Chapter 2

Alex needed them to start searching for Meredith. She was missing. But at least help was there.

"Okay, I'll send a medical team to the accident."

He paged Shepherd, Robbins and Bailey and waited for them prior to the emergency room. There was an an ambulance waiting for to take them to the scene.

"On the 2 an accident has happened I have no precise information on what happened, only instructions. You are my rescue team that is going to be send to the scene, okay?" Richard did not wait for an answer.

"Grey and Karev have been in that ambulance."

"Oh, no. Not that too." "What could in turn mean that Grey and Karev and the baby are the ones who ..." Arizona's voice trembled. She didn't finish the sentence, she didn't have to. "No, not Meredith ..." Derek muttered to himself. That was history repeating itself. "Get in here, Shepherd. Move it." Bailey told him to get it together and stop holding them up.

"Coming." Derek answered, his heart was beating erratically in his chest. After a while, no one said a word, the RTW stopped with a jerk. They've arrived on the scene. They were there. Derek was the first one who reacted. He reached for the door and opened it. He had to get to Meredith.

She could have a brain bleed. She could be dying in this very second.

He'd wasted so much time on being angry with her, he'd all take it back right now. Now that Meredith was possibly seriously injured. It was like he was living a life that was not supposed to be his, this is not how they are supposed to end.

She always comes back. She will need a moment or two to back away but she'll always will come back.

As Dr. Bailey, Dr. Shepherd and Robbins got out, they were greeted by blinking lights and people that spoke into phones, ambulances and of course, Search and Rescue. Oh my god." Derek got out as he got view of the totalled ambulance. This was not good at all. a policeman came up to her.

"What happened here?" "An ambulance was rammed and slipped into the abyss, initially only a few feet, then he is probably still slipped further and has swept the second doctor in RTW."

"Okay, where can we help?"

"There's a newborn, a doctor is with him." Arizona ran off to another ambulance.

As she got closer, she saw Karev with the baby. "Alex." "Dr. Robbins, we need an ambulance that is equipped for a neonatal transport, the little one needs to be in an incubator." Alex said as he saw the blonde pediatric surgeon. "Karev, it's going to be okay." "Nothing is okay. Meredith is missing, I do not even know if she's still alive. Although there are several search and rescue people looking for her but ... time is running out." Alex rambled. His pulse raced.

"I'll take the case." Arizona said firmly. She was there to take the baby. Alex needed to get himself checked for any internal injuries. "No, that's my case." "Karev, be reasonable. You've just survived a serious accident, your friend and colleague is missing, thus: My answer is no. I'll take the case."

Alex Karev looked at his surperior for a moment, then he said, obviously in shock: "She coded before. She ..." Arizona Robbins looked up when she heard him saying that. "Who? Alex, who are you talking about?" Arizona pressed for more information. "The baby, are you talking about her?" She asked. Alex shook his head.

"She's probably got aspiration pneumonia since we had to disconnect her from the antibiotics." Arizona was more and more confused and worried about Alex. He should definitely get a head CT to make sure they don't miss anything.

Who was he talking about?

"Alex, slow down. Now tell me who are you talking about?"

"Meredith. She coded. I am ruining her whole life. Now she is going to die because I wasn't fast enough to get her to safer ground. It's all my fault." Alex was blaming himself for the whole situation.

The search teams searched through the area with flashlights.

Derek was also searching with them, because the missing person was Meredith Grey. His wife. This was a very bad nightmare he wanted to escape from.

"Mereedith ... Meredith, where are you? Meredith? "Derek shouted again and again. Desperately he shone from the forest, hoping to find her. Finally, he found her. Unconscious, blood-smeared face, trapped under a piece of wreckage.

"Meredith? Do you hear me?" he asked aloud, hoping she would respond.

All his medical knowledge suddenly disappeared. "Derek?" She mumbled inaudibly. "Meredith, hold on, help is here. You will be healthy again, do you hear me?" Meredith spat blood. This was not good. She needed to get to a hospital with proper medical resources and an operating room on the ready.

