Hey guys,

it's me (again)... Sky_Fenty asked me in her last review if I could write something around the episode where Meredith nearly drowned, but it wouldn't be Meredith, but Addison and that inspired me a lot, so I wrote the whole afternoon and wrote this story in a row.

Some information:

- again the title is after a song, this time it's "Whatever Gets You Through Today" by The Radio

- the story is set in season 3, in the episode of the ferry accident (3x15)

- Mark and Addie have their bet (but it's not really important in my story) and Addie and Alex were flirting

- one of my favorite guest characters will be in the story ... I simply couldn't help it )

- Disclaimer: I'm still not Shonda, so I don't own anything :(

Hope that all Addek fans - and especially Sky_Fenty - will enjoy this and I would be really happy if you reviewed and tell me what you think. Also if you have maybe some ideas for stories, but don't want to write them yourself, you can tell me, it sometimes takes me some time, but I will write it. ;)

Love Mariella

Whatever Gets You Through Today

Addison Montgomery looked at the accident. She was shocked. Richard had told them it was bad, but she never imagined that it would be that bad. She started to work on different patients and after some time she found a pregnant woman with a little child. She looked at the child; she seemed to be about 5 or 6 years old.

"You ok?"

The child looked at her in horror and Addison carefully examined her. The child was freezing cold and even though it was really cold Addison undressed her jacket and dressed the child in it. "There will be someone here soon, I will check on your mommy now, alright?"

The girl looked at her still in horror and clutched Addison. Addison kneeled down to her again. "Ok, look at me. I am Addison and what's your name?"
"Lilly." The little girl told her after a short while.

"Ok. Is this your mommy over there?"
She nodded. "Ok, so I will make sure she's alright and you stay here and then I will take care of you."
"Promise?" The girl was near to tears.

"Promise."

Lilly nodded and Addison went to the hardly breathing woman. "Mam, I'm Dr. Montgomery, I try to make you feel better. Alright? Can you hear me?" Addison worked at her and finally the patient seemed like she began to breathe again. Addison sighed, but then the woman started to lash about her and hit Addison, who lost her balance and feel into the cold water. She started to swim, but she felt the cold creep into every bone and suddenly she thought why she was doing this. She just got a divorce, had a bet with Mark while flirting with an intern. Her life was really screwed up. Was it even fighting for? She only thought that for a short moment, but it was enough to let her become that cold that she didn't feel like she was able to move anymore. Crap! Addison thought she didn't want to drown. Maybe her life sucked right now, but she shouldn't drown if there were people, who needed her, who would be saved because of her, but it was too late.

Meanwhile Derek spotted a little girl, who looked really lost. He went over to her and noticed she was wearing a jacket from SGH. He kneeled down beside her. "Hey, where did you get this jacket?"
The little girl looked at Derek and then told him quietly. "The pretty woman with the red hair gave it to me."
Derek looked at her. She could only mean Addison, but why should Addison give her jacket to this girl and then simply leave? "Do you know where she went?"
The girl looked at Derek for a while and he thought she would never answer, but then she pointed to the sea. Derek looked at her confused, but then went to the sea and looked at it where it seemed like a flash of red hair was going down. He didn't think he jumped in the water. Addison was a great swimmer, why would she drown? But Derek was pretty sure that he had seen the flash of her hair. He felt the cold creeping up and then he saw her. She was sinking deeper and deeper. He quickly swam up to her and pushed her upwards. The surface of the water suddenly seemed like miles away, but finally he broke through it and breathed in. He looked at Addison, but there was no sign that she was actually breathing. He quickly swam with her to the land and got her out of the water. She looked terrible. Her skin seemed to be blue and he had never before saw her so pale. He scooped her into his arms and went with her to a waiting ambulance. "Seattle Grace Hospital! Fast!" He only managed to instruct the driver.

On the way to the hospital he tried everything to make her breathe again. "Addie, come on, breathe! I know you can do that!"

Richard Webber, Miranda Bailey, Izzie Stevens and Meredith Grey were waiting for the next ambulance to arrive. They were told that the neurosurgeon Derek Shepherd was on it with a woman, who seemed to have nearly drowned. It finally arrived and when the door opened everyone looked at them in shock. "Addison." Miranda Bailey finally managed to say.

