Chapter Nine
She was awakened by the squeezing of her hand. Slowly, she opened her eyes to see Alex's hand squeezing hers. She came to full awareness and shot up out of her chair.
"Hey, you're awake!" she moved to the head of the bed, and positioned herself so he could see her. He would have to wear a neck brace for a while, and couldn't turn his head.
"I can move my fingers." He croaked.
Her eyes glistened with tears of joy. Before she had a chance to respond, Amelia's voice resounded through the room.
"Of course you can. Did you doubt my abilities?"
She strode confidently to Alex's bedside, and picked up his hands. "Squeeze my fingers." She exhaled quietly as he did as commanded. "Excellent!" She moved to his feet. "Push against my hands." She was glad they couldn't hear her heart pounding against her rib cage. She couldn't, however, contain her smile as he pushed strongly against her hands. She went to the head of the bed. "Follow the pen with your eyes." He did as instructed, and she was confident that he was neurologically intact.
"Okay, Alex. It's time to get to work. We are going to get you up and walking. I will tell you it is most definitely going to suck at first." She recalled her early ambulation after her brain tumor surgery, and shuddered lightly.
He looked at Meredith and gave her his famous crooked grin. "It's worth it," he replied gruffly, his throat still irritated from the intubation and spinal surgery.
"I'll give you guys a couple of minutes, and I'll be back." She left the room.
"How are you feeling?" she asked, smoothing his hair.
"Honestly? Like I've been hit by a truck." He saw the grimace on her face and had regretted the words as soon as they had been said. "Sorry. Bad choice of words."
She shook her head. It was an ironic comment, a reminder of the way his accident had come too close to mirroring Derek's demise.
"It's fine. I'm just so grateful that you're going to be okay. We get to have our future, Alex." Tears of relief streaked her cheeks.
His face lit up with a full smile. "We're going to have a great future. You, me and the kids." He was interrupted by the return of Amelia.
"Okay, you ready to get to work?" She had a couple of nurses with her.
"Uh, just a second." He turned back to Meredith. "I can't wait for our future, and to share everything with you. But I really don't want you to hear me scream like a girl."
She chuckled. "Okay. I'll go check on the kids, and I'll be back later." She leaned over to kiss him.
"Don't scare them. Just tell them I hurt my neck, and I'm fine. Sometimes Zola needs to talk, and she does it better over ice cream. Make sure Bailey gets to play trucks. There's too much girly stuff over there, and he needs time to be a little dude. And give Ellis extra snuggles for me."
She laughed, but was genuinely touched by his display of love for her children. "I'll be sure to take good care of them, just for you. I'll be back." She gave him one last kiss and left the room.
As she headed for the elevators, she thought about how Alex had stepped up to be there for her kids without being asked. In the years since Derek's death, he had run countless errands, had helped Zola with her homework, had even learned to do her hair (and now did it better than Meredith), nursed them through several illnesses, gave them pep talks, had taught Zola how to ride a bike with training wheels, had bought Bailey his first bike when the lad had been jealous of his big sister's new feat, how he had memorized Ellis's favorite lullabies, and countless other heroic acts. He was their de facto father, she realized. She knew about his father issues, like he knew about hers. She was certain it had started as a way to make sure they didn't feel the sting the two of them had grown up with, but somewhere along the way the lines had blurred. She felt a lump in her throat, and knew what she had to do. She picked up her phone and dialed.
Back in the hospital room, Alex was being helped up by Amelia and several nurses. Normally, Amelia would have relegated this task to her resident, but the stakes were too high with this patient.
"No, stop! I can't do this!" He screamed.
Amelia grimaced. "I know, Alex. But you can do this. Come on, just a little more."
He locked eyes with her. "I hate you!" He growled.
She gave him a self-deprecating smile. "Good. Use it. Hate me all you want. But you're doing this!" She took a small step back.
"Go to hell!" He advanced towards her.
"That all you got?" she taunted, taking another small step back.
"Bitch!" He grunted, moving forward another step.
"Come on, Iowa! " she referenced his state school education, knowing how it would irritate him, as she took the last step back.
He let out a primal scream and closed the gap between them and reached the chair. Amelia and the nurses helped him down.
"Good. Rest. I'll be back in a few and we'll have some more fun!" she said, irritatingly cheery on purpose. It would help him to be mad.
"Bite me!"
She chuckled softly and left the room.
