Los Angeles Hospital ER Bay- 11:23 PM
Three Months After the Disappearance
"What do we have?" Dr. Rachel Myers asked the parked ambulance as they unloaded a stretcher.
"Jane Doe, late 20s, maybe early 30s, sustained multiple stab wounds to the abdomen and a serious beating. She coded twice en route but we got her vitals stabilized. Probably massive internal bleeding." He shouted, handing the ambu bag he was using to manually ventilate to a nearby resident.
"Okay, we need to take her right to surgery. Dr. Harrison, scrub in." Myers ordered, rolling her eyes when the eager intern started babbling and groveling.
"Let's just focus on saving this girl's life, how about?" She warned, and he stopped talking immediately. She rolled her eyes again. Interns.
XxXxX
Los Angeles OR Scrub Room- 11:42 PMDr. Elijah Harrison peeked through the scrub room window at the surgery taking place just a few feet away. He was disappointed to find that the patient was facing him and he couldn't see her abdomen, only that Dr. Myers seemed to be elbow deep in it. Suddenly, he froze.
Even beaten and bruised, he would recognize that face anywhere.
"Dr. Myers." He got the attending's attention as he stepped into the OR, holding a mask over his mouth.
"Dr. Harrison. Glad you could join us. Are you scrubbed?" She said, not looking up at him.
"Dr. Myers..." he repeated and she finally looked up.
"I'm elbow deep in this woman's abdomen, what is so important?" She snapped.
"I know who she is!" He blurted. She froze for a moment.
"Well?" She asked.
"I saw a Seattle newscast a few months ago. Her face was all over it. Apparently, her best friend murdered her in a drunken rage. It gave me nightmares for a week." He shuddered. Myers raised her eyebrows.
"Are you absolutely sure? Why would a girl murdered in Seattle show up in our ER?" She asked skeptically. Harrison shrugged.
"I'm positive that's her face." He confirmed. She stared at the woman on the table for a few seconds.
"Go find out everything you can about her. Get her medical history. Call her family." She ordered.
"Yes, ma'am." He said, turning to leave.
"Dr. Harrison." She stopped him. He turned around again.
"Yes, ma'am?"
"What's her name?" She asked.
"Meredith Grey."
XxXxX
Los Angeles Hospital Research Room- 1:37 AM
Elijah sat down at the research station and searched the name Meredith Grey in Google. The first thing to come up was an article by a Seattle news company. Meredith Grey- What really happened?
He scrolled through the ads and the opening paragraphs until he reached the part about her.
Meredith Grey, daughter of Ellis and Thatcher Grey, was a surgical intern at Seattle Grace Hospital. Her fiancé Derek Shepherd also worked at the hospital. In an interview with him, he said:
"Meredith was a happy person. She may not have shown it much but she was happy. We were getting married soon and actually expecting a baby when she died."
Elijah had to stop reading or he feared he would cry or throw up or both. He searched Derek Shepherd next. After a little bit of searching, he found the man's cell phone number.
The phone rang for a while before it finally picked up. The voice that answered it was low and sounded groggy.
"Hello?" The man slurred.
"Is this Derek Shepherd?" Elijah asked.
"I'm not doing any more interviews. I'm done." Was the answer.
"This is Dr. Harrison from Los Angeles Hospital. I believe we may have found your fiancé." He said, struggling to keep the excitement out of his voice.
"If this is another prank, it's not funny anymore," Derek said after a few seconds.
"I can assure you this isn't a prank. We need you to come identify her and give a medical history." Elijah explained.
"Why? Is she hurt?" He sounded concerned.
"I can talk to you more in person. Just get here quick." He said, not wanting to tell this man about his fiancé's injuries over the phone and make him worried all the way there.
"I'll be there in four hours."
XxXxX
Los Angeles Hospital OR Hallway- 4:03 AM
Dr. Myers watched from the scrub room as the scrub nurses and OR staff wheeled her patient out of the OR. She let out a soft sigh of relief. The patient was stable and had only coded once during surgery. She had a feeling that this one was going to be okay.
