Chasing Cars

Chapter 26

"She looks exhausted." Mark tells his brother. They were watching Meredith on the couch while Maddie unpacked all her presents

"Mommy! Look! A doll!" She gasps and climbed up the couch

"Oh wow." Meredith forced a big smile, not wanting to miss out on this day

"She really is. I can't believe it, this is not my Meredith. She used to be so vibrant.. so full of life." Derek tells his best friend, finally able to talk about it with someone as it really affected him to see her like this

"What about the little one?" Mark asks him

"She's missing her mom. She has lots of questions but hesitates to ask. I think that's what scares Meredith the most, knowing that this is changing Mads' life." Derek sighs. "While all we really want is Mer to be happy again, I can't stand the thought of possibly losing her."

"I know.. Let me know if there's anything I can do for you two, please." Mark told his brother but both guys suddenly noticed how much harder it was getting on Meredith

Her hands were trembling a bit, her skin pale and she looked absolutely exhausted

Which was exactly the same as she felt, completely exhausted.

"Hey Mads, why don't we go out on the swing for a bit?" Mark suggests and takes the girl outside.

Derek scoots over to his girlfriend, the woman that was once his wife but was now sitting poorly on the couch

"Hey, Maddie's been enjoying a lot." Derek wraps Meredith in his arms, hugging her tight so she could rest

"Yeah." Meredith nods her head in Derek's chest. "Can you give me another anti nausea pill?"

"Of course." Derek nods and yells for Richard.

"Here you go, Mer." Richard hands her the meds and a bottle of water. As she swallows them, he starts rubbing her back. "You got this. And I'm sorry for our fight earlier."

"It wasn't a fight. I was stubborn, you just wanted to protect me. I'm sorry." Meredith looks at Richard, feeling guilty for treating him like that

"It's okay, Mer. Now rest and let the meds kick in." He continued rubbing her back until he walked off to Maddie and Mark in the garden

"Better?" Derek asks after a while, seeing Meredith's tensed face expressions relax a little

"Yeah.. Let's go on with the party." Meredith nods

...

The party had ended, everyone left again after making sure everything was cleaned up

"Mads is asleep, she was completely worn out from the long day, how are you?" Derek climbs in bed with Meredith

He didn't need to ask, he was a master in reading her face, he immediately knew she felt like shit

"My mouth stings." She admits

"Let me grab your mouthwash, it's probably the reaction to the chemo." Derek nods and walks off to the bathroom. He hands her a small glass with some mouthwash

"Hmm.. aww." Meredith winced and clutched her cheek. "Hope it won't get any worse." She sighs and closes her eyes, cuddling into Derek's body

"Come here. I love you." He held her tight in his arms, watching her closely as she already had fallen asleep

Derek didn't sleep much that night. He saw how much Meredith was struggling through the night, mainly because she never seemed very comfortable. He accidentally bumped into her radiated breast. She still had some sore spots that hadn't completely healed, which caused her to have issues wearing a bra.

Derek was mainly happy he hadn't woken her up through the night, even catching a few hours of sleep.

"Daddy?" Derek suddenly woke up to the soft voice of his daughter

"I can't sweep.. Can I lay wit you and mommy?" Maddie asked, Nanas clutches in her arms. "We're scawed."

"Scared? Why?" Derek lifts her in the bed

"Dunno." Maddie clutches onto him. "Mommy asleep too?"

"Yes monkey, now close your eyes." Derek whispered, watching his daughter fall asleep

...

Hours later Meredith woke up, hearing Maddie and Derek whisper

"Nanas and I had the bestest party ever!" Maddie smiles widely

"I'm glad, munchkin. And I heard you and uncle Mark played on the swings?"

"Yes! We flew sooooo high, daddy!" Maddie smiles

"Hmm.." Meredith started stirring, she immediately felt her mouth hurt awfully, as if all her teeth were pushing in her mouth, her mouth burning

"Maddie, give mommy a kiss, then you should go to the playroom for a bit, how does that sound?" Derek asks, noticing something was up with his Meredith

"Hi mommy." Maddie kissed her mom's cheek. "Nana, say hi to mommy!" She makes Nanas kiss Meredith's cheek as well, causing her to wince. Maddie ran out to the playroom, she had been begging Derek to go

"What's wrong, Mer?" Derek worriedly asks, seeing the pain in her eyes

She could only clutch her mouth, talking was impossible

"Mouth sores?" He guessed, watching Meredith nod in response. "I'm sorry, Mer. I'll call Bailey, to ask if she can make it hurt less. Maybe some morphine."

Meredith nods in response, tears falling down her cheek as the pain was really getting a lot

Derek quickly walked out of the room to call Bailey

"Addie and Mark are coming over, Bailey gave them a prescription for some liquid water that will numb your mouth, wanna try the mouthwash in the meantime?" Derek asks, while stroking her bald head

Meredith shook her head in response, her mouth hurt too much for the mouthwash, she could only sob in pain

"Shh. It will be okay, close your eyes in the meantime, honey." Derek whispers, humming her to sleep, his heart is breaking to see his big love in this excruciating amount of pain. Waiting for Mark and Addison felt very mixed. He wanted Mer to be out of pain, but he knows the first minutes it will cause her to hurt even more..

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