oOoOo
Addison's head is spinning by the time she reaches the empty on-call room. She leans forward, losing her lunch in the trash can before collapsing onto the bottom bunk bed. She didn't care that she was sobbing, she couldn't help it. That poor child! The fact that she had a laundry list of injuries couldn't begin to compare to the fact that she'd possibly been taken from her parents. The idea of this child being alone and scared in the world, on top of her injuries, only made her heart ache for her own child. Addison grabbed the pillow, holding it to her chest as she sobbed brokenly, letting a long forgotten name fall from her lips like a whispered prayer,
"Abigail…where are you?"
She cried until she heard the door to the on-call room open; much to her chagrin, it was Meredith Grey and Cristina Yang.
"Oh…Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd, I didn't-"
"Please Grey, and I'm not a Shepherd, not anymore," Addison laughed bitterly as she stood, wiping her tears, though she whipped around when Meredith reached out to grab her hand.
"Addison, are you okay?" Meredith looked genuinely concerned as she looked at Addison.
"I'm fine, Grey, now leave me the hell alone,"
"I just-"
"Haven't you done enough already!? I mean, wasn't I humiliated enough when you slept with my husband at prom and made him yell at me in front of the entire hospital when you were dating the vet? Oh, what about when I had the pleasure of finding your panties in Derek's coat pocket? Today, just today Grey, leave me alone. I've already lost enough; you won Derek, can't you just let me mourn the loss of…nevermind just, stay out of my way Meredith," Addison said through gritted teeth as she snatched away from Meredith before storming off, slamming the door behind her.
"O-kay, what the hell was that about?" Cristina stares at the now closed door in shock.
"I, I don't know," Meredith frowned.
"Do you think it's because of the divorce?" Meredith shook her head slowly.
"No, this was different; she was saying a name before we came in,"
"She was? I didn't hear her say-"
"I did; it was barely above a whisper…Abigail I think,"
"Abigail? Why would she be crying over someone named Abigail?"
"I don't know; maybe it was a patient," Meredith shrugged.
"Mm…nah, Montgomery doesn't strike me as one to cry over patients,"
"She does work with babies and small children Cristina,"
"No; Montgomery's not a crier,"
"Well whatever it is must be pretty terrible," Meredith said as she stored the name in her head. Maybe Derek would know why Addison was crying over someone named Abigail.
oOoOo
Mark Sloan would rather not be working today; he should've followed his first instinct and taken the day off. He climbs out of bed, leaving his busty brunette partner still fast asleep. He'd slept with this one on multiple occasions, so she knew what to do when she woke up. There was nothing of any real value in his hotel room, so if she stole anything (not that he thought she would) she'd get nothing more than designer clothes. All of his necessities were either in his car, a safety deposit box at the bank or in his storage unit. He slowly stirred around, gathering his scrubs and signature leather jacket before heading to the shower. By the time he came out of the shower, clad in only a towel, his bedmate was awake and ordering room service. He leans across the bed to greet her with a good morning kiss.
"One day, I'm gonna stop sleeping with you," Callie Torres said as Mark smirked at her.
"Morning to you too Torres; you ready to get this shit day started?" He pulled his scrub top over his head as Callie rolled her eyes at him.
"Are you really gonna pout about today?" Callie stood and stretched her limbs before wrapping the sheets around her.
"My best friends are getting divorced today…"
"Don't you mean best friend? Derek hates you, remember?"
"Don't remind me, especially not today," Mark mutters as he leans forward to tie his shoes.
"Hey, are you okay? I mean, I know today's gotta suck for you but, what about the other stuff you told me, about when you thought Addison was pregnant?"
"I already told you, the test came back negative; she was happy about it," he muttered lowly as Callie gave him a sympathetic pat on the back. She declined to inform him that Addison had just lost a child prior to the pregnancy scare because what Mark needed at the moment was a friend.
"I'm sorry,"
"Yeah, me too…"
Cambridge, October 2005
"I can't thank you enough for staying at the house with her," Derek said as he and Mark packed the last of Addison's things into her range rover.
"You should be the one helping her, not me," Derek sighed.
"I can't go back there Mark, not when I know what happened,"
"So you're gonna let your wife go back there, alone?"
"She's refusing to stay here for whatever reason," Derek rolled his eyes; he was still confused as to why his wife would suddenly want to leave. He couldn't deal with her when she was in a mood, and to Derek, this was definitely a mood.
"Did you ask her?"
"No, she just said she wanted to leave," Mark sighed and shook his head.
"What?"
"You and your wife were viciously attacked in your home nearly a week ago and somebody kidnapped your kid. Your wife suddenly wants to return back to said home and you don't think to question that?"
