Season Five Episode Sixteen
An honest mistake

As much as Max should love the new project that Maeve is working on, she just couldn't. Her daughter was up all night trying to construct this computer and if Max was being honest, she would be surprised if Maeve got any sleep at all.

She walked over to her daughters bedroom door, knocking lightly on the old oak. She stood there and waiting for a while, waiting for her daughter to give her some sort of 'come in!' but she didn't so Max would just have to go in. It was hard not to laugh at the scene, there was paper everywhere, tools laying around and scrap all over the floor. When she looked at the desk that was housing a sleeping Maeve who was still wearing the goggles they got three days ago.

"Maevie Baby, you need to get dressed for school" Max gently rubbed her back, waking someone who loves there sleeping was hard but roughly waking them up would be a mess.

"I'm gonna need some coffee" Maeve groggily said, lifting up her head.

"What time did you go to bed? I'm sorry, I should've came in here and told you to go to bed. I know you loose track of time" Max was now bent down to her daughters level, if there was anything she learned by being the Mother to Maeve, it was gentleness.

"I'm not sure, I stopped looking at the clock around 2:30 a.m" She got up from the chair, rubbing her eyes to make the sleepiness go away and walked straight into the bathroom.

"Do you feel good enough to be able to go to school?" Max followed her toward the bathroom, stopping outside so that Maeve could have privacy, "If you need to stay home you can, but this isn't going to be an everyday thing. You will have to figure out a nice schedule so you can do your projects and be able to go to bed at a timely hour"

"I really don't want to miss school" Maeve told her Mom, it was a little muffled considering she was in the bathroom with the door shut.

Max waited for Maeve to walk out of the bathroom and when she did, it was not a pretty sight. Her hair was sticking up, she had sleeping marks all over her face and she was still in her clothes from yesterday.

"I'll call Nana, you look like you got hit by a bus"

"Can you call Monty instead, he's cooler to hangout with" Maeve asked, she was still half asleep and her bed looked very comfortable to her right now.

"Yeah, I'll call Monty. You get changed Into real pajamas and get into bed, I'll help you prioritize when I get home" Max turned off her light and walked out of her daughters room, luckily Monty liked hanging out with Maeve so it most likely wasn't going to be a problem.

And it wasn't, after Max had asked him to watch Maeve he said yes immediately. At first Max thought it was weird for a grown adult to be excited to hang out with a child but after discussing it with Monty, he had told her that it was nice to have a conversation with someone who understood what he was saying and maybe that was why Maeve liked hanging out with him as well, they spoke each other's language, they understood each other in a way that even Max was jealous.

After the phone call with Monty, she had decided to fix some breakfast for when he got here. He refused to get paid but he couldn't say no to a meal so Max thought it was the perfect plan, plus it was harder to function at work without eating an actual meal.

Grabbing the banana oatmeal pancake mix and a measuring bowl to pour the water into, grabbing the whisk that sat in a vase next to her stove she began to stir the mixture together. Turning back around to her stove she set the pan on top and turned it on, she waited a couple of seconds for the pan to get hot before pouring a little bit of the mixture.

"What're you making? It smells good" Mark walked into the kitchen, he was still in his pajamas which consists of a single pair of boxers. He stood next to Max and looked down at the pancake that was cooking, "Good Morning, Bubba" He said leaning down and giving her a kiss.

"Morning" She said into the kiss, "And I'm making banana oatmeal Pancakes. Maeve stayed up too late last night and sending her to school while she's way too tired to function isn't going to help anyone. I called Monty and asked if he would be willing to watch her and he agreed so I am making him a thank you breakfast"

"He wakes up at 3:00 in the morning just to exercise, he's probably had a couple pancakes by now" Mark reminded her even though she already knew that. Monty has kept up his 3:00 a.m routine since they were teenagers, surly it wasn't going to stop anytime soon.

"Doubt it, he hasn't ate a regular pancake since the doctor told him that if he didn't eat right then his life span was going to be less then what he was already given and it wasn't much from the start, plus he doesn't have time to make healthy versions. He probably ate a carton of eggs" Max half corrected him.

