Love is a game

22

"Ellie, are you ready?" Derek asked as he picked up his daughter from daycare

"I am" Ellis nodded and grabbed his hand "Will mommy be ready?"

"Let's go see" Derek smiled "I bought mommy some coffee and a puppy cup for Pops" Derek lifted the bag in the air

"Did you forget about me?" Ellis gasped

"Of course not, baby" Derek kissed her forehead "I bought you a unicorn refresher" He winked

"Yes!" Ellis giggled and pulled at his hand so they'd go see her mom

Together they made their way over to Meredith's office. Despite her health that was challenging she still kept working, mainly to be able to pay the huge hospital bills

"Mommy!" Ellis ran inside and hugged her mom

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Meredith rubbed Ellis' back

"I'm okay, mommy. I played all day with Lani and I made you a picture" Ellis showed it to her mom while Derek placed Meredith's coffee on her desk

"Thanks" Meredith looked at Derek and took a sip from her coffee, her hands shaking

Then Derek took the puppy cup and gave it to Meredith so she could give it to Poppy

"Mommy, can I do it?" Ellis asked with a wide smile

"Of course, honey" Meredith smiled "Once everyone's drink is finished we should head home. I think Poppy wants to play a bit with you, Ellis" Meredith told her daughter

...

Meredith wheeled herself into the house after Derek had opened the front door. She was eager to go lay down in bed and just sleep

"Mommy, can we go play outside with Poppy?" Ellis asked

"Yeah, quickly. Then we should go and rest a bit" Meredith suggested, exhaustion hearable in her voice

"Why don't you go to bed already, I can let Poppy out with Ellis and then I'll bring them to you" Derek quietly suggested bit frowned when he saw her thinking "Really, it's okay" He smiled

"Only if you join us as well" Meredith quietly asked him

"Of course" Derek smiled. He felt so happy, she was finally letting him in and he was gonna do everything to not hurt her again. He hated himself for what he had done to her in the past

"Thanks" Meredith nodded and wheeled towards her bedroom. Without bothering to change her clothes she climbed into bed, fixing her legs that were lifeless even if some feeling was slightly restoring in her thighs. She felt her body droop into the mattress but wanted to stay awake until Ellis, Poppy and Derek would return but she couldn't fight it anymore and darkness overtook

...

The next time Meredith woke up she felt excruciating pain she reached for the pills on her nightstand, Poppy immediately aware of what was going on

"Hmm" She winced as she grabbed those pills

"Wait, I'll help" Derek quickly offered. He helped her sit up a bit more and to swallow the pills with some water

"Thanks" She whispered but just couldn't move anymore without pain "Can you take El to her room, please?"

"Why?" Derek frowned

"She doesn't need to see this" Meredith breathed heavily as pain ripped through her body

"Mer? What's going on?" Derek asked concerned

"Take Ellis" Meredith breathed

Derek carried Ellis to her room and ran back inside

"Okay, what's going on?" He frowned and wanted to rub her arm but she cried out in pain

"Don't touch me, please" Meredith begged "Can you give me my muscle relaxer?" She asked as tears streamed down her face

"Of course" Derek nodded, grabbed the pills and put one on her tongue while she swallowed it "What can I do?"

"Nothing" Meredith whimpered "You don't have to stay"

"Of course I'm staying" Derek firmly said while watching Poppy who kept licking Meredith's fingertips until Meredith seemed to find that painful as well

...

"Daddy? Mommy?" Ellis called out as she woke up and tried to find her parents

There was still light outside so Ellis knew it was still evening. She couldn't remember having dinner. She checked every room except her mother's bedroom so here she was, softly knocking on the door

"Shit.. El" Ellis heard her mother groan

"Mommy?" Ellis opened the door and saw her mother sobbing on the bed

"Ellie-" She gasped

"Hey munchkin, let's go to the living room" Derek quickly lifted her in his arms

"You need to call uncle Alex! He always helps mommy when she's in pain" Ellis quietly told him

"There's no need to, sweetie. Daddy's here" He kissed his daughter's forehead "Let's go play a bit more" He sat her down and watched her walk towards the playroom while he went to check on Meredith one more time and he saw she was sound asleep, the muscle relaxer and pain killers must have kicked in

Derek then decided to make some dinner and decided to make mac and cheese, the favorite food of both his daughter and his Meredith

'His Meredith'

He could only hope he could get her back one day to give her the love and affection she deserves

Once Derek had finished dinner he had checked on Meredith, who was still asleep, and then went to get Ellis so they could start dinner

I need some ideaaaaas! I wanna let them end up together but i need ideas for the meantime bcs im a bit lost. Anyway I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I puslished a new story yesterday 'touch' go make sure to add that to your reading list, I'll upload a second chapter in a few hours!!