"Mads, do you know what today is?" Derek asked his daughter who was wriggling in his arms.
"Mama home today!" Maddie said with a huge smile. "Wanna walk daddy! Want down!!"
"Mads, you need to let me hold you sweetie. There's a lot going on and I don't want you to get hurt." He says, as they walk out of the elevator.
"Otay." She sighs. "Daddy?"
"Yes, Maddie?"
"Mama pway wit me and Fwuffy later?" Maddie asks.
"Sweetie, your mom is sick and needs her rest. You can lay with her in bed and watch movies together. But she's not going to have a lot of energy to play, baby."
"Oh. She still sick?" She questions. "Hopitable not make her better?"
Derek nods. "She is, baby girl. I know that's difficult for you to understand but she's still very sick." They reach Meredith's room.
Maddie's eyes light up when she notices her mom in the bed. "Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" She squeals in excitement.
Meredith smiles when she sees her daughter. "Hi Maddie! Are you having fun with Daddy?"
"Uh huh! We went to bweakfast!" She says loudly.
"What'd you get?" Meredith asks as Derek gently places Maddie next to Meredith in the bed.
"Fwench toast! It was yummy mama!"
"I bet it was! That's my favorite too!" Meredith says and then yawns.
Derek notices how tired Meredith looks and knows that she is completely exhausted yet is extremely happy to see her little girl. "Okay Maddie, why don't you cuddle with your mom while I pack up her belongings so we can head home."
Maddie wraps her little arms around her mom and puts her head on her mom's chest. "Otay!! Mama cuddle time!"
"Best time of the day." Meredith says, smiling down at her daughter.
———-
A few hours later they are back at Derek's house and Meredith is settled into bed. Meredith slept the entire ride back to his house. She couldn't keep her eyes open any longer.
"Mama, can we watch a movie?" Maddie asks.
"Sure. What movie do you want to watch?" Meredith asks, yawning.
Maddie thinks. "Hmmmmm. Fwozen!"
"What a surprise." Derek laughs. "I'll start it for you guys."
"Daddy! You gotta watch also!" Maddie pouts. "You can lay next to me and Mommy!" She pats the side of the bed next to her.
"Okay! I'll watch." He puts in the movie and then gets into bed next to Maddie.
Meredith feels completely exhausted yet forces herself to stay awake. Her eyes keep trying to close but she forces them back open. Eventually she gives in and falls asleep.
A little bit into the movie Derek notices Meredith waking up and that she looks like she's in pain. "Mer, what's wrong?"
"My mouth really hurts." She whispers weakly, trying hard not to cry from the pain. She doesn't want to wake up Maddie, who is sleeping with her head on her mom's chest.
"Let me take a look." Derek grabs his phone and turns the flashlight on. "Open up for me Mer." She does and he looks inside of her mouth. "It looks like you have some mouth sores forming Mer. I can get you some Tylenol to help with that."
"Please." She whispers.
"Do you want to try to eat anything? You need to keep your strength up." Derek said softly.
"I'm not hungry." Meredith says weakly.
"What about just some apple sauce? Just to get something into your system."
"Okay." Meredith whispers.
Derek leaves the room and comes back a few minutes later with Tylenol, water, and some apple sauce.
Meredith quickly swallows the Tylenol and a sip of the water. She takes a few bites of the apple sauce before putting it down.
"I can't. I'm just not hungry. I just want to sleep, I'm so tired." Meredith says to Derek. "My stomach hurts too." All of a sudden, she gets a look in her eyes and quickly but gently gets Maddie off of her chest and then runs to the bathroom.
Derek quickly follows her and rubs her back as she throws up.
"I hate this." Meredith whispers after she finally finishes. She curls up into a ball on the cold floor. "I don't feel well Derek." She says, getting teary.
"Shh, you're okay. Let's get you back into bed and you can sleep." He picks her up off of the floor and she curls up into his chest. He brings her to her bed and puts her down in the bed and tucks her in.
"Do you want me to put Maddie in her bed so she doesn't wake you when she wakes up?" He asks.
"No, it's okay." Meredith says, looking over at her sleeping three year old. "She's missed me."
"Okay. Get some sleep Mer. You'll feel better when you wake up." Derek tells her.
She closes her eyes and falls asleep immediately.
Derek sits there for a little bit, watching the two girls sleep. He notices that Meredith isn't snoring at all, meaning she really must be feeling pretty sick.
————
An hour later Maddie wakes up and sees her mom sleeping next to her.
"Fwuffy, mama's sweeping! Gotsa be quiet!" Maddie says in a loud whisper.
Maddie makes her stuffed animal dance around on the bed. "Fwuffy, you're a good dancer!" She then makes Fluffy dance on Meredith which wakes Meredith up,
Meredith slowly opens her eyes and sees her daughter playing with her stuffed animal on top of her body. "Mads, what are you doing?" She asks, half asleep.
"Fwuffy is dancing mama! He gotsa dance it out!" She says giggling.
"I gotsa dance also mama! Watch!" Maddie gets up and starts dancing on the bed. "Mama I dancer! I dancing it out! I just like you and Aunt Cwis!"
"You are!" Meredith says, starting to cough. Her head is hurting a lot along with her stomach. She can't tell which is worse as they are both extremely painful. Meredith just wants to sleep but Maddie wants her attention.
Maddie is dancing on the bed but stops mid dance when her mom starts coughing and accidently falls on top of Meredith.
"Owwww." Meredith moans softly.
"You otay Mama? I sowry! I didn't mean to!" Maddie says, looking like she's about to start crying.
"I'm fine, baby. I know you didn't mean to. Shh, you're okay. Don't cry. I'm fine, baby girl." Meredith says, soothing her little girl.
"Mama?" Maddie says softly.
"Yeah monkey?"
"Should I gets Daddy for you?" Maddie asks, still looking worried.
"No sweetie. I'm okay. Don't worry. Come lay with me." Meredith pats the bed next to her.
Maddie goes and lays down and rests her head on top of her mom's chest. "We cuddle mommy! I wove cuddling wif you."
"I love cuddling with you too, Maddie." The entire time Meredith has been talking to Maddie, her mouth has been killing her with all of the mouth sores. But Meredith refuses to not talk to her daughter even though every single word is painful.
Meredith closes her eyes and tries to stop herself from focussing on the burning pain
As if Maddie noticed what was going on she wanted to comfort her mom
"You know what always helps, mommy?" Maddie said sternly as she kneeled down in front of Meredith's face
Meredith shook her head and then Maddie placed her tiny hands on Meredith's cheeks and kissed her mom but the little girl had no clue about the mouth sores
"Oww-" Meredith cries out, pulling back from Maddie's grasp, her hand in front of her mouth as the pain was excruciating
"Mer?!" Derek ran in
"Mommy?!" Maddie whimpered
Meredith signed to her mouth so Derek immediately knew what was going on
"It's okay Mads. Mommy's mouth hurts a lot. Mer, I'll take a look." He said sternly and grabbed some gloves and the disinfectant
"Can I help?" Maddie asked her father
"Of course, sweetie." Derek nods and started checking out Meredith's mouth. It looked horrible. On her gums, her mouth, literally everywhere were some mouth sores and he started cleaning all of them while Meredith was doing her hardest to not start crying
"It's okay, Mer. It's okay." Derek said and Maddie tried to imitate her dad
"S okay, mommy. S okay!" Maddie hugged her mother's side
We hope you enjoyed!!! Thanks to my co-writer _Ktje_