Chapter 70: The Explosion Aftermath
An unusual stillness reigned in the hospital lobby for several long minutes. No one dared to move, rigidly clutching whatever they had grabbed for support. The aftershock of the explosion wasn't even as strong as to shake a stumbling toddler off balance. It was sudden, but gentle in its stealth. However, every single person seemed to be grasping at something with desperation, a wall, a counter, someone else's hand. Not to fall? Maybe. Or rather to put the world at ease, to prevent the unavoidable change.
The ensuing silence hung in the air, heavy, suffocating. According to a popular saying, ignorance was bliss. But when you were too far-gone, it became torture. Finally, numerous hands started to shake or twirl their fingers absentmindedly, heads turned to exchange anxious, questioning looks. Then, followed first shy whispers which ultimately morphed into uncontrollable buzzing.
Meredith locked her wide eyes with Addie's for an instant, a raw panic coursing through her body, overwhelming her as she posed in her mind the same questions everyone else asked. What exactly happened? Did they manage to remove the explosive on time? Were there any casualties? An unspoken foreboding told them there must have been. The ammunition wasn't supposed to go off on the hospital premises, much less so inside the hospital, which meant… something must have gone wrong…
The phone rang all of a sudden. The shrill sound seemed to bring her back to reality as she willed her muscles to complete the simple tasks like walking up, picking up the receiver and learning someone's fate. That was her job which she couldn't escape.
She felt dozens of eyes on her as she moved up and pressed the cold plastic to her ear.
"Chief Grey," she spoke clearly, awaiting the news in tension.
She heard indescribable noise on the other side mingled with frantic attempts at conversation and the only word she managed to fish out was "coming".
"What the hell is happening down there?" she demanded. "Who's coming up?"
"Two of your people," muttered a masculine voice more clearly than before. "… let you know as soon… assessing…".
Before she could ask for any more details, her interlocutor hung up.
"All right, people!" she called on, banishing the nervousness from her voice. "They're coming up!"
She hurried down the corridor halting several feet from the elevator door while the people previously scattered all over the lobby now gathered flanking her sides. Seconds passed as they stood together, arm in arm, in nervous anticipation.
The metallic sound announced the arrival of the elevator and the door slid open. Meredith's breath hitched in her chest; she could hear the blood rush violently in her veins making her dizzy as her eyes swept the interior of the lift. Derek… Derek was here. He was safe. He must be, right? If he stood in the elevator with his back pressed against the wall, his arms folded across his chest and his eyes cast down. Owen Hunt was right beside him, looking equally drained, but that was a minor point for Meredith right now. She was coming back to life along with this elevator.
Finally, Derek lifted his regard and met the crowd of people before him with a small, concerned frown. He raised his arm to drag his lucky surgical cap off his head leaving it messy, but in this exact moment he didn't care much about one of the most valued elements of his anatomy. He and Owen pushed themselves heavily off the wall and started walking forward in a steady pace.
Mrs. Carlson, the wife of the patient who had brought about all the trouble, was the first one to break out from the huddled mass as she approached Owen cautiously.
"Dr. Hunt… Is my husband…" her lip trembled as tears shone in her eyes, "… alive?"
"Yes," he affirmed gently.
The woman asked additional questions but none of them permeated to Meredith's mind. Nor the fact that Cristina Yang whizzed past her to meet Owen in an embrace, or the enthusiastic talking and words of congratulations towards two heroic doctors.
She was too drunk with relief, with grateful bliss, with the azure of Derek's eyes she didn't stop to look into since he appeared back amongst the living. She was utterly mesmerized. The long hours of keeping her emotions suppressed were taking its toll, breaking all dams along their way to the surface. And the way Derek was looking at her didn't help matters. Quite unconsciously, he was a hypnotist for her senses and right now, he made her lose all her pretenses, all her excuses… and her position of the Chief. She was reduced to be a woman welcoming back her loved one.
In spite of her dedicated attempts to calm down, her respiration got even harder, and her nose started to tingle unpleasantly, the unmistakable sign that she was just a step from becoming a public sensation. She brought the back of her hand to her face but even that betrayed her as it was trembling slightly. Her other hand balled into a fist on her side as she tried hard to rescue her sinking composure in front of everyone. All in vain.
She cleared her throat as she hung her head down, hiding her face from the prying eyes. Though that was as big a give-away as if she let the tears stream freely.
"You had to be a cowboy," scolded Mark, his voice was cracking with emotion, trying to move past Addison to Derek.