"Just ... hold on, Meredith. I love you more than anything. So please, don't give up on me now."

He called loudly towards rescue team, "You need to get here, quickly. I have found her, condition's critical." The rescue team came running, bringing emergency kits and intubation trays with them." We have to get her out now or she ..." Derek was desperate, so he personally tried to free Meredith.

The fire department was now also arrived, they pulled Derek away from Meredith and started to free her.

They freed Meredith from the wreckage. "So we're done here, she's out." Bailey came as she saw that they found someone, someone she knew very good. A look at Shepherd's face and she knew immediately who the patient was. "What do we have?" She asked routinely, did not show what this was like to her.

"Meredith Grey, multiple trauma, trapped under a piece of wreckage that has swept, severe internal injuries, also said the other doctor that they before it was swept away, had a cardiac arrest. " "We need a stretcher." Dr. Bailey exclaimed and checked the pulse and respiration.

"Quick, hurry." The paramedics came running with a stretcher. "Derek, get out of the way. You can not help her now anyway." Derek knew she was right but he wanted to stay with Meredith. "Yes, but ..." He started protesting. "Out of the way now." Dr. Bailey and the paramedics ran with the stretcher past him. He was frozen.

In Seattle:

Janet knocked on Meredith Grey's frontdoor, no one opened the door. In her arms, there was baby Zola. She looked through the glass, there was no one there. She would have to drive to the hospital to meet in the hope there on Meredith Grey and Derek Shepherd. Janet went with Zola on the way to Seattle Grace Mercy West.

In the hall she asked for Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey.

The nurse at the front desk said: "Grey and Shepherd are not here. I am sorry." Janet sighed but stayed patient. "Are they working today?" She asked. Zola was babbling some incoherent words.

"Yes I'll look, give me a sec. Yes, they do. Both Grey and Shepherd work today. But where they are stuck on some road. Karev and Grey were doing a baby run I think and something happened, I do not know. I let Richard Webber know, maybe he can tell you more about their current location." Dr. Webber entered the hall.

"I'm Dr. Webber. How can I help you?" He asked. Wasn't this the social worker on Zola's case?! It seemed like her.

Since she had Zola on her arm.

"I'm looking for Grey and Shepherd." Janet explained. "Shepherd is not here, there was an accident and he was sent to the scene. As for Meredith Grey, I have no word. But they were doing a baby run and ..." Janet was irritated. Both doctors were apparently gone. "I do not understand."

"Grey's doing a baby run with Karev to a local hospital to bring a baby to Seattle Grace. They should be back by now but I have not heard from her nor Karev. I am sorry they are both not here." The moment the phone rang. "In the apparatus Dr. Webber. With whom am I speaking?" He asked. "Dr. Shepherd is speaking." That was Derek's voice that was greeting him. "Ah, very good. It's about Zola." Richard Webber waited for his reaction but doesn't have to wait very long.

"Did something happen to her? Oh, please that can't be." Derek sounded scared.

"No, that's not it. What is it, Shepherd?"

"There was an accident involving an ambulance on the 2, the ambulance that should pick up a baby. It was them, Richard. Meredith and Karev. Prepare before a trauma room before they get here. We'll be there in 10 minutes." Derek quickly explained the situation. He was very worried about Meredith.

"An accident with an ambulance? "How many are injured?" "Karev and the baby are unharmed. Meredith is the only one who has sustained the most injuries." Dr. Webber muttered shocked: "... Damn it, Meredith." "Is something going with Grey and Shepherd?" Janet asked. "Grey had an accident, I'm sorry, but I have to go."

Webber hurried away, leaving a shocked Janet standing there.

Owen was waiting for Teddy Altman and Cristina Yang to finish the surgery- he had to tell them. About Henry dying and Meredith being seriously injured and now on her way to Seattle Grace. Cristina didn't know anything about her friend being injured in an ambulance versus car - accident.

She had no idea.

