Addison sat in the attendings lounge, her head resting in her arms as she was slumped over the table. Her head had been pounding for the last four hours and ever cell in her body ached. It was an effort just to breathe, let alone do anything else. She reached for her now cold cup of coffee and brought it to her lips, her arm felt like spaghetti and the cup felt like it weighed a tonne. She was glad she had a small patient load today because there was no way she could stand in an OR for hours on end today, not if she wanted her patient to survive anyway.
Her eyelids started to get heavier and heavier and she found herself succumbing to the bliss of darkness and slumber within seconds.
(-)
It was a little after 11AM when Mark walked into the attendings lounge, in dire need of coffee and somewhere quiet and soft to sit. He had just worked a double shift and needed coffee to keep him awake before he headed home.
"Addison?" Mark asked as he saw the red haired beauty. She was fast asleep at the table, one of her arms outstretched and her head resting on it as though it were a pillow, her other hand clasped around a cold cup of coffee.
When Mark didn't get a reply other than Addison's deep breathing he deducted she was asleep. This was weird behaviour for Addison. It was even weirder that her silky, red hair was in a messy bun on the top of her head and she had no makeup on whatsoever. Addison Adrienne Forbes Montgomery always, no matter where she was, no matter what she was doing, always looked immaculate.
Mark stood frozen when Addison started to stir in her sleep.
"Addie?" Mark asked again when he saw Addison start to stretch sleepily.
"Mark?" Addison asked, her eyes not open yet. "What time is it?"
"11.20AM" Mark replied, walking further into the room and sitting on the chair next to the neonatal surgeon.
"Ugh, I must have dozed off" Addison yawned.
"Addie, you don't look well" Mark said with genuine worry in his voice as he took in her extremely pale complexion which was covered in a light layer of sweat.
"I'm fine" Addison lied, despite the fact it felt like she had Michael Flatley doing the River Dance in her head.
"Can you say that without wincing your face in pain?" Mark raised his eyebrows somewhat scoldingly at his friend. "Seriously Addie, let me take you home"
"I couldn't even if I wanted to, Mark. I have patients-"
"-Webber isn't going to let you do anything when he see's you like this. He'll say the same thing I am. You need to rest, Addie. I mean this in the nicest way possible, but you look like death warmed up"
"I bet you say that to all the girls" Addison smirked dryly.
She might be ill but that didn't mean she had lost her sense of humour. Although, as much as she hated to admit it, Mark was right. She felt worse than death so she could only assume how bad she looked. She suddenly, even after 20 years of knowing Mark, started to feel slightly self concious about how gross she looked right now.
"C'mon, I'm going now. Let me drive you home"
"Fine" Addison huffed.
(-)
The drive to Addison's apartment was silent due to the fact she had fallen back asleep the second Mark had placed her in the passenger seat. As he pulled the car into Addison's drive, the stopping of the engine pulled Addison from her slumber.
With help from Mark, Addison made it into her house and onto her couch.
"Are your glasses still in the end cabinet?" Mark asked as he walked into Addison's kitchen.
"Uh huh" Addison replied, not having the energy to even muster a simple 'yes'.
Mark grabbed a glass, filled it with water and headed back into Addison's living room, a bottle of Paracetamol in the other hand.
"Here, have this" he said with a warm smile, holding two little white pills in his outstretched palm.
Addison lazily grabbed the pills and water from Mark, throwing them in her mouth and then washing the slightly bitter taste down with a big gulp of water.
"C'mon, let's get you to bed" Mark said, holding out his hand to help Addison up.
"How long have you been waiting to ask me that?" Addison quipped back, raising a perfectly shaped brow as a lazy smirk spread across her damp face.
Mark slung his arm around her waist, ignoring her comment and helping the physically drained woman to her bedroom.
"Where are your pyjamas?" Mark asked after plopping Addison down on her Egyptian cotton sheets.
"I'm starting to think you purposely got me ill" Addison laughed slightly.
"Huh?" Mark replied, rooting through one of Addison's draws looking for her pyjamas.
"Well I'm never ill and when I suddenly am, you come running to my rescue, wanting to get me into bed and undress me" Addison simply stated.
"I don't need to get you ill to get you into bed" Mark replied with a cheeky tone in his voice.
"You do realise you've been rooting through my bra's and panties for the past thirty seconds, right?"
"Right" Mark replied, quickly clearing his throat once he realised he has a red, lacy pair of panties in his hands.
Opening the next drawer down, Mark finally found Addison's pyjamas. All neatly folded without a crease in sight.
"Will these do?" Mark asked, holding up the satin shorts and vest top that were on the top of the pile.
"I suppose" Addison yawned.
"Okay, well, you put those on and I'm gonna get you another glass of water" he smiled once more before exiting Addison's bedroom.
(-)
When he had returned with the glass of water, Addison had already fallen asleep on top of her covers so Mark placed a woollen blanket over her and headed back downstairs.
He debated whether or not to go home, after all, Addison was a grown woman who did not need and probably did not want babying, but still, he didn't want to leave her side until he knew she was okay. So instead, he settled for staying on Addison's couch and watching a bit of TV.
It was almost 2pm when he heard footsteps coming from the hallway.
"Mark?" Addison asked, surprised he was still in her home. "What are you still doing here?"
"I didn't want to leave until I knew you were okay" Mark said honestly.
"Oh" Addison said, a little shocked by his genuine care for her wellbeing.
"What are you doing out of bed anyway?" Mark asked, hoping she was feeling better but also kind of hoping she wasn't so he wouldn't have to leave her side and go back to his empty, lonely apartment.
"I was just coming down to see if I had anything stronger than paracetamol" Addison huffed. "My head is killing me!"
"Well you sit down on the couch and I'll look for you" Mark offered, already on his feet.
"Thanks" Addison smiled sweetly as she sat down on her couch, wrapping her woollen blanket around her tighter.
"What's the thing in the pink box?" Mark shouted from her kitchen. "Will they help?"
"No" Addison shouted back. "They're for menstrual cramps. Try the ones in the green box"
A few seconds later, Mark re-emerged in the living room, said green box and a glass of water in hand. He sat down next to Addison on the couch as he once again handed her the pills and water.
"You should get back to bed" Mark stated once Addison had gulped half the glass of water down. "You're burining up!" Mark added, the back of his hand ghosting Addison's boiling hot forehead.
"Its lonely up there" Addison said halfway into her yawn. "And besides, you're much more comfortable than my bed" Addison added dreamily as she nuzzled against Mark, her head resting against his chest.
"Um, Addie?" Mark swallowed hard but only got the sound of Addison's heavy breathing in response.
As if it was a natural response, Mark began to run his fingers through Addison's soft, red locks. She let out a happy sigh and snuggled in closer to him, her arm reaching around his waist as she did. Her breath washed over his stomach and her fever burnt through the thin material of his T-shirt.
For some reason, this was the most comfortable he had been in a long time. And that freaked him out. Sure he had once loved Addison, but he was over those feelings now, or at least he thought he was. And yes, there would always be a part of him that cared for Addison, but he didn't expect it to be like this. He hated the thought of her being ill. He just wanted to keep her safe and protect her from whatever illness was plaguing her.
As he continued to stroke Addison's hair, his tiredness once again caught up with him and he soon found himself falling asleep, laying down fully on the couch, his legs intertwining with Addison's baby soft ones, his arms wrapped around her body, pulling her close to him as though protecting her from all the worlds danger, his nose nuzzled in the back of her neck, breathing in her scent, getting the best sleep he had had in a very long time.
I might add one or two more chapters, depending on if you liked it or not. Please rewiew and thank you for reading my story. I hope you liked it.