Thank you to all my reviewers, you guys made my day and inspired me to write more :)
This is one of my longest chapters, so enjoy!
I sigh, relaxing in the hot tub. It was so nice of Maggie to take the kids to the park and give me some time to relax.
I'm just about to drift off to sleep in the warm bubbly water when I hear a knock on the door. I grunt, knowing that I have to get it since no one else is in the house. I'm not expecting anyone, so it's probably just Maggie forgetting something. I get out of the tub and wrap a big fluffy towel around my body, and make my way downstairs while leaving a trail of water.
"Maggie, did you forget your keys?" I yell as I reach the door. I swig it wide open to reveal not Maggie, but Nathan. I swallow roughly. "You're not Maggie."
"No, I'm not. I just want to talk." He says softly. I can feel the water running down face and my body, and I let out a shiver.
"Talk? You want to talk after what happened earlier?" I fire at him, still upset over earlier.
"Yes."
"Well I don't want to." I feel like a little child when they argue, but I really don't want to talk to him.
"Meredith, I want to apologize. And talk about what happened earlier, and how to I can make it right."
Feeling exposed, I pull my towel up some, covering more of my chest, just for it to reveal more of my thighs. I have no answer for him. I don't want to talk about it, but seems really sincere about it. Open the door wider, allowing him room to walk in. "I'll, uh, be right back. I'm gonna get dressed."
"Well I've seen it before." He smiled, and I turn toward the stairs.
"Doesn't mean you'll see it again." I say, not to sternly hoping it comes off as funny. Especially since he may actually not, that is if he stays with Megan.
I walk to the bathroom and reach into the still warm tub and pull the plug. I watch for a moment as the hot relaxing bath I was in just a few minutes ago disappears, and I'm faced with my reality. Nathan, in my house, wanting to talk. Even though I don't want to talk to him.
I walk back to my bedroom to throw on some clothes. I grab my comfy bra and put it on, and I pull on a white V-neck and some leggings. I look in the mirror at my hair, and decide to leave it down to air dry. I also don't feel like brushing it, so I leave it messy like it was. Using my fingers, I at least part it, so it looks like I tried something with it. I take a quick look at my phone to make sure Maggie hadn't called, and throw it back on the bed before heading back downstairs.
I slow down on the last few steps, looking at Nathan's profile as he stares at something on the wall. I step down to the last step and it squeaks, causing him to look at me. I don't say anything but sit next to him and put my hands in my lap.
He is the one to break the silence. "I uh, know you hurt your hand, but I never asked if you got stitches, surgical glue, or a band aid."
"Stitches, I don't remember how many exactly. Amelia stitched me up. And I'm sure you know they have to stay in for at least a week, which means no surgeries for a week. I might actually die of boredom."
"Oh yeah, that sucks. You could do consults."
I flip my hand around, looking at the wrap around my hand. "Yeah, I guess so. I hate doing consults and not being able to touch the patients. I guess I could have Wilson do it, and use it as a teaching moment."
He laughs. "Well it is a teaching hospital you know."
"Shut up." I say, laughing.
"So, on a more serious note." He starts, and I stop laughing and freeze in place. I'm not ready for this conversation. I'd rather continue our playful banter we always do. "Are you a klutz or are you just accident prone, or both?"
I let out a breath, not expecting that. I was definitely expecting the relationship and 'I'm sorry' talk. "Well, I am most definitely accident prone. I swear everything bad happens because of me, but that's a darker topic that I don't really want to talk about. A klutz on the other hand, well kinda. I was that kid that always fell up the stairs."
"You were that kid that fell up the stairs?" He tried to hide a smile.
"Yeah, I was. I fell down the stairs too but everyone saw me fall up the stairs. I completely missed the step and face planted. My friend who was walking with me stopped and just started cracking up. I started laughing too, because it really was funny. It's funny because it happened again about a month later, but I was carrying mac and cheese and got it all over me. That time it wasn't funny to me, but it was to everyone else." I giggled, remembering my high school self.
"Oh goodness." Nathan laughed. "Have you at least gotten better about not falling?"
