Her head pounded and every cell in her body ached. She tried to move, turning her head to the side. It fell lifelessly to the left, bobbing slightly. Meredith's eyes fluttered, trying to open but an invisible force shoved them down, not allowing for the revealing of the green irises.

"Ma'am. Can you hear me, ma'am?" a voice echoed in the back of her mind. She tried to answer but it just came out as a muted groan. "Ma'am. We need to get you out," the voice said. Get me out of where? Her brain asked.

Meredith tried desperately to say something; to make any noise of recognition but the same force that kept her eyes shut was sitting like a ton of bricks on her vocal chords. She opened her mouth pushing internally to get words to come out but only a slight grunting noise emerged.

"I'm going to pull you out so we can cut your friend out," the voice said.

"Wha…" she sounded, managing to force her eyes open. She saw she was in her Jeep; but it looked as if it'd been shoved in a blender. The window on her side had been skillfully broken open so no shards of glass were trapped on the rim. Before she could turn her head to look at the passenger side, she heard a paramedic talking.

"On three," he said. "One, two, three." They grabbed her by her armpits and begun pulling her out the window of the Jeep. As her butt came to rest on the window, a second paramedic caught her legs. She contracted in pain, letting out a moan as her torso was slightly moved. The two paramedics carried her gingerly towards a gurney and laid her down.

Minutes passed as she drifted in and out of consciousness. Around her the smell of gasoline, blood, and metal filled the nostrils of the workers as they bustled around the roped off area. One female paramedic gingerly dabbed at the gash on Meredith's head before putting a bandage on it. Meredith let out a small moan, regaining stronger consciousness. "What happened?" she croaked, the vise on her vocal chords seemingly lifted.

"Eyewitness said the light turned green and you pulled forwards but, some guy just cut through the intersection and hit the passenger side of your car," answered a the female.

Suddenly, the fog that surrounded her brain lifted. "Derek!" she cried.

"Is that your friend's name?" she asked.

"Yes. Please, is he okay?" questioned Meredith, desperately, her strength being quickly restored by the natural adrenaline pumping through her veins.

"There was much more extensive damage on the passenger side-"

"Is he alright?" she demanded forcefully.

"He's currently stable but he's stuck," the female paramedic replied.

"Stuck?"

"They're working on cutting him out but…" she answered loosely. Meredith focused her ears and heard the crunching of metal and smelled smoke.

"But what?"

"There seems to be a piece of the car lodged in his spine." Meredith let out an involuntary gasp, cringing as a pain shot through her side.

"I need to see him," she insisted.

"I can't let you, ma'am. You need to be examined," said the paramedic, ready to restrain her.

"I'm fine," she insisted, masking the pain in her chest as she attempted to stand.

"You're not fine. You need to be examined."

"Let me just go see him," said Meredith. "I'm a surgeon, I can help. He's not family," she added painfully.

"You probably have a broken rib. I can't let you." Before the paramedic could stop her, Meredith slid off the gurney, holding her side as she pushed through the commotion.

"Ma'am, please come back!" called a paramedic, trying to follow her but getting trapped behind a moving gurney. She hobbled up to the wrecked Jeep to see firemen and a few paramedics huddled around the passenger side. Adrenelin pressed through her veins, masking the pain of her leg that she could barely walk on.

"Derek," she whispered to herself, feeling a pang of pain in her heart. Rushing towards the group, she heard a mechanical drilling-like sound and the crunching of metal. As she neared them, they pulled the roof off, leaving her Jeep looking like a beaten convertible. A metallic smell entered her nostrils, moving into her taste buds. The stench of blood also reached her and, for the first time, made her want to disgorge. But, it wasn't until she saw the lifeless body inside the car that she felt like gravity was forcing her to the floor.

His head fell slightly to the right, propped up by a neck brace. Nearing, she came to see his broken face. A gash cut across his forehead, covered by gauze that was quickly being bled through.

"What do you have?" barked Meredith, standing up as straight as she physically could.

"Who are you?" a male fireman asked as he held up a hand to keep her back.

"Doctor Meredith Grey." She dug in her pocket for her I.D. card and flashed it at the fireman. "Let me help."

"We don't need help," he insisted. "We're just going to pull him out."

"You can't. I was told something is lodged in the base of his spine you have to-"

"Be careful, we know," hissed the fireman, interrupting her. "Just stand back. This is our job, ma'am." Meredith did as she was told, moving out of their way. They began to cut away at her old Jeep, piece by piece, breaking the barriers between her and Derek.

"Clear!" called a different fireman. Meredith held her breath painfully as they positioned themselves around Derek, ready to pull him out. Moments moved slowly, as they grabbed his limbs and back, lifting him off the piece of metal that impaled him. Placing him gently on the gurney, people began to swarm, setting up a transfusion and putting him on a saline drip.

"Okay!" she cried. "Dose him with methylprednisolone and keep him stabilized!"

"Miss, we need to take you to the hospital," said a young looking, female paramedic.

"No. I need to go with him," Meredith insisted, holding her side as a sharp pain seared through it.

"I promise, we'll bring you right after. But, you need to lie down."

Meredith contemplated it for a moment, before nodding in consent. She wouldn't be of any use with a punctured lung, which was where she was headed. "Take us to Seattle Grace," she insisted. "We both work there. I want our people." The paramedic nodded.

Lying down on a gurney that'd been pulled up for her, two paramedics wrapped her in a blanket and strapped her down. One inserted a large bore I.V., putting her on a saline drip before shuttling her into an ambulance. A paramedic asked her a few questions, name, birthday, allergies, etcetera. Too tired to answer Meredith reached carefully into her pocket and passed the woman her hospital I.D. to show general information and the fact that the hospital would have everything. The rest of the ambulance ride remained a blur of leads, oxygen masks, and sirens.

"What have we got?" she heard a female voice barked as soon as the ambulance pulled to a halt.

"Car crash victim; female, possible broken rib, lacerations on her right arm and forehead," said the paramedic, pushing her out of the ambulance.

"Meredith!" exclaimed Dr. Bailey. "Are you okay?"

"Hi," she said weakly. "I'm alright. Is Derek inside already?"

"Shepherd was in the car too?" she questioned, grabbing hold of the side of the gurney and pushing it into the E.R. "I heard there were two victims. I think Nelson and Torres are looking after him. I'll get you an update as soon as we get you inside. Has anyone called his fiancé?" Meredith shook her head no. "I'll get someone on that. You don't have to worry."

She nodded in appreciation, closing her eyes as the gurney was pulled through the Emergency Room.

I'm falling though the doors of the emergency room
Can anybody help me with these exit wounds?