Author's Note- Hi! So this is a really short update but it's something I decided to add in because I think all of us could use a dose of HAPPY right now. I hope you enjoy! :)

For hours, Richard had been waiting, his pager and cell phone at the ready. He had paced back and forth in the hallway outside of his former office, and contemplated asking a nurse to measure his vitals and see if his heart was beating at a dangerous rhythm.

Owen Hunt had left with Search and Rescue this morning. They had found the crash; that was confirmed but so far, the only person they knew was alive was Cristina Yang. It was something; Richard told himself that… he was extremely thankful that Cristina Yang had survived. If the other five surgeons had expired, though, Richard was not sure how deeply he would be able to express his thanks for Cristina's life.

Suddenly, there was a buzzing noise and it was coming from Richard's pocket. His phone was ringing. Richard had been waiting for what felt like centuries and now that his phone was ringing, he was not sure if he wanted to answer it. It was likely one of those scenarios where ignorance was bliss.

But the families of the lost surgeons were waiting downstairs. There were nurses and patients and church groups and friends, all waiting for Richard to give an announcement. Owen would not call if he did not have significant news. Swallowing his fear, Richard picked up the phone and did not bother greeting his colleague: "Is it Cristina? Is she… is she the only one alive?"

"No," Owen replied and then he was sobbing down the phone. Owen Hunt was crying and Richard froze. Someone else was alive… maybe one other person… but the state of affairs could not be good.

And then Owen continued through his sobs: "They're all alive… they're all alive and at Boise. I don't know if they'll make it much longer, their injuries and infections are extensive, especially Lexie and Derek but… but they're hanging in there. They made it here. I can… I can give you a rundown."

They were alive… they were all alive! Richard almost asked Owen if he was joking because it seemed like such an impossibility but Owen would not joke about something like this. The six surgeons were still alive and even if they could not sustain much longer, the families would have something to hope for, something at which to grasp… maybe Richard would make it to Boise in time to see Meredith.

"Thank God," he whispered down the phone to Owen and after receiving his short summaries of each patient, they hung-up. Richard virtually ran down the hallway and to the lobby where all of the families were congregating. They were leaving periodically- Carolyn Shepherd, for example, had booked a nearby hotel- but no one was going anywhere while Search and Rescue were still out.

Part of Richard wanted to stand up on the staircase and shout the miracle from the rooftops- the doctors were alive! But he knew that that would not be a good plan. He needed to tell them one by one so they would have time to react however they pleased.

"Attention, everybody!" Richard yelled from the balcony and the families looked up. "I have received an update from Dr. Hunt and there's good news and bad news. I need to meet with you one by one- or at least with each family, one by one."

Instantly, everyone started moving- Callie Torres was first out of her seat and she practically dragged Arizona's parents forward. "We're first! I was here first and… and we're first."

"Of course. Come with me, Callie… Mr. and Mrs. Robbins," Richard said and he led them to an empty conference room. This time, Arizona's father did not correct anyone on the proper way to pronounce his name.

They sat down across from Richard in the conference room. Richard attempted to keep his face as neutral as possible because he did not want to give them false hope.

"Just tell us," Callie begged and there were tears in her eyes.

"Well, Dr. Hunt and the Coast Guard were able to find the remains of the aircraft. That led them to the surgeons. I am happy to tell you that although critically injured, Arizona is alive," Richard said and allowed himself to smile, tentatively.

A few seconds went by and then Callie's mouth popped open in surprise. She began laughing and crying at the same time. "She's alive?! Oh my God, she's alive?!"

"Arizona is alive," Richard repeated and watched as the two parents embraced each other through their sobs.

Seconds later, they pulled themselves apart and Arizona's father composed himself; he was the colonel, after all. "Okay, so… is she coming here? When can we see her?"

"What are her injuries?" Callie added.

"All I know so far is that Arizona has a fractured left femur and some sort of infection," Richard explained. "Due to the nature of her injury, and the others, they were forced to take them to the closest hospital which was Boise Memorial. Once I have informed all the families, we will be preparing a bus to drive over there."

This was fine; Arizona's parents jumped up and her mother was giddy with pleasure. "We can live with that; we can live with a broken leg."

"I can fix her broken leg," Callie agreed and then stopped short. "But wait, what about Mark? We're the only ones here for him. Can you tell us about Mark, too?"

Richard considered but it only seemed right. Mark's parents had passed away and he had no siblings so it was Callie, Arizona, and Derek that were closest with him.

