Erin, Meredith, Cristina, Lexie, April, Jackson and Alex ran down the hallways towards the ambulance bay. They'd been waiting for Dr. Fields but at nine fifty-eight, they'd all been paged to the ER for an emergency incoming.
"What is it?" Erin shouted to Bailey.
"Erin, come here," Bailey said. Bailey waved the others over to Derek and the chief while Bailey pulled Erin to the side. "I'm telling you separately because I don't want you to go into shock because right now, you need to focus on your baby," she said.
"Bailey, what's wrong?" Erin grabbed her arm. "Just tell me," she said.
"Callie and Mark were in a car crash with a truck. We don't know anything else. He is are going to need someone to keep him calm and right now, a situation like this could cause you to go into shock and we do not need you miscarrying the baby after last time," Bailey said.
Erin felt tears well up in her eyes but she nodded. She knew Bailey was right. She had panic attacks when she was stressed or anxious and right now, she was both. She had to stand back from this situation and help Mark stay calm.
"Okay," she whispered.
"Okay," Bailey nodded.
They hurried out to the ambulance bay as the ambulance pulled up. Erin grabbed Arizona and pulled her out of the way so they could unload Callie and Mark.
Mark climbed out of the ambulance and Arizona let go of Erin, running to his side.
"What happened? What happened?" she asked, scanning a battered, bruised and bleeding Callie on the gurney. Erin felt her stomach drop but she forced herself to move to Arizona's side.
"A truck came out of nowhere," Mark said quietly.
"Let's get her inside!" Owen shouted. The rest of the doctors wheeled her in, Erin, Arizona and Mark hurrying after them to the trauma room.
"Is there a fetal heartbeat?" Arizona asked over the hustle and bustle, noticing how terrified Mark looked. "Is there a fetal heartbeat?" she said louder.
"Lucy!" Mark shouted.
"Shut up so I can listen!" Lucy shouted back. She moved the wand over Callie's stomach and they all stayed quiet for a minute. The heartbeat of the baby echoed around the room and Erin sighed in relief.
The monitor started beeping rapidly and she felt Arizona latch onto her arm.
"V-fib!" Richard shouted.
"Charge to two hundred!" Owen grabbed the paddles, Teddy slapping the pads down on Callie's chest. Erin grabbed Mark's hand, feeling him squeeze tightly while they watched Callie get shocked.
Her monitor started picking up again and Mark let out a sob.
"She's back," Richard said.
"Get her to the OR now," Teddy said loudly.
They started wheeling her out, Erin, Arizona and Mark following.
"Grey, patch Sloan up!" Owen called. Erin nodded and pulled Mark back from the elevator. Arizona followed Callie to make sure she was okay for Mark.
"Hey, hey, hey, she's with them so she's in good hands. Right now, we need to get you patched up so we know that you're okay," Erin said. Mark and Erin watched as the doors to the elevator closed before Mark turned to Erin with tears streaming down his blood-stained cheeks.
"A truck came out of nowhere," he whispered.
"I know," Erin said. "Let's go and fix you up, okay?" Erin said. Mark nodded slowly and let Erin lead him back to the ER so they could patch him up.
"Grey, you're close with Addison, right?" Richard met Erin outside the ICU that afternoon.
"Yeah, why?" she asked.
"You need to call her. Fields has no idea what she's doing," Richard said. Erin nodded and pulled her phone out, dialing Addison's number.
She leaned against the nurses desk while she waited for Addison to answer, eyes firmly on Arizona and Mark stood at the side of Callie's bed. Arizona was talking to Mark about the accident, considering Callie and Arizona were best friends now.
"Erin? Hey," Addison answered.
"Hey, Addie. So, I need a favour. It's a big one but it's urgent," Erin said, walking down the hallway for some privacy.
"What's wrong?" she asked.
"Callie's pregnant, right?"
"Yeah, with Mark's baby."
"Well, she and Mark were in an accident. Our OB here is out of her league and the baby, we don't know what's gonna happen. You need to get here and do something because if we don't act fast, they're both gonna die," Erin said quietly.
"I'm gonna fly over in a helicopter. I'll be a few hours but I'll get the pilot to talk to Richard when we're close. Are you okay?" Addison asked.
"This isn't about me, Addie. I'm fine. Just be quick, okay? And prepare yourself. This isn't pretty," Erin said.
"I'll be there as soon as I can," Addison ended the call. She walked back down the hallway to Richard.
