I'm not Meredith Grey!
Addison stared at the ceiling as she heard the fine rain knocking on the trailer and causing that relaxing effect that the sound of falling water droplets simultaneously causes. She had already woken up a few hours ago, however much she didn't need to. She felt a little tired, but she had not been able to sleep peacefully all night. She kept thinking about Mark and if he was not right in saying that she was wasting her time by insisting on Derek.
That was a Saturday, she would have to go to the hospital, but she knew Derek didn't have to leave the house so early. That was why he slept soundly, with Katie on his chest, as Doc began to bark lightly pulling the sheet wrapping the family. Derek shifted.
"I'm coming, Doc. Just hang on. Just hold it until I get there, please." Derek moaned without opening his eyes.
The dog barked again, so Katie stirred.
"I'll walk him." Addison said taking the sheet off her body.
"No, it's my turn." Derek said without opening his eyes.
"No, it's okay. I'll walk Doc... You just sleep." she said rising.
"Okay…"
"Unless you wanna talk."
"Oh, God. Here it comes..."
"I'm not saying we have to talk. I'm just saying if you wanna talk, we could" Addison said, "I can start and you can talk about anything at all you want to talk about."
Derek took a deep breath and squeezed Katie a little more.
"It's too early for me to interpret 'girl flip-out' into conversation."
"It's just that usually you start yelling when you get mad. Mark showed up and you haven't yelled yet and I'm trying to give you a chance. Katie's sleeping so... Just go. Yell."
"I don't wanna yell." he said without opening his eyes.
"You don't wanna yell? You?"
"Katie's sleeping so I just wanna sleep."
Doc barked again.
"Doc, he wants to pee. Preferably not inside this trailer."
"OK. You could yell if you want to." Addison said.
She stepped back and opened the door for the dog to leave, then returned to stand by the bed, looking at her sleeping husband and daughter. After a few minutes she sat up and stroked her husband's hair, who twitched and constricted, as if he were being bothered.
"I'll have to leave in a few minutes."
"Okay. I just need to go later. I have a surgery at 11:00." he said.
"Me too."
"Hum..."
"I mean, I have it before 11:00, but at 11:00 I also have surgery."
"Okay, Addison. Let me sleep. I'll take Katie with me, okay?"
She got up from the bed and began to pack herself out. She kissed her daughter's forehead and stroked the girl's soft face, causing her to move.
"Mom's coming." she said in a whisper.
Without opening her eyes, Katie threw her arm around her mother's neck and hugged her, kissing her cheek.
"Have a good day, mommy."
"Thank you, baby." Addison said giving another kiss to her daughter's face.
The girl snuggled back into her father's chest and Addison thought about saying goodbye to him, but she gave up and left the trailer. Doc ran toward her and licked her hand. She smiled, then got into the car and left.
Derek woke up after a few hours, when Katie woke up. After they had a good breakfast, they got ready to leave the trailer and, to Katie's surprise, Meredith was playing with Doc. The woman approached as soon as she saw them.
"Hi, Derek."
"Meredith..."
"How are you, Katie?"
"What's she doing here?" Katie asked, looking at her father.
"Katherine! Is that the way to say it?" Derek asked, "Meredith asked if you were okay. She's going to make the trail with us."
"Why?"
"Because she wants to take her dog for a walk, too."
"But he's not her anymore. She gave it to us. "
"He belongs to all of us. We are his adoptive family, so Meredith is his family too."
"But I wanna be the real family, not adoptive." she said, running a hand over Doc's soft coat.
"But it's for real, princess. Look, Meredith is a friend of daddy's and she's also the owner of Doc. We're all his real family, because we all love him. "
"But he likes us better, doesn't he?"
"Princess, you don't have to think about these things. Now greet Meredith as the educated girl I'm usually saying that you are. "
Katie turned to the girl beside her.
"Good morning, Meredith."
"Good morning, Katie." Meredith said, smiling.
"Come on." Derek said. "Come, Doc."
They headed for the trail and Katie soon sped up the steps to walk with the dog ahead. Meredith and Derek went a little behind, talking.
