It had all been organised for convenience that plane trip. Amelia had gone instead of Derek to help with the Neuro aspect because Mark needed to go to help with the Plastics and someone needed to stay home with their daughter, Kaya. Arizona went instead of Addison because it was Pediatrics and not Neonatal which meant Meredith went for General because Addison could look after Ellis and Zola. With two attendings already they put Cristina on the plane for Cardio instead of Teddy, Lexie was there as well as the Neuro protege. They decided not to send Ortho so Callie could take care of Sofia. It had all been organised among the doctors more so than anything else.
Addison had told Meredith to get on that plane. Told her it was a cool surgery, told her she would be fine with Ellis and Zola for one night, told her that even if they missed their mommy they would
this is like less angsty than the others by a lot
know she was doing amazing work. Addison had told Meredith to do it.
She'd also helped persuade Mark, Derek and Amelia that it was best for Mark and Amelia to get on that plane. She had told her best friend and her sister to get on that plane. She had organised with Derek to have a babysitting emergency line just in case either got called in for an emergency. She'd done the same with Arizona and Callie and their daughter, Sofia.
But then, she was sitting in Seattle Grace Hospital and waiting for her wife, her best friend, her sister, her sister-in-law, her wife's best friend and her other best friend's wife to be transported back from a hospital far away. She hadn't seen any of them in five days.
Ellis, being slightly older than Zola, had passed out next to her on the chair but Zola was asleep in her arms. Derek paced up and down holding a sleeping Kaya in front of her. Callie clung to Sofia opposite her. Teddy had gone into surgery, she had said really couldn't think about it.
They hadn't been told much. Meredith and Cristina were best off according to the reports, mainly suffering from extreme exhaustion and dehydration, Cristina with a dislocated shoulder as well. Lexie had multiple crush injuries and had been pulled through it all by Meredith and Cristina barely alive. Mark had extreme heart and lung issues and they had apparently lost him a few times. Arizona looked like she may lose her leg and Amelia her hand. Addison didn't want to think about that. Apparently, she had also been refusing morphine or any painkillers too so she was in incredible amounts of pain.
Addison decided it was best to focus on the people in front of her. "Mommy," Ellis' eyes blinked open next to her.
"Not here yet, sweetheart," Addison whispered, moving Zola so she could Ellis could crawl into her lap as well.
"We should go to the Attendings' Lounge," Callie said, "There's a couch in there and they're going to be a while yet."
"I'll tell the nurse to page Teddy to let her know," Derek sighed, walking over to the nurses' station. Addison stood up, manoeuvring a sleeping Zola onto one hip before she picked up a very groggy and tired Ellis. She went to pick up her bag but Derek got there before her. Addison knew she couldn't really carry it alone. Too many kids and not enough arms. It made her miss Meredith even more. They could do this when they were together.
They made their way to the lounge. Addison and Callie both taking a seat on the couch. Ellis decided to lie down across the couch, her head resting in Addison's lap as she curled up in a little ball. Addison looked down at her with a sigh. She hadn't slept well in a while, she always asked for Meredith at bedtime and when Meredith wasn't there the tears would come.
Derek still paced now just somewhere else. "Sit down," Addison begged him in a whisper. He just shook his head, ignoring her and holding Kaya close, not even looking over at them. "Derek, you need to take a minute and save your energy. They are going to need you to have energy," Addison tried to appeal to his logical side. There was another comfortable armchair close to them.
"I can't," Derek just whispered, finally looking over at Addison, "I should have been there, not Amy and not Mark."
"No one knew this would happen," speaking in whispers when you really just want to yell as not to wake kids up was a talent they had mastered in the last couple of days.
"She's right, Derek," Callie added, "Just please sit down for a little bit."
Derek reluctantly took the seat, it was clear how exhausted he was. They were all exhausted. Addison must have fallen asleep after that because the next thing she knew she was being woken up by Bailey.
"They're here," she announced quietly. Addison went to stand up but she saw the time and the girls around her and knew she couldn't move. Callie and Derek seemed to have the same issues. "Okay," Bailey looked around, "They are all stable," she told them as Teddy came and joined them in the lounge, going over to Bailey and helping her bring out the emergency travel cots kept in the lounge.
"Mark is in the CCU and Lexie is in the ICU, they both have surgeries in the morning. Cristina, in 3280, needs to have surgery in the morning for her shoulder to make sure everything is in place and she is still being rehydrated like Meredith, in 3279, who has just woken up after almost thirty hours of sleep. Arizona, in 3274, needs surgery on her leg in the morning and Amelia, in 3278, on her hand," Bailey had gone straight to the hospital, something they had not had the luxury of doing with the kids. The cots were set up and Bailey lifted Zola out of Addison's arms and laid her in one. She then took Addison's place, letting Ellis stay sleeping on the couch with her head now in Bailey's lap. Callie had laid Sofia in a cot and Derek the same with Kaya. "I've got them," Bailey assured them before they all ran out.
"Derek," Addison stopped him before he could get too far away, "Don't worry about Amelia. I can
check on her and text you. Focus on Mark.
"Thank you," he nodded before they both ran off in separate directions, Addison going after Teddy. It didn't take long before she was outside the right room, Meredith saw her and smiled instantly.
Addison ignored the nurse saying something about visiting hours and ran into the room instantly. She stopped at the end of her wife's bed. She was alive. The news finally sank in. Meredith was alive.
"Hey, stranger," Meredith smiled, her voice was extremely hoarse.
"Hi," Addison smiled, going around the bed so she was at Meredith's side. Meredith tried to no avail to push down the side barrier on the bed. Addison did it for her and climbed onto the bed, pulling Meredith into a hug.
"The girls?" Meredith whispered into Addison's ear as she clung to her tightly.
"Asleep with Bailey," Addison smiled, pressing a kiss to the top of her wife's head, Meredith turned her head so she looked up at Addison and Addison pressed a kiss to her lips too, "How are you?"
"Just," Meredith shook her head, "Can you go check how everyone else is and then come back and just stay?"
