Baby Grey (Grey's Anatomy) ABANDONED

Five

"Have you seen her? The baby?" Erin asked. Meredith nodded slowly.

"You've been out for a while. It's Tuesday. Cristina, uh, she had an ectopic pregnancy. They don't think she'll ever be able to have kids," Meredith said, smoothing Erin's hair down.

"Shit few days for us lot, then," Erin muttered.

"You're telling me," Meredith sighed. "Bailey's been nice enough to let me do scut so I could sneak off and check on you and Cristina as often as I wanted. George is on mom duty. She thinks he's dad and she shouted to the whole hospital that she knew he wanted to leave long before he did so why didn't he just leave? She could take care of us," Meredith scoffed.

"Did you hear her screaming at me? You're a monster, your perversion, bla bla bla. Believe me, mom, liking girls is not a choice. You learn that after trying to condition yourself that you're straight from the age of eight because you know your mom would kill you if she saw the way you looked at pretty girls in skirts," Erin rolled her eyes. Meredith chuckled weakly.

"What a fucking week," she said.

"Agreed," Erin said. She leaned her head against Meredith's shoulder. "I don't know how things are gonna work out," she said.

"Me either, Er-bear. Me either," Meredith whispered, kissing her temple.

The door opened after half an hour. Addison stood there with a small baby cot in front of her. She wheeled it in, Dr. Bailey following. They closed the door and pulled the blinds shut. Addison wheeled the bed to beside Erin's and looked at Meredith and Erin for permission. Meredith looked at Erin. She nodded and Addison lifted the tiny bundle from the bed, handing it over to Erin.

The baby was tiny. She was small enough to fit on top of Erin's palm and she had small hands. Her arms and legs were thin and looked twig-like. Her skin wasn't quite skin-coloured, yet, still opaque, quite red, purple and blue from the body developing. Her eyes were glued shut, too early to open them, and she had the tiniest nose and lips.

She was wrapped in a pink blanket and the blanket was warm. Erin knew that hospitals warmed blankets because dead babies were cold and terrifying. The blanket gave a false sense of security. It gave false hope that their baby hadn't died in pain. Erin knew that the baby was too young to feel pain, she knew that, but she knew more than anything that this baby had suffered through this entire ordeal.

The room was eerily silent as Erin stared down at her baby. Meredith was still stroking Erin's hair, watching for any signs of a breakdown, but they didn't come. Erin just stared at the baby.

"Would you like to do a birth certificate, Erin?" Dr. Bailey asked quietly.

"We didn't pick out a name," Erin said, eyes not leaving her daughter's face.

"We have time," Addison said softly. "We can take her prints while you think. And you can hold her for as long as you need," she said.

"Mermaid," Erin said.

"Yeah, darling?" Meredith asked.

"Can you take her? I'm gonna be sick," Erin said. Meredith took the baby quickly and Bailey shoved a sick-bucket under Erin's mouth just in time for her to vomit. She pulled back after a minute and took the napkin from Addison, wiping her mouth weakly. Bailey left to dispose of the vomit and Addison poured Erin a glass of water. Erin sipped it silently.

"Erin, do you want her again or are you done?" Meredith asked quietly. Erin looked at the baby and then at Meredith.

"You have all the time you want, Erin," Addison said. Erin nodded and Meredith handed her back open. Bailey walked in again, closing the door behind herself.