"Well?" he said.
"She's getting here as quick as she can. She said she'll get the pilot to get in touch when they're close," Erin said.
"Good. Thank you," Richard said. Erin nodded and sat at the nurses desk, putting her hand over her stomach, feeling the baby kicking a ton. "What is it? You had your scan this morning, didn't you?" he asked.
"No. We got paged before we could," Erin said.
"Do you want me to send Fields to do it? She can't deliver Callie's baby but she could do an ultrasound," he said.
"No, it's okay. Right now, we need all attention on Callie. Kermit's kicking up a storm so I know we're fine. Callie and her baby, they aren't," Erin said.
"Are you sure?" he said.
"I'm sure," Erin said.
"Okay," he nodded.
"Erin!" someone called. Erin spun around on her chair at the ICU nurses desk, seeing Addison walking towards her in scrubs.
"Addison," Erin stood up and walked over.
"You're... You're pregnant," Addison stared at her stomach. Erin looked down.
"Yeah. I didn't tell you?" she asked.
"We haven't talked for a while," Addison said. "You look great! How far along are you?" she asked.
"Five months. I was meant to have my scan this morning but then this happened and, well, yeah," Erin motioned to Callie's bed.
"We're taking her back into the OR tomorrow. I could take you for one now, if you wanted," Addison said.
"No, no. If it's bad news, I won't be able to handle it. If it's good news, I'll feel terrible. We don't even know if their baby is gonna survive and here I am flaunting my baby in their face," Erin said quietly.
"Are you sure?" Addison said.
"I'm sure. Thank you, though," Erin said.
"What did Jesse say?" Addison said.
"Jesse terminated his parental rights as soon as I told him. I was two months along," Erin shrugged.
"Really?" Addison's mouth dropped open. "He seemed so nice compared to Rob," she said.
"After the shooting, we started falling apart. We both got distant, we didn't talk about anything and he just started avoiding me. I don't care anymore. It's shit but it's happened so what can you do?" Erin shrugged.
"I'm sorry," Addison said.
"Don't be. Look, I gotta go and get some sleep if I'm gonna have to do a day like this again tomorrow. Sorry," Erin said.
"No, it's okay. You going home?" Addison asked.
"No, probably not. Arizona will end up getting in with me so I'm gonna crash on the on-call room on this floor," Erin said.
"Okay. I'll tell her where you are if she asks," Addison said.
"Thank you," Erin said, walking down the hallway to the on-call room.
Erin stepped into the OR Callie was in, holding a mask over her mouth.
"You waved me down from the viewing gallery," Erin said.
"If I need to operate on the baby, Richard said you could scrub in with me because you know how I work. Right now, I need someone who knows my next move in the OR," Addison said to Erin. Callie's monitors started beeping rapidly. "Go and get scrubbed in," Addison said quickly.
"Okay," Erin said. She ducked back out and ran into the scrub room, starting to scrub in as quickly as she could.
She ran into the OR and got gowned and gloved, joining Addison by the smaller table where she had Callie and Mark's daughter, three months premature.
"I don't have a heartbeat," Addison whispered.
"Okay," Erin nodded, taking over CPR for Addison while she got the intubating tray ready. Erin took the blade and opened the baby's mouth, intubating her quickly. Addison started squeezing the oxygen pump.
"We got a heartbeat?" Alex asked quietly. Erin put her stethoscope over the little girl's chest but she couldn't hear over the hustle and bustle.
"Everybody shut up!" she shouted. The OR fell silent and she closed her eyes. "I've got a heartbeat. We've got a baby girl," Erin said, looking at Addison.
"Okay. Let's get her up to the NICU and get her fully looked over by Robbins," Addison said.
"Okay," Erin and Alex said, putting the baby in the incubator tray to wheel her to the NICU.
"Okay, Callie and the baby are both okay. It's time to find out about your little one," Addison joined Erin and Arizona at the nurses desk where they were eating their dinner. They were eating tacos she'd begged Arizona to pick up for her. Arizona was sat beside her eating her tacos, a tired look on her face.
"It's late, Addison. I need to eat, I have sore feet and after today, all I want to do is sleep," Erin said.
"We should go," Arizona said, putting her taco down. "After today, don't you want to know Kermit's okay?" she said quietly. Erin nodded.
"Of course I do but I can feel the baby kicking me so I know everything is fine. I can't take anymore bad news," she said.
