Lean On Me- Merder

How To Save A Life

"Found her, she's over here!" An officer yelled from a distant hallway. Derek's heart skipped a beat. He turned the corner to see him gesturing down a flight of stairs.

Derek came closer and followed his finger to see Meredith lying on the basement floor, broken. His hope was gone as quick as it had come.

"Mer? Mer!" He yelled, running down the stairs. He knelt at her side, observing her condition more clearly. Her lips were an unnatural shade of blue, and her face was pale, which contrasted the blood splatters across her body.

She was barely breathing.

"Come on Mer, please wake up." He whispered while shaking her gently. Derek stifled a sob as she winced in pain.

Her eyes fluttered open, and tiny, spluttering coughs echoed from her throat. She pressed a hand against her mouth, which turned red with blood once she pulled it away.

"Crap." She muttered deleteriously, observing that she must have internal bleeding.

"Shh, you're alright." Derek cradled her head in his lap, carefully wiping blood off her features.

"Can I get a gurney down here?" He yelled to the crown forming at the top of the stairs.

"A gurney won't fit, it's too narrow. You'll have to bring her up!" An officer yelled back. He nodded and directed my attention back towards the small figure held in my arms.

"Stay with Mer." He begged, noticing her eyelids had slid shut again.

"Can't .... Hurts." She spluttered, fighting to find consciousness.

"I know. I've got you, you're okay." He picked her up, cradling her small body against his chest. He handled her delicately but she still moaned in pain.

Derek ran up the stairs, the love of my life dangled lifelessly from his arms. He placed her on the gurney, and only in the light coming from a window could he see the full extend of her injuries.

She was incredibly pale and weak looking. She had a deep scalp laceration. A large bruise that began at her clavicle, and continued down her chest. Her leg appeared broken. Her inner thighs were stained by a deep crimson. Blood.

Derek choked back a sob and placed two fingers against her neck.

"Her pulse is fading, we need to get her to the hospital!" He yelled, panicking. He helped wheel her out of the house, sunlight hitting her skin for the first time in days.

Meredith slowly opened her eyes. Every inch of her body shuddered in pain. She blinked slowly, taking in her surroundings.

She lay on a stretcher in the back of an ambulance. Unfamiliar faces hovered over her. They seemed
to be talking, but she couldn't process any of what they were saying.

She felt someone squeeze her hand, and she focused her gaze on Derek. She shuddered at the contact as he began to stroke her hair.

She opened her mouth to speak, but it seemed impossible to form words. A tight pain formed in her chest, and she struggled to breathe.

"You're okay Mer, I love you." Derek whispered. He frowned as her eyes slid shut again.

The monitors began to beep rapidly.

"She's loosing her airway, we need to intubate!" One of the paramedics exclaimed. Derek nodded, and glanced around the ambulance looking for an endotracheal tube.

He found it and handed it to a paramedic. He also grabbed a warming blanket and threw it over Meredith's small body, realizing she was hypothermic.