"She loves him." Meredith said as she watched Katie giggling at Doc.
"Yes. She always wanted to have a dog, or a cat, or a hamster... There was a time when she wanted to have a rabbit."
They both laughed.
"She loves animals. She inherited it from me. "
"I can imagine." said the intern, unable to imagine Addison liking anything that would loose its hair.
"Sorry for her behavior. She's really a bit selfish. "
"Did she inherit this from you, too?" asked Meredith.
"Excuse me?" Derek asked.
She laughed at the startled look he was giving her, and then Derek laughed too.
"Ah… You're a little selfish. It's funny to see that she's too. It's like she's really a mini you."
"Mini-me?"
"Yeah. A mini you. "
He smiled proudly.
"She's the best thing I have."
"Daddy's little girl..."
"Yeah... Daddy's little girl." he said with a laugh.
They soon reached a green field in front of a small lake, where Katie sat with the dog on the lawn. Meredith and Derek came over and sat down beside her.
"Can I tell you a secret?" Meredith asked the girl.
"Hmm?"
"Doc likes you more than me."
Then she smiled at the proud smile on Katie's face. She bent down and hugged the dog as she caressed him.
"She already knew." Derek said, causing Meredith to laugh.
###
After the tour with Doc and his daughter, Derek went to the hospital, left Katie in the daycare and went to his surgery, which was not so exciting, since he lost the patient at the table. He was reaching the counter of the surgical ward when he saw Addison with a few cups of hot chocolate.
"Ah! Dr. Bailey." Addison called Bailey, who was passing with her group of interns, "Here you go."
"What's this?" Bailey asked, holding the cup that was handed to her.
"Hot cocoa. It's a little ritual we had in New York. Four surgeries, four deaths, we could all use a little good juju."
Bailey raised one eyebrow.
"And cocoa equals juju how?"
"Hey, hey, hey. Don't question the cocoa." Addison said.
"Ok. Thanks."
Miranda moved on and the interns followed her.
"Meredith." Addison said, stopping the girl to give her a cup of chocolate, "Meredith. Thank you for your help this morning."
"Oh. Thank you, Addison."
Derek raised one eyebrow as he approached his wife and saw Meredith following Bailey.
"Here you go." Addison said, handing one of the cups to her husband.
"Juju?" he asked.
"Yep."
"You jujued Meredith."
"I did. In the spirit of friendship."
Derek surprised himself and took a sip of the hot chocolate.
"Are we not friends with Meredith now?" asked Addison.
"No, no, we are. Meredith and I are friends."
"And you and I are married. So then, by proxy, Meredith and I are friends."
Derek took another sip from the chocolate chip.
"That's very big of you."
"Yep."
"You don't have to do that. It's not like I'm going to be friends with... Let's say... Uh... Mark."
Addison smiled wryly.
"Yeah, well, neither am I. Now finish your juju before somebody else dies."
Derek fumbled on the computer and pulled Addison lightly by the arm.
"Look at the size of this aneurysm."
"Oh, it's big. Are you going to operate?" she asked.
"I'm definitely intrigued."
She looked at her husband, then at the computer screen. He seemed fine compared to the day before.
"Uh… Derek, do you know who Catherine Deneuve is?" asked.
"Hmm... Um Yeah. Actress. French. Hot."
"One of my patients, her husband actually, said I looked like her."
Derek took his eyes off the screen, looked down at his wife, and smiled. Addison accompanied.
"Is not she blond?" he asked turning to the computer.
"Yeah... I don't know... I guess... I don't know... Anyways..."
He didn't seem to hear her anymore.
"Okay, you're busy." she said giving a kiss to her husband's face.
Then she stepped back and went back to work. He kept sipping the hot chocolate, then followed his day's work. At lunchtime, he sat down at the table that was only occupied by Meredith in the cafeteria and was surprised to see Addison amuse himself at the next table, laughing with a stranger. Meredith realized that had bothered him.
"Does Addison know we're friends?" she asked.
Derek kept looking at his wife and didn't know what to answer.
