The next morning Meredith went in early and found Derek in the NICU, close to dozing off in a rocking chair by Ella's isolette. "Hey. We missed you last night," she said softly as she pulled up a stool. "How's she doing?"

Derek straightened up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. "Well, she survived the night. She's not triggering the vent yet, and she's having seizures, but she hasn't coded since right after surgery so I guess that's something."

"Yeah, I guess."

Meredith studied the baby quietly for a few minutes and Derek held his breath, certain his wife would notice some similarity between her and him. He wasn't really sure if Ella looked like him at all, but he was thankful that her face was still swollen from surgery and partially obscured by the ventilator tube. Thankful? What kind of monster is thankful for that? he thought, but it was the truth. "It's so strange," she finally said. "In just a few months, we're going to be looking at our baby in that incubator. Maybe both of them…"

"Don't think like that. The other one will be fine."

"You don't know that! I'm sure Addison thought her baby was going to be fine, but here she is. Who knows what could go wrong?" She sighed and slumped down on her stool. "You think she's gonna be okay?"

"I don't know. We'll have a better idea in a few days, once she's off the sedatives and the swelling goes down." He stood up and stretched before giving her a quick kiss. "I should go talk to Addison. Try not to worry too much, okay? The boys will be fine."

He approached Addison's room and knocked lightly, not even sure she was awake; she turned her head towards him and smiled weakly so he entered and sat on the edge of the bed. "Hey there. How you feeling?"

"Like I got hit by a Mack truck," she admitted, still sounding hoarse. She furrowed her brows, trying to remember anything from the night before. "You...you operated on Ella?"

He nodded and took one pale, cool hand between both of his. "I did. She had an aneurysm, and it ruptured."

"That's my fault."

"No, it isn't. You didn't do anything to cause the aneurysm. They just happen sometimes."

"I know, but I fell. That could have caused it to rupture, right?"

"It might have, but we don't know if it did. It could have ruptured during the delivery, or while they were doing CPR. Hell, it could have ruptured in utero days or weeks ago. We'll never know, but no matter how it happened, it's not your fault, and it does no good to beat yourself up for it. Okay?"

"Okay." She didn't sound too sure of herself, but she tried to believe him. "So how is she?"

"She's not out of the woods yet. For the next few weeks she'll be at risk of a rebleed or a stroke, obviously infection is always a concern. She coded during surgery, and again shortly after, but no more after that. She's having seizures - mostly complex partial, but she did have one tonic-clonic - which is normal after brain surgery but could also be the result of brain damage from the anoxia. There was a lot of swelling, so I wasn't able to put the skull cap back on, which means I'll have to take her back to the OR in a few days. She's not breathing on her own yet, but she may start as the swelling goes down and we wean her off the sedatives. It's really too early to tell what is a side effect of the surgery and the meds, and what is a result of brain damage and might be permanent. We'll know more in the next few days."

"You think she has brain damage?"

"I think she was without oxygen for a long time, and it's likely there will be at least some minor deficits but again, it's too soon to know. What I do know is that she survived the night. She's a fighter."

"Yeah. I just wish she didn't have to be."

He squeezed her hand. "I know. But we'll get her through this. Hang in there." By now she was looking pretty tired, so he got up. "Get some sleep. I'll stop back later."

After being bombarded by nurses taking her vitals, Adams and her interns doing rounds, and Derek, Addison was about to doze off when the door opened. She looked over to see Alex peeking in with a bouquet of daisies and a gift bag. "Hey," she croaked, motioning him over and attempting unsuccessfully to sit up. "I'm awake, come in. You look like shit."

Alex refrained from pointing out her appearance, which was definitely worse than his, and forced a smile. "Hey. Congratulations, mom." He raised the head of the bed, then gave her a crooked grin and a kiss on the cheek before dropping into a chair. "I tried to get in here last night but there wasn't any room with your fan club."

She couldn't help but break into a grin. "You know, you're the first one to say that," she pointed out with a hint of sadness. "Everyone else keeps coming in here with those sad faces, they all say they're sorry...I know she's sick, and they're worried, but…"

"But you had a kid. You're a mom. Maybe it's not the way you planned, but she's here, and she's yours, and that's worth celebrating."

"Yeah, it is. Thank you, Alex. Tell me about her?" Addison rubbed her belly, almost out of habit. Not twenty-four hours earlier it was ripe with hopes and dreams; now it felt full of lead.

Alex shrugged. "She's about the same as last night. She's stable, her vitals are good. She's not breathing on her own yet but that should change as the swell-"

"I know all that. Derek told me, Williams told me, Callie and Miranda told me...she's sick, she's not out of the woods, that I know. But I don't know the normal stuff. Tell me about her."