Laura had a flail mitral valve. There was unexpected fibrosis, which complicated things. Teddy decided to do an ex vivo repair. After they finished the repair, they re-implanted her heart. "So, it looks like we're finished here, Yang." Teddy said and smiled under her mask. She was looking forward to see Henry.

She didn't know that he was gone.

Forever.

Cristina told her that when they were scrubbing out. She'd been standing there for hours, joking and operating while Henry was dead and she didn't know.

/

"Where's Teddy?" He asked.

"I don't know" Cristina didn't want to talk. She couldn't believe that she actually killed her mentor's husband- Owen looked at her in shock. "Wait. You told her?" He asked her. Cristina looked at him and answered: "Of course I did." "You shoulda let me. I should've been the one ..."

Cristina scoffed.

This has to be some kind of sick joke.

"Oh, my God. This is not about you. Who cares who told her? Okay, I told her, because you made me stand there and talk and joke and lie to her for hours. For hours."

"I am sorry. I had to..." "No, I know, I know. I don't wanna hear it. And neither will she." With that, Cristina wanted to leave but Owen wouldn't let her.

"Cristina wait." He said.

Cristina turned around, facing the trauma surgeon. "There is something else." For another time, their world shattered into little pieces. This was a bad day a really bad day.

"What? Just say it." Cristina begged practically. She couldn't handle any other bad news right now.

"It's Meredith. There's been an accident. Bailey's operating on her right now." Owen told her straight out. Cristina just stared at him in pure shock. This was hell. Physical, actual hell. Her life was crumbling around her and there was nothing she could do about it. She couldn't save Henry. She can't save Meredith ...

And so she ran, wanting to find Derek.

To wait with him for Meredith.

Derek sat in the back along with Dr. Bailey in the ambulance. He was riding in Meredith's ambulance. He was worried sick about her. This was not how it was supposed to go. They were supposed to get Zola back and live their lives. The Alzheimer's trial was a thing of the past. "How long are we out?"

"10 minutes."

"Oh Crap. Why is this happening again? And why only we? First they take Zola away and now Meredith is seriously injured. Why can not we just be happy some times? Why not? "Derek was not like his old self, he constantly watched Meredith's numbers on the monitor. He had no idea why all this always happened. He just does not get it.

He glanced at the monitor. Her vital signs remained stable fortunately.

"Just about 5 minutes." The driver shouted. "Okay." Derek replied. "How many minutes are we out?" She called out, "Approximately three minutes to Seattle Grace." The moment the monitor began to go off. "V - fib," Dr. Bailey exclaimed loudly. "Defi. Fast. Move it."

She pressed the paddles on Meredith's chest and yelled: "Clear."

Meredith's body jerked up.

But there was no detectable rhythm. Derek couldn't believe it. After trying again, they got her back. Finally. "We got her back." Bailey announced as she saw the sinus brady on the monitor. Derek covered his face with his hands- he had come this close to losing Meredith forever.

A trauma team waited outside the emergency room at the ambulance. It consisted of Dr. Webber, Dr. Torres, Dr. Grey, Dr. Hunt, Dr. Avery, Dr. Sloan and Dr. Kepner. "What do we have?" Lexie asked as the rear doors opened. "Grey, go and prepare an trauma room. Now. You'll be here in five minutes."

After Lexie was gone, Dr. Webber said: "It is Meredith."

"How bad?" Dr. Webber did not answer. That was enough, it was answer enough.

Lexie came back out and said, "The trauma room ready." Dr. Webber glanced at the young doctor who had no idea. Then the ambulance drove up with howling siren and stopped with screeching brakes in the emergency room. A paramedic jumped out of the car and opened the rear doors. Derek climbed out of the ambulance. Lexie froze.

"It's Meredith." She whispered in shock. "Grey, leave." Ordered Dr. Owen Hunt.

Lexie abruptly turned and disappeared into Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital. In complete desperation she wandered through the aisles, she didn't pay attention to anything around her. She did not even notice that she stood in the waiting room, let alone how she got here. She sat stunned on one of the seats and stared at the wall.

