Echoes of Resilience

7

About three hours later Meredith woke up screaming and thrashed out of Addison's arms falling to the ground. Addison quickly woke up and kneeled down beside Meredith. She was curled in the fetal position sobbing loudly, her entire body trembling in fear.

"Mer, are you okay? Can I have your hand?" Addison can hear her heart beating in her ears as Meredith continues to shake and sob, starting to bang her head on the floor in front of her in an attempt to get the memories to stop. "Sweet girl, it's Addie. You're safe, no one is going to hurt you. Now I'm going to reach out and I'm going to hold your hand, okay honey?" The redhead carefully reached out, taking Meredith's hand in hers and squeezing. Meredith slowly calmed down, lifting her head off the ground and looking up at Addison, still sobbing but not nearly as hard as she was.

"I'm sor- sorry Addie. I'm so sorry!" She screamed, holding onto Addison's hand while her eyes frantically scanned her surroundings. "I- I had a nightmare that De-Derek got out and he- he found me and locked me back in the shed." She cried while scrambling into Addison's arms, quickly being embraced by the redhead.

"You're safe sweet girl, you're safe now. Derek is never getting out, he's never going to hurt you again. If he wants to get to you he'll have to get through me and I have a village to protect me and they'll protect you too, okay honey? You're not alone anymore, it's not just you anymore Meredith. You don't have to fight on your own anymore sweetheart, I promise." Addison cried into Meredith's hair, feeling the younger woman begin to relax as her sobs turned into sniffles. "Are you okay? Did you get hurt when you fell?" Addison gently pulls back to look over Meredith for injuries, sighing in relief when she doesn't find any.

"My ankle hurts but my ankles hurt since Derek twisted it so I think it's okay." She weakly smiled at the redhead, trying to ignore the throbbing in her ankle knowing it'll just take her back to that night and she can't deal with that right now. "Can we get off the floor now?" She scrunched up her nose causing Addie to laugh and stand up, offering her hand to Meredith and pulling her up with her. They sat back down on the couch, Mer quickly grabbing Addie's hand while beginning to suck her thumb.

Addison watched Meredith with a soft smile on her face, willing herself to calm down. She was absolutely terrified when she woke up to Meredith screaming and crying on the floor, she had seen her have nightmares before but nothing like that. She guesses it may be a little more difficult to fling yourself out of a hospital bed than it is to fling yourself off of a couch, but now she's scared to even leave Meredith to sleep alone in her room. Her bed isn't far off the ground so if she were to fall she probably wouldn't get hurt, but she would be alone. Addison's room is right next door but what if she doesn't hear her? What if Meredith needs her and she's asleep with no idea that the blonde fell out of bed and is on the floor scared and alone? After two weeks of sleeping in Meredith's hospital room, either on the bed with her or in the chair next to her bed so the blonde could hold her hand as she slept, even just being next door is almost too overwhelming for the redhead to handle.

"Are you hungry? We could order a pizza?" Meredith will eat just about anything after being denied proper nutrition for so long, but she told Addie about how much she loves pizza and while it may not be the redhead's favorite, she's hoping it'll make Meredith feel better after her nightmare.

"I never say no to pizza... Can we get pepperoni and sausage? Please Addie! I'll be such a good girl!" Meredith begged with a small amount of fear in her eyes, a small part of her still stuck in her nightmare terrified to make the wrong move. She currently can't even blink without seeing the shed for the brief moment she has her eyes closed.

"You're always a good girl honey, you're such a good girl and I am so proud of you. If you want pepperoni and sausage then that's what we're getting! I'll even let you in on a little secret." She looks around as if to make sure no one else is listening, causing Mer to giggle. "Those are my favorite toppings." She smiled and caressed the blonde's hand while grabbing her phone with her free hand. She could see the shadow in the blonde's eyes and as much as she wanted to ask her if she wanted to talk, she didn't want her to feel like she was being pushed into talking before she's ready.