Author's Note- Hi, everyone! Sorry that some of these chapters have been taking longer to get out. The story is just getting a little more complicated and I want to make sure I do it justice and don't end up with any gaping plot holes.

Also, as some of you may know, today is the premiere of Grey's Anatomy season 16. For MerDer stans like myself, this is a particularly difficult day. And honestly, even if you don't ship MerDer, it might be difficult because in my opinion, that show has gone downhill very quickly in the past few seasons. That is why I scheduled this chapter to go up today. It might not be completely happy (this is an angsty story after all) but at least you know MerDer are endgame in my world. I hope this provides you with a nice escape from reality. Enjoy!

It was the greatest amount of time that Meredith had spent away from a hospital since she went to Hawaii with Cristina following their intern year. Maybe four days was not all that much, but it felt like it to Meredith. For four days after Derek was discharged from the ICU, all that the couple did was sit at home, watch television, take care of Zola, and talk. They discussed Boston a lot more, and Meredith insisted that Seattle was her home. Meanwhile, Derek reminded his wife that she had, in fact, spent a majority of her life on the east coast.

Meredith wanted to go visit her remaining friends and family in the ICU, but for the time being, she knew it was best to stay home. Derek needed her; it would be strange for him to rely on Alex and there was nothing Meredith nor anyone else could do for Cristina. Arizona was isolating herself, allowing only Callie and Sofia to visit, and as much as Meredith desired to see Lexie, she had no wish to spend any additional time with her father.

More than anything, staying home with Derek gave Meredith the opportunity she needed to heal. She was away from the drama and chaos of Seattle Grace, and got to spend some much-needed time with her husband. By the time that Meredith would return to the hospital, for whatever reason, she promised herself that she would be virtually, if not entirely, back to normal.

Of course, that was easier said than done. The memories from the plane crash were still there and unless Meredith was fully distracted, they were always seeping into her brain… Lexie vomiting blood in the cockpit… coding on that last day in the forest… Derek growing paler and weaker by the hour… the rock… the knife… the wolves…

The only good part was the fact that Meredith had somehow kept herself from screaming during her nightmares. This was primarily accomplished by Meredith not sleeping, but during the few times that she had dozed off, she always ran to the bathroom in the middle of the night and ran bathwater so she could cry in private.

At the end of the fourth day away from the hospital, Meredith was lying in bed with Derek as usual when her phone chimed with a text. She picked it up; the message was from her father: Hi, Meredith. Hope you and Derek are doing okay. We miss you up here. Just wanted to let you know that the team has decided to wake up Lexie tomorrow. It might just be temporary if she's in too much pain but we want to see where she's standing, neurologically. I know Lexie would love for you to be here when she wakes up. Molly and I would love to see you too. Hope to see you!

The news that Lexie was going to wake-up was good, but Meredith rolled her eyes at Thatcher's message. All the same, she did text him back: Thanks for letting me know. I'll be there. Any idea what time?

Thatcher replied: I think Dr. Hunt said late morning. Can't wait to see you! Love you!

Meredith turned and faced Derek who was writing some emails on his laptop. It was taking an exceptionally long time, considering that Derek only had use of one hand.

"They're waking-up Lexie tomorrow!"

Derek's frustrated expression turned to one of surprise, happiness. "Really? Did someone just tell you that?"

"Yeah, Thatcher did. They said they're going to do it sometime in the late morning and… and I really need to be there. Are you going to be okay here by yourself?"

"I won't be by myself; I'll have Zola here with me," Derek smiled and Meredith rolled her eyes again.

"Yes, and I'm sure Zola would be such a huge help if you… I don't know, fell down the stairs or something."

"I'll be fine, Mer," Derek laughed. "I won't fall down the stairs."

Meredith paused. "Well, at least let me take Zola to the daycare. I doubt you could lift her by yourself yet and that's too much responsibility. Alex won't be here either."

"I can take care of our daughter by myself, Meredith. Seriously, if anything goes wrong, I'll call you. Please, I… you don't know how sick I am of being useless."

"You aren't useless," Meredith said but there was such a look in Derek's eyes that she had no choice but to surrender. Derek was not stupid. If he got in over his head, Meredith had faith that he would ask for help.