"Did you get Sylvia Booker's blood work back yet?" he asked wanting to change the subject.
Meredith realized what he meant, then got up to do her work. Derek kept eating, watching Addison. As soon as he finished his food, he got up from the table and walked to his patient's room, where Meredith was waiting for him with the results of the tests in hand. He took a quick look and then began to explain the surgery he intended to do.
"A double-barrel what?" asked the curly-haired black woman who was sitting on the bed.
"It's a double-barrel brain bypass." Meredith said.
"I'm going to use two scalp arteries to redirect the blood flow in your brain around the aneurysm." Derek explained.
"How come no one else mentioned this?" asked the patient's husband, who was holding her hands.
"This surgery is rarely performed. I have performed one and I've watched one. But I don't want to understate the risks."
"Risks?" the patient asked.
"The risks are that the aneurysm could rupture on the table." Derek said.
"But there's a chance it could work?" the husband asked.
"No!" said the patient, causing everyone to adjust their postures in surprise, "Hell, no. I'm leaving and we're going to Europe. We've always wanted to see it, we've never had the time. This is the time." she said to her husband, "That's it. Dr. Shepherd?"
Derek still tried to convince, but she remained reluctant. Then he asked Meredith to enter the high papers and left the room. He was walking in the hall when he heard someone calling.
"Dr. Shepherd, can I get a word?"
He turned and saw himself face to face with the elegant black man who was the husband of his patient.
"Yes."
"I'm sorry if my wife offended you."
"Oh, no. No offense at all."
"I didn't notice her." he said.
"I'm sorry?" Derek asked without understanding.
"For 15 years, I didn't notice her. When we got married, she was everything. Somewhere along the way, I stopped noticing her, stopped seeing her. And since she's been sick, she's all I see and I hate that that's what it took. I hate it and I'm sorry."
Derek was surprised by what he was told.
"But I love her. And I don't want her to... I don't want my wife to die. Please talk to her, dr. Shepherd, please."
He was silent for a few seconds. Then he nodded.
"Okay."
###
Sam put two more bottles of beer on the rug on the floor as he sat next to Mark, who immediately took one. Derek kept looking at the notepad in his hands. In the middle of them, many crumpled paper balls were part of the scenery.
"So? What we have?" Sam asked, "Let's get back to the chorus."
Mark picked up his notepad and began reading the chorus of the music he and Sam helped his best friend write for the wedding that would happen in a week.
"Addison Montgomery, I met her in the summer she was cutting up a very dead body…"
"That part is strange." said Sam.
"What's strange?" Derek asked worriedly.
"I met her in the summer she… Why don't you use summery?" Sam asked.
"I would never use summery as a noun." Derek said.
"Addison Montgomery... I met her in the summer she was cutting up a very dead body…." said Mark, going over the words, "Have you thought of a chord for this?"
"Not yet. Every thing in its own time." Derek said, "Now I'm more worried about what I wanna tell her. "
Sam picked up his own notebook and laughed.
"This song is ridiculous."
"Shut up!" Derek said throwing one of the paper balls at his friend.
He was silent for a few seconds, staring at the notebook, while Mark and Sam exchanged a look.
"You know? There's still time to give up." said Mark.
"It's... You can make a normal homage." said Sam.
"I'm talking about giving up marrying. You know? Addison is a cool girl, but guys like us can have fun for a long time before we tie someone up."
Derek rolled his eyes at his best friend's comments. Then his memory was invaded by the day he was sitting alone beneath one of the university trees, watching a baseball game, remembering his father and how much he adored that sport. She was not officially Addison's boyfriend yet, and he was not waiting when she sat down next to him. Without needing him to say a word, she realized something was troubling him, then she asked what it was about, but he didn't want to worry her and just said it was nothing important. Addison gave him a light kiss on his face and laid her head on his shoulder, saying that she would be there to listen to things that didn't matter. Then Derek looked into her blue eyes and let a tear roll down his face before he, for the first time, talked about his father's death with someone other than Mark.
