Derek stepped into an elevator behind Owen. They were the only two in there. They had been sent to retrieve gauze and IV kits from central supply. Derek let out a loud sigh.
"What's up?" Owen asked.
"Meredith."
"What's wrong with Meredith?"
"She's 35 weeks pregnant and refused to call my family to tell them. I called them and now she's so mad at me that she slept in the guest room until we got paged."
Owen scoffed quietly, "She loves you, everyone in the whole hospital knows it. It's probably just the hormones. You know she can't control her emotions that well. I've seen her very angry at interns for making a mistake, but I've also seen her crying in empty hallways."
"I hope you know better than to say anything to her about it."
"Yeah, I learned that the hard way." Owen laughed.
"So did I. You really think it's just hormones?"
Owen nodded and turned to face Derek. "Their bodies go through something we can't even begin to imagine. The best we can do it just be there for them, support them, and put up with whatever crap they give us. It's love."
Derek was silent for a moment before he nodded. "You're right."
The elevator doors opened and the men walked out, heading to storage.
A few hours later, the storm was just started and the ER was overstocked as a flow of patients began to arrive. Meredith found herself in a trauma gown trying to get outside to wait for an ambulance, despite the extremely strong winds. Christina appeared behind her.
"What the hell are you doing?" Christina shouted over the wind, grabbing Meredith's arm.
"I'm receiving an ambulance!"
"Not in this wind you're not! Wait inside! They paged me too. I'll bring it in and you can help once we're safely inside!"
"How many times do I have to tell you? Just because-"
"Just because you're pregnant doesn't mean you're less of a doctor," Christina cut her off, rolling her eyes "I know, I know. But let's face it, you have the center of gravity of a cow. Something is going to hit you or you're going to be blown off your feet out here!"
"Christina!"
"Wait inside! Now!" Christina commanded, stepping in front of Meredith so she couldn't go any further out.
Meredith shot her a dirty look and made her way back inside, inwardly sighing with relief that she was safe. But she couldn't let anyone else know that. After a few minutes, Christina came back in on the side of a stretcher yelling at the paramedics and nurses.
Meredith joined her. "What do we got?"
"47 year old male, blunt trauma to the chest and abdomen, let's get him to trauma three and asses, but we'll need a CT to be sure."
Meredith nodded and followed everyone to the trauma room. She stepped back as they transferred the patient from the stretcher to bed as she wasn't allowed to lift anything heavy anymore. Christina and Meredith had started to assess the patient and order tests when a pain started in the front of her abdomen. Meredith inhaled sharply and gritted her teeth against the pain, trying to hide it. After a minute, it faded and Meredith returned to work.
They decided to take their patient up to CT, he wasn't critical. Meredith sat next to Christina in the room, waiting for the images to appear on the computer screens. Christina was rocking back and forth in her chair, when Meredith started laughing.
"You called me a cow!" She exclaimed, laughing even harder, "I'm your person, 35 weeks pregnant with your godson and you called me a cow and told me to go back inside!"
Christina gave her a confused look before starting to laugh as well. "I know I did, and I'm sorry but it's kind of true."
"I know! I know! I refuse to admit it but deep down in my dark and twisted place I know!"
The women were laughing when suddenly the pain returned in Meredith's abdomen and she gasped, putting an arm around her stomach.
"Mer? What's wrong?" Christina stopped laughing immediately.
Meredith squeezed her eyes shut against the pain, taking deep breaths. "Nothing, nothing I'm fine."
"Please! You could at least look at me when you lie."
"Sorry..." The pain didn't ease and Meredith leaned forward in her chair.
"Okay," Christina stood up and crouched in front of her "what is it? And don't even think about saying nothing."
Meredith opened her eyes as the pain finally eased and stared at her friend. "I've been having Braxton-Hicks for the past few hours."
"Meredith Grey! What is wrong with you?" Christina stood up and leaned on the table in front of them. "We need to page Derek, and you are most certainly not going into surgery."
