Aftermatch ✔️

Part 4

Tears were streaming down her cheeks as she broke into a coughing fit. The fourth in the last 30 minutes. She hated PT. It was stupid and it hurt. But she also knew that it was more than necessary. The breathing exercises she was doing with Dr. Swender weren't just necessary but they also kind of helped. In the past six days since she had started physical therapy, she had done the exercises three times a day and it felt like her lungs were progressing a little.

But now it was just too much. She was tired and her chest felt like it was on fire. "I c-ca-n-'t" she wheezed as she pulled her knees up to her chest, trying to control her breathing. "It's okay, I think it's enough for today anyways." Dr. Swender said as she wrote down the results of the tests on a clip board.

"Should I page Dr. DeLuca?" she asked Meredith who was still sitting on the couch. "No, he's b-busy, I'll get back to my r-room by myself, I just need a short break." Meredith replied as her breathing slowed down again although she still didn't felt like standing up.

"Okay, I have another patient in a few minutes, can I leave you alone?" Dr. Swender asked, standing up and adjusting her mask on her face. Meredith just nodded too tired to speak and not a second later Dr. Swender has disappeared.

Meredith carefully stood up, swaying slightly before steadying herself on the edge of the couch and opening the cabinet, pulling out a blanket. She was freezing and she was certain that she wouldn't be able to go back to her room within the next ten minutes. Laying down on the couch she pulled the thin blanket up until her chin and closed her eyes. Although she was trying not to fall asleep, she was extremely exhausted so that just after a short moment she was in a tight sleep.

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Opening the door to patient room number 4007 he was a little surprised to find it empty. He knew that Meredith had had a PT session this morning but that should've been over almost three hours ago. Why had no one paged him? And where was Meredith? Did they take her to do tests? But they would have paged him for tests, right?

"Dr. Bailey?" he said as he saw Dr. Bailey approaching the nurse station behind him. "Do you happen to know where Meredith is?" he asked curiously as the chief's expression turned into a frown. "She's not in her room?"

"No" he sighed, burring his face in his palms. "I'll go ask Dr. Swender where she took Meredith after her PT session." He said before smiling exhaustingly at Dr. Bailey before turning to walk towards the elevator.

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"Dr. Swender! Could I talk to you for a second?" he asked as he saw the doctor exiting her office. "Dr. DeLuca, do you need something?" she replied, pressing the clip board in her arms to her chest.

"Yes, do you know who took Meredith back to her room after her session this morning?"

"No one did. I asked her if I should page you but she said she would get back to her room by herself."

"So you're practically telling me that she could be anywhere in the hospital probably even unconscious after an asthma attack?" he said, rage starting to build up inside of him.

"Dr. DeLuca, I'm sure that if she needed help, she would've asked. What is your problem?"

"My problem is that Meredith does not ask for help even if she needs it and that she is not in her room and that I don't know where she is." He said, his voice getting a little louder, making people who were walking by look over at the two of them.

"Follow me, maybe she's still in the conference room" Dr. Swender said annoyed with gritted teeth.

He walked behind her until they reached the door and the tall woman in front of him opened it.