A Day Like Any Other

Seattle Grace Mercy West - Day of the shooting

Author's Note - Some of the dialogue included in this portion is directly from episode 6x23 (Sanctuary).

Beep beep beep. The piercing sound of her pager jolted her awake, ripping her from the pleasant reverie that accompanied her unusually deep slumber. It was rare for Addison to find time to sleep in the hospital, let alone so early into her shift. The previous night, she'd been on call. When a car crash had all but crushed a pregnant woman's chest, Addison abandoned the idea of sleeping through the night and donned her usual surgical attire, working hand in hand with Dr. Altman to try and stabilize mom and baby. One very complicated cesarean section later, the redhead checked another tiny patient into the NICU she had come to share with Dr. Robbins. The mother was left without a uterus, but she was going to live. Hopefully, there would be better news for the daughter that had been brought into the world a little bit earlier than anticipated. By the time she'd scrubbed her hands clean with antiseptic, it was practically time for rounds. If there was one thing she was grateful for, it was the fact that the hospital had recently undergone a merger with Mercy West. She didn't necessarily like the new residents, but it provided all the attendings with more helping hands for scutwork. A 'Dr. Reed Adamson' had been assigned to her service for the day. Addison gave her short and slightly irritated instructions to cover the pit and sent her on her way, finding a quiet corner in a secluded lounge to do some paperwork. Paperwork, apparently, had turned into a much needed nap.

Glancing down at the annoyance to shut it off, she pushed herself up off the couch, folding the chart in her lap closed in the process. Unfortunately, it was a page she couldn't ignore. It appeared the resident she had covering the ER had found something worthy of her surgical expertise. Great, she grumbled inwardly, I'll actually have to teach Dr. Adamson today. Addison hadn't really seen much of Reed in the way of her surgical skills, but word of her romantic interests had spread like wildfire around the hospital. It was no secret that she was chasing Alex Karev. Judging by how the younger doctor looked at Addison from time to time to spite the fact that before today, the two had never worked together, Reed was just as aware of Addison's fondness of the pediatrics resident. Perhaps not fondness, but rather her unmistakeable yet completely silent communication with him. It was no secret that Alex used to be Addison's golden boy back in his intern year. Their shared history seemed to seal his place on her surgical team practically every time she set foot in the OR, especially after her departure for LA. It seemed almost as if time hadn't passed while the redhead was gone, and each of her short visits had been met with great enthusiasm by the handsome, albeit rough-around-the-edges resident. Now that she was back full-time, however, she was once again forced to spend equal time with all residents. Dr. Adamson was no exception to this rule, though Addison thought the resident would do well to hide her open disdain with a little more effort. Perhaps that would be the lesson for the day. After all, she'd broken through to Dr. Karev. Difficult personalities seemed to be her specialty just as much as neonatal was.

Remaining impartial to her assigned resident was usually not a problem, although this morning she was feeling unusually irritated. Perhaps it was the lack of sleep the night before, or the stiffness that radiated through her neck and shoulders from the awkward sleeping position, but either way she knew she was going to have a hard time keeping her emotion in check. The page hadn't been an absolute emergency, so the redhead took her time in stopping by the nurses station on the surgical floor, dropping off the chart in her hand before heading toward the ER. As she crossed the catwalk, she caught sight of Derek and couldn't help but smile slightly. Though the two had once been married, the tension had dissolved as the years since their divorce rolled by. Addison was genuinely happy for him and Meredith, even if there was no shining new relationship for her to revel in as well. The call to return to Seattle had come from none other than her ex-husband, Chief Shepherd knowing better than anyone else that Seattle Grace Mercy West was where Addison Montgomery belonged. She was a surgeon, and he made sure to remind her of that with promises of fancy machinery and a NICU that St. Ambrose just couldn't rival. "Good morning, Chief," she offered with a casual smirk. For all the darkness his departure had brought into her life, seeing Derek this morning was actually the highlight of her day. Though she might never openly admit it, she actually missed seeing and working with him, the absence felt instantly after she moved away.

