The next morning Carolyn arrives at the hospital. "Hi, can you tell me where Meredith Grey's room is please?"
"Sure." The nurse looks it up on her computer. "She is on the fifth floor in room 5124."
"Thank you!" Carolyn says and walks over to the elevators. She presses the up button and waits for it to arrive.
"Mom?" Derek calls out. He's walking towards the elevators with a coffee in his hand.
"Derek!" She gives him a big hug when he gets to her.
"I'm so glad you're here. Mer will be so happy to see you."
The elevator doors open and the two get on. Derek presses the button for the 5th floor.
"How is she?" Carolyn asks, concerned.
"Not great. She was really upset last night and wanted to go home. It was really hard to calm her down. She wasn't feeling well, which wasn't helping her. Crisitna eventually calmed her down. She ended up falling asleep on Cristina's chest." Derek says.
"Those two have a very special relationship." Carolyn says, smiling. "Is she doing okay this morning?"
"She's had a bad headache all morning and was very cranky during rounds because of it. She didn't want to be awake and kept telling Dr Bailey and the other interns to leave her room. They gave her morphine for her headache and the minute they left the room she fell back asleep. She's been sleeping ever since."
"Oh poor thing." Carolyn says with a frown. "I need her to get better."
"Me too Mom, me too." Derek says with a sigh.
The elevator doors open and they walk out. They walk towards Meredith's room.
"She's going to be so happy to see you. Just remember though, she doesn't feel well at all. And she is constantly exhausted. That part never goes away. She sleeps a lot during the day."
"Derek, I know that. Don't worry. She needs me to be here for her. She needs her Mom right now. We all know Ellis wouldn't come and see her even if she could. Meredith needs some motherly love and I am here to give her just that."
They arrive at Meredith's room and Carolyn sees Meredith sound asleep through the glass window. "Oh my poor baby girl. She's so pale and sickly looking. My heart breaks for her." She rushes quietly into the room.
She sits in the chair next to Meredith's bed and gently rubs her back.
Meredith wakes up a bit later and bolts upright. "Bu...cket." She pants.
Derek immediately grabs a bucket and she grips the edges so hard, her knuckles turn white. She throws up again and again.
"Oh sweetie." Carolyn soothes once Meredith finishes throwing up.
"M-mom?" Meredith asks.
"It's me sweetie. I'm here, baby girl. I'm so sorry this is all happening to you." Carolyn soothes. Being careful of all of Meredith's wires and tubes, she gets into her bed and pulls Meredith gently towards her. "You just rest. I'm not going anywhere."
"I love you." Meredith whispers, trying to keep her eyes open.
"I love you more. Now, close those tired eyes of yours. You need all of the rest you can get." Carolyn says softly, rubbing Meredith's back."
"Don't wanna sleep. Wanna be with you." Meredith whispers.
"I will stay here with you while you sleep baby girl. I promise. I won't go anywhere." Carolyn reassures her. Carolyn looks over at Derek and looks concerned.
Meredith shakes her head no. "You just got here. I want to stay awake." Her eyes close and she immediately opens them again.
"I'm not going anywhere. Don't worry Mer." Carolyn says gently.
"My dad left me." Meredith murmurs. She's so tired she's not thinking clearly and doesn't realize it's not the same situation.
Carolyn looks over at Derek again. "I'm so sorry that happened to you. You didn't deserve that."
"Mer, sweetie, you need to sleep. You're overtired." Derek gently says to her.
Meredith shakes her head no but then her eyes close again but this time they don't open back up. They hear her breathing even out and know she's fast asleep.
"Derek... she's so weak and sick. She just woke up and she's already so exhausted!" Carolyn says, with tears in her eyes. She looks down at a sleeping Meredith.
Derek sighs. "She's still not in remission. The chemo and radiation are taking everything out of her. She's so sick all of the time. She's always sleeping and whenever she's not sleeping, she's complaining that her head hurts. This was a rare moment just now when her head wasn't hurting, or she just didn't say anything because of you being here."
"Is she going to get better?" Carolyn whispers.
"I hope so. But I just don't know. She had that setback awhile ago when it spread to her central nervous system. That's where all the headaches came from, among other things." Derek looks at his mom with tears falling down his face. "I'm just so scared Mom. I don't want to lose her. I can't live without her. She's the love of my life."
"I know Der. We just need to stay positive and think that she will reach remission. She can do it."
"She just hates being so sick. She has chemo every day in the hopes that it will help get her into remission. She hates chemo so much. It makes her feel so sick. I just feel horrible for her." Derek breaks down into quiet sobs.
"I know. It's scary. But if anyone can beat cancer, it's Meredith."
Let me know if you have any ideas! Not really sure what to do next! I hope you liked it!
