A/N: Welcome to Survivor, the sequel to Something New! So, this is a repost like Something New was, but again, I am editing and making minor changes to improve the story throughout each chapter. If you don't want to wait, you can check out my Wattpad for the old version, as well as many other Grey's Anatomy stories I have yet to put on here. The chapters are a bit shorter here, but there will be more of them than what's in Something New. I'm really excited for this wild ride to continue, so, without further ado...

"Hey, it's me. Derek's right behind me. Can we come in?" Cristina calls from the doorway of Meredith's hospital room.

Even from where she's standing, she can see Meredith nod so she enters the room, Derek following her. He shuts the door behind him and slowly approaches the bed.

"Hey," Meredith whispers so quietly Derek isn't sure if she actually spoke.

"Hey." He responds, his voice a shaky whisper.

"Is he dead?" Meredith rasps immediately.

"Who?"

"The man...did this," she gestures towards her body.

"His name's William Dunn. And no, he's not dead," Derek's voice is thick with disgust. "He's here."

The monitor Meredith is hooked up to beeps loudly, alerting everyone of her increased heart rate. Not that they needed the monitor to tell them she's afraid, it's written all over her body.

"No, no, not like that. I shot him, he's here to get treatment before we can take him to jail," Derek rushes to explain, his eyes on the stats. "He's in custody, you're okay. There are officers guarding his door, he can't hurt you."

Her stats start to stabilize, and Cristina and Alex, both having moved closer when the machine went off, relax a little. Meredith closes her eye and takes a couple of breaths, obviously trying to calm herself.

"You...okay?" She asks after a minute, looking at Derek again. Leave it to Meredith Grey to be concerned about his well-being after she was beaten and raped.

"Am I okay?" He lets out a strangled laugh. "I-I don't know." Meredith studies him for a second, then reaches out her non-casted hand to brush his arm. Derek is shocked that she initiated touch but instantly responds, grasping her hand in his.

"Have you eaten?" He asks after a minute. She shakes her head. "You want anything?" Another head shake. Derek glances at the doctors standing on the side of the room. Cristina gives him a nod, saying Meredith needs to eat.

"You have to eat, Mer," Alex cuts in. When Meredith doesn't respond, Alex shuffles by the bed towards the door. "I'll try to find her something," he says, then leaves. After a minute, Cristina approaches the bed again.

"Meredith, have you thought any more about the rape kit?" She asks.

"No. Not...doing it."

"She won't do a rape kit? You won't do a rape kit?" Derek questions, first addressing Cristina, then Meredith.

"No," Meredith speaks about as firmly as possible with her weak voice.

"It will help your case," Derek states out of the blue, getting two confused looks from the women in the room with him. "William's going to court so a judge can determine his sentence. You're the only woman to have survived, so you'll have to testify. If they can get his DNA off you it will help your case and put him in jail longer."

He's greeted with shocked silence.

"You didn't know?"

Cristina shakes her head, turning her gaze to Meredith.

"Testify...?" Meredith whimpers.

"Good god," Cristina breathes.

"I'm sorry, I thought you knew," Derek apologizes quietly.

"If I do...rape kit...he'll be...in jail for longer?"

"Yes." Derek nods.

Meredith takes a deep, shaking breath. "Okay."

"Okay?"

"Okay. Do it," she whispers. Cristina nods and immediately goes to page Arizona. Meredith's eye closes and she tries to focus on her breathing.

"I'm sorry," Derek whispers. "I'm so sorry."

Meredith's eye flicks open to him, his eyes full of tears. She slowly reaches up a hand to cup his face, caressing his cheek with her thumb. "I know."

A knock on the door causes Meredith's hand to pull away, quickly pulling the blanket up to cover herself. Cristina goes over and opens it.

"It's Arizona, she's going to do the kit. Is that okay?" Cristina asks. Meredith just nods, so the cardio surgeon steps aside to let the blonde into the room. Arizona has her hands full of supplies, which she sets on the table next to Meredith's bed.

"You...should go," Meredith says weakly from the bed, not looking at anyone in particular. Everyone in the room freezes, not sure who she's talking to. "Derek."

The FBI agent hesitates, but when he gets a pointed glare from Cristina, he leaves the room, shutting the door behind him.

"Should I go too?" Cristina asks, unsure of herself in the middle of the room.

"No," Meredith extends an arm, still not looking at her. "Stay." Cristina quickly crosses the room, grasping Meredith's hand tightly. Arizona takes a seat on a rolling stool and snaps a pair of gloves on.

"Scoot down to the end of the bed for me and bring your heels to your butt," Arizona says gently.

Meredith tenderly moves to the edge of the bed, her body protesting at her each millimeter of the way. Cristina grabs a cloth from the bin Arizona brought and wraps some ice in it.

"Put this on your face. Focus on the ice." Cristina murmurs, handing it to Meredith. The blonde obeys, softly pressing the cloth onto her swollen face. The cooling sensation is the best thing she's felt in nearly a week.

Arizona begins the exam and Meredith's good eye doesn't open. When she tenses, Cristina lays a hand on her arm and rubs it gently, trying to bring whatever kind of comfort she can. The shirt Meredith had been wearing was already taken as evidence and the rest of her body, especially her neck had been swabbed for William's DNA.

They're all silent, and each passing minute feels like an hour until Arizona finally stands and takes her gloves off. "You're done," she says, forcing a smile. "No major damage, you'll be sore for a few days but that's all." Meredith breathes a sigh of relief and slowly moves her body back into a normal position in the bed.

