Carolyn walks into Meredith and Amelia's room and sees both girls sound asleep in their beds. Both girls have stuffed animals tightly clutched in their arms. Meredith has Puppy and Amelia has a bunny stuffed animal.
Carolyn walks over to Meredith's bed and kneels down next to her. She brushes some hairs out of Meredith's face. "Meredith? Mer, sweetie, I need you to wake up for me."
Meredith whines in her sleep and keeps her eyes closed.
"Wake up sweetie." Carolyn softly says to Meredith while stroking her hair.
"Don't wanna." Meredith murmurs sleepily.
"I know baby girl but you have an appointment this morning. So we need to get up and get ready. I already have an outfit picked out for you that I think you'll like!"
Meredith slowly opens her eyes and looks at Carolyn. "Appointment? No!" She protests.
"It's going to be okay! I promise! You know I would never break a promise to you right?"
Meredith nods.
"Come on. Let's get dressed and get some breakfast. I bet Puppy is hungry also." Carolyn already has the nutrients Meredith needs for her tube feed ready downstairs.
Meredith looks over at Amelia sleeping in bed. "What about Amy?" She asks softly.
"She can sleep. The babysitter is coming over in just a little while to watch her and the boys."
Meredith nods and coughs and wheezes a little. Carolyn notices immediately. "Oh sweetie, is your asthma bothering you this morning?"
Meredith nods. "Been wheezy."
"Okay, let's do a quick treatment and then we'll get you ready." Carolyn leaves and comes back a moment later with Meredith's nebulizer and gets her treatment started. After a while, it finishes and Carolyn finishes getting Meredith ready.
They arrive at Seattle Grace Hospital and they walk inside the building.
Meredith holds both Carolyn and Christopher's hands as they walk inside as she's having trouble walking and is in pain. She looks at both of them on either side of her and starts crying.
"What's wrong Mer?" Carolyn asks, crouching down in front of Meredith.
"I-I had an accident." Meredith whispers, looking down at the floor.
"That's okay! We're going to go meet Dr. Robbins right now and we will get you cleaned up. Don't cry baby girl, you can't help it." Carolyn looks over at Christopher and they both nod at each, silently agreeing that Meredith having a catheter inserted was the correct choice.
They head upstairs to the pediatric ward and Christopher has Dr Robbins paged.
A few minutes later they see Dr Robbins walking towards them with a big smile on her face. "Hi guys! How are we today?"
Meredith hides behind Carolyn, not wanting to be seen. She's terrified of being in the hospital because of her medical trauma and also doesn't want anyone to see that she had an accident.
"Mer, it's okay. Dr Robbins will not hurt you." Christopher says softly to Meredith.
"Come here baby girl. Everything is okay. Puppy will help you not to feel scared. How about we go with Dr Robbins and we can get you cleaned up?" Carolyn says to Meredith.
Christopher whispers to Dr Robbins that she had another accident when they arrived at the hospital.
Dr Robbins walks over to Meredith and crouches down in front of her. "Hi Meredith! I'm Dr Robbins! I'm so happy to meet you. Who is your little friend there?"
"Puppy." Meredith whispers shyly.
"Puppy is such a great name! I love that you brought him with you today! Let's go show Puppy to the exam room. I bet he would really like to see it." Dr Robbins says.
Meredith looks at Carolyn with tears in her eyes.
"It's okay sweetie. You will be just fine. Let's go to the exam room with Dr Robbins." Carolyn takes Meredith by the hand and helps her walk to the exam room. They get to the exam room and Carolyn quickly cleans Meredith up and helps her into a gown. Once cleaned up, Christopher puts Meredith onto the exam table.
"No! Wanna go home!" Meredith yells out, completely terrified.
"Sweetie, I won't hurt you. I promise." Dr Robbins sweetly says to Meredith.
Meredith clutches her Puppy to her chest. Her hips are hurting her. "No! Don't touch me!" She screams.
"Mer, you are going to be just fine. No one will hurt you." Carolyn says and kisses her forehead.
