Charlotte was standing at the counter, watching the toast brown. Amelia was sitting at the table, cupping a mug of hot tea in her still shaky hands. She jumped when there was a knock on the door. Charlotte looked into the living room and Addison was standing there. She raised an eyebrow. It was one in the morning. She looked at Amelia. "Do you want me to send her away or do you want to talk to her? She's worried about you—everyone is."

Amelia swallowed a small sip of her apple cinnamon tea. "Addie can come in."

Charlotte nodded and walked over to the patio door. She opened and shifted on her hip. "You are aware that it's one in the mornin', right?"

"Sam got called in for an emergency at the hospital. I saw the light was on, figured I'd come by. We shouldn't both be alone."

Charlotte shrugged. "I'm not alone, Addison."

"I know you have Amelia here, but she's not exactly good company—."

"I resent that." Amelia appeared in the living room.

Addison blinked. "Amelia?" Addison practically pushed Charlotte to side and pulled Amelia into a hug. "You're ok?"

"I'm being suffocated, but I'm ok."

Addison dropped her arms and stepped back. "You're really ok?"

She shook her head. "No, I'm not ok, Addie. I have a lot of work to do."

Addison smiled. "Are you gonna go to rehab?"

Charlotte stepped forward. "Yes, she's going to rehab." Amelia was going to object, but Charlotte cut her off. "Amelia, you know you have to."

Amelia sighed. "I'm going to bed."

"What about your toast?"

"I'm not hungry anymore." She turned around and walked towards the stairs.

Addison looked at Charlotte. "Now what?"

Charlotte adjusted her sling strap. "I'll have to talk her into it."

"Maybe you should call in reinforcements."

Charlotte shook her head. "I can convince her. I'll let her rest tonight and bring it up again tomorrow."

Addison nodded. "Maybe you made it too easy for her."

"What do you mean?"

"She knows what to say to get you to adhere to her wishes. She told you she didn't want to get clean unless she did it at home. You gave into what she wanted. Now, she knows she needs more help, but she also knows she can get you to do anything as long as she threatens to get high. I know her."

"You're sayin' she doesn't wanna get clean?"

She nodded. "If she went to rehab, they would force her to talk about issues she's not ready to deal with. She knows you don't like talking, so she knows you won't push her to. I personally don't think she's hit rock bottom yet—granted, I don't know what construes rock bottom because I think taking drugs after ten years of being clean and sober is a little like rock bottom—but I don't think Amelia's reached the point of no return, yet."

Charlotte blinked and pushed her hair out of her face. "She's been playin' me this whole, hasn't she?"

Addison shrugged. "Amelia's good at hiding it. She was like that the first time too until she overdosed."

Charlotte sighed. "So I just let her out of the house, give her drugs, and pray she hits rock bottom before she's dead?"

"No, that's not what I'm saying."

"Well, you seem like you have all the answers, so what do you s'pose I do?"

Addison shrugged. "I don't know."

"Real helpful."

"I can call her mother."

"Oh, that's rich. Bring in her mother. If she won't listen to us, what makes you think a grown woman's gonna listen to her mother?"

"You'd be surprised." She paused. "You saw Amelia right after she called you, who knows? Maybe she did hit rock bottom."

"I wanna try somethin' first. Wait here." Charlotte walked towards the stairs and disappeared.

Charlotte knocked on Amelia's door and walked in. She sat on the edge of the bed and Amelia peeked out from behind her pillow. Charlotte swallowed and took a deep breath. "The hospital just called. It seems like they made a mistake. They gave me the results of another patient of mine. You are pregnant."

Amelia threw the pillow away and stared at her. "You're lying."

"Why would I lie about that, Amelia?"

"It's one in the morning. They wouldn't call you this late."

"I'm Chief of Staff. They'll call as late as they want. They're tryin' to cover their asses 'cause they know I'm gonna give 'em hell for messin' up patient blood samples."

Amelia rubbed her eyes. "I'm pregnant?"

Charlotte nodded. "Yes. That's not a problem, is it?"

Amelia shrugged. "Um—."