"Touché" Mark told her, giving her a nod.

"Anyway, I figured that you would rather sleep in then discuss Maeve staying home" Grabbing the pan full of pancakes, she flipped it over so that they would land on the big plate that she had gotten out.

"That's fine but she really needs to figure out a healthy schedule so that she's able to work on whatever she wants to work on, eat timely and go to bed at a decent hour" Mark told her making Max nod in agreeing, he grabbed a plate from the cabinet and put two pancakes on it.

"I agree, I told her that I would help her get it sorted when I get home but she was half asleep when I told her so I'm not sure if she was even listening"

"We can talk to her about it when she's more lively" He said, giving Max a smile before turning to finish the rest of him pancakes.

"That sounds like a-" Max began to say but her pager went off before she could even finish the sentence. 911 / Shepherd, "Crap, I've got to go. Sheps paging me 911" She reached up and gave Mark a kiss before sprinting upstairs to go get dressed for the day. There was only one patient that it could be and it was a Pregnant lady with a brain aneurysm, Derek already performed surgery on her but sometimes things don't plan out the way you want them too.

Max stood next to Addison as they listened to him talk to the Harmons about how and why she is getting mini strokes.

"The lack of blood flow through the vessel is causing the mini-stokes and aphasia. We can't put the surgery off any longer, so what what I'm going to do is a repair that's called an E.C./I.C. bypass" Derek stood there in front of them and said as the rest of the doctors listened.

"And-and that will fix the stokes? She'll be better after this" Mr. Harmon asked Derek.

"I'm hoping it will work, yes" Derek said after a moment of pause.

"But...the..."

"I'm sure they wouldn't operate unless it were safe for the baby, right, Dr. Mallard?" Mr. Harmon looks at Max, she had been the baby's doctor since they first came to the hospital so it was understandable as to why he would ask her instead of Addison.

"Your blood pressure is still high but that's why I'm-we- will be there, to monitor both you and the baby" Max looked at Addison briefly to let them know that she was referring to her when she said we.

"Get some rest, we'll see you soon" Derek looked at them before he and the group walked out of the room.

"Thank you for coming, I know Dr. Robbins told you that you have to come in late if you didn't want to take leave" Derek said looking down at Max's pregnant belly and then back up to her face, his face showed gratitude.

"That's no problem, I'm happy to help" Max smiled at Derek, she wanted to be at the hospital anyway and it was the perfect excuse that even Arizona couldn't yell at her.

"And thank you for staying" He said turning to look at Addison.

"It was the least I could do for you saving Archie" Addison smiled tightly, the three stopped so they could continue talking.

"Um... I know we said before, about the baby but if something should happen, if it comes down to a choice, save my wife. We can make another baby, we can't make another her" Mr. Harmon looked at Derek first and then his eyes traveled to Max, knowing that she would be the one to keep an eye on the baby.

Max looked at Graham, Mark and Callie as they huddled next to the nurses station. She was doing sign offs so she couldn't really go over and talk to them but at least she could still eavesdropping. They were talking about how well little him was doing after surgery, "So he's preforming well?" Mark looked down at the two white cups that Graham was sporting.

"Yes, Mark. My penis is preforming well or at least that's what Lexie says" Graham bite back a smile, he was definitely gloating.

"Its very tacky to talk about your endeavors to other people, Graham. So not cool" Mark mocked him even though he had no reason too, every women at the hospital knew that Mark could preform well.

"Okay, okay. So did you guys scope her out yet?" Callie whispered to the two.

"Who?" Graham and Mark asked at the same time.

"Arizona" Callie pushed.

"Nope, haven't had the chance to do so. The only reason I could think about wanting to go to the Peds wing is to hang out with Max" Graham told her honestly.

"Oh, right, Arizona. Yeah, Max loves that chick" Mark snapped his fingers when he remembered who she even was.

"Max loves everyone" Graham pointed out.

