Never Forgotten

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

I don't know why the fuck I came up with this idea. It's making me depressed.

It was too late. There was nothing they could do. They started to work on getting the bullet fragments out of Andy's chest but they were everywhere. There was one inbeated in her liver, multiple fragments had found their way into her lungs, the reason she was probably coughing up blood, the collapsed lung. Meredith swallowed back her tears when working but when she saw all the damage at once she knew this was an impossible save. Meredith looked at Maggie, dropped the bullet fragment she found into a tin where the other fragments were, took off her gloves, walked away from the table and let the tears fall when she heard the monitor flatline.

Time of death: 11:36 pm

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Vic and Ross just stared at Meredith.

"I'm so sorry," Meredith told them, tears still in her eyes. "If you guys want me to come down to the station with you to tell everyone..."

Ross cut Meredith off. "we'll tell everyone," Ross said, unusually quiet. Meredith nodded and walked away. Figuring that if she stayed it would do more harm.

Meredith walked out of the waiting room and was beginning to walk faster and was turning a corner when she bumped into someone and was brought back to when Andy had bumped into her when they were turning a corner when Robert was in the hospital getting his surgery. Meredith felt tears well up in her eyes.

"Oh, my goodness, Herrera." Meredith noticed that Andy looked distraught "Oh. Are you okay?"

Andy was on the verge of tears, "I'm..I'm...My husband's in surgery."

Meredith's eyes got wider. "I can get an update for you," Meredith told her.

Andy, not knowing what to say just blurted out, "My dad died. He- he just died." Andy told her, voice cracking.

Meredith looked at her with sympathy. "I had heard that. I'm- I'm so sorry. I know the two of you were close."

"I thought we were," Andy told her. "Nothing makes sense anymore," Andy told her and put her arms to the side, voice still shaking. "And, you know, every-everyone thinks it's the grief talking, and maybe it is, but I-I can't shake the feeling that maybe something really awful happened." Andy had told her, speaking quickly.

Meredith remembered asking if it was about her dad but then Andy told her it was her mom. "Oh, God. I am sorry. You don't even know me." Andy had closed her eyes for a second before leaning in closer to Meredith, the verge of a breakdown clearly coming. Andy continued to rant and the conversation ended with Andy apologizing, crying and then breaking down in Meredith's arms.

Meredith remembered that conversation and how heartbreaking it was to see Andy that way but was brought back to the present when she felt someone shaking her.

"Meredith!" She heard and looked at the person. When she saw it was Amelia she let a tear fall and more continued. Amelia pulled her into a closet. The closest happening to be the one she pushed Andy into when Pruitt was in the hospital the first time and her crying intensified, Amelia pulling her into a hug.

"You okay?" Meredith had asked when Andy wasn't saying anything after she told Andy she found out that her dad was in the hospital and put a hand on Andy's shoulder. She saw Andy turn to face her teammates when she heard them walk in the door and then turn back around when she knew she was getting teary eyes. Meredith had noticed and led her into a closet and just let her break down for a couple of minutes, facing away from her and then turning back around.

"Okay, that's enough," Meredith remembered saying and then turned around to face Andy. "Put your game face on. We got your dad. Now you go be brave for them." Meredith had said to her.

Meredith remembered how Andy had taken a few deep breaths after nodding and then Meredith had opened the door and led Andy to the waiting room.

Meredith was crying on Amelia's shoulder for a couple of minutes when her breathing slowly calmed down.

"Mer," Amelia tried but Meredith wouldn't look at her so she put a hand under her chin. "Mer," She tried again and this time Meredith looked up. Her eyes met Amelia's, pure heartbreak was clear in her eyes. "What happened?" Amelia asked.

"Herrera..." Meredith had to stop talking to choke back another sob. "Andy..."

"What about her, Mer?" Amelia asked, a pit forming in the bottom of her stomach. "Was she injured? Did she need surgery?" Amelia continued to ask. Meredith took a few deep breaths and met Amelia's gaze again, eyes still watery.

"She was shot during a Crisis One call tonight," Meredith told her and took a couple more deep breaths while Amelia was trying to process the fact that Andy, someone she loved as a sister, was shot.

"There's something else," Amelia stated, knowing how Meredith reacts to things, being around her for years now she knew her tells. "What happened?"

"She died," Meredith said simply and slid down to the floor, leaving Amelia standing against a wall full of medical equipment, stunned.

"Oh, my god." That was all Amelia was able to say before tearing up and sliding down to the floor, not being able to believe that the badass, "take on the world" firefighter was gone. "Oh, god." She said again, tears starting to fall from her eyes.

Meredith and Amelia were in that closet, just sitting there in silence for what seemed like hours when the door opened and a nurse walked in, shaking them out of their trance. They looked at each other, stood up and made their way to Meredith's office. Meredith and Amelia could only imagine how the station would react to the news that they'd lost one of the leaders of the house. The glue of the house.

*insert crying emoji*