Meredith looked into Craig's cold eyes. She had never seen him like that. It scared her. It rocked her to her core. He was angry. He was irate. She looked into his eyes as she felt the pain in her face. He hit her hard. Way too hard. She could feel the pressure of his strong hands grasping her wrists way too firmly. It was pain. She felt helpless.
As Meredith remained there, the tears willing their way to the surface, she felt sick. She had never experienced this. Derek and John would have never hit her. Neither had even threatened her with their hand. She felt so weak was he pressed her body with his. He was powerful and she was weak. She felt like all control was lost. As she looked at him, she wondered what his intentions were. She knew no matter what, they were not good.
All Meredith could think about was Liam. She never wanted him to experience a broken home. She never wanted him to witness violence. And now she was in her kitchen getting ready to be a victim. As she leaned back in shock, she knew that he was going to hurt her. If she didn't do what he said, she was done for. She quickly decided that she was not going to to it. She would not be a victim in her own home with her sleeping son upstairs. Not today.
"You are such a whore." Craig said as he leaned in and breathed in her face. "I should take you upstairs, that is all you are good for." He told her with an evil smirk. Meredith clenched her jaw and and braced herself.
"Fuck you!" She shouted as him. She was so angry, spit went flying all over his face.
"You bitch!" He yelled as he smacked her across the face again. Meredith pulled away, and Craig ripped her back so hard, she felt her shoulder pop. He shoved her hard against the counter again, ready to strike.
"Not today." She said frankly. Meredith quickly raised her knee and hit him as hard as she could in the groin. She felt powerful. Now she was in control.
"Oh..." Craig groaned as he grabbed himself and collapsed on the floor.
Meredith didn't even look back as she ran up the stairs. Her first thought was to save her son. She needed to save her little boy. As she reached the landing, she felt her sock slide on the wood floor. She fell hard onto the floor and quickly climbed to her feet, not even looking to see if he was coming.
Meredith ran into Liam's nursery. She slammed the door and went to lock it, realizing it couldn't be locked. She let out a howl in desperation as she looked at her last resort slip away. Meredith ran over and grabbed Liam out of his crib. The boy's eyes opened quickly as he looked at him mom in shock. He looked terrified, getting awoken from her deep slumber. Meredith went to run out of the room and paused fro a second, grabbing his diaper bag.
"Meredith..." She heard him yell evilly. He was getting closer. He was coming up the stairs.
"Oh god..." Meredith cried out as she ran into the master bedroom and into the bathroom. She knew that the bathroom had a lock. She quickly slammed the door shut and locked it. She stuck her vanity chair under the door handle.
"Mamamaaa!" Liam screamed out of fear as he looked at her. He knew something was wrong with his mom.
"Shhhh... You're okay, baby. You are okay... Mama has you, and mama will die protecting you." She said as she started to cry.
"Meredith!" Craig screamed as he banged on the door. "Get out here!" He yelled.
"Mamaaaa!" Liam screamed as he looked at his mom in a panic. Meredith sat on the floor and held him close, rocking them both back and forth. "Mama is so sorry, Leelee... Mama is so sorry..."
"Get out here! Get out here now!" Craig yelled loudly as he stood there, banging.
"Just leave! I won't say anything... Just please, leave..." Meredith said as she cried.
"Are you crying? Why the fuck are you crying? You brought this on yourself!" He growled angrily.
Meredith remained silent as Craig screamed at her. She knew he was drunk. She knew it, but that didn't excuse him. Meredith knew that Derek would never get violent with her. Craig flew off the handle at her for no reason. Meredith ignored him as she rocked back and forth with Liam. Liam cuddled against his mom and whimpered.
"I'm a horrible mother... I'm a horrible mother... I'm a horrible mother..." Meredith continually muttered as she rocked. "I'm so sorry, Liam... I'm so sorry. Mama is bad. She is a horrible person." She cried, trying to calm herself down.
"Ma." Liam said softly as he grabbed her face. Meredith looked down at him and kissed him softly. "Ma..."
"Mama loves you, Leelee... So much." She told him softly.
"Meredith... Look... I'm sorry. I shouldn't- You didn't deserve it. I'm sorry. Why don't you come out here and we can talk?" She heard him say as he leaned against the door and slid down.