"Of course," Richard said. "Mark is stable. He is extremely dehydrated and Owen believes that he has some burns on the right side of his body that may be third degree but he was conscious and talking upon rescue. His most severe injury thus far, other than burns, is a broken ankle so… so overall, he should be fine."

"Oh my God!" Callie cried and began laughing and crying all over again. "Thank you, Richard!"

"You're welcome," Richard smiled. This was his favorite part of his job- when he got to tell the families good news. There would not be this much excitement from all the parents but this was a good outcome.

"Just do me one favor," Richard requested before they left. "Don't go out announcing anything to the others yet. I have some tough news to break to some of them and I would rather you exit out the other door. There will be some nurses out there waiting for you; you need to fill out some paperwork before getting on the bus to Boise."

The Robbins family, Callie included, quickly agreed and did as they were told. Richard paged Miranda Bailey, who was out in the lobby still, and told her to send in the Yang family. That would be another relatively easy one.

Approximately one minute later, the door to the conference room flew open. Richard readjusted his face as Helen Rubenstein sprinted over and sat down across from him. "What is going on? Did they find the plane?!"

"Yes, Dr. Hunt and the Coast Guard were able to locate the remains of the aircraft," Richard confirmed. "The good news is… I'm happy to tell you that your daughter, Cristina is alive."

Helen's entire face brightened. "Cristina is alive?! Oh, thank God!"

"Yes, Cristina is alive but she is injured and that is the bad news," Richard said. "Nothing looks too severe though. She has a broken collarbone and sustained trauma to her left shoulder which is basically a fancy way of saying that she has a dislocated shoulder. There are a few other lacerations- cuts and bruises- and she's very dehydrated and exhausted- but overall, I think your daughter got very lucky. She'll be fine."

In one quick movement, Helen got up, walked around the desk, and threw her arms around Richard. "Thank you, thank you so much! Thank you, God! Is she on her way here?"

Richard explained the same thing that he had to Arizona's family- that Cristina was being taken to Boise Memorial and a bus would be traveling there soon. Helen immediately agreed to get on the bus and exited out the back door like instructed. Based on the cheerful greetings, it sounded like Helen was celebrating with Arizona's loved ones.

Next into the conference room was the Shepherd family which currently consisted of only Carolyn Shepherd. Richard had met Carolyn numerous times before though so it was an awkward situation as she sat down on the other side of the desk.

"I raised five doctors," Carolyn said straight away. "I know how doctors work. You're going to break the news to me slowly, right? You're going to tell me that you did everything you could."

Richard smiled sadly. "Let me just say my piece first, alright?"

Carolyn did not refuse so Richard continued: "Dr. Hunt and the Coast Guard were successful in locating the remains of the aircraft. It appears that it went down just outside of Idaho, in the very eastern part of Oregon."

"And… did they find any of our people?" Carolyn whispered, her voice ready to break.

"They did. They found all of them, in fact," Richard said and took a deep breath. "Listen to me, Mrs. Shepherd. Your son, Derek is critically injured… but as of right now, he is alive."

Realization set in for a third time. Carolyn let out a huge sigh of relief. "H-He's alive?"

"Derek is alive, as of right now," Richard repeated. "I don't know all the details yet. From what I've heard, it's… it's going to be back and forth for a while. His left hand was broken in several places and infected. Obviously, that could complicate things as far as him being a surgeon goes. He will need multiple surgeries. According to Dr. Hunt, Derek also has an extremely high fever because of the infection, a concussion, fractured ribs, and his stats are running high, overall. There might be more internal bleeding. Honestly, the way that Hunt put it… I wouldn't get your hopes up too high, Mrs. Shepherd but… yes, as of this very moment, Derek is alive."

The reality of her son's condition must have registered because Carolyn wiped at her eyes but then she took a deep breath. "Okay… okay, well… he's alive now. Is he coming here? Can I see him? How is Meredith?"

"I can't release all the information on Meredith yet, not until I meet with her father but I will tell you that she's alive," Richard said. "Due to the fact that everyone's injuries were severe, the doctors were taken to the closest hospital which was Boise Memorial. We are preparing a bus to drive over there. If you just take the back door, you'll meet up with the other families I've spoken with so far and you can make any necessary phone calls there."

Carolyn agreed quickly and got up but before she left, she too, hugged Richard and even kissed him on top of the head. "Thank you so much. Thank you."

The last meeting was going to be the toughest. Richard took a few minutes to sit by himself before paging Bailey because he needed to call on his higher power to help him through this task. He was closest with Meredith, Ellis Grey's daughter. There were two daughters, really, because of Lexie… Thatcher was emotional ever since the death of his wife and too much bad news at once could potentially spiral him into a relapse.

