Chapter 29

It's been a week since the accident now and Lily's still in a coma. I feel so helpless sitting here watching her lay unconscious and knowing there's nothing I can do to help her. A lot has happened at the hospital since Lily's been in a coma. Alex told Hunt that Meredith altered Derek's Alzheimer's trial, which completely invalidates the trial and could've gotten Meredith fired, but Chief took the blame since Meredith only did it to help Adele and now Owen is the Chief of surgery and things between Meredith and Derek aren't really good right now. April was also made Chief Resident since everyone else was out of the running now. I know Lily's going to be pissed when she finds that out because she would've definitely gotten chief resident over April if she wasn't in a coma.

"How is she?" Derek asks walking into the room.

"She's still unconscious, but they were able to extubate her and switch her to a nasal cannula." I tell him.

"Well that means she's breathing better, which is a good sign." Derek says.

"I know. I'm just starting to worry she might not wake up. It's been 7 days now Derek," I sigh.

"She's a fighter, she's going to come back to us."

"I never knew it was possible to miss someone as much as I miss her right now. I mean I know she's still here, but I just want to hear her voice, her laugh, I want to see that beautiful smile that lights up the room, I just need her to come back to me." I say,

"She will, we have to believe that. She always makes it through. She's made it through losing her mom, George, and Izzie, she's made it through a miscarriage, and she's made it through being shot, so we have to believe that she can pull through this also." He says,

"She has been through a lot. It's amazing that through it all she still finds a way to pull it together and come to this hospital and save lives." I say holding her hand.

"It is, she keeps it together. She doesn't break." Derek says sitting beside her.

"Do you think she can hear us?" I ask him,

"She might be able to, some patients can hear while they're in a coma."

"I hope she can, I want her to know we're here. That she's not alone." I say. Derek and I continue to sit by her side as the hours pass. As I hold her hand I feel my hand being lightly squeezed.

"Derek, she just squeezed my hand." I say getting his attention.

"Derek, she just squeezed my hand." I could hear Jackson say.

"What? Are you sure?" I hear Derek ask.

"Yes, I'm sure." I hear Jackson say. My eyelids feel so heavy as I struggle to open my eyes, but I finally manage to open them a little, even though everything is blurry I can tell that Derek and Jackson are standing over me.

"Liliana." I hear them both say.

"I know it's hard, but try to open your eyes all the way for us Lily." Derek says. I feel like it takes all the energy that I have, but I manage to get them open.

"Hey sweetheart, you're awake. How are you feeling?" Jackson smiles caressing my face.

"Everything hurts." I say weakly. I don't think I've ever been as uncomfortable or in as much pain as I was in now besides for when I got shot.

"I paged Bailey, she's going to check your vitals and she can raise your morphine dosage to help with your pain." Derek tells me.

"Can you remember what happened?" Jackson asks me.

"Yes, I was in a car accident." I say. I remembered everything from the accident very vividly.

"I'm so happy you're awake baby." Jackson says giving my hand a light squeeze

"How long was I out?" I ask.

"A week." Jackson tells me.

"You went into cardiac arrest twice, which caused you to lose oxygen to your brain and you went into a coma." Derek says

"Oh my god, I must've had you guys so worried. I'm so sorry." I apologize.

"Don't apologize, all that matters is that you're awake now."

"I hear somebody's decided to join us again." Dr. Bailey smiles as she walks into the room with Meredith, Lexie, Alex, and Cristina following behind her.

"How are you feeling?" Meredith asks me.

"Like crap."

"That's to be expected." Alex says.

"Can we raise her morphine dosage to help with her feel more comfortable?" Jackson asks.

"Yes, but with the extent of some of her injuries she's still going to experience some pain" Dr. Bailey explains.

"What exactly are my injuries?" I ask. I knew every part of my body hurt, but I wasn't sure what exactly was broken or bruised.

"Well, you suffered a pretty bad concussion and you had a lot bleeding in your abdomen. We got it under control, but you lost a lot of blood and we had to remove your spleen. Your acl tore, so Callie went in and repaired the tear. Your right lung also collapsed as a result of the multiple rib fractures you have which is why we have you on oxygen." Bailey tells me.

