She woke up to the sound of a horn. It was loud and rhythmic, beeping over and over and over again, making her head ache. She realized quickly that her eyes were closed and even though she knew she needed to open them, she feared that when she did, she would be horrified by what she saw.

Slowly, she opened her eyes and observed her surroundings. Her brain worked quickly to make sense of what had happened.

To her right, the headlights that they had seen, a truck, was smoking a few feet behind her. It had hit the backside of the car and she realized quickly that if the truck had hit the front side, hitting her directly, she would be dead. The window to her right was shattered and she could feel the broken glass all over her. Looking down, she saw that her seatbelt was still on and the air bag was deflated on the ground at her feet. Ahead of her, the windshield was shattered.

The car horn continued to sound. Honk, honk, honk.

She reached down and unclicked her seatbelt, her arm aching horribly as she did. It was mostly likely broken, she decided. Gulping, she looked to her left.

Honk, honk, honk.

Owen wasn't moving. His head was slumped to the left, leaning against the left side of the car and almost hanging out of the open left window, which had also shattered. His airbag was sitting in his lap, keeping her from being able to see all of his injuries.

"Owen!"

Honk, honk, honk.

Reaching over with her 'good arm', which she saw had a large laceration on it, she shook him. "Owen, wake up!" She yelled, "Owen!"

As she shook him, he stirred.

His eyes shot open and his breathing quickened. He looked over at her and opened his mouth, which she observed was full of blood. He spit and then took in a deep breath before speaking, "Are you okay?"

Honk, honk, honk.

"Yes, I think so." Amelia looked down at her arms and wiggled her toes quickly to make sure, "Are you?"

Owen nodded slowly, "I think I have a few broken ribs, maybe a bruised lung and definitely a dislocated hip." He looked at her expectantly.

Amelia blinked a few times and took a few more seconds to really observe her injuries, "I have a broken arm, several broken fingers…" She could feel blood dripping down her face from her hairline, "A head laceration…" She looked down, "Oh and this…"

Owen looked over and saw a small piece of metal, most likely from the door that was stuck in her stomach. "That doesn't look too deep."

Amelia nodded, "Definitely superficial." She said, looking down at it, "Which means…" She reached down and gripped it by its rough edges, "We can pull it out." She gulped, but didn't start to pull.

Honk, honk, honk.

Owen turned and reached over, gently pushing her hand off of it before gripping it himself, "On three, okay?" He looked at her, "One, two-" And then he pulled it out.

Amelia moaned between her teeth, biting down on her lip so hard that she tasted blood. After a few moments, she was able to compose herself, "Thank you." She said quietly.

The rain was still falling, soaking them now that they had no protection from the windows.

Amelia, cradling her arm started to fiddle with the door, trying to get out.

"What are you doing?" Owen asked, watching her.

Amelia's door was not damaged too much so tenderly, cradling her arm, she was able to get it open and exit the car, "I'm going to check on the other drivers and make sure they're okay." She told him.

Owen nodded apprehensively, "Hey, be careful."

Honk, honk, honk.

Amelia met his eyes, able to see his fear and concern and she hoped her eyes offered a level, reassuring look even though she was sure they didn't. Unsteadily, she moved took a few steps, the pain from her stomach piercing her with every step. Looking down, she saw that her shirt was wet with blood, but it wasn't very severe so she continued her unsteady trek towards the truck.

The rain beat down on her mercilessly. She made it to the passenger's side of the truck, which was empty, but she was able to see the driver. His passenger window was shattered too so she leaned through it, "Hey, can you hear me?"

The driver was young, probably early twenties, maybe even younger. He had a few visible cuts on his face, but they looked to be superficial.

He looked over, obviously confused by the voice, "Who are you?" He asked, disoriented. He stared at her for a few moments and then must have seen the cut bleeding down the side of her face, "Oh…oh god." He shook his head, "You were in the other car."

"Yes, I was." Amelia said as she reached down with her left hand to pull the door open. It creaked as she did because it was severely dented and bent, "Are you alright?" She asked as the got the door open and moved into the passenger's seat to get a better look at him.

