Don't Give Up On Me

Chapter 21

Monday, 12:17pm

"You're interns, grunts, bottom of the surgical food chain. You run labs, write orders, and work every second night until you drop. And you don't complain." Cristina yelled as she strutted down the steps of the hospital.

A small group of terrified young interns followed her. Today marked day one of residency for the most rambunctious group of surgeons the hospital had seen in a long time.

Cristina was upset. It felt like abandonment to make this monumental transition without Meredith. She had gone to see her person this morning, reassuring her;

"This will just level out the playing field. We all know once you come back, you're gonna kick all our asses, and shark all our surgeries."

Cristina paused her speech to the interns, coming to an abrupt halt near the nurses station. The group following her stopped, waiting for their residents' instruction.

"Go make yourselves busy." She ordered. They all looked at her, eyes wide.

"You heard me, scram!" She snapped when nobody moved. The interns scattered quickly, and Cristina returned her attention to the waiting room.

Bailey and Derek stood deep in conversation. Each looked extremely concerned. Cristina quickly made her way over to them.

"What's going on?" Cristina asked. She could feel the vulture-like glares of the Shepherd sisters on the back of her neck.

"I don't know. Bailey was just about to tell me." Derek said, getting impatient. Bailey fished in her scrubs pocket, producing a lab report sheet.

"Meredith's lab results indicate postoperative staphylococcus-" She began, reading from the sheet.

"What?" Derek exclaimed, frantic.

"In cancer patients that infection can be-" Cristina began.

"-fatal, yes." Bailey interjected sternly. "Now if you two would let me speak-"

She was interrupted again, this time by a beeping pager. Her features etched an expression of fear.

"It's Meredith." The three doctors ran to the ICU. Meredith looked completely different than she had just hours ago.

"What's wrong?" Derek demanded as he reached the bedside. Swinder observed Meredith's vitals, concerned as Tom Koracik examined her pupils.

"She started showing neurological symptoms. It could just be a result of her high fever and low blood pressure. But I'd like to run a spinal tap to rule out viral meningitis.

"A spinal tap?" Bailey exclaimed. She knew how painful this procedure could be for patients, and Meredith had already been through so much.

"If this is meningitis, we need to intervene now to prevent permanent neurological damage." Tom urged. Derek just looked down at the face of his terrified girlfriend.

"Derr-" She slurred, eyes widened and unfocused.
Derek placed a comforting hand on her cheek and looked up at Tom and Swinder.

"Do it."

—-

Meredith lay in the ICU bed, propped on her side. Doctors raced behind her, prepping for the procedure.
Derek frowned at her ragged breathing as he sat in front of her, holding her hand.

"If it gets any harder to breathe, we may have to intubate you." He said sadly, adjusting the nasal cannula as if it may make a difference.

"It's o-okay. I'll b-be okay." She choked out, nodding her head.