"Why are you on a plane? I told her not to fly. Damn-it!" Addison said nervously. "How is she doing?"
"Right now she's okay. She's scared shitless, but she's okay." Ian said as he looked over at her.
"How far out are you?" She asked quietly, not sure if she even wanted to know.
"An hour and a half." He said, thanking go that they were closer.
"Is there a doctor or nurse on the plane?" Addison said as she ducked into her office.
"Um, one." Ian said nervously as he looked around.
"Oh, good. Let me talk to him or her..." Addison said with a bit of relief. Ian handed the phone to Meredith, knowing that was not what she met. But he felt like a heel, and he didn't want to make things worse.
"Hello..." Meredith said weakly, mostly from the crying she was doing.
"Meredith, let me talk to the doctor." Addison said quickly into the phone.
"I guess I am the doctor. We're on a private jet." Meredith said as she began to cry.
"This just keeps getting worse." Addison said as she shook her head. "How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay." Meredith said with a big sigh.
"How long have you been having discharge?" Addison asked forcefully.
"This morning. I noticed it this morning. I would have done it, Addison. I would have stayed I didn't know. They're-- They're not ready, Addison. I can't-- I can't do this. Not now. I can't-- They are going to die, and it's all my fault." Meredith cried out.
"No one is dying, Meredith. Everyone will be fine." She said, trying to calm her down. "Let me talk to Ian." She said to her.
"Hello." Ian said into the phone.
"I need you to check her cervix." Addison said quickly.
"What!" Ian said as he looked over at her. "I-- I don't think I can do that."
"You were married, you seen it before. I need to know how dilated she is." Addison tried to convince him.
Meredith looked over at Anna. Anna was in her own little happy place, completely content. To say she was scared was the understatement of the century. All she could think about was her children being born on a private jet. They were too early. They wouldn't make it. Not without medical attention. And it was all her fault. How could she be so selfish? She glanced up and Anna again. This time, catching her eye.
Anna looked at her mom. Something was wrong. Something was really wrong. Her mom was crying. It was happy tears. She didn't have a smile on her face. It wasn't the usual tears that came after a surge of hormones. It was scared crying. She had gotten to know how her mom was. And this wasn't right.
"Mommy? What's wrong?" She asked as she approached Meredith and Ian. Her eyes were on her mom, but her ears were on Ian.
"Addison, if they come now, what are the chances that they would be okay?" She heard Ian say into the phone.
"Mommy?" She asked again. She was near a panic. The babies were coming. Daddy wasn't here and the babies were coming. She may be young, but she could grasp that.
"I'm fine, honey. Everything is fine." Meredith said as she winced, grabbing her back.
The dreaded words. I'm fine. Or just fine. Fine. It was Meredith's favorite word. Derek had warned her. She knew what she had to do. She couldn't believe it. This was bad, really bad. Mommy was in trouble. And so were her brother and sister.
Anna wheeled around and grabbed her bag. She quickly walked to the bathroom, going unnoticed by Meredith. As soon as she got in there, she turned the phone on, just as her dad had shown her. She thumbed through the three numbers on the phone. No signal. She tried again. And again. She looked up at the air phone on the wall. Common sense kicked in. She looked at the number in the phone then dialed, listening to the instructions. She called his cellphone. Voicemail. She wanted to cry. She quickly ended the call and went to the second number, the Neurology Center. She heard them answer, she started to panic.
"Hello, hello?" The receptionist asked loudly.
"I need to talk to my daddy." Anna said nervously, near tears.
"I think you have the wrong number, sweetie." She said softly as she rolled her eyes.
"No. I need to talk to my daddy. He said to call him. It's--" She started to cry. "I need to talk to my daddy."
"Don't panic... Who's your daddy?" She asked, humoring the child.
"Derek. Derek Shepherd." Anna said quickly.
"Oh! He's not here. He's in surgery at Seattle Grace." She said quickly. "Where's your mommy?" Click.