"Okay, well, she's six pounds, four ounces-"

"That's it? Six pounds?"

"You had trouble gaining weight. She's a little small but within normal limits. Twenty two inches long. Her hair is red, just like yours, and she has your eyes. Same shape and the long lashes, anyway, but not the color. They're blue blue, not not blue-gray like yours. She has long fingers. Hands of a surgeon, for sure. And she's absolutely gorgeous, but who knows where she got that from," he teased with a wink.

"Obviously she inherited my wildly attractive genes."

"That she did."

"I need to see her. Please?"

"Nope. She's in good hands. She's stable."

Addison pouted. "Please? Just for a few minutes?"

"I'm sure you asked Adams already. What did she say?"

"She said it's okay."

Alex snickered. "That was a trick question. I already talked to her and she said you're not getting out of bed for at least another 24 hours. But nice try, liar." He paused to flip through her chart. "Besides, according to nurse Debbie, you spiked a temp of 103 last ni-"

"Probably just non-hemolytic transfusion reaction," Addison interrupted.

"Probably, but until we rule out something more serious you're staying put."

"Oh, come on. Five minutes. Just five minutes and you can bring me right back," Addison begged as she grabbed for the chart, which he kept safely out of reach.

"Addison, you can't even sit up by yourself right now. You do realize that you actually died, right? You coded on the table...twice. You have a concussion from hitting your head when you collapsed, and cracked ribs from the chest compressions. You had major abdominal surgery. And last but certainly not least, they had to replace your entire blood volume twice over, that's how much you bled out. Ella is stable. She's getting the best care possible. There is nothing you can do for her right now, but when she gets better and leaves the hospital, she's gonna need you. So right now the best thing you can do for her is follow the doctor's orders and get better. Got it?"

Addison scowled at Alex. "I hate you."

"Okay, well, I was going to show you pictures, but I guess not…"

"Alex, don't be a jerk," Addison whined. "I'll behave, I swear. Just show me. No one else will."

"Okay, okay. Just...brace yourself. There are a lot of tubes and wires, and she's pretty bruised…"

"Alex, I've been working in the NICU for over 10 years now…"

"As a doctor. You're not Doctor Montgomery right now, you're Ella's mom. It's different."

"When did you get so wise? It's...annoying."

"You're annoying. You know that saying about doctors making the worst patients?"

"Yeah."

"It's not wrong." Addison scowled and Alex laughed before he handed over his phone. "There she is, Miss Eleanora Jane Montgomery. You're still going with that, right?"

Addison nodded as she grabbed the phone. Her face instantly softened. "Oh my God. She's beautiful. She really is the most beautiful baby ever, isn't she?"

"I'm not gonna argue with you on that one. She is pretty cute."

"You'll keep an eye on her, right? Until I can get down there?"

"Of course."

"Good. So, what's in the bag?" she inquired, eyeing the gift bag he had set on the bedside table.

He handed it to her. "Just a little something for Ella.

"Oh, Alex, that's so sweet!" she cooed as she pulled out two plush bunnies - one ivory with a pink bow, the other brown with a gold bow. "They'll be perfect in the nursery! And they're so soft!"

"I didn't know what else to get since you bought so much crap already."

"They're perfect. Come here." She patted the bed next to her. He did as instructed, and she pulled him down and kissed him. "You're perfect. Thank you."

"You're welcome." He glanced up and saw Callie in the doorway. "And now I'm outta here. I'll stop by later and let you know how she's doing."

Alex left and Callie took his place. "So, still just friends?"

Addison shrugged. "Maybe more than friends," she admitted with a hint of a smirk.

Okay, so Ella made it through the night. Yay Ella! Just a quick little chapter, nothing too exciting but no one is dead and there was some fluff (and some Addex banter, which I kinda love) so it's all good, right? Up next, Addison meets Ella.

Thank you all (all 3 of you) for the reviews! Y'all are fast! Patsy, there will be much more merder in the future, especially after the twins are born, but I'm not sure about a whole chapter. We'll see. SarcasticAlexWilliams, your reviews are life. Your enthusiasm slays me every time! But I'm not gonna answer your question. Partly because I still have a lot of stuff planned, and partly because I'm still on the fence about going where I thought I was going. For those of you who have asked if it will be revealed that Derek is the father, I honestly haven't decided where and when it will be come to light, or if it will at all. Just know that there is a reason why he is the father, it wasn't just for the sake of making him out to be a jerk.