Chapter 28

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The next day Meredith has her next round of chemo. She's sound asleep in her bed with Derek holding her hand as she sleeps. Her hand feels so cold in his hand.

Dr Bailey comes into Meredith's room pushing a little cart of medical equipment. "She's still sleeping, Shepherd?"

Derek sighs and nods. "She's been sleeping for the entire morning. She woke up once and couldn't keep her eyes open. She wasn't even fully awake. I don't know which is worse, the headaches or her sleeping constantly. She has no energy Bailey. She's so weak."

Bailey looks sadly at Meredith sleeping and walks closer to her. "Her body needs lots of rest for her to get better. This is a very hard battle for her, she needs all the rest she can get."

"Yeah, I know. It's just hard to see her asleep all of the time. Before she got sick, she never slept during the day. And now she's sleeping 24/7. I just hate this whole thing! Why her?! Why did Meredith have to get sick? She's been put through so much trauma during her life, she doesn't deserve to be put through anything else!"

"I agree completely with you, Derek. I just hate what she has to go through in order to get better." Bailey sighs. "I'm going to start her chemo now and draw some more blood. You should get some rest and eat something."

"I don't want to leave her." Derek argues.

"Derek, you're of no use to her if you're exhausted. You know that."

"Bailey, I promise you I've eaten and rested. Don't worry about me. She's the one we need to worry about."

Bailey puts her hands up in surrender. "Okay. As long as you're okay. We all love and care about her."

"I know." Derek smiles at Bailey. "I'm going to turn her on her side now so we can prevent pressure sores."

"Would you like my help?" Bailey asks.

"Sure. Thank you Bailey." Derek stands up and pulls back Meredith's blankets.

"Derek... she's lost even more weight." Bailey gasps when Meredith's body is revealed. Meredith looks so tiny in the big hospital bed. The hospital gown looks even bigger on her than before.

"Even with the feeding tube, she's still losing weight." Derek sighs, shaking his head. "She just has no appetite and even when she does attempt to eat she just ends up throwing it all up."

"Let's add some extra feedings in the tube to try to keep her from losing any more weight." Bailey says.

"Yeah. Let's try that." Derek nods. "Okay, I'm moving her on three. One. Two. Three." With his hands under her body, he gently turns her to her side.

"Owwwwww. Stopppp." Meredith whines, waking up. "It hurts!"

Derek sees the tears start streaming down her face.

"Hey. Shh. You're okay Mer. We've got you." Derek soothes.

"It hurts!" Meredith whines.

"I know, but it's important we keep moving your body so we can prevent pressure sores."

"No! Don't want to be moved." She cries.

"Mer, sweetie. You're okay. Shh." Bailey soothes and rubs Meredith's head gently while Meredith stays as still as possible in order to not feel any pain.

"Meredith, I'm going to hook you up to your chemo now sweetie. And then draw some blood." Bailey says. She quickly connects the chemo bag to Meredith's central line and starts the treatment. She then draws some blood and hands it off to an intern to be sent to the lab.

Meredith can't keep her eyes open any longer. Her eyes slowly close and she drifts off to sleep.

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