Author's Note: Thank you all for the great reception on this story – so nice to hear from a few of you that I haven't heard from before, hopefully I am picking up some new readers! May I offer my apologies for how long it has been since I updated this story – 'You can run' is still my priority until I get it finished, but I thought I'd give you another installment here in case you all forget this exists.
And by the way, thank you for the correction on Callie's heritage, not entirely sure why I had it in my head that she was Greek, probably because of her name (Calliope is one of the muses in Greek mythology, and Iphigenia is also a figure from Greek mythology – and in case you were wondering, the Calliope I knew, but the Iphigenia I did have to look up). Anyway, I've now amended the chapter in order to refrain from commenting on whether she is Greek or otherwise.
Disclaimer: As before
When she first arrived in Los Angeles, in the heady and ambitious spirit of reinvention, Addison had resolved to go running on the beach every day, in the mornings before she went to the clinic. Two weeks in however, a hamstring strain (okay, more like a twinge if she was being honest) reminded her that beaches were for sunbathing on, and her precious pre-work hours were best spent making the most of those last few minutes in bed, or at the very least, kick starting her brain with an early morning dose of caffeine.
She wasn't against the occasional stroll though, and that particular day was dawning bright and sunny, and she felt herself being drawn away from her coffee machine and outside.
Taking her mug of coffee with her, she went out of the big glass doors of her kitchen and across the veranda onto the sugary soft sand. It felt cool and damp between her toes, too early for the sun to have warmed it, and she wandered slowly down to the shoreline.
When she reached the water's edge, she stood there a while, letting the Pacific Ocean curl and bubble around her feet. She liked it her – she loved this. She felt more relaxed and at ease with herself than she had done in years, possibly ever. She went to yoga twice a week with Naomi and Violet, and was even embracing the occasional acupuncture session. She drew the line at herbal tea though; nothing could ever make her give up her coffee.
California was different from Seattle. The weather, for one thing – she could just about count on one hand the number of times it had rained since she moved here four years ago. Well, maybe not quite, but it was a thousand times better than Seattle, where she could definitely count on one hand the number of times the sun had shone in the months she had lived there.
It was simpler too. It wasn't perfect, and if she was being really honest, she and Pete had managed to enact a four year saga like love affair that anyone at Seattle Grace would be proud of, but that still was easier than a single day in Seattle, although sometimes it didn't feel that way. Things between her and Pete had becalmed lately, into a sort of friendship that acknowledged that while there might still be some level of attraction there, being more than friends simply didn't work for them.
As for the work… well, that was the one aspect of her life in which she really did miss Seattle. Her job now offered her a much better opportunity to really get to know her patients, but that, and the lack of shift work, was about its only advantage. She missed the fast paced cut and thrust of being in a busy hospital. The working nine 'til five was great though, and more often than not, it wasn't even that much.
A wave, a little taller than the rest, splashed up her legs, and brought her out of her reverie. Thinking about work, she really should be getting there soon – you never knew, there could be a miracle, she might actually have a patient booked.
Three quarters of an hour later, she pulled up outside the Oceanside Wellness Center and got out of the car. There was a coffee cart on the other side of the road, and checking her watch to make sure she wasn't going to be late, she dashed across to it.
'Good morning Doctor Montgomery, how are you this fine morning?'
'I'm well thank you Don.' Addison was a regular at the coffee cart, and she always passed the time of day with the guy who ran it.
'And will it be the usual this morning?'
'Yes please.' She rummaged in her purse for her wallet, and handed him the correct change.
'There we go, one vanilla latte.'
'Thanks. I'll see you tomorrow, no doubt.'
'Have a nice day Doctor Montgomery.'
She took a sip of the coffee as she crossed back across the road to the Center. She never asked herself why she drank vanilla lattes. She never used to, she didn't have much of a sweet tooth, but since she'd been in L.A. she found herself ordering them more and more often. She decided to put it down to a pleasant sense of nostalgia, mainly because anything else would have been too difficult to contemplate. Although not that difficult, she supposed, the past was the past, and that was where it belonged.
As soon as she stepped through the doors to reception, she heard her name being called. 'Addison. Addison, finally you're here.'
'What do you mean Dell? It's barely a quarter to nine.'
'There's been someone calling for you, over and over again. She said she'd been trying your cell but it was off and she desperately needed to speak to you. She was… kinda scary actually. I've left you messages.'
'I, uhh… I switched my phone off when I had a bath last night, I guess I forgot to switch it back on again.' She frowned, trying to think of who might be trying to reach her. 'What was their name?'
'It was,' he looked down at his message book, 'a Miranda Bailey. She sounded like… I don't know. Upset.'
Miranda? Miranda upset? In an instant, Addison felt the bonhomie that had been surrounding her that morning turn ice cold. She didn't keep in touch all that much with people in Seattle – Callie, a little (she was godmother to her little girl), Miranda even less, Richard very occasionally, and Derek and Mark had birthday and Christmas card status, but that was it. Miranda would only be calling her if something was wrong. A nervous fear gripped her, and she felt a little sick. What had happened? Who had it happened to?
She turned to Dell, not aware that the colour had drained from her face. 'What number did she leave?'
He read it out. It wasn't the hospital, it must be her home number.
'Write it down and give it to me. And Dell, please can you cancel all my appointments for the next few days, I… I think I may have to go out of town.'
'Out of town? Where?'
'Seattle. I used to work with Miranda Bailey at Seattle Grace.'
'Oh, okay. Is there anything else I can do? You're not looking so good, Addison. Do you want a coffee or something?'
She reached out instinctively and grasped her vanilla latte. She took a sip, and momentarily, she felt a little better. 'No, I'm all right. I just need to speak to Miranda. And… could you start looking up flights to Seattle for me, just in case?'
She hurried to her office, and shut the door behind her. She realised as she sat down that she was on the brink of hyperventilating, and she took deep breaths to try to calm herself down. Every scenario that ran through her head was awful. The idea that something may have happened to Derek, or Mark was just…
She looked down at the coffee, and as always, it invoked a myriad of emotions, but today, the most overwhelming one was that she hoped nothing had happened to him either.
Of course, the only way to stop her mind racing was to call Miranda. With a slightly shaking hand, she dialled the number Dell had scrawled down for her.
'Hello?'
'Miranda? Miranda, it's Addison, what's happened? What's wrong?'
'Oh Addison, thank God you called. I've been trying to get hold of you.'
'I know, I'm sorry. What is it?'
'Addison, I'm sorry to have to be the one to tell you, but there was a car accident this morning, Callie… Callie died.'
'Oh my God.' Numbness spread through her body. Callie. Callie? God, not Callie. Immediately the recriminations started in her head, she should have kept in better touch, called more often. 'How?' she asked shakily.
'She was on her way to work, taking Sophia over to Mark's, and a truck hit the car. We don't know why or how or anything like that yet. She… she died instantly.'
Slowly, Miranda's words filtered through the fog of shock and grief in Addison's mind. 'Sophia? Sophia was in the car? Is she…?'
'She's fine. She was a bit shaken up at first, but she's asleep now. She doesn't know about her mum yet. I've got her with me at the moment.'
'Where's Mark?'
'In no fit state to be looking after a child right now, I think he's still at the hospital. Derek's going to take him to the funeral home later to – to make arrangements.'
Addison could hear that Miranda was crying, and then she saw a tear of her own splash down on the desk. 'Well, I'll be there as soon as I can. I've got someone looking into flights for me as we speak. Where shall I go?'
'To my house. You have my address?'
'Somewhere. I'll call you when I land.'
'Thank you Addison, and please come as soon as you can. We need you here.'