"Okay," Addison smiled, she really just wanted to stay with her wife forever but she knew Meredith needed to know how they were. "I love you," she smiled, standing up and pressing another kiss to her wife's lips.
"I love you too," Meredith yawned. Addison pulled back up the side of the bed, she didn't want to annoy the nurses, before she left. She looked through the window to check on Cristina first. She was awake but completely silent. Teddy had climbed into bed with her. She just looked numb. Addison decided it wasn't best for her to go in from the concern etched across Teddy's face so she just went to Amelia's room.
Amelia was half-asleep, turning to look at Addison groggily as she walked in. "It hurts like a fucker," Amelia mumbled her reply before Addison could even ask the question.
"I know," Addison brushed some of the hair off of her face, she had cuts all over her forehead, "Derek says he will come by later," she whispered.
"Tell him to stay with Mark," Amelia shook her head, "He's not in a good way. Just bring my beautiful nieces by in the morning so I can say 'hi'."
"Of course," Addison smiled, "Do you need anything?"
"I need drugs. I really want drugs," Amelia admitted, "but I can't, Addie, just I need you to make sure they don't give me any painkillers of any kind. Write it on my file, guard my IV yourself, just make sure they don't get given to me even if I ask. I know it's going to be more painful after surgery."
Addison grabbed the sharpie off the table and went very deliberately over to Amelia's file. NO PAINKILLERS EVEN IF REQUESTED BY THE PATIENT. She wrote it in big bold letters across the front and turned it to show her sister. Amelia nodded with a smile.
"I've got you," Addison put the chart back at the end of the bed, "Have you slept?" she asked. "A little," Amelia shrugged.
"Get some more," Addison told her.
"How's Mer?"
"She's doing well," Addison smiled.
"Lexie?" Amelia called out before Addison could leave. "What?" Addison turned around to face her sister.
"Tell me how Lexie is when you go check," Amelia paused for a second, "She had it pretty bad." Addison nodded and left.
Next was Arizona. Callie was standing outside. "The infection is too far gone. I don't know if the surgery tomorrow will save it," she admitted to Addison, "She wants her leg." Callie looked close to breaking.
Addison just pulled her into a hug that Callie melted into, "I'll check on Mark," she told her, "Cristina is physically good, I don't know about mentally. Amelia's in a lot of pain and Mer is good."
"You don't have to do everything," Callie told her, pulling away from the hug.
"I want to check anyway," Addison shrugged, "and Mer is doing best at the minute. I wouldn't usually boast about her ability to repress all her trauma but, right now, I think it helps."
"If you need an objective person to call family," Callie offered.
"Don't even go there," Addison shook her head, "The wolfpack of the Shepherds combined with the tension that Thatcher Grey brings. I am going to wait till it calms down before I even think about any of those calls." Callie laughed lightly.
"They can't be that bad."
"I love those sisters," Addison smiled, "but only I am at least a little drunk." Callie laughed again and smiled, taking a deep breath.
"You've got this," Addie smiled before she focused on getting to the ICU. It didn't take her long. Jackson, Alex and April were already there at her bedside, all three of them doing different varieties of work.
They just nodded at Addison as she came in. She was on a ventilator to give her muscles a rest. Her stats were good and stable. She looked through the chart at the end of the bed. She'd been stable for a while but it was going to be a long surgery tomorrow and everything was going to hinge on how that went. There were a lot of repairs that needed to be done.
"Can you keep me updated?" she asked.
"Of course," Alex replied quickly, "I'll text you with any changes."
"Thank you," Addison smiled, she went to see Mark. There was so much pain and so much hurt. Derek's head laid in the bed, his hands gripping Mark's hand tightly.
Addison walked in slowly, going over to Derek and rubbing a hand across his back. "He's alive," she whispered to him.
Derek just nodded, looking up at Addison, "He's alive," he repeated, "How's Amy?"
"In a lot of pain but refusing any drugs. She even had me write it on her file. She said to stay with Mark but to come by with her niece if you had time," Addison told him, looking over all of Mark's stats discreetly. He wasn't in a vent but he was on 100% high flow oxygen and his lungs weren't that strong. If Teddy's surgery went well in the morning, he should be fine.
"I can't bring Kaya here," Derek shook his head, "but I can bring her to Amy after breakfast or something," he was mainly just thinking out loud. Addison knew she didn't need to respond. "Can you keep me updated on her?"
"Of course," Addison pressed a kiss to Derek's cheek before she left, "Try and get some sleep," she told him.
She passed the Attendings' Lounge on her way back. Zola was awake and crying and Bailey was trying to calm her down and Ellis had woken up as well. "I'll take them," Addison sighed, picking up Zola and then taking Ellis' hand. She knew Mer wanted to see them anyway.
"Are you sure?" Bailey checked, passing Addison the baby bag. There was a spare bed in Meredith's room as well.
"It will cheer Mer up," Addison smiled.
"Mama?" Zola asked.
"Yeah," Addison smiled at her, "We're going to see Mama."
Zola smiled while Ellis just looked at Addison excitedly. "Come on," Addison looked back over at Bailey and mouthed a 'thank you' before she left the lounge.
"Mama!" Ellis almost yelled as they walked into Meredith's room. Addison shushed her as Meredith sat up weakly with a bright smile. She had gone to tell Amelia about Lexie but she was already asleep.
"They wanted to see you," Addison smiled, going over to the bed.
"I missed you so much," Meredith lifted Zola out of Addison's arms so Addison could bend down and lift Ellis up onto the bed. "Both of you," Meredith pulled Ellis into her arms. The smile couldn't be wiped off her face at all. "I love all of you so much," she smiled, looking up at Addison as she spoke. The girls clung to Meredith tightly.
Addison leaned down and pressed a kiss to her wife's lips, "I love you too," she whispered.
Ellis let out a huge yawn and Meredith looked down at her fondly, "Let's get some sleep," she smiled.
