Destruction

Chapter 3

The sun shone through the window to Meredith's hospital room, waking Meredith up.

When she opened her eyes, Derek was gone. She couldn't help but feel sad, she wanted to curl up into him all day.

Her eyes looked around the room and she noticed Alex sleeping in the corner of a room on an armchair.

Alex stirred and looked over to Meredith. "Hey" he said sleepily.

"Hey" Meredith replied, she tried to move but winced as the pain shook through her body.

"Hey hey don't try to move" Alex said as he got up and rushed over to his friend. He helped adjust Meredith's pillows so that she would be more comfortable.

"You've looked better" Alex said, a small smile on his face. He still wasn't sure what had happened to Meredith or how she got hurt. He did want her to smile though, or laugh. He loved it when Mer laughed, she would always light up the room. But Meredith didn't smile nor did she laugh. Her lower lip quivered and she burst into tears.

Alex sighed sadly; "I'm sorry Mer, I was just joking" Alex apologised. Meredith nodded

"I know- I- I- I'm sorry" Meredith sobbed. Alex shook his head and took Meredith's hand.

"Don't apologise. Not to me. I'm the one who's sorry. I shouldn't have said that, it was rude and insensitive and I-" Alex rambled. Meredith hands shook and her nails dug into her hands, breaking her skin.

"I was raped" Meredith whispered, cutting off Alex. It was barely audible and Alex had to do a double take to know he had heard her properly.

"Raped?" Alex echoed, his brow furrowed in anger. Tears filled his eyes, from sadness but also from rage.

"By who?" Alex fumed. "I'll kill him" he muttered. Meredith shook her head quickly. Her eyes soft. Alex watched Meredith sympathetically, his eyes wide and full of sadness.

"But Meredith, something needs to be done about this. He can't get away with this" Alex begged.

She smiled sadly "I know" she whispered. "Just not yet". Alex nodded and squeezed Meredith's hand.

"Okay, I have to go and check on my patient. I'll see you in a bit okay? Love you Mer".

"Love you too Al" Meredith smiled sadly.

Derek sat in the attending's office, his head in his hands. He wanted to sleep next to Meredith, more than anything. But she kept having nightmares and Derek couldn't handle it. He knew he had to be strong for her, he knew he couldn't keep running away from her.

His phone beeped; he had a text from Meredith asking where he was. He sighed sadly. Today was going to be long.

He had taken the day off work, he knew he would possibly need to take more time off depending on Meredith's recovery. He wanted to be there for her.

He went downstairs to the coffee cart to grab Meredith's favourite drink and cake for breakfast. She hasn't eaten since before she was admitted and she had to eat something.

As he made his way down the stairs he bumped into Christina, who was sat in the stairwell alone.

She looked up as Derek slumped down next to her.

"Why aren't you with Meredith?" She asked him bluntly.

"Why aren't you?" Derek retorted.

Christina sighed and laughed to herself. "She was raped" Christina sighed.

Derek nodded, confused. "She told you?" he whispered.

"No, I'm smart. I figured it out and I can't handle Meredith falling apart" Christina said sadly.

"And you think I can?" Derek asked, raising his voice. "I love her and I couldn't protect her. Now I have to fix her too" He continued, his voice shaking.

"I'll help" Christina whispered "you know I will. I just need some time" Derek shook his head and stood up.

"We don't have time" he said as he walked down the stairs.

"Hey Mer" Derek smiled happily as he walked into his girlfriends room. She was pale, and Derek was taken aback. He would never get used to seeing her so broken and so hurt.

"I brought you coffee and banana bread" he beamed as he walked over to Meredith and sat by her side.She pushed the coffee and bag away, frowning slightly.

"Mer, sweetheart, you have to eat" He whispered.

Meredith shook her head. "I feel nauseous"

Derek sighed and took Meredith's hand. "Please" he begged. Meredith was stubborn.

She wasn't the type to do something just because she kept getting pressured into doing it. She got that from her mother and she knew it. But, she couldn't help giving into Derek. His eyes bore into her and she melted.

"Fine. But not much" she sighed and took a small bite of the banana bread.

"Derek?" She said, breaking the silence. "Where were you this morning?" She questioned.

"Uh- I had a patient. Emergency" Derek lied. He couldn't admit to Meredith that he left because he wasn't able to handle her having nightmares, that sounded awful. It was awful. He was awful and he felt terrible. He didn't want Meredith to feel terrible too.

"Oh" Meredith said quietly.

"I'm sorry Mer. I would've been here if I could have been" Derek whimpered softly.

"I know" Meredith smiled sadly.