For the first time since our talk in the elevator, Derek isn't sitting beside me while I relax in a tub full of bubbles.

And without him, I can't relax.

So, around five in the morning after yet another sleepless night, I take Scar with me to the usually energetic household a few miles away.

"What is wrong with everyone?"

Izzie sulks in the corner of a doorway, staring into George's empty bedroom. Meredith sits still at the foyer, in the process of slowly putting her shoes on.

"I thought I was the only one in a mood, but. . ."

"Morning." Meredith greets me with a miniscule smile before rubbing her hand over Scar's eager snout. "Are you staying for breakfast?"

"No. No, I had Ben & Jerry's this morning."

"Ice cream isn't breakfast."

"It is when you're going through a rough spot."

"Well. . .yeah, you're not wrong about that."

As the sun grows brighter, it's time for morning rounds at the hospital. But, today's a special day: we get to do triage.

In the clinic.

"A lot of. . .arm swelling but good distal pulses, so we can rule out compartment syndromes." Izzie holds Sydney Heron's limp arm. "I suspect a radius fracture so I'd split and get an ortho followup."

"Anything else?" Bailey jots down notes on a clipboard.

Izzie hesitantly replies. ". . .no."

"Then, I guess this means —"

"Time."

"And I'm dead."

"Dead?"

Her eyes roll to the back of her head, and she struggles for a few moments before succumbing to the cushions of the bed.

Bailey — with a bit from Sydney — then proceeds to explain what Izzie did wrong and uses the example to teach us.

"People." Chief Webber stands in front of the double doors. "Sorry, I have to interrupt the session for a moment."

Ever since the divorce with his wife, the chief has also gone through a phase of dying his hair and his beard.

"Do you need something, sir?"

"We just received word of a mass casualty incident nearby. All available level-one trauma centers have been asked to respond." He announces. "I need to send a team into the field immediately."

"Is this part of the exercise or —"

"This is not an exercise or a drill." Chief Webber cuts her off. "This is an emergent situation, and I need all hands on deck."

The six of us dress in Seattle Grace jackets for the cold weather before packing our triage kits. But upon limited space in the ambulance, Bailey forces Cristina and Izzie to stay back.

"Holy mother of. . ."

At the dock sits an anchored ferryboat sprouting large clouds of black smoke and orange flames in the front.

From the sight of the disaster in our hands, Bailey practically sends each of us off on our to help as many people as we can by following what we've practiced.

"Sir, you're going to be just fine." I guide the limping man to a tent for minor patients. "I'll have someone come over to check the burns, but other than that. . .you're good to go."

Minutes, possibly hours, pass upon our arrival, but the number of victims needing treatment or unfound ceases to lower.

But then, I see a little girl standing by herself by the morgue tent. Tears stream down her cheeks as she stares at the lost lives.

"Honey, where are your parents? Are your parents. . ."

She just shakes her head towards the tarp, silently saying they aren't dead.

"Okay." I let out a deep breath. "Okay, you can come with me." My left hand extends back to grasp hers before bringing her with me.

"Leven."

I glance up to see Derek pushing a gurney towards an ambulance.

"Derek."

"Do you have a free hand? Here, hold this bandage for me." He takes my hand and places it on the correct spot. "How are you doing?"

"Fine. But we need to —"

"Now isn't the time, Leven. We can talk back at the hospital, okay?"

"Oh. . .okay."

He glances down at the young girl standing behind me, noticing her hand in my own. "Is the kid alright?"

"Yeah. Yeah, she's just lost and can't find her parents." I nod my head.

Soon, he walks away with the gurney and E.M.T., so I leave with the girl. Fortunately, ambulances with critical patients are driving to the hospital, clearing the area a bit.

"Meredith?"

The young intern kneels in front of a victim, whose cries can be heard from across the pavement. I lead the girl towards them.

"Turn around, honey. Don't-Don't look."

She listens to me and turns her back to the bloody scene as I turn to help Meredith.

"He keeps bleeding through the gauze."

"Must have sliced his femoral artery."

I press another pad of gauze over his wound while my other hand unstrap both of my shoelaces. Ripping off the bottom half of the undershirt below my scrubs, I tie a makeshift tourniquet over the stack of gauze.

"Oh, I can't stand the pain." The man writhes uncomfortably. "I gotta get out of here."

"Sir, don't move. Don't —"

When he tries to stand up, his hand smacks against Meredith's side. . .and knocks her into the water behind her.

"Meredith!"

Her head bobs up from the surface as she gasps for air.

"Sweetie, just. . .just stay here for me."

I remove the fleece jacket and place it over her shoulders. Without thinking. . .I jump over the dock myself.

Cold water seeps through the thin layers of my scrubs. A hand shoots through the surface of the water, and I swim towards her.

"Meredith. . ." I come up for air before continuing strokes. "I'm coming, Mer."

The second time I go under water, I spot her unconscious body slowly going into the depths of the dark water.

My left hand grasps her right, and with all of my force. . .I pull her up. Even after breaking through the surface, her eyes fail to open.

"You can't die on me, Grey. Not today."

Her face and lips have paled blue from the amount of time she's spent in the water, but I swim towards the stairs.

Soon enough, my feet touch the bottom of the stairs, and I pull ourselves up. With each step, my breath grows weak, and my heart thumps loudly against my chest.

"Just a few more. . .a few more steps, Leven."

I gently drop her onto the black pavement, letting my body relax for a minute.

"Meredith. Meredith, wake up." My fingers press against the side of her neck, and a relieved sigh slips when I find her stable pulse. "No time to sleep, Grey."

Cough! Cough, cough!

Water chokes from the back of her throat the moment she sits up.

"Leven —"

"Call for help."

I clutch a hand to my chest.

"The pacemaker, it. . ."

Before I can finish, however, my hand releases the metal railing. . .and I fall back into the water.

"Leven!"