Addison was in the sitting position as she leaned back on a pile of pillows in her hospital bed. She held a mirror to her face with one hand while she examined the scar on her face with the other. Her stitches were just extracted no more than ten minutes ago. Addison was quite disgusted.
Mark sat in the chair next to Addison's bed, his full attention on a crossword puzzle, which he actually hated working on, but felt it was the only thing to keep him distracted enough now that he was "taking a break" from working.
"What's a five letter word for nimble?" Mark directed his question to Addison, brow furrowed as he stared at the empty blocks.
The two had not spoken about the quarrel from the previous night. They each decided to let it go, holding their own reasons to this decision. Addison wanted to play it safe and not accuse Mark when she knew she didn't have the whole story. Mark didn't want to push the issue because he felt he was right about it and Addison didn't particularly enjoy being told what the truth was involving her life and her past. They both silently hoped the other wouldn't bring it up.
When Addison didn't answer him, Mark tore his eyes from the book. His gaze fell upon her and he watched as she lightly touched the long scar, a pained expression on her face. Mark was unsure if the scar hurt or if there was something deeper involved.
"Dr. Bailey took the stitches out, right?" Mark asked, though he already knew the answer.
Addison continued her stare at the mirror, "Yeah. It's hideous, isn't it?"
"No." Mark shook his head, "Give it some time and we'll put cream on it daily and soon enough, it'll barely be noticeable."
Addison looked to Mark, raising a disbelieving eyebrow, "It takes up half of my face, Mark."
Mark stood, tossing his crossword book on his chair, "I'm looking at your face right now and it's definitely not taking up half your face, Addison."
Mark took the mirror from Addison's hand and set it on the table over her bed. Addison reached for it quickly, barely getting her fingers on it before Mark snatched it from her and threw it on top of his crossword book. Mark turned back to Addison, taking her chin with his hand and turning her head towards him.
"Addie, you're beautiful." Mark said, locking his eyes with hers.
"Mark." Addison pulled her head away from Mark, annoyed.
Mark reached out for Addison again, his fingers falling across her cheek while his thumb landed next to her lips and just a touch on top of them. He made sure her head was towards him and she met his eyes, angry at first, but that emotion quickly vanished into recognition. As Addison searched Mark's eyes, she was able to understand why she had loved him, actually loved him, for that amount of time when Derek neglected her. She suddenly understood why she had slept with Mark. She understood in that moment, through his warm touch and the way his eyes saw too deep into her, almost making her his own.
"Addison, you are beautiful." Mark emphasized, leaving the words lingering with his hand before suddenly pulling away and returning to the hospital chair.
Addison watched, her eyebrows drawn, confused at the emotion that pulsed through her body. It was too intense to describe, a burning, a heat that seemed to almost squeeze the air from her body. She wanted his finger back on her lips. His light touch. Something real.
Mark sat, putting the mirror and the open crossword book in his lap, unaware of what was racing through Addison's head. Addison shook her head, the strength of the feelings disappearing into her and remaining in her as if they had always been there. Addison was able to recognize a form of hatred along with this form of lust. A hatred driven by the fact that she blamed Mark for keeping her in New York when she should have attempted to save her marriage. Her head was whirling. She needed time to think, to sort these feelings out and try to understand them. To reach some sort of answers while Mark was not sitting in the room with her, distracting her. He was being too nice and that interfered with her thinking clearly.
"A five letter word for nimble." Mark repeated, his concentration still on the crossword puzzle.
"Agile." Addison answered him.
Mark's eyebrows drew together, then his face slackened as he realized she was right and he quickly scribbled the letters into their designated boxes. He slapped the book closed and looked at Addison.
"Another one bites the dust." He wasn't particularly enthusiastic about this, "You all right?"
"I'm fine." Addison answered, unsure of what her facial expression might have been saying.
"Want me to help you put the bandage on your scar?" Mark asked, standing from the chair.
"I can-... sure." Addison replied.
Mark moved to Addison's bedside, making sure not to disturb her chest tube. He reached onto the table and picked up the scar cream. He uncapped it and pressed a good amount onto his finger. He looked Addison in the eyes.
"I'm sorry if this hurts." Mark apologized and waited for a moment before rubbing the cream into the scar, Addison wincing in pain. After he finished, he picked up a long, white bandage and taped it to Addison's face.
"It looks strange, I'm sure." Addison said, feeling the bandage.
"No." Mark shook his head, "It's not too bad. Besides, you'll only need to cover it for a couple of days or so."