"No she doesn't. She's just very nice, you'll know when Max loves you" Mark snipped back.

"You guys suck, at least you're still good for coffee" Callie looked down at the two cups and leaned to grab one.

"That's not yours" Graham told her and moved the cups out of the way.

"Coffee? Why, thank you, Graham" Addison said walking up to the three doctors.

Max looked at the scene and began to laugh, she was finally done with the sheets so she decided that talking to her friends couldn't hurt.

"Well, it's, actually not for you either" Graham chuckled nervously, he walked away from the group as soon as he saw Lexie.

"Good Morning, Dr. Grey" He said lifting up the coffees he had in his hands.

"Yeah, you can keep your secret coffee" Lexie told him, turning her attention somewhere else.

"Uh, what's happening?" Max said from the spot that Graham was previously at, she looked at Callie who was resting her elbow on the counter and staring at the interaction in front of them.

"Not sure, it's fun to watch though" She smiled.

"Huh?" Graham looked at her.

"Until you tell Derek, our relationship is gonna continue to consist of you hiding in the attic and me smuggling snacks past Mer's bedroom. Do you know what that makes you?" Lexie finally looked up at Graham and asked.

"Your boyfriend?" Graham said softly. Max gasped from the side, while Callie immediately put her hand on her mouth. She couldn't ruin the eavesdropping.

"Yeah. Anne Frank. I am dating Anne Frank and I'm tired of it. I-I want to go downstairs with you, I want to tell the Germans to kiss my ass" Lexie replied back just ask soft but Max can hear the plead in her voice.

"I'll tell him soon, I promise and when I do you'll be my date to the wedding" Graham smiles at her.

"Derek proposed?" Lexie said beginning to get excited.

"Well, no... but when he does" They two smiled at each other and Max was trying her hardest not to go over there and hug them.

Max could not express enough how hardcore Peds was, with how competitive it was, to taking care dying children, it was not an easy job no matter what other surgeons say.

"You know that application is the first step to a brand new beautiful life. How are we feelin? Happy? Confident?" Max said to Miranda when she saw the reviews that were next to her.

"I am good. Great, Uh, you take care of your own feelings" Miranda held up her hand as if that'll make Max go away.

"But I just love you so much" Max faked a frown.

"And Peds surgery is super competitive" Arizona popped up from behind Miranda.

"Why are you always here when M2 is, it's like you have radars of each other that can pinpoint your exact location" Miranda said semi freaked out.

Max turned to Arizona and shrugged her shoulder, she had no idea what Miranda was talking about.

"That's why I've come armed with letters of recommendation, that'll put the competition to shame. Look, Shepherd says I'm talented and resourceful. Sloan finds it an honor to work with me everyday and I-" Miranda looked at the two Peds Surgeons as she began to read the highlight.

"But what about the chief? What does he think?" Max interrupted, everyone knew that if you didn't get a recommendation letter form him then it wasn't a good idea to keep your hopes up.

"I'm still working on that"

"Bailey! The Chief's is the only recommendation that matters, everyone on the selection committee works for him" Arizona bursts out.

"I know. You calm down, I've got it under control" Miranda shouted back.

"Well, good. Cause speaking on the behalf of me, we couldn't be more excited to work with you" Arizona tells her with a smile, "Oh, wait. Max, I was actually wondering why your name wasn't on the list to give recommendations"

Max turned to Miranda, Silently asking for help since she didn't know what to tell her, "Max's family owns the hospital and she's obnoxiously friends with everyone in the hospital so they banned her from giving recommendations so she wouldn't put in a biased one"

"Which I would never do" Max quickly adds.

"You own the what?" Arizona splutters.

"The hospital? My parents are Piper and Richard Mallard, you know the ones that have like 4 Harper Avery's combined?" Max explained.

"Oh and you're the head of Peds here? The chief is your uncle?" Arizona asked, her voice growing higher.

"Stop making it sound like that. I could've been the head of Peds anywhere, I just kept saying no until I was tired of saying no" Max's voice grew louder, which she didn't mean for.

