Strong enough

14

Charlotte had been asleep in Meredith's arms the whole night. Meredith had joined as well but had woken up by Derek entering

"What's going on?" He seemed terrified

"Der- Wait-" Meredith muttered, wanting to get out but her stomach was hurting so bad again

"Mommy?" Charlotte whimpered as she woke up

"Shh." Meredith tightened the hold she had on her daughter

"Why are you in the hospital?" Derek repeated

"Derek.. It spread." Meredith muttered, stroking her fingers through Charlotte's hair

"How? I-" Derek muttered

"They missed something on the scan, but it's gonna be fine." Meredith nodded, Derek hugging his two girls while fighting his tears

"Let me see your chart." He demanded and grabbed an Ipad, reading everything they had discussed and decided

Meredith saw how he tried not to gasp as he was reading everything. After a while he put the tablet down and walked up to his wife

"I love you." He clinged onto her, not daring to let go

"I love you too. You should go see mom and dad in the morning, please assure everyone that everything will be fine." Meredith begged him

…

Later that day everyone had collected in Meredith's hospital room. Charlotte was still laying down next to her mom

"Charlie, do you wanna come get some food with us?" Mark asked as he and Addie would get lunch for everyone

"No.." Charlotte shook her head

"Maybe you should get outside for a minute? Fresh air will do you well." Meredith tried

"Come on sweetie, let's get something yummy." Addison reached out for Charlotte's hand, the girl eventually gave in

"Sorry-" Meredith whispered as soon as her daughter was outside. "How did it go?" She asked her husband, not really able to move due to the pain

"What?" Derek frowned, tucking her in

"DC." She groaned

"Oh.." Derek took a deep breath. "They let me go."

"That's great, isn't it?" Meredith weakly reached out for his hand

"But?" Christopher frowned

"Teddy will have to hire me again and.. I just hope I will ever get that opportunity again."

"I'm sorry." Meredith whispered, hating to be responsible for ruining her husband's dream

"Don't say that." Derek kissed her forehead.

"Can I get more meds?" Meredith asked

"No sweetie, they gave you the max.." Christopher stood up, starting to brush his fingers over her head

"Are you hurting so badly?" Derek asked, receiving a small nod in return

"I can't die." Meredith suddenly whispered

"You won't die." Christopher quickly said and kissed her forehead softly

"We'll need help with Charlie. She's so, so scared and frightened." Meredith whimpered weakly

"She's with Addie and Mark now, she'll get some distraction and we'll help out where we can." Carolyn promised

Meredith nodded, still very worried

"Bailey will start chemo after lunch, I think you should try to have some lunch once they're back." Derek whispered softly

…

"Princess, go home with Nana and Poppa, please." Meredith whispered, trying not to wince or cry

"Why? I'd rather stay!" Charlotte looked up confused

"I know, but I don't want you to see this, it won't do you well." Meredith held onto Charlotte's hand, squeezing it weakly

"I won't be in the way, I promise." Charlotte quickly said but Meredith started gagging

Derek was quick enough to grab a bowl and hold it in front of his wife while his parents immediately got up. Carolyn grabbed a wet washcloth for her daughter in law while Christopher was rubbing her back softly

Charlotte backed off, clearly not knowing how to respond as her mom started to vomit.

The throwing up went on for a long time, Meredith felt absolutely miserable and started shivering badly

"Go home." Meredith weakly muttered

"I think it's indeed the best idea if we take you home sweetie." Carolyn nodded

"Go home, we'll be there in a few hours." Derek assured his daughter. Eventually Charlotte grabbed her stuff and said goodbye, she was struggling to see her mom like that. Meredith had always been full of energy, nothing like this

Half an hour later Addison appeared in the doorway

"Hey guys." The redhead quietly said, seeing how Meredith was panting in Derek's arms

"Hey, sorry she's having a rough time." Derek fixed the blankets that were covering his wife

"Can I do anything?" Addison asked as she walked up the the couple, using the washcloth to clean Meredith's face

"Can you take over for a minute? I need to use the bathroom and I'll grab some new bowls." Derek sighed, hearing how Meredith winced as he moved from underneath her

"Shh, it's gonna be okay." Addison planted a soft kiss on her sister's temples

"It hurts so bad.." Meredith finally dared to admit it was getting too much

"I'll ask Derek to page Bailey." Addison said bjt was interrupted as Meredith gagged and started vomiting into the bowl

Addison quickly held Meredith's hair back, making sure it would be out of the way as the blonde was throwing up

"It hurts, Addie! It hurts so much!" Meredith whimpered

"I'm really sorry, Mer. I'm so sorry." Addison held Meredith, feeling how she was sweating and shivering at the same time

Addison had never seen Meredith like this, not even in all the tragedies they lived through together

"I promise I'll do everything I can to make the cancer go away." Addison muttered as she was also a doctor on Meredith's case, even if legally that wasn't allowed but there simply is no doctor better than her and Meredith deserved the very best