Lean On Me- Merder

Don't Stand So Close To Me

Derek woke up to an empty bed. He sighed, forcing himself to stumble out of bed, and face a harsh reality.

The reality that his wife, his Meredith, would never be the same.

"Mer?" Derek called as he trudged along the carpet.

"In here." A small voice called from within their bathroom. Derek gently pushed open the door, finding his wife propped up on her good leg, running a comb through her hair.

"We should leave for therapy soon." She said softly. Derek nodded, sparing a quick glance at his watch.

"Can I make you breakfast? Or-" Meredith frantically shook her head.

"Just uh- you could give me a ride please? At 8:15?"
Meredith still hadn't been cleared to drive, as her physical recovery had proved to be a slow process.

"Yeah, you got it." Derek offered a small smile before shutting the door on his way out.  He sighed, running a hand through his hair tiredly before heading downstairs.

He could never be mad at Meredith. After the amount of trauma she experienced, she deserved to heal. Derek wanted to support her, whatever that might look like.

But he missed his wife. He missed the woman who loved eating his pancakes, cuddling in bed, and holding hands as they walked into the hospital.

He may never get that woman back. And that, that was terrifying.

—-

Derek put the car into park as he pulled up in front of the hospital. Meredith wasn't working yet, but she was in the building nearly every day for scans, PT, checkups, and therapy. It was exhausting.

"Would you like me to help you in?" Derek offered.

"No, I'm okay. PT wants me to work on being more independent." She replied with an eye roll. Derek grinned as he caught a faint glimpse of the Meredith he knew.

"Well.." She cleared her throat, reaching for the door handle. "See you after?"

"Yeah." He affirmed, watching as she slowly got out of the car and hobbled away, leaning on crutches instead of her broken leg.

—-

Meredith plopped herself onto her therapist's comfy couch, setting the crutches aside and leaning back into the cushion. Lisa looked at her expectantly, and Meredith pulled a protein bar and banana from her purse, offering one to her therapist and keeping the other.

Since being discharged, Meredith had struggled with her appetite. Sometimes even the thought of food made her nauseous. But, the last thing she needed was malnourishment to disrupt her recovery. So every time she had therapy, they both ate a snack. That was that.

An uncomfortable silence fell between the woman.

"How are you today?" Meredith asked herself, imitating Lisas voice. "Oh I'm great, how are y-"

"Meredith, today isn't going to be easy." Lisa interrupted.

"I was just joking. Tough crowd." Meredith frowned.

"I want you to tell me about what happened to you."

"Isn't that what we've been doing this whole time?" Meredith asked, genuinely confused. She shifted on the couch, fiddling slightly with the corner of a cushion.

"You told me what you remember from the hospital. You tell me stories from when you were an intern. You even opened up about miscarrying Paul's baby. But I haven't heard one thing about what happened in the week you were locked in that basement. You're supposed to go to court next week and testify against the man who kidnapped you, and I'm not sure you're capable of that. I mean, can you even look me in the eye and say that you were raped?"