From now on |1/2|

57

"Meredith, you need surgery. Your prosthetic needs to be replaced and you need the new screws and plates we talked about. I wanna fuze your entire spine together." Amelia said on the phone

Amelia was currently in Minnesota with Kai but she was the only one they trust

"When are you back? When can you do the surgery?" Derek asked his sister

"In a week? Maybe- I should check my schedule. I have a surgery here as well. But listen, I'll try to be there tomorrow to do the surgery." Amelia promised

"Are you sure? I can wait.." Meredith sadly commented, it was the first time since the news that she had spoken up

"I promise, Mer. Stay sober for the surgery, keep your spinal brace on, no moving, no lifting." Amelia said. "And.. Maybe it's better if the girls don't get in bed with you." Amelia carefully said

Meredith's face changed in an instant

"We'll keep her safe." Derek promised, feeling Meredith getting upset so he wanted the call to end as soon as possible

"I don't wanna stay here. I need to go home to our kids-" Meredith shook her head

"You're staying here." Derek said sternly and kept her from moving. "Doctors can monitor you, you're on a spinal bed so you can't move, it keeps you safe." He reminded her

"I want my kids!" She started crying

"They'll be here soon. They'll be here soon." Derek hugged her carefully to comfort her as she wasn't allowed to sit up completely and had to sit down reclined

"I wanna go home." Meredith muttered in his arms

"I know." Derek tried to soothe her. "Soon hopefully."

...

Meredith had undergone the extended surgery. A week had passed by where she was unable to even sit up in the bed and was completely bedridded

She was so done with it and had build her hopes up for when PT would start but she soon realized it was maybe worse than she could have imagined

"Sorry Meredith, but you will have to stop transferring yourself like that." Stan told her

"Why? I've been doing it like this for years?" Meredith frowned

"You can't transfer as often anymore if you wanna keep the prosthetic spine in good shape." He explained to her

Meredith's face dropped. She was absolutely exhausted after one week of being bedridden and a week of intense physical therapy

"Can I go back to using my standing chair?" Meredith asked her physical therapist

"Dr Shepherd scheduled you for a checkup this afternoon, she'll be able to tell you, Meredith. Now I want to work on your balance." He announced and let go of holding her waist

Meredith lifted her hands off the bench she was sitting on and went to try and find her balance. Her back started hurting, her shoulders were sore and she was getting migraines

"Okay, can you lean a little more forward?" Stan asked her

Meredith tried but quickly had to place her hand back on the bench as she risked falling over

"That's okay, you can use a chest strap for the time being while you're in your wheelchair."

"What? I don't want one, I never needed one!" Meredith said as she felt offended

"Meredith, you underwent a huge surgery after severe issues. You need to be patient, give yourself a chance to get to know your new spine and find your balance. You won't need it for months." He assured her, seeing how affected she was

"I need to be fit for my two girls and I need to operate. I'm going insane!" Meredith started getting emotional

"Do I page your husband? Maybe you can have lunch together, we can continue later today." Stan suggested

"Yeah." Meredith nodded, leaning on her arms as she was growing tired

"I'll help you lay down for a minute." Stan helped her. "I'll place a chest strap ready for you." He said and then left, Derek entering a while later, hearing his wife sobbing

"Hey, are you okay?" He hurried to her side

"I can't do shit." Meredith teared up

"Can I help you sit up?" He asked

"Yeah." Meredith whimpered and was helped up. "I can't transfer as much anymore. I even need a chest strap. A chest strap!" She started to get very upset

"The chest strap is only temporary. You'll adjust." He kissed her forehead

"Derek- I can't even sit up on my own!" Meredith whimpered sadly in Derek's arms

"I know. Let's go have lunch, Grace is in daycare. We can pick her up and have something together." He suggested softly, not sure if she'd be able to get into her wheelchair by herself

"Can you help me a bit?" She asked sadly, not even wanting to look him in the eyes as she felt completely humiliated

"Of course." Derek assisted her, making sure her spine wouldn't bend. He held the chest strap and helped her to get safely strapped in. "Is this okay?"

"I guess." Meredith shrugged and started carefully pushing herself

"Once you're done we can go pick up Emma, we'll go home and relax all evening. Maybe order some pizza and watch some movies." He kissed her head, wanting her to be able to be herself for an evening

"Sounds good." Meredith nodded, even if she was barely soothed by it and just hoped she could go back to normal as soon as possible

"Mama! Daddy!" Grace spotted them

Derek quickly collected Grace from daycare and led her out

"Mommy!" Grace ran up and hugged her mother, wanting to climb up her lap

"Careful-" Derek quickly stopped the little girl, lifted her so she could hug Meredith and placed her down again. "Let's have some lunch." He said

Meredith felt her heart break again after the realization her daughter couldn't hug her, her hard spinal brace a reminder of her spine healing after the extended surgery she had. She watched her daughter skip off, trying to keep up with her