She felt helpless, wished Mark were here.

Moment, Mark? Mark? Why Mark? Now Lexie was confused.

She thought she was done with Mark, he was with Julia Canner from the Seattle Presbyterian. A voice ripped her from her overwhelming thoughts.

"Hey, aren't you the sister of Dr. Grey?" Lexie wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up.

She nodded. "Can you page? Dr. Grey, I mean? And Shepherd?" Lexie saw the woman dumbfounded and eventually started laughing hysterically and could not stop. The woman looked at her weird.

"Is everything okay with you?" "Am I okay? Lexie repeating, wiping away a single tear. She began to laugh again. "Of course. I am just great. It's just that my sister was seriously injured and is now on her way to the OR. Otherwise, I'm fine. "Suddenly, Lexie's voice changed: "OF COURSE I AM NOT OKAy. How could I?"

"Are you the sister of Meredith Grey?" She repeated her question. "Yes, damn it. What do you want from me?"

Only then did Lexie that the strange woman was Janet.

She held Zola on his arm. "You are the social worker who took Zola away." Janet nodded.

"That's right. But I'm here to bring them back."

"Changes Meredith's accident something about it?" Lexie asked, hoping her sister would pull through so she can see Zola- that she was theirs. "No. Can you page Derek for me?" Janet asked politely.

Lexie nodded and fumbled the pager from his pocket and beeped Derek.

They started the surgery as soon as the anesthesiologist had put Meredith under. Her status has always been critical since they've arrived at Seattle Grace. „Why can't I locate where this bleeder comes from?" Bailey calls out, worriedly. This was not good, not good at all. She has to stay calm. This was one of their own. She can't freak out now.

She couldn't believe that she is operating on Meredith Grey, although this was the first time because she was in the need of an emergency surgery (in an actual OR). Why does Meredith always have that bad luck? How can that be? "Where does all this all blood come from? This can't be happening … "Grey, don't you dare cop on me now, Grey." She mumbled as she feebly worked to save her friend's and colleague's life.

She tried to identify the source of that bleeding. Meredith can't be bleeding that much without a proper source. "Come on, come on, don't do you dare doing this." She conjured the unconscious Meredith who probably couldn't even hear her. But it was worth a try.

"Damn, I need more hands. Page Hunt. I need every help I can possibly get. If he's not available, page Webber now." Bailey's voice sounds alarmed and serious. "Right away, doctor." The OR nurse answered and reached for the phone to page Hunt now. This was really bad, really, really bad. But she couldn't help it.

"Damn it." Bailey muttered. There was blood, a lot of it.

"She loses too much blood." She said.

"We need blood units of blood group AB neg. And that fast." A nurse nodded and reached for the phone. She dialed the hospital's blood bank and spoke frantically into the phone: "We need four units of blood group AB in OR 1." Meredith lost more and more blood. "Where is the damn blood?" Dr. Bailey struggled to locate the source of bleeding. Finally they had found the source. It was a tiny crack in the renal pelvic artery.

Meanwhile, the blood was also there. They started to transfuse. In this moment, Owen Hunt enters the OR. "Fill me in of her condition." "I need more hands in here." Bailey says without looking up. After a few more hours they were able to close her up. But it had been difficult the whole way through. She'd coded for another time, shortly before closing up. Her heart wasn't able to take the pressure.

Now they were on their way to inform Derek and Lexie and Cristina.

When he came into the waiting room, he could not believe his eyes.

There were Lexie and Janet, both talking. Janet talked to Lexie and she had Zola in her arms. In Derek germinated on a tiny hope that he and Meredith would get their girl back. But he could not rejoice. As well as. Mer was seriously injured and was in the emergency room of Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital.

Janet got up as soon as she saw Derek and came over to Derek.

"Dr. Shepherd, she is yours now." She said and handed him the little Zola and her things. Zola seemed to remember her daddy. Derek looked at her in surprise. "I hope she pulls through. Good luck." Janet said and left the hospital quickly. Derek stood there with a baby in his arms. He could not believe it.

