Sorry for the delay. I have been hanging out with the 3D people and having a life this week.
I listened Christmas music on the way to work this morning. Yes, already. It has inspired an idea for a new story, which has been playing out in my head. But I should probably finish this one first... :-)
The song in for this chapter is by Bachman-Turner Overdrive. There is no real meaning to extract from it... it's just a fun song.
Chapter 4
Takin' Care of Business
You get up every morning from your 'larm clock's warning
Take the 8:15 into the city
There's a whistle up above and people pushin' people shovin'
And the girls who try to look pretty
And if you train's on time, you can get to work by nine
And start your slaving job to get your pay
But if you ever get annoyed, look at me; I'm self-employed
I love to work at nothing all day
"Nice hat," Derek mocked as Richard stepped into the elevator about a week later.
"Shut up."
"What are you doing here?"
"I'm going back to work. What does it look like I'm doing?" Richard replied.
"You're not cleared for surgery."
"Just shut it, will you? I've been sitting at home for three days watching Oprah give things away on TV. Oprah, Derek! It's always her or that dancing lady or those other four obnoxious women on TV. Nothing else! It's enough to drive me mad. You clear me now, or I'll hurt you. I'll put you in a room for three days and make you watch them all!"
"If you wanted me to clear you so soon, maybe you should have thought about that before you gave Chief to Burke and invited Satan to Seattle."
"Satan?" Richard asked.
"You know exactly who I'm talking about. Why did you ask her to come here?"
"You know just as well as I do that Addie is the best there is in her specialty, and with a case that was a risky as the one she performed – successfully, might I add – I didn't want to take any chances. And, if you'll recall, you never actually told me what happened between the two of you, so how was I to know that you were so against her coming out here?"
"How long is she going to be here?" Derek asked, avoiding the question.
"I asked her to stay for a few weeks or so. I want her to keep an eye on our TTTS case, and we have a pediatric attending on leave, so we could use the extra hands. She graciously agreed, despite the workload she must have in New York. Such a nice lady."
Derek glared at his former mentor. "I always knew you favored her," he said, only half joking.
"Don't be so dense, Shep. She didn't come all the way out here for work. And if you would just open your eyes and stop being so damn stupid, you would be able to see that."
They rode in silence the rest of the way up. As Richard stepped off the elevator, Derek told him, "I'm not clearing you for surgery yet."
"Fine, then. I'll just catch up on my paperwork." And with that, he tipped his hat at Derek and walked away.
- - - - - - - - - -
"Alright, people. Rounds in five minutes. Get a move on!" Miranda Bailey's voice echoed through the locker room that morning.
"So, heard anything out of McDreamy since he came a' calling the other night?" Cristina asked Meredith.
"Nope. Nothing. Not even a simple 'Good morning.' And Bailey has done everything she can to keep me off his service."
"Hmmm…"
"Yeah. He said he needed time, so…"
"How much time?"
"I don't know."
"Do you think he'll go back to her?"
"I don't know."
"She is his wife… I wouldn't be surprised if he did."
"Cristina! This isn't helping, you know!"
"Sorry."
"I know this is going to sound really selfish, but I really hope he doesn't. Go back to her, I mean. I know they're married… but he didn't even bother to tell me about her in over two months. She can't mean that much to him if he never said anything about her. And if I were him, I don't think I could forgive her for what she did."
"Grey!" came Dr. Bailey's booming voice. "Might I suggest that you spend a little less time analyzing the state of the Shepherds' marriage and a little more time focusing on rounds? Now! Let's go!"
Meredith and Cristina quickly hurried out of the locker room to catch up with Dr. Bailey and the other three interns. After finishing rounds, Dr. Bailey quickly gave out their assignments for the day.
"O'Malley, Burke. Karev, Shepherd. Grey, Montgomery-Shepherd. Yang, pit. And Stevens, you're with me today."
Meredith got a panicked look on her face. "Uh, Dr. Bailey, can I please have a different assignment? I'll take anything."
"Grey. Whatever is going on in your personal life, I don't care. When you are in this hospital, you will act in a professional manner. And today, that means working with Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, whether you like it or not."
I've been takin' care of business (everyday)
Takin' care of business (every way)
I've been takin' care of business (it's all mine)
Takin' care of business and workin' overtime
Work out
- - - - - - - - - -
"Good morning, Dr. Grey," Addison said as Meredith approached her up in the NICU.
"Hello," Meredith said shortly.
"Today should be a pretty easy day. I have a couple of c-sections scheduled and a few cases to consult on, but they seem fairly straightforward. If we finish early enough, you may be able to catch part of Dr. Burke's triple bypass this afternoon. So… let's get started, shall we?"
"Fine."
"I take it he told you the whole story? Is that why you're being short with me today?"
"Dr. Shepherd, with all due respect--"
"Listen. I'm going to be honest with you: I'm not particularly thrilled to be working with my husband's mistress all day, but since neither of us has a choice in the matter, let's get this out of the way now: When we are at this hospital, we are colleagues. Whatever is going on in our personal lives has to be put aside. Our top priority is our patients. Are we understood?"
"Yes."
"Alright then. Let's go."
- - - - - - - - - -
"Dr. Shepherd."
"Dr. Bailey."
The two doctors greeted each other as they stood side by side at the nurses' station at the end of the day, scribbling the finishing notes in their respective charts. Addison had decided almost immediately upon arriving at Seattle Grace that she like Dr. Bailey. Her no-nonsense attitude with the interns was something that Addison greatly admired.
"How did things go today?"
"Pretty well. I had a couple of c-sections, and they both went well."
"That's good to hear. Anything else I should… be aware of?"
"Dr. Bailey, why don't you just ask what it is you really want to know? What is it with people here always beating around the bush?"
