Derek answered the phone,"Dr. Shepherd here."
"Hi, Dr. Shepherd, this is Suzie Chan from the National Bone Marrow Registry. I have great news about your drive for Baby Grace; we've found a match. The amazing news is that it's you." A big smile spread across Derek's face. "I've been working with the registry for ten years; I've worked with hundreds of marrow donor drives. But this is the first one where the individual is running the drive is the match. And you are pretty much a perfect match. We usually only see such a close match in siblings or, more rarely, in parents. What an amazing coincidence!"
"Yes, an amazing coincidence," Derek said with a small smile. "What's the next step?"
"I've booked you for a flight to Seattle tomorrow morning, 6 a.m. from LaGuardia on American Airlines. More tests are needed, and they have to be conducted on site. Donors typically need to spend at least 48 hours at the site for the tests."
"And then? What can you tell me about the treatment plan?"
"Well, baby Grace has ALL, and the guidelines call for a transplant because she didn't go into remission by day 28 of chemo treatment. The doctors are still working to bring her into remission. So the plan is to bring her into remission and then do the bone marrow transplant. With this situation, you're going to need two trips to Seattle, one for testing this week, and then a second one after she goes into remission. They usually provide for a recuperation period after the child goes into remission, so she's in good shape for the bone marrow transplant, so it may be a while before it is time to do the transplant."
"And if she doesn't go into remission?"
"Dr. Shepherd, as a doctor, I'm sure you know that leukemia can be fatal. But Seattle Grace is a top hospital and there are lots of chemo options for treating ALL. It's more likely than not that they'll be able to bring her into remission."
"What about Sloan Kettering?" he asked.
"It's another great hospital. I'm not the treating physician, but my guess is that Baby Grace is too fragile at this point to travel to NY. There's too much chance of her getting a new infection. Her treating doctor, Dr. Blakely, actually was trained at Sloan Kettering. He's first rate. Is travelling a problem for you?"
"Absolutely not. I was just thinking of better treatment for the young lady question."
"I will notify Dr. Bailey that you will be arriving in Seattle tomorrow."
"Okay." He hung up the phone and then stared at Addison. Their eyes met for a minute. "Addie, I think you were right. I'm a match for Baby Grace. I think she must be my daughter. Dr. Chan said it was an amazing coincidence that I'm the match.."
Their eyes locked again. "Congratulations, Derek. You always wanted to be a dad. And a little girl is perfect for you."
"But I never wanted my child to have a fatal illness."
"Derek, you can do the bone marrow transplant. Her life can be saved. I'm sure that Meredith and Bailey are making sure that she gets the best medical care possible. And with you being a perfect match, the odds should be in her favor."
"I hope you're right."
"I am right . I am Addison Forbes Montgomery, and I'm always right," Addie said with a smile.
"Addson, it's strange that we're now such good friends and I can talk to you about this child before I've been spoken to her mother."
"'I'm glad we've recaptured our friendship, Derek," Addie said with a smile. "We started out as friends, and now we're just friends again. I'm only sorry that your effort to repair our marriage deprived you of three years with your little girl."
"You can't blame yourself. Meredith chose not to contact me, and I chose to stay here in NY and not try to see Meredith again. If I'd ever gone to Seattle, I probably would have learned about my daughter. Now I'm upset that I missed time with her. But I'm mad at myself and Meredith, not you. And I don't even know her name."
"You'll learn her name tomorrow. For now, she's baby Grace."
"I want to see my baby girl." Derek smiled, thinking this was the first time he ever said "my baby girl."
"Of course you do. All you need to do to ask. I'm sure Meredith and Bailey are jumping for joy that you're a perfect match; they will be so thrilled that you're there, I'm sure you'll be able to see the girl. I don't see how they can deny you the opportunity to meet your daughter."
"I hope you're right.
"I thought you got the message – Addison Forbes Montgomery is always right."
"I'm also worried about seeing Meredith."
"Well, just don't lose your temper. You have to focus on what's right for baby Grace, and feuding parents is probably not good for a sick kid."
"I know. Do you think Meredith knows I know?"
"Bailey must, as I'm sure that Callie told her about our call. She wouldn't tell me that Meredith was Baby Grace's mother, but she didn't deny it either. I'm sure that once Dr. Chan tells them you're coming, they'll tell Meredith and she'll get prepared to see you."
"I hope she'll let me get to know my daughter. I'm going to stay til Sunday, and I want to spend time with her every day. And then I have to figure out the next step."
"Sounds like a plan."
Bailey smiled as she saw Meredith sleeping beside her daughter. There was no doubt that the dark and twisty mother loved her daughter. Bailey sat down, and within a minute Meredith stirred. She sat up quickly and asked, "Any news?"
With a big smile, Bailey reported, "We found a match!"
"Wow," Meredith smiled. "That's great." She looked into Bailey's eyes and noticed something there.
"It's Derek, isn't it?" She asked, and Bailey nodded. "So your scheme paid off. You got him to get tested, but now he'll be here, and I'll have to deal with him."
"Better dealing with Derek than not finding a match."
"I know. We're very lucky that he's a match. I'm grateful you found a way to ask him that didn't involve me calling him. He will be so mad at me when he realizes that baby Grace is his daughter!"
"I think he already suspects she's his daughter."
"Really?"
"Well, Addison told Callie she was suspicious. Derek might be brainless, but Addie's an ob-gyn; she knows what can result from a night of passion at a prom!"
