As they landed in Seattle they were greeted by a huge crowd of people screaming to find out how all their friends and family were doing. Information was flying around " Dr. Mark Sloan had a cardiac temponade on the field..." and another voice was saying "Lexie Grey injured spleen..".
Christina was talking to herself, "One second we were in the sky next thing we were lying in some frickin' forest and still all of survived we are so damn lucky! We have lived through a bomb, random gunfire and now an aviation accident. Wow and to think we have cheated death so many times we are so goddamn lucky." her PTSD was clearly getting the best of her. She was lying in an exam room with people all around her ordering tests and almost every scan she knew. She was finally diagnosed with just a popped shoulder which Callie came and checked and some cuts which could be covered with band aids!
Meredith on the other hand was screaming at the nurse in charge of keeping her in that room she desperately wanted to know how everyone was doing "Dr. Grey someone will come and update you as soon as they have information. Many who were with you are in surgery right now so please calm down."said a very angry nurse. "How dare you tell me that? Those people are all I have they are my family don't you dare tell me to calm down. You either let me go or get me some information." she screamed in response.
"Meredith" she heard a very familiar voice call and there stood Alex Karev in the doorway looking extremely relieved to see her. He went and gave his long time friend a hug. She to was happy to see him but she was too worried about her family and friends right now. "Alex please tell me anything and everything you know cause these stupid nurses are not letting me out of this room until Shadow Shepherd checks my head CT"
"Okay calm down I don't know much but I'll tell you whatever I know. Lexie had her spleen removed and she is still in surgery, they amputated Robbins leg from below her knee. Sloan is still in surgery with Altman, Derek is being operated by Torres. Christina was also checked by Torres and now is talking to herself like an idiot!" he said.
"Okay they seem alright for now, ask that stupid Nelson to come here right now or I swear to god I'll kill him when I get my hands on him. Oh and can you bring Zola? I really want to see her." replied Meredith.
"Okay then just wait here don't go running off somewhere"
Within half an hour Alex was back with Zola and Dr. Nelson (Shadow Shepherd) to check her head injury. It seems she had a very minor bleed in her brain and it could be treated without surgery. She was too preoccupied with her daughter and it was Alex who listened to the neuro surgeon.
Meredith made her way to Christina's room with Zola closely following her. "Hey how are you? What's going on with the others?" Christina asked when she saw the both of them. Meredith explained to her what Nelson told them and also about the others which she heard from Alex. No one would have guessed she had PTSD if they saw her now. It looked as though it was only the lack of information that was causing these breakdowns.
Once it was clear to her that Christina would be alright and after promising her to come update her Meredith went looking for her husband and sister with Zola. By now everyone was out of surgery and were in recovery. All the doctors who were in surgery were now desperate to either sleep or find out what happened to the others in the crash. She found Derek in a room alone with only beeping machines to keep him company. His left hand was highly bandaged and he looked quite peaceful in his sleep despite the tiredness on his face. All she could do right now was be relieved at how little damage this accident had done so far.
Her next stop was to check on Lexie. It felt like an eternity walking from room to room not knowing what to expect at each stop. Lexie was in a much worse shape than she expected. There were ventilators helping her breath, bandages covered ninety percent of her body. Only her face was visible and half of that was covered by the oxygen mask. It killed Meredith to see her sister in such a fragile position. Zola looked too scared to even look at her favorite aunt 'Exie' like this. She placed a shaking finger on her aunt's face in an attempt to wake her up.
What happened next shocked, Zola, Meredith and all other doctors. The second Zola's finger touched her, Lexie slowly tried to open her eyes. But the light was too much for her to take. Meredith helped her by switching off the lights and sunlight poured in from the nearby window enough to illuminate the room.
When she realized where she was she started panicking, Meredith was by her side in a second and comforted her with soothing words. She calmed down when she saw a familiar face and all the questions she wanted to ask were evident in her eyes. After flashing her a smile Meredith told her everything she heard and found out. But even before she could finish explaining Lexie had already fallen asleep. She kissed her on the forehead and left the room to check on her other two friends.
Mark was talking to Jackson Avery when Meredith reached his room. Jackson came and gave her a hug and all he wanted to say was said with that one gesture. Mark seemed to have more information than her about her husband. " Derek may never operate again" was all he said. The possibility had never even occurred to her. If she knew Derek as well as she did he would definitely be devastated by this news. "But there must be something Callie can do right. I mean you know how much he loves operating and how he will be affected if he can't do it again."she replied
"I know but we will have to wait until he wakes up to know whether he can operate or not. But I'm sure he will be over the moon to see you" he told the little girl who was now in his lap.
"I'm an idiot I came to find out how you were and I'm fussing about Derek here."she said smacking her head lightly. "How are you felling?". "Well it seems if not for you and Christina trying to save me in that forest I would not have lived. Atleast that's what Teddy says according to this guy here" he said pointing to Jackson "Otherwise I feel great just happy to be alive. By the way how's Lexie?" he asked her truly concerned and worried. "She has a lot of recovery time ahead of her. She woke up when I went to see her but fell asleep as I was talking this one here is the one to thank for waking her up" replied Meredith ruffling Zola's hair.
"I knew there was a doctor in her what else would she be with a family like yours" interjected Jackson. They all including Zola laughed at that. Meredith and Zola bid their goodbyes to them and went on to the last room.
Arizona was not yet conscious and a very tired Callie was stroking her hand waiting for her to wake up. April Kepner was checking her vitals and adjusting her medication. "Oh my god you are alright! I'm so sorry I was waiting for her to wake up before visiting everyone" said a very relieved yet sorry Callie. April too was happy to see her friend back on her feet with just a bandage on her head from the aftermath of the crash. "That's fine I completely understand how is she now stable?" she asked April. " Absolutely everything's normal just waiting for her to wake up." she said nodding.
News of everyone's well being was passed around and soon Meredith found herself outside Chief Hunt's office. "Come in" said the man himself. She went in ready to demand some information which only he seemed to have.
When she walked in she found out that he had company. Richard, Teddy, Bailey, Nelson and Alex were sitting there. "You guys better start talking I want to know everything about everyone. You better not try denying me information if you do I swear to god I will.." but no one found out what she would do because Owen interrupted her saying "Meredith sit down we were in fact waiting for you to come we have some news for you", She was in shock because she expected at the least a shouting match. But she was happy it did not have to go there and sat at one head of the table Owen was opposite her and everyone else around them.
"Okay we will start with you. If not for that scrape on your head there is absolutely nothing else wrong with you. Christina only had a popped shoulder and a nasty cut on her back. Both which were taken care of. Arizona's leg could have been saved if not for the massive infection she had. But sadly Alex here had to amputate her leg because of the infection. Mark stroked out once while Teddy was operating it was really close but he made it anyway. Derek has four broken bones in his wrist and was very close to developing pneumonia but thankfully he did not. His hand will regain function but whether he will operate or not we will have to wait until he wakes. Lexie was a little more complicated than the rest of you. There were massive amounts of blood in her abdomen Bailey and Richard were able to shut them down but they realized her spleen was beyond repair and mutually agreed to remove 80% of it to save her life. She also had fractured her left arm and right leg from being under the plane. She, Arizona and Derek will need lots of therapy before they can start working" explained Owen.
She nodded in understanding and heard each of the doctors explain exactly what each of them did and she was eternally greatful to them and had no idea of how to thank any of them.
Things were not perfect for them but this was much better than some of the scenarios that were taking form in her head. This was the best she could hope for at least all of them were alive and that's all that mattered right now.