"Mark, I don't have time for-"
"One day, you're gonna wish you'd paid more attention to your wife," Mark muttered.
"What'd you say?" Derek eyes him suspiciously as Mark shakes his head.
"Nothin Shep; I just…if I were you, I wouldn't let my wife go back to the brownstone,"
"Luckily, I've got a best friend who's willing to stay with her," Derek grinned as Mark smiled back weakly, just as Addison made her way down the front steps.
"You ready?" Addison simply nods, pressing a quick kiss to Derek's lips.
"I'll come by and check on you later tonight; I've got a surgery in an hour," Addison pulls back and stares at Derek in disbelief.
"Are you serious Derek?"
"Addison, don't,"
"Our daughter went missing a week ago and you're already going back to work?"
"I can't just…Abby wouldn't want me to-"
"Abby would want you to actually act like you miss her, not throw yourself into work!"
"Oh, I should be like you then? Sitting around miserable all day?" Derek instantly regretted the words as soon as they tumbled from his mouth.
"Addie, I…"
"And this is exactly why I'm going back to the brownstone, I can cry and be miserable without being judged. My child is missing Derek, so I'm sorry if I don't feel like throwing myself into work because I'm too much of a coward to deal with reality," She doesn't give him an opportunity to say anything else before she's sliding into the passenger side of the range rover as Mark gently closes he the door behind her.
"You're really fucking this up Shep; you need to fix it," He shakes his head at his best friend before climbing into the driver's side and pulling off.
oOoOo
Mark is sullen from the moment he steps foot into the building. He doesn't bother flirting with nurses like he usually does; he doesn't even bother with harassing the interns. What he does do is yell; he yells a lot today. He only starts to feel better when he sees Addison around lunchtime. She looks…fairly happy. She looks like she's at peace with the world and it helps his mood shift, at least until he gets a page from Dr. Bailey.
"Dr. Sloan, so nice of you to join us today; I hope you've left your sour disposition in the plastics department," Dr. Bailey is one of the few people Mark tries not to cross.
"Don't worry Dr. Bailey, I promise to be on my best behavior today," Mark gives that really cute intern, the one who just transferred to Bailey's service, a sultry smirk. That smirk turns into a grin when he notices her cheeks redden.
"Dr. Sloan our patient is a child, not Dr. Rodriguez," Arizona reminds him, causing him to roll his eyes.
"I wouldn't mind being Rodriguez's doctor," He mutters, earning himself a smack on the arm from Callie.
"Glad somebody's able to keep him in check besides Addison; now if you're done ogling my intern, I'd like to get to the case at hand," Mark snaps his attention towards Dr. Bailey.
"Right, sorry; you paged me about the Jane Doe patient?"
"I did; she was initially Dr. Robbins patient but Dr. Torres and I had to step in to oversee other parts of her care. I have to warn you now Sloan that this is a sensitive case,"
"Okay…"
"I mean it Sloan; the patient is a child, a very small child who's been through hell," Mark stares intently as he listens to Dr. Rodriguez or Loren as her badge reads, rattle off her laundry list of injuries.
"Jesus Christ; where the hell are the parents?"
"We don't know; the police are treating this as either a runaway or a kidnapping case," The words nearly floor Mark.
"Did, did you say kidnapping case?" Loren nods, though she tilts her head to the side as she studies him.
"Mark, are you okay?" Callie's hand is gently placed on his bicep as he blinks himself out of thoughts from long ago.
"Uh, yeah; I don't do so well on kidnapping cases, those are the worst,"
"Didn't know you actually had feelings about things other than sex Sloan,"
"Oh I've got plenty things to feel, just ask Torres," Arizona rolls her eyes in disgust, but not before sending Callie a look of disappointment.
"What the hell was that look about?" Mark mutters.
"Don't ask, now pay attention to the case," Mark focuses his attention on his purpose of being there. Jane Doe has some serious burns and other bruises going on as well as a complicated case of tonsillitis, which causes Mark to let out a low whistle.
"Oh yeah, you were right to page me; those tonsils have gotta come out immediately. I assume you've already booked an OR?"
"She's being prepped as we speak," Dr. Bailey informs him.
"I'll go scrub in and meet you all in there," Bailey nods as she, Callie, and Arizona head off to make sure Jane Doe is ready for surgery.
Mark looks over Jane Doe's charts one final time, glancing over at the new intern every now and then.
"I've been here for a while now and I know all of Bailey's interns and I have never seen you before,"
"I just transferred to her service," Her voice is soft as she brushes her hair behind her ears.