Anna looked through the numbers. The last one was Seattle Grace. She remembered what Derek said. He said he would only take surgeries at Seattle Grace while she was gone. She looked at the number and pushed send. Finally someone answered.
"I need to talk to my daddy." Anna said when they answered.
"Who's your daddy?" The receptionist asked.
"Derek Shepherd. He's a doctor. A surgeon." Anna said quickly.
"Let me send you to the surgical floor." She said quickly.
Anna went through the motions again, getting frustrated. She went round and round with the nurse at the station. Everyone seemed to think it was a joke.
"I'm sorry, honey. He's in surgery." She said softly.
"It's and emergency. Mommy's having the twins on the plane!" She screeched.
"Oh my..." The nurse said in shock.
Derek Shepherd was in the middle of the patient's brain. It was a run of the mill craniotomy. But he'd take it. It meant that he could somewhat keep his mind of the hours it would be until he saw Meredith. And hour and a half. he was nearly done, and then he was on his way. He would have been done, but the ORs were backed up and he got bumped several times. His gaze rose when he saw a nurse at the door.
"Dr. Shepherd?" She said quickly.
"Yes?" He said as he glanced from his patient to the nurse.
"You're daughter is on the phone." She said frankly.
Derek felt a knot form is his stomach. this was bad. Unbelievably bad. She wouldn't call unless something was wrong. But they were supposed to be on a plane heading home. Every imaginable disaster rushed through his mind. They missed their flight or connection. They crashed. Someone was sick. A terrorist attack. This was bad.
"Put her on speaker phone." He said quickly. The nurse nodded. "Hello, sweetie."
"Oh daddy!" She cried out in a panic.
"Calm down, honey. What's wrong?" He asked nervously. She was really scared and he could tell it.
"Mommy-- Mommy's having the twins..." She cried.
"What? What do you mean, mommy's having the twins? Did you miss your flight? Where are you?" He said in a panic.
"We're on the plane. Ian's plane. Mommy is sick. She's scared. I don't know what to do...daddy..." She cried out.
"Oh my god. Let me talk to Ian." Derek said in a huff. Ian. Ian shouldn't be there with his wife. He should be there with his wife. Not Ian.
"He's helping mommy." She said quickly as she looked out the door, unable to get a clear view.
"Take him the phone." Derek said nervously. He looked down at his patient. How the hell was he going to keep his mind straight?
"I can't. It's got a thing. It's stuck to the wall." She said as she cried.
"Someone get Addison Montgomery in here now!" Derek yelled to the nurses.
"What if she's in surgery?" The nurse asked innocently as she looked up.
"Pull her ass out. This is my wife...these are my children." He said as his eyes began to tear up. "My children... Wait! Tell my patient is in danger. Bleeding. In labor. I don't care, just get her here."
"You want me to lie?" She asked.
"If it will get her here sooner, yes." He said firmly as he worked on his patient's brain. "And someone page Hudson. He's going to need to take over here."
--------------
"What does her cervix look like?" Addison asked into the phone.
"I don't know. I haven't checked." Ian said as he held Meredith's hand.
"This is no time to be shy. You need to find gloves and you need to check. If she's dialated...if she's thinning... Just get the gloves." She said quickly. "Let me talk to Mer."
"Addie...I'm so sorry. I didn't think this would happen." Meredith said as she cried.
"Now is not the time. You need to relax. We will get through this. Now Ian is going to check your cervix." She said. Meredith looked up to a gloved Ian.
"He doesn't know what he's looking for." Meredith whimpered.
"I will explain everything. Let me talk to him." Addison tapped her foot on the floor. She looked up to see a nurse at her door. "Yes?"
"Dr. Shepherd needs you stat." She said quickly as she looked at a nervous Addison.
"I'm busy." Addison said as she looked down. She promised Meredith she wouldn't tell him. Not until they got closer. She didn't want him to panic. Not until he could do something about it.
"His patient is bleeding vaginally. Profusely." She said quickly as she bit her lip.
