Hope is the thing with feathers

Hope is the thing with feathers

"It's been a very difficult six months".
That's what Meredith tells Nick when she sees him for the first time after their breakup.
Just how difficult the past six months have been Nick doesn't know yet.
He doesn't know that, behind the strong mask that she wears during the day to fulfill her duties as the new chief of surgery, Meredith is hiding something, the memories of something painful that she's had to go through all alone while he was away, something that concerns him too but she just can't find a way to tell him.
A secret that's eating her from the inside, piece by piece...
...pieces that he's ready to start picking up with her if only she'd let him.
If only she'd find a way to let herself hope again.

Trigger warnings: description of abortion, depression, panic attacks, anxiety (attacks), break downs, possible hints of psycosis, hallucinations, violent flashbacks, lack of selfworth and tunnel vision in depression.