"She isn't breathing." Derek told them in horror.

Quickly she was brought to a trauma room. When Derek wanted to enter it Richard stopped him. "You stay outside."
"What?"
"You're too involved here."
"But … everyone is."
Richard looked at the younger man, who seemed near to tears. "We are, but you were married to her, you found her. You won't enter this room, because I know you would blame yourself for the rest of your life if she didn't survive." With that he entered the room and left Derek standing outside alone. A nurse brought him a towel and he hated to wait. "Addison, come one. After all what we've been through … you can't do this to me." He muttered under his breath. In this moment Mark arrived. "Whoa, Derek. Isn't a bit cold for bathing today?" He smirked at him.

Derek looked at him and Mark noticed this wasn't something to joke about. "What happened?"

Derek could only look at him, before he told him quietly. "She isn't breathing?"

"Who?"

"Addie."

"What?" Mark looked at Derek in horror.

"She fell into the water and …"

"But she's a good swimmer, how …"
"I don't know, but …"

In this moment Addison was rolled out of the trauma room.

"OR 2." They heard Izzie Steven tell the Chief.

"Richard, what …"
"Derek, I don't have the time right now …"

"But she's my wife!" Derek jelled at the Chief. Everybody was staring at him especially Meredith. Mark approached his friend and held him back so that they could move Addison to surgery. Mark only glanced a little bit at her. She looked terrible. He had never before seen her like this. Addison was always the kick ass surgeon when she needed to be. She always tried to hide her weakness the best she could and it hurt him to see her like this.

Addison felt like she heard something. Something like "wife". She felt like she was laughing to herself, obviously she wasn't meant.

Hours later Derek and Mark were still waiting for a sign of her. In this moment a good looking guy entered SGH and finally found Mark and Derek sitting quietly next to each other. "Hey, absent-ass and cheating-ass, I thought you hated each other and weren't on speaking terms … or at least that was the thing Addie told me when I talked to her last time." Archer Montgomery smirked at the two men.
"Archer." Derek looked at Addison's brother. He knew that Archer had never liked him, he never thought that he was good enough for his baby-sister.

"Yeah, I really don't feel like talking to any of you. Can you tell me where Addie is, I wanted to surprise her."

"Surgery." Mark told him quietly.

"Did she only started or is there a chance that she will have saved the mother and the baby soon, be the hero of the day, and I can talk to her?"
"She is the patient."
Archer looked at them shocked. "What?"
"She … nearly drowned." Derek told him quietly.

"But how?" Archer looked at him furious. "What did you do?"
"What?"
"Which one of you were the jerk, or were you both a jerk? This wouldn't be anything new to me either."
"Archer …" Derek started, but Archer cut him off. "You" He pointed at Derek. "Ignored her, left her, broke her heart and when she came to fix your marriage you were going after another woman and then you divorced her. And you." He pointed at Mark. "Where your usual self and cheated on her. So what did you do?"

"Nothing!" Derek arouse quickly. "There was a ferry accident and she fell in the water and I don't know why, but she nearly drowned."

"This is bullshit Derek! She was the best swimmer in our freaking school! Hell she even won the …"
"I know that! I know that Archer! And I don't know what happened, but I know she was about to drown, so I saved her. I tried my best to reanimate her in the ambulance, but she didn't react. I don't know what happened, but she's in the OR and Richard and Bailey work on her."

Archer looked at his ex-brother-in-law for a while. Then he sat down next to him and they stayed silent for a while, before Archer smirked a little. "Know what's funny?"
Derek stared at him, but Archer continued. "You still love her."
"Wha…?"

"You do. You are scared like hell. You divorced her even though you seem to love her that the thought that she dies freaks the hell out of you."

Derek looked at Archer for a while. The both of them still disliked each other, but he was right. He hated to admit it, but Archer was right. He was so scared that Addison could die. That he would never again see her smile or flip hair around her finger, hell he would even miss her dead glare and most of all he was afraid that she would never kiss him again. He thought of their kisses. Some of them had been incredible sweet and innocent, but there were also these ones filled with passion and lust. He missed this. He missed kissing her, not only kissing her. He missed having her around. Since they had been divorced he missed everything, because they didn't see each other a lot. He knew it sounded wired, but he was still in love with his ex-wife.