Addison went to the controls of the bed and pressed the button that made it slowly lie flat. Meredith adjusted her position so she was comfortable, the girls not leaving her arms as they moved so they were comfy too. They were already too tired not to fall asleep quickly. Meredith stayed awake until they were completely out.
"Cristina looks completely numb but physically okay," Addison started recounting everything she found out while Meredith listened, looking a little bit more concerned with each one. Addison sat in a chair next to the bed and held her hand the whole time even as she finished and Meredith fell asleep. She wasn't going to sleep not tonight. She needed to make sure Mer was okay tonight.
They woke up with the rounds that morning. Bailey left the residents outside before she came into the room, she knew that Bailey had kept the rounds deliberately late. "We may be able to discharge you tomorrow," she whispered. The girls were still asleep but they had put the bed in a more sitting position when Meredith had woken up earlier that morning. Addison ended up sitting at the end of the bed and taking a very deeply sleeping Zola from Meredith's arms to help her gain at least some of the feeling back in them.
"What tests does she have to pass?" Addison asked.
"Swallow study, blood test, CT scan to check for no injuries, we don't know how accurate the last one was, ability to keep food and water down," Bailey listed them off, going over to Meredith's IV, "We can do one now."
Meredith nodded and held out her arm for Bailey to take some blood. "What's after that?" Addison asked quietly.
"Just a day of bed rest, at least a week till she starts to work again and then I need to sign her off before she can do surgery plus the mandatory therapy," Bailey trailed off as she said the last bit, finishing extracting the blood and removing the needle before Meredith could move too quickly and hurt herself.
"Mandatory therapy?" Meredith repeated in a shocked whisper.
"Counselling," Bailey provided, "Hunt came up with the new policy, take it up with him," she sighed.
"Does the counsellor have to sign me off for surgery?" Meredith asked.
"No. That's just me," Bailey smiled, "and I will when I see you back to full strength," she told Meredith as she looked through her chart and filled out a form, "I'll see you in half an hour for a swallow study before I let you eat solids."
Meredith let her head fall back against the bed, her eyes shutting, "Therapy," she muttered in annoyance.
"It's a good thing," Addison smiled, reaching out her hand and taking a hold of Meredith's.
"I know that," Meredith glared at her just a little. She held Ellis a little closer and pressed a kiss to the top of her head, "What time is it?"
Addison turned to the clock, "Seven-thirty," she sighed, they were going to need to get the girls out of their pyjamas and into one of the changes of clothes that Addison had brought. They woke up Zola first and Addison took her to the bathroom to change her clothes. They then swapped and Meredith started to do Zola's hair while Addison sorted out Ellis into a change of clothes.
Ellis' hair, being almost a carbon copy of Addison's own red hair, was easier to handle than Zola's so Addison just brushed it out and put it in two french braids to stop her having to deal with hair getting everywhere. Meredith was just putting Zola's hair into two afro puffs. It was a normal morning if it weren't for the fact they were sitting in a hospital.
"They took Mark for surgery," Derek walked into the room, Kaya on his hip. "Hey," Meredith smiled as both Ellis and Zola smiled at the sight of their cousin.
"I grabbed some breakfast at the canteen before all the french toast disappeared," he offered, "There wasn't anything else the kids would have eaten."
"Thank you," Addison smiled.
"This is torture," Meredith muttered, finishing Zola's hair.
"What test do they have you fasting for?" Derek asked, he and Addison started setting up the girls with bibs and the food.
"Swallow study. They want to check everything before they release me tomorrow," Meredith explained, leaning back against the bed, "Mark? How was his pulmonary function this morning?"
"He was breathing without a vent," Derek explained, "Hi-flow oxygen but no vent."
"Okay," Meredith breathed, looking down at her hands. No one knew quite yet what happened out there and everyone knew it wasn't the time to ask. Addison just offered her wife a smile.
"I also popped in on Lexie, they took her to surgery a couple of minutes after Mark, she's improving on the vent and they don't think they have to do any major repairs," Derek offered slightly better news.
"That's good," Meredith didn't look up and she spoke quietly, "Really good."
"What time do they think Mark will be out?" Meredith asked.
"Sometime around midday," Derek offered.
"Okay," Addison thought, "If I take the girls back to our place for lunch and a nap afterwards."
"I could swap with you at dinner," Derek finished. Addison looked at Meredith to make sure she was okay with that and she just nodded.
"I'll make Bailey put all my other tests then," she smiled.
"Do you want to swap at the hospital or your place in the morning?" Derek asked. "Hospital," Meredith interjected, "You can sneak Kaya into the CCU to see Mark."
Derek scoffed, "I'm sure that Bailey would k-i-l-l me before I get through the double doors." "I'll try and get in to see him at the same time," Meredith smiled, "Diversion?"
"I can't believe I'm signing up to one of your rule-breaking plots," Derek shook his head with a laugh.
Meredith was taken away for her swallow study and Derek and Addison, Addison using incredible skills, crayons and paper to keep three toddlers in line by herself for a couple of minutes so Derek could go visit his sister without the excitement of three toddlers.
"Okay, girls," Addison got the attention of all three of them before she took them in, "You need to be very careful of Auntie Amelia. She has hurt her hand," she paused as Ellis very excitedly pointed to her own hand. They had been doing body parts lately, "That's right, sweetheart," Addison smiled, "So you need to listen, okay?" all three of the girls nodded.
"Right," Addison started by lifting Kaya off the bed and then Zola and then Ellis, "All hold hands she told them, taking Kaya and Zola's hands as Ellis took a hold of her sister's hand. Luckily they were only going next door.
"Hi," Amelia smiled brightly as Addison came in the doorway.
"Hi," Kaya repeated, it was her favourite word out of the seven in her vocabulary.
"Hi," Amelia laughed again as Derek lifted his daughter into the air, "I need a group hug," Amelia looked over at Zola and Ellis as she held Kaya in her good arm. Zola and Ellia were just as excited. Derek lifted up Ellis as Addison picked up Zola. They instantly hugged Amelia, who held her bed arm out of the way as she tried to hold them all close with her good one, the smile on her face getting brighter. Addison discreetly took a photo of the moment, everyone looked happy despite everything.
