Strong enough

17

Addison had been sitting with Meredith all morning. Charlotte was at school and Mark was about to finish his surgery but Derek needed some time so Addison had come over to help out where she could

"Addie?" Meredith suddenly muttered

"Hey Mer." The redhead softly smiled. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine." Meredith lied

"Hmm.." Addison muttered. "You know I'm doubting on admitting you for your next round of chemo, right?"

"What?" Meredith asked confused

"I'm concerned." Addison admitted. "I'm not the only one, Meredith. You refuse to eat or drink."

"Just hurts." Meredith groaned, shivering a little as she was cold

"Then let us see how we can help. Maybe a feeding tube would help and more IV fluids." Addison reasoned

"Gonna be just fine. Don't need anything." Meredith stubbornly said and closed her eyes, falling asleep right after

That's how the day went but eventually Meredith's energy was slowly returning as she and Charlotte were looking online for some new clothes for the teen girl

"What would you think about a walk right now?" Meredith suggested

"Are you sure?" Charlotte frowned

"Monkey, I feel good enough for a small walk." Meredith assured her daughter

"You promise?" Charlotte carefully asked

"Yes, let's go." Meredith nodded and pushed herself up, moving to go put on some shoes and a coat as she was still cold

Charlotte opened the door for her mom and held her hand as they walked to the cliff in silence

Charlotte had thousands of questions and wanted to ask them finally as they made it to the bench

Meredith suddenly felt tired again but it was okay, she was sitting down so she could catch her breath, pulling her daughter closer

"Mommy, what if something really, really bad happens to you?" Charlotte looked into Meredith's eyes

Meredith suddenly didn't know what to say, absolutely terrified for the real answer

"If that happens then you will never, ever be alone, honey." Meredith didn't wanna lie to her daughter

"You really need to get better, mommy. You need to!" Charlotte whimpered, clutching onto her mother

"I will. I will." Meredith nodded

"I can't stop thinking about it." Charlotte whispered

"Maybe we should go see someone? We can find someone you can talk to, someone who's specialized in this where you can speak freely? Meredith suggested, really wanting her daughter to be able to talk about her anxiety

"Don't know." The teenage girl shrugged her shoulder, looking down in her lap

"You don't have to. And you can always talk to one of us. Remember you have a very big family." Meredith winked, trying to make the girl smile a little

"I know. I call aunt Addie often.. And sometimes uncle Alex or uncle Mark."

"I'm really glad you do." Meredith nodded, feeling the exhaustion starting to slowly take over

"Mommy, are you okay?" Charlotte frowned

"I'm just really tired, monkey." Meredith explained. "I'll just.. just lay down for a minute."

"I'll get aunt Addie." Charlotte said and hesitated to run off, scared something bad was up with her mom but she did anyway

The girl ran inside the house

"Aunt Addie?! Aunt Addie!" She screamed

"What? Is everything okay? Where's Mer?" Addison's eyes widened as she saw the girl completely frightened but no signs of Meredith, even though she knew the two had left the house for a walk. "Come, please."

Charlotte ran outside again, whimpering a few times as she sprinted back to her mother, followed by her aunt

"Mer?" Addison kneeled down in front of her sister

"Mommy said she's just tired. She's okay, right?" Charlotte whimpered, absolutely terrified

"She's gonna be just fine." Addison said, feeling Meredith's pulse was okay. "We just gotta get her inside the house."

"We can carry her together." Charlotte suggested

"I can walk-" Meredith weakly insisted, feeling like a huge burden

"We know, just hold onto us." Charlotte said, knowing her mom was stubborn

Addison and Charlotte helped Meredith back into the house, helping her onto the couch where she collapsed and fell asleep

"Come here, monkey." Addison pulled Charlotte in for a hug. "She's just really tired. Your mom just overdid herself."

"It was so scary to see her like that." Charlotte admitted, holding tight onto her aunt

"I know, but after a nap she will be just fine, your mom is strong." Addison brushed her fingers through her niece's hair

Charlotte nodded but tears started to stream down her face

"Let's eat some ice cream while your mom takes a nap."

...

Addison had been waiting for Meredith to wake up, they really needed to have a talk after previous events. The redhead really was not amused and her worries only kept growing as she saw how exhausted Meredith was currently looking, not even peacefully snoring away

Eventually after a long while Meredith had woken up and before Addison would wake Charlotte she needed to have a talk with Meredith

"Why did you go so far? You know you're supposed to take it easy." She asked

"I didn't know I was gonna get so tired. I felt okay, I really did." Meredith muttered, only then she noticed her daughter was asleep next to her

"Don't wake her up yet, Mer. I wanna talk to you." Addison muttered

"What's wrong?" Meredith frowned, seeing something was up

"I want you admitted for your next chemo. I want you to come in the day prior so I can do a bunch of tests before we start a new round while we monitor you closely." Addison started explaining

"No." Meredith shook her head

"It wasn't a question, Mer. Please just listen to me as your doctor." Addison begged

"Hmm.." Meredith sighed disappointed, trying to hide her own tears

"I'm so sorry. Can I grab you something to eat? Charlotte requested grilled cheese but I can get you some soup?"

"I'm really not hungry right now." Meredith shook her head, squeezing her daughter a bit closer

"I'm sorry. I love you." Addison placed a soft kiss on Meredith's head and walked out to get food for the tree of them