One-shots Season 17 | Merluca

2. When you love someone...

Just a little something that came to me this morning after I went through some old story ideas...

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What if Meredith wasn't the only one who got covid? based on 17x06, except Andrew didn't see and didn't follow that woman... (AU like)

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When you love someone...

Meredith had woken up again. And even though she still felt more exhausted than she had ever felt before, she wasn't stupid. And when Dr. Bailey came inside her room to check her vitals again, instead of Andrew, who had been on her medical team from the beginning, she had a feeling that there might be something they tried to hide from her. And she didn't like the way that thought made her feel. Because she knew what kind of news were hidden most of the time. And those weren't the good ones.

"Where is Andrew DeLuca?" She asked after observing Bailey for a moment while she was taking another blood sample.

"Missing your favorite doctor?" Bailey tried to put on a smile, trying to lighten up the sadness and overall desperation that had settled over the hospital. But she failed at her attempt, because Meredith knew her long enough now, to know if something is wrong.

"Bailey. What's going on?"

"He's-" Bailey stopped what she was doing for a moment, looking up at her, trying to find the right words, before she continued. "We had a huge surge in COVID-19 cases, we don't have enough space anymore... And... that surge was followed by some hospital staff testing positive a few days later."

"He has it, too, right?" She already knew the answer to her question, and yet, she still had that small part inside her that wanted to hope that this wasn't the case.

"Yes." Bailey answered, looking at her for a moment.

Meredith sighed, not wanting Andrew to have to go through this... or worse... She didn't want to imagine what could happen if his condition was worse than hers or if he would... die... But she couldn't help herself, because her mind was already going to these dark places and thoughts all by his own. She stayed silent for some moments, while Bailey continued to take her blood, trying to push these thoughts away, trying to stay calm. But that was a lot harder than said if it was about that one person you didn't want to lose.

"How bad is it?" She asked a few moments later, looking up at Bailey, when the nervousness and anxiety bubbling up inside her got the better of her.

"Meredith." Bailey gave her a look, telling her that she as a doctor should know very well that she couldn't just hand out medical information that easily. "Have you ever heard of HIPAA?" She asked her rhetorically.

"If I wasn't sick I would probably be his doctor." Meredith answered jokingly, trying to cover the way she felt.

"And that's your excuse now?" Bailey answered, making both chuckle slightly for a moment, before they fell into a silence, followed by Bailey turning more serious again, before she added "His condition isn't as bad as yours was, but... We hope that he has reached his worst point now, but in the end we just don't know..." She continued, giving Meredith a sad, but sympathetic smile, before she finished up everything and was about to leave. Leaving Meredith with her own thoughts.

"Bailey?" Meredith stopped her just before she could reach the door. "You said you hadn't enough space. When you need to put more than one person in a room..." Meredith started while she was fidgeting her blanket between her fingers, needing something to distract herself, hoping that Bailey would know what she wanted to say.

"I will see what I can do." Bailey gave her a small smile, before she went outside her room.

"Thank you."