"No, Christina. They're just Braxton-Hicks. They're short and irregular. I'm fine. Don't you dare page Derek and this is my patient too. If he needs surgery I'm there."
A small noise came from the computer as the scans came up. Christina turned around and they both looked at them.
"Damn." Christina muttered.
"We need to get him to an OR right now. It's a wonder how he's still breathing on his own. Look at all the free fluid in the abdomen and chest."
"I need to get him to the OR." Christina corrected.
"No way! You don't get to do this! I'm not actively in labor. I'm going into that surgery whether you like it or not."
Christina scowled and picked up the phone to book an OR after hanging up, she said "Go scrub. We'll meet you down there. OR 5."
Meredith gave her a smug look as she made her way to the elevator, going to the OR. Meredith had just gotten into the scrub room and started to scrub in when the lights started to flicker. She frowned, hoping it was just from the storm. Their patient was put on the table in the OR in front of them and Christina walked in, also scrubbing.
"This surgery is going to be five hours, at the least. Are you going to make it?" Christina asked.
Meredith rolled her eyes and scoffed.
"I'm serious this time, Mer. Start timing your so called Braxton-Hicks. If they're regular I'm kicking you out."
"Fine." Meredith agreed as she finished scrubbing and went into the OR, Christina following her.
About two hours into the surgery, Meredith was giddy because there hadn't been any pain and the patient was doing well so far. Christina was constantly asking her if she was okay and sending her concerned looks that Meredith tried to ignore. The surgical team was clearly aware that something was up, but Meredith tried to ignore them as well.
Another hour later, the pain started in Meredith's abdomen again. "Damn it." She whispered, stepping back from the patient and watching he clock, timing the pain.
The surgical team knew exactly what was going on.
"Do you want us to page Dr. Shepherd?" A scrub nurse asked.
"No!" Meredith snapped. "Just give me a minute."
After the pain passed, Meredith stepped back up to the table and continued the surgery. Another three hours passed with no pain.
"I think I'm just about done here." Christina said, as she started to suture the incision in the chest she had made. "You?"
"I'll be done in another hour. You can go." Meredith replied, not stopping what she was doing.
"If you're not done, I'm not going anywhere." She insisted.
Meredith just shook her head and continued to work. Christina finished suturing and sat down behind Meredith. Half an hour went by and Meredith was double checking her work before she closed when the pain started again. This time it wasn't just in the front of her abdomen, but in her lower back and across her whole lower body too. She stepped back from the table.
"Oh my god!" She breathed.
Christina shot up behind her and was at her side. "Mer?"
"Start timing!" She ordered, her voice strained as she tried to focus on breathing. After a minute, the pain was gone. "Okay, okay. I'm fine. I'm gonna close."
Christina watched as Meredith stepped back up to the table and started to close the patient. After fifteen minutes she was done and the pain started again as she was scrubbing out. She timed it again.
The lights had been flickering the whole seven hours they were operating, which had been concerning for both the surgeons. Christina had waiting for her so they could ride the elevator back down to the pit together.
"Mer..." Christina started when the doors closed.
"Don't. Don't say anything." Meredith's tone was cold and harsh, effectively ending the conversation.
The women reached the pit and Meredith was called over to look at another patient. Christina leaned against the front desk, watching her person work. It was obvious when she was in pain, so Christina started to time them. They were regular and about a minute long each time. Definitely labor.
"Where's Dr. Shepherd?" She asked a nurse who was sitting at the front desk.
"Uh, he just got out of surgery. In post-op now." the nurse responded.
"Page him 911 to me, please." Christina ordered.
The nurse nodded and said she paged him. After a few minutes, Derek jogged into the ER. He saw Christina and stood next to her.
"You paged me 911 and you're just standing around?" Derek asked, annoyed.
"Shut up. I'm supposed to be mad at you for whatever reason but listen. Don't panic, but look," Christina said, pointing with her eyes to Meredith who was still at a patient's bedside.
"What's wrong with her?" Derek asked, concerned.
"Contractions are ten minutes apart. She's in labor."