a/n: do i dare question the magical forces that have bestowed inspiration, motivation, and time for me to get another chapter out in under a week? i'm gonna say no. (don't get too used to it XD) (i'm unpredictable, babes)

thank you for all the wonderfully kind comments on the last chapter! i love everyone in this small community sm and seeing y'alls reactions to the chapters makes my day every single time.

am i pulling out some merhayes fandom tropes? yes. do i care? not one bit.

8. dorothea

ooh, from you i'd buy anything

8:32 a.m.

The last thing Meredith expected was for her morning to go smoothly. At this point in her life, it seemed like a futile thing to believe. So, when she got called in on a 911-page before she had her chance to finish her coffee, she didn't bat an eye.

The patient was a 26-year-old woman who had been stabbed during a domestic violence dispute. The boyfriend was already in custody, apparently being the one who called the ambulance after he'd seen what he'd done.

"Jessica Drior," Owen said her name was. "She was alert when they brought her in but lost consciousness pretty soon after. We're suspecting a perforated bowel, but we're not gonna know the extent of the damage until we open her up."

Meredith nodded, re-reading the chart one more time before glancing at Owen and the young woman on the table, "Alright, let's get her up to the O.R."

9:03 a.m.

Helm didn't mind running the Pit. It was fast-paced a lot of times, could lead to good surgeries, and made the day go by fast. She liked it a lot less when Meredith Grey got called in for an emergent surgery, and she couldn't scrub in. But, c'est la vie.

The bustle of Jessica Drior being rushed in had calmed, and not even half the beds in the E.R. were filled at the moment. She looked around, watching fellow doctors and nurses come and go. Things were in order, moving at an acceptable pace. She had a moment to be proud.

"Page pediatrics and Dr. Grey, now!" Helm heard Link's voice before she saw him. She was facing away from the ambulance bay, where he'd come running in from.

"Dr. Grey's in the middle of surgery," Helm started to say as she turned around. Whatever was going to come out of her mouth never did because in Link's arms was a crying little girl, holding her stomach in pain.

In Link's arms was Ellis Shepherd.

Helm felt her breath catch in her chest. That was Meredith Grey's daughter. Her youngest. Her baby. Here. In the E.R.

Her eyes were locked with Link's for what seemed like an eternity before she broke out of her stupor and rushed forward, directing him to an available bed.

After making sure someone had paged Peds, she asked Link what the hell happened.

He was frantic, "She wasn't feeling well, but nothing catastrophic. Then, she threw up, and we realized her pain was getting worse and concentrating on her left side."

"You're thinking appendicitis," Helm said, as she finished hooking Ellis up to an I.V.

Link nodded.

Ellis groaned, blearily looking up at him, "Uncle Link, it hurts."

He bent down and stroked her hair off her face, "I know, sweetheart, but we're going to make sure you feel better really soon, okay?"

"Okay," she paused, eyes misting up. "I want mama."

"Mama will be here as soon as she can, I promise."

9:11 a.m.

Cormac was wrapping up a night on call when he got a 911-page to the Pit. He groaned internally, cursing whoever brought their child in before his replacement had come to relieve him. He took a final swig of the tea he was holding before dropping it in the garbage on his way to the elevator.

Stepping into the Pit, he was immediately directed over to the bed surrounded by Helm and Link. First guesses were a broken bone of sorts, but as he drew closer, he realized that Link wasn't in scrubs, and there didn't appear to be any parents hovering around the bed.

"What do we've got?" Cormac asked as he got within earshot.

Link and Helm looked at each other and then back at him before moving so he could see the patient. Cormac didn't know much about the laws of the universe. Still, he knew that one must be breaking in this moment for Ellis to look so small, so fragile against the ocean of a gurney she was curled upon.

She tried to smile under her mask when she saw him, "Dr. Hayes. 'Member me?"

"I do, in fact, Ms. Ellis." He moved closer to the edge of her bed. "You're not feeling good?"

