AN: Thank you again for all your support and feed back. You are making it so much fun to share this story with you all.
I am not a doctor nor do I pretend to be one all of this is from Google searching.. So Just roll with me, best part of fiction is we can play make believe.
Sorry this took so long I actually wrote this chapter 2x going in two different directions to get where I wanted to go. The next one is already started and probably won't take as long to get up.
Enough of me rambling... ENJOY! (I apologize for any errors)
"I need to get back to Lexie," Meredith stated after she finished the last bite of her salad.
"I am sure she's fine in Mark and Callie's care." Derek offered "It won't hurt for you to have a few more minutes to yourself."
"No." Meredith stood, "I mean yes, I trust she's okay in their care, but I need to get back to Lexie…" She insisted. She couldn't put her finger on her, but her gut was telling her to get back. Maybe she was just anxious after all they had been through the past few hours.
Arizona studied her closely before getting up quickly too. "We can get you back to her, come on."
Derek glanced at his watch "You'll stay with her?" He asked Arizona. "I am scheduled for one last surgery of the day."
"Go" Meredith placed her hand on his chest before pushing herself up on her toes to kiss his cheek. "I will be okay."
"I am staying with her," Arizona promised. "I promised Lexie."
Meredith looked to Derek. "See, I am okay."
"I'll come find you when I am done" He promised as he pulled her in for a hug.
"Thank you" He added to Arizona.
Arizona offered Derek a smile as she placed her hand on the small of Meredith's back as she began to lead the older Grey back towards Lexie's room. "What's going on?"
Meredith shook her head "I can't explain it, but I need to get back to her."
Arizona wasn't going to argue that. Sometimes your gut tells you what to do. Hum instinct could be incredibly powerful.
Meredith's pace began to quicken the closer they got to Lexie's room. She went from a speed walk to a full pace run, darting around doctors, nurses and even patients.
Arizona broke into a run with Meredith to keep up with her. Not asking questions, just following the older Grey's lead.
"Where is the fire?" Christina asked coming down a hallway spotting the two blondes flying down the hall. "Weren't you supposed to be talking to Lexie?"
"Long story" Meredith called over her shoulder, not taking the time to slow down as she kept going.
"What's going on?" Christina asked Meredith in confusion as she followed suit and began to run down the hallway as well.
"I think something is wrong" She called to Christina.
"Or better yet, Meredith feels something is wrong." Arizona supplied as she kept her pace up.
"What?" She asked confused
"Like the morning of the ferry boat accident" Meredith stated as she turned down the hall "When I didn't want to get out of bed, and you made me and I almost died… That morning I had a feeling. I have that feeling again."
"Damn" Christina muttered to herself as she began to run faster.
Meredith could hear the cry before they'd even gotten to the door. It was a cry of distress and pain. One she was quite sure she'd never forget the sound of ever again.
"What on earth happened?" Meredith demanded as she ran into the room to see Mark standing over her sister who was withering in pain as she clutched her left side.
Christina pushed past Meredith to get to the bedside to check Lexie's vitals and try to assist Mark.
"She drifted off to sleep, and then the next minute she started crying holding her side," Mark rattled off his voice sounding as panicked as Meredith felt. "She won't let me touch her."
"Lexie, what's going on?" Meredith asked calmly. Hoping that her calmness would help Lexie try and calm herself down.
"I am going to go find Callie" Arizona called out as she turned on her heels and ran out the door.
"Hurts" Lexie whimpered through clenched teeth as beads of sweat rolled down her forehead. "Left side.. Hurts..."
Before Meredith had a chance to respond Callie came running into the room with Arizona behind her.
"We are getting her into emergency surgery right now" Callie called to everyone in the room. "I've got an O.R. booked and Bailey is already scrubbing."
"What is happening?" Meredith demanded as Callie tossed the scans to her before quickly rushing to Lexie's bed to help with stabilizing and prepping to move her immediately "Looking at her scans I noticed her spleen was enlarged...I believe it has now ruptured."
Arizona came up behind Meredith and pulled her aside to give the other doctors room to work.
Meredith debated on jumping in, but knew they'd just toss her back out and slow them down. With a ruptured spleen her sisters abdomen was filling with blood which meant she couldn't be the factor that slowed them down, so she took the scans to the side of the room where she could get a proper look at them herself.
Arizona stood behind her as the two of them looked over her scan. "Damn look at her ribs" Arizona shook her head in shock "Poor sweet girl, has been in major pain."