Dr. Harrison stepped into the room just as she finished scrubbing.
"Dr. Myers. How did the surgery go?" He asked. She pulled the mask off of her head and threw it in the trash can.
"She's stable. There was some bleeding and I had to do a splenectomy to get control..." She trailed off. Harrison raised his eyebrows, a touch of worry in his eyes.
"...and...?" He asked. She sighed.
"There were... complications..." She murmured.
"Wh... What kind of complications?"
XxXxX
Flashback
Derek let out a low groan as he opened his eyes. The dim light streaking in through the window signified it was either early morning or the beginnings of the night. He had no idea what day it was or how long it had been since he had passed out. It took him a few disoriented moments for him to realize he was in his trailer. He had slept in the trailer for the past three months but it took him a moment to recognize it from the couch. Must not have made it to the bed last night.
"Damn." He muttered when he noticed the light brown stain on the couch from the spilled scotch bottle in his hand. He wasn't disappointed about the stain. They were littered all over the furniture from other times he had passed out before he could get to bed. That was a good bottle of scotch.
He set the half empty bottle on the coffee table and slowly stood up. His head pounded and he felt dizzy for a few moments, leaning against the table for support until his vision cleared up.
Derek stumbled into the bathroom and held himself up on the sink, staring into his own eyes in the mirror. He ran his fingers through his long, shaggy hair. His eyes were tired, exhausted even. His beard had grown out because he hadn't shaved in god knows how long. A constant stench filled the trailer and followed him everywhere because he hadn't thought to shower in days.
Had hadn't been to work in weeks. He hadn't talked to anyone in days. The apocalypse could have been happening right outside his door and he would have had no idea. He'd given up.
The first month, he helped the police in any way he could. Got them coffee in the mornings, made sure they stayed focused, provided advice and evidence, everything. When they stopped looking for a body and gradually gave up the case, he decided to take things into his own hands.
He spent the second month searching for Meredith himself. The chief had told him to take as much time off as he needed right after she had disappeared. He hadn't been to work since the day that he had found her blood everywhere. He couldn't find anything despite spending every waking hour of his life searching for her, so he gave up. He hadn't left the trailer except to stock up on more alcohol and junk food.
His phone rang and he ran out of the bathroom, digging through the piles of crap on the floor until he found the source. Every time it rang, he hoped it was Meredith. That she was calling to tell him she was fine, that she never wanted to leave him and that she was coming back. Every time his phone rang, he wanted to hear her sweet voice.
Caller Unknown
This was it. It could be her. Maybe she was calling from a phone booth in some remote area. Maybe she was using a stranger's phone. Maybe her phone was broken in whatever had happened that day. He answered it.
"Hello?" He asked hopefully. His heart dropped into his stomach and his face fell into a deep frown when the voice that answered was definitely not Meredith's. He had gotten his hopes up again.
"Is this Derek Shepherd?" The man asked. Derek huffed.
"I'm not doing any more interviews. I'm done." He spat, prepared to hang up the phone.
"This is Dr. Harrison from Los Angeles Hospital. I believe we may have found your fiancé." Derek scoffed. He had heard this before. During the two months he was looking for her, he had gotten multiple calls from strangers. 'We found her!' He would rush out as fast as he could only to find someone who was definitely not his Meredith.
"If this is another prank, it's not funny anymore." He growled.
"I can assure you this isn't a prank. We need you to come identify her and give a medical history." The doctor said. Derek's heart stopped for a moment and he froze.
"Wh..why? Is she hurt?" He asked, his voice laced with dread and concern.
"I can talk to you more in person. Just get here quick." Dr. Harrison said. He was silent for a while.
"I'll be there in four hours." He said.
XxXxX
Meredith's alive... probably the most predictable plot twist ever- woops. Leave review to let me know if you predicted this.
Kisses!
-E