Ellis shook her head. It was jarring to see how much she looked like her mother, especially within the hospital setting. Anyone related to Meredith Grey looked out of place sitting on a hospital bed, he decided. Cormac had gotten to know her a bit during the times when Meredith's kids would video call her when she was still under.

The best way to describe the little girl was a force of nature. It was so clear she already had a sense of identity stronger than most adults and not a care in the world of who thought what about her. Both Ellis and her mother had a face that could sell a poor man a mansion. To have that resigned to dull blonde locks, pale skin, and two blue eyes pleading with him to make her feel better-it was just plain fucking wrong.

"Can you tell me what doesn't feel good, Ellis?"

"My tummy," she mumbled out.

Helm took over, filling Cormac in on what she and Link had discussed. He nodded, "I'll reckon you're both probably right, but I want to confirm with a few imaging tests, just to make sure we don't miss anything."

"Yes, sir," Helm said, straightening up and getting to work on moving Ellis to the right rooms. Cormac pulled Link to the side, who, at thIS point, was standing back like a lost puppy.

Link ran his hands through his hair, tugging at the ends with a groan, "I hate this. I hate the feeling of not being able to do anything."

"Aye, there's no other torture quite like it. But, you got her here in time, and she's going to be fine. Does Grey know? I'm assuming not, considering she's isn't barking at Helm."

"No," Link shook his head. "She's in surgery with Hunt, apparently. Stabbing victim. They haven't been down there an hour."

Cormac pursed his lips, nodding slightly. Part of him wanted to screw the protocol and march down there to tell Meredith what was happening with her little girl. But, he knew that wasn't what was best for the patient and that as long as Ellis was stable, the news could wait until Meredith was scrubbed out.

He desperately wished he wasn't decked out in PPE, and he had to fight back the urge to rub at his eyes. The exhaustion that had been seeping in was starting to be pushed back with the new task at hand. Taking a breath, he looked around the E.R., reminding himself that he was at work. At this moment, he was not dating Meredith Grey. He was not the man who told silly stories from his childhood to Ellis and her siblings when their mom was on a vent.

No, he was a surgeon.

11:05 a.m.

The tests came back confirming what they had feared, but thankfully, it was the only thing wrong. An O.R. was prepped immediately, and Cormac asked Helm to get Ellis ready for surgery.

She looked at him like he was sprouting a second head, "Me?"

"You're scrubbing in, no?"

"You want me to scrub in on Meredith Grey's daughter's surgery?"

Cormac titled his head, narrowing his eyes, "Is that a problem?"

"No, of course not, it's just," Helm shook her head. "Don't you want someone in there like Webber or Bailey or, not a resident?"

"Helm," he sighed. "This is a relatively simple procedure that I've performed several times. This is still a teaching hospital and a good learning opportunity. Plus, and you didn't hear this from me, you are one of the residents Grey trusts the most. Now, if you want me to find someone else, I will, but I really don't think you do."

"No, sir, you're right." She took a determined breath. "I'll go prep the patient."

"Good."

11:45 a.m.

Cormac looked down at Ellis, who was staring up at him with a dopey expression, "Now, you're going to take a little nap Ms. Ellis, and when you wake up, you should feel much better."

"Okay," she nodded. "And mama will be there."

"Yes, your mom will be right by your side. I'll make sure of it myself."

Ellis relaxed as they hooked her up to the anesthesia, helping her count down as she went under. Cormac looked at Helm, who was across the table, looking more focused than he'd ever recalled seeing her.

Once he was sure Ellis was secure, he reached his hand out, "Scalpel."

12:07 p.m.

Jessica had pulled through the surgery like a champ. Meredith was pleased that it looked like she should make a full recovery. Hopefully being well enough in time to see her douchebag boyfriend go to prison. She let herself decompress from the surgical high as she scrubbed out, taking a bit longer than usual.

Meredith hadn't kept track of the time that had passed in the O.R. and forgot to look at the clock before hitting the scrub room. She wondered if she might be able to catch Cormac before he headed home from the night shift. It was kind of hard to believe they'd been seeing each other for two months at this point. Somehow it seemed shorter than that, yet longer.