"Addie," he nodded in greeting as she passed him by, using the casual nickname to counter the way his title rolled playfully from her tongue. A thought undoubtedly dawned on him as he called after her. "Oh, there's a staff meeting this afternoon. Conference room, 4:30." Knowing the redhead was still somewhat new to the system here, having had several years off to mess around with a private practice of her own and a lack of consistent surgeries, he figured the email had yet to reach her inbox. The genuine surprise on her face confirmed his suspicions.

"I'll be there," she assured him over her shoulder, trying to look like she was in a hurry to be somewhere. Keeping their interactions brief and pleasant was something Addison had down to an art. Obviously not wanting to keep her from whatever important call she was answering, he turned back to face the enormous glass window, staring thoughtfully at the Washington landscape. He certainly had become quite the outdoorsman since moving here. Not wanting to dwell on the distraction of pleasant nostalgia for too long, she took the quick elevator ride down to the ER, passing supply and suture rooms until she emerged into the ever-chaotic scene of the main portion of the floor.

The rush and noise of 'the pit' snapped her back into her element almost immediately, carrying with it the minor annoyance that she wasn't as sharp as she could have been with a few extra hours of actual sleep. That, coupled with the fact that her resident was in the far corner and already sending her an annoying, doe-eyed glare was enough to flare her often venomous, sometimes explosive temper. Addison pushed her way past nurses and doctors alike, barely recognizing any of them in her haste to fulfill her duty as the OB/GYN attending on notice for the ER. "What've we got?" she demanded, putting on her familiar, authoritative tone. She listened carefully as Reed fired off the information piece by piece, fitting each of them together in her mind until several potential problems became immediately apparent. The patient, Angela West, presented with a persistent headache, nausea, abdominal pain, and was about 26 weeks along. "Angela? I'm Dr. Montgomery. We're going to take care of you, okay?" Her smooth, calming bedside manner was unaffected by the fact that her intern continued to look at her like she didn't deserve an ounce of respect. Giving Angela's arm a reassuring squeeze, she ordered a battery of tests, trying her best to cover the pained expression on her face as her new-found patient cried out in pain. Administering a painkiller and taking a quick look at a portable ultrasound, her eyes were solely on the monitors until she realized the mousey resident was still standing there dumbly. "Since you're so eager to help, Dr. Adamson," she started in a tone that most residents knew bore the promise of punishment, "you can sit and watch the fetal monitor. If you see any signs of distress, or if her labs come back, page me." Turning to the patient again, she assured her that for now, everything was just fine. Once the tests came back, they could move her upstairs and take the appropriate steps to alleviate her distress, but for now it was a waiting game.

Pulling the curtain closed to offer some privacy, she heaved a heavy sigh and surveyed the surrounding area. Familiar faces began to come into view: Lexie and Dr. Robbins were with a little girl to her left. Across the way, she could see Alex scanning his eyes over a leg x-ray, pensive as ever. It wasn't long before Callie appeared, a scowl contorting her features. Against her better judgement, Addison called out to her, offering her brief congratulations for her recent accomplishment of finally becoming an attending. The compliment seemed to be lost on her friend, but she still nodded in distracted thanks. The two had been so busy lately, they really didn't have much time to see each other. The orthopedic surgeon was busy with some new and dramatic development practically every day, which entertained Addison, but also made it hard to keep tabs. Her sharp blue-green gaze followed her friend as she met up with Alex, who turned and glanced straight over Callie's shoulder in the redhead's direction. Whatever the two were talking about, both were clearly only half-invested, Callie's own glances skimming the figure of Arizona as she discussed with her resident. Alex's dark eyes skipped right past his attending and met Addison's pale ones with a familiar spark, and for a moment time stood still. All of his pain and unhappiness seemed to translate into that steady gaze, whispering to the redhead that he was emotionally up a creek without a paddle. She'd been watching him from afar ever since she showed up, knowing he was dealing with far more than he would let onto. In passing, he'd mentioned both his wedding and subsequent impending divorce with one Izzie Stevens. The way he tried to pass it off as nothing told the redhead instantly that he was suffering a great deal in silence. Watching him flounder in what could only be classified as a rebound relationship with Lexie was nearly unbearable. Still, he was getting by one day at a time. Eventually, she assured him, things would get better. She hadn't exactly believed it, but the thought of Derek no longer made her feel like she wasted her entire life. In time, she hoped Alex would find that same meager sort of peace. In that same instant, a glimmer of understanding registered in his eyes, and she knew he saw right past her frustration. There was something deeper troubling Addison, and even if she didn't know it, he did.

