The next time Meredith woke up she was in excruciating pain. Her back was spore from the test they did earlier and she noticed she had issues moving her legs without causing her pain
"Hey sweetie, how are you doing?" Carolyn asked as she noticed Meredith was awake
The little girl flinched and cried out in pain
"Shh, it's okay. Puppy's here" Carolyn brushed her finger over Meredith's cheek
"Hurts" Meredith whispered
"I'll page Christopher, he'll give you something for the pain
Christopher arrived a few minutes later and administered some pain meds "I have to talk to Ellis.." He sighed
"I hope she'll take it well. Meredith needs the best care possible" Carolyn said and brushed her hand over Meredith's forehead
"Oh believe me, I'll make sure she'll get everything she needs. I'm not giving up" Chrsitopher said sternly
"Go and talk to Ellis. I'm staying here" Carolyn said sadly
...
"Ellis.." Christopher sighed "For the fourth time, we diagnosed her with Ehler Danlos Syndrome and yes we're sure" Christopher explained
Ellis nodded and kept quiet for a minute "What will happen now?"
"I think we should look into how we can help her and treat the symptoms. For her hips and knees I would suggest she uses crutches, especially if she'll be walking a lot. We should fit her with a hip brace, just something she can wear underneath her clothes, just for some more stability" Christopher started explaining and frowned as Ellis grabbed a notebook and started writing it down
"Continue" Ellis ordered
"She'll definitely need PT. She needs to keep moving to prevent the symptoms from getting worse" Christopher said sternly "Do you have any idea what her eating pattern is like?"
"Uh-" Ellis seemed to think
"At our place Meredith is having a lot of issues finishing her plate and we've noticed some foods seem to give her a stomach ache" Christopher told Ellis
"Could be" She nodded
"I wanna discuss this with my colleague who'll be on Meredith's case as well because I'm thinking of putting an NG tube in, at least for now, to give her the food she needs. Her immune system is weak as well, although we're not sure if that's caused by her asthma or not but I think we should look to put a pulmonary doctor on her case as well"
"Oh- Okay" Ellis nodded
"Are you having questions?" Christopher asked
"I'm a doctor as well. I think I just have to look for a nanny that can stay with her more often. This will cost a lot of money" Ellis sighed and closed the notebook
"If you need someone to watch Meredith- We can always help out. Me and my wife love having Meredith around" Christopher softly smiled
"She doesn't need to bother you two. This will be a lot" Ellis sighed
"She could never bother us" Christopher smiled "Besides, Carolyn and I are both trained to help her"
"Okay. What comes now? Does she need to stay here?" Ellis asked as she stood up, Christopher joining her
"I think it would be good for her if you came with me to see her and see if we could get her on her feet for a few minutes, maybe even using the crutches first, then she can come home tomorrow" Christopher explained
"Oh- No I have surgery" Ellis nodded and left
Christopher sighed and made his way over to Meredith's room but he stopped at the coffee cart first and bought her a donut, her favourite
"Hi" He smiled at his wife as he walked in and then saw Meredith moving her head slightly "Hi honey. I brought you something to eat"
"Thank you" Meredith gave him a shy smile
"Let's let you sit up a tiny bit more" Carolyn helped Meredith who winced in pain as she hit a certain angle and lowered it a tiny bit more so she would be comfortable
"Is this okay for you, Meredith?" Christopher asked as he handed her the donut
"Yeah" Meredith nodded and took a tiny bite "Where's mommy?" She quietly asked
"Mommy's working honey" Christopher explained
"I bet Derek, Mark and Amy would like to see you. Do you think you wanna see them?" Carolyn asked, trying to distract the little girl
"Yeah" Meredith quietly said
"I'll go get them" Carolyn smiled and placed a kiss on Meredith's head and left
"Meredith, we found out what's wrong with you" Christopher started explaining "You have Ehler Danlos Syndrome. EDS for short, that's what's causing the pain but I promise we'll help her. Sadly we can't really get this away with meds or a cast. We'll have to help you out with all symptoms individually. We'll give you a special brace for your hips, it looks a bit like shorts but it fits high in your waist, no one will see it underneath your clothes. I promise" Christopher explained and saw her nodding her head
Meredith was playing with her fingers as she was listening to what Christopher was saying but couldn't hold herself from internally panicking what all of this would mean. She was scared what her mother would say, she was scared what everyone else would think when seeing her
"And you'd need to learn how to walk with crutches" Christooher ended
Meredith apparently hadn't heard all he said but she definitely heard his last words
"Crutches?" Her voice cracked
"It will make it a lot easier for you. I promise" Christopher held her hand and she nodded again
"Mer!" The three kids ran inside
"Hi guys" Christopher smiled as Derek ran up to his dad immediately and hugged him
"Hi" Amelia and Mark giggled and climbed up onto Meredith's bed
"Hi" Meredith quietly replied
"Are you okay?" Derek asked her
"Fine" Meredith didn't look up
"You haven't finished your donut!" Amelia pointed out
"I'm not hungry" Meredith whispered
"I think Meredith could use some cuddle time but be careful to not hurt her" Christopher helped them climb in next to her
Meredith laid her head on Amelia's shoulder and had to force back the tears
"It will be okay" Carolyn noticed this and squeezed her hand
...
Once the kids had left with Carolyn after the movie Christopher helped Meredith sit up a bit more so she could stand up for a minute
"You're doing Amazing Meredith" Christopher had a huge smile as he felt really proud of her
He let the nurse hand her the pair of crutches that soon enough would be a part of her new life
"You did very well honey, now go lay down again and I'll administer some meds so you can sleep" Christopher helped her lay down and administered some meds. He then tucked her in and made sure her stuffy was next to her. He didn't leave until Meredith was asleep. He stood up and went to find Ellis. To be honest he was so angry with her, he couldn't understand how she hadn't checked on Meredith once since she was admitted
"Ellis!" Christopher stopped her
"What's wrong? I was about to take a nap, I have another surgery in three hours" Ellis stopped
"Ellis, do you have any idea how much this diagnosis means to Meredith? This is changing her whole life!" He raised his voice but calmed himself down again. This was for Meredith "She's young and she's already needing crutches, Ellis. Tomorrow we're gonna give her a feeding tube, she might need to have a special program at school" Christopher frowned
"I'm aware but someone will have to pay those bills, her dad made the right choice" Ellis sighed
"Are you aware of what this disease can do? Your daughter can become completely bedridden!" Christopher's voice cracked
"I did my research. We can always try experimental therapies" Ellis nodded "Anything else?"
"She would like it if you'd stop by. I finished my shift, I'm going to shower and then I'll sit next to her bed, such a young girl shouldn't be alone while she's in the hospital" Christopher sighed
We hope you enjoyed! Special thanks to my co-writer _Ktje_