Dreams On Fire

The Heart of Life

35 weeks was an unfathomable number than Meredith had never thought she'd see with this pregnancy. It had it's ups and down, but she had made it through to maternity leave. She had also made it through the baby shower that Maggie and April had insisted on throwing for her, that had consisted of pink and bows and tiny baby things everywhere.

At this point the nursery was finished to Meredith's liking, with purple and butterflies everywhere, a comfortable rocker in the corner, and the things she has registered for tucked away either in the closet or on shelves in the room. Everyday she went into the nursery and smiled, unable to wait any longer for their baby girl to arrive.

With maternity leave came more nesting, and once again Meredith found herself with piles upon piles of laundry to do, but she didn't care. Among the piles were brand new baby clothes to wash, things the baby would be able to wear once she came home from the hospital. Seeing the clothes being washed, and subsequently folded, only made her yearning for the baby to come even more. Just a few more weeks, she would tell herself, and then she would miss the peaceful nights and the days where she would be able to take a nap.

One Saturday morning, Derek left the house for work, leaving Meredith with Zola and Bailey. She had a basket of clean laundry in her arms and was leaving the laundry room to go to their bedroom to fold everything when suddenly there was a searing pain through her stomach.

"Ahhhh!" she cried out, stumbling little, dropping the laundry basket as her arms went protectively to her stomach. The second time it happened she was down on her knees and she could feel something sticky between her legs. Knowing the worst, she looked down and a pool of blood had already begun to form beneath her. There was more and more pain as she held onto her stomach, tears forming in her eyes. Zola, having heard her cries, ran into the kitchen.

"Mommy there's blood, you're bleeding, should I call 911?" she asked, and Meredith, feeling weaker by the minute, nodded.

"Yes Zola, call 911, tell them here we live, she breathed out in heavy gasps. She was on her back now, blood pooling around her, willing herself to knock unconscious. Anything but the ripping pain in her abdomen, anything to not know the fate of her baby right now.

She could hear Zola running to grab her cell phone, she could hear her speaking to someone on the phone, but everything seemed so disconnected from what was happening to her right now. Pain continued to rip through her belly and she felt tears running down her face. She had to be okay, the baby had to be okay. Zola ran to stand by her side, clearly upset.

"Mommy what's happening?" she asked; Meredith could tell she was upset but trying to hide it from her.

"Go be with Bay, Zola, and answer the door when the ambulance comes," Meredith choked out, before everything went black.

Meredith came to in the ambulance, but everything was fuzzy around the edges. There was an oxygen mask covering her mouth and nose, she felt an IV in her hands, and the ever present pain ripping through her stomach. Zola was strapped into a seat in the ambulance, and Bailey was on the lap of an EMT. She struggled to remove the oxygen mask but an EMT next to her moved her hand away.

"Dr. Grey, you need to keep this on. You've lost a lot of blood..." he started to say, before she drifted out of consciousness again.

When she woke up again they were moving her out of the ambulance and onto a gurney, and suddenly Derek was at her side. She tried to move the oxygen mask again, and Derek kept it firmly on her face, brushing her hair back and kissing her forehead. April had grabbed Zola and Bailey and moved them out of the way, intent on bringing them to daycare until further notice. Owen rushed out, realized that their patient was Meredith and she was covered in blood, and acted quickly.