Chapter 29
A couple of days later, Meredith and Derek woke up early.
"Mer?"
"Morning" She smiled as she heard Derek's voice.
Derek turned over to her side and held her close as they kept cuddling for a couple of minutes. "Ready for your first PT session in a while?" He asked with a smile
"Yes! I feel like my muscles disappeared in this short time. I can't wait to focus on my legs again" She smiled back
"Don't do too much.. I know you want to be independent but Lucy will probably focus on the basics again"
Meredith sighed as Derek helped her into a sitting position before she transferred to her chair and went to the bathroom when they heard Zola waking up
"I'll go grab her, I'll see you downstairs?" Derek asked
"I'll be there in a sec!"
Derek walked into Zola's room and took her downstairs after changing her diaper for some breakfast. Carolyn was making pancakes for the whole family as Meredith finally came downstairs.
"Hi, Zo" Meredith smiled as she wheeled to her daughter who was sitting on the booster seat next to Derek.
"Ma!!" Zola screamed
"Mom, those smell wonderful" Meredith smiled
"Thanks, Meredith. Now eat, you're way too skinny" Carolyn joked
"Grey genes, mom!" Derek joked back
...
"Good morning, Meredith" Lucy smiled
"Morning" Meredith said as she wheeled further into the room
"Ready for today?"
"I've never been this ready!"
"Okay, so first I have some questions for you before we can actually start with the session, is that okay?"
"yeah, of course" Meredith sounded doubtful
"So, Meredith. You've had a pretty bad case of pneumonia and I heard you had trouble coughing, right?"
"Yeah" Meredith sighed while staring in her lap
"I want to work on those muscles too and see if we can get any improvement. After that I want to keep focussing on working out your arms and I'll keep your leg muscles active."
"And.. when do you think I could move them or regain any feeling?" Meredith asked, afraid of the truth
"Well.. We'll probably have to start over and start from zero again. I don't have to explain how to transfer but at this point you don't have enough power to do it the best way. your legs haven't moved in the past week and a half so I'll need to get them flexible again"
"Flexible" Meredith scoffed
"I know this is hard, Meredith. But your body needed to recover."
"Fine, can we start?" She snapped
"Let's start with your back exercises
...
"How are you feeling, Meredith?" Lucy asked when Meredith took a break after training her back for over 30 minutes
"Hurts.. like hell" She breathed heavily as tears were almost streaming out of her eyes
"Take a 15 minute break while I'm checking on a patient. I'll be back soon"
Meredith didn't answer and waited till Lucy left the room. She decided to train on her transfer instead of taking a break.
She carefully placed her wheelchair next to the couch as she lifts herself out of the chair and onto the couch and back.
"That went well" She sighed as she now tried to lower herself to the ground before trying to lift herself up again as she felt a stabbing in her back which made her fall on the ground before her legs started spasming heavily. She tried to get up again but she couldn't. Her back protested every movement she made.
"Fuck!" She yelled as she fell on the ground again, now sobbing. She felt alone and desperate.
Lucy walked in a few minutes later as Meredith was still sobbing on the ground "Meredith! Are you okay?"
"Well, do I look okay?" Meredith snapped
"Should I page your husband?" Lucy asked as she helped Meredith into a sitting position on the ground but her back hurt so much she could only nod
Lucy paged Derek and he ran in a couple of minutes later "Mer?! Are you okay?!" He yelled as he saw her sobbing on the ground
"I'm gonna give you some space" Lucy said as she walked out
"Hurts" Meredith whispered before Derek gently scooped her up and gave her pain meds that were in her bag that hung on her wheelchair.
Derek held her close and rubbed her back "What happened?" He asked
"Just.. Me being unpatience" She whispered "I didn't wanna believe that my body wasn't used to this anymore"
"Mer.." Derek sighed
"I'm sick of it, Derek! Everyone keeps telling me this isn't permanent but it doesn't get better! I can't feel my legs, goddamn I can't even get myself up anymore" She said, clearly annoyed
"It will come, Mer! Give it some time.. We both know it could take a long time.."
"You mean it can take a year until I can maybe wiggle my fucking toes? Just tell me, Derek! Just fucking tell me that my legs are useless" She spat out
"Mer, you'll get to the point of standing up and walking. Okay, maybe with braces but you'll get there! Where's your fighter's attitude from last week?"
"It just seems endless Derek. The whole fight to maybe stand up with damn leg braces. I wanna chase after my kids, I wanna stand in an OR for over 12 hours.." She sighed
"Mer.. please, this won't be endless, you can do this, I'm convinced. The spasms are a good sign! The neurotests look hopeful!" Derek motivated Meredith
"I just need to see something.. some improvement to show me this is worth it" Meredith admitted
"Meredith? Derek?" Lucy said as she entered the room
They both looked up
"I wanted to let you test out some new kind of therapy. I wanna try electro-stimulation to get your legs in shape as fast as possible. Basically you'll put it on at least an hour a day and it will stimulate the nerves and muscles in your legs."
"We can try?" Derek looked at Meredith
"Let's do it" Meredith softly smiled
Hey guys! We hope you all enjoyed this chapter and hope your doing well. As always, go follow _Ktje_
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Highway to Hell
FanfictionAnother outcome on what could have happened in the episode Dark was the Night. Will there be severe injuries? Read to find out. Co written with @_Ktje_ Go follow her!!
