Chance Encountered

Chapter 6

Several hours after she and Derek had talked and the informative and exciting tour he gave her, Addison was exhausted. Completely, and totally exhausted.

Not only had Addison not expected to see Derek here at the hospital, she certainly had not expected such a hectic first day in Seattle. Addison felt like she had been on her feet forever. After the shift she had just experienced, that wasn't very far from the truth.

The neo-natal unit here needed to be completely overhauled and reorganized. Richard had told her to take the rest of the doctors there under her wing and make the unit a well-oiled machine. That was her number one priority. She had a lot of hard work ahead of her.

Not that the doctors already there were not competent. They were. In reality they were extremely good at what they do. But none of them were near her caliber, at least according to Richard.

That was something she was just going to take his word for because the last thing she wanted to come off as, was an arrogant bitch that thinks she is so much better than everyone else.

So her first shift had started out with being handed some cases by another neo-natal attending. The more complicated cases and there were several of them. Addison made her rounds, introducing herself to all of the patients, making her-self familiar with them.

Then she had to scrub in on a few surgeries. Addison had to perform an emergency C-section and scrubbed in on an ectopic pregnancy and delivered a set of twins that were two months premature. They would require constant supervision for the next few weeks but she hoped that they would make it through.

She also had two patients with gestational diabetes, among other problems, that had to be monitored around the clock. And of course, each was a first time mother so they were full of questions. Although, Addison had answered each and every one of them, they would still worry because when pregnant, a hospital stay is not the best thing that could happen to you.

If her day had not been crazy enough, the only thing on her mind (besides work) was a certain neurosurgeon that she had met at a bar.

Addison couldn't stop thinking about how devastatingly handsome he was or how wonderful his cologne smelled. She thought about his crystal blue eyes looking into hers this morning while they were talking with Richard and Dr. Burke and how it made her knees a little weak. His gaze had been so intense and had not wavered throughout the morning while they were taking that tour.

So these were the thoughts occupying her mind as she sat on a gurney in an empty hallway. Addison had just needed a moment to process and this place was as good as any. So she snatched it up for herself. Her body had collapsed down upon the gurney and Addison could feel that tiredness, lack of energy in every part of her body.

But even though her day so far had been busy it had been nice. Settling into a routine with the people who worked here already was really nice. Plus, she was a surgeon and surgeons loved to live in the fast lane. Otherwise they wouldn't be surgeons.

However, she still didn't know what to do about the thoughts she was having about Derek.

She would be lying if she said she wasn't attracted to him. The night before had been really nice. They had talked and laughed about everything and nothing at the same time. He had taken her to a world where nothing really mattered and there was nothing to worry about. How he had accomplished such a feat without a drop of alcohol and in such a short amount of time was truly remarkable.

They had talked into the wee hours of the morning. Addison had been so comfortable with him. She had felt like she had known him for years. His smile had been so kind and inviting and it made her heart melt and all she could do was smile back.

Even though she had been so comfortable and relaxed with him, she had not given him her phone number. The reason she hadn't was because she had just met him and no matter how handsome he was, she had never been comfortable giving out her phone number to men she met in bars. However, the disappointed look on his face had made her want to change her mind and give it to him against her personal rule.

Ever since she had left the bar Derek had been on her mind. He was all she thought about. She had kept wondering if she would see him again. She had thought about how nice it had been to talk to him and how dazzling his smile had been. And every time she thought about him her heart would start to beat a little faster.

She had no idea what that meant or how to handle it. She was not sure how to handle the nervous feelings she got around him or the affect his blue eyes had on her.

The last thing she needed in her life was romance especially an office romance. It would just be too complicated.

Addison just had to be professional and ignore the tingling sensation she felt when he looked at her. She wouldn't think about his smile or how soft his hair must be. Addison would just stop thinking these things.

"Hey."

Addison looked up to see the very man that plagued her thoughts.

"Hey." She replied.

"May I join you?" Derek asked. He looked as tired as she felt. He had dark circles under his eyes, his scrubs were rumpled and his hair was sticking up all over the place.

"Sure." Addison said with a small smile at his appearance. He looked kind of cute.

Derek walked over to where she was sitting; he walked as if his whole body weighed about a thousand pounds and on top of that he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. He sat down next to her on the gurney and leaned his head back against the wall and let out a long, tired yawn.

"Did you have a rough day?" Addison asked, curious as to what had made him so tired, she wondered what had taken all of his energy and if she could help in any way.

"You could say that." Derek said as he closed his eyes and let out a sigh.

"Care to share?" She asked, now that he was closer, she was able to get a better look at his face. The stubble had grown since this morning and gave him a more rugged, sexy look.

"I have a patient named Katie Bryce she is experiencing seizures for no apparent reason and unless I can find out what is causing them and fix it, she is going to die." He explained without opening his eyes.

"So what are you going to do?" Addison asked all she wanted was to help him out but she had absolutely no idea how to do that.

"Right now, I have no clue." He said dejectedly.

"I am sure you will figure it out." Addison said as he looked at her, his eyes meeting hers.

Addison's breath caught in her throat at how beautiful his eyes were in the softly lit hallway.

"What?" Addison asked, a little uneasy at the glint in his eye and the lopsided smile that graced his face.

"Are we ever going to talk about the fact that you kissed me last night?" Derek asked bluntly.

Oh, shit. Addison thought.

End of Chapter 6.

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