"Well why say no?" Arizona pushed.

"I don't know, for Mark I guess. He wanted to open up a practice and he needed help to do so and I knew that if I took the job at the hospital as the Head of Peds then my time would become limited, I spent a lot of time helping him build the practice" Max told her embarrassed, it was the one thing she regretted but she didn't regret helping Mark accomplish one of his goals.

"Huh" Arizona said before walking away from her and Miranda. Max looked at Miranda and gave her a small frown, the last thing Max wanted was for someone to think she got everything handed to her, considering that was further from the truth.

Max stood next to Addison looking at Jens updated chart, they looked at her vitals and blood pressure and then looked at each other but they were finally ready to get Jen into surgery, and they knew that they needed to inform Derek that Jens blood pressure was a little higher then normal.

"Make he sure he planes the patio" Jen tried to form a normal sentence but failed, "Mm. Plates the.."

"We'll get home piano lessons, yes" Mr. Harmon replies.

"Only puddle shells...uh... only public s-"

"Public school, so he doesn't become a snob, I know but I don't have too, because you're gonna be there to make sure I don't turn him Into a jerk" He finishes for her.

"We're here" Derek says as the bed stops and to let the Harmons know that she was about to go in for surgery.

"I love just..." Jen looks at her husband and smiles.

"I know. You love me and I love you. I'll see you in a few" Mr. Harmon choked out, giving his wife one last kiss before she was rolled away.

"Thank you" Derek nodded at the man who opened the swinging doors for them.

"Shep, her blood pressures up a little higher then it was yesterday" Max told her quietly so Mr. Harmon couldn't hear.

"We can't wait"

"We know that, but you need-" Addison looked at him.

"You want me to be aware, I understand. You guys are good doctors, so am I. Let's just be good together" Derek stops the two, giving them a final look before walking into the scrub room.

Max, Derek and Meredith waited until Jen woke up, the only way to tell if the surgery worked was to hear if she was able to talk.

"You don't get much rest, do you, Dr. Shepherd" Jen opened her eyes and looked at him.

"Did you hear yourself just then?" Derek smiled along with the rest.

"Oh, my god. Oh my, god- I can talk"

"I know! Listen to you" Mr. Harmon exclaims, getting more excited as he talks.

"And the baby? How is the baby?" Jen asks Max, looking at her expectingly.

"The baby is stable but your new labs show that you're preeclamptic, we hoped to keep it from devolving to this stage but the stress of the surgery, I was a lot for your body to take" Max looked at Alex for a brief moment before returning back to the Harmons.

"So do we- do we need to be worried?" Mr. Harmon looked back at Max, "Come on, Dr. Mallard. Please tell me we're done being worried"

The group stepped outside and Max could just tell that Derek was mad at her, "That is the first moment of hope they've had in a week"

"Preeclampsia is very serious, Derek and they needed to know. You're beginning to get way to close to this patient" Max looked back at him.

"Stop fighting me on this, we had a victory in there. Let's stay focused on that" Derek told her harshly.

"We can't single out the bad, Derek that isn't our job. They need all the information" Max told him just as harsh as he was, she wasn't going to stand down of doing the right thing just because he was mad at her.

Having a nice lunch as a doctor was hard to do, sitting next to her brother, Mark, Graham and Callie was all she wanted but she wanted to save a patient far more. That's why she didn't even flinch when her pager went off, she just dropped her sandwich and got to Jen Harmons room as fast as she could with Meredith and Alex following after her.

"What's going on?" Max sprinted into the room and looked at the state of Jen.

"The patch must have blown" Derek told her, handing her the chart.

"Karev, page Addison and tell her that we might need her for the surgery" Max turned and looked at her guy.

"I just called her parents, I told them everything was okay. Hey, Dr. Shepherd- Look, I don't understand, he said the surgery was a success" Max heard Mr. Harmon shout as they pushed Jens bed out of the room and down the hall.

They all scrubbed in as fast as they could and got into the O.R. to try and save both patients.

