A/N: Thanks for reading!
Here we go!
"I thought you were taking me home," Amelia asked before she realized she didn't even really know where home would be, now.
"We're just taking... a little detour," Owen said as they drove down a quiet dark road.
"Where?" she peered into the darkness.
Owen remained silent as the truck climbed a hill.
"Oh," Amelia sighed as she saw the sign for the cemetery
Gravel crunched under the tires as they slowed down, and finally stopped.
"Umm, you don't have to... I mean-," Owen gripped the steering wheel and stared ahead. "I-," he gestured futilely, before letting out a breath. "We can go if you want."
She stared out at the stone-marked field, considering it. "What should I do? Just..."
"You can talk, yell, kick scream... cry... any of it. All of it. Just... let it out, Amelia."
Slowly... achingly slow, she slid out of the truck. For a minute or two, she just stood there, staring. "Owen?" she called. "I don't even... I don't remember where-," She hadn't been here since the funeral, and she'd never even considered coming again.
He appeared right beside her with a flashlight. "I can take you." He slid his arm into the crook of her elbow, and she found herself being pulled gently along the grassy path until they came to her brother's gravestone.
She swallowed. "I-," she started.
A warmth came over her back, Owen, rubbing her in small circles between her shoulder blades.
"Oh," Amelia gasped, "Oh... Derek!" It hit her all at once. The pain. Everything. Her last memories of him before he died, her last thoughts...
"He's getting married, you know..." Nancy droned over the phone.
"What?" Amelia almost choked.
"Mom gave him the Ring. The Ring, Amelia"
"Oh," she whispered.
"Ugh, I can't believe it either, but well... he's Derek. And you know how lovesick he gets..."
"Yeah," Amelia supplied.
"Well, I've got to go pick up the kids... Ciao little sis. Take care in LA."
She sat there for a long time, staring at her phone. She could call him... just say 'congratulations.'
Would he even answer?
And then she imagined his voice, full of snark. "What do you want now Amy?" Because she'd used him before. Taken advantage of him, pulled him into the deep end with her. She'd hurt him, damaged his psyche on more than one occasion. He didn't want to talk to her.
Still... she picked up the phone and dialed, pressed talk, and... before it could ring she hung up.
She couldn't do it. She wasn't strong enough.
She would end up regretting it, because the last time she heard about him was from her mom, informing her that he'd been shot to death in a freaking OR.
She tried to bury it, but it was too much. Her baby too. Her unicorn baby...Her hands wrapped around her stomach in a protective gesture, and she sank to her knees, a blithering mess.
But through it all, Owen was there. His strong arms wrapped around her, his hand on the top of her head, pulling her to him, and they rested against the gravestone.
xxx
Lexie hung up her phone. She'd been trying to call Mark for the last hour, but he still wouldn't pick up. Sighing, she curled up on the couch in his tiny apartment and leaned back. She would try not to worry. He did say he'd be late because of the traffic.
She wanted to eat something, but strangely nothing in the house appealed to her. Even the oreo cookies she'd stashed in the top cupboard.
She swallowed back her nausea. Maybe she could ping his phone and find out where he was...
Or was that stalking? Was she really that immature? She sighed. "I'm an adult," she said out loud. "Mark's an adult. And he loves me. And... I can be mature... I can wait for him to come home, like every other sane person. Right?"
A thought occurred to her. She could cook dinner. Mark loved home-cooked meals. Picking up her phone again, she looked up some dinner ideas.
An hour ago:
"Just tell me, Mark..." Callie begged over the phone. "Tell me what to do!"
Mark hesitated for a second. Was he the mature one in this situation? Holy crap, as Lexie would say. He sighed as he navigated his corvette down the freeway, thinking. Arizona hadn't seemed like the cheating type... until, well, until she cheated. But still, she seemed to really want to try and make this work, and if there is one thing that Mark knew about Arizona, it was that she loved Callie. Very much.
"So you have proof she cheated on you?" he asked.
"Yes!" Callie blurted. He waited...
"No, not exactly..." Callie sighed despondently.