"What aren't you tellin' me?" Amelia was silent. "Does this have to do with why you called me?" She nodded. "Tell me and I'll let you sleep." She didn't say anything. "Tell me, Amelia."

Amelia took a deep breath. "I—I found out I was pregnant before—before I OD'd. Some random guy—we had sex in the back on an alley. I think."

"Ok? I don't get it."

"I almost got clean 'cause of the baby—but I—I had a miscarriage. I completely lost it. I didn't even want the baby. I was nineteen, but I felt something for it."

"Did the idea that you could be pregnant this time, bring back those memories?"

Amelia nodded. "And I should probably mention that—that I didn't know who the father was—'cause it was sort of a pile-on." She paused. "A welcomed pile-on."

"I still don't under why you called me."

"I called you 'cause this time it wasn't a welcomed pile-on—and on top of the memories, I—I just thought you'd understand."

"'Cause I was raped?"

Amelia nodded. "It's not much, but it was enough. I thought of Derek and my dad—and I trusted Ryan."

"He's a drug addict, Amelia. He was usin' you to score more Oxy and to score somethin' else." She paused. "There has to be somethin' more. You were so against help and then suddenly you want it. There's gotta be more."

"Ryan reminds me of my dad, you know? The second I came to, I saw my father. Looking at me. Cursing himself for not saving me, not being here for me. I just couldn't disappoint him more by letting myself get swept into all this again." She paused. "When I realized that I had sex with them, I kept thinking that this isn't how my dad was supposed to become a grandfather—not how my mother was supposed to be a grandmother. I thought I had screwed up my body so much that the baby wouldn't survive like last time and it was all gonna happen again—overdosing—but this time my brother wouldn't be here to do CPR." She swallowed. "That's why I called you. Addison would have gotten on her soapbox and preached to me about what I was doing to myself and to Derek, my sisters, my mother, as if I didn't know that already. You've been through this. You'd just help me without saying a thing about it."

Charlotte nodded. "You still need help, Amelia, and I'm not just talkin' about goin' to a meeting every now and then. You need real help."

Amelia sighed. "I know."

"You know?"

She nodded. "I'm not an idiot, Charlotte. Clearly I know how easy it is to slip back into this all too familiar place. If I do it again, I'll never come back from it. And I've screwed up everything. Addison, Sheldon, you, my job."

Charlotte shifted a little and brushed Amelia's hair out of her face. "You're not a lost cause and I know Addison and Sheldon still care about you and just want what's best for you. I'm right here, and if you show me you're strong enough, completely clean, we'll talk about the job situation." Amelia nodded. "Everything's gonna be ok."

"I'm not so sure about that."

Charlotte sighed. "It's not easy. I still walk around with that accident on my shoulders every day. Sometimes I think it would be easier to let everything go and swallow a few pills—just to get through my day—but I always remember how far I've come, and I have more people than I did back then that need me to stay strong—need me to stay on the top of my game."

"Cooper?"

Charlotte nodded. "Him, my patients, all of you—one day, I'll have a rugrat who needs me. Back then, it was just me. Sure I had patients, but I was alone."

"I know the feeling."

"You're not alone, Amelia. Every one of us cares about you. I'm here, Addison is always there, Sheldon," Charlotte rolled her eyes, "is always there, and the rest, we just want you better—want you back to your usual self. We're all here to help. You just have to lean on us." She paused. "I'm done talkin'." She laughed. "Just know you're not alone. You will never be alone." She paused. "Ok, get some sleep or try to."

"Charlotte?"

She nodded. "Yes, Amelia?"

"Thank you."

"It's not a problem."

She looked down at her hands and then back up to Charlotte. "After this is all over, would you—could you—would you want to still go to meetings together?"

Charlotte smiled. "Of course. Name the time and place, and I'll be there. After all this, I need to go to a few hundred meetings myself."

Amelia smiled. "Um, how are you doing?"

"I'm good and you'll be good too. You were for ten years. That's a big accomplishment. Not everyone can say that." Charlotte smoothed down Amelia's hair. "You'll get there again. Trust me." Amelia nodded. "Goodnight."