"It won't be bad news. Kicking is a good sign. So, let's go and make sure that everything is good and see if you have a little boy or a little girl," Addison said.
"Come on," Arizona stood up, holding her hand out. Erin sighed and put her tacos down, taking Arizona's hand. She helped Erin to her feet and the two of them followed Addison down the hallway towards the OB floor.
"Where are you guys going?" Meredith and Cristina looked up as they passed them on the stairs.
"For my scan," Erin said.
"Let's go," Meredith helped Cristina to her feet and they followed Addison, Erin and Arizona. They passed Lexie, Jackson and April at the next nurses desk, who joined the group of them silently.
Addison opened the door to one of the OB rooms to reveal Alex already in there with the monitor set up. Erin climbed up onto the bed and pulled her scrub top up enough to reveal her bump.
"You look a good size for five months, very good size," Addison said. Erin nodded and Addison put the gel on Erin's stomach. She took the wand from Alex, starting to rub the gel in. "Okay, here is your baby," Addison turned the screen towards Erin.
Arizona grabbed Erin's hand and she intertwined their fingers together.
"The heartbeat?" she asked. Addison pressed a button and the baby's heartbeat echoed around the room.
"Nice and strong," Addison smiled. Erin sighed in relief, closing her eyes as she leaned back against the bed.
"That's good," Jackson said.
"Very good," Meredith agreed.
"You wanna know the sex?" Addison said.
"Yeah," Erin opened her eyes again. Addison nodded, moving the wand around again.
"Okay, baby is moving a lot. I can't see," Addison mumbled.
"Arizona, talk to the baby," Erin sighed. Arizona often spent nights in her room just talking to the baby when it was kicking up a storm, managing to calm the baby down enough to let Erin fall asleep.
Arizona put one hand on the side of Erin's stomach where the gel wasn't.
"Hey, Kermit. It's me, Arizona. You wanna talk about your mom's latest surgery?" she whispered. This was how she calmed the baby, telling it stories about what surgeries she or Erin had done. Occasionally, she'd tell the baby surgical stories about Alex, Meredith and Cristina's surgeries, too.
"The baby likes your voice," Addison smiled slightly at Arizona.
"It's the only way I get to sleep half the time. Kermit is a little kicker," Erin sighed, feeling the baby start to settle in her stomach.
"Mommy delivered Mark and Callie's baby today. It's a little girl. You're gonna love her. She's too little to play with you right now but by the time you get here, she'll be big enough to teach you the ropes of being a baby," Arizona whispered.
Erin looked at Arizona with soft eyes, smiling at how happy she looked. Her blue eyes were shining and her thumb was stroking across the bullet scar that was stretching every day with her growing stomach.
"Yeah, I got a clear reading. You ready?" Addison smiled. Erin dragged her eyes away from Arizona, looking back at the monitor.
"Yeah," Erin said.
"Okay. You have a little boy," Addison smiled, showing them the monitor. Erin felt tears slide down her cheeks and she shook her head, wiping her tears.
"Erin?" Meredith asked, stepping forward.
"And he's okay? He's okay?" she asked.
"He's healthy, he's got all ten fingers, all ten toes and he's developing at the correct rate for a baby this far along. He's completely fine, Erin," Addison said.
"Are you sure?" Erin cried.
"Yes, I'm sure. Would you like me to get a second opinion?" Addison said.
"I just want to know my baby is okay," Erin cried.
"Okay, everybody out," Meredith said. They all stared at her. "You heard me! Get out," she said.
Everybody slowly filed out, Arizona squeezing Erin's hand before leaving her with Meredith. Addison put the wand on the side for Meredith and left the room, closing the door over.
"Okay. Let's do this," Meredith picked up the wand, moving it around Erin's stomach. "This is your son, Erin. Here are all ten of his toes and his legs, then his little cute butt. We have his back and then his arms, all ten fingers. And here we have his head. You can see his nose, there. He has your nose," Meredith said slowly, moving the wand over each body part. "And this is his heartbeat," Meredith said, moving it back over his heartbeat. She pressed the button and they listened to his heartbeat.
"He's okay?" Erin whispered.
"He's okay. Listen," Meredith said. They listened for a few seconds. "Strong, consistent, stable. He's a little fighter," she said. She took a few photographs before wiping off the gel. She moved the monitor and climbed onto the bed beside Erin. "He's healthy, Erin. He's healthy and he's alive. That's what matters, okay? I know you're scared. We didn't get further than this last time and this is terrifying, especially with what happened to Callie, but you and the baby are okay," Meredith said.
