A/N: Hello, I'm back… I hope you are all having a great summer! I just bought a new laptop tablet thingamaroo and I am trying it out with this chap! I miss my macbook, but it was quite old and the battery wouldn't charge, so it was hard to write anywhere I wanted. Now I can! Whoo hoo!

Enjoy!

In the exam room, Maggie watched the pulsating black and white image from the echocardiogram. The image gave her a good idea of what was growing on April's unborn child. "Well," she said, "It is a cardiac mass. Fortunately, these things have a history of being benign, most often, and it does look like something we could operate on if we had to." She turned to the OB. "Connie, if you could get a needle biopsy of that mass and put a rush on it, I need to know exactly what type of tumor this is."

"Tumor?" April whimpered, her voice shaky. Beside her, Jackson swallowed and squeezed his wife's hand.

Maggie noticed her anxiety. It must be terrifying to find out that there is something wrong with your child who is growing and being nurtured in your body. She wanted to support her new friend and colleague. She mustered a little confidence in her voice, bringing the thunder in a calm assertive manner. "To you, it looks scary, but to me, it's a challenge, and I never give up on a challenge, okay? Just hang in there. Once I know exactly what I'm dealing with, I will make a plan, and we'll go from there." She glanced from April to Jackson and back. "The good news is that so far, the tumor hasn't invaded the heart itself, so your child's heartrate hasn't been affected. These types of tumors are usually slow to grow, if at all and are usually benign."

"Benign?" April said.

Maggie nodded. "Benign. I'll know at the end of the day."

"See?" Jackson's voice was hopeful. "It'll be okay. Maggie's got this."

April just nodded numbly as she stared at the screen. "Can you get my mom?" she asked.

"Of course," Maggie replied, removing the wand and wiping off the gel. Then she remembered the thing about Zola, "April?" she asked.

"Hm?" April answered distractedly, her eyes fixed on the ceiling.

"Never mind, it's not important" Maggie decided that now wouldn't be a good time. "I'll go get Karen."

She walked out of the room and sighed heavily. Outside, in the hallway, April's sweet mother Karen looked up from her seated position. "Mag- uh, Dr. Pierce?"

"We still have to run some tests, but you can go and see her," she said.

"Oh, bless your soul," Karen said. "I'm praying for a miracle…"

Maggie smiled stiffly. Benign or not, cardiac tumors weren't something to mess with. "Of course," she said.

"Do you believe in Miracles?" Karen asked.

Maggie blinked, considering this… She wasn't naïve enough to believe that there wasn't a spiritual side to medicine, although she had yet to see her own 'miracle'. Definitively, she was a doctor, a scientist…

But things sometimes happened that were unexplainable.

"I believe…" she paused, "I believe that faith is a part of medicine," she said finally.

Karen stood up and reached for the door, "I Believe in Miracles. The good Lord brought Meredith back to us… he can heal a baby in utero."

Maggie nodded. "I hope so."

xxx

Jo sat with Stephanie at the Joe's. Since her talk with Alex earlier, she'd done some digging, and now she might have an answer for him. Hoped anyway. At least she could say she tried. Impatient, she ran her fingers along the neck of her bottle of beer.

The bell jingled, and a man walked in. "Is that the guy?" Stephanie nodded her head at the man who just entered the bar.

Jo looked over to see if she recognized him, "um, no."

"Okay, enlighten me. What are we doing here again?" Stephanie had been sort of dragged along in this, her partner in crime.

"Looking for Alex's sister?" Jo said, but that was only half the answer. She was also looking for a gun.

"Why does that sentence have a question mark at the end of it?" Stephanie asked,

"Because, I'm not exactly sure?" She sipped her beer and stared into space. Yes, she was a little street smart, and she was now almost into her third year of residency, and she'd beaten all the odds against her, but she felt she'd spent her life just floating, not having anything to ground her, until she found Alex. And she didn't want to lose her footing now. She couldn't lose him.

"Okay, seriously, what is going on with you and Karev?" Stephanie asked. "It isn't your fault his sister ran off, and knowing him… I'm not really surprised."

