Meredith yawned, walking around the hospital. Her day wasn't supposed to be like this, she was supposed to get off and spend the day with her daughter and husband but instead got guilted into taking Miranda's call.
She felt her stomach growl, her hand moved to her unformed bump. Anytime she was hungry, it was always at night and hospital cafeteria food don't sound appealing at all. She reached into her pocket, taking her phone and looking through her contact list. She slipped into an exam room, she assumed it was empty but by the annoyed sound coming from the curtain, she knew she wasn't.
She wanted to just leave, she was going to leave, until the voice that came from behind the curtain spoke and she couldn't.
"Damn it," the female voice said, Meredith heard an ultrasound machine as she suddenly found herself pulling back the curtain.
"Meredith," the woman said, she sounded horrified and scared all at once.
"Amelia?" Meredith questioned, she noticed her shirt was pulled up and the sticky substance was spread across the bottom of her abdomen.
"I can explain," Amelia started, placing the transducer probe back on the cart.
"No need to, just um... I know this is strange, but it just looks like you could use some help," Meredith offered. She knew what was happening with Amelia and she wanted to help.
"I liked you better when you were the distant sister-in-law but if you could please, I just can't do it myself," Amelia said, Meredith realized she was shaken. Meredith just nodded, washing her hands and sitting on the rolling stool.
Silence filled the room as Meredith started the ultrasound. Meredith felt a connection forming with Amelia, she glanced over to notice Amelia wasn't looking at the screen. She wanted to ask, but she couldn't. Meredith's eyes began to mist as the image appeared on the screen.
"Um, you can look if you want. You seem pretty far alo-"
"13 weeks," Amelia cleared her throat, her face still turned away from the screen.
"There's a strong heartbeat, how long have you known?" Meredith asked, she wanted to know more, anything.
"For a while, I just wasn't strong enough to get an ultrasound, is it healthy?" Amelia asked, still keeping her gaze far from the screen. Meredith felt her heart sink, she didn't know the situation at all, but she felt for Amelia.
"It is, the arms and legs seem to be developing, the heartbeat is strong, looks perfectly healthy to me," Meredith said, she watched Amelia's face as she turned slightly. Amelia's eyes filled with tears as she looked at the screen, Meredith saw her relax the slightest bit.
"Is this... I mean is this why you came here?" Meredith asked, regretting it as soon as she asked.
"Yeah, just let's drop it. Please don't tell anyone, not yet" Amelia begged, asking Meredith as not only a friend, but as a sister.
"Not my place to tell anyone, my lips are sealed," Meredith replied, she had so many questions, but she could bombard Amelia with them.
"Can I tell you something?" Amelia asked, grabbing the towel from the counter and wiping off her abdomen.
"Sure," Meredith said, putting away the ultrasound machine.
"A few years ago, when I had my slip up, I got pregnant and that baby was what helped me stay clean and when I found out, I was already nearly twenty weeks and when they did the ultrasound, it showed that he was anencephalic so when he was born, I donated his organs," Amelia explained, her eyes watered as she told it.
Meredith felt her heart drop, she had no idea Amelia went through anything like that. Memories resurfaced as she heard the story and she felt tears escape her eyes.
"I um, didn't know," Meredith said, wiping her eyes, "Well before the plane crash, I was pregnant. When we were rescued, I wasn't anymore," She gulped, she hadn't told anyone that. She didn't tell Derek because he would have felt terrible, she wasn't even that far along.
"Meredith," Amelia suddenly felt sad again, she could have had another niece or nephew.
"It's ok because well, I am pregnant," Meredith said with a smile, she was going to take care of this little baby inside her uterus.
"Really?" Amelia scoffed, she felt happy for the first time in a long time.
"Yeah, you are one of the first to know. I am only 5 weeks so don't tell anyone," Meredith said, she felt close to Amelia. It was different, she only ever shared these kinds of moments with very few people, two of which have died.
"Not my place, so um thanks," Amelia said, standing up. She knew she was now going to have to tell her baby's father.
"No problem, if you ever need anything just tell me," Meredith said with a smile before leaving the room. She felt oddly satisfied as she walked down the hallways.
Amelia knew she was going to have to confront her baby's father sooner or later, just never knew how soon though. She didn't even know if she wanted to keep the baby, but the father had a right to know.
Her mind fell back to that night, 11 weeks ago. Her stomach churned as the memories flooded her brain.
She wasn't drunk that night, she didn't even know why she walked into the bar, maybe it was because she knew her big brother had almost died just the day before. All she knew was she wanted someone to forget her worries with.
