Exhausted didn't describe the way Meredith felt. She had just finished a 12 hour procedure with Owen on a trauma patient and she was more than ready to go home. She slowly dragged to the locker room, changing into her civilian clothes. She wanted to shower, but the energy it took to do so she didn't have. She saw George come in, a ghastly look on his face.
"What's wrong George?" Meredith asked as she sat down on the bench. Her feet were killing her, she really needed new shoes but never found the time to go buy some.
"Izzie was cut," he said, still shocked by the realization.
"What?" Meredith was just as shocked.
"Yeah, she Uh- just told me as she was walking out with her stuff," George said.
"I'm sorry, I know you two were close," Meredith frowned. After the incident with Derek, her and Izzie never rekindled their friendship. She still thought Derek was only for surgeries. She never felt the need to correct her, it wasn't any of her business anyway.
"I didn't expect it, I mean one of us was cut. I thought the rest of us was safe," he said, shaking his head.
"We are George, I don't know exactly what happened but I'm sure we are all fine," Meredith tried to say, knowing he was just as scared as everyone about the cuts being made.
"You don't know that Mer," he replied, slamming his locker door.
"Want to go to Joe's and blow off some steam?" Meredith offered, she didn't have plans tonight since it was a Friday night and that meant Grace was at Derek's house.
"Can't, I'm on call," he said shaking his head.
"Tomorrow then?" She offered.
"Ok," he nodded before turning and walking out. Meredith grabbed the rest of her stuff, slowly making her way toward the exit. She wasn't sure what her plans were, she honestly thought about offering to be on-call. As she left the elevator, she got a page to the ER with a 911. She thought it was fate as she quickly rushed down to the ER.
"Whats going on?" Meredith asked as she made it to the nurses station. She quickly turned when she heard the familiar voice behind her.
"Derek?" She asked as she saw him in his street clothing, a look of panic on his face.
"I told them to page you, please," he asked as she quickly dragged her to the room. There she saw a very pale Grace laying on the bed with an oxygen masked covering his face.
"Daddy, what's wrong?" She asked with gasp.
"Please, I don't know if your even still here officially but I know you will do everything I can't," he pleaded with her.
"Yeah, yeah," she quickly put her things to the side and started assessing the girl.
"She was born with ventricular septal defect, she had surgery when she was 4 months old to repair it. She's been on an ACE inhibitor every since I can remember," he started rambling on.
"Grace, have you been doing anything strenuous?" Meredith asked as she quickly started accessing the girl. She shook her head no, she looked terrified. Meredith's heart broke for the little girl, she had no idea what was going on.
"Have you paged Teddy?" Meredith asked just as Cristina came in to the room.
"I need an echo done stat, need a CBC, and need to take her for an MRI," Cristina started spitting out as she took over for Meredith.
"What can I do?" Meredith asked, knowing Derek wanted her to be there to help.
"Nothing, you're too close to the family," Cristina said as she shook her head.
"Cristina!" Meredith stuttered back as she followed Cristina out to the hall.
"No, Meredith. I said no, you can be here but only for family purposes," Cristina replied.
"Lexie then, get Lexie," Meredith insisted. She knew Cristina wasn't going to budge on letting her work on Grace.
"Ok," Cristina said, shaking her head.
"Thank you," Meredith felt relieved, though she didn't know Grace at all, as this was only her second time seeing her, she wanted to make sure she was ok. She turned and went back into the room, Derek stayed down beside her, trying to keep her calm.
"What do you need me to do?" She asked, she felt helpless in this moment.
"Do you know where Addison is?" He asked.
"Her last surgery on the board was an emergency cesarean an hour ago," Meredith remembers seeing her name as she scrubbed out of her surgery.
"Get the nurses to page her again. I've called a dozen times," he asked.
"Yeah, anything," Meredith nodded before going to the nurses station.
"Can you page Addison Shepherd 911?" Meredith asked.
"Already did," she replied snarky.
"Page her again," Meredith growled, she hated the attitude of the ER nurses. They were always rude and hated their jobs apparently. She walked back to the room, Lexie was in there doing an echocardiogram on her chest.
"Addison should be here soon," Meredith said, she wanted to leave soon especially since Addison would soon be there.
"Ok," he smiled lightly up at her.
"I think I'm going to head out if you guys don't need anything," Meredith said as she slowly backed away to the door.
"Are you going home for the day?" Derek asked, looking sadly up at her. He was truly terrified of what could happen to his daughter and it just broke Meredith's heart even more.
