"So mommy's surgery didn't work?" Bailey repeated the words his parents just told him

Meredith shook her head

"What will happen now?" Zola asked

"We can try again but that would hurt mommy very much and it might not even work.." Derek started "So.. mommy will lose her leg like aunt Arizona"

"But mommy, can't you try again?" Zola asked Meredith

Meredith had such a hard time answering this. She wanted to be sure she did everything even though Callie said chances are so small

"Aunt Callie said the chances are too small to take all the things that come with it" Derek spoke in

"Will you have a plastic leg?" Bailey gasped

Meredith nodded, staring at her blanket and holding the little girl in her arms

"Wow! You'll look like a transformer again" Bailey gasped

Derek chuckled a bit, loving how imaginary his son is

"Ellie Belle?" Meredith whispered after a bit "Are you okay? You haven't said a thing since you were here"

"I'm okay" She replied, still not moving or even looking up

"Are you scared?" Meredith asked and Ellis nodded "Baby, it's okay to be scared. I'm scared too"

"You are?" Ellis finally looked up

"Of course I am" Meredith smiled

"I love you mommy. Please don't change"

"I won't change. In a couple of months I can run after you again so you better train" Meredith smiled and told the kids

"Can I page Callie?" Derek asked and Meredith nodded while hugging the kids very closely

Derek quickly joined his family after paging Callie and they stayed in that position till Callie came in

"You paged?" She asked

"You can do it. Let's get over with it" Meredith said as a tear rolled down her cheek

"I'm gonna prep you and an OR now" She said

...

"Daddy? Can we see mommy before Alex takes us home?" Bailey asked

"Not today bud. Mommy will be asleep and she'll need all the rest she can get" Derek explained

"Please, I wanna see mommy" Ellis said

"We can go see her from behind the glass. I'll let Alex know" Derek said "I'm gonna see mommy now" He kissed the kids goodbye and quickly went to Meredith's room. They already took the tube out of her throat so he sat down next to her and grabbed her hand

After a bit he felt the urge to see if it really happened so he gently lifted the blanket and gasped when he saw her stump. It was amputated pretty high above the knee, just leaving enough to be fitted for a prosthetic

"Oh, Mer.. I should have protected you.. now you're here. I'm so sorry" He wiped away a tear

After a couple of hours, Meredith started to stir before her eyes opened slowly. Derek grabbed a glass of water with a straw and handed it to her. She sipped on the cool liquid and leaned back against the pillow

"This is real, isn't it?" She whispered

"It is.. I'm sorry Meredith" He said and kissed her lips, her eyes drooping again

"Sleep. I'll stay here" Derek said

After a bit he got a phone call from Alex, saying he was gonna head home with the kids but stop first at Meredith's room

Derek waited in the hallway and saw the kids running towards him, Zola walking next to Alex, holding his hand

"Hey guys. Mommy has been awake for a bit" He said and lifted up Ellis as she was too short to look out of the window

"Mommy's like a princess" Ellis smiled

"Your mommy is a princess" Derek chuckled

"Does she have her robot leg yet?" Bailey asked

"Not yet, the wound needs to heal first" Derek explained

"She'll be okay, right?" Zola asked

"She will be ZoZo!" Derek assured them

After a bit, Alex took the kids and Derek went back inside. Waiting for Meredith to open her eyes again

"Der?" He heard her sweet voice

"I'm here. Do you need anything?" He asked

"It's throbbing" She whispered

"I'll page Callie for some more meds" He told her

"Lay with me?" She asked

"Of course" He smiled and climbed in on her good side

"Everything okay here?" Callie asked

"She's in pain" Derek informed her

Callie nodded and gave her some more pain meds, checked the antibiotics and eventually walked towards Meredith's stump

"Is it okay if I take a look?" Callie asked

Meredith nodded, closing her eyes as she felt Callie's hands

"I know it's a pretty high amputation but I assure you, this will give you the best chance. You made a good decision" Callie said as she examined the wound

Derek was looking at her leg when Callie spoke up again "It looks very good. No infection and even no fluids that are building up so we won't have to drain. If everything keeps going this good you'll be able to get fitted for your first one in a couple of weeks and when the swelling is completely gone in a couple of months you'll get your permanent prosthetic"

"Thanks Callie" Derek said and brushed through Meredith's hair with his fingers

"I'm gonna leave you for now. Page me if there's something"

Derek laid his head back down as Callie left the room, allowing Meredith to cuddle a bit closer into his embrace

"Sleep, Mer. I'll stay here" He whispered and it didn't take long until she fell back asleep, being tired from the surgery and meds