A short time later, Derek fell asleep, eager to get some extra rest since he was going to have a job to do tomorrow. Meredith pretended to sleep, too, but her mind was racing with far too many thoughts. How was Lexie going to be when she wokeup? Was Lexie's neurological function in-tact? Was Derek truly going to be alright?

Meredith tossed and turned for hours, even with the help of her Trazodone, and before she knew it, it was 8:00 in the morning and the alarm clock was buzzing.

"What?! What happened?!" Derek groaned, lifting his head off the pillow.

"Nothing. I'm just getting ready to go wake-up Lexie," Meredith said. "You can go back to sleep, if you want."

Reality registered; Derek sat up. "No, we've got stuff to do today. I mean… I have stuff to do today. I'm going to go get Zola."

He was excited about his assignment, so Meredith let him go. While he was down the hall in his daughter's room, Meredith showered and got dressed in a pair of jeans and a purple top, because purple was Lexie's favorite color. All of Meredith's clothes were still too big; she was not gaining weight but she made it work with a plain black belt.

Almost two weeks had now passed since the plane crash victims had returned to Seattle which meant that nearly three weeks had gone by since they had been rescued. It was hard to believe; those four days in the forest seemed like an eternity but now four days had sped by like air.

Alex arrived to pick-up Meredith at 9:00 (the latter was still not cleared to drive) and right before walking downstairs to meet him, Meredith knocked on the door to Zola's room. "Derek? I'm leaving; are you sure everything's okay?"

Zola's door swung open; Derek was standing there, a smile on his face, holding Zola with his good arm. The child was dressed in a cute, blue dress with a yellow collar; Derek was obviously proud of himself. "Everything's great! Isn't everything great, Zola? Can you say bye to Mommy?"

"Bye, Mommy!" Zola cried and reached out towards Meredith with her miniature arms.

"Bye, Zo-Zo; I love you," Meredith said and kissed her daughter on the cheek. "Mommy will be back in a few hours, okay? Mommy's just going to wake-up Aunt Lexie."

"Aunt Lexie… Aunt Lexie sleepy?" Zola asked.

"Yes, Aunt Lexie is still asleep but she's going to wake-up today. Maybe we can go visit her together soon; would you like that?"

Zola grinned and clapped her hands together; she loved Aunt Lexie. "Yay! Auntie Lexie, Auntie Lexie!"

Meredith smiled, too. "Awesome. Take care of Daddy, okay? Don't let Daddy work too hard."

"I love Daddy," Zola said; she threw her arms around Derek's neck.

"I love Daddy, too," Meredith said; she leaned forward and kissed Derek quickly, on the lips. "You call me if you need anything at all. Actually, call me even if you don't need anything. Just call me with updates."

"Yes, dear," Derek agreed.

Alex honked the horn loudly from outside; he was growing impatient so Meredith hurried downstairs and into his Volvo. "Would you hold your horses? I was telling my daughter goodbye."

"Wait, Zola's not coming with us?" Alex realized.

"No, Derek's been feeling useless and he's doing a lot better so he's watching her," Meredith said. "Damn, how early did you have to go in today?"

"There was a kid that needed their appendix out so I went in at 5:00. I need to do what I can for these kids before I hit the road."

"Still no timeline on that?" Meredith guessed.

"Nah, not until Arizona has her other surgery but her infection is getting better and Shepherd's getting better so… I mean… I'm trying to wrap things up."

Meredith did not say anything. She had told herself that she was not going to beg for Alex to stay in Seattle anymore; he had an amazing opportunity at Hopkins that he needed to take… but the thought of Evil Spawn leaving forever was terrifying.

"Have you and Shepherd made a decision as far as Boston goes yet?" Alex continued.

"We're working on it."

"You know, it's your life and you can do what you want, but Boston really isn't far from Baltimore… I mean, not compared to Seattle."

"Yes, I know that; thank you very much."

At the hospital, Meredith found Thatcher and Molly in the ICU hallway, scarfing down a speedy breakfast of chocolate doughnuts. They both had expressions of hope and excitement on their faces that grew brighter when they saw their relative.

"Hey, sweetie!" Thatcher called. "Do you want a doughnut? I picked you one up from the cafeteria!"

"I'm good; I already ate but thank you," Meredith lied. "So um… big day, huh?"

"It's the day we've all been waiting for," Thatcher said.

Molly nodded in agreement. "And then maybe we can all go out to dinner together, like we said. Dad, you, me, Derek… Lexie, if she's up to it!"

