>Izzie

I'm currently reading the newspaper to Addison. Nothing at all important is going on in the world. I think she'd like the political cartoon that's in the paper today.

It's been almost two weeks since Addison was shot and there has been little to no improvement in her condition. She stabilized somewhat enough to take her off the respirator during the day. We found that she was in distress at a few days ago because she was trying to breathe on her own. We were ecstatic at this thinking that it was good news, a good sign that she was breathing on her own.

I suppose that it is better than nothing. We'll take what we can get under the circumstances. At night she is still having too much trouble with the breathing and she has to be put back on. That's not to say she doesn't get any oxygen during the day. She has a thin plastic tube with inserts in each nostril giving her the good stuff.

"Let's see our country is even more down the crapper than we were a week ago," I comment, "Big surprise there with our current leader. The weather is the same; ooh we had a full day of uninterrupted sunshine yesterday. You would have liked that. You always seemed more like a summer to me than a spring."

I glance up at her and sigh at seeing nothing. I know it's only been two weeks and we can't expect miracles of someone who was shot in the back of the head. There's no telling what kind of brain damage she must have. I hear a knock on the doorframe and I look up to see George coming in with a picnic basket. Christina is right behind him with some drinks. I put down the paper and help them with the stuff. It's Wednesday again and our annual lunch is about to begin.

"I have your favorite," Christina comments to Addison holding up a Mocha Latte, "I think we figured out a way to give you some."

Christina pulls a plastic syringe out of her pocket and pulls some of the latte into it and then proceeds to inject it into Addison's feeding tube

"Should we be injecting caffeine directly into her system," George asks

"More of a caffeine jolt that way," Christina smiles

She puts her stuff away and sits down. George and I are on one side while Christina is on the other.

"So have we figured out what we're going to tell Meredith," Christina asks taking a bite of her salad

"She's been gone so long I don't know where to begin," George comments digging into his tuna salad sandwich, "I mean is this the first thing we spring on her with her being gone for six months?"

"If she doesn't already know," Izzie points out

"Wouldn't she have brought it up to us in one of her many, many phone calls," George comments

I have to smile inwardly at this statement. George is so over his infatuation with Meredith that it isn't even funny. I think his friendship with Addison helped with that. He was able to see what a real woman was like, not just the fantasy of one. George sometimes seems rather annoyed with Meredith at times.

"One would think that she'd bring it up if she knew," I point out, "We'll just have to cross that bridge when we come it."

"The bridge is in sight," we here Alex exclaim as he enters the room in a rush

"What do you mean," Christina asks

"Meredith is here."

"What," we exclaim in unison

"She's not supposed to be back for two more days," Christina exclaims, "And why the hell would she come here first?"

"I don't know but don't you think we should get to her before she finds out in some other matter."

"Someone needs to stay with Addison," I say rising to my feet

"I'll stay," Alex says softly

"Okay, but don't eat my sandwich burger boy."

Alex salutes us and we are off and running.

>Meredith

My goodness it's good to be home. Ireland was a wonderful country and there were many talented doctor's but there is nothing like home sweet home, however cliché. As I enter the hospital I immediately notice that something is off. Well the metal detector at the entrance was a new thing but it was more than that.

There is somberness about the hospital that wasn't there before.

"Wow who died," I muttered smiling at my joke but I frowned at the particularly scathing look I received from a nurse whose name I can't quite place, "Okay, maybe not the right time for hospital humor."

I turned at the sound of running feet. I watched my friends running toward me and I was afraid they were going to tackle me but they skid to a halt in front of me.

"Hey, you're back early," Izzie smiled

She was certainly pale looking. I took a good look at my friends and noticed that they all had dark circles under their eyes and looked dead on their feet.

"Have they been giving you guys like triple shifts or what," I ask

"What do you mean," Christina asks hugging me quickly and letting me go since hugs weren't really her thing

Izzie gave me a longer hug and George just patted my shoulder. Odd.

"Have you guys seen you? You look terrible."

They glanced at one another at this statement. They all shrugged simultaneously and turned their attentions back to me.

"How was Ireland," Izzie exclaimed ignoring my question

Interesting.

"It was great but I sure am glad to be home."

"How come you're home two days early," George asks, "We weren't expecting you till Friday and we thought you'd want to sleep when you got home with the jet lag and everything."

They are starting to make me feel like they aren't excited to have me home.

"I was able to catch an earlier flight and I slept most of the way on the plane. Are you guys sure you're okay?"

"Just tired," Izzie answers, "Did you happen to hear any interesting news about anything out here?"

"Like what?"

They all looked at each other. Now I knew something was going on. Before they could react the nurse that had glared earlier ran up to us.

"She's awake," she exclaims

Izzie, Christina and George all have matching shocked expressions on their faces at hearing this news. Who was awake and why do they all care so much?

"Someone call Sheppard an d have him get his ass here now," Izzie yells turning and running the way that they had all run from

George and Christina were hot on her heals and I just followed along. We went to the surgical ICU. They skidded directly into the room and stopped at the side of the bed. Izzie dropped to her knees.

With a start I realized who she was. Addison Sheppard. She was lying in the bed before us hooked up to all kinds of machines with a bandage around her head. Her eyes were open and she was looking around.

"Addison," Izzie asks with more familiarity than I would expect, "Can you hear me?"

Addison turns her attention to Izzie and I step back a little so she doesn't see me. She nods her head at Izzie's question.

"Do you know where you are?"

Addison looks around and then back to Izzie, "Hos…" the rest of her sentence trailed off in a wheeze

"Yes, that's right you're in the hospital," Christina spoke more gently than I'd ever heard, "Do you know who we are?"

Addison nods her head. I once again hear running feet and I turn to see Derek running toward me. With a start I realize he isn't running toward me but to Addison's room. I'm not sure if he even saw me. He runs into the room and drops down next to Addison. He took her hand into his own.

"Do you know who this is," Izzie asks indicating Derek

"Der…husband," Addison manages to get out

A sob escapes Derek at hearing this and he bows his head.

"Do you remember what happened to you," George asks speaking for the first time

He was standing on the other side of the bed gripping Addison's other hand in both of his. She turned her head to him and then looked straight up. She cleared her throat and a cup of water with a straw suddenly appeared at her lips. Alex was the bearer of the cup and Addison took a sip.

I wonder if I stepped off the plane into the twilight zone.

Addison licks her lips and swallows, "...S...shot," she stutters

Shot. She was shot? Was this what Izzie was fishing for when she asked me if I'd heard of any news out here. Was I supposed to know that this woman who was my enemy was shot? Shot by whom? By the bandage around her head I come to the obvious conclusion that she was shot there. No wonder they were asking her a bunch of questions.

What the hell happened?

Sorry if Meredith came off bitchy. I'll try to write her better. But hey, Addison is awake. Woo!