled nurse.
"Whats going on?" Meredith asked.
"I don't know," said the nurse. "He had a hernia, I thought it would resolve on its own… but now-"
Meredith shoved past Donna and examined the baby's abdomen. It was right there, a purple bump the size of her thumb just above the boy's groin gave her the answer
"It's an inguinal hernia, and it's definitely strangulated. What happened? If he has Hunter's syndrome, you know he's predisposed to these."
There was no answer from the other women in the room. Just guilty looks.
"Well, I need a CT scan and bloodwork. He needs emergency surgery… Now!"
"Yes, of course."
xxx
In a cold, unfamiliar OR, Meredith stood over the infant, scalpel in hand. She blinked back tears and resisted the urge to stroke her belly where her offspring seemed to be performing barrel rolls. Damn hormones.
"Dr. Grey?" Donna asked.
"Give me a minute," she growled. The surgery was relatively simple, though she'd never done it on a child this small. That wasn't the problem. Everything else was. For one, the hernia should have been caught sooner. Infants with Hunter's syndrome are prone to hernias, and, assuming proper monitoring, this hernia could have been repaired easily and without complication... But also, seeing that baby again just brought up everything else. How lonely she really was. Being away from her family hurt... Every single day.
And here, scrubbed up and gowned, holding a scalpel. She'd missed that too. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths. She was in charge of a life here. A baby.
'You can do this,' Derek's voice said softly.
"I know," she said.
Her hand ceased trembling. She brought down the scalpel beginning the precise incision.
xxx
Meredith finished the last stitch. "What's his name?" she asked.
"I... can't answer that." Donna said. "We're not supposed to get attached."
"I'm already attached. Besides, he would have died if I wasn't here," she snarled.
"Jack."
Meredith paused. "Jack. It suits him." She gave post – op instructions to the nurses, and updated the chart before scrubbing out.
"Thanks for doing the surgery," Donna said, scrubbing out beside her.
"I shouldn't have had to," Meredith replied. "He should have been more carefully monitored. This could have been avoided. The hernia could have ruptured, he could have gone septic!"
"Don't you think they know that, Grey?" Donna challenged. "If you would quit playing with your pet mice, maybe we'd have some answers," she said before she exited, the door swinging behind her.
"Dammit!" Meredith yelled, kicking the door. "Dammit!" She slid down the wall. The baby shifted, making its presence known, but it didn't help. it just reminded her of everything she'd lost and everything stacked up against her.
xxx
"I remember… he had your eyes, Sadie." Meredith said in the dim light. Sadie had pulled up a chair next to them and rested against the arm of the sofa as she told her story. Beside her, Derek and the kids slumbered on. Meredith pulled the blanket up to her chin, to keep the heat in.
"You know what happened to him after?"
Meredith shook her head. "He was treated and released. I didn't see him again," she whispered.
"I need to get him back, Deth."
She'd never heard her friend sound so sad before. But she knew that pain. Too well. "I know."
"I'm sorry about Ellis… I tried- I tried to keep you two together, but-"
"It's okay, we'll get her back."
"Yeah."
"Yeah," Meredith breathed, throwing her blanket off. She needed to get a drink and change position, her side hurt so bad. "And we'll get Jack too," she added, leaning forward. She felt Sadie's hand on her forehead again. "I'm fine," she swatted it away.
"You're so not!" Sadie lifted up Meredith's shirt. "Damn Mere, that's not good."
Meredith followed her friend's gaze on her bruised ribcage. "Crap," she said, knowing immediately what she was seeing. "My liver."
xxx
Continuing through the woods, John scrambled along the trail of blood and snapped branches. The rain hadn't been heavy enough. Blood still spotted the leaves and loose branches that his light bounced off of. Snow had left an obvious trail.
John estimated he was about a mile from where Meredith fired the bullet. Now he stood ten yards from a dirt road that probably led back to the highway. Fresh tire tracks caught his eye. Snow may have gotten a lift. Damn. He didn't have a lot of time. He shivered. Snow was Alive, and he needed to get back to the cabin.
xxx
Still sweating from the jog back to his car, John pulled up to Izzie's house. He'd killed the lights and sirens a mile ago, and drove up the driveway dark.
An old rusty Ford gave it away. Snow was here.
John snatched his shotgun off the front seat and ran up the steps. He busted through the door and flicked on the lights, weapon drawn. Hair pricked up his spine, his arms, as he cleared the living room and kitchen. A tornado had gone through here. He stopped at the fireplace mantle. Izzie's wedding picture had been smashed, and a bloody fingerprint was smeared around it.
John shook his head, and proceeded to the kitchen. The porch door was open, a bloody handprint on the doorframe. He didn't hesitate, but ran into the night, through the trail in the woods.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Please leave a review!