24. Crash Into Me

"I want to snap my neck and die," she groaned and Mark laughed against her neck to wake her up. "I'm so tired. That is the only reason I'm allowing you to cuddle." His arm draped over her waist, he ran his hand down her arm and eventually folded his fingers over the back of her hand and onto her palm. Her fingers bent over his as he brushed his lips over the vein of her neck. She sighed, squeezing his fingers and stretched her spine against his body.

"I should come cuddle when you're exhausted more often then," he teased and she smacked him with her shoulder. The frustration was radiating off of her and he frowned. "You good?"

"I'm exhausted. I just stood beside Derek for nine hours holding a retractor."

"Well, I bet you looked great doing it." Raising their joined hands, he twisted their hands to kiss her knuckles. "You have beautiful hands." She pulled the interlaced fingers towards her chest and he let her tug him closer. "Good hands for plastics." She yawned loudly and he found it absolutely adorable as her nose wrinkled.

"Mark, let me sleep," she whined and he chuckled. "I wanna sleep."

"Okay." He lied down and wrapped her in a hug as she wiggled closer. When they settled into a comfortable position, she relaxed easier. "We have that meeting with the carotid tumour patient tomorrow morning. Nick Hanscom."

"Can you wake me up then?" she mumbled almost incoherently and he pressed his nose into her hair. Eyes closing, he just basked in her presence.

"Yeah, of course."

.

"Page to the E.R., let's move people!" Bailey yelled as pagers began beeping loudly. They ran to the elevator, silent with excitement as the doors opened again to reveal the calm E.R. Emily spotted Callie answering the phone as the residents filed in beside each other, tying pale yellow trauma gowns around themselves. As the Latina put down the phone and met up with Bailey, Emily tied up her hair and grabbed a pair of gloves.

"Moore, the ambulance is low on supplies and there's a pileup on the freeway. Grab some supplies - gauze, tape, intubation tubes - and restock the rig and get out. The sooner the better," Callie ordered and the brunette nodded slightly, turning to gather the listed items. Grabbing packs and packs of plastic wrapped supplies, she returned to the ambulance bay to Cristina and Izzie arguing over cardio. She passed by Meredith, leaping into the rig as the paramedics entered the front.

"Where do you keep your gauze?" she inquired, not finding it in the normal spot most ambulances had it in.

"Ray is a leftie so he likes to keep it where it's easier. He likes to personalize the rig," one of the paramedics teased and she smiled slightly. "It's on the left instead of the right."

"Hey man, I like saving lives and it just makes it faster," the other paramedic riposted just as jokingly.

"If it makes you feel any better, I'm a leftie too." Emily smiled at their banter as a siren signalled another ambulance was incoming. "Found it, thanks. How 'bout your intubation tubes?" Ray turned around, a slight smile and his mouth opened to form words when Meredith's scream pierced the air.

"Emily, move!"

Whipping around, she only saw her friends' terrified faces as the crushing sound of metal deafened her ears. Her world spun as her side crashed into the shelves on the ambulance, legs banging into the bench. A resonating snap echoed in her core as she then collided with the ceiling as the rig kept flipping over.

Something dug into her somewhere but it felt numb as she tried to catch herself on something. Her fingers kept slipping and she felt something rub her skin the wrong way as her head slammed into the medical supply drawers.

Her vision went dark. Silence.

She couldn't feel a single thing as she pried her eyes open. Everything was so bright and she immediately squinted, the light too bright for her eyes.

Her ears rang. Her world was upside down as the sizzle of the engine and glass shattering filled the quiet. The ceiling - now floor - of the rig was coated in blood as her body slid down by the pull of gravity. Her head barely protruded between the paramedics as she saw her reflection in a piece of crushed metal. Blood coated the side of her face and probably her body too. Her face scraped against something sharp as she tried to raise her head. It felt heavier than normal and she let her head all back as softly as I could but with how sluggish she felt, trying to was easier said than done. She brushed her hands over the bloody steel and then her palms slowly slid down to press hard against the metal.

"Please, get me out of here," she mumbled to herself, eyes closing. "Get me out of here. Get me… get me…"

"Em, stay with me."

"Ray, Ray, can you hear me?" That was Callie. Emily shifted and her abdomen tore, slicing her insides apart like soft cheese. Her head hammered down on her eyes and she fought the growing urge to move, knowing it'd make it worse. Her eyelids bore down on her face and she tried to wiggle her fingers, finding everything numb.

Must be the adrenaline, she mused dazedly. I want Mark… I want him. I'll never see him again. I should've told him. Told him I loved him. And now, it's too late. I'm too late.

.

There was a sound of more sirens to signal the fire department as someone - his voice more masculine - came closer. "How's it going in there, fellas?" he asked. She turned her head slightly to the sound, eyes still closed. The adrenaline was draining away and she could feel every single nerve of hers on fire. "Moore, you still with us?"