Meredith barely held back a snort. Regardless of Lexie's neurological function, she was not going to be leaving the hospital anytime soon. Her injuries were extensive; Lexie was going to require a ton of physical therapy. It was not like she was going to wake-up, cough a few times, and then walk out the door while a light snow fell in the background. This was not a lifetime movie.

But Meredith managed to pull herself together, for Lexie's sake. "Yeah, that sounds good. So um… did everything look okay overnight? I mean, Lexie's vitals were stable and everything?"

"We… actually went home," Thatcher said and his face turned red. "I know, I… I feel bad for doing it but we've been here with Lexie every night and I know we're going to be here every night forward, once she's awake so… Molly convinced me to take a break."

"She's been doing great today, though!" Molly added, brightly. "I'm so proud of her. She's such a fighter."

Meredith nodded and smiled. She did not mention anything about how Lexie had given up hope out in the forest. That was not something that Thatcher or Molly needed to know, especially not when Lexie might not even remember those conversations.

"She sure is going to wake-up to a lot of gifts," Molly continued, probably trying to keep this current conversation going. "I brought her stuff from home and it looks like a ton of other people have sent her goodies from the gift shop… someone named Mark sent red roses and pink balloons shaped like hearts. But… Lexie doesn't have a boyfriend, does she?"

"That was Mark Sloan, one of the other people from the crash. Maybe he sent them to everyone; he's always seemed like a big flirt," Thatcher assumed.

If Meredith remembered correctly, Lexie had introduced her father to Mark before, back during her intern year when they were dating. She cocked her head. "Well, I mean… they… they used to be a thing."

"Yeah, I remember. But that was a long time ago. Lexie broke up with him like, almost three years ago," Thatcher said. "And doesn't Mark have a new girlfriend now?"

"Um… he did but… I don't know. They've been…" Meredith said and she felt her face turn pink with embarrassment. She had revealed something pretty serious about Lexie without her sister's permission and to top everything off, this was not a topic Meredith had ever imagined discussing with her father.

Slowly, Thatcher and Molly exchanged a look and then the latter spoke. "So… so you're saying that he's like, still in love with her? With Lexie?"

"I… don't know. Maybe," Meredith said. She kept herself from adding anything about how Lexie was also hopelessly in love with Mark.

"Okay, well, I doubt that Lexie is going to be interested in boys anytime soon," Molly said. "She's going to be focused on getting better and honestly, I think it's a little selfish of this Mark guy to be asking for her back when she's in a coma."

Thatcher did not respond directly and instead, thankfully, changed the subject. "So what about you, Meredith? How have you been doing? I haven't seen too much of you lately."

"Oh, yeah… I've been… um, at home, resting with Derek. I'm doing okay," Meredith said. "I think I'll be much better after today though, once… Lexie's awake."

"You and me both, girl," Molly laughed. Meredith smiled back at her, a bit late, but some degree of pleasantness was exchanged between the two sisters.

"You know what?" Thatcher suddenly decided, perking up. "I don't want to wait any longer. There's no reason why we should wait any longer. Let's call Dr. Hunt. I want to see my little girl awake right now!"

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Things got delayed for a while. Owen was an extremely busy man, as Chief of Surgery so he had to meet with several other people and assist with an emergency splenectomy before he was able to make it up to the ICU. While she was waiting, Meredith paced back and forth in the hallway, thinking about Zola and Derek who were hopefully not lying on the floor at home.

The word must have spread that Lexie was going to awaken soon, because a crowd began gathering outside of the ICU, too. Nurses and doctors that had worked with Lexie over the years were present, all eager to see her and at 1:00 in the afternoon, Mark showed-up, trudging along with the help of a pair of crutches and Callie.

"Mark!" Meredith called when she saw him and Mark leaned one of his crutches up against the wall so that he could embrace Meredith in a hug. Nothing needed to be said; everyone that had been out in the woods shared an eternal, unbreakable bond.

"There's my Big Grey," Mark eventually sighed and he kissed Meredith on top of her head. "How are you? You hanging in there?"

"I guess so," Meredith said and put on her rehearsed smile. "What about you? How are your burns and everything? Your ankle?"

