A few weeks later, Meredith had returned to work and was fine. She hadn't had any breakdowns. Today though, was a particularly gruesome day at the hospital. They were swamped in the emergency room, which was where Meredith was working. A man walked into the emergency room with his penis cut off and in a bucket of ice that he was carrying. The man bore a striking resemblance to Carlos and even though logically Meredith knew that he was in jail, memories of what Carlos did to her flashed through her mind. Like the events were happening all over again in the present. Meredith just froze. She stood like a deer caught in headlights.
Resident Jo Wilson, who was on Meredith's service noticed the change in her attending's facial and body language.
"Are you okay, Dr. Grey-Montgomery?" Jo asked
Meredith didn't say anything. She just ran off.
"Page the other Dr. Grey-Montgomery. Tell her to find her wife." Jo told one of the interns
The intern nodded, "Of course, Dr. Wilson."
Addison got the page and then she scoured all the on-call rooms trying to find her wife. After checking almost all the on-call rooms, Addison finally found Meredith. The sound of sobbing gave it away. Addison burst into the room, rushed over to her Meredith's side, and held her wife close.
"Oh Mer." Addison cooed "What happened? Dr. Wilson said that you froze."
Meredith nodded as she hiccuped, "He...he looked like C...C-C-Carlos."
Addison stroked Meredith's long hair, "I believe you, but he wasn't Carlos. Carlos is in jail. You're safe, baby, you're safe."
"I know." Meredith hummed "I know."
Meanwhile at Marquis' house, Marquis headed into Henry's room to wake the little boy.
"Buenos días, mijo." Marquis told the his son as he gently shook the little boy awake.
Henry groaned as he rubbed his eyes sleepily, "Buenos días Papí."
"You need to get up. Necesitas levantarte. We have a lot to do to get ready for our move to Mexico." Marquis explained
Henry stand up in bed excitedly, "And then we get to see Abuela. ¿Cuándo nos vamos?", which translates to, 'When do we leave?'
Marquis nodded, "Sí. That's when you get to meet Abuela and then start escuela. Salimos en dos dias. We leave in two days." Escuela is school.
"Yay!" Henry cheered as he hopped out of bed to get ready.
Marquis smiled at his son's excitement and then he headed to the kitchen to cook breakfast. Egg and potato tamales which is something that his mother made for him when he was growing up. And he was thankful that now his son would have a chance to try his favorite childhood breakfast.
Later that day, Meredith, who had been sent home went to pick up the kids from school. She sat in the carpool pick up line at school for about ten minutes before Benaiah, Edelia, Zola, and Briar were piling into the card and two notes were shoved into her hand.
"What's this?" Meredith asked as she took the notes from Edelia and Benaiah.
Benaiah, who was in the front passenger seat shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know. My teacher and the lunch lady seem to think I've withdrawn from socializing."
"And you, young lady?" Meredith inquired as she eyed Edelia through the review mirror.
"Same." Edelia uttered
Meredith nodded, "Well we'll have to talk about that later with Mama."
Benaiah sighed, "Do we have to, Mom? It's really not a big deal."
"Yes, we do. We all need to admit if we are having a hard time." Meredith explained
"But it's been almost two months." Edelia argued "I should be better by now."
"I know." Meredith agreed "I thought I was better too, but I had a panic attack today at work. I froze and that can't happen again. And I don't want any of you to feel that way, so speak up if you don't feel fully recovered. Got it?"
Zola and Briar nodded, "Yes Mommy."
"Yes Mom." Benaiah and Edelia echoed
"Mommy?" Zola called
"Yes Zo?" Meredith responded
Zola looked down sadly, "I miss Henny. School's not the same without him. Neither is home."
"I know. I miss Henry too." Meredith said
"We all do." Benaiah added
Briar hummed and then spoke, "Mommy, I have something to confess too."
"What's up, Bri?" Meredith wondered
"I don't like going to school. I don't like being away from you and Mama." Briar explained
"Why not, sweetheart?" Meredith questioned as she looked at the little girl through the review mirror.
Benaiah turned around to look at his little sister, "I thought you loved school, BD."
Briar gave a nod, "I did, but that was before. Now I'm scared. What if James finds us, Benny? He found us before and the police haven't caught him yet."
"I'll protect you." Benaiah promised "Just like I always have. You have nothing to worry about, BD. James isn't coming after us." But he thought, 'If anything he'll come after me for getting caught by the police.' Benaiah would never admit that he was scared too. He was the oldest. He didn't want to seem weak. He had to be strong.
"Your brother is right, Bri." Meredith replied "You have nothing to worry about, but if you don't want to go to school that's alright. I'm going to take some more time off from work, so you can stay home with me."
Briar nodded, but she was still worried about James finding her, "Okay Mommy."
Hope you enjoy. Comments are greatly appreciated.
What would you like to see happen next?