"Actually I had. I hadn't tripped in a while, until last night."
"That's good. Better than falling upstairs." He smiled.
"So, I know you came here to talk to me, not specifically about my clumsy younger self. So, let's talk." I say, losing my smile.
"I want to apologize. Truly apologize for this morning. It was in the heat of the moment; I really didn't mean what I said. I just want you to know that I'm very, very sorry. I have an awful temper, and that's something I'm always trying to work on. I hope you accept my apology and understand that I didn't mean it."
I bite my bottom lip, unsure what to say. I notice his hand is just lying on his thigh, and I gently put my injured hand over his. Not holding it, but just touching it. I look up to see his icy blue eye staring at me. "I forgive you. Apology accepted."
He half smiles, and puts his other hand over softly over my injured one, without pushing down or adding weight. Our eyes are still locked, and he whispers "Thank you."
"You're welcome." I whisper back. My eyes travel down to his lips, and I run my tongue over my lips. He raises an eyebrow, but I act like I don't notice.
I smile, and I find myself inching forward. We are a few inches apart, when he moves his hand that was on top of mine to my hair. I know it's a bad idea to be doing this, as it always makes things worse, but I find myself doing it anyways.
My free hand finds the side of his face, and my lips part slightly. Seconds later, my lips catch his. It's soft. Slow. It's like we are just learning how to kiss. I feel his hand readjust in my hair, but it's calming. I open my mouth a little more than...
A bang as the front door causes us split. His hand that was in hair my falls down to my hip, but cannot be seen by anyone but us. My hand that was on his face now sits on my thigh. Neither of us bothered to move our other hands, the ones on his thigh. I lick my lips again, and try to pull myself back together.
"Meredith, I've called you like ten times. The kids are fine, it's just that Amelia called to give us an update about Megan. She's awake-"Maggie stops mid-sentence when she walks in the room, noticing us both right away. The two old kids run past her upstairs, not even noticing us and Ellis is on her hip.
"Megan's awake?" Nathan asks, his accent slipping out really heavily.
"Yeah she is. She woke up a little bit ago..." Maggie trailed off, bouncing Ellis from one hip to the other.
I bite my lip, unsure what to do or say in this situation. I don't move at all; I just stay frozen in place.
"That's uh, that's good." Nathan says, moving away from me. I shiver from the loss of contact, considering he always is warm and I'm always freezing.
Everyone still stays in the same place, staring at one another trying to figure out who should talk or move next.
"Yeah it's really good." Maggie whispers.
Nathan clears his throat before getting up. "I uh, should get going. I need to get home and get a shower. Bye." He stands and casually leaves, shutting the door softly, leaving Maggie and I alone.
"Meredith, what was that?" Maggie says as soon as the door shuts.
"Huh?" I was half listening to her, and just caught her say my name. I was trying to figure out what had just happened. And what it meant.
"What was that? With you and Nathan? Sitting awfully close? You guys looked like a deer in headlights."
"He came over to apologize."
"That didn't look like an apology, more of a persuasion." She stated, putting her free hand on her hip.
"He had already apologized before that."
"And was that him making sure that you are forgiving him or what?" She asks again.
"Maggie, I made the move. I scooted closer to him." I furrow my eyebrows at her. What gives her the right to think that Nathan would do that? Yeah he isn't perfect but he is definitely not like that. Most of our relationship was me making the moves.
"Oh. Oh. I'm sorry Mer, I just thought..."
"I know what you thought." I blatantly replied.
"Meredith, I'm just trying to protect you, I promise."
"I know, I know. It's just weird having sisters who want to protect me when for the longest time nobody protected me. I'm used to handling stuff myself. I definitely had that situation under control." I sigh, unsure of really what it all meant in the first place.
"Okay. I just don't want you to get hurt again."
"I know. Thank you for watching out for me." I half smile. "So tell me again what happened with Megan."
She puts Ellis down, who walks over to me and sits in my lap. "She woke up about an hour ago. That's really all that I've got. She's followed basic commands, but is still very groggy. They are going to just watch her for now, before trying to do anything else. It was a big operation and of course with the trauma she's had, it's not going to be easy."