"Wow, any good news?" I ask.

"You're awake, that's a big step." Jackson reassures me.

"When I checked your vitals earlier your blood pressure was a little low and your fever was moderately high, so I'm just going to check them again now that you're awake and see if anythings changed." Bailey tells me.

"Okay, check away." I say, before she begins to check my vitals.

"Well your blood pressure is still a little low and you still have a fever, so I'm going to have the nurse come in and raise your morphine and ibuprofen and start a blood transfusion" she tells me.

"Okay." I nod.

"Garcia, I'm very happy you pulled through." Dr. Bailey smiles before walking out. A couple of moments later a nurse comes in and raises my medication dosages and starts my blood transfusion. Meredith, Alex, Lexie, and Cristina stay in the room and keep me company until it's time for them to start rounds leaving me with Derek and Jackson.

"So who ended up winning the chief residency spot, since I obviously got eliminated from the running. Was it Meredith or Alex?" I wince as I move slightly, trying to get comfortable.

"Neither." Derek says.

"What do you mean neither, they were the top two candidates?" I frown.

"Alex found out Meredith messed with the Alzheimer's trial and told Hunt, which invalidated the trial and would've gotten Meredith fired if Richard hadn't taken the blame since she only did it so Adele would get the drug." Derek tells me.

"Oh my god, I can't believe this." I say, I know how much this has to disappoint Derek since he was so passionate about the trial.

"So who's chief resident then?" I ask.

"April." Jackson sighs.

"Kepner!" I yell, which I instantly regret as I feel a sharp pain shoot through my abdomen, making me grab my ribs. It's probably not the best idea to raise your voice while recovering from multiple rib fractures and abdominal surgery.

"Liliana, you need to stay calm. You're recovering." Derek reminds me.

"Yeah, how about we change the subject to something that's not going to upset you." Jackson says.

"Change the subject? How can we change the subject when I just found Kepner's going to be my superior for the rest of the year. I would've totally gotten chief resident over her if I wasn't in a coma."

"Remember what I told you, being chief resident isn't everything. It's mostly just extra paperwork." Derek reminds me.

"That's crap Derek. I was willing to believe it because I thought I had no chance of being chief resident, but we all know I would've gotten it over April." I say closing my eyes and taking deep breaths as I feel myself getting lightheaded.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Jackson asks me.

"I'm fine, I'm just a little lightheaded." I say.

"Lily, you're getting yourself to worked up. You need to relax." Derek says.

"Yeah, we're done discussing chief resident." Jackson says.

"But.." I say.

"No more chief resident talk." Jackson interrupts,

"Fine." I mumble. Derek stays with us until visiting hours are over. I try to convince Jackson to go home and get some rest, but he refuses to leave, because he wants to be able to keep a check on me. He went down to the cafeteria to get me something light to eat. I wasn't hungry, but I was on so much medication I was starting to feel nauseous since I hadn't eaten yet.

"I'm back with some tasty options of fruit salad or regular salad." Jackson says.

"I'll take the fruit salad."

"Okay, fruit it is." He said. "Sweetheart, you're going to have to sit up a little bit for me so you can eat."

"I don't think I can. It hurts so much to move." I say. My pain was bearable while I was laying down, but whenever I made any movement it hurt like hell.

"I know it does. I just need you to sit up for a little bit so you can eat then you can lay right back down."

"Okay." I sigh.

"You ready?" He asks me as he slides his hand behind my back.

"Yeah." I nod, as he slowly helps me lean up.

"Oh my god." I gasp in pain as he sets pillows behind me to help me stay propped up.

"I know it hurts, just eat a little for me." He says, before feeding me the fruit salad and giving me some Gatorade then helping me lay back down.

"You okay?" He asks me caressing my face.

"Yeah, I'm just exhausted."

"Get some rest then baby, you had a long day. I'll be here when you wake up."

"Okay. Jackson?"

"Yes sweetheart."

"I love you." I say.

"I love you too." He smiles giving me a kiss, before I close my eyes and drift asleep.