Max looked over at Alex and gave him the pre surgery nod, "You ready for this, Karev?"

"Depends on the outcome" He told her nodding his head back.

She didn't wait for Derek to look at Jens head before she directed her attention to the babies monitor, so far everything was going good but that's what they thought the first time.

"The swellings not going down" Derek said aloud.

"Maybe the ventriculostomy is plugged" Meredith replied back trying to give him a reason as to why.

"No. Damn it"

Max looked up from the monitor and looked at Alex, who did the same thing, "Derek?"

"I have to take out the temporal lobe" Derek sighed.

"Won't that kill her?" Alex looked at Derek and then back at Max.

"No but she could lose some of her speech... voice, memory, vocal pattern" Max informed Alex.

"The brain can rewire, I've done it before to stop seizures" Derek told them as if to try and convince them that it was the right thing to do.

"But you haven't done it for this, Derek" Max argued back.

"I'm doing it now"

"Baby's got decels again" Alex said looking at the monitor.

"What are we doing, Derek?" Max rushes, if the baby's heart rate went any lower it was going to be harder for them to save him.

"Baynot forceps" Derek called out to the scrub nurse beside him.

They've been in surgery for awhile now, they even sent Alex and Meredith to go give Mr. Harmon and update. Granted they didn't have much of one that would settle his worries but Max wasn't sure if there would be any good news.

"Now if I can just stop the bleed, save the rest of the brain, she'd have a chance" Derek whispered to himself.

"Decels are getting longer" Alex told Max, making her look at his monitor.

"I have to deliver this baby, Derek" Max told him forcefully.

"No, she- just... she's lost too much blood. If you cut her now, she'll bleed out. I can save her" Derek harshly replied back, not looking back at Max.

"How?" She exclaimed.

"I have to cut out the frontal lobe"

"You have to what?" Max almost shouted, "Derek, no. Stop, stop it now Derek!"

"Her frontal lobe? Can she live without her frontal lobe and her temporal lobe?" Meredith asked, her voice questioned him.

"Yes"

"No, Derek. She can't. This baby is not getting oxygen now and I know you want to save Jen, I know that after everything you feel that you have too but you can't. Not this way" Max told him trying to reason his thinking.

"I can do this. I can save them both, she will live"

"Not as a person that her husband and child needs her to be, she'll lose everything that makes her human" Max shook her head, "Meredith"

"Are you sure you can do this?" She looked at him unsure.

"I have no choice. Bipolars" Derek extended his hand for the tool, disregarding everyone's concerns.

"The baby's heart tear is bottoming out" Alex informed Max.

"God Dammit, Derek" Max got up from her chair and walked over to Alex, "You are taking this way to far and I don't even think you see what is happening here. You are creating a monster, you don't get to play god, Derek. Jen is gone and this baby has the chance to live, you need to let her go" She watched as Derek paid money attention to her.

"I am taking the baby out" She told him, moving the paper that was covering her stomach.

"Put down the scalpel. Put down the scalpel, Maxine!" Derek yelled.

Max turned her head and glared at him, "If there is anyone that needs to put down the scalpel, it's you"

"Max, put the scalpel down" He said again.

"You put the scalpel down, you have to let her go!" Max said matching the level of his voice.

"Take your hand off the scalpel, Maxine!" He continued.

"You take-"

"Take it off!" He screamed.

"I think you're forgetting who you're talking too" Max said, her voice low, "Meredith, go get the chief"

"Do not go anywhere" He said looking at Meredith.

"Karev, go" She looked at Alex and yelled. She watched him rush out of the seat and out of the door.

"Please don't do this, Derek" Max pleaded.

"Do not touch my patient, Max"

Max watched as he made no moves to put down the scalpel, "Meredith..."

"Derek, look at me. You don't have to do this, Jens gone, it's too late. You can't save her, she's gone. We can save the baby. Derek...look at me" Meredith tried to get Derek to listen to her and not continue but he wasn't going to listen to her or anybody for that matter. He just continued to take out the frontal lobe.

