Hello!
I've got a surprise for you today! And no, don't worry, it's not another game of guess who. In fact, it is such a big surprise because it's so far away from where we were last chapter! We've got a 100% Meredith chapter today, no Derek to be seen! Although, by the end you will come to realize that that is definitely a bad thing...
Enjoy?
"Grey."
She looked up at the call, and then to George and Izzie. They were all on the pit today, so she was surprised that the man chose to approach her.
"The...patient of ours." Mark started, ignoring the looks from the pair. "The one I was worried about-"
"Oh-" She breathed. The patient they shared. Right. "Yeah?"
"He wasn't at home last night, and I went this morning too and he wasn't there again. But he's been home in between when I went to check." Mark explained before sighing, "Wish I stayed longer now. And he's still not answering my calls."
"What's this?" Izzie asked, intrigued.
"We have a patient that was discharged but we've since got a little concerned about how he's doing psychologically, so we're trying to find him and talk to him." Meredith explained. That wasn't really much of a lie.
"Oh, right. Well I hope you find him." Izzie said before returning to her patient.
"You're sure he's been home?" Meredith pressed again. If not, he could be who knows where. In a ditch? Half way across the country?
Mark nodded. "A hundred percent."
"Okay." She breathed. There was no reason he couldn't have gone out last night for food - in fact, she probably should have reminded Mark that Derek almost always went out to his favourite restaurant that particular night - and there was no reason he couldn't have left the house this morning to do something else. That was perfectly normal. In fact, if he'd gone looking for her, she would appear just as lost as he was right now, because she was never home either. "Okay, I'm sure he's okay. He just...he knows we're going to be mad and talk lots so he just...he's making himself some space."
"Unfortunately." Mark agreed. "But I-"
"People-" A loud voice called over the ER.
The pair looked round to find their chief of surgery stood there. They could tell he wasn't about to make a pleasant announcement.
"I'm sorry I have to interrupt you all for a moment. We've just received word of a mass casualty incident nearby. All Level 1 Trauma Centres have been asked to respond; I need to send a team to the field immediately."
"What happened?" A doctor to Meredith's left asked. She didn't turn round to look at her, it wasn't like she was asking an odd question, she just beat her to it.
"I don't have details. Just get to work."
She sighed as she looked at Mark. George and Izzie were too distracted by the call, no longer even stood by the pair, nevermind interested in what they were talking about. "Bet this is the kind of situation where having a head of neurosurgery is required."
"We'll find him, Meredith. We'll find him and talk to him, and he'll come back. It...it will be fine." He lied. He didn't believe that.
"Yes." She smiled slightly. Another lie. "I'm sure he will be fine too."
"Hey, doctor!" A man called.
Meredith paused, and had to take a second to look around to locate the man who had called for her. It was bad when she arrived, taking a solid minute to even be able to take in what had happened, but it hadn't improved. People, everywhere. Debris, everywhere. Panic and fear and grief and anxiety just...absolutely everywhere. She could sense confusion too. How had this even happened? Who had ever heard of a ferry boat crash?
She crouched beside the man who had requested her, and a small boy with a very obvious break to the leg. "Hey little man, what's your name?"
"Tim." He answered with a shaky voice.
"Okay." She smiled. "So...my name is Meredith, and I'm a doctor. I can see you've hurt your leg so I'm gonna have a look at it, okay?"
He nodded.
"How old are you?"
"Six."
She swallowed. A six year old, alone, with a seriously broken leg. "Okay, and do you know where your parents are? Have you seen them?
He shook his head. "And I don't feel good."
She dropped the scissors she was using to cut up his jeans, and focused back on the boy himself. "Because of the pain? Because it hurts?"
"I need...the puff."
"The puff?" She repeated. "What's the puff?"
"It...I feel ill and then...then Mommy- then-" He paused, and placed a hand on his chest. "Then this don't hurt no more."
She stared at him for a second. He felt unwell, he needed something to get rid of it (something he knew about and had used before) and it hurt his chest. "Um...Asthma? Do you have asthma? Do you need an inhaler?"