The man seemed to be in shock, "Oh, god. I'm so sorry, I'm so so sorry. I-I lost control of the car. I tried to stop, I saw you there and I tried to stop, but the road it was so slippery." He was speaking quietly and hyperventilating.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Amelia said, reaching over and touching his shoulder to get him to stop. "This wasn't your fault. The road was slippery, we were already sideways. Me and the driver in my car are both alive so there's no blood on your hands, okay?" She said, "Now, listen to me. I'm a doctor. Do you feel any pain?"

The man nodded quickly, "Um, yes. My legs hurt and-and my neck hurts too."

"Okay, okay." Amelia said as she looked through his things. Mind racing, she pulled the keys out of the ignition, took one of the keys and pushed it into his thigh, "Do you feel that?"

He nodded, "Yes."

"That's a good sign." Amelia replied, dropping the keys into the cup holder, "What's your name?" She asked as she reached up and with her left hand, gently felt the back of his neck, checking the bones carefully to see if any were broken or dislocated.

He gulped, "Kenny."

Amelia nodded, "Okay Kenny, my name is Amelia." She told him, "Tell me when you feel pain." She slowly pushed down on each part of the back of his neck until she reached his shoulder.

"There."

Amelia nodded, "Okay, looks like you may have a broken collarbone and probably a broken leg, but nothing too serious. I think you're gonna be fine." She told him quickly, "Now, I'm gonna go check on the people in the other car, alright? Are you gonna be okay if I leave you here?"

He nodded.

Amelia stepped out of the truck carefully.

"Amelia."

She turned around to look at him again.

"I'm so sorry."

Amelia shook her head, "Kenny, its okay. We're all gonna be okay." She told him briefly before starting to walk through the rain again. Her stomach still hurt, she realized and she could feel the thickness of blood seeping through her shirt and her pants too. But she still made her way to the third car, the first one that had hit them.

Walking around her own car, the headlights burned into her and the honking was unbearably loud. She knew Owen was probably watching her so she tried not to display how much pain her stomach was causing her.

As she approached the driver's side of the car, she saw a person through the window, which miraculously had not been shattered. Her car was dented on the driver's side from the initial clip, but crushed on the front where Owen's car had been pushed into it.

Amelia knocked on the window, but the driver didn't move. It was another man, who looked to be about 40. Cautiously, she pulled the door open, which was pretty easy because the door was so severely dented that it could barely close anymore.

"Sir."

Rain soaked him as she pulled the door open.

He didn't move.

"Sir, can you hear me?" Amelia asked calmly.

But he still didn't move.

With a shaking hand, she reached out and felt his neck, hoping to feel the steady heartbeat under her fingers.

But all she felt was cold flesh.

He was dead.

She took in a deep, shaky breath and turned away. Like she did with patients, she had to leave. She had to run so she didn't have to feel the pain and the panic that she had been suppressing.

She hurried away from the car and back over to Owen's.

"Are they okay?" Owen asked from inside the car, his voice quiet.

Amelia heard him, but didn't reply. She felt like she was going to throw up.

Honk, honk, honk.

She reached out for the handle of the passenger door to re-enter the car, but her arm felt heavy. She took in a few deep breaths, suddenly feeling light-headed.

"Amelia?" Owen asked, concerned.

She looked down at her stomach again, but this time realized that the spot of blood on her shirt had grown immensely. Rainwater and blood seeped through her clothes.

She heard sirens in the distance.

Her legs started to wobble and she tried to steady herself, but the edges of her vision were already blackening.

"Amelia!" She heard from the car.

And suddenly she was falling backwards, but she blacked out before she even hit the pavement.

The ER was quiet that night.

April was standing at the nurse's station on the floor, filling out charts and relishing the quietness of the emergency room behind her.

It got like this from time to time. It would slow down to a couple of non-critical patients for 30 minutes, maybe an hour if they were lucky before picking back up again.

It had been quiet for 20 minutes already and April expected it to pick up again soon because of the rain. They got more accidents than normal when it rained, especially during large storms.

"Hey!" She heard suddenly from behind her.

She turned around quickly only to see Arizona making her way over, a bright smile on her face, which was not out of the ordinary, "Oh, hey." She replied with a small smile of her own.

Arizona's smile faded slightly as she observed her friend's expression, "You look like you're in a mood." She commented a little bit playfully as she leaned against the nurse's station and handed a nurse her chart.