"Hm. who was your resident before you ended up on Bailey's service?" He watches as Loren pauses, tenses to be more exact before turning to face him.
"I was Dr. Ingle's resident,"
"Ah, Ingles; exactly why did she quit the program?" Loren shrugs her shoulders, carefully avoiding Mark's gaze.
"I don't know; we never got an explanation about it. The chief just told us that she'd left the program and that we were being reassigned,"
"Well, you're lucky; Bailey's one of the best damn residents there is. You stand a better chance at passing your intern exams and your boards,"
"That's what everyone keeps telling me,"
"It's the truth; now, what do you say we go and save this kid's life huh?" Loren nods and reluctantly follows Mark down the hall and into surgery.
Manhattan:
"He's eventually gonna find out y'know," Mark glances over at Addison as they pull away from Derek's mother's house.
"At this point Mark, I really don't give a damn," Addison's face is pressed into the glass of the car window. She's brooding, so he knows she doesn't mean those words.
"You care, you're just-"
"Y'know, I heard his mother talking earlier today,"
"And, what'd she say?" Mark gently reaches across the console to rub Addison's thigh.
"Nothing, it's not important; did you know that my parents put out a $500,000 dollar reward for word on Abigail's disappearance?" Mark stares at Addison like she's grown a third head.
"What? Are you serious?"
"Yeah, that's what I heard Derek and his mother talking about. She thinks I'm being pathetic Mark. She thinks that just because Derek can get out of bed and be fully functioning that I should be too," Mark reaches out and gently strokes her thigh.
"I'm sorry Red; she shouldn't have said that,"
"Thank you!"
"But you should've at least told Derek about it," Addison sighs heavily and shifts so that Mark can't touch her.
"I get that your mad Addie but-"
"I'm not mad Mark, I'm pissed off! Someone took my child, someone took my little girl and Carolyn thinks that I should be able to do anything besides lie in bed and…I'm barely alive right now; where is she? Why would someone take her like that what if…oh, God what if she's-"
"Hey, don't say that; she's not dead, alright?"
"Mark it's been a week and we haven't heard anything; you know what police say about cases like this,"
"I'm not believing it; I'm refusing to believe it until they…and even then I won't believe it until I'm looking at her,"
"We shouldn't even be having this conversation," Addison sighs, still keeping her eyes focused on the quickly moving scenery in front of her as Hoboken slowly turns into Manhattan.
"You're right, we shouldn't be talking like she's…but don't worry, we won't be talking about this much longer because they're gonna find her,"
"You think so Mark?"
"I promise you; she's a fighter, just like her mom. Wherever she is, I'm sure Abby is okay,"
God he hopes she's okay.
Seattle:
"You were good in there Rodriguez," Mark gives the cute intern a smile as they scrub out of surgery.
"Thanks; I'd heard that you were good-"
"Trust me, I'm good at lots of things," Loren blushes profusely but manages to maintain a level of professionalism.
"What I meant, was that I heard that you were a good surgeon, the best in your field," Loren is quick to emphasize the word surgeon.
"Well lucky for you, you heard right," Mark is leaning against the wall watching her.
"Dr. Robbins says I should stay away from you, so did Izzie Stevens," Loren is very focused on scrubbing out.
"Eh, Stevens is going off of the rumor mill and Robbins just needs to some good di-"
"Sorry Sloan, but I'm not a fan; Rodriguez, go page Dr. Shepherd and let him know that we've finished the surgery," Loren nods, leaving Mark alone with Arizona.
"So, you play for the other team huh?" Arizona rolls her eyes at him, not bothering to respond just as Dr. Bailey comes into the scrub room.
"You just don't know how to leave well enough alone, do you?" Mark sighs heavily and shakes his head.
"I haven't done anything, honest," Mark shrugs.
"You're the reason the chief created that no fraternizing rule y'know,"
"Wouldn't be the first time it's happened,"
"You just don't get it, do you? You're bad news around here Sloan; you slept with your best friend's wife-"
"Whoa, if Derek had just done his goddamned job and come home to his wife and kid then-" Mark pauses when he realizes his misstep.
"What the hell are you talking about? Addison and Derek don't…oh, oh; that's why the chief took Addison off the case," Bailey's just put two and two together.
"Shit, Dr. Bailey I-" Mark runs a hand across his face and sighs heavily.
"Dr. Sloan, Mark…"
"They don't…we don't talk about it," Mark looks down at the floor when he speaks and for a split second, Bailey seems sympathetic.
"I guess I don't know you at all Sloan,"
"Nobody does," Mark mutters.
Chapter 8 to follow…
