She opened her eyes, her head pounding as she placed her hand against it as she slowly sat up.

Meredith had been up most of the night crying, only managing to fall asleep a couple hours ago. Beside her was Sofia, finally asleep after being up half the night herself.

What was she doing? Thinking she could take care of a child. Thinking she couldn't screw Sofia up while Callie recovered? This was all completely insane to her. She didn't know if she could do it alone.

Slowly she got out of bed, pulling her shirt down that had hiked up on her stomach as she headed towards her dresser, picking out some clothes before heading to the bathroom. She was barely awake, yawning as she finished her business before grabbing a towel out of the closet and starting the shower.

Standing in the shower, she closed her eyes, savoring the hot water that was cascading down her skin as she ran her fingers through her hair.

She needed a moment uninterrupted before Sofia would awaken, asking about her mother.

She was far too young to really grasp the concept of Callie's injuries and Meredith didn't know how to explain anything to the young girl when she didn't have answers herself. Callie's injuries were extensive and there wasn't much that anyone could do except wait at this point. She had a Diffuse Axonel Injury, commonly known as DAI, along with a few broken bones and as much as it hurt everyone to see Callie in that state, they had the comfort of knowing she was in the best place possible and receiving the best care anyone could ask for.

"Auntie Mer?" She heard, coming from outside the door. Meredith blew out a sigh as she turned the water off, stepped out of the shower and put on her clothes quickly.

"Sofia, what's wrong?" Meredith asked as she walked out of the bathroom, wrapping her hair up into a towel.

With tears streaming down her cheeks Sofia ran over, wrapping herself around Meredith like she had done the day before in the hospital.

"I thought you had left me, too." She cried. Meredith reached down, placing her hand on the little girls back, rubbing it gently.

"I didn't leave, Sofia, we're alright." She paused for a moment. "What do you want for breakfast?" She whispered.

"I'm not hungry," Sofia whispered, still wrapped around Meredith. Meredith sighed, she knew why Sofia was refusing to eat. Slowly she knelt down to Sofia's level, taking the little girl's hands into her own.

"Listen, I know you're scared but your mom is going to be alright. She might not wake up for a while, Sofia, but that's just part of the healing process. Sometimes people don't wake up right away but that just means they need a little time to heal and then they'll be okay. You know your mommy is getting the best care possible, right?"

Sofia nodded her head slowly, before laying her head against Meredith's chest.

"Okay, now what do you say we eat breakfast and then go see mommy, alright?" Meredith smiled. Sofia smiled back before they headed over to the counter.

"Mer? What are doing here?" Alex asked, seeing Meredith and Sofia walk in.

"You know I can't stay away from this place," she replied sarcastically, smirking. "No, I decided to bring Sofia to see Callie."

"I'll walk with you," Alex said as they started heading down the hallway. "How did last night go?" He asked.

"Good, it's weird sharing my bed again. Haven't done that since Derek." She leaned in closer to Alex. "She didn't want to eat breakfast." Meredith whispered.

"She hasn't ate?" Alex asked, concerned.

"No I got her to eat but...she misses her mom, Alex, and she's probably traumatized over everything that happened." Meredith said sadly.

Alex nodded then grabbed his pager as it beeped just as they reached Callie's room. "I gotta go but I'll come back when I can," he said before walking off.

They went inside the room and Meredith drew in a breath as she pulled the curtain around.

"Mommy!" She heard Sofia yell as she ripped her hand out of Meredith's, running towards the bed. Meredith stood there in shock, feeling like she might cry. "Mommy, wake up!" She heard.

"Sofia, come here, sweetie." Meredith whispered softly, motioning for the young girl to come over. "She will wake up okay, just not right now. She needs to get better first."

"I want mommy awake now and everything better!" Sofia cried.

"I know, me too." Meredith whispered, pulling Sofia in for a hug. "Let's go sit with mommy, okay?"

They stayed there for a few hours. It was now almost five o'clock in the evening. Sofia was coloring a picture to hang over Callie's bed as Meredith played around on her phone.

Busy? She texted Alex.

"Hey, everything okay? I got your text." Alex said as he came into room a few minutes later. She looked at him, a look he knew all too well. Pulling his phone out of his pocket, he pulled up a game before handing it to Sofia.

"I'm going to take Meredith for a few minutes, you just play on my phone, alright?" Alex said to Sofia.

Sofia nodded her head as Alex grabbed Meredith's hand, pulling her out of the room and down the hallway into an on-call room.

"What's wrong?" Alex asked as he shut the door behind them.

Meredith shook her head, trying to take deep breaths so she wouldn't cry. It didn't work. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her resolve broke. "Everything is so messed up, Alex. What if she dies? What if I have to raise Sofia until she's eighteen? I'm not ready to raise two kids by myself."

"Wait, hold on, Mer." He walked up to her, placing his hands on both of her arms. "Callie's still alive and she's going to stay that way." Alex whispered.

"This is how I lost Derek, Alex, and I can't stop thinking about Sofia. She will have lost both her parents if Callie doesn't survive this. She's too young for this."