"Mark!" hissed his girlfriend putting a restraining hold on his arm and pointing her head between Derek and Meredith.
"What- Oh," Mark finally caught up, realizing as everybody else that the Chief and Dr. Shepherd were having a tender moment.
But Meredith seemed to already get her bearings together. She swallowed heavily and looked back at Derek, no moisture on her skin, though her green orbs were unusually glassy.
"Are you… are you okay… Dr. Shepherd?" she asked slowly, her voice taking a low timber.
He nodded without haste, not taking his eyes off of her as the beautiful sight before him was making the hope he abandoned a week earlier be reborn in his heart. Only extremely strong emotions were able to bring Meredith on the verge of tears, where she was exactly in that very moment. Seeing as her attentions was centered solely on him, he must have provoked those strong emotions. A wonderful warmth was spreading through his stiffened limbs; Meredith cared for him, he meant so much more to her than just a worker, or a past fling. Those eyes didn't lie. Why? Because Meredith had no interest in faking vulnerability. That one thing was a law of nature. Meredith Grey would never deliberately do something that made her seem weaker in the eyes of others. The flow of adrenaline that pumped through his body due to the bomb experience only intensified.
"Are you going to tell me off for blocking your OR?" he chuckled quietly. He wished all the curious onlookers staring at them avidly would go away.
"I'd appreciate if you followed my orders next time," she said gently, not even bothering to appear stern; she just couldn't muster the energy. "Or I'll use physical force to drag you out of your OR."
He blinked at her with surprise. Did she just acknowledge the said OR belonged to him? It was always referred to as hers since she claimed the proprietorship in sweet vengeance all those months ago. She supposedly thought he won the ownership rights by staying in with his patient during the critical situation.
"With your-" he started flirtatiously but was lightly though decidedly cut off by her.
"Dr. Shepherd, let's not keep Dr. Bailey unawares," she proposed intently. "She's been through enough." Not even waiting for his response, she turned to Owen demanding details of the recent events.
With a sigh, Derek recognized his duty as a doctor and a friend, looking for the face of Miranda in the crowd of his colleagues. Offered with numerous smiles and pats on his shoulder he made his way to Bailey who was sitting as immobile as a stone in one of the chairs. When he stood next to her, she simply looked up at him, as though waiting for a sentence.
"You don't have to plot the best way to murder me," he provided with a smile. "Tucker's gonna be okay."
First, he watched disbelief painting on her face and then it relaxed visibly. Miranda shot out of her seat gave him a tight hug that almost knocked the wind out of him.
He laughed gently as he reciprocated the embrace though his eyes jumped after the silhouette of Meredith who was speaking fast on the phone again.
"Go," muttered sternly Miranda as she let go of him abruptly.
"What?" he frowned.
"She was in no better state than me during these hellish hours," she informed him leniently. "And now she's almost broken down in tears seeing your hair intact. What other proof do you need?"
"If it only were that easy," he sighed cocking his head.
"Derek, nothing ever is!" she remarked impatiently. "You know what I learned today? That I'm not letting my fool of a husband walk out of this marriage, ever. Are you going to wait for another disaster to strike this hospital before you decide to act on your feelings?"
"I'm going, I'm going," he chuckled bracing himself for what he certainly knew wouldn't be a piece of cake.
He went back through the undulating crowd, determined to reach Meredith before she disappeared out of sight.
"Derek," Addie blocked his way with a serious face.
"Not now, Addie," he muttered dismissively craning his neck to look over her head to where Meredith was talking with O'Malley. Second later she got on the elevator.
"Derek, let her be," insisted Addison, holding his arm under the elbow.
"I can't," he shook his head. "I saw… I know she…" What was with women in this place? One was ordering to get his act together, the other to sit and wait.
"I know too," nodded Addison. "I saw that too."
"Everyone saw that" threw in Mark backing up Addison. "But somehow no one saw Meredith hang herself around your neck Yang-style." He pointed with his head at Cristina and Owen.
"Let me talk to her first," pleaded Addie. "I'll get through to her now I know where we're standing."
"You hear? Addie will soften up your Juliet for you while we go to Joe's," Mark brought his arm around his shoulders and started to drag him away, not without opposition.
"Mark, I really need-"
"Derek, I'll get to the bottom of this," promised Addison. "Go with Mark and wait for me at the bar."
"Come on, man," drawled Mark. "You need something strong, you cheated death today, twice!"
Meanwhile, Addie turned around in search of her best-friend's blond head, who had vanished out of sight.