"Potty" Ellis whispered as Meredith and Ellis were doing some exercises.
"Come on, let's go" Meredith smiled and gave her her hand
"Oh-" Ellis sighed
Meredith saw Ellis' dress becoming wet "No worries. We'll go clean you up"
Meredith carried Ellis to the bathroom and placed her in the tub after letting some water run
She grabbed some new clothes and started washing Ellis
"S-orry" Ellis whimpered
"Don't worry, baby" Meredith finished washing the little girl
"Auw!" Ellis yelled
"Did I hurt you?" Meredith asked
"Auw.." Ellis sobbed
"Where does it hurt?" Meredith asked as she quickly examined the little girl
"No! S-top! S-o.. S- S-" Ellis whimpered but couldn't finish her words
"Let's get you dressed and I'll ask daddy to come help us" Meredith took her in her arms and started drying her off with a towel
"M- M.. M-ommm" Ellis kept trying
"Shh baby. We'll talk later" Meredith said and carried the girl to the bedroom and quickly changed her
"Derek! Derek!" She yelled in the hallway
"What's wrong?" He asked concerned as he ran towards her
"Can you help me with Ellis? She's having another bad day" Meredith asked, a tear escaped her eye
"Of course" Derek said and they grabbed each other's hand as they walked into their bedroom, Ellis on the bed, her limbs cramped as she was surrounded by pillows to not roll off the bed "Mer, can you rub her body? I'll go grab her pillow and the heating pad" Derek said and stood up to help the girl
"N-n-oo" Ellis whimpered
"We need to for a bit sweetie" Meredith whispered
"Here I am" Derek announced
Ellis was zoning out, alerting her parents that she was about to have a seizure
"Baby, shh. We're here" Meredith whispered as she brushed Ellis' hair with her fingers
"I plugged in the heating pad. It will help soon" Derek said and placed it on the right spot
"Shh, Ellie. Mommy and daddy are here" Meredith whispered and laid her forehead on the little girl's head
"M-ommy" Ellis whispered after a bit
"Hi, look who's here" Meredith smiled, pointing at Derek
"D-addy" Ellis whispered with a smile
"Hey little one" Derek smiled back and gently grabbed her hand "Is the heating pad in the right spot?" Derek asked
"G-ood" Ellis smiled as her eyes slowly closed
"Take a nap. One of us will stay here with you" Derek whispered
"Kay" Ellis replied as she closed her eyes "L-uf"
"We love you too baby" Meredith whispered back and rubbed Ellis' fingers
Soft snores filled the room and Meredith wiped away a tear that was running down her cheek
"When do we have her next appointment?" Derek asked as he placed his arm around Meredith's back
"At the end of next week" Meredith sighed
Derek nodded and dropped the subject. They were both doctors and they both knew this situation was unpredictable. Every brain injury is different
"Daddy?" The kids poked in their heads
"What's up guys?" Derek asked
"Can we go play in the garden?" Bailey spoke up
"Of course. I'll come with you" Derek stood up, brushing his fingers one last time on Meredith's cheek
"Mommy, are you coming too?" Zola asked
"Me and Ellis will join you after she finished her nap" Meredith smiled
"Okay! Come on daddy!" Bailey yelled and he and Zola ran out of the room
"Yell if you need me" Derek said and kissed Meredith's forehead
"I will" Meredith smiled
...
"Hey guys" Meredith smiled as she walked into the garden with Ellis on her hip, changed in different clothes
"Zo!" Ellis giggled as she ran towards her sister that was playing in the sandbox
"Have they been good?" Meredith asked Derek
"They have been amazing" Derek smiled and rubbed Bailey's back, encouraging him to keep playing "I was thinking of turning on the grill. Maybe we can have a nice barbeque this evening" Derek suggested
"Sounds nice" Meredith smiled and took a seat "Derek?" She whispered after a couple of minutes
"What's wrong?" He asked concerned
"I don't think she'll progress much more with her motor skills" Meredith muttered
"We don't know that yet but we shouldn't get our hopes up. I really hope her speech therapy will help her more in the future even though we can't complain but PT seems to really help her relax her muscles and limbs more.. but I'm concerned about her walking. She seems to avoid it on a regular base"
"I know.. maybe it's because her body has difficulties supporting her weight now she's finally growing a bit more" Meredith said and rested her head on Derek's shoulder as they watched the kids play
"Ellie, are you making a sandcastle?" Bailey asked as he joined the two girls
Ellis nodded and kept filling the toys with sand
"Can I help turning it?" Bailey asked and Ellis nodded again
"Look at him. He looks so much like you" Meredith told Derek
"My mother said the same thing last time" Derek smiled
"She's right" Meredith giggled
"Bay!" Ellis yelled as she saw how he turned the toys that made perfect sandcastles
"Teamwork" Bailey smiled as he grabbed his sister's hand
"T- Tea-m w-ork" Ellis smiled
"You guys are doing great" Meredith yelled at the kids
"M-ommy! L-ook!" Ellis smiled proud as she stood up and ran towards Meredith and Derek
"You, Bailey and Zola did amazing" Derek said as he scooped her up
Ellis nodded her head but was exhausted again. It took her a lot of energy to play for this long so Meredith suggested that she would take the girl inside with her to prepare the salads for later this afternoon
As Meredith placed Ellis on the couch, she kissed the little girl's head and took of to the kitchen and started cutting vegetables
"Meredith, Derek.. she's young and she can develop her skills, try not to be concerned about that until the moment comes we'll see no further progress" Arizona told them
Meredith was laying in her hospital gown in the hospital bed with baby Ellis in her arms, Derek next to her, holding his both girls in his arms
"Arizona, please. I need to take her home" Meredith said. Meredith should be released in a couple of days but they wanted Ellis to stay a bit longer to make sure she wasn't developing any other symptoms or diseases
"Meredith, I can't send you home yet and you'll have to arrange a lot of stuff in this upcoming week. I want her to start PT as soon as she's out of here"
"Please tell me all of this is an awful dream" Meredith begged to no one in particular
"I'm very sorry" Arizona told them
Memories flood through Meredith's mind. Them renovating the dream house when it became clear that Ellis wouldn't be able to walk up the stairs, when it became clear walking on uneven grounds was a hard task. Them buying the most comfortable and big strollers, car seats and even a special high chair for when she was too tired to keep her own head up and all those things didn't really change in the past years. It only became more clear that Ellis needed all of those things.
Meredith hadn't noticed that tears were streaming down her face when she finished cutting vegetables and went to check on her little girl that barely looked like a 3 or 4 year old when she was midway her 5th year of existence