The past hits

Angry at him

She frowns. Why is there a man with my child...
"What the hell," Meredith muttered, eyes narrowing as she took in the sight of the man standing by the daycare. The figure holding Ellie had a familiar shape, a shape she thought she'd never see again. The father of her child. The one who had left her, left them, when she needed him most.

"What the hell are you doing here?" she demanded, her voice sharp as a blade.

"What does it look like?" he retorted, the casual smirk on his face only fueling her anger further.

"I did not allow you to play with MY daughter," she hissed, taking a step forward, her fists clenching at her sides.

"She's my daughter too," he said, his voice low, almost defeated.

"Really? Were you there for the past two years? The last two years I spent alone, trying to give myself a reason to live. Trying to get better. Trying to be a good mother to my daughter. Spending every day and night alone, and don't even get me started on her birth. I gave birth to her ALONE, while you were... were playing with Addison," she spat, tears blurring her vision. "You left me, and you left her. So tell me, what the hell are you doing here now?"

Silence fell between them, heavy and suffocating. He opened his mouth to say something, then snapped it shut, looking around at the other nurses and staff who had gathered to watch the confrontation. Meredith didn't care about their whispers and stares. She took Ellie from his arms, feeling the tiny weight of her daughter against her chest, and walked out of the hospital. The cool night air bit at her skin as she settled Ellie into her car seat and closed the door.

Leaning against the car, Meredith took a shaky breath, tears streaming down her face as she tried to hold herself together. Ellie was still asleep, thank goodness. But the weight of everything that had happened crashed over her, and she broke down, sobbing into her hands. She was too tired, too broken, and now her past had come charging back into her life.

"Meredith!" A voice called out, and she looked up, her green eyes meeting the blue eyes of Derek. He stood a few feet away, his hands buried in his pockets, a mixture of regret and desperation etched into his face.

"I am so, so sorry, Meredith. I should have asked you. I was being an ass," he said, voice barely above a whisper.

"Yes, you were. Are you also sorry about the fact that you screamed in the hospital that I'm fucking cutting myself?" she shot back, her voice raw with emotion. "Everyone knows now, Derek. Everyone is looking at me like I'm crazy. AND I AM DEFINITELY NOT."

"I know that you aren't crazy... it was just in the heat of the moment," he said, stepping closer, his eyes pleading with her to understand.

"Yeah, right. You shouldn't say anything like that ever. You have absolutely no right to ever do that again because you are the one that broke me. It's your fault that I have scars all over my body. FOREVER," she yelled, her voice cracking.

Derek flinched as if the words had physically struck him. But before he could respond, she turned and opened her car door, slipping into the driver's seat. With one last, pained glance, she pulled away, leaving him standing there in the shadowed parking lot.

He watched her drive off, the weight of his mistakes pressing down on him. He knew he had done irreparable damage, but he wanted, more than anything, to try. To be good for her, to be a husband and a father. But he also knew that the road ahead would be long and uncertain. And that this time, it might be too late.