Lexie's sobs had subsided to a pitiful whimper. Which was a relief to everyone in the room especially to the eldest Grey.
"Meredith" Lexie called out as they were wheeling her towards the door to get her down to the O.R. Her arm extending and grasping the air trying to reach her sister.
Arizona stepped out of the way and allowed Meredith to move to the bedside and grab her sister's hand and walk quickly with them as they wheeled her gurney out the door.
"You're okay," Meredith encouraged her. "Everything is going to be okay, I'll be right here waiting for you, when you wake up."
The group paused as they waited for the elevator, giving Meredith a chance to use her thumbs to wipe away the tears that were rolling down Lexie's cheeks. "They won't let me come in with you. I would if I could...You know that right?"
"We're family" Lexie responded "I know, you're not allowed."
"We are family" Meredith repeated "And I am not going anywhere, Callie, Christina and Bailey they're all going to take really good care of you." She promised. "They know they have to answer to me if they don't." She joked, "And I am mean... They don't want to face me."
Lexie managed a small smile as the elevator doors opened. "I want to talk to you, so badly I want to tell you everything really, I am so sorry Mer."
"Don't be sorry" Meredith shook her head. "Don't you dare apologize to me, you focus on feeling better. That's your job right now. Everything else can wait until your feeling better." She ran her fingers from her free hand over Lexie's forehead gently "When you're not in pain, you and I will talk. We will have a very long talk. I see several talks in our future."
"Meredith" Callie said quietly, letting the older Grey she needed to let go.
It took everything Meredith had in her to pull her hand out of Lexie's and allow Arizona to pull her back gently to her.
"You take care of her." Meredith instructed Callie and Christina. "Please."
"We got her, Grey," Callie promised.
"And I am going to take care of Meredith for you" Arizona promised Lexie who nodded in appreciation. "Thank you, make sure she rests and drinks some water."
"Promise" Arizona held up her pinky "Pinky swear, we all know how legit that is." She winked causing Lexie to give her a tired yet pained smile.
"I won't leave her" Christina added to Meredith "Someone has to make sure Bailey doesn't mess this up."
Lexie let out a little snort before wincing "Don't let her hear you say that."
Christina could be heard saying she wasn't afraid as the elevators shut.
"I am so stupid" Meredith groaned once they were gone as she began to pace the hallway. "How could I be so stupid?"
"Meredith" Mark tried as Arizona held up her hand letting Mark know the older sister needed to work through this.
"I am a damn doctor!" She snapped mainly to herself "I saw her injuries, and instead of throwing her in my car the minute I saw them, I tried to nurse a fever. She didn't have the flu. She had an enlarged spleen and three fractured ribs…"
"Meredith, she told you she was fine," Mark reminded her.
"Clearly she wasn't." Meredith whirled around on him. "She hasn't been fine in days, I am too stupid to notice."
"Meredith" Arizona held up her hand "That's enough. You aren't stupid and I am not going to allow you to berate yourself. That won't help anything." She placed a hand on Meredith's shoulder. "Lexie didn't want anyone to know what was going on. She hid it from everyone on purpose."
"April knew something was wrong" Meredith countered "She told me she'd noticed Lexie wasn't acting right. I didn't even notice that, until I found her in front of my locker running a high fever.. I should have had her checked on the spot."
"She wouldn't have let you," Mark reasoned. "She wasn't admitting to herself she wasn't okay. I don't think she's fully let herself get there yet."
Meredith buried her face in her hands in frustration. "I want her to be okay, she has to be okay."
"She's going to be okay" Mark promised "And feeling better here in a few hours, and back to driving you crazy, very shortly." He smirked.
"I can't wait for that." Meredith admitted with a chuckled. "I'd give anything for her to be feeling good and being her perky bubbly self driving me crazy with her joy and enthusiasm."
"Meredith…"
Meredith pulled her eyes away from her coffee cup in her hand to look to see why Mark was calling her name.
"Isn't that your father?" He asked "Her father?" He stumbled over his words before just pointing across the way. "Thatcher?"
Sure enough Thatcher was standing in there, his eyes darting around. His shoulders tense and his eyes big. Before his eyes landed on Meredith. He shot her a semi relieved smile before heading over to where the three of them were sitting.
"Meredith?" He approached her slowly with a big bag in his hands.
"Uh, da..Tha..," She tried to get a title out and just couldn't as she got to her feet. "What are you doing here?" She asked before groaning "I am sorry, I should have called you."