"I tell you baby smell and hug serotonin might be the best painkiller," Amelia laughed before she started to talk to the girls, they mainly babbled but Amelia was one of the best at pretending to listen.
"Doctor Shepherd?" one of the new interns interrupted, "Doctor Altman asked me to give you an update on your husband."
"How is he?" Derek asked, his attention instantly pulled away from Amelia, "They are all family," Derek sighed as the intern shifted uncomfortably, "My sister and one of my closest friends," it was probably a good decision not to mention the ex-wife thing. After soon-to-be a decade of divorce, they were just friends again, how they had started and how they probably should have stayed. They had also started celebrating the anniversary of the day they divorced, it started as a joke when Addison needed cheering up after a hard case but now it was a very good excuse for a fun
party.
"Your husband's surgery has been going smoothly so far with no major complications. Doctor Altman just needs consent to put him on bypass to do a repair more safely."
"She has consent to do whatever she deems necessary," Derek told the intern quickly, "Can you page Doctor Avery for me before you go back to the OR?"
"Where to?"
"Here," Derek sighed, this was a new brand of intern incompetency. "Okay," she replied quickly before she ran off.
"Your Dada," Amelia spoke deliberately loudly, pressing Kaya's noise so she laughed loudly, "is going to make poor Jackson sit unnecessarily in an OR gallery for hours when he has work to do," she smiled.
"You don't need to passive-aggressively communicate with me through a baby. Bypass means unexpected," Derek glared at his sister.
"Uncle Mark is going to be fine, isn't he ZoZo?" Amelia laughed, deliberately asking the only child who had managed to learn to say the word 'yes' but not the word 'no' and nodding as she did so to prompt the word.
"Yep," Zola nodded with a huge smile.
"You're manipulating her words," Derek shook his head, taking a seat on the sofa in the room and shaking his head at his sister.
"Uncle Derek is not being dramatic, what do you think, Ellie-Belle?" Amelia shook her head as she spoke to their eldest.
"No," Ellis said loudly and proudly, recognising what the head movement meant. Addison couldn't help but laugh as she sat down next to Derek, he was trying so hard to look annoyed but the smile was refusing to hide.
"I don't like you sometimes, Amy," he deadpanned.
"You love me," Amelia sing-songed before she went back to talking to the girls.
Jackson came running in, "You paged?" he asked, a little breathless.
"Did you run here?" Addison asked.
"I was observing Mark's surgery," Jackson leant back against the wall, "I didn't want to miss anything."
"Good, you need to keep observing and text me ten-minute updates," Derek told him, "I have Mark's phone, you can text his number."
"You are kidding," Jackson shook his head.
"Why is he on bypass?" Derek asked, ignoring any objections.
"There was an intimal tear in his pulmonary artery," Jackson told him, "from the stress of the high blood pressure for an extended period of time. It was minor so it hadn't been noticed before but Teddy decided he was stable enough and doing well enough to repair it in this surgery instead of just doing damage control. It's a good sign."
"Okay, ten-minute updates," Derek reminded him.
"I will give you fifteen-minute updates. You and I both know nothing much happens in ten minutes," Jackson told him before leaving.
"Did he just tell me what he's going to do?" Derek asked in surprise.
"It's okay," Addison patted his shoulder sympathetically as Amelia covered up her laughter. "I will call out mother and bring her out here," Derek glared over at his sister.
"That hurts you as well," Addison rushed to Amelia's aid, Carolyn Shepherd was not her biggest fan since the divorce.
"I know," Derek sighed as Amelia laughed, even more, making the girls giggle.
They left Amelia's room twenty minutes later to let her rest. Derek doing checks on her hand before he left, Addison could tell by the look on his face that he already had a lot of ideas in his head for how to fix her hand to make sure it could return to full function. They went back to Meredith's room and Addison left Derek with the girls so she could go check on Meredith.
"Hi," she came into the exam room where Bailey was running the test. It was such an easy test that it really shouldn't be a General Surgeon running it but Bailey did anyway. Meredith tried her best to smile at Addison but there were a lot of things going on and Bailey just turned and glared at Addison.
"Don't distract my patient," she told Addison sternly.
"I'll stand quietly at the back," Addison put her hands up in surrender and leant against the wall.
"I just needed to be watched as I swallow a few more things," Meredith smiled, reaching for the next food.
Addison just waited, watching the whole thing in silence. Meredith passed with flying colours in the end. "Go eat some breakfast," Miranda told her as she was moved into the wheelchair.
"Got it," Meredith smiled as Addison took her place behind the wheelchair.
"Canteen?" Addison asked, "Derek has the girls, I consider it to be helping him with a distraction." "You offloaded our girls onto him and you are calling it 'help'?" Meredith laughed.
"Yes," Addison smiled, "and I get to spend time with my wife who I have missed so much." Meredith looked back at her and Addison bent down and pressed a kiss to her lips.
"I missed you so much too," Meredith whispered against Addison's lips before she pulled away.
They made their way to the canteen and picked up some breakfast for Meredith and some for Addison and Derek, who hadn't eaten earlier. Then it was back to the hospital room where Meredith and Addison ganged up on Derek, very successfully, to make him eat food as soon as they brought Kaya into it the success was inevitable.
Then there were long and reluctant goodbyes to both Meredith and Derek with all of the girls reluctant to leave, Kaya reluctant to leave the parent that she had left and Ellis and Zola reluctant to leave the parent they just got back. Derek helped take all the girls down to the car, getting the car seat out of his car and transferring it to Addison's before they took on the mammoth task of getting all the girls strapped in their seats.
Zola decided to throw the tantrum. Tears streamed down her face as she sat on the ground and refused to move. Addison took a deep breath, the other two girls were strapped in and Derek had already run off to check back in on everyone. "Okay, Zozo," Addison crouched down to her daughter's height, "I know you don't want to stay with Mama." Zola just cried more.