Max looked up at the chief, "The baby's still in distress, I need to take it out"

"Wait. Just wait. The bleeding could stop, the baby could stabilize. If you do a c-section now, she'll lose to much blood and she'll die" Derek informed the Chief, not bothering to look at him.

"She is dead, Jen is dead" Max told him again.

"Please, just wait" Derek pressed.

"Most of her brain is gone, for all intents and purposes, she's dead" Max watched as Derek looked back down at Jens head, turning her head to look at Richard, silently pleading him to make the right choice.

"Karev, page Dr. Freedmen's team and tell them we have a preemie on the way" Max looked at Alex before looking down at Jens stomach and beginning to cut her open.

"Stop cutting!"

Max looked at him for a second before continuing to do her job.

"Why are you cutting? Meredith get some more blood. She needs more blood. Get some more blood, we needs more blood" Derek chanted to himself.

"No more blood, Derek. No more blood" Richard walked over to Derek, telling him that he was done.

Max turned her head to see,l the team flood into the room, taking her hand she put her under the baby's back and began to pull him out, "Okay, ready" She looked at him checking him silently, "He looks strong"

Grabbing the clamps she cut the umbilical cord, "He definitely has a chance. All right, let's get him intubated" Arizona called out.

"Okay, let's get the placenta" Max called out to her own team, looking up at Derek when she heard Jens flatline. Shaking her head lightly before going back to the baby, she couldn't worry about that. Not right now.

After everything that happened in the O.R. all Max wanted to do was go on a walk with Mark, obviously it would have to be around the hospital but she only wanted his company. They walked across the bridge, her head turning lightly to look at Derek and then noticed Graham was walking toward him, making Max stop and watch the scene.

"I'm seeing Lexie. Well, I'm sleeping with her, too but it's more then that. She's happy, I'm happy, we're both happy" Graham told him nervously, only for him to get punched in the face.

"Holy shit" Max called out, wanting to go over to help Graham but Mark held her back.

"Okay, Uh, maybe I deserved that" He began to understand, "Wait, no. You know what? I didn't deserve that. You have no right to tell me who I can sleep with-"

Derek hit him again but this time Graham hit him back making him fall into the floor, thinking the fight was done, Graham began to walk away but only to be tackled by Derek. Max watched as Derek straddled Graham and started punching him in the face only for Graham to turn Derek around to begin punching him in the face.

"Mark, do something!" Max shouted at him, watching as he himself was wondering what to do she sighed, "Hey you! Army man" She shouted at Owen, "Yeah, you. Wanna put your muscles to good use and make these toddlers stop fighting?" She nodded when he pointed to himself and then pointed to the two men brawling in the middle of her hospital.

"Come on, stop" Owen grabbed Graham and pulled him off of Derek. When Max thought it was over she pulled out of Marks grasp and walked over there.

"What the hell is going on?" She yelled, watching Meredith come from side and pick Derek up. She turned to check on Graham, his hand might be broken and his face definitely was not a sight to see.

"If you can't get your shit together, then don't bother coming back. I am not going to have you start fights in this hospital, if you want to punch something go to a gym" Max spat out at Derek, turning back to Graham and guiding him to wear Callie normally was, leaving Mark to check on Derek.

"What the hell was that even about?" Max asked.

"I told him about Lex, he obviously wasn't happy about it" Graham wheezes out.

"Oh. Then it was worth it, right?" Max questioned.

"Definitely worth it" Graham tried to smile but the pain made it hard.

"Okay, Rocky. Let's get you fixed up" Max laughed, turning there body to get into the elevator. Even though Graham wasn't a surgeon, he still wouldn't be able to go into the operating room of his hand was broke. She couldn't help but let her mind wander to Derek, she might be mad at him now but he was still family.

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NOT EDITED!!!

AUTHORS NOTE

I should get a sign off sign for my chapter but I'm not gifted enough for that(:

watching back I realize just how bad Derek was lol (Amelias the better Shepherd)

Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed!!! Have a wonderful day