He quickly scribbled something on the notepad and Mark and Sam came over to see what it was about.
"Finished!" he exclaimed, putting the pencil aside.
"Addison Montgomery, I met her in the summer she was cutting up a very dead body and in her eyes I saw my life, I knew that she would be my wife…"
"That rhyme sucks." Sam laughed, interrupting Mark's reading.
"And she would breathe the life back into me, for every day until eternity."
Sam pulled the notepad from Derek's hands and made a note at the end, which Mark soon took to read.
"Or until I'd be as dead as that body.
The three friends laughed.
Derek took a deep breath and took a few steps to approach the patient, who waited in front of the hospital.
"Mrs. Booker..."
She was surprised to see the doctor.
"I'm waiting for my husband. He's bringing the car."
"Mrs. Booker... I know you're worried about the surgery..."
"No. I'm not." she said interrupting him, "I'm not worried about it because I'm not having it."
"You're not having the surgery because of the medical risks?" he asked.
"No, I'm not having it because for the first time in 12 years, I have a great marriage and a life. And I wanna live it."
Derek was surprised at the answer he was given.
"You have weeks. Do you wanna just some weeks?" asked, "Mrs. Booker, If this surgery is successful, you're looking at decades."
"I don't think you understand."
"I understand." he replied in thought.
"I'm not crazy and I don't want to die. I don't want to go back to being Kyle's bed warmer in a flannel nightgown. Can you understand?"
Derek felt hurt by that remark.
"I understand you're tired of settling. So don't. Fight. Fight for your life, fight for your marriage. Let me operate and make a decision right now that you'll never settle again."
The woman was disturbed by what she had just heard. The husband came to take her to the car, so she announced that she would let Derek operate on her, provoking a happy reaction on everyone.
Derek didn't miss the opportunity. He quickly entered the hospital with the couple and took the patient to be prepared for surgery. Addison, who was off duty at the time, entered the gallery of the surgical center where her husband was operating. The place was full, but one of the interns got up from her seat for her to sit down.
Without her waiting, Derek took his eyes off the procedure he was performing and looked for a few seconds, as if he were realizing at the time that she was there. Then he blinked and smiled, startling his wife who immediately returned.
After many hours in the operating room, Derek looked at his wristwatch to realize that by that time Addison and Katie should be home. Then he quickly changed his clothes to go back to the trailer. As soon as he arrived, he was surprised he didn't hear Katie's voice or the TV on. Entering the small trailer, he was surprised to see Doc lying at the foot of the bed, while Addison read a medical journal sitting on the bed. He took off his coat and left it in a chair with his purse aside.
"Hi."
"Hi."
"Where's Katie?" asked.
"She insisted on gonna Bailey's house because of the baby. I'll get her soon."
Then he walked over to the bed and lay next to his wife, touching her to get her attention. Addison caught sight of it and looked at him over her red rectangular frame glasses.
"What?" asked.
Derek focused on her eyes, which had been the same warm blue eyes since college.
"I was indifferent?" he asked, "You know… In New York… Before Mark. I was just indifferent towards you."
Addison's lips opened involuntarily. That was the kind of question she never expected to hear from her husband.
"Yes." she answered.
"I was absent."
It surprised her too. She could not understand where he wanted to go with that.
"Yes"
"I'm partly to blame for what's happened to our marriage."
That question made her wonder if he had been abducted.
"Yeah."
Derek swallowed. He nodded, then sat down.
"I'm sorry."
Addison was silent.
"I'm working hard. I am... I'm working on it. You know... Meredith... Will pass. I think."
Addison set the journal aside and removed the glasses from her face.
"Okay." she said, smiling.
"Sorry about yesterday."
Addison approached her husband and kissed his face just like the day he was sitting under a tree in college. Then she looked into his eyes and gave him a comfortable smile. Derek returned the smile and brought his face close to hers to kiss her.
She was surprised at the intensity of the kiss, especially as she felt his body lying hers on the bed and immediately opening the buttons of her pajama. As soon as all the buttons were open, Derek pulled his shirt over his head and was excited to look at his wife's bare abdomen, brought her face close to one of his nipples and took it to his lips, causing her to moan.