Some time later Bailey and Richard entered the waiting area. The three men stood up. Bailey looked at them wired. "Weren't there only you two when we left?" She pointed at Derek and Mark.

Archer grinned. "I like her. Excuse me, I'm Archer Montgomery, Addison's older brother, Dr…."

"Bailey."
Archer grinned at her. "Ahh, I see. So how's my sister?"

"She's alive." Richard told them and saw that all men sighed in relief. "But … she's still in a coma. We don't know if she will ever wake up."

All three stared at them when Derek's mobile started to ring. "Excuse me." He picked up. "Shepherd."
"Ah, Dr. Shepherd, finally. I tried to approach you the whole day."
"Mr. Andrews." Derek said to his layer.

"I'm sorry to bother you, but I reread your divorce papers from Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd and noticed there is a mistake."
"A mistake?" Derek felt in shock.

"Yes, both of you forgot to sign on one page and so … you're still married."
"We are?"
"Yes, but I can come to you as soon as possible that you can correct this."
"No, I … we will call you, alright?"
Mr. Andrews seemed confused. "Sure. Wish you a good day."
"You too." Derek hung up. He was still married to Addison. She wasn't his ex-wife, but his wife. He couldn't suppress a grin, when he went back to Mark, Archer, Richard and Bailey. The four of them were fighting what to do next.

"I am her brother, so I should have the right to decide for her treatment as long as she can't." Archer just said.

Derek went up to them. "I will decide!"

Everybody looked at him. "What? No, you lost this right!" Archer glared at him.

"Addison is my wife, so I will decide what treatment she gets!"

Archer laughed. "Maybe you forgot it, but you got divorced, remember?"
"No, the lawyer just called. Our divorce papers are wrong, so we're still married. I am her husband, so it's my right to decide."
Everybody looked at him in shock. Finally Richard nodded. "He's right. If you and Addison are still married, he would be the best choice to decide." Archer glared at Derek.

"I want to see her." Derek finally told Bailey.

Bailey looked at him. "Sure. Come with me." The both of them left and short time later Derek was brought to Addison's room. He looked at her. She still looked so broken. He sat down next to her. "Hey Addie." He kissed her cheek softly. "You're brother is here. I know he still hates me … no, I think he hates me even more, but he cares for you. You gave all of us really a big scare." He went on talking to her like this for hours. Some hours later Archer and Mark stood in front of the room. "Is he still or already there?" Archer asked Mark.

Mark looked at his best friend. "I think still."

Archer looked closely at Mark. "You like her too, right?"
Mark didn't say anything for a while. "For me it never was an one-night-stand or an affair, it was so much more, but she didn't want me. She doesn't want me. She loves him, although they hurt each other so badly she still loves him and by the way he looks at her I know he still loves her too."

Archer looked at Derek. "I still dislike him."
"This is your right, but when it's right and they aren't divorced I think you're stuck with him, because this time he'll fight for her. I never saw him more scared ever before."

The next day Derek was still with Addison. The sun was just about to get up when Addison slowly opened her eyes. She noticed that someone was there and turned her head. Derek was sitting next to her bed, holding her hand and slept. She smiled softly. This was a really good dream, she really felt that she didn't want to wake up. This moment Meredith Grey entered the room. And here we go, Addison thought. She had just started to enjoy this dream. "You're awake." Meredith stated.

Addison looked at her confused. No dream? But why was Derek then sitting by her bed? She tried to remember, but only got bits of it. She remembered that she fell and then it was cold. The ferry accident! "I guess I am."
"So, how are you feeling?"

"Like crap."
Meredith chuckled a bit. "Dr. Bailey and Webber operated you for hours yesterday and when you came in you weren't breathing."

"Oh … so that could explain that."
"I think I should get someone. Dr. Webber or Dr. Bailey? Any wish?"

"No, I think …" Addison looked at her. "Why are you so nice to me? Because I nearly died?"

