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   holds Eleanora close to him, her sniffling as some tears fall. Lexie was standing beside her, Max holding her hand tightly and against his chest. They're in the crowded surgical lobby, the TV in the corner of the waiting area loud as it covers the news.

''

Eleanora wipes under her eyes as everyone listens to the reporter go over how many injured there are. Mark squeezed her to his chest a little tighter with each word, closing his eyes after a moment when he starts to feel the same sinking, world-ending feeling that he felt when he found out Eleanora was shot come back.

Eleanora finally looked around, her eyes landing on Lexie. She notices Max's hand, but she also needs her best friend. She adjusts herself to where one of her arms were free and she reached across, offering it to the woman. Lexie takes it, trying to keep her crying as quiet as possible.

The best friends lock hands, moving their eyes back to the screen. Except this time, they have some sense of comfort.

_______

   are 15 ambulances on the way, maybe more to come. First one is three minutes out." Hunt states, everyone waiting outside the ER doors in their trauma gowns and gloves.

Eleanora and Mark's sides are pressed up against each other, knowing they shouldn't hold hands with the gloves on. Lexie is still sniffling away beside her, and occasionally Eleanora will knock their arms together. Besides the sniffles and sounds of the gowns ruffling, the ambulance bay is eerily silent.

"People...." the Chief starts, moving so he can address everyone. "People, our own trauma is fresh, and we are going to have feelings today and there is no shame in that. What I want to say is, what we went through six months ago, they are going through right now, which makes them our brothers and sisters.....which makes them fellow travelers, which makes them our own. So to the very best of our ability, we are gonna do our work first. And we're gonna have our feelings later."

Lexie lets out a small, shaky noise, which grabs Hunt, Mark, and Eleanora's attention. The Ginger Attending furrows his brows, turning to the resident.

"Grey?"

"I'm fine." Lexie states, letting out one last sniffle as she tries to compose herself. "I'm fine."

"Go to the pit, make sure we're stocked. Call the blood bank-" Mark leans over his wife a bit and speaks to the girl.

"I'm fine." Lexie interiors, and this time it's Eleanora who speaks up. Her voice is soft and concerned, giving her friend a small, reassuring smile.

"Lex, go to the blood bank. Tell them we need all the O Negative they have, okay? We'll meet you in there."

Lexie finally nods, letting out another sniffle as she moves to go to the pit and the blood bank. Eleanora faces forward again, her breathing shaky. Mark looks down at her, knocking their shoulders together.

"You need to go, too?"

"No." Eleanora stated firmly, not looking at him. She knew if she looked at him, showed him her eyes, that he would just she wasn't okay. "I'm fine just where I am."

Mark looked at her for a minute, brows furrowing. He didn't believe her, but he stayed quiet, focusing forward again when the first few ambulances showed up.

"Amedeo, Meredith, you're with me!" Derek called out, Eleanora jogging to meet up with the man and her friend.

"What do you have?" Derek asked the EMT, her responding quickly as she opens up the doors.

"Professor John Sturgeon, 48, fell out a fourth-story window, has an open skull fracture and a blown pupil." Eleanora and Meredith help them get the gurney down, her taking the chart while they start to wheel him towards the ER.

"He fell?" Derek asked, confused.

"He helped a dozen kids out the window and up on to the roof, then he tried to go himself and slipped."

"He's herniating. Get him to the front of the line, get him to the OR!" He yelled out, Eleanora giving him a thumbs up as her and Meredith pushed the gurney into the ER and towards the OR.

_______

   beside Derek, Eleanora started to scrub in, watching through the window as they prepped the patient. Meredith walked into the room from the OR, moving to scrub in herself.

"Intracranial pressures getting higher. Are we doing a craniectomy or a craniotomy?"

"Craniectomy." Eleanora and Derek said at the same time, not even noticing how odd it may have been for Meredith. The blonde raised her brows, Derek glancing over and then elaborating.

"Craniectomy is our best bet."

The door to the scrub room opened, a nurse popping in. "Dr. Shepherd?"

"Yes?" He asked, looking over.

"The Professors wife just arrived. Can someone speak to her?"

Meredith looked over, and before Eleanora could offer, she went ahead and spoke. "I'll go. I'll be quick." Meredith dried her hands off and ran out, leaving Eleanora and Derek.

As they finished up scrubbing in, Eleanora finally spoke up, her voice soft. "It's not us."

"What?" Derek asked, looking over at her.

"It's not us, on the table. It's someone who needs , not us feeling emotions. Just, don't get in your head about it, Der." Eleanora dried her hands and looked at him. "You do that, sometimes. Today isn't a good day for it."

Derek smiled a bit under his mask, nodding. "Okay, Ella. I won't get into my head about it."

The two knocked their elbows together before walking into the OR, the nurses putting their gown and gloves on. Eleanora stared at the professor for a moment, taking deep breaths.