Highway to Hell

Chapter 24

Chapter 24

Derek was at the cafeteria with his mom and  Zola when he got paged. "Mom, watch Zo please. I have to go." He said frantically as he ran to Meredith's room.

He ran to her room and saw her sats dropping rapidly. "Derek, we need to intubate!" Bailey yelled. Derek froze. "Shepherd!"

Derek snapped out of his trance. "D-do what you need." He stammered as he watched helplessly as Bailey navigated a tube down his wife's throat.

"Someone help me attach her to the vent." Bailey ordered. An intern wheeled the ventilator to her and Bailey connected her.

"Okay. I want another CT to see if she jostled anything."

"What happened?" Derek asked, still shocked at what he just saw. "She got very upset. Started hitting her legs and yelling for them to work. She had a panic attack, and I'm guessing her lungs couldn't handle that." Bailey explained.

"I shouldn't have left." Derek muttered as he looked at his wife.

"Stop. Do not blame yourself Shepherd. Your daughter needed you. Now, go sit with your mother and daughter and eat something while we bring her up for scans. I'll get you when we're done."

"Bailey-"

"Go." She said sternly. Derek swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded, watching his intubated and unconscious Meredith get wheeled to CT.

•••

Derek got back to the cafeteria and sat down. "What happened?" His mother asked.

"She's intubated. She...." Derek trailed off, his voice breaking. "Oh, Derek honey." Carolyn said sadly. "I'm so sorry."

"I don't....I don't know what to do...."

"She'll be okay. Go be with her."

"Thanks mom. Bye Zo, I'll see you later." Derek said, giving his daughter and mom a kiss on the cheek.

•••

Meredith was loaded into the machine while Bailey paged Richard for a second pair of eyes.

"She's intubated? What  happened?" Richard asked as he stepped into the room.

"She had a panic attack and her lungs couldn't handle it. Take a look at these scans when they're up." Bailey responded.

"Damn." Richard muttered under his breath at the situation. "How's Derek doing?"

Bailey shook her head. "Not good. Can't blame him."

"Scans are up." The lab tech said.

"Fluid in the lungs. Damn. We have to get rid of that as soon as possible." Richard said.

Bailey and Richard went into the machine room. "She has fluid in her lungs, which is probably why we had to intubate. We need to perform a thoracentesis once we get her back into her room." Bailey said to the interns standing.

As they were wheedling Meredith out, Derek came up. "Didn't I tell you-"

"What did they show?" Derek cut off. "Fluid in the lungs. We're performing a thoracentesis in a moment." Richard replied.

Thoracocentesis. That wasn't too life threatening. She would be okay.

•••

Meredith was brought back to her room and transferred back to the bed. "Shepherd, you staying or leaving for this?" Richard asked. "Staying."

"Inserting the needle." Bailey said. Derek winced visibly as the needle was inserted into his wife's chest. Bailey retracted the needle, and deposited the fluid into a nearby basin.

After a few minutes, Bailey finished the small procedure and put the needle down. "Assuming this clears up her lungs, you know she should breathe on her own. We'll lower her sedation in a few hours, I want her to get some oxygen for a while." Richard explained.

"Okay. Thank you." Derek replied, holding Meredith's small hand in his larger one. "We will be back in a little bit. Hang tight Derek. She's a fighter." Bailey said.

Derek turned his attention back to his wife and sighed. "Hopefully you'll be awake soon Mer, so we can get that tube out. It's only been an hour but I miss you."

"When you're up we have to talk about that panic attack. We can't be having that, Mer. I need you to let me know how you're feeling. What you're feeling. And not just for your health. I'm your husband, you can tell me anything."

"I don't like seeing you in pain or emotional distress. Remember you had that one panic attack a while back? In the supply room? I want to be able to comfort you like I did then. We weren't even together then either. Just let me in. We've been doing really well, but I want to do better." Derek said genuinely.

"I'm going to go see Zo. I'll be back soon. I love you more than anything." He whispered, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead and walking out of the room.

•••

Derek met his mom in the cafeteria once again. "Da!" Zola exclaimed with a big smile. "Ma?"

"You'll see her soon." Derek lied. "No?" Zola asked with a frown. Derek's heart broke at his daughter's sad expression. "Not now. Mamas sick."

"Ma." Zola said, as the tears began falling. "Oh, Zo Zo." Derek murmured, holding Zola close. She buried her head into his chest and cried. Derek rubbed her back soothingly, while bobbing up and down, trying to calm her down.

"Zo, mama will be awake soon. Do you want grandma to make some cookies?" Carolyn asked as she stood up. Zola sniffled and reached her arms out to the older woman, who graciously took her in her arms.

"I'll take her home. You're staying here?" Carolyn asked. Derek nodded. "Thanks mom. I'll see you tomorrow Zo Zo. I love you, and so does mama."

"Lub?" Zola asked, trying to save love. "Yes, love." Derek smiled. "Bye Derek." His mom said. "Bye mom. Thanks again."

Derek went back to Meredith's room and took a seat, holding her hand. Now, it was just the waiting game again.

Hey guys! We hope you all enjoyed this chapter and we hope your all doing well. As usual, go follow my amazingly talented co writer, _Ktje_