Strong enough

15

Derek was driving Meredith home, he had stopped earlier as she had to throw up. She was currently regretting living so far away from everything but she was glad Derek didn't take the ferry and decided to drive on the mainland

"We're almost home." Derek squeezed her hand softly as she was whimpering in her seat, everything was hurting

"I wanna go to bed." Meredith weakly muttered

"I'll carry you upstairs." Derek promised, not letting go of her hand until he parked the car

"It hurts, Derek." Meredith winced as he picked her up. "Everything hurts."

"I'm so sorry." Derek muttered and carried her inside, passing by his parents

"Mommy?" Charlotte walked into the room

"Princess.." Meredith muttered, hating that her daughter saw her like this

"I'll place mommy in bed so we can join her later on." Derek muttered, unable to find an excuse

Charlotte quickly followed them despite Carolyn and Christopher's tries to keep her downstairs

"Charlie, go shower first please. I promise we can stay with mom afterwards." Derek explained, seeing his wife shiver but he was so scared right now, not recognizing the woman on the bed

Charlotte hurried off while Derek went to grab a washcloth

"Der-" She whimpered weakly but he didn't return so she tried to get up and pushed herself upright but her knees gave out, making her fall on the ground

"Mer??" Derek asked, confused as he heard a sudden noise. "Fuck-" He ran up to her

"Don't feel well." She whimpered and Derek placed her on the bed, holding a bowl in front of her as she started to throw up

"It's gonna get better soon, you just need some rest." Derek tried to soothe her, he wanted to run, he had no idea how to make her feel better and right now avoiding sounded like a better idea

But he couldn't run, his wife needed him, god she looked absolutely horrible

"Not… soon…" She weakly muttered

"Hmm.." Derek just held onto her

"Aww.." She winced as Derek touched her stomach

"S-Sorry." He muttered, almost scared to touch her again

"Kay.. Fine." Meredith muttered weakly

"You're not fine." Derek chuckled sadly

"Always fine." She forced a weak smile

"Hmm.." Derek nodded, his face buried in her hair. He was terrified to see her lose her honey blonde hair, he knows how much she loves her hair

It was always a comfort thing to do, stroking his fingers through her hair as they were laying in bed together

"Sleep. Just close your eyes, I'll stay." Derek said

"Charlie doesn't need to see this." Meredith whimpered

"Let me inject your meds, I'll talk to her once she finishes showering." Derek said softly and got up to inject the meds into her port

Meredith quickly fell asleep, the meds making her extra tired

"Daddy? Can I come in?" Charlotte asked quietly as the door opened

"Wait a minute." Derek quickly moved the bowl of vomit to the bathroom, washing it and opening a window as the room smelled awful. "Come in."

"Mom's asleep.." Charlotte mentioned

"She is. It's really important that she sleeps enough, she'll need all her strength." Her dad made clear

"I figured." Charlotte muttered, frozen in her spot

"I know she looks bad but I'm pretty sure we'll overcome." Derek rubbed his daughter's back

...

Charlotte had been in her room, she wanted to be with her mom but Derek didn't think that was such a great idea

Suddenly she heard loud noises, her heart almost stopped and she ran to the door, trying to hear what was going on

"Easy, it's okay." Derek must have been comforting her

Charlotte grabbed her phone quickly, writing a text to her mom but doubting if she should send it but she closed her eyes and just sent it to her mom, not even knowing if she'd read it.

'I love you, keep fighting please <3.'

A while later she suddenly got a text from her mom back

'I love you too, I'll be okay, never going down without a fight. <3'

Charlotte smiled softly, a tear streaming down her cheek. She took this as her cue to go check on her mom and see if all was going okay

"Mommy?" Charlotte walked inside, a bit held back as she saw her mom struggling to focus

"Monkey.." Meredith whispered, weakly moving her arm so Charlotte would be able to get down on the bed

"Are you feeling okay?" Charlotte asked, taking a seat but clearly scared to touch her mom as if she'd break

"Just fine." Meredith didn't dare to nod, scared she'd get sick

"Can we cuddle?" Charlotte muttered

"We can." Meredith nodded, already falling asleep again

"Mom might need a shower, princess." Derek explained

"Fine." Meredith tightened the grip on her daughter weakly

Derek sighed, he knew better than to talk back to his stubborn woman, knowing how much she values her daughter and how scared she's been to be like Ellis Grey and neglect her kid

"You can shower.." Charlotte softly said

"Later. First cuddles."