"I'm just tired." April answered, knowing it was kind of a cop out answer, but she didn't have the energy or desire to think of a better one. "It's been a long day and my shift is almost over." She added vaguely, hoping that would be enough to hold Arizona off.

But it wasn't, of course.

"Are you sure you're okay?"

April, frustrated, tried to keep herself from blowing up at Arizona when she really hadn't done anything wrong. "No." She said finally, "Jackson and I are divorced, I've been on my feet all day long and now, I get to go home to my empty apartment." She barely looked up from the chart, "So no, I'm not okay, but I don't need help either. I just have to deal with it."

Arizona paused a moment before responding, "Wanna know what I think?"

"No." April replied, knowing her response wouldn't matter either way.

Arizona continued without a beat, "I think you need to get back out there. Look, it's been a few months since you two got divorced. Jackson has been dating and I think you should too. I'll come to the bar with you, be your wing woman if you need it, but I doubt you will." She smiled, "You're hot, April so don't sulk. Stand tall because you're a catch and you're gonna find someone, okay?"

April looked up.

"You're gonna find someone to come home to." Arizona added with a small nod.

April stared at her, knowing that she had been through this situation with Callie and understood exactly how it felt. "You're right." She nodded, "I'm gonna get back out there and find someone."

"There you go!" Arizona said, her smile returning, "I'll see you later. Let me know if you want to meet up."

April was about to reply when the phone at the nurse's station rang. One of the nurses answered it, spoke a few words to whoever was on the other line and then hung up, looking up at April, "Three car pile-up is on its way. We got three injured coming in, one deceased."

The lull in the ER was over.

April nodded at the nurse and quickly paged Grey, Shepherd, Pierce and Torres to the ER, knowing their specialties may be needed for the types of injuries coming in.

Arizona gave April a quick touch on the arm before starting to walk away, "I'm a really good wing woman, just to let you know! Plus, we can get some drinks, it'll be fun so don't cancel because I'm already excited about it." She said over her shoulder.

April rolled her eyes and smirked, "I'm not going to cancel…but only because drunk Arizona is way more fun than you." She joked before walking over the cart where the gowns were and pulling one down, tying it around her quickly.

She looked over the ER and took in the peace, knowing that in a few moments, it would be gone. She could hear the sirens outside already, getting louder and louder as they approached the hospital.

Though it was raining, April went outside, standing in the sheltered spot by the doors where she wouldn't get wet.

After a few moments, Grey and Pierce joined her, in the middle of their own conversation with Torres walking up shortly afterwards.

"I'm just saying," Pierce argued to Meredith, "you don't have to like her, but she's staying at the house with me. She needs someone right now so if it isn't gonna be you or Derek or Hunt, it'll be me."

Meredith shook her head, "Amelia is a lot more to handle than you think she is. She's like a grown child. She's messy, emotional and a little bit crazy and unpredictable all the time. I just want to make sure you know what you're signing up for…taking in a stray…"

"I used to be a stray, an alien, remember? But you guys took me in." Pierce pointed out.

"That was different."

"How?"

"You aren't a pain in the ass!"

Three ambulances pulled into the bay one after the other. Once they were all stopped, the first and closest one's back doors shot open with two EMTs unloading a young guy on a stretcher, "Kenny Ross, 22, has a collarbone fracture, a shoulder dislocation and a broken tibia that pierced his skin."

Torres looked down and the moment she spotted his tibia sticking out of his skin, she yelled over the rain, "I got him!" She rolled him inside quickly with Wilson, her loyal resident, on her heels.

The doors of the second ambulance were open by then. One EMT pulled the gurney out of the ambulance, "Owen Hunt, 35, severe hip dislocation, several broke ribs and has signs of severe internal bleeding. He also has a punctured lung. We had to put in a chest tube on the way over here."

None of the doctors moved for a moment.

Pierce was the first to speak, "Did you say Owen Hunt, like…our Owen Hunt?"

The EMT nodded, "Yes, this is Dr. Hunt."

Meredith exchanged a look with Kepner, "I got him." She claimed.