"Zola," Addison lifted Zola's chin so she looked her in the eye, "Let's take some deep breaths. In and out," she breathed slowly. They had taught Zoal this as soon as she could understand and it always helped stop her tantrums. Addison had always thought Meredith was better at this.
Zola still listened to her and took deep breaths, her tears subsiding a little. Addison pulled the little girl into her arms and pressed a kiss to the side of her head, "Mama is going to be all okay," she whispered, "and she is going to be home in the morning."
She stood up with Zola in her arms, "I'm going to place your car seat now, Zozo," she smiled and Zola didn't resist this time and settled in the seat, letting Addison strap her in. She watched as Ellis reached her sister's hand and for her cousin's as well. She took another quick photo of the moment to send to Meredith and Derek when she got home. She knew it would make them smile.
"He made it through," Addison could hear Derek's bright smile through the phone. She had just gotten the girls down for a nap and now she was cleaning the house a little and putting post-it notes up to make sure Derek could find his way around that night.
"That's amazing," Addison laughed, "And Lexie? Is she out yet?"
Derek took a deep breath on the other end of the phone, "No, not yet and they have taken Arizona in. She took a turn and they have to amputate, it took a while but it was seeing Sofia that made her give consent according to Karev," he explained.
Addison leaned against the fridge, "Tell Callie she can always call if she needs me," she sighed, "When do they think Mark is going to wake up?"
"Anytime, now. I'll call you when he does." "Thank you," Addison smiled.
Addison was exhausted by the time Derek called her to tell her Mark was awake. It was bathtime and she was already soaked in water from the task of getting each of them clean. Three toddlers. A seventeen-month-old and two fifteen-month-olds. What had she been thinking?
"He's awake?" Addison asked as soon as she picked up her phone. She sat next to the tub where the three girls all sat, they could entertain themselves for a few minutes.
"Yeah, about an hour ago," Derek smiled, "Lexie out of surgery and off the vent, Meredith has passed all her tests, Arizona's amputation went well and Callie has an idea to restore Amelia's hand back to working."
"Cristina?"
"Had a severe PTSD attack and they had to sedate her. Teddy is with her now." "Is that Addie?" Addison heard the familiar yell in the background.
"I'm passing you over," Derek laughed.
"Red!" Mark smiled.
"How are you, Mark?" Kaya seemed to hear the voice through the phone and turned to face Addison. "Wait, don't answer," Addison smiled, "I'm going to facetime you." She hung up and called back quickly.
"What was that?" Mark's face filled the screen, mainly his smile. "Daddy?" Kaya definitely recognised the voice this time.
"Right here," Addison laughed, turning the phone around so Mark could see her and she could see him.
"Hey, baby girl," Mark cooed as Kaya excitedly clapped her hands, standing up in the tub. Addison quickly grabbed her, her arm holding her waist up so she wouldn't slip and held out the phone so Mark and Derek, who had joined him on screen, could see her.
"Are you having bathtime with Auntie Addie?" Derek smiled.
Kaya just babbled a response. Addison looked over at her two girls, they were perfectly happy drawing with the wash off crayons on the tiles.
"We made a huge mess at dinner, it was essential," Addison laughed. "What did you have?" Mark asked.
"Pasta with tomato sauce. I'll send you the pictures," Addison smiled. "How bad?" Derek looked a little scared.
"I took their shirts off before they even started to cut on laundry and just put on a bib. I think there was more tomato than skin," Addison shook her head.
"Did you get all messy?" Mark smiled and Kaya babbled a response again, Mark nodding as though he understood.
"Red!" Ellis called out.
"That's right Ellie, you were very red," Addison laughed.
"Mama?" Zola called out. They were all still in the bath. She clearly wanted to leave.
"Do you need to get on with the routine?" Mark asked.
"Sorry," Addison smiled sympathetically.
"Don't worry, I know about the plan," Mark looked at Kaya, "Daddy is going to see you in the morning and give you a big hug," he smiled.
"Daddy!" Kaya smiled.
"Yeah," Mark laughed, "I love you."
"Can you say, bye-bye Daddy?" Addison whispered.
"Bye-bye Daddy," Kaya repeated proudly.
"Bye-bye baby," Mark smiled softly before hanging up.
Addison went through the monumental task of getting them all dressed, in pyjamas, teeth brushed and hair done before bed when Derek came into the house. By this time, the kids were too tired to be excited.
"I was about to do a bedtime story," Addison explained, "We couldn't decide which." Derek came and joined her on the floor of the girls' room. They'd done this enough times before when three out of four of them had been stuck at the hospital late that they knew each other's routines. Derek would take the guest room that night.
"What about The Very Hungry Caterpillar," Derek grabbed the book off the shelf and started to read. He only got halfway through before all three of them were asleep.
"I didn't know I was that boring," Derek whispered, laying Kaya down in her crib as Addison laid down Zola and then Ellis.
"You could use a bit more passion. Might give that performance three out of five stars," Addison teased.
"Rude," Derek hissed as he turned on the baby monitors and slipped one into his back pocket.
"Honesty is the best policy," Addison smiled as they headed downstairs, she grabbed her bag and coat and they both went outside. Moving the car seats from her car to Derek's so he could bring the kids into the hospital in the morning.
"Are you going to be okay with all three?" Addison asked, "Especially having to redo both Kaya's and Zola's hair. It can take a while."
"I'll be fine, Addie," he smiled, fixing the last car seat in place, "Go be with your wife and I'll see you in the morning with three happy, healthy and beautiful little girls. "Go!" he shooed her when Addie didn't move quite quickly enough.
"Okay. Okay," Addison smiled, getting in the car with a laugh, "I'll see you in the morning."
"See you then," Derek smiled, he already looked so much lighter having got Mark back. Addison backed out of the driveway and made her way as fast as she could to the hospital and then directly to Meredith's room.
"They are cute," Meredith was looking at her phone, tears falling down her face when Addison walked in.
