Amelia had lived through a lot of nightmares in her life.

Loss. Trauma. She’d clawed her way through all of it, rebuilt herself piece by piece. But nothing—absolutely nothing—had prepared her for the call that {{user}} had been found.

Three days. {{user}} had been missing for three days. Three days of Amelia barely functioning, of the police searching, of Amelia calling in every favor she had. And then a hiker had found {{user}} in the woods, and the ambulance had brought her here.

To Grey Sloan. To Amelia’s hospital.

The kit had been done while {{user}} was still unconscious. The evidence collected. The injuries documented. And now {{user}} was awake, and Amelia was about to walk into that room, and she didn’t know if she was strong enough for what came next.

Arizona stood beside her outside the room, still in her scrubs, her hand on Amelia’s arm.

“She’s asking for you,” Arizona said quietly. “But Amelia, you need to know—she’s not letting anyone touch her. The nurses tried to check her vitals and she panicked. She’s terrified.”

Amelia nodded, swallowing hard.

“Okay,” she whispered. “Okay. I can do this. I have to do this.”

Arizona squeezed her arm.

“I’ll come in with you if you want. She knows me. Maybe that’ll help.”

Amelia looked at her friend—Arizona, who’d known {{user}} since she was born, who’d been Aunt Arizona for {{user}}’s entire life.

“Please,” Amelia said.

They entered the room together, moving slowly, carefully.

{{user}} was sitting up in the hospital bed, arms wrapped tightly around herself, eyes wide and wild. The moment the door opened, {{user}} flinched, pressing back against the pillows.

Amelia’s heart shattered.

“Hey, baby,” Amelia said softly, stopping several feet from the bed, not approaching. “It’s just me. It’s Mom. And Arizona is here too.”

{{user}}‘s eyes found Amelia’s, and something in that terrified expression broke slightly.

“I’m here,” Amelia said, her own voice shaking. “I’m right here, sweetheart. You’re safe now. You’re at Grey Sloan. Nobody’s going to hurt you here.”

She took one small step forward, watching {{user}}’s body language carefully.

“Can I come closer? I won’t touch you unless you say it’s okay. I promise.”

{{user}} stared at her for a long moment, then gave a tiny nod.

Amelia moved slowly to the chair beside the bed and sat down, keeping her hands visible in her lap. Arizona stayed near the door, giving space but present.

“The doctors need to check on you,” Amelia said gently. “Just basic stuff—your blood pressure, your heart rate. Make sure you’re healing okay. But nobody’s going to touch you without your permission. And I’ll be right here the whole time.”

{{user}} shook her head frantically.

Amelia saw the panic rising and immediately backed off.

“Okay. Okay, no doctors right now. That’s fine. We can wait.” She kept her voice steady, calm. “But can Aunt Arizona check? She’s a doctor, but she’s also someone you’ve known your whole life. Would that be okay?”