"What?" Addison said in shock. "I'm coming." She said as she jumped up from her desk. As she walked down the hallway, she explained what to do to Ian.
"It looks okay. It's... I don't know...a centimeter, maybe two. Not thin like you said." He said with relief. "That's good, right?"
"It's better. It's a little reassuring. There isn't much you can do from up there. Make her pee. Get her up, and make her pee. She really needs to empty her bladder. Have her drink a couple glasses of water. And then get her lying down, tilted to the left. I have to go, I have an emergency with a patient. I have to go. Call me if anything goes wrong." She said as she sat the phone down and began to scrub in.
Addison rushed into the OR quickly. Derek was at the patient's head. She rushed over and lifted the drape. She gasped as she looked down, and then looked up at Derek with a scowl.
"This patient... He has a penis!" She shouted angrily.
"What the hell is going on with my wife?" Derek asked nastily as he looked at her.
"Well... What do you mean?" She asked innocently.
"Addie---" He said, the anger beginning to boil.
"Aunt Addison! Are you going to help mommy?" Anna asked loudly.
"Oh no..." Addison said as she shook her head. She took a deep breath and then looked up at Derek. "She may be in preterm labor. Her cervix... I think we may be able to stop it. They are about forty-five minutes out." She said with a sigh.
"Who the hell do you think you are?" He said loudly. "You knew, and you didn't fucking tell me? My wife is in labor in the fucking sky. In a plane, and you couldn't fucking tell me!" He yelled. He heard Anna start to cry loudly.
"Daddy, you're scaring me!" She said loudly.
"I'm sorry, baby. Daddy's upset." He said as he glared at Addison, who dropped her head.
"She didn't want you to worry." Addison pointed out.
"Well, that worked out well, because for the past thirty minutes, I have been beyond worry." He said as he shook his head. He looked up with relief when he saw Jack in the scrub room.
"What's going on?" He said as he walked in.
"Mer's in labor. I-- I-- I have to go." He said as Jack walked over. Jack looked down at the patient. Derek explained what had been done, and he quickly took over.
"Anna, hang up and go tell mommy to call Aunt Addison. Everything will be okay. You did good." He said quickly.
"Okay." She said as she hung up the phone.
"Right now, Addie, I-- I don't want to see your face." He said as he walked into the scrub room.
"Derek, I knew that making you panic wasn't the right thing to do." She tried to explain.
"That is not your decision to make." He said as he shook his head. He heard her cellphone ring, and grabbed it out of her hand.
"Mer?" He said into the phone. He heard her start to cry.
"Derek? Oh god...Derek." She cried out. "I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry." She whimpered into the phone.
"Everything will be okay. You just need to relax. How are you feeling?" He said softly into the phone. Derek followed Addison, who was telling the staff to get an ambulance ready to meet Meredith and Anna at the airport.
"I-- I haven't had a contraction in thirty minutes." She said with a smile.
"Good. Good." He said with relief. "We're on our way to the airport. You just need to stay calm." He told her. "I love you."
"I love you too." She said as she took a deep breath and closed her eyes.
"We will see you when you land." He said as they climbed into the ambulance.
"Okay. Bye." She said as she hung the phone up. "Derek... Everything will be okay. Derek is going to be there." She said as she rubbed her stomach. "You guys will be okay. It's too soon. Mommy's not ready yet." She felt Ian rub her back.
"I'm sorry, Mer. I didn't know. I would have never put you on a plane if I knew." Ian said regrettably.
"It's not your fault. I'm pigheaded, remember?" She said as she closed her eyes.
"I love you mommy." Anna said as she walked up and sat next to Meredith.
"I love you too, baby." Meredith said as she grabbed her hand and smiled.
"Are you mad at me?" Anna asked with concern.
"No. Why would I be?" She asked softly.
"Because I called daddy..." She said with a frown as the tears started to fall.
"Did you do what you thought was right?" She asked her softly. Anna nodded her head yes. "Then I am not bad. Always do what you feel is right." She said with a smile.