But Pierce shook her head, "No. You're too close to this. I'm the cardio thoracic surgeon here, I got him." She pulled the gurney away from Meredith, "Mer, I got him, okay? Don't worry." She reassured quickly.

Meredith took in a deep breath and nodded, standing in the ER doorway, watching as Pierce rolled Hunt away, thinking about the promise she'd made to Cristina that she would keep him safe and look out for him.

The doors slid open a few moments later as Derek walked out into the bay, "Meredith?"

She realized suddenly that she was standing in the rain, "That was Hunt! Did you see him?" She asked, still shocked.

Derek nodded calmly, "Yes…I saw." He put his gripped her arms, trying to calm her down too, "Pierce has him, okay? She has him…" He trailed off, looking past Meredith at the third patient that an EMT had just rolled off of the ambulance.

"Jane Doe." The EMT reported as she rolled towards them, "She was found unconscious at the scene. She has a broken arm and suffered severe blood loss due to an impalement in her stomach. She regained consciousness once in the ambulance, but only briefly."

"Derek." Meredith grabbed his arm.

But he wasn't looking at her, "Amelia." He said, quietly, which was drowned out by the sound of the rain.

The 'Jane Doe' stirred as the cold rain washed over her and her eyes fluttered open weakly.

"Amelia!" Derek exclaimed, louder this time. He rushed over to the gurney, "Amelia, are you okay? Can you hear me?" He asked, moving some of the wet, blood soaked hair out of her face.

"I'm so sorry, Derek."

He had to strain to hear her, "Amelia, what happened?" He asked, holding her not broken hand tightly in his.

"I didn't mean to crash your car! I'm so sorry!" Tears rushed from her eyes, soaking her face with the rain, "I needed it. You don't understand, I needed a hit, but I never meant to take that much…You have to believe me…you have to…"

Suddenly Derek knew what was happening. She thought it was 15 years earlier when she'd overdosed and crashed his Mustang, "It's okay…it's okay, Amelia. I'm not mad." He stroked her hair, gently, "You're gonna be okay."

Amelia's eyes fluttered again and she looked like she could barely keep them open, "You saved me…" She whispered, barely audible over the rain, "You saved me."

Derek gripped her hand, "I love you, Amelia. I'll always be here to protect you, okay? Don't you worry, you're gonna be fine. Nothing's gonna happen to you…you're gonna be fine." He repeated.

Amelia's eyes were already closed by then, but he knew she'd heard him because her mouth twitched upwards for the slightest smile before she lost consciousness again. Her skin was cold when he touched her face.

"We have to get her inside." Meredith urged, "What the hell happened?!" She asked to no one in particular as she rolled Amelia inside.

Derek didn't follow her in. He stood in the rain, in disbelief, watching his wife roll his fragile younger sister into the ER.

"What the hell happened?"

"I'll always be here to protect you."

He'd always protected her from everything: the robbers the store, his mother and their sisters, pain, unhappiness. He wanted to save her from all the hurt in the world, but as he watched Meredith wheel her away, he knew there was nothing he could to do protect her from it now.

Inside, the doctors worked urgently to save their friends.

Meredith hooked Amelia up to an IV and provided her with more blood while trying to assess her stomach injury. Taking out an ultrasound to check on her abdominal organs, she noticed something peculiar, but before she could ask someone else for a second opinion, Amelia stirred.

"Amelia?" Meredith asked, looking up and seeing a soaking wet Derek standing outside the trauma room, staring in.

Amelia blinked a few times, "What happened?" She looked around, "What's going on?"

Meredith gulped, "I need neuro in here."

The intern with her turned around, "Dr. Shepherd is just outside." He said, gesturing towards the window where Derek could be seen.

"No, get someone else."

The intern looked confused, "Dr. Shepherd is the neurosurgeon on call. I don't know who else-"

"Get Edwards." Meredith ordered succinctly, frustrated that she had to micromanage the interns.

"But Edwards is a resident."

Meredith didn't want to argue with her intern, "Don't question me. If I tell you to get Edwards, get Edwards. Go find her now and don't come back unless you have her!" She exclaimed.

The intern scrambled out, almost knocking over the crash cart.

Meredith turned back to Amelia, "You were in a car accident. Do you remember?"

