Strong enough

23

Meredith was laying down in bed, watching a movie with Charlotte. The two were cuddling as Meredith couldn't do that much

But it was time for her feeding, she was very well aware. Any minute Bailey or Addison could enter which would cause her a lot of pain again

"Mommy, I was thinking we should go for a walk later today." Charlotte suggested

"Maybe later monkey." Meredith nodded and closed her eyes, she was completely exhausted

"Sorry.." Charlotte whispered

"Why're you sorry?" Meredith muttered, one eye opening

"I didn't mean to sound stupid." Charlotte shrugged

"You didn't. I promise, we might go later." Meredith whispered

"Kay.." Charlotte sadly sighed and curled up against her mother's side

"Hey-" They were both disturbed by Addison entering. She saw how Meredith's eyes widened in fear, she felt awful for having to do this but there was no escaping it

"Can you wait a little longer?" Meredith tried

"No, I'm sorry, I gotta do it now.." Addison sadly said

"It's okay mommy." Charlotte sadly said, holding tight onto her mom's hand

Addison started to administer the right amount of pain meds before she administered the tube feeding, she hated how slow it went since she knew how much pain it caused for Meredith, she just wanted to help her friend and not make her feel worse

"It's gonna be okay." Addison muttered, hating to say this but she carefully massaged a bit of Meredith's side, hoping her stomach wouldn't cause her too much pain

"Doesn't feel like it." She muttered sadly in her daughter's side, starting to sob in pain

"Where's Derek?" Addison asked

"Dunno." Charlotte shrugged. "He said he was gonna look for some ice cream."

"Oh, okay." Addison nodded, waiting until the feeding was completely finished

"Look, it's going well." Charlotte muttered, seeing how her mom's breathing got louder

"It hurts-" She whimpered, even if she hated to do this in front of her daughter

"Shh, just take deep breaths." Addison muttered, waiting for Meredith's meds to kick in

…

Derek had returned with ice cream which Charlotte had eaten. He had offered to bring her home but she wanted to stay with her mom.

Derek had begged Addison to take Meredith home but she wasn't convinced. They all worried about Meredith since she was so tired and in so much pain

So here he was, rubbing his hand over her thigh, hoping to bring her at least the smallest bit of comfort, knowing this was rough for her

"I was thinking we could have a movie night, mom can join us of course." Derek told his daughter

"I'd love that!" Charlotte smiled. "Can I please stay the night??" She begged her father

"If mom agrees, yes." Derek smiled softly and fixed Meredith's blanket

"Can you please help with my homework? I was gonna ask mom but.. uh.." she trailed off

"Of course, honey. Come on, let's get started." Derek smiled and got her ready.

They took a while to finish Charlotte's homework as she had neglected it a bit as she was struggling with all the changes

Suddenly Meredith started stirring a bit

"Give me a minute, please." Derek asked his daughter and got up, walking to his wife's side

"Der-" Meredith opened her eyes, seeing her husband next to her

"Hey, did you sleep well?" Derek asked, quickly kissing her forehead

"Yeah.. kay." She nodded, finally seeming to do a little better again

"Your fluids are almost finished, you don't have a temp anymore and your feeding went down without waking you earlier." Derek smiled widely

Meredith opened her eyes, almost not believing her husband. A soft smile appeared on her face

"Hi mommy." Charlotte said

"Hi monkey, come give me a hug." Meredith asked

Charlotte got up and carefully hugged her mom

"Daddy said we could do a movienight, do you wanna try to join us?" Charlotte asked, hoping her mom would agree

"Of course I want to, I think that's a great idea." Meredith nodded softly

"And can I stay here? Tonight I mean.." Charlotte asked

"Of course monkey, if daddy agrees at least." Meredith gave in

"Thanks mommy!" Charlotte hugged her mom again, causing both adults to chuckle

"Now let's go finish your homework while mom takes some time to rest, okay?" Derek said

"Fineee." Charlotte groaned and shuffled back to the table

"You really doing okay?" Derek quietly asked his wife

"Okay enough." Meredith nodded, squirming underneath her blanket

"Let me tuck you in." Derek offered and did so, making sure she'd stay warm

"Let's take time to cut off my hair tonight, please." Meredith asked

"Hmm.. we will." Derek sighed sadly, he hated the thought of having to cut off his wife's beautiful and long blonde hair but he knew this had to happen, she hated seeing how much was falling out and she had asked him to help so it's the least he could do

His wife was much stronger than him, but now he needed to be strong for her, he knew she'd respond bad to losing her hair but they could only try to make it less bad for her