Aftermatch ✔️

Part 11

“Admit it, you just don’t want me in the kitchen because you’re scared I will burn something.” She said.
“No! I just want you to be well rested for our dinner later.” He smirked at her. “It’s your fault I have an ear infection.” She said, making him freeze. “You’re going to hold this against me forever aren’t you?” he sighed.
“Depends.” She gave back, hugging him from behind, her arms around his waist, her head resting in between his shoulder blades. “You want to try the sauce?” he asked, turning around, and holding a spoon in front of her mouth.
“Mhm, it tastes uhm- good? Ugh I still can’t taste anything.” She sighed, letting her body drop against his. “I’m sure you’re taste will come back soon, can you smell at least?” he asked, rubbing her back. “I can smell you and you smell good.” She said into his chest, making him smile. “At least something.” He chuckled as she stood up again and hopped onto the kitchen counter while he continued to prepare the dinner.
“I promise you as soon as your taste comes back I’ll make a huge menu with multiple parts, each one appealing to a different flavour. It’ll be an experiment, you’ll taste like you’ve never tasted before.” He smiled while continuing to prepare the sauce to the goulash they would have for dinner when Maggie, Amelia, Link and Winston would come over.
“Sounds like a plan.” She sighed happily but from her voice he noticed that she once again got sleepy. “Are you sure you don’t want to take a nap? They won’t be here until in about four hours.” He said, observing her.
“Fine.” She said, stifling a yawn as she slid off the counter, kissed his cheek before walking over into the living room and dropping onto the couch. Not a minute later the whole room was filled with the sounds of her snores and Andrew couldn’t keep himself from smiling widely. She was cute but she snored like a trucker.
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“Hey” Maggie said as Andrew opened the door to great her. “Hey, great that you two managed to get out of the hospital for once.” He chuckled as Winston entered the house a second later. “You all tested negative right?” he asked, just to make sure Meredith wasn’t exposed to any germs.
“Tested, showered, sanitized, don’t worry.” Winston chuckled as Amelia and Link both entered the house. Actually, Maggie and Amelia still lived at the house but since Meredith is back home they agreed to quarantine at a hotel to keep Meredith safe.
“Hey, you can already take a seat, I’ll see if Meredith is ready.” Andrew said as the two couples disappeared into the kitchen while he himself walked down the hallway and towards the office/bedroom. “Mer?” he asked, knocking onto the door before entering. “Yeah, I’m ready.” She said, turning around.
“Wow” he said at her sight. She was wearing a simple black leggings with a blue jeans tunica, a thin belt around her small waist. Her hair was partly tied into a small, braided knot while the rest of her wonderful blonde hair fell around her shoulders in slight waves. “You’re the most beautiful person on this planet. “ he said, coming closer, pulling him closer by her waist and placing a gently kiss on her lips as she smiled.
“Thank you.” She said shyly, blushing in a bright reddish colour. “Let’s have dinner with our friends.” He said, taking her hand in his and leading her into the kitchen where she was greeted with four people smiling at her. He pulled out a chair so she could sit down while she had already started talking with Maggie who was sitting next to her. A minute later Andrew started placing amazingly smelling goulash with mashed potatoes and beans.
“Well, buon apetito.”  He said as he sat down as well, Meredith to his right, Link to his opposite and next to him Winston and Amelia.
The evening went by quickly, it was absolutely amazing. Meredith felt extremely comfortable, talking to her sisters about current cases while he, Winston and Link talked about the super bowl that would take place next Sunday and which they wanted to watch together.
After they had finished the desert they continued to talk and laugh together for nearly one and a half hours since they hadn’t been able to come together like this in too long. But Meredith got tired and he wasn’t the only one who noticed that. Suddenly she coughed a few times into her arm, shivering slightly although it was extremely warm in the house.
“Maybe we should call it a night, we still have to get back to the hotel.” Maggie said, exchanging concerned looks with Andrew. But Meredith’s coughing only got worse by the time and soon turned into a fit so that she stood up, excused herself and disappeared into the hallway. “I’ll be right back.” Andrew said, hurrying after her.
He led her into their bedroom and quickly picked up the inhaler from the shelf, filling in the medicine and placing the masks over Meredith’s face, starting the machine. “It’s okay, shh.” He soothed her, helping her to lay down and covering with a blanket. “I’ll tell them goodbye and be right back.” He said, stroking her hair. “T-te-tel- s-so-rry” she wheezed, her eyes dropping.
“It’s okay, they will understand.” He said, placing a kiss to her forehead and walking back into the living room. “It’s just an asthma attack, she’s taking her medication.” He said, finding his guests in the hallway, ready to go.
“Don’t worry, we had a great time, the food was amazing. Now go, take care of your girlfriend.” Maggie said smiling. “I’m glad you enjoyed dinner, I hope we can do this again soon.” Andrew said and all of them agreed before saying goodbye and leaving the house in an uneasy quietness.