"Dr. Webber?" she muttered under her breath, completely out of it. "Is that you?"

"Run it down for me, best as you can."

"Hit my head, so… I'm thinking a concussion and… I couldn't really feel anything 'cause of the shock, but now I think my leg is broken." Her side sear and spread up her chest, causing her breath to hitch. "Please get us out of here," she whispered, tears leaking from her closed eyes. A sob built up in her chest but she kept it contained barely.

"Yeah, if we're putting it to a vote," Ray agreed, "I think we better get out of here, fast."

"I'm afraid 'keep still' is the best we can do for now. Don't want to make things worse." The Chief promised pain meds as soon as possible when Stan turned to her boss.

"Sir?"

"Call me Richard."

Stan asked about his legs. Whether they were there or not. Cold dread seeped into skin as he confirmed he couldn't feel them. Emily moved her hand to the right, feeling his legs.

"Stan, can you feel that?"

"I can't feel anything."

"His-his ears are bleeding, Chief." She rasped, watching as Stan turned to face Webber again. "Dr. Webber." A jolt of pain shot up her body when something dug deeper into her abdomen and she raised her head, trying to focus her vision. Everything was a blur and her head fell back once more, turning to stare out Stan's side of the vehicle. "I need you to get him. I need to tell him. I should've told him."

"Can you get my wife too?" asked Stan, breathing becoming shallower. "She works here. She's an X-Ray tech." Webber agreed to both of their requests as Ray nudged them both with a weak hand.

"Don't you two die on me, you hear me? We have a con-connection now and I swear to God I'll be so pissed if you die on me."

"I'm doing my best, man," Stan retorted as the metal hinges creaked. Richard Webber straightened up and turned to Meredith, confusion written on his face.

"Get Stan's wife here now."

"But what do we - how - how do we-"

"We don't."

Meredith paused, watching the firemen study the site. They didn't seem as lost as she felt. "Okay. We have a whole hospital-"

"The moment we move him, he's gonna bleed out. All the medicine in the world won't save him. His wife has to get here soon if she wants to see her husband alive." Meredith searched the Chief's dark eyes and another question bit at his tongue.

"And what about Emily?"

"I don't know the extent of her injuries. I'm going to have to see if we can remove the back of the ambulance to extract her first. If she can barely keep conscious, it could mean a brain injury, an abdominal trauma, or worse. Grey, who's he?"

Meredith's eyes fell to the pavement before those blue eyes met his again.

"Mark Sloan."

"Then we can't tell him if he has surgery. Does she have family besides her brother?"

"No, sir." The Chief sighed, shaking his head to himself.

"Go. Get Stan's wife. And if you see Sloan, don't say a single word." Meredith nodded. "Not until we get her out of here." As the blonde resident left, the Chief walked around the ambulance to the back of the rig. One of the doors was still intact, while the other was on by one hinge. He followed the line of the door down until it ended.

For what felt like the millionth time today, Dr. Webber sighed.

"Moore."

"Tell me, sir," she called back faintly. With every word, her voice seemed to fade.

"The ambulance door is embedded in your abdomen. With every move, it might dig in more so it's important you don't move."

"Aren't we twinning?" Stan asked breathily but Emily didn't respond.

.

"Bailey dumped a white supremacist on me."

"I'm scrubbing in on a cookie craniotomy with Shepherd."

The two - Cristina and George - were trying to be hopelessly casual as they talked to Em, who heard them with half-interest, well, more like with half-life. "That's… fascinating."

"Okay, Em, you do not die." That was Cristina's hard voice, "You just passed your intern exam and you got all gooey gooey with McSteamy. Those were like your life goals so you don't die after that," she said it simply as if the ambulance door was not inside her friend's body but it gave Emily some comfort that Cristina cared.

"Em," George's quieter tone, "I seriously hope you don't die. I mean, it'd be kind of shit, wouldn't it?"

"Yeah," she inhaled sharply, the metallic tang rising up her throat, "it would."

.

"Keep your eyes open!" The words rung in her mind as Meredith's sharp words cut through it like a knife. "We're taking you guys out now and I seriously need you to keep your goddamn eyes open."

The pain had intensified into butcher knives, slicing at her side while her leg felt as if constantly poked with a molten poker. A vile poison crawled into her throat and she swallowed hard. The sleep she was in had no white light and she had no intention of trying to go there. So she fought.

"Let's do this." Stan's words were hard with determination and she reached a hand up to join their clasped ones, holding onto Ray and Stan as a fireman gave the order to begin cutting.