"I'm probably going to check on my post-op but I should be around," she nodded at him.
"Ok," he said in a frown. She felt so bad leaving him but she didn't feel right being there, it was like intruding on a personal moment. They had only been dating seriously for a couple of months, she barely knew Grace at her level.
"Hey, let me know what is going on. I'll be around," she offered as she held the doorknob looking back at him. She saw the sadness in him and it broke her heart. He was a doctor and he couldn't do anything at that moment to fix his daughter. She knew that feeling all too well.
"I will," he offered a weak smile, something that gave her hope that he would be ok. She walked out of the room and right into someone.
"Grey, you busy?" She said breathlessly.
"Uh-no actually," she shook her head. She looked at the woman in front of her, she hadn't worked with her at all since she got to Seattle Grace.
"Good. I need an intern, Bailey sent me for you," she said as she hurried to the room down the hall.
"I uh-" Meredith wasn't sure what to do. She knew wanted to stay close in case Derek needed her for anything and being pulled into a surgery wouldn't help.
"You coming?" She said looked back at Meredith. She did favor her brother, a lot.
"Yeah, yeah. I did want to tell you about Grace," Meredith said as she followed her.
"No time, I have to get this guy to the OR," Amelia said as she shook her head and Meredith gasp when she saw why. A man was sitting in bed, alert and speaking but when he turned to the side you could see the knife sticking out of his head.
"Oh god," Meredith muttered as she immediately went to the mans side, inspecting the large knife inserted into his skull.
"Crazy right?" The man chuckled as he moved around a bit trying to get comfortable.
"Mr. Gleason, please don't move to much," Amelia said as she re-assed the man.
"Listen; I'm fine. Can we get this thing out of my head so I can go back to work," he said with a nervous laugh.
"How did this happen?" Meredith was completely amazed by this. The man was talking and moving perfectly fine.
"I'm a butcher, I was working carving this giant cow when the knife slipped and it jammed right into my head," he said with a laugh.
"Are you in any pain?" Meredith asked as she looked closely at the position of the knife.
"Surprisingly not a lot. I think it's the adrenaline," he said.
"You're very lucky. It looks to be just under the scalp and lodged into the skull," Amelia said as she studied the films.
"So you can pull this thing out and I can be on my way then?" He asked.
"Not exactly. The problem is location. I can't tell if it's infiltrated the brain or not so we will definitely have to put you under," Amelia said to the man.
"How long will I be out of work? My wife is pregnant with twins and we already have three at home. I'm the only one working so I can't be out long," he replied.
"Mr. Gleason, that depends on the extent of the damage. Could be a week, could be a few months. I need you to sign these consent forms," Amelia said as she handed him the forms. He looked at her then back down.
"What if I refuse?" He asked.
"We suggest you don't," Meredith intruded in, she wanted in on this.
"Can't you just take it out?" He asked again.
"I'm afraid if I will, you will start seizing if it's too far in," Amelia replied. She was hardcore, cut to the chase. She laid out the options for him, giving him worst case scenario's. He sighed, finally giving in and signing the forms.
"Great, Dr. Grey will you please prep him and bring him to OR 3," Amelia said as she turned and started out of the room. Meredith quickly turned and went after her. She felt an obligation to tell her what was going on with Grace.
"Dr. Shepherd," Meredith said following her.
"Yes Grey?"
"I wanted to tell you, I was trying to tell you earlier but you interrupted-"
"Spit it out Grey," Amelia said with a quickness.
"Grace was admitted a while ago," Meredith said quickly.
"What for?" Amelia said as her face dropped immediately.
"Her heart," Meredith replied.
"Why didn't you tell me? Where is she!" Amelia said in an undermining tone.
"She's a few rooms down. I tried to tell you-" Meredith tried to say before being interrupted.
"That's my niece. You should have said something earlier. Go prep the patient. I'll get Nelson to come in and do the procedure," Amelia scolded before walking off and shaking her head. Meredith sighed, she had barely spoken to Amelia before today. The last thing she wanted was to get on her bad side. She was the way around Bailey to have her neuro fix.
Meredith turned and went to go finish prepping the patient, she got him settled in as well as an IV started for the anesthesia before slowly and carefully wheeling him down to the OR. He was pretty quiet, she assumed it was the nerves as he looked terrified. She got him in, ready for the procedure before going to scrub in. Her pager started blaring and she immediately looked down. Her heart sank, a 911 to Grace's room. She took off, not looking back. She felt the sense of rationality leaving her body as she ran through the halls. She was met by Derek waiting outside the room for her.