Thatcher cleared his throat "Molly called Lexie a few hours ago, she was wanting one of Susan's recipes, and she thought your sister would be able to just spew it off, you know she has that photographic memory. Probably saw the recipe once and has it memorized" He rambled looking uncomfortable.
Meredith offered a small smile "We call her Lexipedia around here."
"Lexipedia, cute" He smiled "I guess Lexie told Molly she wasn't feeling well and you forced her to come to the hospital." He added "Molly was concerned that you're a doctor and if you were making her come in, there might be something wrong?" He went on to explain "And Molly tried calling you and went to voicemail."
Meredith blinked in surprise. She wasn't aware Molly had her number, and she hadn't looked at her phone since getting to the hospital. She dug it out of her pocket to realize it had been on silent and she had several missed calls and voicemails from an unknown number. Most likely Molly.
"Molly got worried, when she wasn't able to get a hold of either of you, so she asked me to come down and check on you girls." He cleared his throat looking nervous.
Meredith let out a sigh before cloning her eyes for a moment to gather her strength. "She didn't want me to call anyone when we thought it was the flu" She explained hoping that would soothe the lack of phone calls. "I did offer, but she declined."
Thatcher nodded "Lexie doesn't like to be fussed over, when she doesn't feel good. Only her mother was ever allowed to really care for her."
"Yeah" Meredith agreed "She's strong willed that one." She tried to force a smile before taking a deep breath. "She's having surgery right now, her spleen ruptured."
The blood drained from Thatcher's face as he wobbled slightly, enough for Arizona to jump up and place her hand on his back. "Let's get you sitting down" She offered, flashing her warm smile "I am Arizona Robbins, doctor here and friend of your girls."
He gave her a grateful smile as he sat down.
"I know it sounds scary," Meredith went on to explain. Knowing that Thatcher was probably freaked knowing his daughter was in surgery, in the same place his wife died. "She's really in the best hands possible."
Arizona nodded in agreement "The best hands" She repeated.
"I should have called you, my focus has been on Lexie. I am really sorry" Meredith offered biting her lip as she silently prayed for a hole would open up right underneath her and swallow her right then and there.
"I know you're taking good care of her" He promised as he tried to offer a warm smile. "Both Molly and I know." He added as he shifted the bag. "When I found out you insisted on bringing her, I figured it would probably be over night. You wouldn't just bring her here for no reason." His eyes looked down to the bag in his hand "I wanted to help..."
He extended the bag to Meredith looking a little sheepish.
Meredith raised her eyebrow as she took the bag before looking inside. She found it full of two of everything. Two toothbrushes, one purple with sparkles, one teal with sparkles. Two hair brushes one purple one teal, two pairs of fuzzy socks one set purple, one set teal. Two fuzzy blankets, two packages of hair bands, two lip balms, and two stuffed bears all in one set purple the other teal.
"I figured you'd stay with her, or I am hoping you will stay with her." He said, focusing on his shoes. "When the girls were little they used to fight over things so we color coded them growing up. Everything we bought Lexie was purple, and Molly pink" He rambled "I... uh, you should have had a color too, and that's my fault." He looked embarrassed as he avoided eye contact. "You have a color now." He added "Just some things to get you through the night, because hospitals…well you know...you work here." he rambled on as his eyes became fixed on a spot on the floor. Which Meredith was pretty sure he was praying would open and swallow him.
She stood frozen looking at the bag before looking at Thatcher slowly not sure what to do or say.
"I hope you don't mind, but I'd like to stay. Until she's out of surgery. I want to see her. Tell her I love her." he added quietly.
Meredith took a seat next to him placing the bag before her feet as she went to place her hand on his knee but dropped it beside her instead "You have to stay" She agreed "Lexie will want to see you. It will make her feel better."
He glanced at her for a second with a small sad smile. "Thank you."
"The door is still open," Meredith reminded him gently. "I am sorry I didn't call you, but I am glad you're here now."
"How'd this happen?" Thatcher asked looking up "Lexie hasn't called me in over a week, has she been feeling unwell?"
"That's the loaded question, we all want to know" Meredith exhaled as she took the teal bear out of the bag and placed it on her lap. Running her fingers over it's soft fur. Tracing the outline of the ribbon around the neck. Thatcher had been a great girl dad to her sisters. She was glad for them. Yet it made her heart ache a little more for herself. Knowing now about Lexie, knowing how much she'd grown to love her. She hated even more that her father had just given up. That he didn't fight for her. That she wasn't enough for him to fight for. All those precious years with Lexie were robbed from her. That hurt.