Mark shrugged; although he was grinning, Meredith could sense a certain amount of pain behind his smile. "Hey… I'm alive. And now, whenever I get back to surgery and I'm doing skin grafts, no one can ever accuse me of not having first-hand experience. If patients want to see my credentials, all I'll have to do is take off my pants and show them the damage."

"That's one way of looking at it," Meredith acknowledged. "Derek's doing better, too. He's at home right now, watching Zola by himself."

"That's great. I'll have to make it over to your place sometime soon, watch the Mariners or something with him," Mark said. "I may have survived that plane crash but if I don't get out of my apartment soon… or, I guess I should say Callie's apartment, then I'm really gonna die."

"I see," Meredith said. There were better and worse coping mechanisms but clearly, Mark was choosing to deal with his trauma by making constant jokes about it.

The plastic surgeon must have been aware of it, though, because his grin returned, rather sheepishly. "I know… I'm working on it. I've only been to therapy once so far."

"Oh, you started therapy? With Dr. Wyatt?" Meredith prompted.

"Nope, not with Wyatt. I know she's the best but apparently each shrink is only allowed to take on one of the plane crash people and you've already claimed her," Mark said. "I'm with Burgess and he's cool. What about you? How's it been going for you?"

Meredith waved her hand to signal moderation. "Er… I've only been once so far, too. I'm working on it."

"Yeah, I guess that's all we can really do," Mark said. "By the way, um… I don't know if you knew but I thought you should… um… I broke-up with Julia."

"Oh, really? Why, did you guys have a fight?" Meredith asked, the sarcasm evident in her tone.

"I guess you could say that. She didn't like it much when I confessed that I was still in love with… another girl."

A huge smile made its way onto Meredith's face. It felt like a breath of fresh air. "I bet she didn't…"

"Hopefully, Lexie still feels the same way now as she did… a month ago. A month ago, when you were off taking your boards, she kinda gave me this… monologue… said she loved me. I was so surprised; I didn't know what to say so I didn't say anything. Obviously, I… I regret that now."

"Why didn't you tell her while we were out in the woods?" Meredith asked. "She talked to me about you so many times… said she loved you and she wasn't sure if you loved her back."

Mark's face turned pink. "Oh, God… I… I don't know why, to be honest. I was a coward. I want Lexie to focus on herself, on getting better. I know that's the priority. So if she's not ready for me when she wakes up, then I'll wait for her. I'm not getting back with Julia. I'll hang out with Callie and Derek and you and… and I'll be there, whenever she's ready."

"Good," Meredith said.

"Good? Hold on; I'm actually getting the Big Grey seal of approval?"

"You had that a long time ago. I can tell that you two love each other… really love each other," Meredith confessed. "You can explain how you feel once she wakes up."

Mark grinned but at this point, their discussion was halted.

Finally, at almost 1:30, Owen had raced into the ICU with an expression of excitement on his face. "Okay, people; are we ready for this?"

"We are more than ready!" Thatcher said.

"Yeah, I can't wait to actually talk with her," Molly agreed.

Owen smiled but then he stopped short just outside of Lexie's room. "Hold on. There's a few things that you all need to know before we do this."

"I know she's still hurt, if that's what you were gonna say," Thatcher said. "I mean, it's kinda obvious, no offense… she has… how many broken bones?"

"Lexie has thirteen broken bones at the moment but no, actually; that is only part of where I was going," Owen said. "I just want you to know that the last time Lexie was awake, she was in the middle of the woods. Thatcher, I know you and Molly have been talking to her but there is a chance that Lexie might not remember anything that happened. She may be confused and frightened when she wakes up and she may be in a lot of pain. If that happens, it's going to be your job to keep her calm. Don't make any loud or sudden movements and try not to get emotional because that will only make Lexie feel worse."

Meredith had heard all of this before so she was mostly ignoring Owen but Thatcher nodded. "Okay, I understand, Doc. Lexie has a really good memory, though; that should help her some, right?"

"It's a possibility," Owen admitted. "We just can't get ahead of ourselves because unfortunately, Thatcher… unfortunately, the truth is, your daughter endured a lot of trauma. We aren't sure what state she'll be in when she wakes up. And for that reason, I don't want to allow anyone except immediate family in there with Lexie, at least in the beginning. If she is feeling alright, then we can add in friends and coworkers later."

Thatcher continued nodding. "Yeah, that sounds fair. So that's Molly, Meredith, and me, right?"