Meredith remained silent as she sat there. No way was she going to go out there and talk to him. She may a fool, but she wasn't that much of a fool. He hit her once, and that was it. He would never lay a hand on her again. She would never be a victim. Not after that. She would never forget the anger in his eyes. She hadn't even done anything to provoke him, and he went insane and tried to hurt her. She couldn't trust him. And now she was wondering if she could trust anyone.
"Ma..." Liam said softly as he looked up at his mom. He was just as upset as she, but he felt better in her arms. "Ma... Da?" He asked softly.
"Oh, Leelee... You have no idea how much I wish Da was here." Meredith told him as she hugged him softly. Liam started to whimper as he looked up at her.
"Foo." He muttered as he rubbed his belly.
"Oh... You're hungry. Oh no..." Meredith said sadly as she looked around the bathroom. She leaned over and grabbed the diaper bag, sliding it towards them. She quickly rustled through it, looking for something for him to eat. "Yay!" She told him softly as she pulled out a container of applesauce. "Food for the belly." She told him with a smile.
"Ya..." He said happily as he giggled. Meredith reached over for a spoon and felt a shooting pain in her arm. She winced as she continued to reach through the pain. She quickly opened up the container of food and got a spoonful of applesauce for him.
"You are such a good boy." Meredith told him as she wiped the spoon on his top lip. Liam squealed happily as Meredith gave him another bite.
"Meredith!" Craig screamed as heard Liam. Liam jumped nervously at the loud voice and began screaming and crying. "Shut the kid up, or I will shut him up for you!" Craig warned loudly.
"I swear to god, if you even consider trying that, I will fucking kill you." Meredith told him angrily. "You hurt me, but you will never hurt my son."
"You need to come out here so we can talk." Craig told her frankly as he started banging on the door. Meredith held Liam close, shielding him from Craig and his yelling.
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"I am not talking to you. Not ever. Go away. Please, just... Just go." Meredith begged as she looked down at Liam's tear rimmed eyes. "It's okay... Leelee, you are okay. Mama would die to save you. You will be okay."
Meredith listened as Craig begged her to come out. She knew that if she went out there, he was going to hurt her. She had no way out. The bathroom was on the second floor and she had no way to get down. She was in the middle of no where in the woods. She was stuck. At the moment, she was seriously regretting not getting a phone line in the bathroom. Derek had said they needed it, and she told him that was the stupidest idea she had ever heard. Now she was hating herself. She wished she had grabbed her cellphone. But she got something much more important. She had Liam.
"Liam, are you tired?" Meredith asked softly as she looked down at him. He closed his eyes softly and opened them again. She could tell he was tired. She laid him down and struggled to change his diaper with her bad arm. At least it was her left, that was the only good thing about it. "Mama will make you a bed." She told him with a frown as she looked around. They had several oversized bath towels rolled up in the wooden cabinet. It was enough to make Liam a nice soft bed and her a pillow.
"Ma... Be..." Liam said as he looked at her. She spread the towels out, making a cushion.
She laid him down gently and gave him a soft kiss. She felt sick as she looked at him. She should have known about Craig before it ever escalated to this. It was breaking her heart that she allowed this to happen. She wished nothing more than to have Derek there to save her. She wished that she had done so many things differently. Meredith felt several tears slide down her cheeks before she laid down with Liam on the cold tile floor.
Liam looked into her eyes. Neither had to say a thing as they stared. Liam found comfort in his mother, even when she was an emotional wreck. Meredith felt a sense of solace and contentment as she looked into the bright blue eyes of her son. They were eyes that matched his father's perfectly. For a split second, she felt as if she had Derek there with her. Liam softly closed his eyes, shutting the door between them. As he drifted off to sleep, Meredith felt alone and cold.
Meredith could feel the cold tile on her skin. She had the shivers. She looked around, remembering the plush bathroom rug by the bathtub. She was in so much pain, she wasn't even thinking straight. She crawled over on one arm and dragged it over next to Liam. As she laid there, she felt the pain in her head and shoulder taking over. She had to sleep to make it stop. She gathered Liam as closely as she could so that she would know when he was awake. Now all she had to do was wait. Wait for someone. Wait for no one.
Meredith woke up all night long. She never even realized that Craig had awoken from his drunken state and stumbled away. He climbed in his car and left. She slept through the front door closing and the sound of crunching stone under his tires. The only thing that woke her up was the shooting pains going through her body. She woke up abruptly when she head a loud banging on the bathroom door. She was terrified that he was there, ready to kill her.