"We need to get in our seats." Ian said softly. "Addison said for you to only lay down and hour, and it's almost been, so you need to get in a seat too." He said as he helped her up. He pulled her close.
"It will be okay..." He whispered into her ear. She nodded her head yes and sat down, buckling the very tight seat belt over her stomach.
--------------
Meredith slowly waddled off of the plane with Ian and Anna by her side. Her smile grew when she saw Derek waiting for her. She picked up her pace. It had been a week since she had felt his warm arms around her. It had been a week since his warm lips were on hers. It had been a week since she felt his hear beat. She opened her arms as she neared him, he pulled her close.
"I missed you so much." She said as she laid her head against his chest.
"I missed you too." He said as he kissed her on top of the head. "Let's go." He said as he picked her up and carried her to the ambulance, Anna following.
"I can walk!" She said as she slapped him lightly.
"You will not walk." He said as he neared the ambulance and climbed in.
"How are you?" Addison asked as she looked at Meredith.
"They stopped. The contractions stopped." Meredith said with a big sigh.
"Good." Addison said with relief. "But you still need to get you to the hospital. You have no idea how mad I am at you right now!"
"You don't know how mad I am at myself." She said as the tears started to come. "All I could think was that I was going to get stuck. I couldn't get stuck over there. I couldn't. I needed Derek. I needed you. You can't ever leave. You can't ever leave me again!" She said as she pulled him close.
"You're the one that left!" He laughed.
"Then I can't leave. Ever." She said as she laid on the gurney, trying to see Anna over her abdomen.
"Hey, baby. How are you?" Derek asked as he hugged her.
"I was scared." She said as she looked up at him.
"You did really good, Anna. Really good." He said as he hugged her again. "I'm proud of you."
"I missed you daddy. But not as much as mommy did." She said with a giggle.
"I think I missed you guys more." Derek said with a smile.
--------------------
"Two centimeters. That doesn't bother me." She said with a smile. "The contractions stopped. They look good on the monitor. I think you're clear. The labor has stopped." She said as she rubbed Meredith's arm. Meredith laid back on the bed with a sigh.
"Thank god." She said with a relieved smile. She felt Derek grabbed her hand.
"I do have some bad news, though." She said with a frown.
"What?" Meredith said as she shot her head up.
"You have to stay tonight. For observation." Addison said quickly.
"Addie...I just want to sleep in my own bed." She said with a sour face. "For a week, I have wanted my bed. And my husband is a doctor. He can see a problem if one come up."
"Absolutely not. I am not arguing about this." She said as she raised her hand up. "I told you not to get on that plane. And damn-it, Meredith, you did anyway. I am your friend. You are my best friend. You should have listened to me. I am your doctor, damn-it! You listen to me! I don't just say it for my health. I say it for yours!" She said loudly. Meredith and Derek looked at her with wide-eyes. "But I am glad you are okay." She said as she gave her a soft hug.
"Thank you, Addie." Derek said with an apologetic nod.
"I am sorry for not telling you, Derek." Addison said quickly.
"It's okay. It worked out. It all worked out." Derek said quickly. Anna stood by her mom and smiled.
"Come on, Anna Banana, you're staying at my house tonight." Addison said with a grin.
"Really?" She asked with a grin.
"As long as it's okay with mommy and daddy." Addison said quickly. Derek nodded.
"Yay!" Anna said as she gave Derek and Meredith a hug. "I love you." She said before she grabbed Addison's hand and walked off.
"Derek?" Meredith said softly.
"Yeah?" He asked as he looked at her.
"Come here." She said as she patted the bed. He quickly climbed up and spooned up against her. He rested his hand on her stomach.
"I love you." He said as he kissed her head, closing his eyes.
"I love you too." She said as she closed her eyes. For the first time in a week, they could finally sleep.
So they made it!
As to the cellphone on the plane thing, It was a mistake. I wasn't really thinking about it when I wrote it. But this is fiction. Apparently you can use one on private jets if you can get a signal. I will do better research next time. :)