Wordlessly, Arizona packs up and exits the room, only to find herself in the middle of a quarrel. Derek and Alex stand blocking the door from two uniformed police officers.

"You're not talking to her, end of story." Alex spits.

"If we want to process the rape kit, we have to get a statement from the victim." One officer, a short man with a gray beard defends himself.

"How many times do I have to tell you? This is an FBI case, we will handle it!" Derek growls, once again holding out his creds so the officers can see them.

Arizona decides now would be a good time for her to interfere. Having trained Alex, she can tell he's this close to committing a felony.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Robbins. I just performed an exam on Dr. Grey and I can confirm she is in no condition to speak to any officers at this moment in time. It's probably best you don't come back, as this case seems to be way above your pay grade." Arizona says, using her bright blue eyes and dimples to her advantage. She steps between the feuding men, her smile never faltering as she speaks, but her tone carrying venom that could kill.

Both of the officers hesitate, but when she raises her eyebrows and points to the exit, they turn and leave in defeat. Derek and Alex sigh in relief. Arizona turns to face Derek, holding out the rape kit.

"I don't know exactly what you have to do to process this, but it needs to get into the system as soon as possible." Derek takes the kit, nods, and heads off to find his team. He gets lost once, but manages to find his way back to the waiting area where all of his agents are still sitting.

"How is she?" Olivia asks immediately.

"Not good." Derek shakes his head and sits down. "It took a bit of convincing for her to do the rape kit and won't eat or drink."

"I can run that over to the station and have it processed." Maggie offers, gently taking the kit from Derek. He nods and Ryan stands, saying he wants to go with Maggie. The two agents leave, Derek sitting between Jake and Olivia and across from a teary-eyed Vanessa.

"You know we have to get a statement from her sometime. The sooner we do the sooner we can get a court date." Olivia says.

"She can't testify until she's out of the hospital, which will probably be at least two weeks." Derek objects. "We know what he does to women, why do we even have to put her through giving a statement?"

"Evidence, Shep. Stronger case, longer sentence." Jake replies.

"Call Quinn, bring her up to speed." Derek orders. Quinn Perkins is their best lawyer, having worked with the team for many years. They know they have a strong case already, and William will most likely plead guilty, but it's always good to have the best ready on your side.

Jake nods and pulls out his phone, stepping away to make the call.

"I-I can't get a statement from her, Olivia. I can't put her through that and I don't think I can hear it myself." Derek sighs, his tone broken.

"I'll do it. You let me know when she can talk again, and I'll do it." Olivia suggests. She tries to keep the dread she feels off her face and out of her tone.

"Really? You'll do it?" He asks, finally looking at her. She nods and a small smile appears on his face. "Thank you."

Olivia shrugs it off like it's nothing, but it really means a lot to Derek that she offered. They both knew how excruciating reliving the events of the past five days will be for Meredith, so they're going to give her as much time as possible to prepare.

Back in the room, Alex sets down a yogurt, oatmeal, and a bowl of fruit on the table in front of Meredith. The blonde shakes her head, her stomach rolling at the thought of eating.

"You have to eat something, you can't live off of that IV crap for the rest of your life," Alex tells her.

"Leave...me alone," Meredith whispers. Three little words and he stops instantly. They both know he's only doing what's best for her, but he doesn't have it in him to fight her, not after everything she's been through.

So, Alex pulls out an extra blanket and moves to the sitting area with two couches and a couple of chairs attached to Meredith's room. He settles himself on the couch, not willing to leave Meredith by herself either.

Cristina is sitting in the chair by her bed. She's now the one pressing the ice to Meredith's face. It melts after a couple of minutes, so the cardio surgeon tosses it aside. Meredith's eye is closed, but Cristina can tell from her breathing that she's not asleep.

It doesn't take long for Cristina to hear soft snores from the sitting area, and she softly smiles and shakes her head at Alex. About half an hour goes by, Cristina is unable to close her eyes, feeling like if she breaks her attention from Meredith for even ten minutes, she'll be gone again.

Meredith's head turns on the pillow, and her green gaze finds Cristina's brown.

"Can't sleep..." she breathes. "So tired...but can't sleep."

"Me either," Cristina responds, matching her low voice.

"Sucks," Meredith states, the corner of her mouth barely twisting into a smile. She tries to be louder, but her trachea protests, so she painfully swallows, quieting herself gain.

A smile breaks Cristina's face and she laughs softly, her eyes never leaving Meredith's. "Yeah, yeah it does."

They sit in silence for a long few minutes. It's nearly 9:00 AM, but they are all exhausted. Meredith drops her gaze, opening her mouth to say something, but closing it. She is quiet for a moment, then returns her gaze to Cristina.

"I want to go home," she says firmly. Her throat screams in pain as she speaks, trying to make her voice as powerful as possible. Cristina softens, tears welling up behind her eyes.

"I know, Mer. I know," she whispers, reaching out to gently grasp Meredith's hand.

"Please," she begs, quieter this time, her voice now sounding broken.

"I can't. I'm so sorry, I can't."

A quiet sob escapes Meredith, and she closes her eye. Everything hurts. She's on pain medication, but still. Her face is throbbing, her ribs burning every time she takes a breath, the ache from everything that is constantly all over her body, and the fog that clouds her mind.

She tries to push away the images, the memories that feel so real, but she can't. They're always there, always lingering in the back of her head. She just wants to forget about it and move on with her life. She was so blissful before. Before, it seemed as if everything was finally coming together for her. For once in her life, she was actually happy. But that was before.

Now, everything is falling apart, and Meredith can only hope that it doesn't destroy her or the people she loves.