"Try to live, man." Ray breathed and she felt as if she were intruding as Stan gave a barely heard, strained, 'you too.' The crunching of metal deafened her ears and she felt an immediate crushing pain in her abdomen as if someone as heavy as an elephant were balancing on her. Then there was a loud noise, somewhere between a twang and a snap. If Emily could define agony, it would be this exact moment. Screaming, her insides split open as her head cracked like a melon.

"Stop, stop! It's Stan!"

"Her breathing is becoming fainter and she's got bradypnea and… and Ray's got something in his back. It's in good. If we move him, he'll bleed out." Emily turned her head towards Stan, staring as intensely as she could at his chest, trying to see if his chest would rise and fall.

It was still.

The ugly sob she had caged within her for hours burst out and she tilted her head back. All she wanted was to see her brother, hear Meredith's laugh, see Cristina's scowl, and she wanted to eat Izzie's pancakes. She wanted to drink with Alex, to eat granola bars with George, she wanted to kiss Mark one last time. She wanted more.

.

As Meredith backed out of the ambulance, the needle full of blood in her hands, her eyes strayed over to Emily's still form. Her breathing was nearly snuffed out and the blonde had to bite her lip and look away to blink the burning in her eyes away. Her eyes raked across the surgeon's body and noted that somehow, the door was significantly closer.

"Meredith. Meredith," Emily whispered, eyes shut. "The door." The brunette swallowed. Now that the two were closer, Meredith could see where the skin split from the force of her head hitting metal. Dried and fresh blood marked her face in a sickly design as her hazel eyes met Meredith's blue ones.

A whole list of complications ran through her mind and she placed the back of her hand against the brow of her friend. It was red hot, sweat forming along her brow. "Chief, the door!" She yelled back as she shimmied out. Ray looked at her with concern before his eyes flickered to Emily. She stood, facing Dr. Webber as he inspected her forearms.

"What happened?"

"The door lost its final hinge. It's in her abdomen deep. It's definitely a massive abdominal injury."

"Then we've got to an O.R. for two of them."

"Izzie said all the O.R.s are full."

"Then we've got to pray." Meredith bit her lip, turning away. Tearing off her plastic gloves, she walked back in to the E.R. She couldn't deal with one of her friends dying today.

.

Mark's day had started well but it didn't end well. While his surgery with Hahn and Callie had gone well (with a bit of flirting, he really did need to stop it now that he had Em), Nick's carotid blew which caused a pandemonium of going back and forth between pages because he was an idiot to believe Karev could do something as simple as irrigation. Apparently, he couldn't. It was just an omen that the day was not a good one.

Emily hadn't been answering her phone all day and he hadn't even seen her which was weird. Normally she'd text him between whatever surgeries she had. Must be a back-to-back or long-haul surgery today.

Going into a doctor's lounge, he leaned back into the chair across from Callie who had just taken a seat. His friend stared at him, trying to find the right words and he shot her a look but it was obscured when Hahn came in afterwards, exhausted. The blonde, who resolutely disliked him, offered to go for drinks. He broke off the glare, opting to burn a hole into the floor as he massaged his forehead.

"She's saying she needs a friend." Callie chastised distantly.

"Sure," he agreed, staring at his phone. "Have you seen Em today?"

"Mark, about that-" Callie's sentence was cut off by the door opening. All three attendings looked to Meredith who poked her head in. A scrub cap on her head and a surgical gown tied around her waist, the resident came in.

"Emily just got out of surgery and she's in the ICU. The Chief said you could know now."

"What?" he asked, confused. "Why's she in the-"

"The ambulance crash." He stood, panic seizing his throat. "She was in the ambulance crash outside the pit."

"Is she okay? Is she going to be okay?" Mark turned to the ortho resident, the volume of his voice raising. "Did you know?"

"I know because I had to cast her leg. Broken tibia. Last I checked on her, she was fine."

He swallowed painfully through his cinched throat and looked at Meredith who nodded resolutely. It was like his whole world tilted, drenched in black and white. He couldn't help how numb his chest felt as he fought the urge to run up to the ICU. Staying calm would be easiest on everything.

"I can take you to her now."

"What is the full extent of her injuries?" he asked quietly when they stepped into the elevator. Meredith turned to him, studying his pale face before reciting it.

"Gastrointestinal perf, no other abdominal injuries. There was head lac but it was stitched up by the plastics attending and it shouldn't leave a scar."

"Who did it?"

"Dr. Lopez."

"He's good. He would've done a good job," Mark whispered. He needed to lean against something. Going against the elevator wall, he stared up at the numbers. He shouldn't have waited to tell her he loved her. He shouldn't have waited-

"Her tibia was fractured. Dr. Torres casted it and it wasn't too bad. She has a concussion and Derek is checking on her now to make sure there are no neural deficits."

"Good." The weight on his chest lightened but still he felt like he couldn't breathe. As soon as the doors opened, he stumbled out and looked around dazedly. He needed to see her. The ICU was quiet with the exception of the occasional clicking and beeping as Meredith walked to the end of the hall.

