The Seventh Sense is Love

Surgery for Derek

A very pregnant Miranda Bailey walked up to the nurses station and dropped a patient's chart onto the counter with a tired sigh.

Lexie was sitting behind the counter charting.

"What did you do to get stuck with charting duty?" Bailey asked with a small smirk.

"Nothing," Lexie answered and seemed a little distracted.

"Yeah right," Bailey replied, clearly not believing her.

"It's true, Dr. Bailey," Lexie insisted. "I volunteered to sit here and chart."

"Why?" Bailey asked, looking at Lexie as if she'd grown a second head.

"So, I can keep an eye on my sister at the same time."

Bailey's frown deepened. Her very pregnant, hormonal body was not in any mood for riddles. She snapped, "Speak the English language Grey!"

"Sorry," Lexie mumbled and looked over Bailey's shoulder and nodded before answering. "Meredith is in the waiting room out there. She's refusing to let Mark, Cristina or I sit with her. She's freaked out - I know she is - but she's acting cool as a cucumber. Kathleen is coming -"

"Wait!" Bailey said and held up a hand for silence. Lexie immediately complied and Bailey continued, "Meredith is in the waiting room. Kathleen is on the way? Are you trying to tell me Derek Shepherd is in surgery?"

"Yes." Lexie said, just barely above a whisper. Her eyes filled with tears, but she managed to keep them from falling as she continued speaking. "Apparently Derek regained minimal vision earlier today. There was a lot of pain attached and Meredith insisted on bringing him in for scans. He has an aneurysm above his optical nerve and is in surgery right now."

"Who's performing the surgery?" Bailey asked the question, even though she was fairly certain of the answer.

"The Chief and Dr. Livingston."

"If anyone needs me," Bailey began, handing Lexie the chart she'd walked up with, "I'll be in the waiting room with Meredith."

"She doesn't want any company," Lexie said.

Bailey glared at Lexie and said, "I'd like to see her try to turn me away! Just because the rest of you spineless weaklings can't deal with her. Please, she's a tiny little pregnant woman. She needs a friend right now. Regardless of what she says to the contrary."

Lexie waited until Bailey was walking away from her to grin. She didn't think Bailey would like her to point out that she was also a tiny, pregnant woman. Lexie was just glad Meredith wouldn't be sitting out there alone anymore.

Bailey sat down next to Meredith and gave another tired sigh. "It feels darned good to be off my feet."

Meredith turned to look at her mentor and friend. She opened her mouth, but Bailey spoke first. "I know you aren't going to tell me some gibberish about needing to be alone. Besides the fact that I just told you how good it feels to be off my swollen, tired feet - I'm worried, too."

Meredith gave a very tiny smile and an audible sigh of her own. Then she whispered, "Thank you for coming out here to sit with me. I kept insisting I was fine but really -"

"You're scared," Bailey supplied for her.

"Yes."

Bailey just nodded her head. Nothing she said would help and she knew that. Also, as much as she truly did believe everything was going to be all right - the surgeon in her couldn't make that promise. So, they sat silently together, waiting to hear the outcome of Derek's surgery. A short time later Kathleen arrived and sat down on Meredith's other side. She didn't say anything, either. She simply took Meredith's hand in her own and held on tight.

"Nice work, Dr. Livingston."

"Thank you, Chief," The older, head of Neurosurgery replied with a sigh of relief. He was glad this was over. He hated having someone he knew and respected on his table.

"Close him up and let's tell his wife everything's fine," Webber said.

"Everything isn't fine," the Resident who was assisting announced. "His blood pressure is dropping rapidly."

"What? Why?" The Chief asked as he and Livingston noticed the drop in BP and took in the other beeping monitors.

"I don't know," Livingston answered as he carefully looked around the area of the stitched aneurysm to make certain there wasn't a nick or any other problem. "I don't see anything, Sir."

The Resident announced the still dropping blood pressure. Livingston and Webber went into full force trying to figure out what was going wrong.

Meredith clutched her baby and whispered, "Something's wrong."

"Nothing is wrong," said Bailey.

"It's taking too long."

"That doesn't mean something is wrong," soothed Kathleen. Her heartbeat was pounding in fear, but she kept her voice level. Meredith and Derek had shown their connection to one another too many times for her to think Meredith was really wrong. "Would you feel better if someone checked on him?"

"Yes."

Bailey and Kathleen exchanged a quick glance and then Bailey walked over to Lexie at the nurses station. "Grey?"

"Yes, Dr. Bailey?"

"Go check on Derek's surgery and come give us a report."

"All right," Lexie answered and went to immediately do just that. She walked into the scrub room and immediately knew that something was wrong by the harried activity in the O.R. "Oh God," she whispered and quickly put on the mask and other protective garb to go in the O.R. As she walked in, she saw the Chief hang his head in defeat and sadly say, "Call the time of death, Doctor."

"No!" Lexie shouted and startled the hell out of everyone in there! "No," she shouted again. "Do not give up on Derek! He doesn't want to leave my sister and their child behind!"