Chapter 2

2 days later

Meredith was slowly getting her strength back, after she had been taken off the ventilator. At least in parts. As soon as she tried to do more than to lay in her bed, she felt exhausted... But she was slowly doing better again, and that was what counted.

And all she wanted was to see Andrew and her kids again. She had talked to her kids a few times, but she couldn't wait to have them in her arms again. And hopefully in a few days she would be able to do exactly that. And to say that she was worried about Andrew would be an understatement. She wanted to see him, she wanted to see with her own eyes that he was okay given the circumstances, but she wasn't allowed to... Because he needed to rest, and the risk of an infection was too high, since he was still in a critical condition after having suffered from such a severe wound. But they told her that it looked good for him to recover from this.

Meredith was still lying in her bed, trying to 'stay calm and relax' like Bailey had told her. And if she didn't know as a doctor herself how important it was for her own recovery process to diminish any stress, she would have killed Bailey for telling her to stay calm while she was scared to lose Andrew. But she knew, and so she tried but she wasn't sure how well it was working.

A few hours later she heard her door open and quickly turned around, surprised when she saw who it was. Carina.

"How is he?" Meredith asked immediately, scared that something might have happened.

"He's okay. They said that..." A few tears started to form in Carina's eyes, leaving Meredith worried for a moment until she saw a smile appearing on her face as well "If everything stays like now he will be able to get out off the ICU tomorrow. He will still need to stay at the hospital, but..." Carina trailed off, having already said enough to make Meredith smile in return.

"Shouldn't you be with him right now?" Meredith asked her softly, still with a smile on her face, feeling relieved for the moment at what Carina told her.

"I was and I will be..." Carina started "Bailey found me walking through the hospital from one place to the other." She was gesturing with her hands in the air as if to explain why "...and she said that she knows just the right person who could use some company as well..."

"Bailey..." A small smile appeared on Meredith's lips.

"Yeah."

They stayed silent for some time, enjoying the company and not having to be alone, both having been scared about losing a person very close to them. Andrew.

.

"Do you think he regrets it? Following that woman..." Meredith asked after a while, looking at Carina.

"I don't think so..." Carina shook her head slightly, with a small smile.

"He- I always loved how deeply he cared."

"Me too. I just wished he would look out for himself sometimes."

"I know, me too, but... I can understand why he did it." Meredith started slowly, turning herself a little further towards Carina, so she could look at her better "When I committed insurance fraud, I couldn't look away either. And believe me, he was the first to try to find another solution once he found out. And I would have been the first to try to keep him from doing what he did... just like you." She stopped for another moment before she added with a small smile "But I can understand him."

Carina stayed silent for a moment, with a smile on her face that Meredith couldn't interpret.

"You care about each other." Carina stated after a moment.

"I... Yes."

She stayed silent for another moment looking at her before she asked "Do you still love him?"

"Carina... a lot has happened..." Meredith answered sighing slightly, not knowing what to say, not knowing how to feel after everything that has happened.

Carina stayed silent, nodding reassuringly as if to tell her that she understood... At least to some degree.

"The things I said to you when you tried to help Andrea. When I questioned if you even cared about him... I'm sorry." She started again.

"When your dad came here with his research... Andrew and I had our first fight or argument after he left again... He was so hurt, he just wanted to be alone and ignored me for days." Meredith started and then paused for a moment, thinking back to that time "I think to a certain degree I knew how much it must have hurt him, because he had told me about your dad before. Before we were even dating." She had to smile a little at the memory of them being trapped in the elevator. Then she continued and added "Afterwards he apologized with this amazing dinner he made."

"That sounds like him." Carina smiled at her "You know, he doesn't make dinner for everyone..." She added, making Meredith smile for a moment.

"When his symptoms started... I know you told me what would happen, and maybe I didn't want it to be true in the beginning, but I also didn't want him to feel like this... I knew how important your dad is to him and how much this hurt him at the same time... and I tried to be there for him even though he didn't let me..."

"He was right." Carina answered after a moment, giving her a small smile.

"What?" Meredith was slightly confused, not knowing what Carina was talking about.

"When we followed that woman... He told me that you knew him, that you were the only one who listened to him, who believed him during that time."

"I..." She didn't know what to say, but it made her heart feel warm to hear these words.

"Thank you for being there for him." Carina answered sincerely.

.

They kept sitting there for a few more moments before Carina indicated her that she needed to go, slowly going towards the door, turning around before she opened it.

"You know he loves you, right?". She asked with a smile.

"I- Yes." Meredith returned her smile before Carina was about to leave.

"Thank you, Carina." She added just before Carina left and closed her door.

End of chapter 2

I will try to post a new chapter of this story every two or three days...

And in total there will be between 10 and 12 chapters... :)