He would never recall those words, but they all sounded familiar, so he nodded.
An asthmatic six year old, alone, with a seriously broken leg then.
"Okay. Okay, that's okay. I'm sure I can find you one and then you'll feel better again." She said, looking around. Where the hell was she going to get one from? She had plenty of ET tubes and masks and other equipment, but she was here to treat traumas, not current conditions.
"It feels funny."
"Your chest?" She gestured to her own. "This? Or...your leg?"
"My leg." He answered, tears appearing in his eyes again.
"Okay, okay-" She returned to his leg, pulling up his pant leg easily with the cut she had made down it. "You're-" She paused abruptly.
An asthmatic six year old, alone, with an extremely, extremely seriously broken leg then.
"Um-" She turned to the volunteer who was still sat beside her. "I need you to find a doctor who is better than me. Preferably, one that knows things about neurosurgery, if not orthopaedics. Both would be best but we're so stretched."
He moved a little closer to her at that. Neurosurgery sounded serious, and he didn't want to scare the child.
"He's not got a pulse in his ankle, and that means if he's not treated soon, he'll lose his leg." Meredith whispered to the man. "It feels 'funny' because he can't feel it at all right now."
Within a single moment, the man was up on his feet, calling for help again.
Who she really needed was Derek. He was, of course, a neurosurgeon. But he was also good with kids, and could become demanding enough in an emergency to convince busy people to find him an inhaler. She'd tried to convince people to help her about five times, and it never worked. Everyone was too busy.
"What happen? Is it okay?" He asked, fear in his voice.
"Yeah. It's okay. We'll find you an inhaler, and this super good doctor who will help, and your parents, and you'll be-"
"Meredith-"
Nothing.
"Mer?" A different voice called. "Are you awake, Meredith?"
Perhaps if the lights weren't so bright or the ringing in her ears wasn't quite as deafening or the pain in every fibre of her muscles didn't hurt quite so much or the tight band around her head wasn't squeezing her brain quite so much, she would have replied to that.
"Meredith."
But those things were occurring, so all she could do is groan as she winced, holding her eyes shut.
"Meredith, can you hear me?"
God, couldn't she just rest for another moment?
"Meredith, you have to open your eyes. That's all you need to do but just...please, do it."
Her eyes just about managed to open at that instruction, to find a blurry Cristina. Then a blurry Webber. Then a blurry Aaron. Then a blurry Bailey.
"Wha- what- I-" She paused as her eyes finally focused, and she was able to see what was around her.
"Do you know where you are?" Webber asked.
"I-" She swallowed. Her throat hurt like hell. "Um- I uh- hospital."
He nodded. "Do you remember how you got here? What happened?"
She stared at him for a long moment before shaking her head. "No, there's...um- just-" She raised her hand to her head, rubbing it as if that would help the pain. She couldn't help but notice she'd taken an IV line with her as she moved.
"You don't remember anything?"
"No...there- there was um-"
"Take your time, Mer. You have a grade 3 concussion so you're not going to be thinking straight." Cristina explained.
Concussion?
Where the hell did she get a concussion from?
"What was the last thing you remember?" Aaron asked. "Do you remember this morning? The big incident?"
"Yeah- the- it was- ferries. I'd just got there. But then..." She swallowed, hard. Then nothing.
"You remember that a ferry crashed when docking?"
She nodded slowly.
"And you remember you were sent on scene?"
"I..." She paused. Maybe she remembered a little more than she first thought. "I think I remember getting out of the ambulance. I treated...a little boy with a broken leg- Tim- he had asthma and- and then- he uh- he didn't have a pulse in his ankle and I told the...told the guy to find help and then-" She paused. Then what happened? "I- I don't um-"
"Then just this?" Aaron assumed.
"Yeah."
"Do you..." Bailey swallowed. "Do you remember seeing Derek?"
Derek? Derek was there?
What did that mean?
That he'd heard and gone to help out?
That he was just nearby by coincidence?
That he'd been called and returned to work for a one off?
Or...that he was on the ferry?