"What makes you think that there is some underlying motive to my questions?"
Addison looked at her and raised an eyebrow.
"Okay, fine… I give up. I know I don't know you very well, but I just wanted to make sure that everything went okay with Grey today. Even though you're only here for a couple weeks, my interns better be treating you right. I know how they can be when I let them out of my sight. And given how fast gossip spreads around here…"
Addison let out a small laugh. "Tell me about it. But really, they have been fine. Even Grey."
"Good. They better keep behaving that way."
There was a long pause while the two women continued writing in their charts. Addison scrawled her signature at the bottom of the page, closed the chart, and gave it to the nurse behind the desk to file.
"Good night, Dr. Bailey."
"Good night. Oh, and Addison… please let me know if you need anything, okay?"
Addison smiled genuinely for the first time since she arrived in Seattle. "I will. Thank you." She threw her purse over her shoulder as she headed out to her car to go back to her hotel, hoping to finally get a good night's sleep.
If it were easy as fishin', you could be a musician
If you could make sounds loud or mellow
Get a second-hand guitar, changes are you'll go far
If you get with the right bunch of fellows
People see you have fun, just a-laying in the sun
Tell them that you like it this way
It's the work we all avoid, and we're all self-employed
We love to work at nothing all day
- - - - - - - - - -
It was about a week later, and things between Addison and Derek hadn't changed much. Except for the occasional "hello" in the hallways and a few mutual consults, they had hardly spoken. Every time Addison had tried to start a conversation with him, something always "conveniently" came up. After being especially annoying and persistent yesterday, Derek had snapped at her and told her that he needed some space. Are you kidding me? she had thought to herself. You moved across the freakin' country over two months ago to get space! If that's not enough, then I don't know what is.
She was still frustrated about this when she got to the hospital that morning. And then, to top things off, Richard had informed her that he would like to have a talk with her that afternoon. She had no idea what it was about, but she figured that part of it would have to do with how she and Derek were doing, and quite frankly, she was not in the mood to discuss that with him. Or anyone, for that matter.
Her morning was spent consulting on a few new patients and performing an emergency c-section. The operation went over fairly smoothly, and mother and son were doing just fine. At least something is going smoothly today. It was almost 1:00, so she headed down to the cafeteria to grab some lunch before her meeting with Richard at 2:00. After paying for her salad, she sat down at a table in the corner of the outdoor cafeteria, which she hoped was far enough away from the table of gossiping interns that they wouldn't notice her sitting all alone. Despite the fact that she was a world-class surgeon, she still remembered what it was like to be the awkward geek with braces and a lisp who ate lunch alone every day.
From her spot in the corner, Addison saw Derek walk in and head over to the coffee cart to get his afternoon jolt. She could also see the interns suddenly stop what they were doing and look over at him. Yang pointed over at Derek and said something to Meredith, and a moment later, Meredith was walking over to him. Addison sat up straighter in her chair, ready to watch their interaction. She watched gingerly as Meredith began talking to him with a dopey grin on her face and then started flirting with him. This is like watching a horrific car accident. I don't want to see what happens, but I can't seem to avert my attention. She expected her husband to be happy to see his intern, but what happened next surprised her. Derek took his coffee from the vendor and began to leave the cafeteria. He turned around when Meredith called his name, and although Addison couldn't hear what he was saying, she saw the expression on his face. He was annoyed and pissed off, and Addison's insides did a little happy dance when she saw Meredith sulk back to her table a few seconds later. Maybe there's still some hope for me after all…
Takin' care of business (every day)
Takin' care of business (every way)
Takin' care of business (it's all mine)
Takin' care of business and workin' overtime
- - - - - - - - - -
"Hello, Richard," Addison greeted the Chief as she stepped into his office.
"Addison. Have a seat," he said, gesturing to the leather chairs in front of his desk. "How are you?"
"I'm doing okay. How about you?"
"Just fine. So… how is everything between you and Derek?"
"It's extremely… okay. What did you want to see me about?" she asked, changing the subject away from her and her husband.
He reached over and pulled an envelope from a stack on his desk and handed it to her.
"What is this, Richard?"
"I want you to stay," he said as Addison pulled a contract from the envelope.
"You're kidding, right? Richard, I--"
"Look… in Seattle, you can be front-page news. With your reputation and the money I'll put into promoting you, Seattle Grace will become one of the foremost neonatal hospitals west of Manhattan."
"That's really flattering, but it's not what I'm concerned about. Derek and I have hardly spoken since I arrived. He calls me 'Satan.' Aside from that, I don't really know where we stand and where this is going, and if it ends up not working out… I just don't think I could handle being here."
"Then don't stay for him, Addie. Stay for me. Stay for yourself."
"It's not that easy, Richard. I can't just pick up my life and move here. I have a job back in New York."
"Addison, I spoke to your Chief the other day. He told me that you gave him your resignation before you left. Said that you were really sorry, but you couldn't stay in New York anymore and that he should find a replacement for you."
She sighed and looked away. Everything he just said was true. She had no intention of moving back to New York. It was her home, but it held too many horrible memories, and she couldn't stand the thought of ever living there again, no matter what happened between her and Derek.
"Be that as it may, I… I have to talk to Derek before I can give you an answer."
Richard sighed heavily and crossed his arms, staring at her from across his desk.
"Don't think I'm not grateful for this, because I am. It's a very generous offer, and I would love to accept it and work for you again. But I have to do this. For my own peace of mind."
"Okay. Do what you have to do, Addison."
We be takin' care of business…
Welp... there's chapter 4. Are we still liking it? If so, chapter 5 will be up in a couple days. If not... chapter 5 will still be up in a couple days. :-)