Don't Worry About Me

Chapter 10

Derek and Mark were playing outside in the garden while Meredith and Amelia were watching a movie. Carolyn and Christopher had watched them closely, mainly Meredith as they wanted to be sure she was okay

Christopher had told his wife he wanted to check on Meredith, to make sure there was nothing going out without them knowing. So they planned on sending Amelia outside to her siblings once the movie was out so they could check out Meredith and talk to the girl without the other kids around

"Amy, sweetie. Why don't you play a bit outside with Mark and Derek?" Carolyn suggested and the girl nodded and ran outside

"Hey Meredith, can we check you out for a minute?" Christopher asked her but she only shrugged her shoulders

"Why don't you sit on my lap?" Carolyn lifted Meredith on her lap but the little girl completely changed. Her eyes widened in fear and she pushed herself on her feet. She hadn't thought of grabbing her crutches but tried to run away, causing her to fall before she could escape out of the room

"Oh Meredith!" Christopher gasped and wanted to pick her up

"No! No! Leave me!" Meredith started panicking

"Christopher, place her down" Carolyn quickly said and held the girl's hand "Mer, we're not gonna hurt you. Christopher just wants to check you out so make sure you're okay"

"Don't hold me down" Meredith whispered

"I won't. You can sit on my lap if you want but I'll let go of you the second you want me to" Carolyn tried to get Meredith's trust

"Okay" Meredith nodded

"Did you hurt yourself while falling?" Carolyn asked the little girl

"A bit" Meredith muttered

"Okay, let's get you to the couch" Christopher lifted the small girl to the couch, placing her down on Carolyn's lap

"What hurts, honey?" Carolyn slowly asked

"My hips" Meredith whispered

"I'm gonna take a look, okay?" Christopher asked

"Don't hurt me" Meredith whimpered

"I won't hurt you. You will be okay. You can ask me to stop if it's too much" Christopher held Meredith's hand

As Christopher took off her shoes she started whimpering. He took off her socks and checked them out, making a mental note they should look into braces for her legs

He saw his wife frowning at the condition Meredith's legs were in, the amount of tests and PT during the trial must have caused this

"No" Meredith whimpered as they tried to check her hips "Stop!" She closed her eyes in fear

"Hey, we won't hurt you" Both Carolyn and Christopher pulled their hands awas and giving her some space

"I want Puppy" Meredith quitly said. She was so quiet that Christopher hadn't even understood what she said. Before he could ask her to repeat Carolyn leaned back and grabbed the stuffed anima and gave it to Meredith

The little girl grabbed the stuffed dog and held it in a tight embrace before using it's long ears to rub her right cheek, it was a habit she always sid when she was tired or overwhelmed

"Hey sweetheart, can Christopher continue now?" Carolyn softly asked and smiled as the girl nodded her head

"Can you stand up for me? Just a minute" Christopher asked. After an assuring nod coming from Meredith, Carolyn placed the girl on the ground, holding her hands so she wouldn't fall and possibly hurt herself even more

"It hurts" Meredith whimpered

"I'm sorry, sweetheart but it's very important to know how you are doing" He tried to make it go as smooth as possible

"Where's mommy?" Meredith asked as she looked into Carolyn's eyes

"Your mommy had lots and lots of work so it will take a little bit before you see her, you're staying with us now, honey. Is that okay for you?" Carolyn asked her and Meredith nodded her small head "Do you like staying here?" She asked and received another nod

"Is there anything we can do to make this more of a home for you?" Christopher asked her as he lifted her back on his wife's lap, frowning at how painful Meredith's hips felt to her

"I like sleeping with Amy" Meredith smiled softly and rested her head against Carolyn's chest, she must have been exhausted "And I like playing with Der and Markie" She breathed

"That's nice to hear, honey. What's your favourite food?" Carolyn asked as she brushed her hands through Meredith's hair while her husband was now inspecting Meredith's arms which didn't seem to bother her despite the amount of bruises she had; possible from the shots and blood work they ran

"I love mac and cheese. And pizza" She smiled

"Well I'll make mac and cheese tonight, what do you think?" Carolyn suggested, knowing Meredith needed to try and eat as much as possible, the feeding tube helping her to get all the food her body needed

"Thank you" Meredith's eyes slowly closed

...

Later that night, after dinner, Carolyn was doing Meredith's stretches and the girl didn't like it at all. She was whimpering as it caused her a lot of pain

I'm sorry sweetheart, it's almost over and then we can watch a movie" Carolyn finished Meredith's stretches

"I don't like it" Meredith closed her eyes and kept her stuffed dog tight against her chest, taking in his scent "Oh" The little girl gasped

"Oh- Christopher!" Carolyn called out for him "Can you carry her upstairs to the bathroom?" She asked without explaining too much as she didn't wanna embarrass the girl

Christopher took Meredith upstairs where Carolyn stripped the girl out of her clothes and put her in the tub. Puppy on the side so Meredith would have it close by

Meredith knew what had happened and was so ashamed she didn't wanna speak. She hadn't felt it coming until she felt her bottom getting wet

Once the girl was clean Carolyn had lifted her out of the tub and started dressing her but Meredith whimpered and wanted her Puppy so Carolyn handed it to her

A little bit later both Carolyn and Christopher had made sure Meredith was completely comfortable on the couch as she was stuffed up with pillows and surrounded by Derek, Mark and Amelia. They were watching a movie and their giggles filled the room

"She's much worse than she was before" Carolyn quietly said as she was leaning against the wall in the kitchen where she was looking at the kids and felt her husband's arms slip around her

"I know. Have you seen her legs?" He asked and felt her nodding "I think we should fit her for braces. I'm not sure if we should only fit her for KAFO ones.." He sighed

"Let's ask her orthopedic surgeon" Carolyn sighed "Maybe we should look into a catheter" She whispered

"I think that will be best, yeah" Christopher sighed

"Let's go sit with them, I just wanna curl up with my kids" She sighed and held her husband's hand as they walked towards the couch where they each sat on a side, surrounding their four kids and just for a moment forgetting about all the stuff that was going on during the day but now focussing on how they were laughing throughout the movie

We hope you liked! Thanks to my co-writer _Ktje_