"It's…" Jo sighed, "I know what it's like okay? I know how Amber feels and how Alex feels, and I just want to fix it. I should've told him… about Amber. I should've gotten rid of the gun, it was stupid to keep it in the first place. I need to find her and get the gun back. Amber's… she's scared, and desperate. And desperate people do desperate things." She would figure everything else out later, right now, they had to secure the gun.

Her friend sighed reluctantly, "Whatever, I feel like I'm on some kind of cop show or something. How did you find this guy anyway? Who is he?"

"Oh, well his name is Dan Pruitt. He's a cop, I asked some of the nurses if they knew anybody who could help, and they recommended him. You know the shooting that killed Dr. Shepherd?"

"Yeah…"

"Dan was one of the cops involved. Anyway, I told him that Alex got shot that day and he said he'd help. He could do a welfare check on Amber's kid. And if we know where Amber's kid is, we'll find Amber."

"They can do that?" Stephanie asked.

"I guess so."

"Did you tell the cop about the gun?"

"Um, not exactly…"

"Jo," Stephanie chastised.

"Just- wait… that's him." Jo could recognize a cop anywhere. Dan stuck out in the crowd, a bit too clean-cut and confident in the crowd of tired hospital staff. She waved him over, and he nodded as he approached

"Hey," Dan called out.

"Hi," said Jo, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Jo?" Another voice said, causing her to cringe. "Who the hell is this guy?"

"Alex?"

xxx

Callie walked in a daze down the hallway. She didn't know what to think or feel anymore. Should she feel angry and betrayed? Or sad? Or embarrassed? How could Arizona do this to her, again? After everything she had done for her? It was unreal. She felt like she'd been hit by a hurricane. Everything was up in the air.

Her phone buzzed, shaking her out of her thoughts. If it was Arizona, she couldn't guarantee what would come out of her mouth. But it was Mark. "Hello?" she answered with a hoarse rasp.

"I'm gonna be a dad!" He exclaimed happily over the speaker.

"What?!" Callie came to a complete stop in the hallway, causing an orderly to collide into her. She barely noticed. What was Mark talking about?

But he was still talking "Well not… now exactly, but… Lexie and I… we're on the mend," His voice sounded distant over the phone.

"Well uh, that's great, that's- I'm happy- uh," Callie stammered.

"Hang on, I'm driving, I'm putting you on speaker." There was a shuffling noise as he fumbled with the phone. Finally, she heard him sigh on the other end. "You don't sound happy, Callie. What's wrong?"

For a split second, she wanted to hide the truth from him, but her mouth opened, and stuff came out. "Why does everyone I marry cheat on me? What's wrong with me, Mark? I just- what did I do wrong? What did I do? Am I… Am I a bitch or something?"

"Cal-,"

"Just tell me, Mark tell me what to do!"

"So, you have proof that she cheated on you?"

"Yes!" she exclaimed without thinking, and then she thought about it… It wasn't like she caught them kissing or something. She sighed, "No, not exactly."

"You need to give her the benefit of the doubt. Arizona loves you. You need to talk to her Callie."

"And say what, exactly?"

There was a long pause on the other end.

"Mark?"

"Stop trying so hard. If you both love each other the same way, it shouldn't be this hard. And if it is… Maybe you need to let her go."

"Mark…" Callie said, but there was no response. "Mark? Hello?" she pulled her phone from her ear and looked at it. Signal Lost, "Okay…." Shrugging she continued on her way.

xxx

"Meredith?" Janet asked, leaning on the arm of the couch, her arms still wrapped around the clipboard.

"I can't," Meredith said. She steadied herself on the bookcase.

"Can't what?"

"Explain."

"So, you have no idea where that might have come from?" Janet nodded to the baggie of white powder that lay there.

In her mind, she saw herself back on that diving board. The water below looked so inviting. She leaped, graceful and smooth, like an Olympic athlete, seeing Zola's face in the reflection.

Meredith shook her head, "I-," She was trying really hard not to believe it was Amelia. Trying to give Derek's sister the benefit of the doubt.

"On your last home check, you had some medication?" Janet asked.

"Painkillers, for my pelvis…" Which she kept in her master bathroom, on the top shelf of her medicine cabinet. But she'd already checked that. No one had touched it.

"Your sister-in-law, Amelia, admitted that she was in Recovery." The social worker stated.

