Cheating Death; Meredith Grey

Part 4

"Hey? Hello? Where's the lady doctor you were with?" Derek questions as he walks up to the little girl Meredith had been with. She was now wandering around alone. The little girl makes no move to talk to him. Derek tries again.
"Where the other doctor you were with" Derek ask a little more gently leaning down to her level. She looks around still saying nothing.

As Derek's about to take the girl to a triage tent a man is wheeled beside them.
The man had a huge gash in my leg.
"Who tied off the artery?" Derek asks the paramedic as they loaded him into the ambulance. I look at the Seattle Grace Mercy West jacket laying over the man, Grey? Meredith. Where was she? Derek questions to himself.

The paramedics close the doors to the ambulance leaving a confused Derek behind.
He kneels down once more,
"Do you know where Meredith went?"
The little girl again looks around.
"Take your time, think where did she go"
Derek encourages. Watching as she begins to walk towards the water.

Derek begins getting nervous as the girl walks to the dock.

"Where is Meredith?" Derek repeated to the little girl.
She pointed to the water. Derek gulped processing. Meredith was in the water? Was this girl playing some sick trick on him. Whether she was or not Derek couldn't change it. He jumped into the frigid water and began looking.

He was useless in the water. He felt his bones aching. He swam to the surface took a breath and plunged back down into the water. He frantically felt around for anything. He was starting to give up, he couldn't be in this water much longer. He goes up for air and back down to search one last time, he's about to go back up when his finger brush against something. He grabs it and pulls it up behind him. He can't help the feeling that this is Meredith, if it's not her it's definitely a person, because he's being pulled down by the limp person. He breaks the surface looking at what he had pulled up with him.
"Meredith" Derek gasp.

He treaded the water reaching the dock pulling himself and Meredith to land. He lays Meredith gently onto the awaiting gurney.

They load her into the ambulance and speed to Seattle Grace.

-

"Jane doe-" The paramedic starts as he hops out of the ambulance.
"It's not Jane doe, it's Meredith Grey!" Derek interrupts the paramedic.
"What?!" Cristina yells running to the gurney which her person had been laying idle on, the only movement being from Derek doing compressions.
"Derek what happened to her?!" Alex ask taking over compressions.
"I- she was in the water... I don't know how long... she needs-" Derek stutters out.
"All of you get out of the way, Shepherd you need to change, Yang and Karev we got her go to the waiting room you are no use to her right now" Bailey orders taking over compressions, while Richard wheeled the gurney into a trauma room.

-

"Meredith! Get up!" Ellis demanded watching her daughter lay of an exam table.
"Wha- oh my god mom?!" Meredith says sitting upright taking in the sight in front of her. Her mother was standing beside the gurney she was sitting on. She had known who she was. But her mother was dead... why was she seeing her dead mother?! Was she dead?!
"No Meredith you are not dead" Her mother says annoyance evident in her tone.
"What? Can you read my mind?! Get out!" Meredith demands getting off the gurney.
"I cannot read your mind, just your facial expressions" Ellis said rolling her eyes, the drowning must have messed with her daughters ability to rationalize.
"You need to leave" Ellis says pushing her daughter out of the room and down a hallway.
"Um ok gladly, where exactly am I?" Meredith ask digging her heels slowing her mother down.
"You're in a space, this space is for you during your time between life and death where you have the choice of death or life, some people don't get this choice for whatever reason but you do, only I will override any decision you make that I don't like, such as death, you cannot die, because the Grey name must live on, since I'm dead my ordinary daughter, you, will have to carry on my legacy, not my first choice but I have no one else, does that about explain everything for you? Or should I explain in simpler terms?" Ellis says as she stops pushing Meredith down the hall when they reach a door.
"What?! I- what are you talking about? I drowned...my brains probably mush, it's probably best I stay here!" Meredith says stepping away from the door.
"Your brain is fine, I made sure of it" Ellis beams grabbing her daughter and pushing her back towards the door.
"Your cheating! You can't manipulate death!! Your going against science, which might I add someone will notice and then they'll do some crazy ass test on me...No mom this is wrong" Meredith says once again stepping away from the door.
"Meredith I am no manipulating death, stop worrying about the science with this, go be a good girl and make sure the Grey legacy goes on" Ellis says opening the door and shoving Meredith through it.

-

"She made it through surgery but the likelihood of her waking up is it very promising, we don't know how long her brain was without oxygen... I'm sorry" The surgeon informs Alex, Cristina, and Derek solemnly.
"Can we see her?" Alex ask
"Yes I'll take you to her room" The group walks silently to Meredith's room. She was hooked up to various machines, she still had a blue tint to her skin, and was cold despite the efforts to warm her back up.

-

"Meredith calm down, I'm going to get someone to remove the tube" Cristina tries to comfort her panicking person.
The tube was removed and everyone watched as Meredith stared blankly.
They got her a neuro consult which didn't give them many answers other than instructions to be patient and that maybe with time she would recover.

-

"Cristina?" Meredith said quietly staring at her person who was sleeping beside her. Her mother had done a poor job at manipulating science. She definitely needed more practice. As Meredith's first day 'back' was spent staring at nothing. Second was spent moving her eyes slightly. Third trying to move a finger. Forth trying but failing to make any coherent word. Fifth finally being able to say something.
"Meredith?! Oh my god! Did you say something?! Can you say something?!" Cristina ask practically jumping up and down with relief, paging everyone.

-

"So what happened Mer?" Alex asks. Meredith had been awake and talking for two days now and could go home in a couple days, back to work in a week or so.
"Like I said I tried to swim when I got knocked into the water, but I obviously failed" Meredith said rolling her eyes. Her mother was terrible at manipulating death, she expected to come back here and jump out of bed. She was wrong. She was weak and it was going to take a week before she would be allowed back at work. Even when she got back to work she would be limited as to what she could do. Meredith wanted to tell someone about her mother, but should would sound crazy. So she decided she would keep it to herself for now.