Oh, and then there was the part where Richard had had an affair with Thatcher's wife. He was probably not the best person for this job but it would be cowardly to back out now.

Sure enough, when Thatcher opened the door to the conference room, his eyes were red and tearful and seeing Richard did not make things any easier. He sat down across the desk and sighed, "So you're the one that's going to tell me that my daughters are dead?"

"Just… just hold on," Richard said and he sighed, too. "I'm sorry that this has been so painful for you… now and… and before. I'm sorry that I have to be the one to do this but I think you would prefer hearing it straight from me instead of passing it down the line."

"I guess you're right about that," Thatcher agreed and crossed his arms, waiting.

Richard took another breath to steady himself. "Okay, so… Dr. Hunt and the Coast Guard were able to locate the remains of the aircraft. It appears that the plane went down right outside of Idaho, in eastern Oregon and we don't know the reason behind it yet. However, we… we were able to find all six surgeons."

"Y-You found… Lexie and… and Meredith?" Thatcher asked, emotion rattling his voice.

"We did… and let me start by saying that both of your daughters are extraordinarily strong. They're fighters and… and leaders and both of them were alive yet unconscious when found by the Coast Guard," Richard said.

Thatcher blinked a few times. "W-Wait, so… so they're alive?"

"Both of your daughters are critically injured, Thatcher, especially Lexie. I wish I could say that they were going to be alright but I don't know that. All I know is that they were alive when Hunt found them and that they made it to Boise Memorial alive," Richard explained.

"Why are they going there? They should take them here, to Seattle Grace. You guys are the best, right?" Thatcher pressed.

"We're one of the top ten teaching hospitals, yes, but due to the severity of your daughters' injuries, they had to take them to the closest medical center," Richard said. "Try not to worry. We're getting a bus for anyone who wants to make the trip over to Boise and see loved ones."

Thatcher nodded. "Well, yeah, I… I obviously want to do that! How much does it cost? Damn, these medical bills for Lexie alone are gonna be sky-high…"

"Don't worry about that right now. Your only concern should be your daughters. The hospital will take care of the bus fees and we can talk about payment plans for the medical bills later once Lexie is better," Richard said.

"Do we know that she's gonna be better, at all? What are her injuries? What are Meredith's injuries?"

"I cannot guarantee anything," Richard said for what felt like the hundredth time. "But… but so far, what I know is… is that Meredith has a head injury of some type. That could range anywhere from a concussion to a TBI… traumatic brain injury. She also apparently has some broken ribs and trauma to her left leg but again, I don't know how much… it could be a fracture. It could be burns. I don't know. I just know that she's injured but alive and extremely dehydrated. Apparently she lost a lot of blood and had an irregular heartbeat."

Thatcher nodded and wiped at his eyes; it was good to see that, at the very least, he cared about his eldest daughter. "And… and Lexie?"

"Lexie was… Lexie was probably injured the worst. From what Hunt gathered, we think she was trapped underneath part of the plane wreckage. She had several major, internal traumas that typically would have killed her within hours but the good thing about this particular plane crash is… well, she was surrounded by surgeons and they managed to keep her alive. She lost a lot of blood, though. Both of her legs are broken in several places. There was some… some other minor stuff that I didn't listen to, honestly, when I heard what I did… a concussion, a broken nose…"

"Yeah, I don't care about that. Lexie will look beautiful even if her nose is crooked," Thatcher said. "Do you think she has a chance, Richard?"

Richard nodded but he nodded slowly. He could not lie to Thatcher Grey. "I've seen people survive worse; I'll give you that… and Lexie apparently was the first person they rescued so she's been at the hospital for a while. I don't know if she has a good chance, Thatcher, I'll be honest but I do believe she has a chance."

"Okay… okay, well then… we need to get to Boise."

"Let's do it," Richard agreed and the two men got up and walked out of the conference room together where the rest of the families were waiting once again.

Okay, that's it! Like I said, I know it was really short but I thought it would be fun to see how the friends and families of the plane crash victims reacted when they learned that their loved ones were alive. And by the way, I am planning on making Thatcher Grey a bigger character in this story, despite the fact that I don't really like him (or Richard) much… I just think it is so ridiculous that Grey's Anatomy never included Thatcher for any of the storyline after the plane crash and I know Jeff Perry was busy with Scandal, but that does not erase my anger lol.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed and if you did, please don't forget to favorite/follow and leave a review! Thank you so much for reading… Chapter 13 will be coming very shortly! Xoxo, merderpedia :)