Lost and Insecure

Chapter 19

Meredith woke up in the morning with a smile. She was home. Home meant no one checking her vitals every hour. Not stuck in a tiny little bed anymore.

Meredith nudged Derek awake. "Derek...me have pee." She said quietly. Derek groaned. "Derek please." Meredith said

He opened his eyes and smiled slightly. "Okay." He whispered, grunting as he got out of bed. Meredith met him at the bathroom and he gently pulled down her pants and panties for her, as he always did.

Derek didn't mind having to help her with intimate stuff like this. As her husband, it was his job to take care of her. And this was him doing just that.

Meredith did her business. "Derek?" She called. "Yeah." He said coming in to the bathroom. "Cant...wipe." She said, embarrassed.

"Okay. I can do it." He replied calmly. Now, this wasn't ideal, but Derek would do it for her. "You don't have to be embarrassed, Mer. You'll be able to do it on your own soon." He assured.

He pulled her pants back up and Meredith scurried out. "Coffee?" She asked. Derek nodded. Meredith quickly went downstairs.

Meredith knew her normal routine before all this happened. The thing was, she couldn't do them.

"I'll get it." Derek said softly. Meredith sighed and sat down at the counter as he brewed the coffee. He poured her a cup and made it just the way she liked.

"Derek...can straw?" She asked. Derek smiled. "Good idea." He praised, grabbing a straw and putting it into the cup before settling down beside her.

"So, you happy to be home?" Derek asked, putting an arm around her. "Yes." She responded. "Me patient hospital no like." Meredith added.

Derek chuckled. "Yeah, it's not fun. I'm glad your home Mer. One step closer to everything going back to normal." He said, kissing her cheek.

"Me...tomorrow therapy?" Meredith asked as Derek moved them both to the living room. "Yeah. You're with Laurie I think tomorrow." He replied.

Meredith smiled and curled into his arms. "Laurie favorite. Me talk soon." Meredith said eagerly. "I'm
Sure you will." Derek said confidently.

"You have to do some of your exercise Peter recommended." He said quietly. "No." Meredith replied. "Mer." Derek warned. "Want no." She whined.

"Peter said you have to, remember?" Derek said, remembering baileys words saying she might regress a little bit.

"Derek." She said, giving him a look that broke his heart. The first day home, she just wanted to relax and enjoy it.

"How about we finish our coffee, maybe watch a tv show, and then do it?" He suggested, kissing her forehead. "Kay." She replied, putting her head in the crook of his neck and watching the tv.

•••

About an hour later, Derek had Meredith start her exercises. "Now, what did Peter ask you do to?" He asked, clearing the coffee table in case they needed it.

"Arm on table, fingers lift if can." Meredith explained. Derek helped move her arm on to the table flat.

"Now fingers up down." She added. Derek did the same, and began exercising with her. "What doing?" Meredith asked, noticing what he was doing.

"I'm doing your exercises with you. I told you, we're doing this together." He said, flashing his mcdreamy smile.

Meredith smiled and went back to her exercises. It hurt, but she could do them slowly.

"Wow Mer, you're doing really good." Derek said proudly. "Hurts." Meredith said, her voice strained. "Take a break if you need to. That's a lot better than the last time I saw you." Derek replied.

Meredith stopped and Derek pulled her arms back up. "Work hard." She said, groaning as Derek massaged her arm.

•••

Meredith went upstairs to take a nap after she finished her exercises. She was so excited and happy to be home, but her exercises had worn her out even it was slow.

Carolyn walked into the kitchen around 11. "Good morning, dear." She said with a smile, pouring herself a cup of coffee.

"Morning." Derek replied. "Where's Meredith?" Carolyn asked as she sat down at the kitchen table. "Taking a nap. She did her exercises earlier and they wore her out." Derek explained.

"Oh. Up early?" She asked.

"I think around 8. I helped her with the bathroom and she kind of bolted downstairs. I think she's very happy to be home." Derek replied with a laugh.

Carolyn laughed. "I'm sure. Does she have therapy tomorrow?" She asked. Derek nodded. "Yes, at 11. I'll go in for a short shift and then bring her home." He replied.

Carolyn nodded. "If you need my help driving her anywhere let me know. I have nothing else to do." Carolyn offered.

"Thanks, mom." Derek said. "Of course." She replied.

"How are you holding up, Derek? This can't be easy for you." Carolyn asked. Derek sighed. "It's not easy, but I'm okay. Merediths working really hard and she's getting there. She's still Mer, so I still have that." Derek explained.

"Good. She's strong." Carolyn commented. Derek grinned. "Yeah she is. She makes me want to do better. And she works so hard." He said.

"She does. Will she get back to...normal? I don't exaclty know how this type of brain injury works." Carolyn asked.

"Well, her speech, her memory, and her physical deficits can all improve with time. So she'll most likely get full function back in her arms, regain all of her memory, and her speech. She will probably still miss a few words occasionally if she gets worked up, but other than that she'll be back to her normal self." He explained.

"Oh, that's good. Did her doctors give a time period or..." she trailed off.

"Not an exact one, but probably in a few months at best if all goes well." Derek replied.

"That's good. I'm glad she'll be okay." Carolyn said honeslty.

"I am too." He replied.

Hey guys! Sorry for the short chapter I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope your all doing well. As always, if you have any suggestions or ideas for future chapters let me know. Thanks for reading and I hope your all doing well!!