Chapter One

They'd walk into the hospital at the same time every morning since he started working there. Even when she was running late, as the universe would have it, so was he. They'd both end up walking through those hospital doors at the same time and today was just like any other day.

"Twenty-eight more days and then it's you and me in a locked room for a record breaking, earth shattering, mind blowing…"

"Okay! I get it," she said cutting him off as they stepped into the crowded elevator, "Thank you."

"That was less than enthusiastic," he pouted.

"I'm gonna be more enthusiastic when we uh…" she paused looking for the right words to use in front of her coworkers, "cross the finish line."

"Ok. Just making sure you haven't lost interest in the project," he said smiling again.

She can't help but smile back at him, "No, not at all."

"Good," he smiled leaving out of the elevator.

She sighed making her way out behind him and upstairs to her office. Although she loved Mark, for some reason, after everything she found herself wondering if there was more out there; that maybe this wasn't it for her. Luckily, she didn't have any surgeries this morning so she ducked off into the conference room where there was cake. Cristina and Burke were getting married soon and are letting the staff help choose which cakes to have at their wedding. To Addison, it sounded like a nice idea and all but it sounded like an even better excuse to hide out in the conference and get fat.

"White chocolate with vanilla buttercream," was said as she read the card before taking a huge bite out on the cake.

She was so into the cake that she didn't notice Alex walk into the room, "Dr. Montgomery?"

"Can't decide…" she answered taking a spoonful of another cake, "triple berry at least has fruit so I could pretend it's healthy."

"Ava's BP is 171 over 118," he responded.

Addison barely looked at him when she answered, "She's preeclamptic."

"I ordered a blood test and a biophysical test on the baby who's fine but Ava's got edema," he says while she moves on to the next cake.

Nodding she answered, "Get her on ammonium hydralazine."

"What about an epidural… to get her blood pressure down?" was said before she looked up at him… concern turning into something else… something she couldn't put a name to, "I mean, am I going overboard or...?"

"Believe me," she laughed when she realized what it was she was feeling was lust, "I wish I had someone who cared that much about my blood pressure."

"Yeah well… from what I hear, in 28 days you will," was said as he walked out the room.

Ava was Addison's last patient to round on that morning. Although she tried not to show it, she hated working on Ava. The fact that she could just go missing and there seemed to be nobody out there looking for her made Addison feel uncomfortable and actually, a little nervous. At times, like these, she'd find herself thinking… if I went missing, would anyone notice I was gone? Maybe Mark would? But it would only be because he'd miss the sex… Maybe her friends would? Most of them are in New York and California… they wouldn't know she was gone unless someone told them. Trying to rid herself of those thoughts, she decided during her free time she'd stop by her favorite coffee cart; get her some Juju. But before she could make it past the Nurses' station outside of Ava's room, her best friend Callie walked up to her.

"Hey," was said as Addison turned around to face her.

Hugs are exchanged before words are spoken again, "Hey. How's it going?"

"I caught George in a lie the other day. He said he spent the day in the clinic when he spent it doing God knows what with Izzie Stevens," was said with a sigh, "It's probably nothing, right?"

"Right," Addison nods.

Callie nods too, "Right. So how's your man whore? Miraculously reformed?"

"For now," she sighed finally saying what she'd been thinking, "He's never going to turn into what I want."

"Which is?"

"The whole thing," she paused handing one of the nurses Ava's chart, "I want someone stable who barbeques and teaches little kids how to play catch… and is not Mark Sloan. Which still doesn't explain why I've spent the entire day looking at Alex Karev like a puppy with a chew toy."

"Why don't you just go there already?" her best friend asked.

She just shook her head, "Because! He doesn't barbeque either. Plus, he's like twelve years old and can fit all of his belongings in a milk crate."

"I don't know…" was said as she smiled, "Guys like Karev… at least you know, he'll never lie to you. Guys like him, they mess around in their twenties but then they, you know, pack it in and teach their kids to play catch."

"Maybe," she sighed, "I just need to stop thinking about both of them."

"And I have to stop thinking about Izzie Stevens."

"Hey, Callie, here's the thing. When you're obsessing about something like that, there's generally a reason," was said and as Callie walked away, Ava's alarms started going off.

"BP shot up to 202 over 134. There's fetal distress, the epidural didn't help," Alex said as they wheeled Ava through the hall and to the OR.

Addison nodded, "It'll help during delivery."

"What's going on?" Ava yelled, "Alex?"

