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Meredith was sitting in her wheelchair. She was going crazy because she was bored out of her head, this burn had made her stay home from work and now Ellis was taking a nap so she had decided to just watch some tv until Derek finally arrived

"Hey!" Meredith smiled

"Hey, you sound energetic." Derek chuckled, removing his shoes and jacket

"I'm going insane! I just wanna do something!" She groaned and wheeled over to him. She wasn't sure if she should give him a hug or not

"Well if you want we can go for a walk with Ellis once she's up? Or we can go check the land." He suggested as Ellis had begged him to see it and Meredith was curious as well, even if she was aware it'd be a pain in the ass to get there

"Yes, that sounds very good." Meredith nodded. "I just need to change my bandages first."

"Can I?" Derek offered, to which Meredith agreed

Derek sat down on a chair after collecting all the supplies and making sure all was ready and clean

He removed the bandages and saw how her legs started spasming. She leaned forward to put pressure on them

"I am starting to really like you, Meredith." Derek told her softly

"Derek." She whispered, looking into his eyes

"I do, Meredith." He smiled and continued to change the bandages, finally finishing after a while. "Are you sure you'll be warm enough in shorts?" Derek asked her

"It's gonna be fine, I'll wear a sweater on top." Meredith nodded

"Mama?" They suddenly heard Ellis. Both looked up and saw her standing in the doorway, her stuffed animal clutched against her chest

"Hi monkey, come here. How did you sleep?" Meredith petted the couch

"Kay." Ellis muttered and climbed onto the couch, hugging her mom

Derek kept a close eye on where Ellis put her legs, making sure she wouldn't touch the burns

"Your mommy and I thought we should go see the land, what do you think?" Derek asked

"I wanna see the twee!" Ellis gasped

"I'll show you!" Derek giggled, loving how happy Ellis was with the tree house he'd build

"Mama, comin?" Ellis giggled as she jumped off the bed

"Sweetie, you need to get dressed and have breakfast first." Meredith laughed at Ellis' enthusiasm

"Can I get her ready while you change?" Derek suggested as he was completely dressed anyway

"Ellie, is that okay?" Meredith asked

"Yes Dewek!" She giggled. "Mama, we wear our pink dwesses?" She asked softly

"I'll get changed." Meredith nodded, a dress would work even if she preferred to cover her thin legs

"Let's go." Derek chuckled and followed the enthusiastic girl

After some struggling Meredith made it out to the kitchen where Derek had just started to serve breakfast to Ellis

"Wow." Derek smiled as he spotted Meredith, blown away by how well the dress suited her

"Mama! Pwetty!" Ellis giggled as she ate her banana pancakes

"Thanks monkey, but not as pretty as you are." Meredith flushed and wheeled up next to her daughter

"Two princesses." Derek said, still smiling widely and unable to look away

Flashback

Addison walked inside the house but it was oddly quiet. She assumed Meredith was taking a nap like she had been doing a lot lately

But as Addison walked to the living room she saw Meredith sitting in front of the window, staring outside

"Meredith? Are you okay?" Addison asked, walking up to her

"Yeah." Meredith breathed, not moving at all

"Do you want something to eat or drink? I can grab us something and maybe we can sit outside in the garden?" Addison softly suggested

"No, it's fine." Meredith said and wheeled away, disappearing in her room

Addison sighed, she had messed up. She knew Meredith was struggling and she should have never pushed

The redhead could hear some noise from Meredith's room that turned into sobs, her heart broke, she wanted to go inside and hug the blonde, to tell her all would be okay

"Hey-" Mark walked inside a while later, carrying Ellis in his arms

"Markie-" Addison almost ran in his arms, close to crying

"What's up?" He frowned, still holding onto the sleepy toddler

"Mer.." Addison whimpered. "She's not talking, she's not okay Mark."

"I'll go see her, can you put Ellis down for a nap, please?" He asked his wife who nodded and took Ellis to her bedroom

Mark walked up to Meredith's bedroom and heard his best friend sobbing.

"Mer, can I come in?" He asked, hearing her go quiet, acting as if she was asleep

Mark walked up to the bed and tucked some hairs behind her ears, seeing tears still streaming down her cheeks

"I know you're awake. You don't have to hide from us." His voice cracked as he said that

He noticed how her back was twisted so he carefully moved her lower body

Meredith started sobbing again, she opened her eyes but only saw blurriness from crying so much

"Oh sweetie-" Mark hugged her tightly

"I can't do this, Mark." She admitted finally after lots of crying

"Did something happen? Why are you doubting yourself?" Mark rubbed her back

"I'm unable to even do laundry! I wanted to do something while you were gone." She whimpered

"We'll look into something that makes it easier for you, Mer. We can do everything that's possible." He tried to make her smile by joking. "As long as you don't burn the house down while cooking

But Meredith only faked a chuckle, not able to really smile with it

Sorry for the delay!! I've been sick and sstill trying to recover from surgery with not the best news and just feeling meh about it all. Hope you enjoyed this chapter
(Wattpad didnt give a notification for 'strong enough' but i posted the final chapter!)