"Meredith!" She heard a soothing voice say. She was safe. They made it.
"Mom!" Meredith said quickly.
Meredith rose to her feet. Her mother was there. The last thing she ever would have thought she wanted, was the first thing that she did. She needed her mom. When she was scared, her mom was the one that was going to save her. Meredith ambled to the door. For a split second, she was scared, but she knew it was really her. It really was her mom.
"Meredith... What are you doing in your bathroom? Where is my grandson?" Ellis asked on the other side of the door. Meredith moved the vanity chair away from the milk glass door handle and flipped the lock. Meredith slowly opened the door and looked at her mother. "Oh my god..." Ellis said in shock.
Ellis looked at her daughter in shock. She immediately felt the tears come to the surface. It broke her heart to see her daughter look the way she did. She had red marks and bruises all over her face. She was standing there with her left shoulder hanging limply to her side. She couldn't believe that Meredith had been hurt. It is seemed she had been hiding.
"Where is he? I will kill him! I will kill him..." Ellis shouted loudly. "Of all things... I never thought Derek would do this to you."
"No! No... Derek didn't do this." Meredith explained quickly. "Oh god no... Derek would never... Oh mommy." Meredith cried as she collapsed against her mother's chest.
Everything felt safe as she laid there against her mother. She had never felt that way. Ellis had always been so cold. She didn't have a kind bone in her body. But right then, Meredith felt more at ease as she had in a long time. She let her limp body lay against her mom's forgetting about all of the bad things in the world. Ellis stroked her daughter's back gently. She didn't want to find her daughter like this. She didn't want to see her bruised and broken.
"Ma..." Liam pouted loudly. Meredith turned around and looked in shock.
"Oh my god..." Meredith and Ellis both said as they looked over at Liam. Liam had pulled himself to his feet by the bathtub and was trying to walk over to them.
"Holy crap." Meredith said as she rushed over. "Leelee! You're walking!" Meredith said as she rushed up to him. Just as she reached, he fell into her arms. "Ah!" She cried out as the pain shot through her body. She quickly collapsed onto the floor, holding him tightly.
"Meredith..." Ellis gasped as she rushed over to her daughter's side. Liam started crying at his mom's own cries. He looked up at Ellis and back at his mom, his bottom lip stuck way out as the tears flowed down his cheeks. "Is it your arm, baby?"
"Oh god... It hurts mom... It hurts." She said as she laid there in the fetal position. "My shoulder... I can't take the pain."
"Come here, Liam." Ellis said as she patted her leg. Liam gave her a puzzled look and crawled over, feeling the safety in her voice. "Come here you sweet boy. Mommy is okay."
"Ma..." Liam cried as he looked at her. "Mamamamaamamaa..." He whimpered in a long drawn-out string.
"She's okay." Ellis told him as she knelt next to Meredith. "Meredith... Who did this to you?" Ellis asked softly as she looked at her daughter.
"I was so scared, mommy. He was okay. We were having a good dinner. I just wanted to be happy. I was desperate to be happy. I thought if I could push myself just a little harder, I could be happy. I thought that he would care about me if I gave him what he wanted. I put Liam to bed. I thought... I don't know, mommy. I just wanted to be loved. It was all okay and then... He got so mad at me. I don't even know why. I didn't do anything wrong. He was drunk..." Meredith trailed off as she sobbed heavily.
"Who, Meredith? Who did this to you?" Ellis pried as she held her grandson against her. She knew she couldn't do anything until she knew what happened to her daughter. "Who?"
"He was so drunk. I don't even know how. He had some wine. And then some bourbon. He was so mean. I saw it in his eyes. He was evil. He got mad and he hit me. He hit me so hard..." She sobbed as she laid there. "And then... And then he hit me again. I kicked him and I ran. He tired to get us, but Liam and I stayed in the bathroom. I had to save him. I had to save my son..."
"Who was it, Meredith? Tell me now!" Ellis said loudly as she grabbed her daughter's face.
"It was Craig... Craig Kovac." Meredith spat as she laid there, breaking down in front of her mother.
"The oncologist?" Ellis asked in shock. She knew the doctor. He was well respected. He was a quiet and kind man. Not the guy that would do something like this. Ellis watched as Meredith shook her head yes. "That son of a bitch! We have to call 911. You have to go to the hospital. We need to file a report..."
"No, Mommy... NO!" Meredith cried out loudly as her body shook. "We can't..."