AN ADVENTURE IN FORGIVENESS

So, I wasn't planning to write anything in the near future, but this story came to me and I had to write it. Plot-wise, it's nothing groundbreaking, but it's got my own personal twist, which I hope you will all enjoy. It won't be a super-long story, probably four or five chapters.

It takes place about three years after the end of season 6.

Let me know if you like it and if I should post the rest of it or not.

"Life is an adventure in forgiveness" – Norman Cousins

"So, we did it. We made it to the big leagues." Alex said, before taking a sip from his beer, smirk on his face.

"Bruises, scars and all," Cristina said, looking uncharacteristically introspective and happy.

Meredith sat in between her friends, giggling at the idea that they were finally done with their residencies. "Hey Joe!" she called. "How about a round of shots for Seattle Grace's newest attendings." The bartender nodded with a smile and got to work on the order.

"I can't believe we all made it. I mean, I knew I would, but the two of you, I wasn't sure." Cristina, more than a little tipsy, glanced at Meredith. "You almost drowned. You got shot," she moved her eyes over at the lone male in the group. "For a while there it was like that show Survivor, what with George dying and then Izzie hitting the road."

Meredith glared over at Cristina, then back at Alex who didn't seem phased by Yang's lack of tact. In fact, if you didn't know him you wouldn't think that it bothered him at all. But Meredith knew. Even after the moving on and the other women, even after he made sure that everyone knew he was past Izzie, Meredith knew that it still hurt him just a little bit to hear her name out loud.

Before she could scold her best friend, three shot glasses of tequila appeared in front of them. "It's on the house," Joe smiled at three of his best customers. "Congratulations, you guys."

"Thanks Joe." Meredith held her glass up, grateful for the distraction, and observed the amber liquid. "To making it. And to donning our pretty navy blue scrubs tomorrow!" Two glasses clinked against hers, the beginning of a blur of a night.

"Of course it's going to be slow today. Why can't there be a bridge collapse. Or a ..."

"Stop right there." Meredith looked up from the food on her plate. Cristina sat across from her looking a bit like a caged animal. "You know that if you finish that sentence, something major will happen and we'll all be up here of 72 hours straight. I want to get in an OR as much as you do, but I'd also like to see my bed at some point before the end of the week. That's one of the perks of being an attending, right? A better schedule?"

Alex plopped down into a chair, sandwich already in hand. "I don't know what you two are complaining about. I've been in the OR twice today already."

Cristina rolled her eyes. "Of course all the ankle biters are needing surgery."

"Bet you wish you'd thought more of pedes right about now." A gloating smile covered his face.

"Not on your life. I'm waiting for the good stuff."

Meredith watched the show going on around her with a smile on her face. Alex and Cristina's bickering never failed to keep her entertained.

"Well, while you're waiting for an interesting case, I'll just tell you about the extensive bowel repair that I've got on a four-year-old scheduled in three hours."

Cristina narrowed her eyes at him, when her pager began to buzz on her waist. She lit up instantly."Ha! 911 in the pit. Keep your little bowels to yourself, Karev. I've got lives to save." She stood up from the table.

As she began to walk away, two other pagers went off. "Guess we all get to get in on the fun, Cristina." Meredith said as she and Alex followed their friend to the elevator, ignoring the scowl on her face.

The doors to the first ambulance flew open as the doctors moved toward it, struggling on the ice that covered the ground.

"What have we got?" Alex helped the paramedics lift the gurney out of the ambulance. On it, surrounded by blankets lay a tiny screaming little girl.

"Infant female. Probably about a month old, maybe a little less, we're not exactly sure," the paramedic responded. "No LOC in the field. Possible internal injuries. Her left wrist seems a little tender. We couldn't tell if it was broken, but she hasn't stopped screaming."

Alex began examining the girl even before they got to the exam room. "Belly is slightly distended. Damn it." He gently picked her up and placed her on a hospital bed. Looking at an intern, he began barking out new orders. "Taylor! We need a crib for transfer. Get one down here right now. Call radiology. I want these scans started in fifteen minutes. "

"But what if -" the young woman said nervously.

Alex cut her off before she could start stuttering like an idiot. "I don't care what excuse they make. We're taking her up in ten, they'd better be ready for us! And page Torres. I want her to check out this wrist." He turned back to the child as the paramedic gathered her gear."Does she have a name?"

"The diaper bag that was stuck in the car had the name Madeline on it. They were still trying to extricate the mother, but the police hadn't found any ID. The car was smashed up pretty bad. They'll bring her here, I'm sure, if she makes it. She was unconscious with a pretty obvious head trauma."

