Someone To Love

Breath Deep

Meredith sat in a chair in the room dividing the little baby girl, and herself. They brought her down for an MRI after they had controlled her seizers. Meredith was just waiting for the results. And for now, while she waits, she closes her eyes and takes deep breaths. She's also trying to rationalize; wondering how this patient is any different then any other. It wasn't because it was a baby. She has dealt with babies a couple of times before. There is just something about this one.

"What happened?" Derek enters the room and leans over Meredith's shoulder to take a look at the screen. Meredith for some reason forgot that he might be involved in this. But even if that's the case, she still takes in another deep breath. He is just so close to her, she can smell his scent.

"Umm...Someone from the orphanage brought her in. She had fallen from her crib and Izzie and I stiched her up. And after that I was bring her back to the women and she started seizing." Meredith didn't even realize that she was sounding a little tense and worried.

"Alright." Derek looked at her funny but said it in a calming way just to sooth her. "Ah here we are." Derek points at a section of the babies brain on the screen. "It's a Subdural Hematoma."

"It's Acute." Meredith points out also.

"Alright. Since she's an infant, we'll have to do a craniotomy right away. Go inform the parents and then prep her for surgery, your scrubbing in." Derek turns to leave.

"Dr. Shepherd."

Derek cocks his head to the side over the formality and then answers, "Dr. Grey?"

"She doesn't have any parents...she's an orphan." Derek notices the attachment in her voice.

"Alright..." He is upset for this baby as well, "Then tell whoever brought her in. See you down there." He pauses again, "And Meredith?"

"Yeah?"

"Try to keep a distance." Meredith lowers her head. She knows she shouldn't get attached, but she just can't help it. This baby has no one, she doesn't even have a name.

Meredith had let the women who brought her in know and is now down in the scrub room. The baby is prep ed and is now ready for surgery. Meredith stares into the operating room as she washes her hands vigorously. The operation should go smoothly, it's Derek who's operating, and he's the best, she'll be fine.

"She'll be fine." Derek whispers from behind her, it's like he read her mind. She just nods her head.

"She's just...I don't know. She's just been left behind you know? No one wanted her. It's just so unfair." Meredith looks up at him. He has that crooked smile on, like he's listening very intently. And he's trying to figure her out, because frankly, he's never seen her act like this towards a patient, let alone a baby.

"She'll be okay, it's not a complicated surgery.

A nurse pokes her head in and looks at Derek, "She's ready now Dr. Shepherd."

Derek nods in her direction but his eyes stay on Meredith, "You ready?" Meredith nods in response and they both enter the room.

The surgery begins with an incision. A slow, careful incision that Meredith just wished didn't have to happen. Life was already unfair for this baby girl. Meredith doesn't take her eyes off the baby's face the whole time.

Derek looks at her and sees her intensity, "Dr. Grey, what is the first step?" He wants to ease her mind a little by keeping her busy.

"Umm...We open the dura."

"Good, and then?"

"We remove the blood clot so we can identify and control any bleeding." She says this all slowly.

"Very good, Dr. Grey." He looks at her over his mask and smiles. He continues on with the opening if the dura, and then looks to Meredith. "Here, Dr. Grey, remove the blood clot."

"Alright." Meredith steps to where Derek was standing and begins to remove the clot very carefully as not to cause any further damage. The whole time Derek stood close behind her.

The clot was removed successfully and with further investigation of the area, there was no other sites of bleeding. "Very good Meredith." Derek then realizes that he said her name, but she didn't notice, she just was so absorb in saving this baby's life. "Okay, now we close up." Meredith steps aside and Derek closes up.

It's after the surgery and Meredith is sitting in the nursery on the pediatrics floor. The baby is asleep in her crib. Meredith had let the women know that the surgery went well and that the baby could go home in a week. Just incase there was any other areas of bleeding that may occur. The women left and now Meredith is the one who will sit with her. She's been siting here for over an hour. Her shift isn't over because she's on call. That gives her plenty of time to spend down here with this un named baby.

"You need a name." Meredith says to the sleeping form. She has put a hand on the small of the baby's back. She can feel the baby breathing slowly, in...and out. Meredith breaths in deeply too, and then lets it out in a slow sigh. Then the name comes to her. "I'll call you Lira."

"You still in here?" It' Izzie. She walks over to Meredith and kneels down beside her.

"Yeah, hey Iz?"

"Yes?"

"Can you hand me a blank name card?" Meredith looks at her and then down at Lira.

"Umm...I guess, why do you need it." Izzie walks away for a minute and then come back with the card. Meredith takes it and writes down the baby's new name. Izzie sighs. "Meredith, you can't do that."

"Why the hell not? She doesn't have a name." Meredith tapes the name to the crib. Lira sleeps soundly in her crib.

"Your getting to attached."

"Your one to talk." Meredith accuses and Izzie goes silent.

"It's a pretty name, Mere." Izzie then says. She looks at the name and then the beautiful strawberry blonde baby girl. "It suites her."

"I know, it just came to me." Meredith is silent for quite sometime. Izzie takes a seat in another chair and looks in on a little boy next to her.

"What do you think is going to happen to her?" Izzie looks concerned.

"I dunno Iz...I dunno."

Okay, Third chapter up and the baby will be okay, and has a name.