She opened the door quietly and his breath hitched at her appearance. The blankets covered her up to her chest and the lac on her head was stitched decently. Wouldn't leave a scar at least. He could see her casted leg and a few colorful bruises beginning to form on her arms.

Derek was leaning over, flashing a light in her eyes as he asked the standard questions. Meredith smiled as Mark walked in.

"What is your name?"

"Emily London Moore."

"Do you know who I am?"

"Yes, Derek. I do. And my brother is Noah. I'm a second year resident at Seattle Grace. The people in my class include Alex, Meredith, George, Izzie and Cristina." Derek hummed his laugh, pocketing the flashlight. At the two's entrance, the patient and the neurosurgeon turned. "Mark? Is that you?" Her head dropped down and she sighed. "I thought I'd never see you again."

"I heard you got yourself into a crash," he said. Walking deeper into the room, he pulled up a chair and sat beside her. Taking her hand, he pressed his forehead against her knuckles. Derek arched an eyebrow and the two surgeons glanced at the raven-haired man.

"What happened to forbidden and illegal?" Derek asked flatly. Emily turned to Mark, squeezing her hand.

"Derek," she whispered and he looked at her. "Derek, I'm sorry, I should've told you." With her free hand, she reached for the man's sleeve. "I know I should've told you but… Mark is my best friend." She paused to swallow, eyes squeezing shut at the light. Meredith dimmed it for her and she blinked gratefully at her friend. "And somewhere along the way, it… we weren't just friends and it was before you said I was off-limits. It was before everything. The wedding, the break, the crash. Everything. And, I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," Derek seethed and Emily's eyes flickered from Derek to Mark.

"And it's not his fault either. Derek," she wheezed as a jolt of pain seized her temporarily, "don't be mad at Mark. I… he… he cares for me. And I care for him and I haven't been happier than when I'm with him in a long time. Please, let us be. I'm not a little girl anymore." The neurosurgeon took her hand from his sleeve, running a thumb over her knuckles before smiling slightly.

"I know." There was a pause where Mark raised his blue eyes to meet his brother's twin set and there seemed to be some sort of understanding.

"I can't wait. Not when she almost died today, man. I… She is who I want and I know it's not what you wanted and that she's 'forbidden and little' but she's... I fell so hard, man."

That's sweet."

"Shut up."

"But, you haven't slept with her yet, have you?" Breaking out into a chuckle, Mark shook his head as he reached to brush hair away from her face whilst holding onto her other hand.

"No. We want to wait until we can be together."

"It was our deal," she added and a smile curved both their lips. Kissing her knuckles, he sighed.

"Then, it must be serious. I can't remember the last time Mark properly dated someone."

"Very funny."

"I'll let you rest. You'll be discharged and then you're off until Torres and I give you the go to come back." Making a sound of agreement, the neurosurgeon and Meredith left, leaving the two alone. Emily tilted her head towards Mark and he stood, leaning over the bed rails.

Pecking her lips twice, he closed his eyes.

"I can't lose you." She raised a tired, bruised arm to his face, prompting him silently to stay. Unlocking the bed rail and lowering it, he climbed onto the bed. Gently scooting over, she remained on her back as he cuddled into her side. Tossing an arm over her chest, he kissed her jaw.

"You won't lose me."

"I almost did, today. And I wouldn't have known. If I left surgery today, wanting to have dinner with you and finding out that you died instead, I would've - Em, you can break me," he murmured hoarsely. "I am so damn scared. I don't want to commit to you but I do at the same time, because you are it. You are my one."

"You don't know how glad I am to hear you say that. When I was lying there, waiting for death to come, all I could think about is how we didn't get what we wanted. Like we waited too long."

"I think we're done waiting, jailbait," he whispered, raising his lips to her temple. "I haven't asked this since high school, but… wanna be my girlfriend?" She chuckled before wincing and he made a mental note not to make her laugh.

"That was terrible."

"Well, how do you ask people out?" She hummed thoughtfully, and he hugged her closer.

"You say… 'Emily Moore, would you like to go on a date with me.'" Wrinkling his nose, he was about to deny it when his eyes met hers. She wanted this one thing. He wouldn't be one to deny her that.

"Emily Moore, would you like to go on a date with me?" Turning her head to him, she smiled.

"Of course." She kissed him on the lips fully and his hand cupped her jaw, eyebrows furrowing together as their lips met again and again. Their noses brushed as she pulled away and he sighed, kissing her between the eyebrows. Pulling the covers up, he turned off the lights and leaned into her.

"Let's get some sleep."

"Okay." Smiling, she pressed her face against his. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

A/N: Edited - September 21, 2018

Next: Emily's recovery coincides with Addison's return.