Just as quickly as the moment had begun, her eyes were torn away from his when a man appeared in front of her. He was tall, wearing an old and rather worn looking tan coat. A well-trimmed mustache framed his upper lip, his sandy brows furrowed in concentration. There was a dark, desperate burning in his eyes that drew her attention immediately. "Can I help you?" She frowned slightly to match his troubled expression. He must've been lost. It was a big, complicated hospital. Maybe a loved one had come in on an ambulance and they had become separated in the calamity. "Can you tell me where I can find the chief of surgery? … Dr. Shepherd?" At first, Addison thought he was referring to her, but reminded herself that Derek was the chief now, and she hadn't been 'Dr. Shepherd' since she'd left this hospital some years ago. As she opened her mouth to reply, however, the sound of the curtain rushing back in its track caught her attention. "Dr. Montgomery, something's wrong," Reed's voice was shrill with urgency. "Excuse me," she answered the man with the most sincerity she could muster, turning on her heel and rushing back towards the patient. Before she could give her resident a good verbal lashing for being so imprecise with the delivery of her 'diagnosis', it became evident to her that Angela was in serious distress. All focus now on saving a life, it didn't even register that the man she'd been trying to help had wandered off again. Reed, although proving herself a useful set of helping hands, was already trying to find a way to back out of the case. "It's just that… obstetrics doesn't interest me," she reasoned, trying to get Addison to send her to piggyback on a more interesting case. She apparently had her eye on a GSW to the chest that was involved in a car accident. "Trauma is really more my thing," Reed insisted hopefully, trying to annoy Addison into sending her away, but was met with a glare that told her not to push her luck. Just when the redhead was certain Angela would remain stable long enough for them to at least determine if there was something they could do to help her, a seizure coursed through her body.

"Damnit, she's eclamptic," Addison practically groaned, struggling to pull the woman onto her left side with the help of a few nearby nurses. The redhead barked out orders, demanding someone call upstairs and book an OR for a crash c-section. This seemingly manageable case had become an emergent situation that required immediate delivery of the baby if either of them was going to survive. Again, it seemed her resident was more interested in standing in the way with a dumbstruck expression on her face than actually helping. "She's seizing, Reed. Don't just stand there. Do something." Just as the resident disappeared around the corner, Addison spotted the blood beginning to slowly accumulate between Angela's thighs. As soon as the seizing was under control and her resident returned with the supplies they needed to accomplish that, they would be off to surgery as fast as the elevators would carry them.

The instant she heard the attending assignments, she knew it would be just another day in Hell. The transition from Mercy West to Seattle Grace hadn't been easy for any of the new residents, and Reed seemed to have it worst of all. The only thing she really had to be thankful for was that she still had her roommate, April Kepner, to keep her company behind closed doors. The two weren't as close as April seemed to think, but Reed really did genuinely like her. It was a shame that she seemed to get off on the wrong foot with the native residents of the hospital, particularly an alluring doctor by the name of Alex Karev. Try as she might, Reed hadn't quite broken through to Alex. Not enough to talk him into the possibility of seeing each other, anyway. He seemed to enjoy putting up a badass front, but Reed had watched him long enough to see there was more to him than his tough exterior. Even if she made that fact obvious, he seemed to want nothing to do with her. She made excuses for him in her mind, telling herself it was because of his wife, Izzie. Maybe more accurately, his ex-wife... she wasn't entirely sure. That excuse, however, didn't explain the fact that Alex was sleeping with (or dating? They sure didn't seem like a couple…) Lexie Grey. It also didn't explain the way Addison Montgomery seemed to attract Karev's undivided attention every time she walked in a room. Reed understood that the two had history, but the way he looked at her suggested there was more to the story than a simple teacher/student relationship. What the redhead saw in the scruffy, foul-mouthed boy of a doctor was beyond Reed's comprehension. The attending was gorgeous, and from what she'd heard, at one point she'd slept with both Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Sloan. She could do better than Alex. It was easy to say that Reed was more than a little jealous of the effortless and silent conversation Alex and Addison seemed to carry in a crowded room. They probably thought nobody noticed, but then again Reed Adamson was invisible to most of SGMW's staff. What she wouldn't give for Alex to look at her that way, even just once. What she played off as a simple sexual attraction could really have been much more had he given her a chance.

