I'm tired

Part 10

The next morning Nick woke up to bright light shining right into his face. Slowly opening his eyes he turned around, smiling as he saw that Meredith was still fast asleep. Today they would find out what exactly was going on with her. And probably they would already start to put her on the new medications, meaning that there was the possibility that she would only feel worse during the next few weeks. But hopefully they had discovered it soon enough so that the effect of the medication would help to slow down the progress of the disease. And hopefully her organs weren't affected yet.

He just kept observing her for a while, taking in every small detail of her beautiful face. He had missed her the past few months, more than he could ever admit. It had been hell knowing that she was so far away and not knowing whether she still wanted him around or not. But now, everything had worked out and they were fine. Well, as fine as they could be with Meredith being sick.

Only a few minutes later she slowly started to stir, opening her eyes sleepily. "Hey." He said softly, smiling at her. "Hi." She replied groggily, not fully awake yet as she closed her eyes again and cuddled herself back into her blanket. "I don't want to go to the hospital." She said quietly, making his heart ache. "I know, but it'll be okay Mer, and I won't leave you alone you don't have to go through this alone."

After breakfast they brought the kids to school before making their way to the hospital. Getting out of the car Nick grabbed Meredith's travel back which she had quickly packed this morning with everything she would need for the next few days. Grabbing her hand they started to walk towards the entrance. The whole way upstairs to Dr. Thomas' office Meredith prayed that she wouldn't run into Jackson and Richard, who was probably still here as well and whom she definitely didn't want to face yet.

She didn't want to talk to them until she would find out what exactly she had because they would be- over supportive. They would be worried and they would want to talk about treatments and the future, her job and how she was doing and honestly she didn't want to talk at all. Therefor she was glad that Nick was with her. Because he knew her and he knew that she wasn't too fond of talking about everything. He knew that she hated talking about her feelings and always waited for her to be ready to talk. He never pushed her.

Arriving at Dr. Thomas' office, the head of the genetics lab was already there, as well as a woman both Nick and Meredith didn't know yet. "Good morning Dr. Grey, Dr. Marsh. This is Dr. Sullivan; she is our specialist when it comes to autoimmune diseases and she will be the one to accompany you through the tests as well as the treatment." Dr. Thomas announced as soon as they had sat down.

"It's nice to meet the two of you. As Dr. Thomas said I'll guide you through all the tests and afterwards we'll setup a treatment plan. You can ask me everything you need to know." The woman said kindly, smiling mostly at Nick though what immediately made Meredith uncomfortable. "Thank you. Dr. Sullivan." She said, trying to get the specialist's attention.

"What tests did you plan on doing?" she asked, starting to fidget with her hands. Why was this woman constantly smiling at Nick? "We'll detect C3 and C4, serum creatinine, anti-dsDNA antibodies, CBC, and do an urinalysis to check for organ failure." The woman explained calmly, holding the clipboard in her hands tightly to her chest. But it seemed as if Nick didn't even notice how the woman was trying to flirt with him what made Meredith smile internally. She loved that about him, he never reacted to any flirts.

As he moved his head to look at Meredith he smiled reassuringly, taking her hand, and squeezing it slightly. "Ready to get it over with?" he asked, receiving a nod in response.

___________

Half an hour later Meredith had been brought into the patient room she would have to stay in for the next few days. She had already done the urine sample which was on its way to the lab now. Right now she was sitting on the bed, Nick besides her as they waited for Dr. Sullivan to return. "You okay?" he asked, his hand on her back. "Yeah. It's just a little humiliating. Having to pee into a cup." She said, making him chuckle as he pulled her closer.

Only a minute later Dr. Sullivan returned. "We'll do the rest of the tests in an exam room, so please come with me. Dr. Thomas already informed me about the symptoms you've been experiencing and from there on we'll test for SLE, Addison's disease, Grave's disease or Sjögren's syndrome."

Arriving in the exam room Meredith sat down in the big chair in the corner of the room, Nick sitting on the couch right beside her. "So, Nick right? I read that you're a transplant surgeon?" Dr. Sullivan asked as she started to prepare Meredith's arm to take another blood sample. Seriously? This woman was flirting with him right in front of her. "Uhm- yeah I am." Nick said, his eyes entirely on Meredith as he held her hand. As Meredith looked up at him he met his gaze, both of them tried not to break into laughter so that they quickly moved their gazes away. Both of them seemed to find it highly amusing how obviously this woman was trying to flirt.

"And you currently work in Seattle?" she continued, no inserting a small needle into Meredith's arm vein. "I do but I plan on moving here soon." He said, smiling at Meredith who looked back at him with a small smile. "You're really sure?" Meredith asked, the smile only growing bigger as he nodded at her. "I am one hundred percent sure Mer." He reassured her, squeezing her hand gently.

But somehow Dr. Sullivan didn't seem to accept that Nick was taken. He was hers. "And do you also plan on starting to work here?" she asked, smiling at Nick. Only now Meredith noticed that she had opened the top button of her blouse and all of the sudden, her face darkened as she raised a brow. Nick immediately understood what was happening and he couldn't help but chuckle. Meredith was jealous. And it was absolutely adorable.

"I don't, would you mind concentrating on my girlfriend." He said, stressing the word girlfriend to make sure Meredith wouldn't feel too uncomfortable. And it worked. A proud smile appeared on her face as she looked up at Dr. Sullivan. She had won and Dr. Sullivan had lost. And Nick knew how much Meredith loved to win a battle. No matter what kind. From that on the Doctor remind silent and quickly left the room with the blood sample. As soon as the door had closed behind her Meredith sighed happily. "You're aaaall mine." She said, smiling at him, still pressing the little tissue onto her arm to stop the small bleeding.

"I definitely am all yours." Nick replied, smiling at her. "Thank you. That was so hot." She whispered, smirking at him. Leaning in he pulled her into a kiss, a long, passionate kiss. "And thank you for being here." She added after they broke apart again. "Nothing to thank for." He smiled, still holding her hand tightly.