"Yeah, it definitely won't be easy." I repeat, still trying process what happened earlier. I wrap my arms tightly around my youngest and snuggle her. She doesn't understand what's going on most of the time, and that's how I've been feeling lately. Lost.
"They didn't want Nathan to know just yet, till they figure out more. That was my fault, I just wasn't expecting you to have anyone over. I told you get cleaned up and take a nap. You still look exhausted.
"Well I wasn't expecting him either."
"I figured, because you probably would have told me, right?" She asks.
"Yeah, I would have. It was just weird. Anyways, I think it's Ellis's nap time." I point to the half-asleep toddler in my arms. "I'm gonna take her upstairs so we can both get some sleep. Let me know when you are heading to the hospital."
"It won't be till later, so you've got some time to sleep." She smiles as I pick Ellis up, who is now completely out, with her little thumb in her mouth.
"Okay, wake me if you need me." I whisper before heading up the stairs. I peak in on my other two children playing happily together before heading toward my room.
I softly close the door behind me, before laying Ellis down. I put her on Derek's side, and smile at how much she resembles her Dad. She's got his curls, eyes, and smile. There is also a little bit of me in her that I can see. The blonde hair, which I'm sure will get darker as she gets older, and the little nose. She is also very small, but maybe she just hasn't hit a big growth spurt yet, but I'm not worried.
And to think that I could have had another little one who resembles me running around. My hand falls to my lower abdomen. I can still vividly remember the pain I went through that night. I wonder if it just wasn't meant to be, or my body not being able to handle another pregnancy, or none of that altogether. Was I even ready to take a step like that with Nathan? Granted we haven't known each other too long but we've learned a lot about each other, and we understood each other's pain and grief.
I shake it all off, giving Ellis a kiss before heading to my side of the bed. I pull back the covers before sliding onto the bed. I pull the covers up to my chin before drifting off to sleep.
Before opening my eyes, I reach out to the other side of the bed to see if my daughter is still sleeping. When I feel nothing, that's when I open my eyes to find the bed empty. I stretch a little before kicking the covers off of me. I reach for my phone on the night stand to see the time. I blink a few times adjusting to the bright light. It's 6:42 PM. I slept for a good four to five hours.
I head downstairs to find Maggie and the kids eating pizza. "Hi guys."
"Morning sleepyhead." Zozo smiles.
"Good morning silly goose." I giggle as I walk over to her to give her a kiss. I sit next to her and grab the last slice of pizza.
"So, I was thinking that we could run to the hospital to see Megan." Maggie spoke up after a couple minutes of silence.
"Okay, that's fine by me. Do you need me to call the sitter?" I ask.
"No, I already called her and she'll be here at seven. I was planning on waking you up in a few minutes anyways."
"Oh okay." I finish off the last bite of my crust. "I'm gonna go get ready."
"Okay, I'm going to clean up the kitchen." She says as I make my way toward the stairs.
I run up the stairs into my room. I stop for a moment to look at mine and Derek's post it note. It's still on the case, untouched. I put my hand on it and take a deep breath. Derek would tell me that I will make it through this, whether or not Nathan and I end up together. He would want me to move on, kind of like Megan had expected that Nathan would have moved on. I sigh and begin getting ready. I trade my leggings for jeans, and brush through my hair leaving it wavy. I look in my mirror for a moment before heading back downstairs.
The kids are now in living room, playing with some toys. I walk to the kitchen to find the sitter and Maggie. "Ready to go?"
"Yeah let me finish cleaning this last dish."
"Okay." I thank the sitter for coming, and make my way into the hall to grab my purse and keys.
I head out to the car, and turn on the ignition. I pull out my phone to check it while I wait on Maggie. I instead find myself calling Nathan.
"Hello?" I say softly, unsure of why I really called him.
"Meredith?" He asks.
"Yeah it's me."
"What's up?"
"I was wondering about earlier. I know I was the one who made the move but I really don't know what it meant. And I hate not knowing what it meant. Do you have any ideas?" I ramble.