Meredith shrugged her shoulders. "You know, I never really disliked you, I just … I mean look at you when you came to Seattle I thought I would never have a chance against you."
"Yeah look at me." Addison told her sarcastically.

"Look, I think I noticed something yesterday." When Addison kept silent, Meredith went on. "He loves you, he still loves you. I think he was never more scared. I don't have a chance against you, I know that now and it hurts, but I think I have to accept this."
"Derek and I are divorced Meredith." Addison stated.

Meredith smiled at her slightly. "If you say so, maybe you should talk to him about that." Hospital gossip spread around like a wildfire and by now everyone knew that there were problems with their divorce papers and Addison and Derek were still married, but Meredith also felt that it wasn't her place to tell her that. She turned around, but before she left the room, she said. "I will wait some time before I sent Dr. Bailey in. It would be a good idea if you woke him up first."

Addison looked at her confused. She sighed. Maybe Meredith was right, she should wake Derek. She shrugged his shoulders softly. "Derek." She told him. Derek shifted a bit. "Only one more minute Addison." He told her grumpy, but when he said it he noticed something and sat up quickly. "You're awake!"
"I am sleep head."

Derek chuckled softly. "How are you feeling?"
"Like hell."
"Yeah … could have guessed this. So … do you know what happened?"
"Not everything. I remember that I fell in the water right? And it was so freezing cold."
Derek nodded. "This little girl …"
"Lilly."

"What?"
"That's her name."
"Oh, ok. So I saw Lilly and she had your jacket and she pointed to the sea when I asked her where the surgeon went that gave her the jacket. I saw a flash of your hair and went after you…"

"What happened to her?"
"Whom?"
"Lilly. I promised I would take care of her."
"I don't know… I …"
"And her mother?"
Derek sighed. "Addison, you're the patient here."
"I know, but I promised. You haven't seen her eyes. She was pleading to me."
Derek sighed. "I will go and find that out, ok?"

"Thanks. So you saved me, I got that, but why are you still here?"
"You scared me. You scared the hell out of me."
"I'm sorry."
"I love you."
"Wha…."

"I love you Addison, I noticed that when I was about to lose you. I'm sorry for what I put you through. I really am."
"Derek we're divorced."
"No."
"What? Of course, we signed …"
"The divorce papers are wrong."
"So we're still married?"
"We are and I plan that it stays this way."
"Oh."
"I want that we work again. I really want this."
"I don't know what to say. Don't say anything, just think about it. Here I am a guy, who still loves you more than his own life. Addison, please, I know I screwed up, but give us another chance." He kissed her head. "I will get Dr. Bailey to check on you and try to find this little girl and check on her."
Addison looked at him when he left the room.

Some hours later Derek was entering the room with the little girl. She looked at Addison. "Addison."
Addison smiled at her. "Hey Lilly."
Lilly climbed into her bed. "Are you hurt?"
"Only a bit, but it will be alright. How are you?"
The girl shrugged. "I don't know where I will stay."
Addison looked at her confused. "What do you mean by that."
"My mommy died yesterday and daddy left us when I was really little."

Addison felt like her heart broke. "I am sorry."

Lilly cuddled up to her. "Can I stay with you for a little while?"

"Sure. I'm stuck in this bed for a few days longer so it will be nice to have company."

Derek smiled at his wife and the little girl. Short time later Lilly was into a deep sleep. Addison looked at her husband. "You know, I have been thinking."
"Yeah?"
"Yeah."
"What about?"
"Us."
"Oh."
"You hurt me."
"I know."
"You hurt me so much."
"Addison, I'm…"
"No, don't … but I still love you. I don't know why, but I still do." Derek grinned at her. "So since we're still married" She continued. "Maybe we should give us another shot if you're really willing to work on this."
Derek smiled at her. "I promise you I will never let you go again."

Addison nodded and Derek leaned in softly and kissed her slowly, but passionately. When he felt that she was returning his kiss he felt like in heaven. He had been so afraid that he would never be able to kiss her again and now he was. They got through yesterday and he hoped that their future would be better at least it would be a future together.

So, pretty long, I know. Hope you enjoyed it and I would be really happy if you reviewed. Thanks!