AN: Thank you all for the reviews. :) Here's the next chapter. I finally decided which plot I want to incorporate into this story. :) I was initially going to make Addie die after the overdose, or put Addie into a coma. But that would be waaaaay too much drama so I decided on this. Stick around okay?

I own nothing.

"Savvy"

"Mrs. Shepherd." Savvy greeted Caroline with a hug as she acknowledged Nancy from behind.

"Weiss." Caroline smiled at the man.

"Mrs. Shepherd. It's been too long." He moved to embrace the woman.

"Yes. And it's unfortunate that we're reuniting at a situation like this." She moved to take a seat at the waiting room. "Is there any news, Savvy?"

"They wouldn't tell me anything more than them trying to stabilize her. Apparently, Derek's still listed as her emergency contact. So, until Derek gets here, we can't get anything out of them." She shook her head disapprovingly. Who'd have thought Derek was still her emergency contact? Apparently, regardless of their decision to tell Derek, he would still know because the hospital would call him. If it weren't for the situation they were in, Savvy would have laughed at the irony of it all. Addison tried to get away from him, but they would always be bound to each other, no matter what.

Nancy glanced at Savvy. "I called Derek today.", she said quietly.

Weiss' eyes rested on Nancy. "How'd he take it?" He knew Derek had the tendency to be emotional. If any, that's what made Addie's and Derek's fights fun to watch. They were always so worked up. He also knew Derek would not take it kindly, considering how almost everyone knew except for him.

"I don't know. I didn't have the chance to hear him say anything. I broke down.. sort of." She smiled sheepishly at the group. "And he just… stayed silent the whole time. God knows what thoughts were running through his head. He said he'd meet us here, soon." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "He's worried though, I'm sure. And he's beyond upset. If I put myself in his shoes, I would be too."

Caroline nodded. "I'm sure he's not taking this lightly. He's worried sick, as we all are. We should do everything to keep him sane. To keep all of us sane."

"God. All this waiting just prolongs the agony. We have to know if she's okay." Nancy sighed, shaking a bit in her seat. "I mean, Addie's out friend and we took care of her. Don't we got some sort of right to know how she's doing?"

"Is Derek Shepherd here?" a voice from behind them asked out of nowhere. A petite nurse was standing at the doorway of the waiting room, looking at them expectantly.

Caroline stood up, walking towards the girl. "He's on his way. How is she?"

"She's being wheeled into recovery right now." All of them sighed in relief. The tension was released and the room started to seem cheerier. "She's stable, but I can't tell you anything more. We're only authorized to release confidential information to the emergency contact."

Nancy stood up. "Can we see her?"

The nurse looked at them unsurely. "We also can't authorize anyone to visit yet. As of now, only Derek Shepherd can go inside, unless he sees it fit for you all to come."

"But she's okay right?" Savvy looked at the girl.

"She's okay, Ma'am. As good as could be considering the amount of drugs she took." She smiled tentatively before walking in the other direction.

All four of them smiled in relief and each said a prayer of thanks. Addison had survived, and it wasn't long before Derek would come and convince her to get treated. After all, it wasn't too late. There was always hope. Everything was going to be okay. They sat there for about an hour making small talk before the loud footsteps of a running pair of feet echoed thunderously down the hall.

"I think Derek's here.", Weiss announced, smirking slightly.

At that moment, Derek barged in, looking extremely disheveled.

"Nancy! Where is she? How is she? What happened?", he panted, trying to catch his breath. He had run from the tube to the taxi stand, from the lobby to the 8th floor of the hospital. All he wanted was to see Addie.

"Relax, Derek. She's okay." Nancy smiled at him.

"She's okay? Oh thank god! Where is she? I want to see her." He had never felt more relieved in his life than at that moment. Addison had survived the most immediate problem at hand. His heart soared at the news. But he knew he couldn't give in to the comfort just yet. His Addie was still in danger.

"You don't get to see her until you give your mother a hug." Caroline stood behind Derek, her hands on her waist.

Derek turned around and wrapped his arms around his mom. "Hey mom."

"Oh my boy. I've missed you. You look skinny. Have you been eating?" She smiled knowingly at his son.

"Yea I've been eating, don't worry." He moved to give Weiss a manly hug. "Hey man."

"Hey Derek. How have you been?"

"I've been better.", he said honestly before moving to give Savvy a hug. "Thank you for taking care of her Sav.", he whispered.

"You're welcome Derek. I know she'd do the same for me."

The petite nurse walked in on them and cleared her throat. He saw Derek run from the hall. "I'm assuming you're Derek Shepherd, sir?"

"Yes, I am," he replied anxiously. "My wife, how is she?"

