without you, i'd cease [open]

'Annie hurt me.' The sound of a girl's voice and the door closing behind her made Meredith turn around. She didn't seem to be older than fifteen, though, if judging by appearances, no one in Ravenwood was who they seemed to be. Calmly, she walked over and took a very gentle hold of the girl's hands, holding them in her own despite the blood. Skin-to-skin contact was something even her superior would frown at, it was a basic, simple rule she seemed to enjoy breaking nowadays, but even so, Meredith had noticed that it was a lot easier for some patients to accept medical care from someone who didn't have white gloves on their hands. In a place like Ravenwood, white gloves weren't exactly the best thing one could hope to see. "Annie's not a very nice person." She found herself saying, with a light-hearted tone, managing to surprise even herself: she had expected herself to react differently.

"Let's see what we can do." Holding her hands, she lead the girl to the sink and held her hands over it. "Whenever Annie hurts you like this, you can hold your hands under water. It makes it hurt less." Letting go of Hope's hands, she turned on the water, letting it drop over her hands. Some part of her was telling Meredith that her boss would have solved this in an entirely different way. Maybe suggest sedatives, solitary confinement or something of the sort, but was it really what Hope needed right now? Definitely not. Not from her point of view, at least.

She withheld any questions she might have had. Keeping a close eye on Hope (she remembered she had seen her file on her boss' desk sometime earlier that week, for some reason), she reached in one of the cupboards and got out a few differently colored rolls of bandages. It might not have meant much to others, but she thought a little bit of color could influence some of the patients. "Do you have a favorite color?" Her lips finally turned into a small, tentative smile, and set the bandages on the counter.

ooc: herpaderp, i'm so sorry if it's horrible and if i've godmodded a little. >_<

As Hope let her know that Annie was not, in fact, a person, but a teddy bear, she looked genuinely surprised. She should have foreseen that, to be honest. With an apologetic smile, she tried to excuse herself, mentally making a note to read all the files the doctor had on his desk. She used to have a plushie of her own, one she made herself, with big, black buttons instead of eyes and a stitched smile, and she used to say it looked like her father. But that was a long, long time ago, and she forgot about it most of the time. But, whenever she went home, she realized it never forgot her.

"Purple it is, then." Setting the other bandages back in their drawer, she kept only the purple one and a small scissors. "I'm sorry if I upset Annie. I'm just a bit awkward around others." The idea of apologizing for something so insignificant to others did not bother her the least. Real or not, it was clear to Meredith that Annie meant something to Hope, she simply did not know what and did not want to ask, not right now. From her point of view, it would have been better if Hope would talk about it herself, when she'd feel like it and, more importantly, if she felt like it.

She cut a long piece of the bandage, then set it back on the counter, putting the scissors back in the drawer. What was she like, at fifteen? Immersed in books and surrounded by science, asocial and antisocial, refusing almost any kind of interaction with anyone. It had been her brothers that woke her up from that slumber and she was grateful for that. "I think purple's a really nice color. Wanted to decorate the infirmary with some paintings and other such things, but my boss said I'm not allowed to do that." She said with a snicker, carefully patting the girl's hands with a paper towel, to dry them up, then slowly started wrapping the bandage around her wrist, keeping an eye on Hope, to see if she was, unwillingly, hurting her or making her uncomfortable.

Pity was the last thing Meredith would have to offer Hope. She didn't like to be pitied either, whether it was for her lack of courage or for her clumsiness with most things, or even for her awkwardness when talking to others. Still, she felt natural and at peace when talking to Hope: she had not been much different from the girl, when she was about her age. The only difference was that she had had her brothers to lean on for support while Hope didn't seem to have anyone. It had been what saved her and, in this case, the major factor that made the difference.

"I don't know. I always say or do things that bother others, even though I don't mean to do so." She said with a light shrug, but let the matter go when she noticed the brightened look on Hope's face. That was the kind of expression that brightened her day and made the job worth it. It was the best thanks she could have ever hoped for.

The mention of her boss made her scrunch her nose in distaste. The old man did his job well, there was no doubt about that, but he simply could not understand the importance of decorations. It had been scientifically proven that colors influenced a person's wellbeing, both in the short and long run. "He's quite mean, but he had good intentions. I'll ask him about it. Would you like to help me decorate it when I get the ok?" Meredith spoke, a smile tugging at the corners of her lips. "We can use any color you want."