The Sound of Silence

1

TW: Violence, abuse, everything that happened in the actual show + PTSD throughout this whole story

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Meredith was laying on her side. Her casted left side rested on big pillows, in a try to make her more comfortable. For the record, it didn't.

Her head was going wild, she kept thinking about how scared her kids were last time they saw her. Tomorrow they'd finally cut off her wires and all she wanted was to see her kids again, and just hold them for hours in a try to forget about how cruel the world was outside of this room.

Even inside the room she was terrified. The hospital was always her safe spot, she has been running through these halls since she was a kid, she met her husband here, got 2 of her 3 kids here but that one patient ruined it all for her.

"Mer?" Alex knocked on the door and accidentally scared Meredith

He saw how her eyes went wide and her breathing quickened

"Mer, I'm sorry. It's me." Alex said and walked towards her, brushing his hand over her head, her hair braided to prevent it from getting knotted

Alex laid down next to his best friend, hugging her while trying not to hurt her, which was hard as she was badly injured

"Tomorrow they are removing the wires, and Callie will see if she can remove the casts." Alex told her, Meredith nodding her head

Inside she wanted to tell him how she had been thinking about it all day, that there was now ay she could have forgotten. But she didn't wanna grab a pen and reach for the whiteboard, she was just too tired. Both mentally and physically...

"Oh, before I forgot, I stopped at your house, Bails and Zo made you some more drawings." Alex said with a cheerful voice, hoping to at least make her smile a little

He was gonna spend the night as Meredith was having terrible PTSD attacks during the night. Her friends and family had decided to not leave her on her own at night as she often woke up in terror, no way she could explain how she felt and getting even more freaked out because the wires prevented her from taking deep and clear breaths

Alex handed Meredith the drawings and held them for her. With her uncasted hand she stroke over the paper, reading what the kids had drawn on it.

Both kidd had included Derek in their drawings, sometimes even Amelia, Alex and Maggie but they always included their dad, especially in Zola's drawings

"I'll tell them you liked it a lot." Alex said, knowing he didn't have to check it as Meredith would always love what the kids made for her

He has seen how his best friend was heavily touched when Derek died, and right when she finally seemed to be doing a tiny bit better she got attacked by a patient. Alex was furious, especially when he found out the person who did this just walked out of this hospital while Meredith has been confined to the hospital bed for weeks now, her jaw and knee not healing at the speed they had hoped for, the kids being scared after the visit, they now only saw each other over facetime, at least until Meredith could talk again.

"Do you wanna try and sleep a little? You look exhausted." Alex said, still stroking his hand over her head as it visibly calmed her down a lot

Softly Meredith shook her head, not even looking into Alex' eyes and just closing her eyes, cuddling up close to him, trying to imagine it was Derek. Not that she wasn't happy with Alex, she was super grateful but all she really wanted was her own husband

It took a while before Meredith's breathing got less labored. Alex knew she was terrified of closing her eyes, that's why he insisted on staying as close as possible, even paging someone when he uses the bathroom. He was at least glad Meredith got her hearing back, as it was what startled her the most, now he hoped when she'd regain back the ability to speak that she'd be even less scared

"Alex?" Jo whispered, seeing her boyfriend and his best friends together on the bed

"Hi. Quiet, she's asleep." Alex whispers

"I brought you some food, I'll place it down." Jo said and did so, kissing him on her way back outside. "I love you." She said and covered him with a warm blanket, careful to not wake up Meredith.

"Thanks. I love you too." Alex said and closed his eyes, not wanting to drift off but just taking some rest, although that was the plan. Alex drifted off regardless

Some hours later a nurse walked in. She started writing down Meredith's stats but accidentally bumped into the table and some stuff fell on the ground which woke up Meredith

"Hmm-" Meredith's breathing got labored as her eyes shut open, her arm aching as she tried to push herself away, forgetting about the cast and bumping into Alex

"Mer- It's okay- It's a nurse." Alex hugged her, immediately turning on the lights

Meredith shook her head, her body trembling as she was completely terrified

"Leave-" Alex scolded to the nurse, hugging Meredith close in his arms, whispering comforting words

It took a long time before Meredith started calming down, her wired jaw making it even more scary, her hand on her chest as she found breathing hard

"Mer, take a deep breath, please. I don't wanna cut open the wires, please try." Alex said. "Think about the kids, tomorrow Amy and Maggie bring them over, Zola is really excited to see you again." Alex tried desperately to calm her down

Meredith nodded, really trying to breathe and calm herself down

"Good, that's good." Alex nods, seeing Bailey walk towards Meredith's room, he hoped she brought some meds that would calm Meredith down. "Mer, Bailey is about to enter, is that okay for you?"

Meredith nodded, secretly also hoping for something that would knock out her thoughts, she was so overwhelmed with everything

Alex nodded to Bailey, she stepped in and gave Meredith an injection. "Don't fight it, sweetie. Just close your eyes." Bailey said and both her and Alex watched as Meredith's eyes slowly closed

"I fucking hate this, Bailey-" Alex said once Meredith drifted off. "I really hope tomorrow will go okay and that everything goes well when she sees the kids again.." He sighed

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I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter. It's an idea I've had for years now, so I hope I can show you what I expected from the episode back then.

Regardless it's still one of my fave episodes of all time, I just hate that they rushed everything in 40 minutes instead of giving it the attention it deserved.