Since most of the doctors were still mainly living out of hotel rooms, and she and Cormac were in the same hall, it made it easier to catch a moment or two alone.
She did miss the days directly following her discharge from the hospital, though. Recovering at home with her kids had been a nice change of pace. They were happy to see her get back to work but didn't love the idea of seeing her less all of a sudden.

They had gotten in the habit of all piling into her bed at night during her weeks at home. So, it was strange to have one all to herself in the hotel. And not waking up to one little body sprawled across her, a foot in her face from another, and the third tucked in her neck.

Meredith dried off her hands and pushed open the door to the hallway. She stopped when she saw a nervous Link leaning against the wall. He stood up straight as soon as he saw her. Meredith steeled herself when she saw the look on his face, "What happened?"

12:12 p.m.

"No, no, nope. Not happening," Bailey was outside of the viewing room, stopping Meredith before she had a chance to even touch the door.

"Bailey, move," her voice was dangerously low. She swore when Link said that Ellis was having an appendectomy, her heart lodged itself in her throat. The only thing she wanted was to see her baby girl.

Link finally caught up to her, coming to stand by her side. He looked between the two women having a standoff.

Bailey shook her head in sympathy, her voice nothing but kind, "Meredith, I am not letting you sit in there and watch your baby be operated on!"

"Bailey-"

"No." Bailey stood her ground. "You didn't with Zola, and you won't start now with Ellis. Hayes and Helm are performing the procedure and doing a beautiful job so far. They should be done within the hour. Webber and I are watching, and I will text you with updates every ten minutes before coming to get you myself when they're done.

"And don't think I'm letting you in there either," she looked up at Link.

"But, I'm not her parent."

Bailey scoffed, "Maybe not, but you have been helping to raise that little girl for a better part of six months. Both of you can go wait somewhere else because right now, neither of you are doctors."

There was a moment of silence as Meredith pursed her lips, glancing between Bailey and the door. She relented, "Every ten minutes?"

"I'll set a timer."

12:24 p.m.

Meredith's foot wouldn't sit still. It was too quiet in the attending's lounge, but she would probably scream if someone started playing music. She never noticed how lumpy the couch in here had gotten. She'd make sure they got a new one after all of this.

Next to her, Link sighed for about the millionth time. Neither of them had talked since choosing to camp out here until Ellis was out. She could tell he kept glancing at her out of the corner of her eye.

"I'm so sorry," he finally started. "Ellis said she didn't feel well when she woke up, that her stomach hurt. But, she wasn't throwing up and didn't have a fever, so I brought her downstairs to lay on the couch with some water while I made breakfast. Amelia was with Scout, and Bailey insisted on waffles.

"It was Zola who saw that Ellis had thrown up. I checked on her immediately after that. After asking her some questions, that's when the dots started connecting. I got Amelia, and she told me to get her here ASAP while she stayed with the others.

"They got to her before it burst but, I don't know, I feel like I should've known. I'm a doctor."

"No," Meredith's voice was hoarse when she spoke. "At that moment, you were one of her guardians. One of her parents. I know my three can be a handful, so you're tired all the time, and you have a baby."

She turned to look at him, "You did everything I would've done. And yeah, every worst-case scenario is playing through my head right now, but none of them have Ellis not being looked after and loved. You and Amelia went from not having any kids to basically raising four. Please don't think I don't know or see how much you've done for my kids. Both of you have done an amazing job, and I will never be able to say thank you enough."

Link reached out and clasped a hand over Meredith's forearm, eyes crinkling as he smiled under his mask. She rested her hand over his, and they leaned back on the couch, waiting for Bailey's next update.

12:31 p.m.

Jo had heard the news, and once she did, it wasn't hard to track down Meredith and Link. She'd come into the lounge without a word, squeezing herself between her two friends. She threw an arm around Meredith while resting her head on Link's shoulder.