"I know but it's scary. Callie's baby is so tiny and she's barely older than Quinn was and she might die," Erin cried.
"I know," Meredith stroked Erin's hair out of her face. "But she's got all of us to make sure she's okay and when your son comes, we're gonna be here to make sure he's okay, too. You're not alone and neither are they. Whatever happens, we get through it. You know why?" Meredith said.
"Why?" Erin sniffed.
"Because we're a family and that's what family does," she said. Erin nodded, wiping her tears. She looked down at her stomach.
"I'm having a boy," she said. Meredith chuckled.
"You are. Better get to work picking your names," she said.
"I know," Erin said. She sighed tiredly. "Is it bad that all I want to do is go home and eat a bag of marshmallows in the bath?" she said.
"Yeah, 'cause you hate marshmallows," Meredith said.
"Kermit doesn't. Can we go home?" she said.
"Yeah, darling. We can go home," Meredith said.
They got up and Meredith took the scan photographs. They opened the door and everybody looked at them.
"You okay?" Arizona said.
"I'm okay. Just a little freak out," Erin said, rubbing her stomach. "We want to go home and Kermit wants marshmallows, which I hate, so I can't wait to deal with feeling ill later," Erin said.
"What about marshmallow flavoured sweets?" Arizona said.
"Won't cut it," Erin shook her head. "I just want to go home and get some rest. It's been a long few days," Erin said.
"Let's go, then," Arizona held her hand out. Erin took it, threading their fingers together.
"Thank you, Addie," she said. Addison smiled.
"I'm proud of you. For today and for being such a great mom already. Your son is so lucky to have you," Addison said. Erin smiled and Addison pulled her into a hug. "Don't be a stranger. Call me as soon as he's here and I want pictures. And I want to meet him so I'll fly back or you guys can fly over when he's a bit bigger. You can stay with me and Amelia," Addison said.
"Thank you, Addie," Erin said again. Addison kissed her forehead.
"I have to get back to LA but if you need anything, call," Addison said.
"I will," Erin said. Addison nodded goodbye to everybody else and left the hallway.
"You ready?" Arizona squeezed Erin's hand.
"I'm ready," she said.
"Hey, Cal," Erin walked into Callie's ICU room with a grin. "So, now we know I'm having a boy, I've had to get creative with the outfits," she said, putting a gift bag on the table at the end of the bed.
"Let me see," Callie croaked.
Erin pulled out the first two outfits. One was a white baby grow and a pale pink waistcoat and the other was a pale pink dress in the same shade.
"I had to pick something fancy, just in case there was another prom to take them to," Erin said.
"I love the waistcoat," Callie hummed.
"They're gonna look adorable. And then I got these," Erin pulled out two babygrows. One said 'Double' and the other said 'Trouble'. "They're our kids so they're gonna cause a hell of a lot of trouble," Erin said.
"Good point," Callie said. Erin's pager beeped and she pulled it out.
"Okay, I have to go and meet Arizona in the CT lab but I will see you later, okay?" she said.
"Okay," Callie said. "Tell her how you feel!" she called after Erin.
"Shut up!" Erin called back at her.
"You... Wow. That kids looks screwed," Alex walked into the CT lab to see Erin and Arizona staring at scans on the board.
"He is. He has five different cardiac and abdominal defects. I'm supposed to operate on him next week," Arizona said.
"That's awesome. Can we scrub in?" Alex asked.
"Yeah, if you can get us to Africa," Arizona said softly.
"Hmm?" Alex frowned.
"I was supposed to go back there next week, but now I have a very sick little girl to look after here for my best friend and I can't leave Callie while she's in the ICU. She needs me to be there for Sofia," Arizona explained.
"Fly him out here," Alex said.
"Yeah, I've tried, but you can't imagine the red tape and the money. And there's a dozen more like him that I'd want to do the same thing for. Trying to find someone to help 'em out over there. I just... I made a promise, that's all," Arizona trailed off. She sighed. "I'm gonna go and check on Sofia," she said.
"Send our love," Erin said. Arizona smiled and left the CT lab.
"Can we do anything?" he said.
"Unless you're sitting on a shit ton of money I don't know about, then no. We're useless," Erin sighed. "Come on. Kermit wants chicken nuggets," she said.
"Of course he does," Alex chuckled.