Amelia looked down suddenly as Meredith touched her stomach with the ultrasound, only to see the large wound that had caused blood to soak her shirt, "Oh my god!" She exclaimed, "What's happening?!" Her breathing sped up.

The heart monitor beeping began to speed up.

"Amelia, stay calm, okay? You're gonna be okay. The cut on your stomach doesn't look too severe, but it may have damaged a part of your liver."

Amelia shook her head, "I remember arguing with Owen and driving in the car, but then…then I ended up here. What kind of accident? Where is Owen? Is he hurt?" She said groggily as she tried to sit up.

"Amelia! Lay down!" Meredith ordered firmly, "Owen is here too. Kepner and Pierce are taking care of him in the next room, okay?"

Amelia laid back and shook her head, "Oh god. I can't believe this is happening." She said, tears coming to her eyes.

"Hey, everything's gonna be fine. I have you now." Meredith told her.

Amelia shook her head, "Oh please, you don't even like me."

Meredith reached down to her phone and paged someone for another opinion, "Yes, I find you annoying and sometimes I don't like you, but you are part of my family so I love you and I'm gonna make sure you're okay."

Amelia took a few deep breaths, "I'm sorry I'm so annoying." She mumbled, eyes closed. "I've been working on changing that."

"Are you feeling a lot of pain?"

Behind her, the trauma door opened and Edwards entered.

Amelia nodded, "In my head and my abdomen…" She mumbled, voice quieter this time. She turned and looked over at Edwards as she walked in.

"Dr. Shepherd." Edwards greeted, trying to conceal the shock and concern in her voice. She took out her light and moved it back and forth in Amelia's eyes, "Pupils look good."

Amelia took in a deep breath, the pain obviously still bothering her.

"Having some pain?"

Amelia nodded again silently.

Meredith turned to a nurse in the room, "Let's give her some morphine."

The nurse nodded and moved to go retrieve the medication when Amelia spoke up.

"No, no…" She shook her head, "No pain meds." She looked up at Meredith, "I don't want any medication. I can't…"

Meredith looked down at Amelia, who was obviously in a lot of pain.

The nurse looked over, "Dr. Grey?"

Meredith nodded, "No pain meds."

Edwards continued her neural exam, making sure to rule out brain swelling and aneurysms. "No evidence of serious head trauma, but it does look like you have a concussion. Other than that, your brain is fine." She smiled, took Amelia's hand and squeezed it before heading for the door.

"Edwards?"

She turned back around.

"Thank you." She smiled a little bit, "You're gonna make a great neurosurgeon."

Edwards smirked, "A compliment? Maybe I should check your brain again." She joked lightly as she headed for the door.

Amelia let out a half laugh, half cough as she closed her eyes. "Don't worry...it's not gonna become a regular thing." She countered, causing Edwards to laugh as she exited the room, moving past Robbins as she made her way in, "I got your page." She said to Meredith before looking down at Amelia with worry, "Oh Amelia…" She trailed off, "I'm here to help, okay? You're gonna be fine."

Arizona walked over to Meredith and began another ultrasound. Glad that Amelia's eyes were closed, she looked over at Meredith, giving a small nod. "You were right…" She set down the ultrasound, "Amelia, can you hear me?"

Amelia nodded slowly, opening her eyes, but squinting, "The lights are hurting my eyes…"

Meredith turned to one of the interns. "Hey, turn off a few lights."

As they did, the room darkened a bit, which visibly allowed Amelia to relax her eyes.

Arizona leaned over and took her hand, "Amelia, sweetheart," She began, trying to keep her voice even, "we just performed an ultrasound. Did you know that you were pregnant?" She asked gently.

Amelia didn't say anything for a few moments until finally asking, "I'm pregnant?"

Arizona took in a deep breath and smiled one of those smiles she always did when she was trying to keep herself from crying. Taking in a deep breath and gripping her hand, she went on, "Yes, but the accident put a huge strain on your body and your little tiny baby well…the little guy couldn't handle it. When we did the ultrasound, there was no fetal heartbeat and it looked like your body had already expelled some of the tissue…" She informed her, "When you passed out, it wasn't from the blood loss of the cut on your stomach, it was because…"

"I was having a miscarriage." Amelia said, no feeling on her face or in her voice. She didn't even look at Arizona. Tears pooled in her eyes, but they were void of any emotion.