Working with Dr. Montgomery had been just as much of a distinct displeasure as hearing her name called earlier that morning. Reed expected her to be tough, since she had a reputation for pushing residents with unrelenting perseverance, but she never expected her to be cold and dismissive. All morning long, it seemed Reed was an annoyance to the neonatal surgeon. She was sent to the pit under the assumption that Addison had nothing on the OR board until later that afternoon. Just when she made herself useful by finding what seemed like an adequate case for the esteemed surgeon she was working under, she was once again belittled and ultimately deemed useless. It wasn't like Reed to freeze up on the spot, but something about Addison intimidated and infuriated her. How could a woman like that win the affections of the one resident Reed wanted to like? More importantly, how could she possibly think their silent eye sex had gone unnoticed? Something was going on, and Reed spent most of her morning trying to work up the courage to confront her attending about it. So what if she'd been a little bit distracted? The thought of a scandalous relationship was one she couldn't push from her head.

Her anger only grew when Dr. Montgomery scolded her openly while bent over her patient. Scurrying off like a frightened woodland creature, the resident was silently fuming, that fact becoming more and more prominent as she finally was beyond the redhead's icy stare. Reed wasn't a child. She knew how to take care of a patient that was suffering a seizure. In fact, she knew how to handle lots of situations; it was just that nobody ever really gave her a chance. Favoritism was running rampant in this hospital, and Reed wanted nothing to do with it. All she really could do, she reasoned, was her job. That trauma would have been much more interesting, she thought to herself as she rounded the corner to the dimly lit supply room. At least Dr. Hunt would let her do something. "That bitch," she muttered to herself as she rummaged through the shelves. At least here, she was alone. "I don't know what he sees in her," her hands groped through bins, searching for the supplies Addison required to stabilize her patient. She didn't even look up as someone came in through the opposite end of the room. "Excuse me, ma'am?" the gruff, irritated voice rang through the silence that so starkly contrasted the din of the ER. Yet another person is demanding your attention like they deserve it.

"It's doctor. What?" She didn't mean to be quite so harsh with the stranger, who appeared to be a family member who might have lost his way, but given the circumstances, she couldn't help herself. Everyone seemed to be demanding her attention only to deem her utterly obsolete. At least if she returned with the appropriate items, Addison might consider letting her scrub in to assist on the emergency delivery of the preemie Angela was carrying. Demanding a little respect from someone who wasn't a doctor would even give her a slight ego boost before she had her dignity torn away again by Satan herself. Besides, 'ma'am' was an antiquated term for old, married women, which Reed Adamson certainly was not.

"I was wondering if you could tell me where I could find doctor Derek Shepherd?" At first, she expected her derisive tone to scare whoever it was off, not even bothering to look up from what she was doing. Finding the last of the supplies she needed, she finally turned her attention to the man standing a foot or so from her own position. Just as she suspected, he looked like a lost family member. His question was simple enough, but one Reed couldn't be bothered to answer.