All the occupants of the room looked at each other, smirking knowingly. They didn't bother to correct the name by which he called Addie. Husband and wife always did suit them best. They were meant to be together.

"Would you like to discuss this in private?"

"No, right here, in front of the people who've cared for her these past months is okay." He looked at all of them gratefully. He owed them this much.

"Okay. Well… why don't you all take a seat and I'll have Doctor Talbert be with you shortly?" She smiled as they all sat down, Nancy gripping Derek's hand the entire time.

"Thank you, Nancy.", Derek whispered. "I know what you did was hard. But.. thank you."

She smiled at him assuringly.

Five minutes later, a tall, clean-shaven man walked in. "Ah. If it isn't the infamous Derek Shepherd. It's great to see you again."

Derek stood up and shook the man's hand. "Peter. It's great to see you to. I assume you're handling my wife's case?" They used to work together on cases, before everything went to hell.

Peter motioned for Derek to reclaim his seat as he stood in front of the family. "Addison is a lucky girl, Derek. If it weren't for the immediate help she got," gesturing to Savvy, "she wouldn't have made it."

Everyone looked at him, the tension in the room slowly building up.

"As you all know, Addison took a significant amount of benzodiazepine, more commonly known as sleeping pills. We performed stomach pumping and basic charcoal absorption and as of now, she's stable. She's unconscious, but she's stable. We'll know more once she's awake and we can induce vomiting if necessary. But the blood work's back and she seems to be in good shape." He looked at the group pensively. "But there is something you have to know. She coded in there. Thrice; like she was ready to give up. We did our best and now she's okay. But you all have to make her fight."

Everyone was quiet as they tried to digest the information. Addie was okay. But she almost died thrice. There must have been someone up there wanting her to live. Some higher being wanted her to continue living. It definitely wasn't her time just yet.

"Did this… overdose… affect her cancer?" Savvy asked in a quiet voice. "I mean, her cancer's on its way to its third stage and I don't know. We're still hoping she could get treatment."

"So far, there is no considerable damage. We treated the overdose as something separate from the cancer, so it should be no problem. They are two different things, Ma'am." The doctor smiled kindly at Savvy as she nodded. "Treatment for her is still an option."

"When to you expect her to wake up?" It was Caroline's turn to ask.

"We actually expect her to wake up within 12 hours. We more or less were able to expel any residual drug, and we're hoping she'd be awake soon."

Derek was quiet the whole time. Everything was starting to sink in. Addison had cancer and she didn't tell him. His face contorted into one of recognition. He was finally piecing together everything. Her departure from Seattle, the talk with Richard, Nancy saying it was too late, fertility treatments…

He felt stupid for not realizing that something was wrong sooner. He mentally kicked himself because for another time, he was the man who didn't notice anything wrong with his wife even though everything was. He bowed his head in defeat, but quickly clenched his jaw in determination. Without a word, he stood up and strode to Addison's room, all the while preparing himself for the sight he knew was far from comforting. Once or twice, he felt his knees buckle, but that made him even more determined to be beside Addie. Everyone was expecting him to convince her to get treated now. Everyone was sure he could. And he had to believe that he held that power, that he could actually look into her eyes and get her to finally say yes to treatment. He didn't know how much influence he had over Addison at this point, but he knew it was worth a shot. Because if Derek couldn't do it, nobody else could.

He stood about three steps shy of her door, taking in deep breaths. Even now, as he stood outside her room, he could sense the coldness, the despair, and the hopelessness that emanated from her still body. Derek had to hold back his tears as he tried to calm himself. Addison would need him to be strong if he wanted her to believe she could make it. She had to have a pillar of strength and courage so that she could have the power to fight.

He shook off his negativity as he carefully took the last three steps and opened the door slightly. He entered cautiously, purposefully not looking at Addie yet. He knew that if he looked now, he might break down. At this point, Addison was still dying, still sick, still unconscious, still not fighting. And it pained him to recognize his part in all of this.

Slowly lifting his head to take a look at her, he felt his chest tighten at the sound of the machine beeping, the countless tubes leading in and out of her body, the oxygen mask on her mouth and the over-all frailty she exhibited. He knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that it would have taken a big heartbreak for Addison to put herself in a situation like this. This wasn't his Addie. This was a different Addison, a broken one at that. And he vowed he'd restore the old Addie everyone had come to love. All hope was not lost. The cancer was still treatable at this stage. Her spirit could still be renewed with him constantly by her side.

He walked over to the seat next to Addie's bed and carefully took her right hand and engulfed it with his own two. He brought her unnervingly thin hand to his lips as he let a couple of teardrops escape. It had occurred to him that the last time he'd seen Addie, she was lively, perfect, made-up and with zest. And now, she was what's left of a woman scorned.