"Meredith, I'm going to explain the procedure to you first okay sweetie? That way you know what to expect." Dr Robbins starts. "First and because of your condition, this will hurt a little but you will be okay, we will move your legs close to your hips with your legs bent and fallen to the side. The rest of the procedure won't hurt at all sweetie. First I'm just going to clean the area and then I'll insert it! It's really simple sweetie and won't take long at all."
Just then a nurse pokes her head into the room. "Carolyn? Can you come out here for a few minutes please? I have a few questions for you."
Carolyn doesn't want to leave Meredith but the nurse says she'll be right back.
"Mer, I'll be right back sweetie. Christopher is right here baby girl. You are going to be just fine." She gives Meredith a kiss on the head and then leaves the room.
Meredith starts sobbing because Carolyn left the room.
Nurse Debbie goes towards Meredith and gently lays her down on the table. Meredith starts kicking and trying to hit the nurse and screaming. "No! Don't want this! I want Carolyn!" She sobs. While she is doing that, Puppy falls to the floor which Christopher immediately picks up.
"Sweetie, you're okay. I'm right here. Here's Puppy, he fell onto the floor. Everything is just fine baby." Christopher says to her and strokes her hair.
Meredith is sobbing and tries to get out of the position that the nurse is putting her legs into.
"Stop! It hurts! Stop! Don't touch me!!! It hurts!!!" Meredith wails loudly. "I want Carolynnnn!!!"
The door opens and Carolyn comes back in and rushes towards Meredith. "Shhh, sweet girl. You're okay. Shhh, you're okay. I'm here baby." She had heard Meredith sobbing and told the nurse she would have to talk to her later because she needed to be with Meredith.
"Baby girl, I'm right here. Everything is okay." Carolyn gets into the exam table and has Meredith's upper body lie on her lap. She holds Meredith to her and tries to calm her down. "Shh, I'm here. I've got you. You're okay."
Dr Robbins starts the procedure. She moves Meredith's hospital gown and underwear out of the way and cleans her.
"Nooo! Don't touch me!!!" Meredith wails.
"You're okay baby. Shhhh." Carolyn rubs Meredith's tear stained cheeks with puppy's paws. "Puppy is right here for you also and so is Christopher."
Dr Robbins gets the catheter ready and starts to bring it near Meredith so that she can insert it.
Meredith tries moving her legs so she can't get it in but Nurse Debbie is holding her legs still during the procedure. "I don't want that! Please! Stop! It's gonna hurt!"
Carolyn tries to distract Meredith by asking her questions about Puppy. "Hey Mer, what's Puppy's favorite color?"
"Pink." Meredith says while sobbing.
"Ooh, what's his favorite food?"
"Mac and cheese and ice cream." Meredith sobs.
After a few more questions Dr Robbins is finished with the procedure. Meredith was very distracted so she was able to get the catheter in. "You're all done! You did good sweetie!"
Meredith continues crying and doesn't say anything to Dr Robbins. She moves her whole body into Carolyn's lap. She hides her face in Carolyn's body. Carolyn rubs her back to comfort her.
"You did awesome baby girl. When we leave here today we're going to stop by the gift shop and pick you out a special treat for doing so well." Carolyn says.
"Like what?" Meredith whispers.
"Anything you would like! You did great Meredith and we know that was super hard for you so you deserve a reward." Christopher tells her.
"I want a stuffed animal." Meredith whispers.
"That sounds like a great choice Mer! We can definitely get you a new stuffed animal." Carolyn says.
Meredith gives her a big smile. "I love new stuffed animals! Can we go pick one out now?" She asks, looking up at Carolyn.
"Not yet, sweetie. We just need to get you fitted for your brace and then we'll go pick you out a new stuffed animal." Carolyn says.
"Another appointment?" Meredith frowns and looks like she's about to burst into tears. "I don't want another appointment!" She protests.
"Just one more, baby. Just keep thinking of picking out a new stuffed animal as soon as we finish." Carolyn says.
"But it'll hurt!!!" Meredith whines. "Don't wanna go!"