For whatever reason, she found herself oddly attracted to the guy sitting by himself, the table filled with empty shot glasses, and he looked completely wasted. She knew it would have been easy to get with him, maybe that is why she picked him specifically, he wouldn't remember her face.
"Looks like you could use a hand," Amelia said in her charming voice. The guy's drunken gaze found Amelia as she was talking to him.
"No thanks," he said, he sounded sad like he had just gotten bad news also. Amelia didn't care, she wanted to forget her problems and now she was determined.
"I think you need a ride home; I don't want you hurting yourself," Amelia offered a helping hand, he kept trying to reject her and she was not taking no for an answer.
"You don't even know me," he slurred his words to her.
"But you seem like a nice guy, it's no trouble at all for me to just drive and drop you off at your place," Amelia was persistent until he finally agreed. She felt a victory in her corner as she helped him from the chair and out the door.
She helped the drunken man into her rental car, driving him to the address on his license she managed to get from his wallet. She pulled up to an old-brick building, he looked her in the eye.
"Thanks for the ride," he slurred, his eyes still locked on to hers. She couldn't hold it anymore, grabbing his face and pulling it to hers. She realized he wasn't fighting her; in fact, he was pulling her farther into it. Somehow, she ended up getting out of the car with him, managing to stumble up the stairs and into his house.
"Hey Derek," Meredith smiled as she answered the phone.
"Hey Mer, just wanted to call and tell you I love you and I hope the little miracle is treating you alright," Derek said, Meredith could tell he was smiling the goofy smile he always had when he would think or talk about the kids.
"Yeah, just a little hungry. Make sure you save me some dinner," she said, feeling her stomach growl.
"Is that mommy?" Meredith heard the little voice in the background, and she heard Derek answer her yes.
"Can I talk to mommy?" She said with an innocent tone. Meredith heard Derek hand the phone over to the little girl.
"Hi princess," Meredith said sweetly through the phone.
"Hi mommy, when is you comin home?" Maddie asked sweetly which turned into a yawn.
"I can't make it home tonight, mommy has to do some stuff for Dr. Bailey, but I promise tomorrow, we are going to have lots of fun," Meredith promised her daughter a lot, she kept them most of the time but sometimes she couldn't and when she couldn't, she felt like a horrible mother.
"Ok," the little girl said with a sigh. Meredith felt her heart sink when she heard the sigh come from her daughter. A loud beep started buzzing in her pocket and Meredith groaned silently.
"Maddie honey, mommy has to go. Good night lovebug, sleep tight, make sure you give daddy a kiss from me," Meredith then made a kiss noise before hanging up the phone. She felt terrible as she made her way to the room in which she was getting paged to.
"Hey," Amelia said as she finally found the man she was looking for.
"Amelia, I'm a little busy, can it wait?" He said, he seemed preoccupied as he looked between the phone in his hands and her.
"It's important," she said, grabbing his arm as she drug him to an empty room.
"Amelia, what's this about?" He questioned.
"11 weeks ago, I came to Seattle to see Derek and instead I went to a bar, saw a guy, and slept with that guy," Amelia sighed. She couldn't believe she was about to say this.
"I don't see what this has to do with me," he questioned her intentions.
"You were the guy, I am pregnant Owen, and you are the father."
Owen stopped what he was doing, shocked at the words coming from Amelia.
"What?" He scoffed, thinking it was some kind of prank.
"Owen, I am pregnant, and you are the father and don't think this means that you have to be a father to the child. I am telling you because you have a right to know, not because I want to force you into anything," Amelia wanted to make it clear she didn't expect Owen to drop everything and become a father, but she wanted him to know.
"I don't understand. I thought we just met days ago," he was confused completely. He stared at her trying to remember that night, but his mind was drawing a blank.
"No Owen, as I said, 11 weeks ago I came right after the plane crash, but I couldn't face my brother, he was still unconscious. I decided to go get my mind off of it, so I walked into Joe's and there you were. You were drunk out of your mind, and I was hurting," Amelia felt ashamed she did that. She wasn't thinking straight, she didn't know she could even get pregnant since she was on birth control.
"Amelia I just... you have to give me some time to think about this," he was baffled by this new discovery. He had always wanted kids but not like this.
"Just so you know, I'm not leaving. So, if you do decide you want to be a part of this child's life then you know where you can find me," she said before walking off. She felt the small weight lift off her shoulder, a small part of her wanted Owen to say he doesn't want this kid, but she saw his reaction and knew he would come around. She was scared, she said she didn't want kids after her son but since she saw the ultrasound and knew everything was going to be alright, that made her fall in love with the baby inside her.