Author's Note: thank you for the reviews! And thank you to the guest who confirmed that the Shepherd's are from New York. I feel much better knowing. :) So here is chapter 3. Warning, it's definitely not warm and fuzzy.

Amelia heard the shots and looked up in time to see two masked men dash out of the store, jump into a waiting car, and speed off. Without thinking she scrambled out of the car and raced towards the store screaming for her husband and daughter. Her heart sank when she saw the familiar, skinny legs and sandal-clad feet of her baby sticking out from behind a rack. She took a few more steps and saw it was worse than she expected. The blood - there was so much - was mingled with gray matter. Dropping to her knees Amelia pressed her sweatshirt to the back of Isla's head and leaned forward. It was faint, but she felt the tiniest of breaths on her cheek. "Come on, baby, hang in there," she murmured as she glanced around. Owen was a few yards away. He was bleeding from his abdomen, but she could see the steady rise and fall of his chest. He's okay. He's going to be fine, she told herself before a strangled gasp brought her attention back to Isla. She watched in horror as the girl took a few breaths, then went still. "Come on, baby, don't do this to me," Amelia begged as she checked for a pulse. Nothing. She started compressions, wincing as she felt little ribs cracking under the pressure. "Breathe, baby, just breathe. You can do it."

Without warning she was shoved aside, and suddenly she was aware of sirens and flashing lights. Before she knew it she was being led into an ambulance with her daughter. They sped off towards the hospital, Owen in another ambulance close behind.

Alex was just leaving the hospital after being called in for an emergency surgery when his pager went off. "Shit," he muttered as he hurried back inside to gown up. Two-year-old with GSW to the head. His heart raced as he made it to the ambulance bay just as the ambulance screeched to a halt. With one glance he knew they had a snowball's chance in hell of saving this kid. Blown pupils, gray matter oozing out. "This kid's g-," he spat at the paramedics, but stopped himself when he recognized the woman climbing out behind the gurney. "Dr. Shepherd," he stammered before they raced inside. He barked orders at nurses and residents to hang saline and O neg, hook up monitors. He studied her stats and shook his head. If this was any other kid, he'd be calling it now. Reluctantly he grabbed the defibrillator as the paramedic doing CPR hopped off the gurney and shocked the girl. Once. Twice. Nothing. A resident did more compressions on her battered chest, blood pouring out with every thrust; she was losing it faster than they could give it to her. One more shock. Still nothing. He set the paddles down. "Time of de-,"

Instantly Amelia was in his face, pounding on his chest before a paramedic could restrain her. "No! Don't stop! You do not stop now!" she ordered as the man dragged her back. "Save her!"

"Dr. Shepherd…"

"Don't Dr. Shepherd me. Just get over there and try again. Please…" By the last word her voice was shaky and small, and it gutted him.

Alex gritted his teeth. "Okay, you heard her," he growled. A resident resumed compressions, he shocked her. Once. Twice. After the third time a heartbeat registered, erratic and weak, on the monitor. Alex knew it was too good to be true, though, and sure enough, not a minute later, she flatlined. The resident looked to Alex, but Alex shook his head. "Time of death, 10:27."

Amelia let out a primal, blood-curdling, barely human wail before she hunched over, vomit splattering the floor. Over and over she retched until there was nothing left and she slid down the wall gasping. Alex ripped off his gloves and squatted next to her. "Where's Hunt?" he asked gently, finally noticing the other doctor's absence.

Amelia just pointed to the trauma room next door as she sobbed. Alex stood up and peeked through the blinds. "How...how is he?" she asked in that small, shaky voice.

"He looks okay. I'll go check." Alex left and returned a few minutes later. "Bullet nicked his spleen, but it doesn't look like anything vital was hit. They're taking him to surgery soon," he informed her. "Now, I know this is hard, but would you like to consider organ donation?"

Amelia glanced up and stared blankly at Alex. "I...I don't know. I need to ask Owen. I can't..." But of course that wasn't possible, and she knew they were losing precious minutes. "Yeah. Yes."

"Okay." Alex crouched down and held out the consent forms, which she signed with a trembling hand before looking up at him.

"I...I need to see him."

"Okay. Come on."

Alex helped Amelia to her feet and guided her to Owen after handing the papers to a resident and telling him to call UNOS. She leaned over and kissed him, then stood running her fingers through his hair as her tears splashed his face. "He didn't say goodbye. He didn't get to say goodbye," she whispered over and over until they wheeled him away.

With Owen gone Alex led Amelia to a quiet room and sat her down. "You want me to call anyone?"

Amelia's first thought was her mother. No. It's 1:45am in New York. She couldn't wake her mother in the middle of the night with this kind of news. No, she would wait until morning to make that call. "Meredith," she finally answered, her voice barely audible.

"Meredith?" Amelia nodded. "Okay, can I get anything for you?" Amelia just shook her head. "Alright. I'll be right back." Alex went to the attendings' lounge, where he kicked a wastepaper basket and slammed his fist into a wall. "Son on a bitch," he screamed before pausing to take a few deep breaths. When he felt a little calmer he pulled out his phone.

With the kids in bed, things were just getting steamy between Meredith and Nathan when her phone rang. "Ignore it," Nathan ordered.

"It's Alex," Meredith said, recognizing the ringtone.

"So what? If it's important he'll leave a message," Nathan insisted before pressing his lips to hers.

Meredith shrugged and kissed him back. The phone stopped ringing, only to start again a minute later. With a sigh she pushed him aside and grabbed the phone. "What is it, Alex?" she snapped.

"Mere, you gotta come to the hospital."

"I'm not on call tonight. Find someone else."

"Dr. Shepherd asked for you."