Dr Robbins had already left the exam room and came back in to ask Christopher something. She heard Meredith being upset about having another appointment. "Hey Mer! I have a favor to ask of you!"
"What is it?" Meredith softly asks.
"So I know you're getting fitted for your brace next. Dr Torres has been wanting to see if she can find the cutest stuffed animals in this hospital and I think yours might be the cutest. You should show her Puppy when you see her! She would love to meet your Puppy!" Arizona says, smiling brightly at the small girl.
Meredith smiles at her stuffed animal and gives it a hug. "Puppy is so cute!!!"
"Exactly! Dr Torres would love to see your puppy." Dr Robbins says.
"Okay." Meredith says.
"Do you think you can get down from the table?" Christopher asks her.
Meredith nods and scoots down to the end of the exam table so she can get down from it. She gets to the edge of the table and starts to get off of the table. When she tries to stand up her legs are so shaky. Her legs shake so much under her that her legs start to buckle.
Christopher sees this happening and quickly steadies her and helps her stand upright. "Use your crutches sweetie. They'll help you."
Meredith nods and starts using the crutches but is just so shaky even with them. "My legs hurt!" She cries. "I don't want to walk! It hurts!"
"I'll carry you sweetie." Christopher picks up Meredith and she rests her head on his shoulder with her puppy dangling from her hand.
Christopher carries Meredith to where her next appointment is at. Callie is waiting for them so they head right into the exam room.
Christopher sets Meredith down on the exam table but she doesn't want him to put her down.
"No! Wanna go home!" Meredith cries out.
"One more appointment sweetie. And then we'll go pick you out a new stuffed animal." Carolyn says. "Speaking of, didn't Dr Robbins say to show Puppy to Dr Torres?" She whispers to Meredith who nods.
"This is Puppy!" She shows Dr Torres her stuffed animal.
"Oh! He's so cute, Meredith! He looks like he's really cuddly!" Dr Torres says with a smile on her face.
"He is!" She gives Puppy a big hug.
Dr Torres starts fitting Meredith for an AFO brace after asking the small girl some more questions about her puppy.
"Don't touch me! No!!" Meredith is still upset about the catheter and this is even more medical stuff she has to go through today.
"You're okay sweetie! I won't hurt you I promise." Dr Torres tells her.
"No!" Meredith sobs.
"So Meredith, I have an important question for you! If you could have any design on your AFO braces what would you choose?" Dr Torres asks her in an attempt to distract her.
Meredith thinks for a minute. "Princesses, puppies, and teddy bears!" She says loudly.
Dr Torres laughs. "I'll see what I can do! Those sound like some pretty cool designs."
After a few more minutes Dr Torres has finished fitting Meredith for the AFO brace. "Okay! We're all done Mer! You did a great job! Now, I hear you're going to pick out a new stuffed animal! Pick out a good one!"
Meredith nods! "I love stuffed animals!" She says hugging Puppy. "Can we go to the gift shop now?" She asks Carolyn and Christopher who both nod.
"Yes, we can. You did a great job. Do you think you can walk?" Carolyn asks.
Meredith attempts to get off of the exam table but her legs are so shaky and buckle underneath her again. "My legs hurt!!! Make it stop!" Meredith sobs.
"Shhh, I've got you." Christopher picks her up and she rests her head on his shoulder and wraps her arms around him.
They walk to the hospital gift shop and Meredith sees lots of stuffed animals.
"Oooh! They're so cute!" She smiles. "I want that one!" She points to a teddy bear dressed in pink scrubs.
Carolyn picks up the stuffed animal and hands it to Meredith who's still being carried by Christopher. "So cute!!!" She squeals happily.
Carolyn and Christopher smile at each other, happy that Meredith is so excited about the stuffed animal.
"Ooh there's one wearing purple scrubs too! Can we get that one for Amelia? Purple's her favorite color!!!" Meredith asks.
"Sure." Carolyn says and takes that one off the shelf and pays for both teddy bears.
"Okay, let's go home now." Christopher says.
We hope you enjoyed!!! Thanks to my co-writer _Ktje_