Had I known How to Save a Life

Aftershock

Chapter 52
*Meredith POV*

We all have these things that we say. Figurative sentences we use to describe life. When everything starts to fall apart, it's the the ground has collapsed. The thing is, what do we say, when this is no longer figurative? When the ground literally has collapsed.

*Amelia POV*

Owen and I walk down the street, getting coffee. We're about to go house hunting.

*April POV*

They're making me go on bed rest, because I have two babies inside me and I am 34 weeks. So, after 35 weeks, they could be born at any time.

I watch Jackson getting dressed and I call his name. He comes over to my side of the bed and he's not wearing a shirt yet. I pull him close to me and start kissing him.

I want him to stay home with me today. I've been on bed rest for 3 days and I'm already bored out of my mind. "Why don't you play hooky and we can stay in bed all day." I ask him taking a break from our long passionate kiss.

"You don't know how much I wish I could. I'll try and get off a little early," Jackson says. After he grabs his bag, he runs back into the room to give me a kiss and whispers goodbye to the twins.

I woke up today with a bad feeling. I remember the day I lost Samuel. That day, it was like the ground beneath me broke.

*Meredith POV*

I was on call all night so I never made it home, so I run to the day care to see the kids really quick. I'm in-between surgeries right now so I have some time to spend with them.

Zola colors with Sophia while Bailey plays with legos and Ellis is in my arms sleeping. Everything is peaceful.

The next moment, the Earth moves. Earthquake. I quickly wrap my arms around the 4 tiny humans I was watching over. The lights begin to flicker. Zola and Sophia beginning to cry. I see Derek run into the daycare.

"Shh...shh it's okay. It's okay. It's just an earthquake." I say quietly.

I close my eyes tightly waiting for it to end. Derek wraps his arms around the kids and I.

*Owen POV*

Amelia and I are about to leave a coffee shop and start house hunting. We stand up and the earth begins to move . I quickly shield Amelia with my body. The shaking stops soon, we both lift our heads up to see the damage. The outside isn't that bad...yet.

The middle of coffee store we were in is split in two. We hear a familiar cry. April.

The division of the coffee store is barely small enough for me to jump from one side to another. Amelia jumps over too and we go to see April.

"Can you move?" I ask her.

With a breaking voice she says, "There's a shard of glass in my leg. Not very deep but it's wide. Definitely will need stitches. Owen, are my babies going to be okay?" She panics.

Everything starts to move again. Aftershock.

*Meredith POV*

There's an aftershock and it was just as bad as the first one. The lights still flicker, I tell Derek to wait here with the kids. He objects at first.

Suddenly our pagers go off, no shock at all. All of the attendings and most residents and interns are paged 911 to the Pitt.

We wait in the ambulance bay, Amelia jumps out of the first ambulance. She must've been on scene.

Owen jumps out of second ambulance.

Before they can say anything, Jackson pushes through the crowd. "April what the hell! Why aren't you at home?!"

"Dr. April Kepner, 33 years old, 34 weeks pregnant, penetrating injury to the right quad." The paramedic tells us.

Arizona and Jackson both grab the gurney and take her to trauma 2. I'm next to Alex and he begins to look around, he starts muttering, "Where is she? Where's Jo?"

He turns to Webber and asks him since she's on his service today. She hasn't gotten into work. He calls her phone and it goes straight to voicemail.

A paramedic says he needs people out in the field to triage, Derek, Alex, Bailey and Callie all go out.

Maggie and I have the same patient. "They're saying most of the damage from to the city is from the aftershock alone." She says.

"Just wait for the next aftershock. This right now is just the calm before the storm." I say.

*Alex POV*

We get to the main scene. I'm not as focused as I should be. I need to find Jo. There's already been a triage set up with some victims. Maybe she's here, maybe she's been setting up the triage.

I ask one of the first responders, "Have you seen a doctor, she's 5'5", brown hair brown eyes. 14 weeks pregnant, insanely gorgeous." I add, "her name is Jo Wilson."

The paramedic says no then asks me if she's my wife.

She has to be here, I can recognize handwriting that looks like hers. Hours begin to pass.

*Jackson POV*

I stitched up her leg. Arizona does an ultrasound to check on the babies. Everything is okay there. April and I both take a breath of relief. "What the hell were you thinking?" I ask her.

"You could've died. You weren't supposed to leave bed." I say.

"I didn't know there was going to be an earthquake today, or trust me I would have." She says.

"I know, just be careful. For my mental stability, please be careful." I tell her and we both laugh.

*Alex POV*

No one at work has seen her. I've been triaging victim after victim. Most everybody has been sent to the hospital. This right now, is like my own personal aftershock. Everything that's broken is now shattering.

I'm about to breakdown behind an ambulance when I hear a voice saying "Alex". I look up and in the distance I see her.

I run through another very small aftershock until I'm holding Jo in my arms.

"I thought you were dead." I whisper.

"I was on my way into work, and then it was like the ground beneath me shifted. So I stayed around to help triage. And my phone broke when I dropped it during the first aftershock." She explains.

I hold her close. "I thought I lost the both of you today." I say.

She begins to smile, she brings my hand over where the baby is. "Guess who started kicking for the first time." Jo says.

I connect her lips to my lips and it's like time stops while we kiss.

*Meredith POV*

The day begins to end. We all sit in the gallery watching Maggie and Richard operate on the last patient. Aftershock after aftershock, we're still standing. Unbreakable almost. No fatalities on our watch.

"Good work today everyone, be prepared for whatever tomorrow may bring." Owen says before he leaves.

Alex found Jo, April is fine, all the kids are safe. An earth-shattering day ends and we're all okay.

When the ground beneath you literally breaks. You're usually left with no words. Just rampaging thoughts. But the way you fix the broken ground is the same as you do figuratively, mending it.

Author Note:

It's been like two weeks since my last update- I'M SO SORRY!!! I hope you all still love me. (I def still love you ❤️❤️). I've just been so busy with life itself basically. This week is the end of first quarter and I'm barely holding it all together. 4 A's and 2 C's, someone please kill me. Anyway, I hope you liked this overdue update! DON'T FORGET I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH LIKE YOU DON'T EVEN KNOW.

-Erin :)