Derek smiled as he looked at Meredith. Her eyes were on Chrissy, who was finally asleep. He was amazed at Meredith's strength today. She had kept calm and been very comforting to Chrissy, who had been vomiting repeatedly, unable to keep any food down. He had always thought her bedside manner was very good, but she was remarkable with Chrissy. He felt abashed that he had mostly stayed on the sidelines although he had helped clean her up and gotten the nurses to change the bed three times in two hours.
Derek's phone vibrated; he had turned off the sound so as to not to interrupt Chrissy's sleep. He answered it with a very quiet, "Hi Mom."
"How are you doing?"
"I'm okay. I donated my marrow yesterday; they are going to treat it and freeze it, so it will be ready for Chrissy in about a month."
"How is Chrissy?"
"Mom, I'll be with you in a few minutes," he said as turned to Meredith and said, "It's my mom. I'm going to chat with her outside. I'll be back when I'm done."
"Derek, that's fine. I'm sure your mom wants to talk about Chrissy's medical situation; we try to avoid doing that in front of her, even when she's sleeping. Tell your mom Chrissy says hello."
Derek smiled and looked at his sleeping daughter. It was nice that Meredith wanted her to say hello. He walked out of the hospital room and went into the nearest on call room. "Mom, Chrissy is hanging in there. The doctor is trying a different chemo regimen, and it's been tough on her. She's sleeping now, but she hasn't been able to keep any food down since the drug regimen changed. She's getting all her nutrition through an i.v."
"I'm sure that's difficult for you to see. I'm coming to Seattle tomorrow to meet her."
"What?" Derek was stunned. He had expected his mom to stay home and pray for Chrissy. But he should have known that a sick grandchild would be a magnet for his mom.
"I've told your sisters they need to find other childcare. I'm coming to help."
"Mom, I'm not sure that is a good idea. I'm leaving for New York on Sunday. I won't be back until Friday. I have some things I need to do in NY."
"So I'm coming on Saturday. We'll have a day together, and then I can help out while you're gone."
"I don't think that's a good idea. Before this week, I hadn't seen Meredith for almost four years."
"And you're afraid your mom is going to scare her off? I'm a nurse. I can help out."
"Mom, Meredith has a lot of doctors and nurses here to help her."
"I don't think they're making her home-cooked meals."
"Her friend Izzie bakes wonderful muffins and cakes."
"She needs home-cooked meals, not just sweets. She has to keep up her strength."
"Mom, Meredith's mom was a surgeon. I don't think she has ever had home-cooked meals."
"Well, she could use some now. And I can try to make some food for Chrissy. A nice chicken broth might work. Derek, Chrissy is my granddaughter. I want to meet her now, and I want to help."
"Mom, you could wait and come next week when I'm back. I'm leaving on Sunday."
"You already told me that. That's why I'm needed. Don't worry about leaving me with Meredith. I won't say anything about Addison. I don't blame Meredith for the fact your marriage is over."
"What about the fact that Meredith didn't tell me about Chrissy? Isn't that a problem for you?" asked Derek. It was a problem for him, even if he couldn't say a word about it. But he wanted his mom's support.
"Derek, if Chrissy was healthy, I'd consider giving her a piece of my mind. But Chrissy is really sick. Now's the time for us to come together to support Chrissy. I'm sure you feel the same. I'll be good. I want to be on the good side of my granddaughter's mom. Trust me."
"Mom, I trust you. It's Meredith I'm worried about."
"I'm sure her mind's on Chrissy, not you. She's a mother, and her child comes first. I'm a mom, and I know that."
"I know her main concern is Chrissy. Meredith has not had good experiences with family; her friends are her family."
"I'm not her family. I can be her friend. Look Derek, resistance is futile. I'm coming tomorrow."
Derek smiled at his mom's Star Trek reference. He remembered spending hours watching TV with her. "My home is a trailer."
"Nancy and Addison both told me about the trailer. I was a navy nurse. I can make do. Don't worry about me. Now, I'm going to pack. See you tomorrow. I'll take a cab to the hospital."
"I'll see you tomorrow, Mom," said Derek as he shook his head. He left the on-call room and looked for one of Meredith's friends. He saw Alex walking in the hall, and asked, "Alex, do you have some time to sit with Chrissy? I need to talk to Meredith. It will be at least half an hour."
"I'm due for my lunch break. I'd love to sit with her."
The two of them walked into Chrissy's room. Derek smiled when he saw Chrissy sitting up. She saw them, and said, "Hi Uncle Alex, Daddy."
"Uncle Alex is going to sit with you for a while. Mom and I are going to grab a bite to eat."
"Uncle Alex, can you read me Barnyard Dance?"
"Sure, sweetie," Alex said with a smile. He turned to Derek and said, "She loves my animal voices."
"That's great."
Meredith looked puzzled, but she stood up and went with Derek.
"What's up?"
"Let's go to Joe's. We need to talk. And you can get a decent burger there."
"Okay." Meredith was worried. Why would they need to leave the hospital? She had left the hospital more in the few days Derek had been in Seattle than in the rest of the time that Chrissy had been hospitalized.
They entered Joe's, and Derek walked to a table in the corner. They sat down, and Meredith asked, "So what's up?"
Derek decided to rip off the bandaid. "My mom's coming tomorrow. She wants to spend time with Chrissy and help out."
"How long is she staying?" Meredith asked quietly.
"She didn't say, but I wouldn't be surprised if her plan was to stay until Chrissy is fully recovered from the bone marrow transplant. She told my sisters to find other childcare, not that she would be back in a week or two."
"If we're lucky and she gets to have the transplant, that could be many months."
"Yes, that's my mom. When my niece Jenny broke her leg on the school playground, my mom moved in until the leg was healed. She'll do anything for one of her grandchildren." Derek looked Meredith in the eyes. "She was a navy nurse for many years, so she can be very helpful. And she's a great cook. She wants to cook for you. She thinks you need homemade meals."
"No one has ever made me homemade meals, unless my father did before he left. But I don't remember a single home cooked meal. My mom lived on take-out and hospital cafeteria food."
"Well, my mom is planning on spoiling you."
"Has she seen the kitchen in the trailer?" Meredith said with a smile, thinking of the many hours she spent in the trailer.
"No, but I told her I lived in a trailer. She said she was in the navy, and she could manage."
"Derek, I'm staying at the hospital until Chrissy comes home. Your mom can stay in my room at my house while I'm here."
"That's very generous of you," said Derek, who was shocked. The Meredith he knew would have run from his mother, not offered her room.
"She wants to help, I'll let her help," Meredith said with a smile. "As a single mom, I've learned to accept help. And I realized the importance of relatives when I started looking for a bone marrow donor for Chrissy. I contacted Molly, Thatcher's younger daughter, and she and her sister Lexie both agreed to be tested right away, without ever setting their eyes on Chrissy. Unfortunately, neither was a match. But Lexie is going to come to visit in a few weeks so she can meet Chrissy. Molly is with her husband, who is stationed in Germany now, but we've skyped a few times."
Derek frowned. He was stunned that Meredith had contacted her half-siblings before she contacted him. In fact, she never contacted him; Bailey did. "You should have contacted me right away."
"Now I know. I'm sorry. It would have saved me a lot of anxiety if I contacted you right away." Meredith looked him in the eyes. "But I knew I should have contacted you as soon as I got a positive result on the pregnancy test. I know I was wrong. I always knew you would be a wonderful dad."