"That is correct," Owen said and from nearby, Meredith saw Mark sit down in a nearby chair next to Callie. His expression was sad; he had also wanted to be there when Lexie woke-up and Meredith knew why.

"Alright," Owen said, snapping Meredith back to attention. "I guess this is it. Whenever you're ready…"

Slowly, to make sure that they would not trigger any stress for Lexie, Meredith and the others followed Owen into Lexie's room. In Meredith's opinion, Lexie did not look any better than she had on their first day back in Seattle. Lexie was pale, emaciated, and more of her body was injured than not. She was barely hanging onto life.

Meredith had to believe that whenever Lexie woke-up, though, things would change. She had to believe that once Lexie was awake and talking, reality would sink in. Meredith would realize that all of the plane crash victims were going to survive the ordeal and she would begin to heal. This time, Meredith would be a good big sister. She would help Lexie recover, every step of the way, even if that meant spending additional time with Thatcher and Molly. Everything was worth it for Lexie.

"Okay, everybody. I am going to stop the drugs that are keeping Lexie asleep," Owen announced and he did some fiddling around with the nearby IV contraptions.

"God, I can't wait," Thatcher sighed. He was sitting on one side of Lexie, holding the hand that was not damaged, and Molly was by her father's side. Meredith stationed herself on the other side of her sister, without a hand to hold, but that was fine. Meredith would touch Lexie's shoulder when she became conscious.

"I want everyone to remember that it probably won't happen right away and that's no reason to be concerned," Owen said and Meredith already knew this but again, Thatcher did not. "Once the drugs are removed from her system… sometimes it can take minutes, sometimes it can take hours. It doesn't mean anything is wrong. We just need to be patient."

Thatcher nodded and took another deep breath. "Okay… okay, that's fine. She can take all the time she needs, as long as she really does wake-up."

Owen chuckled. "Yes… I mean, there are freak accidents and I know that I don't have to explain any of that to your family. I don't foresee anything going wrong though. Lexie's vitals have remained stable. She's young and healthy. It's just a matter of time."

For now, Owen stepped outside of Lexie's ICU room, simply to make the family more comfortable. Meredith knew that he was waiting in the hallway, though, as were a lot of other Seattle Grace employees. Meredith was tolerated, but Lexie was universally loved by everyone for her sweet personality, respectful mannerisms, and of course, her brilliant brain.

"I can't believe she's really going to be here, awake and talking," Thatcher said for what felt like the thousandth time. "I… I don't even know what I should say to her first."

"Just say that you love her. That's what I'm going to do," Molly said and she looked at Meredith. "Hey, you're a doctor. Do you think she can hear us right now? Should we start trying to talk to her and everything?"

No one, not even the best doctors in the world could know whether an unconscious person was aware of their surroundings. Meredith shrugged. "I… I don't know. It's possible. I mean, we can try, if you want, but like Owen said… it's probably going to take a while."

"That's okay. We should try, don't you think, Dad?" Molly asked.

Thatcher evidently agreed; he began rubbing Lexie's right hand, gently. "Lexie? Lexie, sweetheart? Hey, honey… it's Dad. I'm right here. I'm here and so is Molly… and Meredith…"

"Yeah, we're all here and… and I love you so much," Molly added. "Can you hear us? Wake-up, Lexie."

A half hour ticked by, the time going in slow motion. Throughout those thirty minutes, it seemed like Thatcher and Molly did not stop speaking once. Thatcher was getting emotional, despite the way that Owen had told him not to, and Molly was reminding Lexie about all kinds of memories they had shared as kids.

Meredith did not say anything to her sister just yet. She would, obviously, when the time came, but personally, she thought that Thatcher and Molly's speeches were a bit premature. Meredith had seen people take up to 24 hours to wake-up from medically-induced comas. Hopefully, Lexie would not require that much time but Meredith did not need to exhaust herself emotionally.

Still, it was strange to hear Molly telling Lexie their childhood stories. Lexie always had her photographic memory so it was unlikely that she ever had to be reminded about anything before. And, as Molly talked about camping as a family, dance recitals, and touring Ivy League colleges, Meredith realized how much she really did not know about her sister.