He smiled a little to himself. Callie was so passionate. In matters of Love, she often acted with her heart, rather than her head. He checked his mirrors, he had to make a turn off in a couple exits. "You need to give her the benefit of the doubt. Arizona loves you. Talk to her Callie," He said as he shoulder checked and changed lanes.
"And say what exactly?" She asked.
He couldn't answer right away... his attention pulled to the commotion behind him, some idiot swerved in the wrong lane and back again. What the hell?
"Mark?"
"Stop trying so hard," he said finally, thinking of him and Lexie. Yeah, he'd done a little grunt work, paid his dues, tried to prove that he was serious about her and wanted to respect her wishes at the same time. Callie, on the other hand, seemed to be looking for a reason not to be with Arizona.
Loving Lexie was easy. It was just there. He just did. So- "If you both love each other the same way, it shouldn't be this hard. And if it is," the loud roar of some kind of diesel pick-up blared at him as he checked his mirrors again. "Maybe you should let her go." He offered, hating himself for saying it... but-
What the-!
The truck careened in front of him, swerved, hit a cement barrier and then swung toward him.
"Mark?" Callie's voice was the last thing he heard.
xxx
Arizona pulled of her bloody surgical gown and mask, and stormed into the scrub room, eyes leaking with tears. This shouldn't have happened... it shouldn't have. Placenta Percreta? How? How did this have to happen to her? To that beautiful mother and baby...
At least the baby was alive, and the tumor resected. She stared out the window at Graham, who was still in shock, crouched against the OR wall. Gritting her teeth in anger, Arizona toweled off her hands and banged the door open. Now she would have to tell the family that Emily was dead. That there was nothing she could do.
When she arrived at the waiting area, however, Dr. Herman was already there with Corey, who just stood there in shock as she appeared to be delivering the news to him.
For a second, their eyes met, and Dr. Herman nodded to her. After a moment, she left Corey silently.
"Dr. Robbins," Herman stated, closing the door behind her.
"What the hell was that? Where were you? You just... you left me- I-,"
"Dr. Robbins," Herman snapped. "Pull yourself together."
Arizona sucked in a breath, her gaze growing cold. How dare she-
"Come with me," Herman said, tucking her labcoat against her.
Arizona followed, stunned. This was it. She wasn't going to put up with this crap anymore. She was through. Herman could screw herself. They entered the attendings lounge, and Arizona opened her mouth, ready to blast her teacher...
Herman strode to the bathroom and the door slammed in her face. Behind the door, Arizona could hear the sound of her retching.
Crap.
"Umm, Dr. Herman?" Arizona asked.
More retching. A little cough. Water ran and the toilet flushed.
The door opened, and Herman pushed past her. "Everything you did today... Everything, was right." She said as she wiped her eyes and nose. "I was watching you through the hospital interface. You made the right call. Every decision you made was the right one." She swallowed, and sat down on the chaise, crossing her legs. Like nothing happened, like she hadn't just blown chunks
"What the hell?" Arizona jerked back, amazed, shocked. "What was this? Some kind of test? What? Just throw me off the deep end to see if I'd swim?"
"The Percreta was unlikely to have been discovered," Herman continued. "The least I could've done was perform an interuterine transfusion, given the baby more time..." She shook her head. "But... without further tests..." she sighed.
"You're not answering my questions." Arizona stated, "Where the hell were you? I needed you. The patient needed you. What is wrong with you?"
"I'm sorry, I needed the day off. My doctor wanted me to take another round of chemo... and... it hit me harder than I thought it would."
"Wait... what?" Chemo? She had cancer?
As if reading her mind, Herman gazed sternly at her. "I have a brain tumor. I've been told it's inoperable," she shrugged. "I have about six months, if my oncologist is right. Which is why I'm glad I chose you for this fellowship."
Arizona sucked in a breath. She felt dizzy, so she slowly sank down onto the couch beside Herman.
"So," Dr. Herman leaned forward, "Are you still in?"
Xxx
"Dr. Pierce?"
Maggie looked up at the lab tech. God, her thoughts were miles away. "I have your lab results..." he handed her a brown envelope.