"Bailey . . . "
"I know everything. Anyway, Callie kept your secret, but Addie let her know that if Derek was a match, they'd know it was your daughter."
"You didn't tell me that before."
"You have enough to worry about, Meredith. I wasn't going to add to your worries. And now you have good news. Derek may save Chrissy's life."
"I know. I'm very grateful. Believe me, Thatcher Grey saw me every day for my first five years of life, and he never bothered to come to Boston to see me after we moved to Boston. But Derek has agreed to fly 3,000 miles to give his bone marrow to a girl he's never met. He's a good man. I know I'm going to have to tell Chrissy that her dad is coming. He has the right to know her. I'm sure he'll want to meet her. You can let him meet her, if he asks."
Flashback:
Meredith sat nervously, waiting for Dr. Blakely. "Meredith, Dr. Blakely. will be here in a minutes. It's going to be okay."
"You don't know that, Bailey. But thanks for coming with me. I'm so glad that I'm not alone."
"Meredith, you know you have an army of loyal friends and colleagues. You're not alone in this. We all care for Chrissy and for you."
"I know. I'm so grateful for all of you. You've all helped me ever since I learned I was pregnant. You've been there all the way with me, from the pregnancy, through this. And I need you more than ever now."
Dr. Blakely walked in. Meredith looked him in the eye, and he turned away. She knew he had bad news even before he opened his mouth. '
He sat down, and he began, "So yesterday was day 28 of Chrissy's chemo. Our test show that she is not in remission yet. We have a couple of other drug mixtures to try, so I'm hopeful we'll get her into remission. But now we're going to have to plan on a bone marrow or stem cell transplant. Today, there's a good chance we'll find some stem cells that are a reasonable match, but a relative's bone marrow match would give her the best shot. I know you volunteered to be tested as soon as you heard the diagnosis, but you're not a match. I know she doesn't have any siblings, at least no full siblings. So I recommend you think of other possible family matches. Her dad would be the best bet. Meanwhile, I'll start her later today on a new drug combination."
"Okay," said Meredith. She walked out of the room, stunned, and Bailey guided her to Bailey's office.
"Meredith, I'm so sorry, but you're not a match," said Bailey.
She started whimpering and then burst into sobs. She was inconsolable. Bailey patted her back.
"Meredith, have you thought of calling Derek and asking him to be tested?" asked Bailey.
Meredith lifted her head and her green eyes stared into Bailey's brown ones. She stopped her sobbing, "Seriously, what a great way to find out you have a baby! Hi Derek, guess what, you have a baby girl, and she's dying. "
"Meredith, she's not dying. She's getting the best medical care possible, and she still has a good chance to survive this."
"You know, Bailey, I had planned to invite him to Chrissy's third birthday party. I had a package all ready for him, with a photo album and a letter as well as the invitation. I was going to put it in the mail. I had put it on a table by the door. It was never my plan to keep them apart. But Derek left to fix his marriage; he couldn't do knowing he had a child in Seattle. It couldn't help their marriage for them both to learn about Chrissy, but I thought almost four years was enough time. Chrissy is old enough to know she should have a dad in her life. I wasn't going to deny her a dad any longer. But then I found out she was sick, and she wasn't going to have a nice birthday party at the aquarium like we planned. We had to have her party here, in the hospital. I couldn't bring myself to call him now. It's too hard. At least I got to have some happy times first. And he probably won't be a match anyway."
"You don't know that. He could be a match. And, don't worry, I'll find a way to figure out if he's a match. And I've launched a drive here at Seattle Grace to test for donors. I'm sure everyone will step up and be tested. I'm sure we'll find a match."
"Thank you so much, Bailey."
"Hi, Chrissy.
Hi Mom. Her daughter looked up. She was so tired and worn out even though she had done nothing but lie in the hospital bed now for more than a month. Meredith's heart ached, but she kept her voice calm. "I have some good news. We have a bone marrow donor coming tomorrow. You're going to get better soon!"
Chrissy nodded. "I want to be better. I want to go home."
"I want you to go home, too." Meredith sighed. Chrissy had been diagnosed with ALL little more than five weeks ago, and she had immediately been hospitalized and put on chemo. Neither Meredith nor Chrissy had been home since. Meredith was lucky that her friends were willing to go to her home and get clothes and items for Chrissy. She didn't want to leave Chrissy.
"It's wonderful news, sweetie."
"When can I go home?"
"That's up to the doctor."
"You're a doctor, Mommy."
"But not your doctor, sweetie For you, I'm just your mommy. Anyway, I hope you'll get to go home before too long. But I know something that you'll find exciting. The donor is your daddy."
Chrissy smiled. "My daddy? Can I meet him?"
"Of course." Meredith smiled, and hugged her daughter. "I don't think I'd be able to keep him away even if I wanted to. He's going to want to see you when he comes tomorrow. He is going to be so thrilled to meet you."
"Why haven't I met him before?"
"It's mommy's fault, not daddy's. He lives in NY, and I wanted you here with me. I love you so much I didn't want to share you with daddy. But now we'll share you, don't worry. He loves you a lot." Meredith said. She knew that Chrissy would want to know why she hadn't met her dad before, and she didn't want to lie to her little girl, and she couldn't blame Derek. He was innocent in all this. This was the best she could come up with.
"Mommy, I love you even if I have a daddy."
"I know, sweetie, I love you."