There was a knock on the door and a nurse entered with Addison's lunch tray. Mark greeted the nurse and slid the bandaging equipment from the table so the nurse could set the lunch tray on it. She smiled at Addison as she set it down and then left. Addison stared at the lunch, wanting to avoid Mark's eyes.
"You going to eat?" Mark asked.
"I hated you." Addison spoke quietly, trying desperately to distract Mark.
"That wasn't the answer I was looking for." Mark replied, still staring at Addison.
After a moment, Addison looked up at him, "I... blamed you. And myself. But, you too, Mark. You convinced me to stay with you in New York. I broke my marriage up because of you, I might as well have given it a try, right? I should have gone after Derek even after Nancy said she couldn't tell me where he went. I still should have tried."
Mark stared and then shook his head, almost laughing, "You really don't want to eat your lunch, do you?"
"I'm trying to be honest with you now, Mark." Addison's eyebrows furrowed together in frustration, "Isn't that what you want?"
"Right now, I want you to eat." Mark replied.
Addison stared at Mark, not sure if she understood the fact that he didn't want to talk about this. Mark stared at Addison, still slightly amused.
"You're just going to ignore everything I just said." Addison couldn't believe Mark wasn't trying to defend himself at her statements.
"I'm going to ignore it for now." Mark wasn't giving in, "We have lots of time to talk about all of that, Addison, but now, you need to eat."
There was another knock at the door. Richard entered, his lab coat on, smiling warmly. He stood alongside of Mark.
"How are you today, Addison?" Richard asked.
"I'm fine." Addison replied, giving him a nod before looking towards Mark with suspicions.
"I wanted to tell you that we've scheduled you for an x-ray at three to see how well your lung is healing and when we'll be able to take out the chest tube." Richard was still smiling at her, "You look good, though. I doubt you'll need surgery."
"That's good." Addison agreed, "Although, Dr. Bailey explained this all to me earlier today."
"Oh, she did?" Richard was feigning his surprise and Addison knew it. She kept glancing at Mark, who was trying to hide his eyes from her. Richard looked to Addison's lunch tray, "I see you're having lunch. Care if I join you?"
"You told Richard." Addison stared at Mark. She knew it.
"What did you want me to do, Addison?" Mark asked, "Watch you live after an accident, a coma, and a collapsed lung only to die because you refuse to eat?"
"Is this true, Addison?" Richard asked, now concerned, but trying to do his best not to accuse her of anything.
"I can't believe you told Richard." Addison told Mark again and then looked at Richard, "It's complicated. I try to eat, I think of Derek, I feel sick and then I can't eat... Actually, it doesn't sound all that complicated."
"Addison, that's not healthy." Richard said, "I can schedule an appointment for you to meet with Dr. Anderson this afternoon. He's really-"
"No." Addison shook her head, "You don't get to do this to me. I told Mark that I don't want to see anyone."
"Addison, no one's going to think any less of you." Richard made sure he held eye contact with his friend, "You've been through a lot and we understand-"
"No!" Addison cut him off, still shaking her head, "You-" she looked to Mark, "And you- have no idea what I've been through. You haven't the slightest idea of what this has been like for me." Addison locked eyes with Richard, "I need you to give me time. Please. I know this will play itself out when I can remember everything. Please, Richard... as a friend. Just give me some time. Please."
Richard swallowed hard, it hurting him to see a friend he deeply cared for at a state in her life when just over a week ago, she was at the top of her game. It was that sympathy which made Richard agree with Addison, but only under certain terms.
"Fine." Richard made sure his tone was firm, though on the inside, he was overly sensitive toward meeting Addison on her wants, "But, if this does not get better after a week and a half, you will be meeting with Dr. Anderson. You going to need to drink a dietary supplement on your own because I do not want to put you on a feeding tube, but you need some form of nourishment. Do you understand?"
Mark looked from Richard to Addison. Addison nodded. Richard's face softened slightly, reassuring Addison that he wasn't actually angry with her as his tone may have implied impatience.
"Okay, then." Richard said, "I'll see you later for your x-rays."
"Okay." Addison nodded and watched Richard leave. She turned to Mark, "I can't believe you told Richard."
Mark ignored her statement, "You're really going to drink the supplement?"
"I have to." Addison replied, pretty sure that if she had been eating, she wouldn't have been light headed and her legs wouldn't have given out on her, causing her to collapse when she had tried to walk the previous day, "I can drink stuff. It's the eating that's the problem. This would actually be good for me."
Mark paused, looking Addison over, "Yeah, it would."
Addison leaned against her pillows. She thought back over everything she had just learned about Mark, everything she had learned about Derek, the falling, the coma, the accident. And she thought back to before that. Back when things weren't this complex. Addison really began to wonder what had happened to her life.