"Of course," she smiled slightly, "Thank you," tucking them in her arm, she frowned. She still hadn't heard from Meredith about the home check. She shrugged, maybe no news is good news?
Speaking of news... the results of the biopsy of the tumor on April's unborn baby. She pulled it out and her heart sank.
The cells were malignant. It was likely the tumor would grow and block the blood flow to the heart. Maggie sighed, her heart heavy.
She strode down the hall, took the elevator to the third floor and continued walking until she got to the place April said she'd be.
The chapel.
There she was, slouched slightly on the pew, hand resting on her bump as Karen prayed over her.
Maggie glanced at the results, and then back at the mother-daughter pair. Jackson was nowhere to be found. Probably with Noah or something. She wanted to go ahead and tell them... but looking at them, fervently in prayer... she just couldn't. Tomorrow. She'd tell them tomorrow.
She knew what would cheer her up though. A trip to the dollar store to buy supplies for Zola's party.
xxx
An hour and a half later, Maggie knocked on the door of Meredith's house, plastic bags full of glitter and purple and shiny stuff. "Hello?" she called out as she entered. "Mere?"
Nothing.
Strange, Maggie thought. Her car was in the driveway... but something felt... off.
"Hello," a voice said, "You must be a friend of Meredith's." An older woman stepped into the living room from the kitchen.
"I... Who are you?" Maggie asked.
"Carolyn," she said, stepping forward and holding out her hand.
Maggie shook it the grip was warm and firm. "Maggie," she introduced herself. "But... how do you know Meredith?"
"I consider her my daughter in law," Carolyn said simply. Maggie did the math in her head. Was this... Derek's mother? "I was worried... I hadn't heard from her in a long time, so I used my air miles to..." Carolyn trailed off, shaking her head. "I'm glad you're here, something happened." Her tone turned business-like, and she gestured to the house. "I arrived to find her in a state of immense panic. The living room... a disaster, and Meredith," she tilted her head to the kitchen, "She hasn't said a word."
Sudden heartbreaking concern struck her. Did something happen with the homestudy? Maggie dropped her bags immediately and strode to the kitchen, Carolyn at her heels. "Mere?" she called, "Meredith?"
Empty grey-green eyes looked up at her, correction, devastated. Meredith swallowed thickly, her fingers sliding over the glass of water in front of her.
"Did Janet- the home check, did-," Maggie stuttered.
But Meredith shook her head once, shutting down any further question.
"Zola?" Maggie couldn't help but ask.
"It's not happening," Meredith whispered. "I'm not- she's not- They don't think I can be her mother."
It didn't make sense. Everything had checked out before. Everthing had been perfect this morning. There was even cookies. Her mother's delicious chocolate chip recipe they'd baked early this morning. Everyone had been so excited. "What? Meredith, what happened?"
"It doesn't matter," Meredith said, her eyes drifting to Carolyn for a second. "It was a stupid idea. I never should've-," her eyes glazed over with a sheen of wetness. Then she stood up suddenly, knocking her chair over.
"Meredith-," Maggie reached for her, but her sister twisted away.
"Don't-," she rasped.
"Dear," Carolyn blocked the door. "What's wrong?"
"Get out of my way," she snarled.
"No," Carolyn crossed her arms. "I'm worried about you. You can talk to me, I care about you."
"Well, you shouldn't." Meredith said coldly. "I'm a Shepherd killer. Derek's dead. Your grandchild is-," she choked. "And Amelia..." she shook her head and narrowed her eyebrows. "Get out of my way."
Carolyn reached for her instead, but Meredith snatched her arm away. "Don't touch me!" she whirled around and stormed out the back door.
A hand to her chest, Carolyn huffed in shock. But Maggie chased after her sister. She wouldn't give up so easily. Except Meredith was already in her car, in the driveway, backing up. Maggie continued to pursue, hoping she would stop, but she didn't.
"Mere!" She called out, but only the screeching of tires answered her.
A/N: Hmm... I wonder where she is going? Guesses? Thanks everyone for your support! You are awesome!