"You don't know?" Thatcher asked, confused. "She lives with you…."
"She does' ' Meredith never took her eyes off the bear. "We work long days, there are days I see her only long enough to grab a quick bite with her in the cafeteria, or see her heading up to her room for the night."
"You girls do work too hard" He sighed as he looked at Arizona "Do you work as many long hours as my girls?"
"I do '' She smiled "It comes with the career. Your girls are so gifted the medical world is lucky to have them. They are making a huge difference in this world."
"They get their brilliance from their mother's" He said looking at his lap "All of their greatness is not from me."
Meredith shifted uncomfortably as she took a deep breath desperately wanting the conversation to change.
"What would cause my daughter's spleen to just rupture?" Thatcher asked Arizona, sensing his eldest daughter's discomfort.
"Infections, blunt force trauma can cause a spleen to rupture." Arizona responded honestly "In Lexie's case, trauma…."
"Arizona." Meredith groaned as Mark got up and began to pace while Thatcher's jaw dropped. "Excuse me?"
"He's going to find out," Arizona reminded Meredith gently. "Might as well hear it from us."
Thatcher turned to Meredith who quickly recoiled, almost afraid he was going to hit her again, like he had when Susan died.
Thatcher winced knowing he caused that reaction. He leaned further in his chair away from Meredith to give her space. "I am not going to hit you, Meredith." He promised. "I am not drunk, and I know whatever is going on with Lexie is not your fault. You're doing your very best to care for her."
Meredith could only nod. She felt like she was failing her sister at every turn. She wouldn't blame him this time if he did slap her for failing her little sister.
"Lexie's allergic to eggs" Thatcher said after a quiet minute "And Amoxicillin, I am sure that's in her charts.. They'll know that right?"
Mark stopped pacing and looked at Thatcher. "I am sure it's in her medical records, but I'll go make sure they know." He said quietly wanting to get out of there before the girls told Lexie's father that his little girl had been used as a punching bag by some unknown person.
"I fed her eggs once" Meredith let out a small laugh "And the girl ate them, and didn't tell me. I had to hear from George later on, to not feed her eggs...She didn't want to hurt my feelings" Her smile slowly faded "She puts everyone before herself."
"What happened to your sister?" Thatcher asked, "Please, I can take it."
"I don't know" Meredith exhaled loudly as she got up and began to pace the teal bear still in her hands as she squeezed it while pacing. "All I know is that someone hit her… I don't know who, I don't know why, and I don't know when."
"Someone hit her?" He asked, confused "With their fists, or a car?"
"Fists" Arizona responded for Meredith as she saw how hard this was on the older Grey. "We know the timeline was within the last week. We know it was someone she didn't know. We know that he was male."
Thatcher's jaw hung open "Who would hurt my little girl? She's so sweet and selfless."
"We're working with her at her pace" Arizona explained "She's not quite ready to tell us. She wants to tell Meredith first, but she's not ready yet…"
Thatcher ran a hand over his head. His eyes looked pained as he fought back tears. "Lexie, she's as sweet as can be."
"Yes," Arizona agreed. "We love her, around here."
"She's also" he paused trying to find the right words. "You can't make Lexie do something, she's not ready to do.. She won't talk until she's ready."
"Like someone's sister, I see." Arizona smiled trying to get Meredith to smile.
"I believe, I called that stubborn." Meredith mumbled. "I also believe that was my trait first, so she's going to have to pick a new one, when all of this is over. I wasn't taught to share."
Thatcher actually smiled at Meredith's attempt to humor in the moment. "That trait was mine first…"
"So we were doomed from birth?" Meredith asked "Because, I've met both of our mother's and know they too were very stubborn."
"That's what I am saying, you were hit with it doubly, sorry kiddo." He smiled not even realizing he slipped in an affectionate name. "When your sister has processed what she needs to. Comes up with a plan she sees best. She will talk. It just won't be a moment before."
"I figured that out," Meredith sighed as she sat back down.
"I am sure you're taking really good care of her." Thatcher offered "I trust she is in the best possible hands."
Meredith stole a quick glance at him offering a small smile "Thank you." she didn't feel like she was the best hands, but some how hearing Thatcher say that made her feel a little bit better.