Hi, guys! Thank you for the reviews and sorry for the delay, I hope you enjoy this part.
Chapter III
::Addie, it's me. How are you holding up? I guess you want to be alone, but please, call me if you need anything, okay? I'm here for you, Addie… I… I kinda miss him too.::
::Addison, it's Richard. Just checking up on you. Are you sure you're ready to come back to the hospital tomorrow?::
::Addison, it's Izzie. How are you? Stupid question… you're sad… oh my God! I'm so sorry... okay, scratch that. Call me if you need to talk. Otherwise… I'll see you tomorrow.::
::Addie, it's me. Weisz and I are worried. Honey, why don't you come back to New York for awhile? Then we can talk… let us take care of you.::
::Addie, it's Derek again. Could you just give me a call? I'm worried about you and the baby.::
::Addison, hi, it's Preston. I just wanted to let you know I have the day off today… so if you feel like doing something, hanging out with a friend, give me a call.::
::Addison Forbes Montgomery-Sloan, you better pick up the damn phone at some point… we are all worried about you, so please stop ignoring all your friends and TALK to someone... stubborn…::
::Really, Addie, come on. You gotta call back, okay?::
::Doctor Montgomery? It's Alex Karev. Listen, I know we're not friends or anything… just… Mark… Doctor Sloan was kind of my mentor… okay, I don't usually do these things… just call me if you need anything, okay?::
::Addison, turns out I don't know what to do with my day off, so… just call me back, okay?::
::Addison, sweetie, we are all worried about you. Richard is pacing in front of me and ruining a rather good carpet… why don't you just come to dinner? We can talk… about anything… about Mattie… just please call us back, Addison.::
::Addison? It's Meredith… Derek is really worried, we are all really worried. Mark wouldn't want you to be like this… just call him back, okay?::
::Addison? It's me, Jimmy. Look, I just wanted to talk to you, check on you and my nephew… call me okay? My brother loved you and the baby Addison, you gotta take care of the both of you now.::
The messages went on and on. Earlier that day, she had gotten calls from her brother Roan, Mark's mother Abigail, a couple more from Derek, Preston and Richard. Another threat from Miranda, then Savvy and Roan again… she knew she had to answer at some point. She just wasn't ready yet. She knew they were all expecting her to unload, to cry her eyes out about Mark, to finally break down and move on. She knew they meant well… but she just couldn't do it anymore. She was tired, of crying, of feeling the way she felt. So, after Preston and Derek have helped her move, and the Webbers and Bailey left, she had just gone to sleep. Richard had given her an extra week off after that, to rest and get her life back on track. She had meant to get in touch with her friends, but she never found the strength. And she knew they were trying to respect her privacy and that was why they weren't banging at the door at the moment. Tomorrow she was scheduled to go back to work, and they were getting increasingly worried with her silence.
All Addison had been doing was pretty much staying in bed, trying to wrap her mind about the notion that she was now a widow. Waking every single day to rush to the bathroom and empty her stomach, she also had had to start wrapping her mind around being a single mother. She caressed her stomach fondly… she thanked God every single day that Mark had given her this last parting gift, without their son she wasn't sure she would have been able to make it.
"Addison!!!! Addison!!!!" a rather too familiar voice broke her reverie. That, and a rather loud banging on her front door. She considered not opening, since she was pretty sure she looked like crap, but he was just yelling over and over her name again and she was starting to worry her neighbors might call the police. She tied her hair in a ponytail as fast she could, put on her slippers and her robe and run to the door. When she opened she saw him… pissed as hell.
"What are you insane?!" he demanding, walking past her into the house without even been invited. She just closed the door and turned to face him, leaning on the wall.
"What?"
"You have been holed up here for a whole week, Addison! People have been calling you every hour and still you didn't call anybody back! You didn't even call Roan back…"
"You talked to my brother?"
"Yes and…"
"You hate my brother."
"I know I hate your brother, and I was so worried about you I actually had to talk to him, so you can understand why I'm so upset." Addison sighed and walked over to her couch, sitting down heavily and wrapping her legs with her arms.
"I'm sorry Derek… I didn't mean to scare anyone… I just needed some time to myself to… deal."
"Addie…" Derek sighed too and went to join her in her couch, "I know this is hard." He started, taking her hand in his, "But you can't do this ever again, okay? You don't get to disappear, we were all really worried. We didn't know if you were okay, something could have happened with the baby…"
"I can take care of my own child!" Addison proclaimed defensively, removing her hand from Derek's.
"I know you can. I mean, you shouldn't be alone, just in case."
"I know what you mean, Derek. I'm sorry, I just…"
"Mood swings?" he asked, a smile dancing in his lips.
"I DO NOT have mood swings."
"Seriously?"
"Shut up."
"Ok, I'm shutting up about the mood swings. But, I can't leave until I complete my mission."
"Mission?" Addison asked, raising an eyebrow. This doesn't sound good…
"Yes, mission. That's what you get when you disappear and don't talk to your friends. Richard was ready to come here and tear the door down and give you the lecture of a lifetime."
"I'm sure."
"Burke was actually coming over, I convinced him you were probably not up to visits yet and that maybe I should come first."
"I bet Preston loved that."
"Yeah, but smugness aside, we've been through a lot together. I figured I had a better chance of getting you to open the door."
"Derek, you were shouting like a madman, I had no choice but to open the door."
"Just be thankful I managed to stop Bailey!"
"Miranda was coming?" she asked, suddenly a tiny bit scared.