"Your blood pressure spiked, you had a seizure," he explained to her.

Addison joined in, "The only way we can reduce your blood pressure and the swelling in your brain is if you deliver the baby right now."

"She's only 30 weeks," Ava protested, "I'm not in labor."

"We're gonna do a C-section, Ava. Don't worry, the survival rate for preemies at 30 weeks is extremely high," Addison tried to calm her.

Ava looked from her to Alex, "Alex, tell her no. I'm not ready."

"You're ready," Alex disagreed.

Ava shook her head, "But I can't do this by myself."

"Well then it's a good thing you're not by yourself," he said while taking her hand.

Watching everything play out, Addison started to feel somewhat resentful… Is Callie right? Is Alex the guy I'm looking for? she thought before she remembered who Alex Karev really was. He was a childish, arrogant, hot-headed, obnoxious little boy who had a lot of growing up to do before he could be on her level… but what was happening now? Was he getting too attached to his patient?

"Your daughter's beautiful Ava," was said as she cut the umbilical cord.

Ava questioned trying to peep over her curtain, "She is?"

"She is," Alex agreed.

Addison gave the baby to Alex and continued working, "Get her under the warmer right away."

"I'll work on her…" was answered.

She shook her head, "Hand her off to Peds, I need an extra set of hands. Need to hang some blood."

"Why?" Ava asked as Alex did what he was told, "Why do you need blood?"

"Want me to get the uterine arteries?" Alex asked already elbows deep into the patient, "Clamp."

"Alex, what's going on? Alex?" was yelled out over the chaos.

Addison didn't have time to reply. She continued on with her work, "The bleeding vessels are deep…"

"Tell me what's going on," Ava pleaded.

Addison continued to instruct Alex, "...you want to…"

"Ligate around the hemostats, I got it," was said in response.

Ava screamed, "Oh my god! Am I gonna die? Oh my god, I'm gonna die!"

"Can I?" Alex pleaded with his boss. He wanted to let Ava know she'd be okay and Addison just shrugged.

Ava cried out, "I'm gonna die and she's gonna be all alone."

"Ava… Ava… look at me, ok? Look at me!" he yelled as she finally looked up to him, "You're not gonna die. You're doing great. You're gonna be fine, you're baby's gonna be fine. I just need you to breathe for me, all right? Nice slow, deep breaths. That's it. Just breathe. Keep breathing."

The surgery was a success. Ava and her baby would be fine… medically… but emotionally, Addison doesn't know where to start to fix something like that. She can't seem to get through her big brain how someone, a pregnant someone nonetheless, could just go missing and have no one out there searching. She could be someone's wife and that baby, it's someone's kid. It doesn't make sense to Addison how someone like that could just be gone… and it doesn't help that Alex has started to obsess over this woman.

Addison walks up to him in the hallway outside of Ava's room, "Karev."

"Hey, I was just checking up on Ava," was said as she sighed.

She put her hand on her hip and looked at him seriously, "Do I have another Denny Duquette situation on my hands?"

"What?" he said getting offensive, "Are you serious?"

"I have never seen you so attentive with a patient. You're always there, checking her stats, running tests, doing research."

"It's my job."

"No, it's my job," she corrected him, "I'm her doctor, you're my intern."

"Which is why I have to know her stats at all times because I'm not about to stand next to you in your OR and be anything less than over prepared. Okay?" was said in response, "There's no way I'm going to go to work every day with a surgeon like you and not be on top of my game. So, if you wanna yell at me…"

"Karev…" she sighed cutting him off as she walked away meanwhile fighting the urge to take him into an empty on-call room.

If I went missing, would anyone notice I were gone? Maybe Alex would? Maybe I should just stop thinking about this… She couldn't take it anymore… She had to distance herself; get away from all of this and give herself a chance to breathe again. She obviously wasn't thinking clearly as she made her way up to the Chief's office. She would walk in and ask for time off. Addison wasn't feeling like herself and maybe all she needed was to escape for a little bit… Maybe go to the beach? Visit her friends in New York?

As she walked out of the hospital and to her car that evening, she had been able to get time off without the Chief being too pissed off about it and leave for home with an almost clear conscience. Still, while on her drive home, she couldn't help but think one thing: Who, if anybody, would notice if she just disappeared one day? She was so consumed in her thoughts that she didn't notice the big white van following her. Unsuspecting, Addison pulled into her driveway and got out of her car. She walked around to her backseat to grab her things and didn't even get the chance to scream before her entire world turned black.