Soon he felt Addison's fingers digging into his bulging hair, massaging his scalp, her breathing growing heavier as her other nipple began to be stimulated with her husband's tongue. Derek pulled away only to remove the rest of the clothes that covered her body and his own pants, being just in his underwear, and then stimulated her again. He took one of his hands up to his wife's vagina and found her clit as he looked into her eyes to see the reaction she would have.
"Hmmmmmmmmmm..."
"Cum for me..." he said, making circular movements in the well-lubricant area.
"I want you." she said in a moan, making him feel a pulse in his cock.
"You want me?" he asked just to hear her asking again.
"I want..."
Then he took off his underwear and positioned himself in the middle of her. Before he penetrated her, he held his erect cock in one hand and passed it all the length of her vagina, positioned it in the opening, but then he pulled it, rubbing it to the clit.
"Do you wanna torture me?" she asked between breathless breaths.
"You can be sure this is torture for me, too." he said before kissing her neck, "You look so hot."
"I'm yours..."
"Just mine?" he asked, sucking her ear.
"Only yours..."
Then he guided his cock to the opening and slid into her, groaning, making her moan as well. Derek started with light strokes as he felt Addison's hands running down his back. He was kissing her neck, sucking her tongue, his chin, and the length of her shoulder. He liked it when he realized she was struggling to help him with the movements and was proud to see that he could do her fell the same pleasure as he had years ago.
"You look so hot." he said before kissing her.
"Yeah... I don't have to push myself for it."
They both laughed. Then Addison turned and sat on his erection, making him moan loudly as she struggled to get the most out of him inside her.
"I missed you." Addison said, holding his wrists against the bed.
Derek lifted his neck to kiss her, but she turned away.
"Don't you wanna kiss me?" he asked with a smile on his face.
She shifted a little and went back into him, who groaned and rolled her eyes.
"I was missing us too." Derek said.
Addison kissed him for a few seconds and then started with the movements, which were so exciting for Derek, that made him unable to kiss and feel it at the same time. He moaned as she continued.
"Let me touch you." he moaned.
"No." she said, squeezing his wrist against the bed without stopping.
"I need to touch you."
"Close your eyes."
"Close my eyes why as you look so beautiful from this angle?"
"Close..." she said, moving a little faster.
Derek obeyed.
"Now imagine... You're touching me..."
He felt his cock tighten a little harder.
"And you're moving my hip..."
"Delicious..."
She kissed his neck, almost driving him crazy.
"Addison... Come on..."
"Hold on, Derek..." she asked as she moved.
"Then don't do this, I..."
She ran her tongue over his ear.
"Addison... I..."
He tried to control himself, but the movements of his wife with the stimulation she made in him, could not make him hold that for a second longer. He screamed as she moved her hip and felt his orgasm being released into her.
"Derek..."
She continued her movements. She had not yet reached her own orgasm. Derek felt a slight pain in his penis and his leg trembled a little while Addison used his cock to try to have her orgasm. In a few seconds she twitched and he felt her opening tighten around him, causing him to roll his eyes with light pleasure. Then she threw herself at his side and looked up at the ceiling. He didn't say a word, the only sound he could hear was her breath.
"Katie needs a room just for her." Derek said.
Addison looked at her husband and smiled at the comment.
"Yes. She needs."
"We could do this again." he said.
She turned to face the bed, then kissed his shoulder.
"I have to pick her up at Bailey's house. It's getting a bit late already. "
Derek ran his hands over her back.
"I love you, Derek."
He opened his mouth to say the same, but he couldn't. Then he came just to kiss her cheek.
###
The day was surprisingly sunny in Seattle. Addison had gone to work early, while Derek and Katie were walking with Doc on the trail, this time without Meredith. After the tour, they realized that the dog was not as well as before; then they took him to the vet before going to the hospital. As much as Katie wanted to stay there with the dog, Derek would not allow it and took the girl with him to the hospital and left her in daycare.