When Lexie had first arrived at Seattle Grace four years ago, Meredith had hated her. It was not anything that Lexie had done wrong, but Meredith was in a dark place and she blamed Lexie for the way that their father had abandoned her as a child. Over the years, Meredith eventually grew to like and then to love her sister but now, it was easy for Meredith to see that she only knew a small bit about Lexie. Lexie had lived 24 years before ever meeting Meredith and they had never truly talked about those decades.

For example, Meredith had not known that Lexie had almost died at her first birthday party because of an allergic reaction to the eggs in her smash cake. Meredith had no idea that her sister had once brought home a stray kitten that she found on the street, or that it was that same cat that Lexie later dug up from its backyard grave to bury next to her mother. The cat was named Noodle. Meredith was not aware of Lexie's passion for the city of Paris or that she had won the Scripps National Spelling Bee at age 11 or that she used to practice cartwheels in her living room with Molly and their friends.

So, as time went on, Meredith found it increasingly difficult to contribute to the conversation. She just sat there, scrolling absentmindedly on her phone, and listened as Thatcher and Molly educated her on Lexie's life.

"When you're healthy again and out of this place, we're going to have so much fun," Thatcher promised his middle daughter. "We're going to do all the things we should have done after Mom died. We're going to visit her together and… and make a nice memorial for Noodle. It's going to be just you and me, kid. I'm going to be here with you every step of the way."

Molly nodded, even though Lexie could not see her yet. "Yeah, and… and maybe I'll even move home for a while. I'll bring Laura and Aiden, too. Eric can get by without me… at least, I hope he can. You never know. Remember the speech you gave at my wedding, Lexie? Remember how you sobbed through the entire thing?"

Meredith chucked without meaning to… that was exactly something that Lexie would do. Meredith had a feeling that if she had, hypothetically, selected Lexie as her Maid of Honor instead of Cristina, her sister would have written some long, dramatic toast for the reception.

Meredith's chuckle had caught her family members' attention, though; Molly and Thatcher both looked her way.

"What?" Molly asked.

"Nothing, I just… it's just… that sounds like Lexie. You know, crying through a speech at your wedding. She cried when I told her she was going to be a bridesmaid in mine…"

Molly smiled. "Yeah, that's my big sissy, for you. She feels everything with her whole heart but… but I think it's good. It what makes Lexie, Lexie."

"Why don't you have a turn, sweetie?" Thatcher offered. "Molly and I have been sitting here gabbing this whole time. I'm sure you have some good memories with Lexie, too?"

It was fast, but for a moment, Meredith completely froze. She was not sure if she had any memories with Lexie that did not consist of work in some way or another and if Meredith had to speak, talking about work seemed inappropriate. But then she got a grip on herself and remembered the smaller details, the everyday occurrences that did not seem significant at the time yet were now deemed extraordinary.

Meredith grasped Lexie's left hand. "Hey, Lex… um… don't worry, we're not trying to rush you. We just want you to know that we're here for you. It's me, Meredith and I'm with Dad and Molly. We want you to know that you're loved… by everyone, and we want to make sure you remember all the happier times that are going to come back once you get better.

"Like, um… remember when you made me watch The Notebook because you were upset that I hadn't ever seen it? I started thinking way too much about my mom and Alzheimer's and my future with Derek and… and I pretty much had a panic attack. I said that I hated you but I didn't. It's not possible to hate you.

"And then… oh, yeah… remember when… two years ago, we were trying to help Derek feel more like himself after the shooting and we all went to a Mariners game? It was you, me, Derek, Mark, Owen, and Cristina. Out of the three girls, you were the only one who had a clue in hell what was going on. Cristina and I were drunk, dancing idiots but… but you taught us, or you tried to… it was so much fun."

Lexie did not respond to her sister's stories, not that Meredith really expected her to… it had only been two hours and there were still a lot of built-up toxins making their way out of Lexie's system.

Molly and Thatcher were smiling at the eldest of the Grey sisters, though, and a few seconds later, Owen peeked his head into Lexie's room again.

"Any progress?"

"Nothing yet," Thatcher said. "Is that… bad? Should something have happened by now?"

Owen shook his head. "No, not necessarily. Lexie's been sedated for over two weeks. It's going to take some time to get her body back to normal. I just wanted to let you know, though, Meredith, that there was an… incident outside involving Cristina."

"An incident? What happened?" Meredith asked.