"Mer," Addison rushed to her side, "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," Meredith's voice broke as she spoke and all it took was one look of disbelief from Addison for Meredith to shake her head and fall against Addison. Addison climbed into the bed with her and held her close.
"We can talk or you can talk and I can listen, we can talk about something completely unrelated like sandwiches or I just stay here and hold you but I'm not leaving," Addison whispered, she made sure to remind Meredith of that when she was upset, "so make your choice."
"I thought I was going to die. We all were going to die," Meredith looked up at Addison, "I was just sitting next to Cristina debating whether there's something going on between Amelia and Little Grey."
Addison had to hold herself back from exclaiming or reacting. She just thought about it for a second instead. They were right. There was something there.
"And the next minute we are falling and the plane tears apart and I thought I was going to die," Meredith went on, "But I didn't I was alive and everyone was screaming around me. Arizona was screaming so loudly. So loudly and I was staring up at a tree then Cristina was there and she was calling my name and telling me to get back and she pulled me up on her bad shoulder and I saw Arizona screaming under the plane. Mark stumbling around doubled over, Cristina clutching her shoulder, the pilot," Meredith just stopped.
"The pilot already looked dead," she shook her head, "and I had metal in my leg and Cristina lost her shoe and Arizona was still screaming so I pulled the metal out and put an old shirt around it and stood up and I couldn't see Amelia and Lexie and Cristina lost her shoe and we were in a plane crash." She didn't take a breath the whole time so Addison stopped her.
"You need to breathe," Addison reminded her and Meredith nodded, taking a few deep breaths, her heart rate slowed on the monitor.
"I couldn't find Amelia or Lexie, they were thrown elsewhere and Arizona still screamed," Meredith took another breath, "Cristina got Arizona to shut up and we heard banging. Arizona saw where it came from and we walked through the trees. Lexie was under the plane. Mark used all his strength to get her out and it was just minor crush trauma, not penetration so we saved her and carried her back to camp but we got there and Mark collapsed and Arizona's bone was sticking out of her leg."
"Lexie was stable, we used a straw to inflate Mark's lung and we just made sure Arizona would get infected but we couldn't find Amelia. The pilot was panicking and moving and wouldn't listen when we told him he would get hurt."
"I went on to find her by myself. I yelled and yelled and then I heard her scream back. Her hand had been trapped in the metal of the plane and she'd broken her fingers with a rock to get it out."
"When I got back Cristina had stabilised the pilot, Jerry's C-Spine and," Meredith just trailed off, "We did so much, so much procedure and life-saving and Jerry said four hours but then it was more than that. Everyone just kept trying to get more injured or die. Cristina and I couldn't keep up. Arizona was coughing blood and Amelia was fainting and losing blood but she couldn't pass out when we had to sew her skin together with a safety pin, Lexie was determined to have a least one failure at any given time and Mark's heart and lungs were really fucking annoying."
Meredith took a breath, "And that was just the first few hours. Amelia helped with Mark after a while but we only really had five and a half hands between us. I was the only one with two working hands. Then the sun was going down and we dragged Mark and Lexie back to Arizona, they were barely able to move. We started a fire and there was a chopper but we couldn't get help and the fucking flare gun wouldn't work. Then it was night and the transmitter was damaged and it was going to be days."
"All I could think about was you and the kids and Kaya and Sofia. They couldn't all lose a parent. I could leave you alone and Ellie and Zozo alone could barely breathe with that pressure but I had to because Mark could barely physically get air into his lungs," Meredith had tears streaming down her face and Addison just held her close.
"We're all together," Addison whispered, "We are all together now and we aren't going anywhere."
"I know," Meredith whispered.
She launched back into the story, "We had to stay awake the whole time and we were hungry and cold and only had one match and gum and nothing to survive and each day just got worse and worse and there were four of them," Meredith shook her head, unable to say anymore. Addison just held her close, reaching for the button and laying the bed flat.
"I've got you," she whispered as Meredith cuddled up to her. She didn't let herself cry until Meredith fell asleep. Then she cried the emotion and the pain of the last few days until she fell asleep.
"Good morning," Bailey woke them up as she came in for rounds, a clipboard worth of papers was placed on a table, "You know the drill with discharge papers," she smiled before she left.
"Morning," Meredith reached up and pressed a light kiss to Addison's lips.
"I missed that," Addison smiled, kissing her wife again. She really had missed this. Meredith ended up on top of her as they kissed and Addison only stopped when she heard a flatline instantly, sitting up panicked as Meredith laughed.
"They came off," she held up the leads, reaching and switching off the monitor and trying to go back to kissing Addison.
"They are going to come in and check," Addison pressed a finger to Meredith's lips sitting up. "You're mean," Meredith pouted as a nurse sprinted in.
"Don't worry, Tyler, the wires came off," Addison smiled.
"Okay," he smiled on his way out, "because Doctor Bailey would be really mad if you died on her, Grey."
"I know," Meredith laughed. Addison got out of the bed and passed Meredith the bag that she had put a change of clothes into. "Thank you," Meredith smiled, going to the bathroom to change as Addison made start on the paperwork. It was long, Bailey had already done most of it but the insurance was the long part. She had finished by the time Meredith had changed though, her hair brushed out.
"I put a t-shirt in there," Addison laughed as soon as she saw that Meredith had stolen her Yale sweater that she had thrown in for herself.
"I know and I like wearing your sweater," Meredith smiled, walking over to Addison and handing her the bag, "and I like when you wear that t-shirt." Addison shook her head and made her way to the bathroom, changing and brushing her hair into something vaguely neat. They packed everything up, Meredith now given permission to walk for long periods, and Addison handed the papers to the nurse while Meredith went to see Cristina.
Addison went to see Amelia while she waited and Meredith joined her a few minutes later. "She's not talking," Meredith told them, sitting down on the couch, "Not even reacting."
"What?" Amelia looked at Meredith in disbelief, "Not even to you?"