Sister Outlaw was more like it, Meredith mused. "She gave you a letter from her sponsor," Meredith replied. "She's been clean." She was clean.

"I realize that," Janet remarked. "But relapses happen."

Meredith was back at the diving board, in freefall, but… was someone moving the tank?

She swallowed. Just be honest, she thought. "I just got a text from her boyfriend. Amelia was here. He said she was drunk. She- she made this mess."

"And the drugs?"

"I don't know, Janet. It wasn't here when I left." That was the truth. She'd cleaned the whole place. She'd even baked cookies, which she was going to offer… but…

Meredith played nervously with her fingers. She could feel her heartbeat rising and she tried to control her breathing. Please, she pleaded with her eyes. "Janet, this was just a little-," She tried, a little what? "I'll kick her out." Meredith said, nodding with finality. "Amelia won't be living here anymore."

But Janet hugged her clipboard. "I'm sorry, Meredith, but this is serious. If a child was here when this happened…"

"It won't happen again. I swear. I would never- I couldn't- Zola-," Meredith stammered, feeling a lump rise in her throat. This wasn't happening. Not to her. Not again.

Janet picked up the baggie, examining it with a shrewd eye. "Fortunately this doesn't seem to be enough to warrant charges, but I will still have to alert CFS, and your case will be reviewed. The rules are very strict about this."

Halfway through her dive, Meredith flinched and flailed. "What about Zola?" She croaked. Would they really send her back to Africa?

"Zola will remain in foster care until her case is reviewed and a judge has made his decision."

"A judge? I have to go to court?" Once again, she had to prove herself. Lately, she'd been feeling like she always had to prove herself. A gust of wind blew her off course in her freefall.

"It appears so."

She was falling too fast and out of control, didn't someone get it? Couldn't someone do something? She stared at the only person who had power in this case. "Janet-Please… can you just…" she trailed off, because as a doctor, as a professional, she couldn't say the words that a mother would say. Just pretend you didn't see that?

"Meredith, you can't ask me to…" Janet responded quickly as she headed for the door, shutting down any wayward notion.

"I know, I know," she whispered as her heart contracted. Meredith was falling too fast, too fast, and no one was there to catch her. Except…

"Meredith?" Janet asked.

She threw out a flimsy net. Pick me. Choose me. Love me. "I would never intentionally hurt Zola," Meredith said, catching up with her at the door. "I couldn't- I- I'm sorry and I'll do better. I can. I- I've never wanted anything so badly in my life and- "Meredith's heart pounded, she gasped. "Please…" she begged. "I can't lose her. I've lost everything else. I can't lose-,"

Janet's usual implacable countenance faltered for a moment as she studied Meredith.

"I can't lose her." Meredith breathed.

"I'll do what I can." She said. And then she was gone.

Meredith took one final look around the living room, "Zola…" she whimpered. This was it. She leaped. She fell in love again, but she fell too fast and the water was as hard as cement. It broke her, gutted her. Flayed her from the inside out. What was left for her?

Nothing. She was empty and void of anything that seemed to matter anymore. Her hand shook as she stared at the picture of Zola on her phone, and then she was reminded of the text Owen sent, and Amelia and- "Dammit!" she cursed, flinging her phone hard against the wall where it cracked and shattered, the battery cover falling off.

The water was hard, and she couldn't breathe… she couldn't… why did everything have to be so damn hard? She stumbled back, her emotions overtaking her. She couldn't bury it anymore. Her back found a wall and her legs gave out from under her. Her hand flew to her chest, her heartbeat racing, thudda-thudda-thudda-thudda-thudda, she gasped… she couldn't breathe...

"Hello?"

There was a creak from the front door. Who was here? Not like she cared, she was still trying to breathe.

"Hello?" That voice. "Meredith- Dear Lord, what happened in here?"

Crap. Meredith thought, Carolyn. "Meredith," Carolyn crouched down, and her silver hair and lightly tanned face appeared like a messy oil painting in front of her. "It's all right just breathe sweetheart, breathe…"

But she couldn't. Maybe she didn't want to. She was drowning again, and the blackness was so inviting. And then she passed out.

A/N: One down, many more to go!

FYI, from now on, when I am working on a story, I'm going to update my profile at the top so everyone knows which story I'm currently on. So if you're wondering, you can check!