Strong enough

6

"Mom.." Meredith muttered as Carolyn entered the room, followed by Christopher

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" Christopher hurried to her side

"We need to talk to you.." Derek muttered, his parents immediately seeing how broken the family looked, Charlotte starting to sob again in her mother's arms

"You're making us worried.." Christopher frowned, reaching for Carolyn's hand

"I- They found- I have cancer.." Meredith wanted to rip off the bandaid

Addison and Mark sat down on the couch, feeling absolutely defeated

Christopher pulled his wife in for a hug, both were unable to keep their tears at bay

…

"No, don't take mommy!" Charlotte whimpered as Bailey came to get Meredith to place the central line, the girl was so scared

"Honey, they'll just perform the procedure and then I'll be back." Meredith promised her softly

"Can I be in the gallery?" She asked

"No sweetie, I don't think that's a good idea. We should go get lunch at Joe's. We can bring something for your mom

"Cold pizza." Meredith winked, trying to make her daughter smile

"Kay.." Charlotte gave in, not smiling like her mom hoped

"Give me a big hug, will you?" Meredith asked and hugged Charlotte tight

"Bye.." Charlotte muttered as she and Addison left

"Let's go." Bailey muttered as she and Derek started pushing Meredith's bed to the OR

"I'm helping, I don't want her to get butchered." Mark demanded

"I know how to do my job." Bailey frowned

"But I know how to do MY job." Mark stated and helped pushing her out as he saw she started struggling to take all of this in

"I'm sitting next to her head." Derek said

…

Derek was sitting next to Meredith's bed, Charlotte curled into her mom's side but a pillow separating them to prevent Meredith getting hurt

"Hmm.." Meredith stirred, she had been awake before but the meds made her sleepy. "It's sore.."

"I'll get something stronger." Mark stood up

"Don't wanna be asleep, just no more pain." Meredith told him

"Of course." He nodded and kissed her head softly

"So tired.." Meredith sighed

"You can take a nap." Charlotte whispered, the others remained quiet

"I love you." Meredith whispered, turning her head a little

"I love you too." Charlotte kissed her mom's cheek

By then Mark returned and carefully injected the meds through her central line

"Hmm.." Meredith muttered as it caused her discomfort

"It will be better soon." Derek stroke his fingers through her hair

Christopher saw how bad his son was struggling and placed his hand on his shoulder

"She's strong, they have good hopes, it didn't spread."

"I can't stand the thought of her being sick!" He threw his arms in the air and stormed off

"Der-" Meredith weakly whimpered, seeing her husband taking off

"Dad! Mom needs you!" Charlotte stated angry

Derek stopped in his tracks, leaning against the doorframe, extremely confused and angry

"Come here.. Please.." Meredith was fighting off the sleepy feeling that was overtaking

"No… Just fine.." Derek rested his head against the door

"Come here." Meredith said firmly, unable to really move her arm since it was really sore from placing that central line

"Sorry.. I'm so sorry.." Derek muttered and walked towards his wife and daughter, pulling them both in

"Let's wait outside." Carolyn said although no one of them wanted to leave, they all wanted to be here and give them all the support they could, but also to feel the support from each other

"We love you." Christopher kissed Meredith's head softly and they all left, leaving Meredith, Charlotte and Derek alone

The three broke down completely. All their plans washed away, suddenly there was a really bad disease that was terrorizing them, something that could even possibly kill her

"Can we go home soon?" Meredith suddenly spoke up

"I don't wanna rush anything, Mer." Derek muttered

"I wanna go home and spend as much time as I can before I start with treatment." Meredith said

"Just take a nap first, meanwhile I'll sort out all the paperwork." Derek kissed her lips softly

"I'm staying with mom." Charlotte quickly said

"Okay princess, yell if you need me, I'll be right outside."

"Okay." Charlotte nodded, for the first time today she was soft towards her dad, internally it had broken her whole family

"Thank you." Meredith whispered

"What for?" Charlotte frowned

"Don't be so angry, just give it time." Meredith squeezed her daughter close

"Hmm.. You need to take a nap.." Charlotte muttered

"I will." Meredith nodded. "Don't think too much, I will be okay."

"You can't promise that.." Charlotte whimpered

"No, I know, but I will never give up without a fight." Meredith sighed and finally drifted off, the meds overtaking her body