Meredith woke up to Ellis climbing in bed with her. This was a habit the little girl had developed as Meredith had gotten worse over the past year
"Hi monkey" Meredith smiled
"Hi mommy" Ellis giggled and cuddled in her mother's arms
"We should get up so we can start the day" Meredith smiled
"A bit longer, please!" Ellis begged
"Okay. 30 minutes and then we really have to get up" Meredith smiled and closed her eyes again and she leaned into Ellis' warm small body
...
"Do I need to call you sick?" Alex frowned as he saw Meredith shuffling in the kitchen
"I'll be okay. Besides we have to arrange some things for the surgery" Meredith gave him a forced smile
"I can drive you and Ellis if you want" Alex smiled
"Thanks Alex" Meredith smiled
"No problem. I leave at 9" He smiled and grabbed his mug of coffee
"I'll go get Ellis ready" Meredith smiled
"Yell if you need a hand!" Alex smiled and filled Poppy's bowl and watched as the dog ate her food
Meredith helped Ellis into her clothes and got ready herself
Ellis had gone to the kitchen and ate the cereal Alex had prepped for her
"Uncle Alex, you have to take very good care of mommy when she has surgery!" Ellis said sternly
"I will take very good care of her" Alex smiled
"Pinky promise?" Ellis frowned
"Pinky promise" Alex nodded
"Mommy!" Ellis smiled as Meredith shuffled into the room and Poppy quickly kissed Meredith's hand
"Hi sweeties" Meredith giggled and rubbed Poppy's furr
"Here, I made you a cup of coffee" Alex smiled and gave her her special travel cup
"Thanks" Meredith smiled
"I'll go put your and Ellis' bags in my car so we can leave in a bit. Ellie, are you gonna put on your shoes and jackets?" Alex asked her
"Kay!" Ellis smiled and put her plate in the sink and ran off to the hallway
Meredith slowly followed her daughter to the hallway and put on Poppy's harness before she put on her own shoes and jacket
"Are you two ready?" Alex asked as he walked back inside
"Yeah" Meredith grabbed Ellis' hand and walked out of the door, leaving Alex to lock it
Alex had opened the trunk so Meredith let Poppy jump in and clipped her in before she helped Ellis in the car seat and eventually got in herself
...
Meredith was swiping on her tablet as she was reading a chart. Her body was aching but she really needed to get this over with
Poppy started whining and Meredith felt she had to give in so she slowly moved herself to the couch and almost immediately fell asleep
She had no idea what time it was when Bailey woke her up
"Meredith?" Bailey gently shook her awake
"Hmm" Meredith groaned as her whole body was aching
"Meredith sweetie, wake up" Bailey tried
"My head-" Meredith whimpered
"Are you feeling okay?" Bailey frowned as she whispered
"F-Fine" Meredith struggled to talk a lot
Bailey felt Poppy pulling at the fabric of her pants and brushed her hands through the dog's golden furr
"Meredith, I'm gonna take your vitals" Bailey quietly said
Meredith was fighting to stay conscious but eventually failed and fell asleep again
Bailey yelled for some help and they loaded Meredith onto a stretcher. Her heartbeat and blood pressure had been way too low to Bailey's liking
"Come on Poppy, stay with your mommy" Bailey grabbed the leash and held the dog as it was close to running to make sure she and Meredith wouldn't get seperated
They wheeled her to a room and hooked her up to several IV's, to make sure she would stay hydrated, painkillers and anti-inflammatories
"Poppy down" Bailey ordered but the dog was restless and that was until Derek ran into the room
"What's happening?" He frowned and Poppy ran up to him, pulling at his sleeve
"Shh, Pops. I know" He rubbed the dog's fur and walked over to Meredith bedside "Oh Mer-" Derek sighed and grabbed her hand
"She was complaining about a headache, probably migrenes" Bailey sighed
"She's been having a lot of them lately. Did you page Amy?" Derek asked
"I did. She should be on her way" Bailey gave him a sad smile "I wanna admit her for the night" Bailey sighed
"Goodluck trying that. She'll never agree" Derek chuckled and looked at her with a sad face
"I don't want her to leave before this bag of fluids is finished. And she won't drive!" Bailey said sternly
"She barely drives anymore. She usually carpools with Alex" Derek explained
"Ellie?" They heard a soft voice whispering
"Hey. You were out for a minute" Derek grabbed her hand
"P-Poppy?" Meredith slowly turned her head
"Poppy's here" Derek smiled "Pops, show mommy you're here" Derek said and patted the bed
Poppy jumped with her two front legs on the bed and kissed Meredith's hand
"Hi Pops. Mommy loves you" She whispered
"And Poppy loves you too" Derek smiled
"What happened?" Meredith weakly asked
"I found you in your office, asleep. You were complaining about a headache but your heart rate and blood pressure were too low, then you fell unconscious" Bailey explained
Meredith groaned "I'm sorry"
"Don't be, this isn't your fault" Derek rubbed her arm softly
"Still.." She whispered
"Meredith, I wanna admit you for the night-" Bailey carefully started
"No" Meredith said sternly
"I can watch-" Derek started
"No!" Meredith raised her voice
"Let me talk for a minute" Derek sighed "I can sleep on your couch, Alex works the nightshift so I can come and help you out and at night I can give you another bag of fluids" Derek suggested
"Thanks" Meredith smiled softly as him
"Anytime" He smiled back
Amelia eventually came over and did a neurological exam to make sure Meredith was fine. Amelia noticed the fibro fog was taking its toll on Meredith but after a few hours she got released but only if she promised to be careful
YOU ARE READING
Love is a game
FanfictionMeredith and Derek splitter up a while ago. Their daughter is the glue in their still resting friendship but when Meredith's chronic illnesses are taking the upper hand Derek has to stand in to help her with their daughter and her service dog
