Chasing Cars

Chapter 12

"Mommy! Wake up! Nanas and I wanna pway!" Maddie runs into the guest bedroom where Meredith is sleeping in.

"Wha?" Meredith asks, half asleep despite it being nearly 10am. "Maddie?"

"Mama! Daddy said to let you sweep in cause you've been super duper tired! So me and Nanas have been pwaying with Daddy but we weally wanted to play with you too! You gots to come pway Mama! Ooh maybe we can pway house!" Maddie rambles, a characteristic you picked up from her mom.

Even though she has a really bad headache and isn't feeling well at all she decides to get up so that she doesn't let her daughter down. She doesn't want to become like Ellis and ignore her daughter. "Okay baby. I'll come play." She rasped out. She then let some coughs out. "I'm just going to grab a jacket." She is freezing despite it not being cold in the room. She grabs a blanket also and then follows Maddie out of the room.

"Daddy! I gots Mama out of bed! It's time to pway now!" Maddie yells loudly, not noticing her mom wince at the loudness and grab her head in pain.

"Shh, Maddie, inside voice remember?" Derek tells his daughter. He notices Meredith wincing and wonders if her head is bothering her.

"Sowwy Daddy." Maddie says softly.

"It's okay baby, just remember Mama doesn't feel too great so we need to be quiet." Derek says softly, giving her a hug. "Morning Mer, how are you feeling?"

"I'm fine." Meredith rasps out. "Gonna sit down." Meredith weakly says. She makes her way to the couch and sits down on it before her legs give out on her.

"Mama, we gots to pway now!" Maddie says seriously.

Meredith nods. "What do you want to play Mads?" Meredith asks weakly, rubbing her forehead. She wants to go back to sleep as she is exhausted but wants to stay awake for Maddie.

"Can we pway outside?" Maddie asks.

"Mads, we need to play inside. Mommy's not feeling well. She needs to stay inside and rest." Derek says gently.

"Oh, you're not feeling well Mommy?" Maddie asks concerned.

"I'll be okay baby." Meredith whispers, her head pounding in her skull.

Maddie frowns and looks at her dad. "She'll be fine Maddie. The two of you are going to stay here for a little bit and I'll help Mommy."

"Otay." Maddie says softly. She then gets distracted with her dolls. "Mommy! Let's pway with my dolls! Here, you can use this one!" She gives Meredith a doll to hold.

Meredith plays for a few minutes but Derek can tell she's not feeling well at all and is tired.

"Maddie, do you want to go play outside with me for a little while and let mommy rest?" Derek asks, wanting to let Meredith go back to bed.

Maddie's eyes light up excitedly. "Yeah!!!"

"Okay. Go get your shoes on. Wait for me at the door.  I'll be right there." Derek says. Maddie runs off. "Mer, seriously, how are you feeling right now? Tell me the truth."

Meredith pulls the blankets tighter around her as she's still freezing. "I don't feel well." She whispers. "Can I have another blanket please?"

Derek frowns at that but gets her another blanket and tucks it around her. He puts his hand on her forehead. "Mer, you have a fever."

"I'll be fine. Just wanna sleep." Meredith whispers.

Derek decides that he'll just keep an eye on her fever. "Do you want to sleep in your bed or on the couch? It'll be quieter in your room than here."

"In my bed." She whispers, coughing. "Oww." She winces at her headache.

"How bad is your head hurting?"

Meredith shrugs.

Derek doesn't push it for now. "Let me help you back to bed." Luckily Meredith is so exhausted and sick that she doesn't fight him on that. He helps her off the couch and down the hall to her room. He helps her lay down in her bed.

"Do you need anything before I go outside with Maddie? Do you want to try to eat something? I know the chemo is making you not hungry but you should try to eat something."

"I'm not hungry." She rasps. "Can you get me some pain meds please? My head is killing me. And my stomach is starting to really hurt."

Derek nods and grabs some pain medicine for her along with some water. She quickly swallows them and lets her eyes close. She's sound asleep instantly.

"I'll come check on you periodically." Derek whispers and quietly closes the door behind him.

Each time Derek comes to check on her, she's fast asleep. Every other time the blankets are either thrown off of her or tightly wrapped around her body. Her body can't decide what temperature it wants to stay at which concerns Derek. He sees her shivering and sweating each time he checks on her.

Derek frowns and places his hand on her forehead. She feels warmer than she did earlier in the day. He gently shakes her shoulder. "Mer, wake up." When she doesn't wake up yet he gently shakes her shoulder again. "Mer, wake up for me please. You can go back to sleep soon."

Meredith's eyes slowly open and she looks up at him half asleep. Derek sees that her eyes are glassy with fever. Meredith's eyes are half open. "Wanna sleep." She whispers, burying her head in her pillow.

"Mer, I want to take your temperature. You seem to have a higher fever than earlier. How are you feeling?"

"Don't feel good." She mutters. "Wanna sleep. Don't feel good." She whispers, her eyes barely open.

"You can go back to sleep in just a minute, Mer." He sticks the thermometer in her mouth. After a minute it beeps and he pulls it out, not liking what he sees. "You have a pretty high fever Mer. I want to take you to the hospital."

"Nooo." Meredith moans. "Sleep. Stay home. No hospital." She mumbles, her eyes closing.

"Mer, we need to bring you in. I think you have some kind of infection. You know that the chemo makes your immune system extremely susceptible to illness."

"Don't feel good. Head hurts." She whines. "Wanna sleep." She repeats. She's shivering a lot right now and pulls her blankets tighter around herself. "Cold." She says, shivering with her teeth chattering in her mouth.

Derek can see how sick she is and really wants to get her to the hospital as soon as he can. Her fever is way too high for his liking.

"Mama! You're awake! Can we pway now?" Maddie asks, appearing in the doorway all of a sudden.

"Sleepy." Meredith mumbles, not realizing it's Maddie at the door.

"Maddie, Mama doesn't feel very well. Can you go to the living room and play with your toys for me please?" Derek asks, wanting her out of the room. She doesn't need to see her mom in this state.

"Maddie?" Meredith mumbles.

"She went to go play with her toys." Derek tells her. "Come on, let's get you up so we can bring you to the hospital."

"No hospital." Meredith mumbles, starting to become out of it as her fever rises more. "Stay home. No hospital. Don't wanna go." Meredith says, starting to cry.

"Shh, we're going to go to the car. You're okay. Everything's going to be just fine Mer." Somehow she allows him to help her out of bed and they start walking towards the door.

"Don't feel good. Wanna lay down." Meredith mumbles.

"You're okay. We're going to go to the car and then you can sit."

"Dizzy." Meredith whispers. "Spinning. Room spinning. Really dizzy." All of a sudden she passes out in Derek's arms.

"Meredith!"

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