"The difference is, Derek had incompetent people working on him. Callie has the best care she could possibly get and you can't give up on her. She's stable and everything is alright, okay?" He asked, trying to soothe her.

"I know," Meredith choked out. She buried her head into Alex's chest, freely sobbing.

"Just relax, Mer," Alex whispered, gently running his hand up and down her back. "Breathe. Why don't you stay in here and relax. I'll watch Sofia for a little while, okay?"

"Okay." Meredith sniffled, pulling away from Alex. "I'm just so scared for her, Alex."

"I know but you have to trust that everything will be okay," Alex whispered as he gently lowered her down onto the bed, covering her with the blanket. "Get some sleep, Sofia and I will be fine." Meredith gave him a small smile as he left the room.

2 hours later...

Her head was spinning when she woke up. The feeling of bile in her throat was overwhelming as she sat up.

"Damn it," she muttered as she tried to stand up, only to fall back down. She took a minute, closing her eyes as she took a few deep breaths, trying to get her bearings before she stood up again.

The hallway light was blinding as she opened the door, grabbing onto the railing on the wall as she made her way back to Callie's room.

"Hey, Mer," Alex greeted. "You don't look so good, are you okay?" He asked.

"I don't know, I..." she couldn't finish what she was going to say as she turned around exiting the room, finding the nearest garbage can to deposit everything into. Alex came up behind her, rubbing her back as she threw up.

"Damn, Mer, are you sure you're alright?" Alex asked, concerned.

"I don't know, Alex. I feel...I feel weird." Meredith confessed.

She started to walk back to the room, slightly stumbling as Alex reached out to grab her. "Okay, when was the last time you ate?"

"I had breakfast," Meredith said.

"What about lunch?" Alex asked. Meredith stayed quiet, giving him the answer he needed. He sighed, helping her back to the room. "Okay, stay here and don't move." He ordered.

Meredith was confused as she watched Alex leave only to come back a few minutes later, a granola bar and a cup of water in hand. "Here," he said handing them to her. "Something to snack on, your sugar is probably low."

She offered him a small smile as she unwrapped the snack, sighing in contentment at the first bite.

"Okay, that should hold you over. Tell you what, why don't I take you and Sofia out to dinner?" Alex offered.

"Yeah, that would be nice." Meredith smiled gratefully.

"Finish up and then we'll go." Alex said.

Fancy was never her style. She was not a person that cared for a fancy family styled restaurants but Alex had insisted.

"I think I'm going to have the shrimp scampi, what are you having, Mer?" Alex asked.

"Uh, probably just a salad, seems to be the most non-expensive thing there is." Meredith chuckled softly.

"No you're going to eat real food. Don't worry about the price, I got it covered." Alex said with a smile.

"Salad is real food," Meredith protested.

"Yeah, for a rabbit." Alex quipped back. "Have a burger or something." He insisted.

"Fine, tuna melt sounds good. What are you having, Sofia?" Meredith asked.

"Mac 'n' cheese! Sounds yummy!" Sofia said excitedly.

"I agree there." Meredith said with a chuckle.

Once the food came, things were quiet for a while before Meredith spoke.

"This is really good, thanks Alex."

"No problem, you know I'm always looking out for you." He said with a light smile.

"This beats sitting in a hospital room. I love Callie but I hate not being able to do anything." Meredith said.

"I know but there's not much any of us can do." Alex said softly. "How's the baby?" He asked, hoping to cheer her up slightly by talking about the baby.

"Good, this pregnancy is kinda going fast and slow at the same time. Although I'm glad he or she isn't here yet. I'm not sure I could keep up with two kids. But I'm pretty sure Sofia would like someone to play with."

"I'm sure she would. Hey, Sofia, how's your food?" Alex asked, looking over at Sofia.

"Good, Uncle Alex, thanks!" Sofia said with a wide smile.

"No problem, kiddo. I love hanging out with you guys."

"How are you and Jo?" Meredith asked.

"Oh, that crazy..." he stopped himself from cursing in front of Sofia. "We haven't really talked since...well, you know. She has the loft and that's the end of that. I haven't been back there since everything happened."

"I'm sorry, Alex, really. I know I've needed you a lot and I never meant to come in between you and Jo." Meredith said apologetically.

"No, Jo is just jealous, Mer. She has her own issues and they're not my problem anymore. If she can't accept our friendship, then she doesn't need to be around, plain and simple." He paused for a moment. "Tell you what, after dinner why don't we go and have a movie night, how does that sound?"

"Yeah!" Sofia chimed in. "Please, can we, Auntie Mer?"

Meredith laughed at the little girls eagerness. "Yeah, that sounds great to me."

Once they finished dinner, they went back to Meredith's house. She was curled up on the couch with a blanket draped over her and a bowl of popcorn in her hand as Sofia laid on the floor with her own bowl of popcorn as Alex popped a movie in.

"'Finding Nemo'? Really, Alex?" Meredith asked, raising an eyebrow and smirking.

"What? It's cute and kid friendly," Alex shrugged. He took a seat next to Meredith. She laid down, her head in his lap as she struggled to stay awake and before Alex knew it, she was snoring in his lap.