Panic Attacks

1

It's obvious that Meredith Grey has had a very hard life. From being neglected to losing a child. But she isn't the only Grey/Shepherd who has had a struggle with life.  Zola Shepherd is the oldest of 3 children. She was adopted by Derek Shepherd and Meredith Grey. Her life had become close to perfectly perfect. But as Meredith once said,
"The universe is smacking me down for being too comfortable".
Zola had become a daddy's girl. She had Derek wrapped around her little finger since day 1. Her hero, her best friend, her everything was her father. And he was the best father Meredith has ever known. But that all came to an end for Zola when she heard the words come out of her mother's mouth,
"I can't save him because he's dead" and just like that her world started to crash down.
That was 7 years ago. She's now 12 almost 13. She had recently learned about her late grandmother Ellis Grey, and she instantly became a hero to Zola. She decided to write a history paper about her, and she was one of the finalists. Although her best friend and father has passed, she still had her mother and her two aunts. She also lost her first known aunt Lexie Grey. They were close and she has a fear deep inside her that she is going to forget about auntie Lex. It was the day of her presentation celebration. Her mother, her auntie Amelia, and her auntie Maggie along with her husband came to support her. But somewhere in the middle she started to have a panic attack. She felt like she couldn't breath. It was like the universe was suffocating her, blocking her airway of oxygen. Instantly Meredith knew something was wrong. Zola started to walk into overthinking territory. She started to ramble and panic as her heart started to skip beats.

"But that was all ruined as she was diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer's. Early-onset Alzheimer's is a form of dementia. It can also be genetic so that means my aunt and my mom are going to get it. That means their going to die. Their all going to die" Zola says as panic flows through her body and takes over.
Meredith rushed to the stage to comfort her daughter. As her mother's arms wrap around her, she finally is able to relax. Sighing in pleasure as oxygen finds it's way to her lungs. She then starts trembling as she realizes that her mom might die of dementia and forget all about her just like Ellis did to Meredith. She started to hyperventilate as tears fell from her eyes. Meredith soon got Zola off the stage and Amelia and Maggie followed them. As they made it outside Zola let her sobs out. Crying harshly against her mothers shirt. Amelia and Maggie share a face expression of concern for their niece.

"I don't want you to die mom. Dad died and I miss him everyday and I'm terrified of forgetting about him because I don't want him to hate me and he was my best friend and you know that I don't want to forget about him and I already have a hard time remembering auntie Lex and uncle Mark. I don't like it and it pains me too much to think about it now but I can move forward, I can try to be happy, I can survive this because I have you but if you go stay with dad then I won't have anything to keep me motivated to be happy. I just I can't lose you" she rambles between her sobs and goes back to squeezing her mother.

Meredith felt her heart breaking in so many ways for her daughter. Never in a million years would she predict that Zola would've been going through this much pain and fear. She always thought that she would never want kids and that if she did she would be a terrible mother because her mother was terrible. But she was wrong. And that's not something she will ever admit openly. Amelia and Maggie also shared Meredith's pain for Zola. No kid should have to go through the pain and fear of possibly losing their mother. Especially after already losing your father. Amelia had also shared Zola's pain about Meredith. When Meredith was sick and has covid she was terrified of losing her. She needed Meredith with her. Her dying was not an option. Amelia and Meredith were fond of each other when they first met but their relationship grew rocky and some might say they didn't like each other and now they were sisters who needed each other. Meredith was the younger sister she never had and she also related to Meredith more than any of her other blood sisters. And they both needed each other to help them heal from Derek's death. At first Amelia resented Meredith for pulling the plug. She blamed her for her brother being dead. The only family that didn't put judgement down on her. But she soon realized that not only was he just  her big brother, her mentor, but he was also her husband, he was the man she planned on spending the rest of her life with. She lost her brother but she also had became a widow. And Amelia know more then anybody on how its like to lose someone you loved. And not to mention that she had Zola and Bailey with her. Then after only a few hours later she found out she was pregnant and she had to raise a baby. A baby without Derek, A baby who would never be able to meet their father. So she decided to grief and cope with Meredith instead of resenting her. They both lost someone they loved dearly.