"I'm sorry- I just didn't know what else to do but page you," he said with tears in his eyes. He looked absolutely terrified, like his whole world was falling apart.
"Is she ok? What's going on?" She said breathlessly.
"When she was a baby, they weren't able to fully repair the hole. They said it would get worse over time but they would keep an eye on it. She never missed a single appointment with her cardiologist," he rambled on, the tears welling in his eyes.
"Derek-" she said, reaching out for him. She felt helpless in the situation.
"They don't know what caused it to get so big so fast. It was like her body just ruptured itself," his tears turned into streams down his cheeks as he choked on his own words.
"Teddy is going in to repair what she can. They said she might need a transplant, they are worried about her lungs. She somehow developed heart failure which is putting too much strain on her lungs," he couldn't breath the words.
"What can I do?" She asked, squeezing the hand she was holding. She was hoping he knew that she would do anything for her.
"Just be here, please," he croaked, his words cracking with every syllable.
"Always," she couldn't contain it as she went in and pulled him into a hug. She didn't know what else to do. She hated he was going through this, that she couldn't do anything to fix the pain he was feeling.
"Is Addison here yet?" She asked as she held him close in the hospital halls.
"She's in there now, I just can't," he said shaking his head. They were interrupted by Lexie opening the door to them.
"I'm prepping her now if you wanted to come be with her," Lexie said. Meredith looked at him, nodding at him and motioning to the door. He held on to her hand, tightly as he slowly walked into the room. Meredith felt the tension in the room as she looked over at Addison. She looked so vulnerable in that moment, obvious signs that she had been holding back her tears.
"Daddy," the pale, fragile girl said from the bed.
"Gracie, I'm here," he immediately let go of Meredith's hand before going to her bedside. The monitors still erratically blaring from her heartbeat being so low.
"I'm scared," Grace said with tears running down her cheeks.
"It's going to be ok, Dr. Altman is the absolute best. She is going to take such good care of you," he said, trying to stay strong for his daughter.
"Daddy, you're the best. Why can't you fix me?" She said shaking. Meredith saw Derek's face drop as he looked so broken. She knew he would do anything to fix her if he could.
"I fix brains Gracie, I'm not that good at fixing hearts and I want the best for you," he tried to say without crying.
"What about Meredith? She fixed my arm and she was good at it," she asked again, looking at Meredith for an answer.
"Well Grace, I wish I could fix your heart but I'm no where near good enough for that. But I will tell you, my best friend Cristina is going to help Dr. Altman fix your heart. She is better than all of us and I know she will do the best she can," Meredith finally spoke up. She wasn't sure what to say to the girl, just something to try and comfort her.
"I'm sleepy," she said to her parents, with a large yawn to follow.
"You can close your eyes and take a little nap baby," Addison said with a soft smile. She seemed so gentle and different with her daughter. Meredith could tell how well of a mother she was just in the few minutes she had been around them.
"It's actually time to take you down so you can take a long nap. And when you wake up your heart should feel a whole lot better," Lexie finally spoke up. She had been standing quietly to the side, letting them have their moment.
"We are going to be right here waiting on you Grace," Derek said as he leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead.
"Mommy, will you come with me?" The girls anxiety seemed to peak as she realized she was going into surgery now.
"I will," Addison quickly stood up, coming to her daughter's side.
"I love you to the moon Gracie," Derek said with a weak smile to her, he tried to not show the pain he was feeling but Meredith knew he was sad and anxious.
"I love you too daddy," the girl said back to him. Derek stepped to the side, letting Lexie put the bed into position for transport.
"Jake should be here soon, can you let him know that she's going back and I will be back soon," Addison said to him. Derek nodded, watching as they wheeled her out of the room and toward the OR. After they were out of sight, he broke. Meredith saw him fall into a million pieces as he couldn't hold back the tears.
Meredith immediately went to his side, she grabbed him into an embrace as he fell apart. She wanted to take the pain away from him, she knew what it was like to feel like you are losing your child. She was brand new, she had barely gotten to live and even with all the hope, neither of them knew what the outcome of the surgery would be. She wanted to stay positive for him, letting him know it would be alright and she would be fine. She tried so hard to not fall apart with him, she hated seeing him like this.