"Not even to me," Meredith shook her head, "I'm going to try again later. How are you?"
"I'm good," Amelia smiled.
"I heard Callie and Derek have a surgery plan to get your hand back?" Meredith asked.
"I hope so," Amelia shook her head, "I don't know what job I would do if I weren't a surgeon." "None of us know," Addison laughed, "Life without cutting?"
"Terrible," Amelia finished, "Is it a good day if I don't see the inside of someone's brain?"
After they finished chatting with Amelia it was up to Lexie's room. Addison waited outside while Meredith spoke to her sister. She knew if Meredith could she would sit by Lexie's bedside until she
woke up but she had to be on bed rest.
As it turned out, she did anyway. Addison watched as Meredith talked to her sister, holding her hand and then as Lexie turned to face her and said something. Addison gave them a few more minutes of the hugs and celebration before she went in and joined, bringing Lexie into a hug.
"You never get to do that again," Meredith told her firmly, "You are my sister, leave the almost dying to me. You don't get to do that."
"Okay," Lexie croaked, her hands up in surrender, "I barely remember what happened."
"Good," Meredith still sounded annoyed, "It was horrible, we were in a plane crash and stuck in the woods for four days."
"How's Amelia?" Lexie asked before hurriedly adding, "Cristina? Mark? Arizona?" the cover-up was so close to being seamless. Addison was already sending a text to tell Amelia, Derek and everyone else that Lexie was awake as Meredith recalled how everyone was. Lexie just listened.
"What are you doing here?" Bailey walked in just as Addison finished off explaining how Mark was. Meredith wasn't as up to speed on him, "You are meant to be in the canteen eating food!" she told Meredith off.
"Lexie's awake," Meredith smiled.
Bailey turned to look at the patient in the bed who just smiled and waved, "Hi."
"You still need to eat," Bailey told Meredith, "and we need to run a battery of tests on your sister."
"I'll see you in a bit," Meredith smiled, squeezing her sister's hand before they were ushered out by Bailey. They made their way to the canteen to grab a quick breakfast before Derek showed up.
They had met up with Derek and now they were desperately trying to sneak Kaya into the CCU.
Lexie had been deemed stable enough to leave the ICU so they had left Ellis and Zola with her, her first visitor, Amelia, as well as Jackson, April and Alex who had all come to see Lexie. Now, Addison and Derek were sneaking in while Meredith had a very long conversation with Bailey, although it looked more like she had just said something that resulted in a very long lecture.
Addison stood by the door on the lookout as Kaya was pulled into a huge hug by her dad. It had only been thirty seconds when Bailey walked past, still talking to a very panicked Meredith. "Hide her," Addison hissed as she saw her coming. Walking into the room so it didn't look too suspicious. What did look suspicious was the way Derek stood, facing away from the door, holding Kaya in front of him in an effort to body block Bailey from seeing her while still seeming like he wasn't holding a child.
Addison had to try not to laugh which wasn't helped much by Mark also very obviously trying not to laugh. She just had to not look him in the eye. She could feel Bailey slow down as she went past the room and she could hear Meredith try to speed her up and distract her but she could also hear Meredith trying not to laugh as she spoke.
"Derek Christopher Shepherd-Sloan," Bailey marched into the room.
"Yes," he still faced the wall as he spoke and Addison made the mistake of looking at Meredith. Her face hurt from trying not to laugh and she had to turn away from Bailey and look the other way.
"I know you're holding your baby girl," she sighed, going over to him and spinning him around. He looked so sheepish, everyone knew how scared of Bailey he was. Addison couldn't hold it much longer then Meredith laughed, that laugh that Addison loved so much, and Addison couldn't help but burst out in laughter too and Mark wasn't far behind.
"Five minutes!" Bailey warned them, "Five minutes!"
Derek gave a now giggling baby back to Mark and sat down with a sigh of relief, "That was not funny, that was scary," he told them but it just made everyone laugh louder and it wasn't long before Derek had burst into laughter too.
"I didn't think a plane crash would be this funny," Amelia walked into the room, wheeling Lexie with her good hand and Ellis and Zola dutifully following her, and Addison had to lean against the bed because somehow it only made them laugh more. Ellis and Zola joined the laughter with their own giggles. Addison ended up sitting on the floor and holding them close so they wouldn't fall over in their laughter. Meredith slid down to the floor to join them and then for some reason Lexie
was laughing too and then Amelia joined in.
It took a long time for them all to stop laughing. When they did one of the girls would let out a cute laugh again and then they would all be gone. Eventually, they managed to stop though but by then it had definitely been longer than five minutes. Meredith's head rested on her shoulder and Amelia had almost all her weight against Lexie's chair and Lexie leaned on Amelia.
"That amount of laughter is a good lung capacity sign," Amelia spoke up, a little breathless.
"It doesn't stop me from having a vendetta against your lungs and heart though," Meredith muttered.
"What did my lungs and heart ever do to you?" Mark protested.
"You didn't hear about the vendetta?" Amelia asked, "Me, Mer and Cristina have a 'We Hate Mark Sloan's Lungs and Heart' club now. They could just cooperate and work for more than five seconds."
"Well, I apologise on behalf of my heart and lungs?" Mark tried.
"I don't believe they are sorry," Meredith shook her head, "They work for Teddy but not for us. I think it's mutual."
"You're idiots," Lexie shook her head with a light laugh.
"I would watch it if I were you," Amelia warned her, "All your damn organs, bones, joints, blood, ligaments are on very thin ice."
"Your head is on thicker ice but the rest of you, no," Meredith sighed disapprovingly.
"Got it?" Lexie nodded, extremely uncertain of herself.
They talked until Bailey kicked them out after that and Derek joined Meredith and Addison in
taking the three girls to the car and getting them in their car seats. "We will bring them back in the morning," Addison smiled, pulling him into a hug.
"Thank you," he smiled before she poked his head into the car to say goodbye to his daughter. Addison went around to the driver's seat and Meredith was already in the front seat. Her wife's hand found its way to hold Addison's over the gearstick as Addison drove home and Addison could only think that it was an amazing feeling to take her wife home.
