Are you with me

16

"Mommy, can we now play hide and seek?" Ellis begged

"Why don't you ask your siblings?" Meredith smiled

"Zo, Bails, can we play hide and seek?" Ellis smiled

"Sounds good!" Bailey smiled

"But only on the ground floor, okay?" Meredith spoke up, not directly saying this was for Ellis' comfort

"Okay mommy" They all smiled and started playing

Meredith watched a little while to see how everything went but was smiling as Ellis was wheeling around the house to find her brother and sister

Meredith decided to go upstairs to check on Derek for a bit

"Der?" She quietly said as she opened the door

Derek sat on the bed, devastated after calling his mom to tell her the bad news. His eyes red from crying, his hair a mess as his hand was rubbing his head

"Hey, are you okay?" Meredith asked

"No.. I-" Derek stuttered

"I know" Meredith laid her head on his shoulder

"I don't know if I can see her struggle like this" Derek broke down in sobs

"We have to, we can't abandon her, none of the kids" Meredith said sternly before tears fell down her face as well "This sucks"

Meredith and Derek both took this moment to find support in each other's arms after everything that had happened and that had pulled their lives upside down

"Why don't we go back downstairs? The kids are playing hide and seek" Meredith smiled

Derek nodded but kept sitting on the bed. Meredith kissed his cheek and went downstairs where she got scared by Ellis

"Shh, mommy! I'm hiding!" Ellis whispered

"Sorry!" Meredith giggled

"Ellie, where are you?" Meredith heard Bailey running around the house "Zolaaaa?"

Meredith smiles at the laughs are filling in the quiet house

"Found you!" Bailey yelled

"How did you see me?" She heard Zola questioning

"Now we have to find Ellis!" Bailey said determined

After a bit, Meredith heard Derek coming down the stairs

"Hi.. you okay?" Meredith asked

"I'll be okay" He assured her and placed his hands on her hips

"Linda said we should look for an electric bed.." Meredith started telling him "And- don't you think we should move downstairs too? She's scared and I wanna be close just in case something happens" Meredith started

"I'll look for the bed tonight and Mer, are you sure?" Derek frowned

"Derek, what if she gets sick? She can't cough on her own, what if she has another bowel incident or something is up with her catheter or she's just scared? She can't get out of bed on her own yet!" Meredith raised her voice a bit as tears pooled in her eyes

"I wasn't questioning you" He softly grabbed her hands "I just wanted to make sure that you knew what you wanted" Derek kissed her forehead

"I just want my kids to be happy" She quietly said

"I know" Derek squeezed her hand and started making dinner

"Mommy, I won!" Ellis wheeled in, over excited as she was

"You did?" Derek smirked

"Congrats" Meredith giggled "Is you back okay?"

"Sore but I wanna play!" Ellis said

"You're due for your meds after dinner" Meredith softly said

"Can we keep playing?" Ellis asked

"As long as you stop when the pain gets too bad" Meredith kissed Ellis' head before she wheeled out of the room again

Meredith wrapped her arms around her husband who was making dinner and rested her head on his back

"Mom, dad!" Zola ran in, slightly crying

"What's wrong?" They both asked as they turned around

"Ellis! Her back and her legs-" Zola spoke up

Meredith quickly ran out of the room and found her youngest daughter crying in her wheelchair as her legs jerked up and down

"Hey, hey. Mommy's here" Meredith quickly said

"Mommy" Ellis spoke up, vulnerability hearable in her voice

"Bails, come here, son" Derek said and brought his two oldest kids to the kitchen to calm them down

"Shh, shh.." Meredith rubbed Ellis' legs but nothing changed, the spasms didn't stop so Meredith scooped up Ellis and hurried her way to the couch. She placed the girl on her lap and rubbed her legs

"I don't like this" Ellis sobbed

"I know, I'm so sorry baby" Meredith held the little girl in her arms

Meredith slowly stretched out Ellis' legs as it was the last thing she could think to do to make it stop

"Why doesn't it stop?" Ellis quietly asked

"I don't know.." Meredith sighed "Do you wanna try and take a bath? Maybe the hot water will make it stop" Meredith suggested

"Will you stay?" Ellis asked

"Of course, I'm not leaving" Meredith kissed Ellis' cheek and carried her to her own bathroom. She started to undress the little girl which made the spasms worse again. She then took off her own clothes and sat down in the tub. Ellis was exhausted and smiled softly when her legs stopped jerking

"It's okay now" Meredith held Ellis tight to her chest

"Thanks mommy" Ellis mumbled and started to fall asleep

Meredith slowly carried Ellis out of the tub and wrapped her in towels and brought her to Ellis' bed where she started to change her daughter in pajamas

Meredith laid down next to her daughter in the small bed and decided to close her eyes for a bit as well

...

"Mer? Mer, wake up" Derek woke up Meredith

"What?" She opened her eyes

"Hey sleepyhead" He laughed "Dinner is almost ready"

"I'll wake up Ellie and then we'll be there" Meredith rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and woke up Ellis "Hey sweetie.."

"Hi mommy" Ellis whispered

"Dinner is almost ready. Let's get you in your wheelchair so we can go to the bathroom" Meredith said

Meredith helped Ellis into the wheelchair and wheeled her to the bathroom and emptied the catheter bag. They both washed their hands and made their way to the kitchen

"Ellis, come taste this!" Zola said and Ellis wheeled over to taste the sauce on the spoon Derek was holding

"Okay, dinner is ready" Derek said once Ellis gave her okay

"Come here, Ellis" Meredith said and made sure her daughter wheeled good underneath the table

They all enjoyed dinner and eventually decided to watch a movie together on the couch

AN // We hope you all enjoyed! thanks to my amazing co writer who's nailing this! I'll tag her in the comments!