The universe really is random and mean.

It was always them- always.

He sat down on a chair and waited. Zola was in his lap, sleeping soundly. "Let's just hope your Mama pulls through ..." Derek whispered.

Dr. Bailey and the other surgeons just finished the operation of Meredith Grey. She was taken to the Intensive Care Unit and Dr. Bailey was on his way to tell Derek and Lexie about the successful surgery. They've completed the procedure successfully. Of course, only time would tell but she made it through the surgery.

Now they just have to wait until Meredith wakes up. Dr. Bailey was hardly out of the operating room, she saw Derek before the surgical plan impatiently running back and forth.

He seemed worried and nervous. Anxious about what might be.

Dr. Bailey ran quickly toward him. As Dr. Derek Bailey saw coming towards him, he ran up to her and looked at her hopefully. Dr. Bailey smiled and said. "The surgery went well Meredith is now in ICU." Derek instantly breathed in in relief and hugged Bailey, this returned the hug.

Cristina smiled and Lexie and Mark were there too. They shared a glance before smiling when hearing this.

Shortly thereafter, Derek asked, "Can I see Meredith?"

"Yes. You can see her." Dr. Bailey answered the neurosurgeon's question. The other doctors were now also come out of surgery and held back discreetly. "I'll take you now to Meredith. But be prepared she is still intubated."She warned him.

This is forever. Their forever that they still get to live.

Derek nodded and together they made their way to Meredith's room.

There, Dr. Bailey left Derek alone. She watched him, as he sat down next to her bed to a chair and reached for her hand. This he pressed lightly. Gently stroked Derek Meredith a tear hair out of her face.

Derek presses her hand gently and watches her breathe. It's all he can do for now.

But she's alive. And sometimes that's all that really matters ...

She'll wake up ... she will. He was sure of that, he was keeping the faith.

Three days later:

Meredith had woken up which was a relief for all of them- all had been very worried about her. Also, Lexie and Mark finally realized they are meant to be together. Meredith's accident has given them the perspective they needed- Cristina and Alex had been really worried too.

They visited as often as possible as did Lexie. Derek spent his nights there, he only went home because of Zola. She needed the routine but he had trouble getting it down without Meredith.

/

"Meredith?" He asked quietly. When she recognized her voice, she searched with her eyes for him and tried to speak. Then she noticed the endotracheal tube in her mouth and immediately began fighting it. "Meredith. Calm down. Everything is going to be okay. I will page Bailey, she will be here in a minute."

"Shepherd, you paged?"

"She is awake." Derek said grinning, his hand gripping hers. "Can we take her off the ventilator?"

After a quick exam, Dr. Bailey extubated her. Meredith coughed as Bailey removed the tube. "Dr. Grey. Nice to have you back. You gave us quite the scare, especially Karev. He'll be glad to hear you're awake." She said. After checking his vitals again, she left the room to give them their privacy.

"Derek?" She asked, his voice hoarse. "I am here." She placed a gentle kiss on his forehead. "Don't ever do that again, Meredith Grey. I thought I lost you forever."

"There is something else you need to know." Derek smiled happily. He was for the first time since the accident.

"We got Zola back. She is ours now." Derek saw Meredith's eyes lighting up.

"She is?"

"She is." Derek confirmed. In this moment, Lexie entered the ICU. She brought Zola with her. She had cleared it with Bailey (normally babies and children weren't allowed in the ICU when not patients but they decided to screw the ICU regulations. They were all doctors here.)

"Look who I brought." She said. "I thought you both should have some time with her."

Lexie smiled at her sister. "I was worried about you."

"I am alive." Meredith replied, her eyes twinkling. "You are and we're all glad about that."

/

"I love you." He suddenly said.

Meredith smiled and squeezed Derek´s hand. "Give me a real kiss." She demanded playfully. Derek leaned over him and kissed her softly on the mouth. "Me too. I love you."

Soon, their life with Zola and as a family would begin and they were looking forward to it.