Mark was discharged three days later, the same day both Addison and Derek had to go back to work. There had been surgeons missing from neonatal and neuro for too long for them to take any more time off. Mark and Meredith were both given the same date that they could return to work, it was also the same day Amelia was discharged. She ended up staying with Addison and Meredith, probably something to do with the fact Lexie was discharged back to Addison and Meredith's a day after. They all did the therapy and they all got back into work within two weeks of the crash, Amelia just teaching and observing as Callie, Derek, Mark, Avery and Lexie all put a lot into coming up with solutions for her hand.
Arizona struggled a little more. She wasn't discharged until two weeks after her amputation and couldn't return to work, instead of focusing on trying to get used to a prosthetic. She was Arizona so determination and resilience was how she did it.
Cristina wasn't discharged for a week when Teddy insisted on taking her home. She still hadn't said a word no matter how hard anyone tried to help her. Addison had to watch as Meredith tried not to fall apart watching her best friend do so. Eventually, a switch flipped and Cristina was talking. Teddy didn't know how or why but she was talking and calling Meredith and it was almost the old Cristina again. It wasn't really the old Cristina until she was back in that OR and scaring every one of the interns two weeks after. Then, Addison saw the other twisted sister was back.
Arizona came back to work on her prosthetic around two months later with an incredibly quick recovery that could only be applauded. It wasn't without issue but she did it all with a smile, taking on every single case.
The first surgery they tried for Amelia didn't work and she became frustrated and went to more AA meetings than before. Addison knew it was a good coping strategy that she had chosen but she shouldn't have had to choose it. They came up with the second surgery a few weeks later but the consequences were probably why she went to even more AA meetings.
Derek ended up explaining the plan to Mark and Lexie while they all had dinner together. After their long conversation about suing the hospital. Most of them were in an early surgery in the morning and Addison wasn't, so they had to put all their kids in the same place that night for convenience.
"Isn't it better from a family member?" Meredith asked once their explanation had finished.
"Yes," Lexie smiled, "which is why we pulled your whole family's blood types. Derek is the only one who isn't a match."
"No," Amelia shook her head, "We are using a cadaver."
"Look, no Cathleen, no Nancy," Derek tried to negotiate, "What about just trying Liz?"
"Choosing the least bitchiest doesn't mean she still isn't bitchy," Amelia muttered, "You and Addie are the only siblings I like."
"What about me?" Mark gasped dramatically. "I put up with you," Amelia laughed.
Derek ended up making the calls behind Amelia's back to all of his sisters. Addison walked in on him as he charmed his last sister on the phone. She could only really shake her head disapprovingly and whisper to him that Amelia was going to murder him with her working hand before she left with her coffee.
Addison was standing in the lobby a few hours later with Meredith and Mark as Amelia yelled at Derek for calling his sisters. "You know I said she would murder him when she got a working hand," Addison whispered to Meredith, "But she might do it now."
"She will definitely do it now," Mark whispered, poking his head in between them, "Do you think I could step in there and save him or something?"
"I think that might be a bigger issue," Lexie whispered, nodding her head toward the elevator. "You know, I think it's time to pick up Kaya," Mark started to walk away.
"Yeah, Zola and Ellis too," Meredith went to follow him. Addison grabbed both their arms and dragged them back.
"I don't want to be psychoanalysed," Mark pouted.
"I've already been in the path of an explosion," Meredith whispered.
"Let me guess, you didn't tell her," Lizzie walked up to her brother and both Amelia and Derek noticed her for the first time, "because she hates all of us."
"I don't hate you. I just don't like being around you," Amelia turned to face the four of them as she went to walk off, they probably didn't look at all discreet. Meredith's pager went off loudly, it didn't help their case.
"Amelia, the patient's scans are back. Can you still consult?" Meredith asked. "Of course," Amelia joined Meredith as they went to find the interns.
"Lucky," Mark muttered, taking a breath before he went over to Derek and Lizzie who had brought his sister into a hug and was saying something to her quietly.
Lexie turned to Addison as they both leaned against the desk, "Which one is that?" Lexie asked, picking up one of the charts nearby.
"This is Lizzie, the second psychiatrist. Kathleen is the first. Nancy is the only one in the family who doesn't have a sibling doing the same thing as her, she's the OB/GYN," Addison explained.
"Older or younger?" Lexie asked in a whisper as they noticed Mark looking over at them.
"Derek, Nancy, Kathleen, Liz, Amelia," Addison told her quickly before she turned to face her ex- sister-in-law. "Hi, Lizzie," she smiled brightly, bringing her into a quick hug.
"Addison," Lizzie smiled, "It's been a while.
"It has," Addison smiled.
"You got married," Lizzie smiled.
"I did," Addison was cut off by her, Derek's and Lexie's pagers all going off at the same time. Addison could only laugh as Mark checked his pager and looked extremely disappointed.
"Take care of Lizzie for me," Derek patted Mark's back gently.
"So was it repressed homosexuality that stopped the cheating and sleeping around?" Addison heard Lizzie ask as they walked off.
Derek was the one who burst out in laughter first, "I think I should be feeling worse about this than I do," he smiled.
"He was getting too cocky, anyway," Addison shrugged.
It only took a few conversations with Amelia to persuade her to consider the surgery and a few more promises from Lizzie that she was a willing participant to persuade her to do it and it worked. It, thankfully, worked. She did her first surgery the day they won the court case against the hospital.
Then it made the hospital bankrupt and they did not like the new changes. Buying the hospital had been Callie's idea. Between her, Meredith and the payout the two of them had a lot of money with Addison's trust fund and Meredith's inheritance and their salaries. Derek and Mark had a lot between them too and with Cristina, Lexie, Amelia, Callie and Arizona there was a lot of money there but still, it wasn't enough. Jackson Avery had to come to the rescue and the Avery foundation and at the last minute, they bought the hospital together.
They bought a hospital.