This is the life

2

"Derek?!" Richard hurried inside, seeing his daughter's husband sitting down next to Mark and Addison

"Richard.." Derek was barely able to get up, his knees felt like jelly

"Where's she? What happened? How is she?" Richard asked

"She's in the OR.. She got hit by a- by a car." Derek sobbed. "It's bad, Richard. It's really, really bad."

"My little girl-" He muttered

"They need to remove her spleen, her arm was fractured, her spine was fractured.. She hasn't been conscious at all.." He explained

"Oh god-" Richard gasped, his hands shaking in fear. "Ellis is home alone- I should go get her.." He muttered

"I don't think that's a great idea. Maybe it's better if you go home?" Derek suggested, not wanting Ellis close to Meredith now

"It's my daughter, Derek!" Richard stated

"And my wife! Ellis won't do her any good, you know that better than anyone." Derek said sternly

Richard sighed and calmed down

"Maybe you're right. I'll- I'll go home. Just.. Please call me if you have any news?"

"Of course." Mark nodded, rubbing his brother's back softly

"Do I need to take Grace home with me?" Richard asked

"No, you know the deal. Grace won't be around Ellis without one of us." Derek said sternly

"Okay." Richard sighed and left

"You were harsh.." Addison muttered. "Grace is still his granddaughter."

"I didn't mean to. But Mer was always stern about it, we don't want our daughter to be treated in a bad way." Derek made it clear

"Do you want me to go get her for some quick lunch?" Addison offered

"If you don't mind? I don't think I can lie to her." Derek muttered

"I'll take Grace and Eliza for lunch and I'll see how that goes." Addison explained

"Thanks Addie." Derek muttered

"No worries, right now I really feel the need to hug both girls." She sighed deeply, hugging her husband before she took off to daycare

"Mark, this is taking way too long! I'm going in, I need to check on her!" Derek said sternly

"No you're not!" Mark held him from moving. "Alex is inside in the gallery, he's watching them. I'll text to ask how things are going, you don't need to see any of this."

"I can't stand not knowing how my wife is doing!" Derek muttered

...

A few hours later Addison was half asleep in Mark's arms, she was completely worn out after her whole body finally started to realize what had happened. Her shoulder was hurting, Mark had checked it out and it looked sprained, probably from falling earlier as she had jumped out of the way. He had insisted she'd use a sling to let it rest if she refused to go home

"Close your eyes, I'll wake you if Mer's out of surgery." Mark whispered

It took ages. Mark had been holding Addison the whole time until he finally saw Alex walking up to them

"They're closing. She's.. She's stable for now." He muttered, not wanting to make any diagnoses as he just watched from the sideline

"But is she really okay?" Derek asked

"Let's wait for Bailey and the others." Mark said before he carefully woke up his wife

"Are they finished?" Addison bolted awake

"Almost, Alex just told us she's stable for now." Mark explained

"Thank you." Addison whispered, close to breaking apart

"Shepherds.." Bailey walked out, her eyes red from crying

"Can I see her?" Derek jumped up

"Not yet, we need to talk.." Bailey sighed, looking at Amelia who struggled to look into Derek's eyes

"What's wrong?" Addison asked, leaning into her husband's arms

"We removed her spleen. We fixed her arm with screws, but we're not sure how good or bad her fine motor skills will be, the damage was big. And her spine.. we screwed it all together, so maybe there won't be any damage, we can't tell yet but there's no paralysis, her nerves and muscles reacted." Amelia started to explain. "We're not sure if we can save her leg, we're opting for another surgery once she's been awake and maybe place an external fixator in a try to fuse her bones together."

"So?" Derek asked, unable to even think straight

"We gotta wait. But she'll be in quite some pain." Bailey spoke up again. "But recovery will be over a year at least if she wouldn't require any more surgeries or procedures

"Can I please see her?" Derek asked

"They're moving her to the ICU. Then you can go see her." Bailey nodded in approval

"I'll take you." Amelia said, looking for the comfort in her brother's arms as she had just performed a surgery on her sister in law

"Thanks Amy." He muttered and followed her

They arrived at the ICU and saw Meredith in the huge bed. Her arm was in a huge cast, her head was bandaged and she was suffering quite badly, so much was clear. They still didn't know what to do with her leg fracture so it was wrapped in a huge cast

"Mer!" Derek gasped and hurried at her side, not daring to even touch her as the machine was breathing for her

"We don't know when she will wake up, it might take some time. She'll need a long time to heal." Bailey sighed, hating to see her favorite intern so banged up

"I think it's important we stay with her at all times." Mark muttered. "We should take turns, so everyone can rest. We need to be here when she wakes up and through her whole recovery.."

"I'm really worried about her." Addison whispered in her husband's chest

"I am too, maybe you should go take a nap, you're injured." He softly stroke his fingers through his wife's red hair

"I don't think I can sleep right now." Addison admitted weakly

"Go together. I'll stay with her." Derek said

"Are you sure? It feels like I'm neglecting her.." Addison muttered.

"I'm very sure. We're all here for her. We just love her endlessly, which she knows and you can always return after a nap."

"Thanks Derek." Mark muttered and pulled his wife closer. "We'll nap and afterwards we'll take the girls for a nap and we can go home afterwards, they shouldn't sleep here. They'll know something is up.."

"Thanks. Please tell her we love her so much.." Derek sighed, sinking in the chair next to Meredith's bed

"We did the best we could, Der." Amelia squeezed her brother's shoulder

"I know, Amy. I'm grateful you were her surgeon. I know you did amazing."

I was so excited to upload this second chapter and see all of your response