His gaze fell on her beautiful face that, regardless of the paleness or the dark circles under her eyes, was still perfect. She was breathtaking. Regardless of the wrinkles forming on her forehead and the permanently engraved sad smile on her lips, she looked absolutely magical. Derek didn't know if it was because of the overwhelming love that was bursting from his heart, or because of the fact that she really was beautiful that made him think of how lucky he was if he got another chance with her. Addison was the love of his life, and nothing in the world could change that.

He lifted a hand as he gently stroked her red mane, kissing her forehead slightly. He didn't bother to stop the tears from flowing now as held on to her for dear life. Everything was sinking in. More than the prospect of not getting a chance with her, it was the prospect of her dying that scared him to the core. Screw that chance. What mattered was Addison surviving.

"Addie… Addie I know you can't hear me. Or maybe you could but… but I need you to know." He paused for a while, gathering his thoughts, sniffing slightly. "I love you Addison. And it seems so fucked up that I'm realizing all of this now, but god. You have to be okay. You have to wake up and you have to give me another chance. I can't… I can't believe you tried to.." He gulped. "Tried to take your own life and it hurts me, Adds. It hurts me like hell to see you this broken. I love you. I love you and I don't take too kindly to seeing you hurt. And I know I'm the reason for most of this, and I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm going to live the rest of my life asking for your forgiveness and proving to you how much I can't spend the rest of my life without you. Please. You have to wake up.... Please." He sobbed uncontrollably as he held on to Addie's hand tightly. No words could have described the confusion, the hurt, the anxiety and the despair he was feeling. He was beyond consolable. The only thing that would make him feel better would be his Addie waking up. All he needed was to see that she was okay; to be able to convince her that living was worth a shot because she had him. It was a long shot but he knew, somewhere in Addie's heart, she'd find the will to live, to love. You don't just forget about the man you were married to for 12 years and stop loving him in a matter of months. It's just not possible. Derek Shepherd was a broken man. His life was slipping, because no matter how much they'd been through, Addison was always going to be his life, the woman whom his whole being was going to revolve around.

He fell asleep that way, clutching her hand and muttering sweet encouragements to her. He dreamed of being able to take Addison home, of taking care of her and loving her the way he should have months ago.

He was so deep asleep, dreaming of the brightest future for him and Addie, that he didn't notice his mom, Nancy, Savvy and Weiss enter the room, giving it a homier feel. Caroline commissioned Savvy to bring some of Addie's clothes, Weiss to lend Derek his because they knew he came with just the clothes on his back, and Nancy to buy flowers, coffee and toothbrushes. Caroline seated herself on the small chair adjacent to Addie's bed. She sensed they were going to stay there for a while, anticipating Derek's success in convincing Addie to get treated. She was worried as hell for Addison, but she had to keep it together, for her children's sake. She had to be their pillar of strength all the time, or else all of them would break down and nothing would be accomplished. She was relieved that for the moment, Addison was out of harm's way. She allowed herself to give in to a much needed rest.

Three hours had passed, and the sun was just beginning to rise in the eastern horizon. Manhattan was rousing, and so was Derek. His eyes fluttered open, taking in his surroundings. He was disoriented at first, but the events of the previous day washed over him like a wave and he was instantly up, turning his head to look Addie.

She was just like she was yesterday; pale and thin. He sighed, grabbing her hand again and bringing it to his lips. He kissed her hand gently before settling it down and standing up to get a washcloth from the bathroom. He was thankful that at this point, nothing major had happened with Addie during the night. She was still stable, still alive. And he planned on keeping it that way for as long as he could. He washed his face before running the washcloth under the faucet. He squeezed the cloth just so it was damp and proceeded to reclaim his seat beside Addie.

Gazing at her for a moment, he thought about how much she's been through during the last five months. He thought about the pain, the suffering and hurt and denial she underwent.

Denial. His Addison was in denial.

She denied any form of treatment. Denied any form of care other than her daily needs. Denied any love for her, from her mother-in-law, from Savvy and Nancy. From him. She denied the worth she deserved, the fighting chance she was given.

It saddened Derek. She had always been one to accept what was due her. Derek had to close his eyes as he thought of Addie thinking she deserved to die.

Taking the washcloth, he gently wiped her forehead, her cheeks, her neck, and practically every visible part of her body. He admired her beauty amid the ordeal she was facing, and vowed to restore her strength, both physically and emotionally. Because that's who Addison was; the walking figure of strength.

He was so lost in thought that he almost didn't notice her eyes flutter open, her fingers move ever so slightly and the soft moan that escaped her lips. He was so caught up in the moment that he almost missed her soft voicing beckoning him.

"Derek?"

Thank you all for reading. I'll try to update as soon as possible. :)