"Dr. Shepherd isn't working tonight…" Meredith said. Alex's tone of voice was making her nervous and she got up, pacing the floor wrapped in a blanket.

"I know. It's the kid." Alex, as usual, didn't see any point in beating around the bush. "Her kid is dead." He heard a thump and a muffled cry. "Mere?"

Meredith picked the phone up. "Sorry, what was that? For a second I thought you said Amelia's kid was dead," she said with a forced laugh.

"She is, Mere. No joke. Amelia asked me to call you."

"But I just saw her! We were at a baseball game, and…"

"Yeah, and now there's a hole the size of my fist in her head and her brain is splattered on a convenience store floor. You coming, or what?"

"Yeah, I'll be right there. What about Owen?" Meredith asked as she started pulling clothes out of the dresser.

"He's in surgery, but he should be fine." At least as fine as he can be with a dead kid. "Maybe you could bring some clean clothes?"

By now Nathan was staring at Meredith with a mix of confusion and horror. "What happened?" he questioned as soon as she put the phone down.

"I...I'm not really sure. Sounds like a shooting." Meredith barely got the words out before breaking down. "Owen's in surgery."

Nathan was already up, throwing on clothes. "Wait, I'll call Maggie to watch the kids and we'll go together." He didn't want Meredith driving in her condition.

"No, I gotta go. She's all alone. Meet me there." She kissed him quickly, grabbed some clothes for Amelia, and rushed downstairs and out the door.

Alex got cleaned up a bit before making his way back to Amelia. He could hear her cries before he opened the door. He took a deep breath and braced himself before going in. "I'm sorry, Dr. Shepherd, I'm so sorry," he said. He reached over to run her back, but she collapsed against him so he wrapped his arm around her instead. "I'm so sorry."

"I...I knew she was gone the second I saw her," Amelia admitted after crying into his shoulder for a few minutes. "I'm a Goddamn neurosurgeon. I knew. Nobody could have fixed her. But thank you for trying," she squeaked out.

Meredith made it to the hospital in record time and sprinted to the ER, where a nurse informed her of Amelia's whereabouts. She paused to pull herself together outside the room, but her composure crumbled as soon as she saw her sister-in-law, hands stained red and shirt sticky with blood as she clung to Alex. She braced herself and approached the pair. "I got this," she told Alex softly, and took a seat next to Amelia as he slipped away.

"Mere, my baby's dead," she whispered as the tears continued flowing.

"I know, Amy. I know." Meredith held Amelia and stroked her hair. "What happened?"

"We stopped to pick up milk on the way home. She wanted to go in with Owen. I told her she had to stay in the car, but you know Owen. He can't say no to her. I was waiting in the car and heard gunshots. Ran inside and there she was…" Amelia trailed off as she pulled back and looked at Meredith. "She's a baby, Mere. A baby. Who shoots a fucking baby in the head?" she spat before succumbing to another crying jag, sobbing and coughing until Meredith was sure she was going to throw up.

"Easy, you're gonna make yourself sick," Meredith murmured as she rubbed her sister-in-law's thin back. "Come on, let's go get cleaned up," she suggested, hoping the distraction might calm her a little.

"I...I should go upstairs and wait for Owen," Amelia decided as she got to her feet.

"He's gonna be in surgery a while. Let's go take a shower, and then we'll wait for Owen," Meredith insisted as she steered Amelia towards the elevators and tried to shield her from the stares of the doctors and nurses in the ER.

In the locker room Amelia let Meredith remove her soiled clothes before she stepped into the shower and stood, staring in horror as the blood-tinged water trickled down her body and swirled down the drain. She lathered her hair, willing herself not to vomit as the suds turned pink, then scrubbed her body until it felt raw and yet she was sure she would never be able to wash her daughter's blood from her body.

Finally she felt a tug on her arm. "Come on, that's enough. You got it all," Meredith assured her softly as she turned the water off and wrapped Amelia in a towel. She just about had Amelia dressed again when Nathan popped his head in the door, red-eyed and splotchy-faced but composed.

"Any news on Hunt?" the man asked gently.

Meredith shook her head. "We're going to check on him now." The women made their way to the waiting room and Nathan went to track down anyone who might have an update on his friend. Amelia sat with her elbows on her knees and her head in her hands. She was quiet now but the tears continued to flow, dripping from her cheeks and darkening her borrowed jeans. By this point Meredith was at a loss for words and just sat with an arm around Amelia until Nathan returned. "Well?"

"Just got out of surgery," Nathan reported. "They had to remove his spleen, but other than that the damage was minimal. He has a minor concussion from falling, but nothing major. They should be taking him to his room soon." He sat on the other side of Amelia and they waited in silence for another update.

Finally a doctor - a new-ish general surgeon whose name Amelia couldn't remember - approached them, repeating Nathan had already said and adding "I expect a full recovery, and he should be out of here in a few days. The nurse will let you know when he's in his room."

Just minutes later a nurse informed them of Owen's room number. Amelia bolted, Meredith and Nathan hot on her heels. "Owen!" Amelia gasped as she ran her fingers through her barely-conscious husband's hair.

Owen looked up at his wife with groggy, heavy-lidded eyes. "Amelia." He gazed at her for a minute, studying her bloodshot eyes and puffy face. "Isla. Where's Isla?" he asked as the evening's events slowly came back to him.

Well, that's the longest chapter by far. I don't know about you but after writing that I'm...gutted. What do you think? Love it? Hate it? Hate me? Let me know. Chapter 4 is coming together pretty quickly so it might get posted tomorrow. I worked a half day yesterday and was off today so I had plenty of time to write, but I guarantee the chapters won't come this fast most of the time.