"Um," she paused, feigning thought though it was obvious she wasn't actually trying to answer his question. "You know, I don't know." Maybe if she pretended she wasn't going to be of help, he would go find someone else to ask. After all, she had much more important things to do than give out directions that were clearly indicated on almost any of the hospital's directory signs. Beyond that, locating a doctor in a hospital was often a difficult task. Derek Shepherd was the chief of surgery. He could be any number of places and Reed simply didn't have time to track him down. Not with a pair of accusing blue-green eyes to greet her when she returned, regardless of how fast she moved. Pushing past him and deliberately bumping his shoulder out of the way, she tilted her chin upward slightly to attempt an air of authority. Much to her surprise, she felt a rough hand clamp like a vice around her forearm. What was this guy's problem? She gave him an incredulous look, eyes darting from his unrelenting grip to his face in silent question.

"Can you tell me where his office is? I'm kind of turned around, here." Whatever was wrong with the man standing in front of her, she didn't have time to deal with it. Wrenching her arm from his grip, a cold shudder washed up her spine, telling her something just wasn't right. Though she tried her best to hide it, a burst of adrenaline was coursing through her veins, her entire body beginning to slowly but surely tell her to turn and quietly leave.

"Sir… you know, I have a patient having seizures in there. Go find a nurse and ask them." Reed was unaware of how dismissive her tone was, but still she turned on her heel, fully prepared to march out of the room without looking back. It wasn't until he spoke again that she turned, studying the expression on his face. Again, her gut tried to tell her that something about the way he looked at her was slightly off. His voice wavered, heavy with something that sounded like remorse or regret over something he'd done...or, more accurately, was about to do.

"…Ma'am?" Ignoring the warning tone in his voice, she pushed out a terse sigh. Maybe he just didn't understand the urgency with which she needed to be back in the other room. She began to regret her choice to argue with him and withhold information, finding that this had taken longer than she bargained for.

"Look, you're not even supposed to be back here. I'm not a tour guide, I'm a surgeon, okay?" Instantly, she regretted her choice of words. Though she was trying to keep her urge to flee contained, hoping to remain calm and disinterested, the minute she saw the look in his eye, she knew. They always said that people could sense when their time had finally come. Some insisted there was a smell or sound, but what Reed experienced was just a feeling. An immense coldness washed through her stomach, threatening to push its contents up in one swift motion. She could see out of the corner of her eye that his arm was lifting, revealing something he'd kept concealed in his pocket. By the time she dared pry her eyes from his long enough to see what it was, the brilliant flash had already illuminated the room. It was over in an instant, but it felt like an incredibly long time. It was a gun. There was a bullet being fired from the chamber, and the muzzle was aimed squarely between her eyes. In a few milliseconds, the round would penetrate her skull. Delicate tissue that she was training to repair would be torn apart. She'd seen gunshots to the head before in texts and on cadavers. She knew exactly what was about to unfold. In that tiny span of time, her life flashed before her eyes in a cinematic fashion that the movies could never quite capture with any sort of justice. Her first bike. First day of school. Graduating high school. Terrible decisions she'd made and later regretted in college. Putting on a white coat for the first time. Meeting Percy and April. Reed didn't even feel the impact, her body instantly losing all control as she hit the ground with a dull, sickening thud. Her eyes glazed over, staring into no direction in particular as her still-pounding heart made quick work of pumping her blood into a thick, shining pool on the floor. Reed Adamson, who had only been trying to prove herself worthy of a second look, was dead in a matter of seconds.

"Dude," the sound of a familiar male voice drew Gary Clark's attention and he turned, smoking gun still in hand. He didn't want to kill any more people than he had to. He had a short, neat list. Thus far, he'd only injured one person. Well, not including the doctor he'd just killed. That one shot seemed to loosen up his trigger finger substantially. Just as Alex Karev rounded the corner, obviously having heard the concussion of sound resonating from the gun being fired, the shooter turned on him. "What the-" Alex began to stutter, looking past the gunman and seeing Reed in a pool of blood on the floor. Before he could say another word, Gary took aim and pulled the trigger, watching without a trace of emotion as the pediatric resident's body hit the floor. Satisfied with the cry of pain, he surveyed the mess he'd made for a moment. Neither of them were going to cause him anymore trouble. Pocketing the weapon again, he moved back into the crowded ER and toward an elevator, leaving the two doctors for dead in his wake.