Meredith is up from her seat instantly, disregarding her crutches and a broken leg, makes a mad dash for the kitchen. Knowing she won't make it to the bathroom in time, it's a struggle even to make it to the sink as her stomach rolls and everything she'd eaten that day comes back up.
After heaving a couple of times, she braces herself on the counter, head still hanging over the sink as she tries to catch her breath. She's suddenly aware of someone next to her, and she jumps.
"It's okay, it's just me, I'm gonna pull back your hair okay?" Cristina's voice is soft next to her. Meredith nods and relaxes, her hair now out of her face, and she heaves again. Cristina hesitantly places a hand on her back, and when Meredith doesn't respond negatively to the touch, the cardio surgeon begins to rub soothing circles into her back.
"He what?" Alex demands loudly, standing up from his seat in the living room.
"He's pleading not guilty, and somehow managed to find enough money to get Annalise Keating as his lawyer." Quinn sighs.
"What does this mean?" Jo cuts in, her tone worried as she glances at Meredith over the sink in the kitchen.
"Let's wait until they're back before saying more..." Quinn drawls, following Jo's gaze. After a few minutes, Meredith's stomach finally settles and she rinses the taste of vomit from her mouth before limping with the help of Cristina back into the living room.
Something about Meredith's demeanor changes as she sits, her eyes are empty and she shifts tensely on her chair, Cristina standing at her side.
"So, what does this mean? Alex repeats his girlfriend's question.
"It means our preliminary hearing is in two weeks, where us lawyers will present the evidence and give statements to a judge. Then, we have another hearing, one that will probably last three or four days in front of a jury where we will go over the evidence and call witnesses to give testimonies and all that."
"What's the deal with this Annalise Keating woman?"
"She runs her own firm, a team of lawyers who will put up a hell of a fight. It just means that our case is going to have to be completely airtight, they like to dig way back into people's pasts and pull out anything they can use against them."
"Is the case airtight?" Meredith's shaky voice finally joins the conversation.
"It will be. Derek, I'm going to need Vanessa on this, Annalise likes to play dirty, so we will too." Quinn decides.
"Anything." Derek nods.
"Can we still get him on death row?" Cristina cuts in.
"That's the plan...I will not go any shorter than life in prison though, William Dunn doesn't deserve anything else."
This statement gets nods in agreement from everyone in the room.
"But-but he thinks he can get away with it?" Meredith asks, dropping her gaze. A chorus of no's from everyone in the room immediately answers her.
"He probably only hired Annalise because he wants to shorten his sentence as much as possible, there is no way he's going to get away with this," Quinn tells her firmly, her voice confident and tone unwavering. This seems to make Meredith feel better, and she nods slightly. "I know it's late but I'm here because I need to know anything and everything about your pasts that could influence the case."
"Lohan can't dig up whatever you need from the dark web?" Derek asks, narrowing his eyes.
"Well if you're honest here, she won't have to."
"Can you come back tomorrow?" Meredith requests, now looking at the lawyer.
"Meredith, I-"
"Please, I'm exhausted," her tone turns desperate as she cuts Quinn off. Her eyes soften and she sighs and stands, gathering her things.
"Can I bring Olivia by tomorrow as well? It will be easiest if everyone giving testimonies is here."
"That's fine. Come by at 1:00?"
"I'll be here." With that, Quinn nods and struts out the front door, closing it behind her. The people who remain look to Meredith, as if waiting for her to blow up, fall apart, or both.
Meredith instead gave them what they were least expecting. Neither. She grabbed her crutches and slowly made her way towards the stairs, casting a look at Cristina for help. The two women make their way up the stairs, leaving Derek, Alex, and Jo in stunned silence in the living room.
"I'm gonna get ready for bed too," Jo says softly, kissing Alex on the cheek and following upstairs.
"You staying here tonight, Shep?" Alex asks, surprising Derek by using his nickname. "You can take the empty room upstairs."
Derek hesitates but finds himself not wanting to leave, so he nods goes out to his car to get his always packed and ready go-bag. He comes back into the house and heads upstairs, surprised that he actually knows where he's going.
As he passes the closed master bedroom door, he hears soft voices inside and remembers the nights it was him in there with Meredith. A pang of loneliness and guilt hits him, only to be shut down quickly as he thinks about how Meredith must be feeling.
He continues to the empty guest room and gets settled while Alex enters the bathroom with Jo.
"Feel like a shower?" She whispers, locking the door. A crooked smile creeps onto Alex's face as he turns the water on, stripping his clothes off. Jo smiles and quickly mirrors his movements. When the water's hot, he grabs her hand and pulls her in, planting his lips on hers.
In the master bedroom, Meredith pulls on a pair of long, baggy shorts that will fit over her cast and a Dartmouth sweatshirt. Cristina also changes, then helps Meredith get situated in bed.
"Where do you want me to sleep?" She asks. Meredith glances around the room, then back to her friend.
"Will you stay?" Meredith requests quietly.
"Yes."
"You can sleep in the bed...just-just don't touch me, please."
"Of course," Cristina replies, slipping under the covers next to Meredith. When she's comfortable, she looks at Meredith, who is silently staring off. Cristina reaches to her nightstand and grabs the TV remote, handing it to Meredith.