"Amelia, I'm so sorry." Arizona put her arms around the young surgeon, pulling her into a protective, maternal hug.

She didn't cry.

She sat stiffly against Arizona, the only thing even signifying that she knew the extent of what was happening were the blank tears streaming down her face.

Arizona gently rubbed her back as she held her for a few moments, "We need to take you up to surgery to remove the rest of the tissue in your uterus. Is that alright?"

Amelia didn't move.

"Amelia?"

She nodded silently.

They wheeled her out of the trauma room into the main ER where Derek was standing. He looked at Meredith and Arizona for an explanation.

"We have to take her up to an OR. It isn't a big surgery. She's going to be fine." She explained vaguely.

But Derek saw the vacant look in his sister's eyes. He saw how tightly Arizona was gripping her hand. He saw the sympathy and sadness in the intern's eyes.

"Amy…" Derek looked down at his younger sister. He leaned over the gurney and wrapped his arms around her, pulling her into his arms and putting a protective hand behind her head.

At first, Amelia didn't react, but then she slowly slipped her good arm around her brother and gripped his jacket tightly. Derek felt her body begin to shake and a few moments later, he heard a heart-wrenching, breathless sobs as she buried her face in his shoulder.

He rubbed her back comfortingly, trying to prevent tears of his own from racing out of his eyes. "It's okay. I'm here, I got you. Everything's gonna be okay, Amy. You're gonna get through this…"

Amelia clung to her brother, her only source of comfort, "Why is this happening?" He heard her whisper, "I can't do this…"

"Yes, you can, Amy. I'm here for you and I'll always be here for you. I'm sorry this is happening. I'm so sorry…but I'll be here holding your hand every step of the way, okay?"

"I was pregnant." She breathed.

Derek held her even tighter.

"I lost my baby…again." Amelia began to sob again, but softer this time. "The career, the husband, the family…it's never going to happen for me."

Derek shook his head, "Don't say that. It will happen for you, Amy. The family, career, love, everything is going to happen for you, I know it."

"How do you know?"

"I know everything."

Amelia let out a half-sob, half-laugh, "How can you be an arrogant jackass at a time like this?"

Derek smiled and pulled away from her, "It's in my nature." He squeezed her hand and met her eyes, "But really, you are a young, intelligent and funny. You have everything going for you, in fact, if anyone in this family has enough intelligence and wit to be an arrogant jackass, it's you." He told her, smiling when she choked out a laugh, "You're gonna have everything, Amy."

She gripped his hand tightly and offered a smile that looked forced. She looked like she wanted to believe him, but couldn't.

Derek turned to Arizona, "Mind if I walk up to surgery with you?"

"Not at all." And they began to wheel her out of the ER.

In one of the other trauma rooms, Kepner and Pierce tended to Owen. His vitals were stable at the moment and he was awake, but incoherent. He was soaking wet, cold and struggling to breathe.

Pierce assessed his injuries, "Okay, looks like one of his ribs is broken and his left lung is punctured. The chest tube is holding, but it isn't stable. We need to get him up to the OR so I can repair his lung." She reported.

Kepner had just finished her ultrasound, "I see some internal bleeding in the abdomen from some compression damage to his intestines." She looked at Pierce, "I'll call the OR and let them know we're on our way."

Pierce nodded, "Torres will have to meet us up there for the hip." She said before looking down at Owen, who had an oxygen mask over his face. "Okay, Dr. Hunt, looks like you have a punctured lung and some internal bleeding in your abdomen. We're gonna take you up to the OR, okay?" She told him as she turned towards the door, but then she felt his hand grab hers.

She turned back to him. He pulled the mask off of his face and struggled to speak, but the strain on his lungs made it difficult for him to get out a complete sentence. "The…acci…accide…" He struggled.

"The accident?" Pierce asked, trying to figure out what he was trying to say.

Owen nodded quickly, "W-w-w…whe…where…?"

"Where is what?"

Owen stopped speaking, he just looked at Pierce and gripped her hand even tighter, hoping she would understand what he was asking.

Pierce knew the look in his eyes, "You're wondering about her, aren't you?"

Owen nodded quickly.

