A drabble for the Grey's Anatomy Last Fic Author Standing challenge on LiveJournal. The prompt was "this ends tonight."

Disclaimer: Grey's Anatomy is the property of Shonda Rhimes and ABC. This writing is for entertainment purposes only and is not for profit.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She's going to go crazy.

Crazier than pick me, choose me, love me. Crazier than building a house of candles. Crazier than letting herself drown.

She'll start seeing things, hearing voices, talking to walls, and twitching. She'll forget the names of her friends and family, replacing them with those of daytime sitcom characters. And her friends would mourn the Meredith they lost, falling to their knees and extending their arms to the heavens with a drawn-out why? on their lips.

(okay, maybe that's overly-dramatic. But being stuck in the hospital for so long will warp anyone's sense of reality.)

At least it's her last night of captivity - it probably won't come to that. Eleven o'clock finds her wide awake, mouthing the dialogue of Dirty Dancing (it's been on three times in the past two days) with disinterest as it blares from her television. A knock on the door distracts her.

"Come in," Meredith calls, muting the television. Lexie peeks her head around the door, wearing a wary smile. Dark circles beneath her hazel eyes stand out sharply against her porcelain skin.

"Hey," Lexie says softly. "How are you feeling?"

Sore. Bored. Kind of hungry. Legs are cramping. Voiced? "Fine."

Lexie nods. "Great. That's…that's great."

"Headed home?"

"Yeah." She makes a face. "Well, no. I was, um, I was actually wondering if I could stay here. Again." She edges toward the sofa – the toe of her right foot drags wearily as she walks.

Meredith doesn't care if she stays. Frankly, it's nice to have anything there besides the sound of her breathing. But.

"What did Mark do?"

"What do you mean?"

"You've been sleeping here for the past three nights, Lexie. What did he do?"

"Oh, it's not that, not at all," she stammers, biting her lip sheepishly. She's flustered, but it doesn't stop her from assembling a makeshift bed on the couch. "It's just…I'm scared." A sigh. "Those residents. They're ruthless and mean and good. And I'm scared." Meredith watches as overwhelmed tears cloud her eyes. She holds them back; the Lexie she knew a year ago wouldn't have been able to do that. "When I'm around them, I'm afraid to move. I'm afraid to breathe. I'm afraid to blink. I can't go home because what if they don't?"

She came here to fall apart. Meredith realizes this with a pang of sympathy.

She's scared too. After Izzie, they're all scared.

"Come here," Meredith commands, making room for Lexie on the bed, ignoring her aching incision. She's shared her bed with enough people in the past week anyway. Lexie's eyes widen.

"Sleep?" she babbles, flabbergasted. "With…with you?" Meredith purses her lips impatiently, nodding.

Lexie complies, inching gingerly toward the bed. She slides in next to Meredith, stiff and tentative. But, the feel of the mattress instantly makes her drowsy. She relaxes, curling against Meredith and resting her head on her shoulder. It's comfortable and warm, Meredith decides. Not bad at all. "No Mercy West bastards here," she reassures Lexie.

A beat.

"You're a great doctor, Lexie."

She doesn't reply, but Meredith feels Lexie's heart hammering.

"You know I'll be discharged tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah."

"So this ends tonight."

"I know."

A twinge of sadness surprises Meredith. But it's okay.

Tonight's enough.

They drift off, then, fingers almost entwined.