"I don't know either, but it felt good. I've missed it." He says, his accent becoming more noticeable.
"You've missed it?" I ask, not knowing he felt that way.
"Yeah I have." There are several seconds of silence before he speaks up again. "Even though it felt good, I still have strong feelings for Megan. I don't want to hurt you."
"I know, I know."
"Okay. Have you heard anything about Megan?"
"Uh, not since earlier. I'm actually about to head to the hospital now." I say.
"Do you, do you think Owen will let me see her now?"
"Maybe, but you never know with Owen."
"I might come. Worth a shot, right?" He asks.
"Yeah, worth a shot." I repeat.
"Alright well I'm going to get a shower before heading to the hospital."
"Okay, see ya later."
"Bye Meredith." I put down my phone and just stare at it. Not how I expected that phone call to go. Nathan going to the hospital is either going to be a really bad thing or a good thing, no in between. I jump when Maggie opens the passenger door.
"Alright, let's go." She says, and we are on our way to the hospital.
The whole car ride is silent until we are pulling into the parking lot. "So, do you think she's gotten better?"
"I don't know. She strong, that's for sure, so hopefully. She's been through too much to not make it through this." We get out of the car and walk to the main hospital doors.
"That's true. I just hope she gets better, for Owens sake."
"Me too." I say as we enter the elevators. "Should we update Nathan?"
"If you want to, but Owen doesn't want him around so I would ask Owen first."
"That's fair, I guess." The elevator doors slide open, and we both head toward the nurse's station to find out her room number. "Megan Hunt's room number please?"
"Room 2028." The nurse didn't even look up.
"Thank you." We walk in that direction, but stop before going in when we see Owen come out of the room.
"How is she doing?" Maggie asks.
"Better. She is awake, following commands, and talking a little. She hasn't eaten yet but I think they said they are going try tomorrow morning to get her to eat." Owen smiled, looking into her room.
"That's good. Is now a good time to see her?" I ask.
"Actually it is a good time-" He trailed off, and lost the smile on his face. "What is he doing here?"
Maggie and I both whipped around to see Nathan waking toward us. "Uh I don't know." Maggie replied innocently.
"Hey mate." Nathan said as he reached us.
"You are not allowed to see her." Owen replies sternly.
"Why the hell not?"
"Because I said so." Owen raised an eyebrow, and looks like he is ready to punch Nathan.
"Well I don't care what the hell you think. I will see her if I want-"
I do the only thing I can think of to shut him up. To save home from getting punched by Owen. Just to protect him. For the second time today, my lips find his. He starts to pull away, but my hands find the back of his head, where his hair is still wet, and pull him down to me. I let myself enjoy it for a few seconds before pulling away.
"What-what was that for?" He looks confused, as does Owen. Maggie has her arms crossed and an eyebrow raised.
"To shut you up. Before you said anything stupid that could get you in trouble. You still want to see Megan right?" I swallow roughly, noticing how many people were now around us watching, waiting for the next move.
"Yeah, I do. Thank you." He whispers loud enough for only me to hear.
Owen has hit fists all balled up ready to punch someone. I stand in front of Nathan, not wanting him to get punched again. "Owen, no. Just let him see Megan."
"Fine. I want to be there to make sure you don't hurt her."
"See, that's a compromise." I say, trying to stay positive.
We all file into her room, where Amelia is sitting on the chair next to Megan, with wide eyes. I assume it is that Owen let Nathan in the room, because Megan also has the wide eyed look. It is quiet for a moment before anyone says anything.
"Meg, how are you feeling?" Nathan asks, standing at the side of her bed.
"Not well."
"Well, what is wrong? We will try to fix it Megan." I say softly.
"What is wrong? I just found out who the slut is that you've been with while I was gone." I hear the jealousy in her voice.
It takes me a couple second to get that it was me. All the eyes in the room are now trained on me, and I can feel my cheeks turning hot red. I bite my lip as I turn to leave, not wanting to be there any longer.
A cliffhanger, as usual ;)
So I've got some ideas for some new stories, so keep an eye out 'cause I plan on starting those soon! (Merder stories!)