Flightless - Greys Anatomy

The Fight Begins

“Meredith, wake up.” She heard Derek say. She was teetering between being awake and asleep. Contractions coming every few minutes now. She had been whimpering in her sleep throughout the night, breaking everyone’s hearts.

“What?” Meredith moaned. “I love you but please leave me alone. My whole body aches.”

“I know, sweetheart. Roll over so I can check and see how dilated you are.” Derek said softly. Meredith complied, wincing as she rolled onto her back.

“Okay, you’re at seven centimeters now. Progressing slowly...” Derek said before Meredith cut him off.

“I’ll say.” Meredith sighed, making Derek laugh.

“But you’re making progress. That’s good, Meredith.” They both looked at each other. “You’re doing great. It’ll be over before you know it.” Derek tried to reassure her.

“And then the real fight begins.” Meredith sighed. Everyone started waking up around them. One by one they all started to gather around Meredith and Derek. Meredith was leaning her head on Derek's shoulder as he pressed his hand into her lower back, applying pressure as he rubbed it.

He leaned over, grabbing a handful of berries out of one of the bags. “Here, Mer. You need to eat.”

Meredith nodded, staying silent as she grabbed the berries and ate them one by one. As the morning dragged on, everyone was just praying they would be found soon. Cristina had taken Derek’s place, rubbing Meredith’s back as he went back out to look for more food.

“Oh, God, Cristina this hurts.” Meredith moaned, tears falling freely from her eyes.

“I know.” Cristina sighed. “You’re doing good,  Meredith.” She rode out contraction after contraction, not seeming to get a break. Suddenly, they both looked out into the trees as a deer slowly walked by.

“Anyone bring a gun?” Cristina asked, obviously joking. They both sighed, watching as the deer walked away, out of their field of vision.

“There goes dinner.” Meredith sighed, a hint of annoyance in her voice.

“Not if I can help it.” Cristina said, determination lacing her words. She got up, heading the way the deer had gone. Meredith sat there, a confused look on her face. She didn’t know how Cristina thought she was going to kill the deer with only her bare hands.

“Hey, little one,” Meredith whispered, looking down at her belly and running her hands slowly up and down her swell. “I know you wanna come out but can you please wait until we’re rescued? I just wanna keep you safe, baby girl.” She whispered, tears threatening to spill down her cheeks.

“Hey,” Arizona said softly from beside Meredith. “How you doin’ over there?” She asked, nodding toward Meredith’s belly.

“If I don’t think about the pain, it gets a little better.” Meredith confessed as she continued to run a hand over her belly, praying that somehow the baby decided it wasn’t time to come yet.

“Wanna hear a story then?” Arizona asked with a smile. When Meredith smiled back and nodded, Arizona proceeded. “Callie has always been a beautiful, confident woman. Even when she got pregnant, I think it made her even more confident in a way. But one night, Mark was out and she and I were watching a movie and all of a sudden, she started crying. And I mean mascara running down her cheeks, tissues being ripped out of the box, the whole thing. I immediately took her into my arms and asked what was wrong. She asked, ‘what if I put her shoes on the opposite feet? What if I get the wrong diapers? What if I miss her first steps or her first words? What if I mess her up and she hates me for the rest of her life?’”. Arizona paused as she smiled at the memory. “After she had calmed down a little, I said ‘even if you make a mistake, your child will never hate you. She’ll throw tantrums, she’ll scream and cry and maybe lock herself in her room for a day but she will never actually hate you and in the end, she’ll be okay.’” Arizona turned to Meredith and took her hand into both of her own. “Parents aren’t perfect. We’re bound to make mistakes. Hell, Callie and I left her alone with Mark for a day and after he changed her, he turned his back for a second and he couldn’t find her. He finally realized she rolled over for the first time.” Arizona joked.

“Hey! I’m a parent, I worry. She was giggling and smiling the whole time, though. She was fine.” Mark said with a smile.

“That’s my point.” Arizona said, smiling at Meredith. “No matter what happens, she will be fine.”

“Thanks, Arizona. I needed to hear that.” Meredith said, smiling as she tried to hold back her tears.

“It’s a shame you’re not having a boy, though. His Uncle Mark could show him the proper tools for his hair.” Mark said with a smile as he ran his hand through his hair, making Arizona and Meredith laugh.

“Maybe next time. And what makes you think I can’t show him the proper way to handle his thick, perfect God given hair?” Derek joked with a smile, coming up to the group with Cristina as they held the deer in their hands, now deceased.

“Please don’t have a contest about who has the better hair right now.” Cristina joked as they all laughed.

“Let’s eat!” Mark said, thankful that they had food again. He and Derek roasted the deer as they argued about who had the better hair, and Cristina sat next to Meredith.

“How are your contractions?” Cristina asked. Derek’s head popped up, wanting to know the answer.

“They aren’t as bad, actually. I’m surprised.” Meredith said as she continued rubbing her belly. She was slightly worried but thankful that the pain stopped for now.

Once the food was ready, the group started to eat in thankful silence. After they finished, they sat around the fire and were telling random stories. From their first day of high school, to their first day of medical school, to their first day as an intern.

“As bad as this sounds, it’s almost...peaceful.” Cristina said as she watched the sunset with the rest of the group.

They all looked at her in shocked silence.

“I just meant that I’m glad we’re all here together and that for right now, we’re okay.” Cristina tried to explain.

All of a sudden, Meredith let out a loud groan and squeezed Cristina’s hand so hard she thought she would break one of her fingers.

“Meredith? What’s wrong?” Cristina and Derek asked in unison, trying not to panic.

“You just had to jinx it, Cristina.” Meredith said through gritted teeth.

“Why? What happened?” Cristina asked as Derek knelt down to check between Meredith’s legs.

“You’re ten centimeters dilated. The baby’s coming.” Derek said as he looked into Meredith’s panic stricken eyes.

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