A/N: I just want to say thank you to all of my readers and to those of you who review, because I LOVE reading what you have to say! It makes me smile every time. So… keep reading and reviewing and I'll keep updating.

Chapter Thirteen: It's Finally Over

Everything started to go in slow motion and Meredith just wanted the world to stop for just a few moments. But her mother kept coming closer and closer to where they all sat in the waiting room, and she realized that they were only seconds away from possibly getting the worst news of their life. As Ellis stopped in front of the group of people, she looked at Meredith first, then to the floor and she let out a sigh.

Oh my God.

Meredith felt a tear form in her eye. This wasn't good. This wasn't good. It was never good when her mother made that face.

"Well, there were some complications…" Her voice trailed off and she looked at Cristina's parents.

"What complications?" Her mother asked before Ellis was able to finish.

"It's going to take a lot longer than we originally thought. But we are doing everything we can - the damage it just so advanced that it's difficult to try and repair. But, we are doing everything we can," she repeated, letting her eyes fall back onto her daughter who had a tear rolling down her cheek.

Meredith let out a breath of relief. Not that that was good news, but it was better than Cristina dying during surgery. She watched her mother leave through the double doors and wiped the tear from her face. She glanced at Owen who had his face in his hands, and Cristina's parents who were holding one another. Derek squeezed Meredith's hand, for a moment, she almost forgot that he was holding.

"You okay?" He asked in the softest whisper with sympathy in his eyes.

Meredith nodded at him, "I'm good."

George stood from his seat and began to head down the hall. He needed to check on his best friend.

Back at the school, the students were all still in Mr. Emerson's U.S. History class when the principal came on the intercom again: "Teachers, at the sound of the bell, you may release your students to lunch. At the sound of the bell, you may release your students to lunch."

Once the bell had rung, everyone left the classroom, stopping to take a look inside the classroom where all the action went down. The janitors were cleaning up all the blood, and Lexie started to whimper again at the sight of the red mess. Mark held her close to him and she hid her face into his chest.

Walking side by side down the hallway, Arizona took a hold of Callie's hand, which took Callie by surprise. She looked over at the smiling blonde, and Callie smiled back. "I'm sorry," Arizona apologized for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"It's okay," Callie reassured her with a nod of her head.

Once inside the cafeteria, Teddy and Addison sat at a table together. The redhead got up to get a tray when she realized Teddy wasn't coming with her, "Are you not eating?" She asked.

Teddy sighed and looked down to the surface of the table, shaking her head, "I can't eat. I'm too worried. I'm worried about Cristina, and I'm worried about Owen and I feel like I'm gonna throw up, so no… I'm not eating."

Addison looked at her sympathetically then made her way back to the table and sat down beside her with her legs on either side of the bench so she could face the forlorn blonde, "Cristina is one of the toughest people I know. She'll pull through this, I know she will," she took a hand and rubbed up and down the length of Teddy's back, hoping to comfort her in any way she could.

Izzie had tried to go back to sleep since Alex left her room, because she was exhausted. But he loved her. He wanted her back. His annoying little voice kept replaying over and over again in her mind and she couldn't shut it out. But finally, the sound of her door opening made her thoughts disappear. She only hoped it wasn't Alex again.

"Hey, Izzie," George said with a smile upon entering her room.

"George," a matching wide smile appeared on her face when she laid eyes on her best friend.

"How are you doing?" He asked, sitting in the same seat that Alex had and he placed a comforting hand on her arm.

"I'm doing good, I'm just tired. The morphine is helping with the pain and it's also making me a little loopy, so just ignore me if I start talking crazy," she joked with a grin.

George let out a light chuckle and he looked at her in silence. He was so happy that she was okay. It was unfortunate that Cristina was in this horrible situation, but at least he knew his best friend was okay.

"He loves me, George," she blurted out, her smile fading away.

"What?" George asked with a confused frown.

"Alex, he said he loves me. He wants to help me with the baby."

George just looked at her with a blank expression on his face. He didn't know what to say to that. He definitely wasn't a fan of Alex's, but this was Izzie's life, "Well, so what are you gonna do?"

