Echoes of Resilience

44

"I can't shower alone?" Meredith huffed. "I thought you trusted me!"

"I do trust you." Addison laid her hands over Meredith's forearms to ground her as she saw the emotions swirling within her eyes. "But Dr. Wyatt said you can't be alone right now, and after last night I agree with her. I may trust you, but I do not trust your mental state so until you're more stable this is how it's going to be."

"You're not going to watch me in the shower are you?" Meredith wrinkled her nose.

"No, I'm just going to sit on the toilet seat in case you need me." Addison assured me. "I don't want to violate your privacy, but I need to know that you're safe."

"Okay." Meredith nodded. "I know I fucked up last night and I know that you were scared. I am so sorry."

"You don't have to keep apologizing, I understand your state of mind and how it got to that point. I just want to do what I can to keep it from getting to that point again." Addison explained, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.

"While you guys do that, I'm going to change your bedding and then we're all going to sit in the living room." Arizona informed them.

"My bed's comfy though." Meredith pouted.

"And you've barely gotten out of it in three days. It's time for a change." Arizona said firmly. "You're also eating an actual meal."

"I'm not hungry." Meredith mutters as she stared down at her feet.

"All that's in your stomach is tequila, pain meds, and crackers so I don't care if you're hungry or not. You're eating." Arizona crosses her arms over her chest and raises an eyebrow.

"I hate you!" Meredith screamed and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind her.

"That was a little harsh, Zona, she's pretty hungover." Addison sighs as she walks towards the bathroom.

"Babying her is getting her nowhere. She needs tough love and you can't do it." Arizona shrugs. "I don't care if she hates me as long as she's alive."

"Are you saying I can't take care of her?" Addison's voice broke, her eyes showing betrayal.

"No, that's not what I'm saying." Arizona sighed. "I'm saying that you need help because right now she needs someone who can be tough on her and that's just not you." Addison nodded and opened the bathroom door, finding Meredith sobbing on the ground next to the shower.

"I didn't mean it." Meredith sobbed. "I don't actually hate her."

"I know that and she knows that." Addison assured her as she sat down next to her. "She doesn't mean to be so harsh, she's just worried about us."

"I know."  Meredith nodded. "I shouldn't have slammed the door, my head's killing me."

"You were upset, sometimes when we're upset we forget that we're extremely hungover and end up hurting ourselves more." Addison scratched her scalp. "You need to get in the shower, do you want me to leave while you get undressed?"

"You don't have to, I trust you." Meredith flashed a small smile as she stood up, offering Addison a hand and pulling her off the floor as well. The redhead started the shower and pulled back the curtain so Meredith could step in. "Thank you."

"For what?" Addison asked as she sat down on the toilet.

"Not shipping me off to the psych ward." Meredith snorted. "I would have blamed you if you did, had you not intervened I would have slit my wrist with that shard of glass."

"You'd be locked up and confined, I couldn't do that to you." Addison explained. "I don't believe it would be beneficial in your case, it would probably just be triggering and make everything worse."