Season 14.                   Age 12.
personal jesus.

TW: panic attack.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

The morning after paul's surprise visit, alex bursts through meredith's front door, eager to see for himself that charlie truly was alright; however, too caught up in her fear of paul finding her and still in a state of shock from the night before, charlotte jolts upright at the sudden burst of excitement at the front door, heading straight into a panic.

"woah, charlie, it's just me." alex tries, slowly approaching the terrified child. "it's karev." but the closer he gets in proximity, the more worked up the twelve year old becomes.

hearing the commotion from their respective bedrooms, amelia and meredith rush down the stairs and into the living room to find charlotte sat upright, nearly folded in on herself. she's violently hyperventilating, an intense stream of tears cascading down her face. her wide brown eyes are locked onto the approaching alex karev, who hadn't yet realized his presence is the cause of this sudden episode.

"alex," meredith hisses, grabbing her friends arm and pulling him into the front hallway as amelia hurriedly goes to comfort the young girl.

"i was just coming to s—" the peds surgeon begins, quickly being cut off.

"i know that, but she's scared that paul's still out looking for her. every little noise sets her off; she hasn't even let any of us touch her."

"she knows me best, i can calm her down. let me take her back to—"

meredith again interupts. "alex. think. she's terrified right now. give her some space; she'll come around."

"i've never hurt her; she knows i'd never hurt her. remember when we first met her, and—"

"you need to go alex. i'm sorry, but look at her."

with a sigh, alex turns his head to peek into the living room. amelia sits on the ground in front of charlotte while the latter has her arms wrapped protectively around her knees, fingernails aggressively digging into forearms.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

"Charlie. charlie, i'm here. you're safe, he's gone." amelia chants as soon as she hears the door shut and lock behind karev. the blonde girl cautiously lifts her head, desperately trying to slow her breathing to no avail. "hey, breathe. just look at me and breathe."

charlie darts her eyes across the room, watching through the window as alex's car backs out of the driveway and continues down the road. she notices meredith hovering in the doorway, unsure if she should get any closer.

"can i sit next to you?"

charlotte averts her eyes back towards amelia, reminding herself that it's just amelia and meredith there with her. amelia, who had calmed her down from several previous panic attacks, and one of only two people charlotte had even let near her during those incidents for the longest time. meredith, who had been the one to initially convince charlotte that alex was safe and to give him a chance. amelia, who had never once given charlotte any reason not to trust her. meredith, who let charlotte stay at her place for as long as she needed, whenever she needed to. amelia, who let charlotte crawl into bed with her any given night, even if it meant kicking out her husband at the time. meredith, who also had never once given charlotte any reason not to trust her.

charlotte nods, allowing amelia to climb beside her on the couch. the older surgeon tentatively wraps an arm around the young girl, who leans into the touch just as cautiously. as soon as she does so, she breaks into tears yet again; this time not of panic, but pure exhaustion.

amelia gently pulls charlotte closer to her, feeling an immense sense of relief when the traumatized child doesn't still or pull away. instead, charlotte allows the comfort; a huge improvement from the timid eleven year old who had slept on that park bench just twelve months prior.

☆★☆★→ ←☆★☆★

"Charlie, jo's about to pull into the driveway, okay? i'm going to let her in." meredith warns, walking past the living room and to her front door. charlotte makes no attempt to respond, head on amelia's lap while she numbly stares straight ahead; the surgeon has her hands in the girls hair, loosely braiding it.

meredith pulls open the front door before jo has the chance to knock. the resident hesitantly enters the home, pausing in the living rooms entrance, "hey, charlie."

when charlotte doesn't immediately erupt into a panic, jo takes this as the go-ahead to get closer to the pair on the couch. "charlie, i thought i should be the one to tell you this." jo starts, continuing when the child makes no effort to respond. "paul died this morning."

now this warrants a response. charlotte shoots up, shocking the three older women as the girl hadn't moved from her spot on the couch in over twelve hours. "what?"

"there was a hit and run. drunk driver." wilson purposely leaves out the part where their abuser was only given a mere concussion from the accident; his death had been caused by second impact syndrome following his attempt at attacking his fiancée and jo when the former announced she would be leaving and reporting him. obviously this attack didn't go his way; the doctor hit his head on the edge of his hospital bed and then the tiled floor, leaving him brain dead.

charlotte doesn't need to know all this, however. all that matters is her nightmare is over and dead. (literally.)

"he's gone?" charlotte felt herself beginning to tear up, voice wavering. "like, totally? for good?"

"for good." jo confirms, "we're free."

the weight of the world lifts itself off the twelve year olds shoulders. she felt such immense relief, she wasn't sure just quite what to do with herself. "we're free," charlotte repeats.

jo nods, her own eyes filling with tears as she lowers herself onto the couch, just to the right of charlotte. without thinking, she leans forward and pulls the child into a tight hug. charlotte immediately reciprocates, wrapping her arms around the resident and holding on tightly as she sobs with pure relief.