"Night."

Charlotte stood up and walked towards the door. "This is what's best for you, Amelia."

"I know."

Charlotte opened the door and held onto it. "Don't get mad, I was just tryin' to prove a point, make you remember why you called me, but you're not pregnant."

"You lied to me?"

"I know, I know. Honesty is best, but I needed you to remember why you called me. Why you wanted to get help. That was the only way I could think of to get you to confess."

"How can I trust you now?"

Charlotte swallowed. "It got you thinkin', didn't it? I'm still here for you, Amelia. That lie was just for you to know why you need help—why you want it. You can trust me. I promise. Everything else I said was true."

Amelia nodded. "That was a bitch of a thing to do."

Charlotte laughed. "I know. I'm sorry." She paused. "I'll see you in the mornin'. I'll call the rehab facility first thing." Amelia nodded and Charlotte disappeared down the hallway.

Charlotte walked into the kitchen and Addison was still standing in the living room. "She's goin' to rehab."

Addison blinked. "How'd you get her to change her mind?"

"That's not important." She covered her mouth to conceal a yawn. "I'm goin' back to bed. Feel free to hang out here, but I'm goin' to bed."

"I'll come back over in the morning. I'd like to go with you if that's ok?"

Charlotte nodded. "You can take her if you want. I'm sure she'd like that. She's afraid that she screwed everything up with all of us. You're still her family as far as I'm concerned."

Addison smiled. "Thank you for helping her."

"I didn't do anything. Amelia called me. I'm just keepin' an eye on her. She's doin' the work and she'll have to continue doin' the work."

"You being here is helping her."

Charlotte adjusted her sling. "I hope I made some sort of dent in her. We'll just have to wait and see if she comes out of this on the other side."

Addison nodded. "I guess so."

"Night, Addison."

"Goodnight, Charlotte." She walked over to the door. "Are you going home tomorrow?"

Charlotte nodded. "I was plannin' on it. With Amelia in Rehab, what do I need to hang out 'round her for? Cooper needs me. He's goin' through withdrawal himself."

Addison laughed. "It must be nice."

"What?"

"To have someone who wants what you want. Someone who understands what you want."

"You and Sam not workin' out?"

"That's not your problem," she walked towards the door, but turned around. "No, we're not."

Charlotte turned back towards the redhead. "If it makes you feel any better, Cooper and I don't agree on the kid issue either."

"But you two still work. Sam and I—."

"It's like tryin' to make your way through a vat of thick butter?"

"Um, yes?"

Charlotte laughed. "Maybe you should just call it quits. Seems like that's where you're headed anyways. You want a kid, he doesn't. What's gonna happen when that kid's older and he realizes that the man in his mother's life doesn't want him? That's no way to raise a child. If you want to do this on your own, do it on your own. Screw Sam."

Addison shrugged. "It's not that easy."

"'Cause you love him?" Addison nodded. "Love isn't always enough. If Sam really loved you, he would be willin' to at least give it a try—let you have what you want. I'm not sayin' he doesn't love you, but all this wishy-washy 'I care about her, but I can't do the kid thing again' isn't helpin' anyone. He's not gonna make the decision. You have to have the balls to make that decision for him. If he's not willin' to compromise, cut him loose. There are plenty of other men out there, who want what you want. You just gotta find one." She smiled. "Take me and Cooper, for example. I didn't plan for him to knock up some chick ten years ago, but that's what happened. I chose Cooper. Sam chose you. He knew what he was gettin' into, but he chose you anyway. I knew Cooper wanted kids from the second I met him, I knew that, but I chose to marry him even if I wasn't ready or didn't want kids myself. Cooper knew that too, but he was willin' to compromise 'cause he loves me." She paused. "Cut Sam loose, Addison. You'll both be happier. Why try to work on fixin' somethin' that will always be broken?" She walked into the kitchen and tossed the burnt toast into the trashcan. "Do what you want, but that's my advice." She walked out into the living room and went upstairs. Addison sighed and went back to Sam's.

haven't written anything past this yet.

but please review :)