Pierce smiled a little bit and then turned back towards one of her interns, "Hey, you…go find out the status on Amelia Shepherd and get back to us in the OR, alright?"

The intern nodded and rushed out of the room.

Pierce turned back to Owen, "We'll find out about her before you go into surgery, okay? You're gonna be fine. You're both gonna be fine." She reassured as they rolled him out of the room.

When they got to the OR floor, they found Derek standing at the doors.

"Dr. Shepherd." Pierce greeted as they approached with Owen, "How is Amelia? Owen…and all of us want to know."

Derek looked at all of the people standing in front of him: Pierce, offering a forced smile, eyes full of hope and concern, Kepner, expression painted with worry and stress and Owen, fear in his eyes. "Um…" He paused, "She had a wound on her stomach, some damage to her liver and a broken arm, but nothing very severe. They took her to surgery, but it's not a complicated procedure. She'll be just fine."

Derek walked over and put his hand on Owen's shoulder, "Now, it's you that we need to take care of."

"He's got some internal bleeding and a collapsed lung, we'll repair it in surgery."

Derek nodded, "Good luck. If you need me at all, let me know, I'd love to do…something."

Pierce and Kepner both nodded and then rolled Owen through the OR doors, leaving Derek behind. He gulped and then turned around, walking away from the door. He shook his head, hating that he lied to them, but hating more that Owen and his sister had to go through this. He'd seen his wife lose a baby. He knew what it would do to Amelia and he knew exactly how Owen was going to feel about it.

Amelia would feel toxic, like she was poison and like everything she touched she would destroy. And most importantly, she would feel alone because Owen would have no way of knowing how she felt. They would grow apart and Owen would have to watch her from a distance, watch her endure the pain and move through it without having any way of helping her. That was the part Derek had hated the most when it had happened to Meredith.

He shook his head in anger. He walked into the attending's lounge and kicked over a chair, but it didn't make him feel better. He sat down on the couch and buried his head in his hands. This wasn't the first time one of his loved ones had been through something like this.

He hated sitting around alone, waiting to hear back about his friends, watching them go through something so horrible and senseless.

He sat in silence for a long time.

Until suddenly, the door to the attending's lounge opened and Derek looked up to see Meredith walking in. He looked at her curiously.

She sat down on the couch beside him, "I paged Bailey and asked her to finish up. When I left, Arizona was just starting to…" She trailed off, "Everything looked fine when I left so I thought I'd come down and check on you."

Derek sighed deeply and didn't say anything for a few moments, "I was 5 when she was born. I remember that day so clearly. I remember going to the hospital and seeing my mom holding her. I'd seen a baby before. I had one younger sister already. I knew what a baby looked like, but she was smaller. She was so little and when my mom let me hold her, she reached out with her little hand and grabbed my finger." He smiled, "She wrapped her tiny little hand around my finger and I knew right then that we were gonna be a team."

"Amelia and I always just had this special bond. She was the problem child and I was the golden boy…"

Meredith smiled, "Of course you were."

He nodded, "I always looked out for her. When she skipped school, I covered for her. When she got dumped by her jackass boyfriend that my mom always hated, I drove down there and picked her up. When she got into fights with my sisters or my mom, I took her side because…someone had to. And I was the only one who even remotely understood her."

"She died in my arms once, Meredith. I held her and tried to save her, just thinking about the day she was born, how small and fragile she was." He shook his head, "Since then, since I realized she had a problem, I promised myself that I wasn't going to distance myself from her. My sisters and my mom, they don't understand her, they write her off as a problem-child and I promised myself I would be on her side, I would protect her."

"And now, here we are and she's hurting in ways that no one ever should." Derek said, "For a long time, I've been Amelia's only family and I am supposed to be looking out for her, but for the past few weeks, I've been taking her surgeries, trying to take her job…reminding her over and over again that she isn't me…she isn't the golden child." He shook his head shamefully as tears pooled in his eyes, "I just hope that she knows, you know? That she doesn't think…" He shook his head, "I just hope she knows that I'm on her side…and I've always been on her side."

He was shaking at that point, fighting and failing to keep his composure.

Calmly, Meredith reached over and took his head, meeting his puffy eyes, "She knows, Derek. Trust me, she knows."