"Like hell she was coming. She was about ready to kick you senseless. I had to remind her you were pregnant, therefore unkickable. I couldn't come up with an excuse for her not to smack your head, though, so I'll watch out tomorrow."
"Good to know." She smiled, suddenly very tired. Surprisingly enough, she was rather glad Derek was here now. Maybe he was right, maybe she shouldn't be doing this all by herself, and maybe she should let her friends in.
"What are you thinking?" he asked, a soft smile playing on his lips.
"Right now? That I'm glad you're here." She smiled and he smiled back, leaning forward to kiss her forehead.
"Good. When was the last time you ate?"
"Derek…"
"I mean it, Addie. You have to keep up your strength." He smiled and instinctively went to put his hand over her stomach, but stop in midair. She looked into his eyes, saw the doubt there. She knew what he was feeling. Once upon a time this would not have been awkward, and this would have been their child, not hers and Mark's. She smiled to him, he was still Derek, and so she took his hand on hers and laid it on top of her stomach. His smile grew even wider, specially when they both heard a loud growl from her stomach.
"See? Even Matt agrees with me, you gotta eat something."
"How did you know his name is Matt?" she asked as Derek stood up and went to her kitchen.
"Burke spilled his guts. I really like it by the way. Addison, you have nothing in here." He announced after a quick survey of her kitchen shelves and refrigerator.
"I have some stuff."
"Not good enough, I'm taking you to a restaurant and then we're going shopping for some real food. Go get dressed."
"I don't want to go out, Derek."
"Then next time, do grocery shopping before I come over. Go get dressed."
"Derek…"
"Addison!"
"Alright, alright. I'm going." She stood up and wavered on her feet, causing Derek to rush to her side.
"Addie? Are you okay?" he asked, helping her back to sitting in the couch.
"Yeah… give me a second." She whispered with her eyes closed. A minute later she opened them again, breathing slowly.
"Are you okay? You need me to take you to the hospital?"
"No, it's okay Derek. I just got a little dizzy… that's normal."
"You sure?"
"I'm an OB, Derek!"
"Okay, okay, you are sure. Let me help you get up…" he put his hand on her back to steady her, taking her hand with his free one, "You can go on your own?"
"Yes, I'm okay, Derek." She smiled and stated walking to the stairs. Then she stopped, turned around and walked back to Derek, throwing her arms around his neck and giving him a kiss in the cheek.
"What was that for?"
"Thank you. For coming to check on us."
"Anytime, Addie." He gave her a content smile and this time she was already on the steps when his voice stopped her, "Addie?"
"Yeah?" she turned.
"About… Mark. If you need to…"
"Don't." she stopped her, looking at her feet, "I can't. Not yet."
"Alright. Then let's just do lunch, okay?"
"Okay." She smiled, walking the rest of the way to her room.
"So, where's Derek?" Izzie Stevens asked as her friend, Meredith Grey, checked over her charts.
"I don't know…he said he was going to try and check on Addison." Meredith replied uneasily. Almost two years after Addison and Derek's divorce, she still felt awkward around the red-headed attending. In those two years a lot of things had change. For instance, Meredith and Derek were together, a real couple this time and made no secret about it. He spent almost every night at her house, opting to spend some time alone at the trailer from time to time. And Addison, obviously had dated, married, gotten pregnant and subsequently lost Mark Sloan. She felt bad for Addison, she didn't deserve this, nobody did. Still, she couldn't help but feeling uneasy… Derek felt it was his responsibility to be there for her, even if Addison was no longer his to take care of.
"God, I hope he talks to her." Izzie continued, oblivious to Meredith's thoughts, "I've called her but she never picked up or called back. I was planning to go there myself after my shift… but Addison trusted me to look after things here for her, I couldn't just leave her patients." Meredith smiled, she knew Izzie and Addison had gotten closed, as Doctor Montgomery had been instrumental in getting Izzie back into the hospital after the Denny debacle. Izzie had decided to follow into Addison's footsteps and was more often than not working at the NICU. Meredith remembered how Alex and Christina had mocked Izzie in the beginning for getting signed into the "V-Squad". That was, before they realized that Izzie got to be in every single surgery Addison performed. Izzie had just stuck her tongue at them and mentioned the cool procedure Addison would be performing that morning in an unborn baby.
"She'll be thankful you took such a good care of things for her while she was gone." Meredith assured her friend.
"Yeah, well, I need to convince her things won't collapse around here if she takes it easy. You know, with the baby?"
"Yeah. I didn't even know she was pregnant before Mark died." Meredith commented.
"She found out about two weeks before the accident." Izzie shared.
"Seriously? And she wasn't telling people?"
"Well, people don't usually tell before the first trimester is over. I don't think many people knew, although I don't know how they missed Mark's silly grin, it was like it was glued to the man's face! I know they told the Chief, Bailey probably, Burke, Mark mentioned telling Derek…"
"Derek knew?" Meredith interjected. Izzie's eyes widened, probably just realizing what she had let slipped.
"Oh…"
"Spill Izzie!"
"Okay, okay! All I know is he knew, because I overheard Mark telling Addison that Derek gave him 'a talk' about it."
"A talk?"
"The whole, 'you better don't mess up or you'll answer to me' kind?"
"Seriously?"
"Seriously."
"So Derek knew."
"Meredith, think nothing of it, okay? That was like three days before the accident, and they were not telling people yet. He probably figured it was their news to share."
"Yeah, okay, never mind. I have to check on my patients." Meredith left a regretful Izzie behind, wondering if maybe she was right to be worried about Addison and Derek after all.