"I wanna stay there with Doc. He can't be alone." Katie said.
"Princess, he is not alone. What did the doctor say?, "
"That will take care of him all night."
"That. That'll take care of him all night. That's what's gonna happen. "
Derek was silent as he looked at his daughter, then wiped the tears flowing down her face.
"Stop crying, Katie. People will think I'm doing something for you." Derek said looking around the people in the daycare.
"He'll be fine?"
"He'll be fine."
"I wanna see him." said the crying girl.
"Oh, princess..."
He pulled his daughter and hugged her for a few seconds.
"Look here for daddy..." he said, pulling her face lightly, "Daddy needs to go and... You call me anytime, okay?"
Katie nodded.
"Then stop crying."
After leaving the daycare, Derek regretted that he had suggested that Katie call him at any time since before his surgery, his cell phone rang every five minutes with the daycare nurse saying that his daughter wanted to talk to he and it was always the same subject: Doc.
"If I was sick, would you leave me alone in the hospital?" she asked one of the times.
Then he saw no other solution than to cancel his first surgery and take his daughter to visit the dog again at the veterinary office. He was walking in one of the corridors toward the elevator when he was spotted by Addison, who was putting his white lab coat over her body, but she hurried to find his husband.
"Hi." Derek said kissing his wife's cheek.
"You going into surgery or coming out?" she asked, following him.
"I didn't get in, but I'm leaving. I had to postpone it." Derek said, "Doc's sick."
"What are his symptoms?" asked Addison.
"Polydipsia, lethargy, and vomiting."
"Any sign of fever or dehydration?" she asked as he pressed the button to call the elevator.
"I was considering IV antibiotics and a saline drip."
"Seriously?"
"No, Addison. He's a dog." Derek said, "I dropped him at the vet. They'll observe him overnight, but Katie is calling me every moment, wants to go see him. "
"Oh! I have something to tell you. "
The elevator door opened in front of them and Derek entered.
"Later."
Addison walked in.
"I rented a house for us."
"You did what?" Derek asked in surprise.
"Yeah... I found a cool place, near the hospital. It has two bedrooms and is furnished, which is perfect, isn't it? I wanted to go out with Katie to buy some things and make our change from the trailer. "
"We didn't agree we were moving from the trailer."
"You said yesterday that Katie needed a room just for her..."
Derek took a deep breath.
"But we didn't agree we were moving from the trailer."
"Ah, Der... We agreed, since we decided to go there. It was only until we found a place to stay." she said, approaching him as he took a few steps back until he leaned against the wall, "I found it."
She kissed him, then he returned. They didn't even see it when the elevator door opened and Richard stepped inside.
"Shepherds." he said with a smile on his face.
The two walked away.
"Sorry, chief." Derek said.
"I have a transfer from Mercy West. Are you gonna wait for me to go home?, "
"Yes. You need to show me where we live now. Are you gonna take Katie with you to make that change?, "
"If she wants..."
"Oh, Addison, make her want it, please. I can't waste a whole day in a vet's office."
The elevator door opened, Richard left, then closed again, and they went up to the daycare. Soon they saw Katie sitting in an armchair with a tearful, worried countenance.
"Why do you have this face?" Addison asked, bending down in front of her daughter to stroke her face.
"Doc's sick."
Addison kissed the girl's face.
"Your father told me, but it will be okay."
"Katie, your mother got us a house." Derek said.
"But Doc likes the trailer."
"I'm sure he's gonna like it a lot more. That has a room just for you, rooms and a little house for him in the garden."
"I don't want him to live in the garden." said the girl.
"So we put the little house in the house. Either... Don't you wanna come with mommy to buy some things for the new house?, "
"I wanna see Doc."
"Okay, your dad's gonna take you to see Doc, but then... You're coming with mom, okay?"
Katie thought for a few seconds before she nodded to her mother.
"We'll meet here at the hospital when you get back."
"Okay."
"I love you." Addison said kissing her daughter's face.