Andrew made his way back into their bedroom, finding Meredith half asleep, still taking her medicine. The inhaler was loud but I helped her, her breathing was more even than before while her shaking had gotten worse due to the side affects of the meds. He grabbed a pair of grey, baggy sweatpants and one of his sweatshirts and carefully started to change her clothes.
She tried to sit up so it was easier for him to change her top but she was too weak, leaning heavily onto him. As he was done Meredith had taken the whole medicine so he helped her lay down and tucked her in before putting thick wool socks onto her cold feet.
He laid down next to her, taking her into his arms, waiting for her to fall asleep which she soon did. As soon as he was certain that she was in a tight slumber he stood up to clean the kitchen which was done in just about fifteen minutes. After a quick shower he got back in bed, starting to place the patches of the portable monitor on her chest before activating it and carefully bringing her back into his embrace, kissing her forehead and falling asleep himself after a few minutes.
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He was awoken by an annoying beeping noise. He opened his eyes, adjusting to the darkness in the room. It took him a while before he noticed where that beeping was coming from. It was a flat line. Her heart had stopped. “NO!” he screamed, sitting up, starting compressions right away. He watched the monitor on her bedside table. It showed a line, a green zero standing right next to it. He felt her small ribs cracking under his hands but he had to bring her back. “No, Mer please!” he pleaded, searching for a pulse. “No, please Meri.” He said, his arms getting weaker. He couldn’t bring her back. “No.” he sobbed, pulling her limb body into his arms. “Meri.” He sobbed, feeling the warmth fade as he held her in his arms, protecting her. 
He woke up drenched in sweat. His breathing was fast and irregular. He turned around, looking at the monitor on the nightstand. It was there, her pulse was there, a little too fast but steady and- there. She was alive. Taking a deep breath, he laid down again, pulling her into his arms as he couldn’t longer prevent himself from crying which of course woke Meredith up.
“Andrew?” she asked, her voice raspy and shakily. “I love you so much.” He sobbed, clinging onto her. “I know, it’s okay. I’m right here.” She said, trying to calm him down. “It’s okay.” She said, hugging him back which was difficult as he was hugging her so tightly that she couldn’t move properly.
“What’s going on?” she asked worriedly as he had stopped crying and started to calm down. “I can’t lose you Meri.” He whispered, still not letting go off her. “I’m not going anywhere.” She said as he rolled onto his back, pulling her small body on top of his where she cuddled herself deeper into her chest, listening to his heartbeat.
“Are you okay?” he then asked as he kept her close to him. “Yes I’m fine but you aren’t” she said, as she sat up, looking at him with a worried expression on her face. He now sat up as well, leaning against the headboard as Meredith flipped on the light on her nightstand. “What happened?” she asked moving closer which led to her getting tangled in the wires attached to her chest. She was about to rip them off as he stopped her.
“Please, I don’t want to hear that sound again.” He said, holding her hand as she seemed to realise what had happened. “You had a nightmare and I died?” she asked, re-adjusting the patches. “How-?” he asked confused.
“Trust me I get those all the time.” She said, a sad smile on her face as she looked into his eyes, worry latched over them. “Really?” he asked, now concerned too, beating himself up for not noticing. “Yeah.” She replied. “You never told me? How- What do you do when it happens?” he asked.
“Cuddling and Tequila” she chuckled, making him smile too. “And why didn’t you tell me?” he then asked, making her smile fade a little. “Because- they started when you first started showing symptoms and we didn’t talk much, our relationship was complicated, Richard got sick there was never the right time to talk about something like this. And I didn’t want to worry you. Was this your first nightmare about me dying?”
“Yes.” He admitted, looking down a little embarrassed. “Uhm- I may know what could help.” She said, turning around and pushing a button on the monitor which resulted in a steady beeping noise. “You don’t have to do this Mer, you should get some sleep and the beeping isn’t very beneficial for a good night’s sleep.” He said.
“I had to listen to this beeping for almost two months I learned to live with it. And if it helps.” She said, smiling at him. “It does.” He replied, laying back down as she switched off the lamp and laid down in his embrace. “Thank you. You have no idea how amazing you are.” He said into her hair, taking in her familiar flowery scent.
“You’re not so bad yourself.” She mumbled with a smile on her face. “You know I would stay awake and listen if you wanted to talk about it. But I can’t guarantee that I won’t fall asleep.” She said making him chuckle. “I’m glad that we could sort things out.” He said. “Me too.” She replied sleepily. “I love you Mer.” He whispered. “M’love too” she mumbled already half asleep. She was amazing, so precious when she was asleep, the cutest, kindest person he had ever came across. She was the love of his life and being able to have her in his arms right now was all he could ever ask for.