"How many cars?" the doctor asked.

"In the pile up? Ten or so. Four people were declared at the scene already. May be more now."

"Thanks," he said as he focused all of his attention on the child in front of him. She was a pretty little girl with a little bit of light brown, almost blonde, hair on her head, and his heart couldn't help but break a little for her. "Hey Madeline. Or does your family call you Maddie, huh?" He began to examine her wrist and her cries turned into screams.

"Damn Karev, you make them cry at any age. Which wrist?" Callie walked in, pulling gloves on and immediately moved next to him.

"Very funny. It's the left one. It's definitely tender."

Callie lifted the arm only to have Madeline scream out in pain. "Oh, yeah. It's broken. Probably not badly, but it doesn't really matter when your this small. Other injuries?"

Alex looked up at the other doctor, nodding. "We're going to head up to radiology as soon as my intern gets back with a crib. Belly is hard. Probably some internal bleeding."

Looking back over the child, Callie shook her head. "God. Scary. What's her name?"

"Madeline, at least that's what the paramedic called her. Saw the name on a diaper bag at the scene. Mom's still in the car. Probably won't make it, though, by the sound of things."

"That sucks."

At that moment, the young intern re-entered the exam room, rolling a crib behind her. "CT's ready for her."

Alex looked at Callie. "You going to have to set it?"

"Probably, but if you're going to have to put her under anyway I'll do it then. It'll be less traumatic. Go on up to radiology and add an x-ray of the arm, and I'll meet you in OR 3."

Alex was already placing the girl in the crib and backing out of the room. "We'll page you."

Meredith shivered in the cold as she waited for the third ambulance. Alex had taken an infant up to raidology. Cristina had rushed a truck driver into an OR. He was in cardiac arrest, which was likely the cause of the massive pile up. Now she was just waiting for a woman who'd had to be extricated with the jaws of life. Paramedics reported significant head trauma. Her first case as a neuro attending.

Finally the rig screeched to a halt in front of her. The doors opened.

"Isobel Stevens, 33, obvious head trauma, prolonged extrication. ..."

Her eyes went wide as she looked up at the face of the woman on the gurney. "Oh my God! Izzie!" They quickly rushed the patient into the ER, and Meredith began yelling instructions to the nurses and interns. "Someone stat page Dr. Shepard. And Dr. Bailey. 911." Then she turned back to the paramedic on the other side of the gurney. "Did she regain consciousness at all?"

The man nodded. "Once. She called out for Maddie. There was a child in the car with her."

"What?" Her forehead wrinkled with confusion.

"A baby was in the car, in the back seat."

Meredith shook her head, trying to comprehend what the paramedic was saying. "Are you sure they were in the same car. It was a pile up, right?"

"They were definitely in the same car. They told us they were bringing the baby here."

"Holy crap," the doctor muttered under her breath as she began to examine the woman that she hadn't seen in more than three years. Within a few minutes, Derek and Bailey rushed in and the paramedic disappeared.

"What have you g ..." Bailey's voice faded out as she saw who was laying on the table. "Oh my God!"

Derek looked at his wife, her eyes betraying her skills. He immediately took over as relief washed over Meredith's face. "What's her ICP?"

"Don't know yet," she said, trying to catch her breath. "We're waiting on a monitor."

"Get it now!" Derek directed his voice toward a first year resident. "And let CT know that we're coming up."

Bailey scanned the vitals. "We need to intubate her. Her resps are low. She's not getting much oxygen." They all began to rush around, each one doing the job that they knew by heart, but were now second guessing at each decision.

Bailey stood above her head, ready to intubate, when Izzie's mouth opened slightly. "M-maddie," she whispered, eyes never opening.

"Izzie? Izzie? Can you open your eyes?" Bailey tried to talk to her, but she didn't move again. Monitors suddenly started blaring. "Damn it. Stats are dropping." In moments, Izzie had the tube down her throat, and her vitals had rebounded.

Meredith let out breath she didn't know she was holding.

"All right, let's move her. Now." Derek directed the bed, with the help of some of the nurses toward the elevator, leaving Meredith and Bailey behind in the exam room.

"Meredith." Bailey looked at her former intern with concern. "Who's Maddie?"

Without saying a word, Meredith's eyes met the other woman's, willing her to understand, wordlessly begging her not to make her say it out loud.

Thanks for reading! Should I continue? Let me know in the REVIEW section!