Don't Worry About Me

Chapter 25

"Dr Robbins, this isn't working. It's been four and a half weeks and she's just miserable in the brace." Christopher sighed into the phone.

"Okay, you can take her out of it. She's been in it for the majority of the six weeks. Her hip should've healed by this point anyways. That should be fine for her to be out of it already." Dr Robbins said.

They continue talking about Mereidth's condition for a few more minutes. Dr Robbins also suggests a wheelchair for Meredith if she has trouble walking. They discuss that for a few and then hang up.

He walks over to the living room where Carolyn is sitting with all of the kids. They're busy watching a movie. Carolyn has Meredith propped up next to her with a bunch of pillows. Amelia is sitting next to Meredith.

"Hey Meredith, good news sweetie." Christopher says softly to her. He kneels down in front of her.

"What?" Meredith asks softly.

"Dr Robbins says you can take off your brace now. We can be done with the brace. You don't have to wear this brace anymore."

"Really???" Meredith says, getting excited. "Can I take it off now?"

"She's really okay to take it off now?" Carolyn asks her husband.

"She is. We talked about some other things also but we can talk about that later on." He tells her.

Carolyn nods. "Okay Mer, let's get this brace off of you. Amelia, are you okay if we pause the movie? We'll start it again after we finish taking the brace off of her."

"Okay! Can I come? I wanna watch! No, I wanna help Mer!" Amelia says excitedly.

"You can't take it off of her but you can come if you want." Carolyn says. "Is that okay with you Mer?"

Meredith nods. "Come on Amelia! I want this off now! It hurts!" She raises her arms up for Christopher to carry her.

He picks her up and they go into the girls' room. He lets Carolyn help her.

"Okay let's do this sweetie. You'll feel so much better when it's off." Carolyn says, smiling at the small girl.

"Hurry up Mommy! I wanna play with Mer! She needs that off!" Amelia says loudly.

"Amelia, hold on. I'm working on taking this off of her. There's a lot of straps holding it in place."

After a few minutes the brace is off and Meredith sighs in relief.

"Thank you mommy! That feels better!" Meredith smiles.

"Come on Mer! Let's go play now!" Amelia races off down the hallway, expecting Meredith to follow her. "Mer! Come on!" She calls out.

Meredith slowly gets up and tries to walk but struggles and falls to the floor. "Mommy, why can't I walk still? It's so hard and hurts!"

"I know sweetie. It's because of your severe EDS and your pain disease. I know it's hard. I hate how it's so severe on your body." Carolyn picks up Meredith and carries her to where Amelia is.

"Mommy! Why are you carrying Mer? She's all better now! Her brace is off! She can walk Mommy! She's all better right?" Amelia says.

"Amelia, Meredith's illness is a lifelong disease. It's severe on her body which is why she struggles walking. Just because her brace is off doesn't mean she's all better now. I wish it was that easy but it's not. But Mer can still play with you! She can still have fun with you." Carolyn explains. "Meredith will need your help though sometimes, so no racing ahead of her thinking she's right behind you. You'll need to wait for her and help her? Can you do that sweetie?"