"I don't know," she sighed, shaking her head and looking up to the ceiling, "What do you think I should do?"

And there it was. The question George knew he shouldn't answer. He was silent for a moment and decided to answer that question with another question, "Do you love him?"

Her eyes averted back to George and she shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know."

"Do you miss him?"

Again, there was silence as Izzie pondered over this in her mind, "I think… so. But it would be crazy to give him a second chance wouldn't it?"

George wanted to just tell her that people never change, but he didn't want to be the one to make this decision for her. It was a huge decision. "You just.. Gotta do what you think is best," he paused, letting a small smile take over his features, "Is this really Izzie talking, or is this the morphine?" He joked and it brought a smile to Izzie's face. That was all he wanted to see.

"A little bit of both," she giggled.

"Just do what makes you happy. If Alex makes you happy, then who is anyone to tell you otherwise?"

She let his words sink in and with a nod and smiled up at him, "Thank you, George."

A few hours later, once school had ended, Addison found Teddy outside cursing at her cell phone which had apparently gone dead.

"Hey," Addison said, walking up to her.

"Oh, hi," Teddy replied, shoving her phone into her bag with a groan.

"Everything okay?"

"No," Teddy said, shaking her head, "I have no car and I can't call my dad because my phone died and all I want to do is go to the hospital and see if everything is okay because.." she paused with a sigh, taking a breath and looking at Addison, "not knowing is just the worst feeling in the world."

"Well," Addison said, letting a smile form on her lips, "I can drive you."

Meredith continued to wait in the waiting room, refusing to take her eyes away from the double doors. She didn't even look at Derek when he got back with a cup of water for her and Cristina's mother. All he got was a small 'thank you', but she continued to watch the double doors.

And the moment they opened, Meredith's body twitched almost causing the water in the small cup to topple over the rim. There she was, Ellis Grey, walking toward the group once more. This time, Meredith wasn't the least bit worried because her mother wore a smile on her face. Everyone took the smile as a good sign, and they were all eager to know the update that Ellis had with her.

"The surgery was successful. I can't say that it went smoothly, but we were able to repair all of the damage."

"Oh, thank God," Owen said, tears still in his eyes as he let out the biggest sigh of relief.

"Can we see her?" Cristina's father asked.

Ellis nodded with a proud smile, "Of course, I'll show you to her room."

Cristina's parents rose from their chairs, and her mother took a hold of Owen's hand, wanting him to join them.

Meredith watched them follow her mother out of the waiting room then finally let out a prolonged breath which she had been holding in the moment she arrived at the hospital. Derek smiled faintly over at his girlfriend, and placed a hand on her cheek to make her look at him, "It's finally over."

"Yes," Meredith said with a nod, and she couldn't hold back the tears or choke back the sobs of relief that were coming fast. She soon began to cry, and the sobs were muffled when Derek pulled her close to him and she buried her face into the crook of his neck.

After finding out where Cristina's room was, Addison and Teddy stood outside in the hallway, peeking into Cristina's room window at Owen and her family around her bedside. She was sleeping, and Teddy couldn't help but feel mixed feelings when she seen Owen lovingly stroke Cristina's arm. She was happy for him, because if Cristina's died she knew Owen would be a mess and she hated to see Owen upset. But seeing Owen happy with someone that wasn't her hurt just as bad.

"She's okay," Addison smiled at Teddy, "Do you feel better now?"

Teddy didn't answer. Instead, she turned her back to Cristina's room and Addison then started to walk down the hall. Addison watched her retreating figure before glancing back into Cristina's room. It was time to check on Izzie. Of course, she figured she was the last person Izzie wanted to see. Addison knew her boyfriend still had feelings for Izzie. That was easy to see. And for some reason… she wasn't angry about that fact.

This story is going places that I hadn't expected. Like, with the couples. I wanted to bring two people together, but I don't think that's going to happen any time soon. But I do have an interesting thought. Teddy and Addison as a couple… yeah, I know. It's pretty out there. But, what are your thoughts?

-Shelby.