Bailey had texted just a minute or two before, saying that Ellis' stats were still stable and everything was going accordingly. Meredith rested her hand on Jo's knee, giving it a squeeze. She was lucky to have such a support system in place.

All three looked up when the door burst open, and Maggie came flooding in, "I just heard! Is she okay? What happened?"

"Ellis had appendicitis and is currently undergoing an appendectomy. Hayes and Helm are operating. Bailey is texting me updates. Currently, everything is fine," Meredith's voice was even-keel, despite the nerves on fire under her skin. Maggie could see the panic in her eyes and nodded resolutely, lowering herself onto the floor in front of the couch, resting her head on her sister's legs.

Knowing that Cormac was the one at the reins calmed her nerves just a smidge. He was the best Peds surgeon they had on staff, by far, and she wouldn't want anyone else in the hospital performing the surgery. That still didn't change the fact that it was her youngest on the table.

Meredith flipped over her phone as soon as it started to buzz. The other three looked at her in anticipation. She shook her head, "Not Bailey-Christina."

She didn't bother moving when she answered the call. Christina's face took a moment to clearly show up on screen, concern evident, "What's the latest?"

Meredith told her what she had just told Maggie. "We're waiting for-" Her phone buzzed again. "Bailey just texted: everything went smoothly, and they're closing up now."

The relief in the room was palpable. Jo's head dropped to the back of the couch, a grin spreading across her face. Maggie murmured, "Thank god," under her breath more than once. Link was trying not to cry.

Christina nodded in satisfaction at the news, "I was in a meeting, or I would've called earlier. Who's operating?"

"Your gift," Jo pushed her face into view of the camera.

Meredith shoved her head away, rolling her eyes, "Yes, Cormac and Helm operated."

"Cormac, huh?" Christina's voice rose in curiosity, a smirk appearing that she didn't even bother trying to hide.

Jo poked her way back into view, "Mmhmm, they've been seeing each other for a while now but won't admit it to us. Even though we all know."

Christina's laugh was tinny through the phone's speakers, "I love being all-knowing."

Meredith scrunched up her nose when Jo chuckled.

"Hey, Wilson, is it true you ditched surgery for the vagina squad?" Christina asked.

Jo nodded, refusing to be ashamed of her career change, "I was chasing the joy."

"I have no idea what that means."

1:22 p.m.

"Mama?" Ellis' voice was slurred as she came out of her slumber. She blinked a few times, adjusting to the light in the room. Meredith was sitting on a chair to the right of her bed, her hand gently holding her daughter's.

"Hey, Ellie-Belle."

"'Mm I all better?"

She stroked the side of Ellis' face, "You are. Dr. Hayes and Dr. Helm fixed you right up."

Ellis slowly turned her head to look at her two doctors standing at the foot of her bed. Beneath her mask, she gave them a tired smile, "Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Ms. Ellis," Cormac said. Helm echoed his sentiment.

Link was sitting next to Meredith, his hand on Ellis' ankle. She looked between the two of them, "When can I go home?"

"Tomorrow, Ellie," Link chuckled. "But, you know what? How about I run home and grab you your pillow and some P.J.s and Frankie. That sound good?"

She nodded, yawning.

Meredith squeezed her hand once more before standing up when Link did. She caught him in a tight hug, giving him her gratitude once more. He returned the embrace before heading out, leaving with lingering promises to return with stuffed animals and food.

Looking at Ellis, Meredith could see her starting to drift off again. Helm took her vitals one more time before leaving to update her chart. Cormac hadn't left the room since they'd wheeled the little girl in. She walked over and leaned against the wall he was standing by.

"Thank you."

Cormac shook his head, "Now, there's no need for that. I-"

She cut him off, "You've been up for how long? Yet, you still stayed to do Ellis' surgery, performed it flawlessly, and haven't left her side since. So, yes, there is a need for that. Thank you."

He looked down, a ghost of a smile on his lips, and met her eyes. Meredith looked as exhausted as he felt. (He probably looked about as well as she did, to be honest.)