The blonde gratefully accepts, giving Cristina a small smile and flicking on the TV. She finds some old romance movie on, settling into the familiar position of leg propped up and pillows keeping her core steady.
For a few minutes, she's completely sucked into the movies. It's the basic sappy boy-meets-girl romance, but for some reason she finds herself enjoying it. Meredith never liked romance movies before, but something's changed. Maybe it's the way the actors interact with each other or the happy ending, but for just a few minutes, she forgets.
Forgets about the personal hell she's been living in and just imagines that everything is normal, everything is back to the way it was. Before she realizes it, sleep overtakes her.
Meredith's lungs tighten, pressure on her entire body. She's laying on her back on cold, hard, concrete. She looks up, and there he is. William is on top of her, staring into her eyes with his cold, dark, empty ones. He's smiling as he thrusts, Meredith trying to scream but her entire body is frozen. She tries to escape his tight grip, get his weight off her chest so she can breathe, but it's no use. She's weak and in a panic. Desperate now, Meredith tries to pull away, kicking and trying to get oxygen. Just as darkness is about to overtake her, she's pulled back into consciousness.
Meredith bolts upright in bed, groaning in pain and wrapping an arm around her ribs as she sucks in as much air as she can, her eyes darting around the room, searching for danger. Searching for William. Cristina is up next to her, whispering soothingly, but the words don't reach her ears.
She looks at Cristina, finding warm chocolate eyes holding sympathy, the opposite of William's. "Oh, god," she cracks, and in one quick movement, she's completely leaning into her best friend.
Cristina is shocked that Meredith practically threw herself at her, but instantly reciprocates the gesture, tenderly wrapping her arms around the panicking woman, resting her head on top of Meredith's. Cristina usually hates hugs or anything like this, but at this moment, she's more grateful than anything that she can finally just hold and comfort the women in her arms.
Meredith doesn't go back to sleep that night. She got a few hours of rest, but lay awake in bed until it's a reasonable time to get up. She's not hungry either, so she just turns on the TV, keeping it quiet as to not wake a sleeping Cristina right next to her.
At lunchtime, the two women get dressed and go downstairs, joining the other three people in the house in the kitchen, where Derek's cooking. When they walk in, everyone looks up, giving Meredith warms looks. Jo and Alex are sitting on the barstools.
"Did you sleep?" Alex asks. Meredith drops her gaze, wordlessly sitting down at the table, propping her left leg up on a chair. Alex glances at Cristina, who only gives a brief shake of her head.
Derek sets down plates of food for everyone, Meredith just picks at it, moving the food around the plate to make it seem as if she's eating. They're all silent, not one person feeling like small talk.
A knock at the door snaps them out of it, and as soon as Cristina opens it Quinn walks in. She takes a seat in the living room, spreading her papers out on the coffee table in front of her.
"Ready?" She asks no one in particular. A couple of murmurs and nods from everyone answer her question. Before she can say anything else, someone knocks at the door again. Cristina, still standing, goes to open it and is greeted by Olivia.
The surgeon opens the door, allowing Olivia in. The agent makes her way into the kitchen, catching Meredith's eye and giving her a tight-lipped smile and reassuring nod as she sits on a chair next to her.
"Derek, you go first?" Quinn asks.
"Wait," Olivia says before he can respond, "What exactly do you need to know?"
"I'm just going to ask a few questions, tell me anything about your past that could be brought up in court that would negatively impact the case."
Olivia freezes, her hands coming together in front of her so she can pick at her nails, a nervous habit she'd acquired over the years. "Like what, exactly?"
"Just any big things you're hiding, Annalise will dig until she finds something she can use to discredit you. If I know beforehand, I can prepare for it. If it doesn't come up, I'll keep it to myself. It's confidential." Quinn assures them.
Derek narrows his eyes, studying his agent across from him. His profiler kicks in as he reads her body language and is about to say something when Quinn cuts him off.
"Let's start, Derek." The lawyer calls, already walking back through the house to the office. Derek sighs, leaving Olivia and following Quinn into the separate room.
"You okay?" Meredith whispers to Olivia, keeping her head low.
"Are you?"
"I asked you first," The blonde plays, a hint of a smile on her lips.
"Fine...no, not really. And you?"
"The same."
Olivia nods, not pressing any further, hoping Meredith gets the hint and leaves her alone as well. She does, and the whole kitchen sits in intense silence. One by one, Cristina, Alex, Olivia, then Meredith are all called to speak to Quinn privately. Olivia takes a while but emerges from the office with the same strong face on as always.
After speaking to Meredith, Quinn leaves the office and goes into the kitchen to address everyone. "Thank you, I know that wasn't easy but you all have no idea how this could help the case. I'm going back to the office to work through all this, I'll talk to someone tomorrow." With that, she exits the house, not waiting for a word from anyone else.
"Did you tell her?" Meredith whispers, almost inaudibly to Olivia once she's sitting again.
Olivia, sighs softly, shifting in her seat. "Yes...yes, I told her."
At this Meredith tenderly reaches a hand under the table, grabbing Olivia's shaking one. The two women sit together in silence, waiting for this endless hell to finally be over.