Let It Go

13.

"Shut him up!" Meredith yelled towards the doorway the second time she heard Derek shout her name. She heard scuffling, Derek yelling again. "God please, shut him up!" Meredith muttered to herself. Derek's voice had shook her. She had managed to detach the personal strings she felt to Harrison to do his surgery, but at the sound of Derek's voice, they brought them all back. She continued working, trying to move quickly yet efficently. She knew she was getting close on time. She knew she was getting down to the wire.

"How long?" she asked. "17 minutes," someone replied. "Ten minutes," Meredith said to herself. She had 10 minutes. Cristina needed the last 7. She could do this. She hoped. "How does it look Dr. Grey?" Cristina asked. "I still haven't made it to the artery," Meredith said. Cristina caught the hint of frustration in Meredith's voice. It was pressure. Those minutes that always flew by so quickly in surgery had gone by in double time. Pressure and being a surgeon went hand and hand. But this pressure was different. This pressure was the nephew of the head of neurosurgery and he was clinically dead at present. Cristina watched Meredith work. Add all of that pressure to the fact that she was pretty sure Meredith was falling for the boy's uncle and she was shocked Meredith was still standing.

The timer ticked. Cristina took her eyes off of Meredith's work to watch it. "You have five minutes," she said. "I know..." Meredith said, stress crackling throughout her voice. She felt herself break into a sweat. She couldn't find the aneurysm. It was there, she just couldn't get to it. "Come on," she muttered, quicken her work just a bit. She was risking permanent brain damage if she took much longer. If she worked much faster, she'd risk making a mistake, a mistake that would possibly leave Harrison in a condition where death was the better option. "Three minutes," Cristina said. "Oh come on!" Meredith said through gritted teeth. A sweat bead trickled down her face.

"Two minutes..." Panic had now taken up residence in Cristina's voice. "I see it!" Meredith announced. Her heart raced as she worked to get to the aneurysm. She just needed to clip it. That's all she needed to do. It was simple in concept. It was something she had done countless times before. But never like this. Never in these circumstances. "Shit!" she muttered. "Meredith..." Cristina warned. "I know!" Meredith snapped. She couldn't concentrate with the constant time reminders. She saw what she needed to do. "Yes...," she said. She worked as rapidly as she safely could. "I... Got... it!" she announced, removing her tools. She stepped away from the table and turned her back to Harrison. She bent over and gasped for air. She had done her job. She was done. All she had to do was close. This was Cristina's now. She had to bring him back to life - in seven minutes. "Okay people, move! Let's get this kid warm!" Cristina barked. Meredith took one last deep breath before returning to the table. "Cristina?" "Yeah?" Cristina replied as she worked. Meredith locked eyes with her."Losing him is not an option."