"T-To be honest, I'm not sure," Owen admitted. "Some of the nurses were just standing outside her room, looking in through the glass and Cristina… responded."

Meredith's eyes brightened. "She said something?!"

"No, she… she threw a vase of flowers at the window… broke the glass. We're going to have to put her back into four-points and possibly transfer her to psych. I just thought you would want to know and… and maybe come help, see if you can get through to her."

"Oh, God…" Meredith's heart was sinking. She knew that the field of psychiatry was not actual crap like she had once said, but it was still difficult to imagine Cristina Yang being transferred there… strong, smart, sarcastic Cristina that battled her way back from PTSD before, only to undergo more trauma.

A soft hand touched Meredith on the shoulder; it was Thatcher. "Do you need to go, Meredith? We'll be okay here, for a little while."

"Yeah, we'll keep you updated if anything changes with Lexie," Molly said.

Meredith hesitated. Cristina needed her. That was basically what Owen was saying… Cristina needed her and Owen wanted Meredith to help.

If Meredith had been doing anything else in the world, too, she might have gone to help Owen, but as much as she cared about Cristina, Meredith stayed firmly planted in her chair at Lexie's bedside. Right now, Lexie was the priority. Meredith had ignored Lexie's needs too many times in the past. She was not going to do that again, especially not when Cristina had been the one to tell Meredith that Owen was her person now.

Owen's your person? Then Owen can be the one to commit you to psych, Meredith said to Cristina in her head. It doesn't always have to be me. I was the one that had to fix Lexie's cardiac tamponade in the middle of the woods. I was the one that had to smash my husband's hand with a rock. I was the one that had to seal that hand back together with a safety pin and I was the one that had to throw Jerry's lifeless body to the wolves.

"I'm sorry, but I need to stay here right now," Meredith whispered. "I'm not going anywhere."

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Three full hours dragged by in slow, unrelenting pulses of nothingness. Throughout those three hours, Thatcher and Molly did not shift positions once. They never left to use the bathroom or obtain coffee; all they did was sit next to Lexie and talk to her about wonderful, beautiful life.

Meredith had gotten up once, to use the bathroom and check on Mark who was hanging out in Arizona's room with Callie. He had a fresh bouquet of red roses that he planned on giving Lexie when she wokeup, along with a huge, white teddy-bear. Part of Meredith wondered if he was going to propose marriage but hopefully Mark would know better than to go that far.

The first change occurred at approximately 5:00 in the evening. Meredith was scrolling through Facebook, reading the inspirational messages that people had been leaving on Lexie's page when there was a loud beeping noise from above; it was Lexie's heart rate monitor.

Meredith looked up. Her blood pressure, which had previously been only 104/62 had risen significantly to 149/99.

"Is that bad?! Is something wrong; should I get Hunt?!" Thatcher gasped.

Somehow, Meredith was able to stay calm and think logically. "I… I don't think so. I think she's waking-up. Her BP is going up because her pain is beginning to register."

"She's… she's waking up?" Molly realized, her voice wavering with emotion.

"I think so," Meredith said and finally, started speaking with Lexie directly, herself. "Lex? Lex, can you hear me? It's Meredith and Dad's here, too… Dad and Molly. It's okay, Lexie; I know it hurts but we're all right here."

Thatcher squeezed Lexie's hand. "Lexie? Sweetheart? Can you open your eyes?"

Lexie was not responding yet but that was okay; she was clearly on the brink of consciousness. Meredith glanced up at her other family members. "Just so you know, she's probably going to start choking in a second. It will seem scary but that's normal. It means that she's breathing on her own and fighting the intubation."

"Okay," Thatcher said.

"I'm glad you're here, Meredith," Molly added.

Meredith smiled, tentatively. "Thank you. I'm glad you guys are here, too."

Right as Meredith was exchanging pleasantries with Molly, there was movement. Meredith quickly turned, sure that Lexie was awakening only to witness horror.

Lexie was jerking around on the bed like a half-dead fish, her eyes rolled back in her head and foam gathering at her mouth. Her blood pressure had spiked to 188/122.

Molly screamed at the top of her lungs and Thatcher stood up, his eyes wild and focused on Meredith. "IS THAT SUPPOSED TO HAPPEN, TOO?!"

I'm sorry. Please don't forget to favorite/follow/review. Chapter 23 coming soon. Xoxo, merderpedia :)