Survivor

Chapter Fourteen

Trigger Warning: This chapter contains discussion of kidnapping, abuse, and rape.

Also, I'M SO SORRY- THE END JUST WROTE ITSELF, I SWEAR!

"I don't want to do this again. I can't do this again. I'm going to fall apart. I can't go through it all to a giant room full of strangers." Meredith paces her bedroom the following morning. They have two hours until they need to be at the courthouse.

"Meredith, stop," Cristina demands, and the blonde obeys, turning to face her friend. "Do you want to put William away?"

"More than anything." She responds instantly, without hesitation.

"Then you have to do this. Just...I don't know, just pretend it's only you and Quinn. You're just having a normal conversation, alone."

"That's like saying picture everyone in their underwear." Meredith scoffs.

"Well, whatever works."

"You really think I can do this?"

"I don't think, I know."

Meredith takes a deep breath, then nods. "Okay. Okay, I can do this."

"You can do this."

"I can do this." Meredith walks into her bathroom, waving Cristina off, pulling her hair half up, and brushing on some makeup. She spends a few minutes studying herself in the mirror. She looks the same as she has the past few days- like the dead awakened- and she deems herself ready, she goes back to her closet and digs through, trying to find something to wear.

She ends up with white pants, short black boots, and a deep blue button-up shirt. Pushing away thoughts of the testimony she's going to have to give in a few hours trying to make the nausea brewing in her stomach go away, she heads downstairs, finding everyone already in the kitchen. The men are in suits, and Cristina is wearing a tight knee-length skirt with a red top and suit jacket.

They're all eating a good breakfast, presumably something Derek made, but Meredith is positive that anything she eats will just be puked back up, so she goes for some Lucky Charms right out of the box.

Soon enough, they're walking into the courthouse, meeting an awaiting Quinn at the doors. "Good, you're here. I want to quickly go over some things before you testify today." Meredith nods, splitting away from her group to speak to Quinn privately.  "You need to prepare yourself." The lawyer starts quietly.

"What?"

"I'm going to do everything I can to make William sound as horrible as possible, but Annalise is going to do the opposite. This means she's going to try and put the blame on you."

"She...oh, god."

"I need you to make sure you don't lose your temper. That's exactly what she wants. She's going to provoke you and twist your words and make you seem like a terrible person." Quinn pauses. "You need to remember that you're not. Meredith, he did this, not you. He did it, and that's why we're going to make him pay."

Meredith nods, taking in a slow, shaky breath, and enters the courtroom with Quinn, both women sitting at their assigned table in the front. She passes Olivia sitting next to Lindsey and catches her eye, each woman only being able to muster a small smile. In the blink of an eye, the court is in session, Meredith still looking straight forward. She hasn't turned her head to the right at all in the past few days, completely avoiding the eyes and face that haunt her every single thought.