"When I get out of here, I am sticking a red line up your ass and turning it on," Meredith said with as much strength as she could muster. "Leave them alone, you prick.". She struggled to her feet, hand pressed against her abdomen over the hole in her fire coat. She took a step, then another, putting herself between the hose and the defenseless girls.<br/><br/>Meredith fixed him with a look full of confidence and disdain; the former was faked, the latter sincere.<br/><br/>"Leave them alone," she repeated.