Meredith put a hand on his arm, "It helped, knowing that it was you in there. But, I was still kind of terrified." Her voice cracked the end, the tears she'd been forcing down finally welling up.

Cormac pulled her to him, his arms securing around her waist. Her head fell on his chest, breathes coming more unevenly, "That's your little one, Meredith. You had every right to be scared out of your wits."

She sniffed, "I think I'm handling it better than Derek would've."

"Oh, yeah?"

"Mmhmm," she mumbled against his scrubs. "Should've seen him the night Bailey was born. He was practically vibrating. I mean, to be fair, I was in labor in the middle of a superstorm and a power outage that killed the generators. And I had to have a c-section in the dark. And I almost died."

Cormac let out a laugh, resting his chin on the top of her head, "I think the poor man had reason to be frightened then. Tell me, how many times have you almost died?"

"Too many."

"Well, can we try to make this past one the final time?"

Meredith nodded against him, "I'll do my best, but knowing my luck, no promises."

11:34 p.m.

The steady beeping of the heart machine hooked up to Ellis was oddly soothing. Meredith was sitting on a cot they had set up for her next to her daughter's bed, flipping through an old medical journal that Link had brought with him from his supply run.

Ellis was sound asleep next to her, head resting on her favorite pillow, arms wrapped around her brontosaurus plushie, Frankie. Surrounding her was nothing less than a mountain of some of her other stuffed animals from home, as well as a handful of new ones bought by Jo, Maggie, Richard, Owen, and practically the rest of the hospital staff.

Cormac had disappeared for all of twenty minutes when Link had come back with his load of goodies. When he returned, he'd replaced his PPE with a mask and held what looked like a stack of paperwork. He'd pulled a chair over to the side of the room Meredith was on and slowly made his way through it. Cormac jumped into the conversation now and then, had eaten some food, and helped Ellis set up a video call with Amelia and her siblings.

Visiting hours had been over for a while, and Link had left for the night, but not before promising Ellis that Aunt Amelia would be the one to help Meredith get her home. Cormac had finished his paperwork stack over an hour ago and had finagled one of the other medical journals Link had brought.

Meredith glanced up when she heard him yawn again. She could tell he was trying to hide how utterly dead on his feet he was. The journal made a plop when she let it drop into her lap. She kept her volume low to avoid waking Ellis. "I know for a fact you're not working again tonight. Go home and get some sleep. I'm fine, Ellis is fine, I trust the nurses here with my life, and Winston is on call tonight. You've done more than enough; we're good."

The incredulous look he gave her almost made her laugh. Meredith suppressed a smile and rolled her eyes; shifting over on the cot, she tucked her legs under the blanket. When she motioned for him to come over, he just stared at her.

Meredith had to resist throwing one of Ellis' stuffed animals at his head. That man. "If you're not going to go home, at least get some sleep. You've been on the verge of collapse for the past two hours."

Cormac glanced at her and then to the empty hallway outside the room. "You may trust the nurses with your life, but I don't think we can trust them not to talk."

His lilt was joking, but she could tell his question was serious. They had kept it pretty quiet. Meredith shrugged, "At this point, I'm past caring if you are."

That seemed to be good enough for him because he tossed the medical journal to the side and crawled in next to her. They got situated, so she was curled up against his chest, his arms wrapped around her torso. Even after almost forty-eight hours, she could still catch the lingering scent of his aftershave. The clean smell was becoming more familiar to her by the day and more comforting.

It didn't take long for her to feel his breath on her neck even out, his heartbeat steady under her ear. Meredith could still feel the remnants of the day's anxiety in her bones, but it wasn't enough to keep her mind racing anymore. If anything, it made the exhaustion more potent.

She yawned, burying her nose deeper into the fabric of his shirt, letting her body sink into the mattress and him, and slowly allowing sleep to take hold.

thank you sm for reading! any comments, feedback, faves, and follows are immensely appreciated!

i hope everyone is doing well! 3