The three of them walked to the elevator and entered. Addison went downstairs to work, while Derek followed with Katie. After the visit to Doc, Katie had a conversation with Finn, the dog's vet, who assured her that he would take care of Doc exclusively at his home during the night. Derek also made sure that he would visit the dog before going home. Then she got more relaxed to meet her mother to do some shopping for the new house. Derek hiked the two of them to the house Addison had rented so they could meet and surprised himself with the comfortable, spacious, and very neat place. Upstairs there were two rooms with couple beds and he soon entered the larger one, which he knew he would occupy with his wife.
"This will be my room?" Katie asked, entering the next room.
"Yes." Addison said.
"But I don't like."
"Of course not, silly... We're gonna buy some cool bedding, so one day we can buy some decorative objects. What do you think?"
"You have to paint the walls too."
"Yes. But we're not gonna do it all today." Addison said, "First we'll bring things out of the trailer and buy new bedding. The other day we think about painting, these things... "
"Okay." Katie said.
Addison walked to her husband, who looked out the window and hugged him from behind.
"So? What did you think?"
"I liked."
She stepped in front of him and kissed him.
"Addie, I have to go back to the hospital. So, let's go... I'll leave you at the mall and then you'll be back by cab. "
"Okay." she said, moving the bag, "Can you get here by yourself?"
"Yes."
"Your keys." she said, handing a keyring in his hands.
"Okay." he said giving a light kiss to her lips, "Come on."
"Katie! Come on!" she called.
The girl left the bathroom and walked to her parents. After leaving his wife and daughter at the mall, Derek returned to the hospital to try to get back to work. The two had fun shopping, but at no time did Katie take Doc's concern out of her head. At the end of the day, as promised, Derek went to the vet's house to find out about the dog and was surprised to see Meredith walking downstairs, her hair wet, wearing a vet's shirt. He could not help but open his displeasure, so he didn't see the dog, he was satisfied with the information the vet had given him, and returned home, where he found Addison sitting on the living room sofa, watching something on TV with Katie in his lap. The girl jumped up so she saw her father and ran to his embrace.
"So? How's Doc?"
"Better." Derek said without even remembering what Finn had said, "He's coming home soon."
"Good." Katie said, "But I didn't want him to spend the night alone."
"He will not get through."
"Dr. Dandridge doesn't count. "
"Meredith will spend the night with him." Derek said as her daughter sat back on her mother's lap.
"Good." said the girl.
"We already had dinner, but we kept it for you..."
"Not. I don't wanna eat anything." Derek said, "I'm gonna take a shower. "
Addison was surprised, but didn't question it as her husband climbed the stairs. She stayed there with her daughter until she had time to put Katie in bed. She stayed in the room with her until she slept, then returned to her room where, surprisingly, Derek was asleep. Then she just lay down beside him and slept. The next morning, she woke with his arm pulling her around the waist as he kissed her neck. She could already feel his erection rubbing against her ass.
"Der..."
He turned her over and then laid her down, now pressing his cock against her leg.
"We have a room just for us..." he said kissing her neck, "It was you who wanted to change... Now we can do it as many times as we want..."
Addison smiled. Then she took off the sweater she wore, while Derek took off her panties. He also took off the thin shorts he used to sleep and soon began penetration. He lunged for her for a few minutes, but he could not find the tune that would bring him to orgasm. Addison shifted her position and sat for a few minutes over her husband's cock, but she was also having difficulty finding a rhythm. Then Derek tossed her back on the bed and laid her down again, penetrating her and pressing her thumb into her clit, making her moan.
"It will not be like this..." he said as he invaded her neck with kisses.
He began to move quickly, as she sucked at his neck and stroked the back of her neck. When he thought he was starting to reach the point of greatest pleasure, he remembered Meredith coming down the steps of the vet, and then the feeling was gone. After a few more minutes struggling against his wife, Derek began to feel his penis ache, then left Addison and lay down beside her. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Thanks." she said.
Derek looked at her with one eyebrow raised and laughed.
"Oh, my God. You're thanking me for the most boring sex ever?" he asked, laughing.
Then Addison accompanied him.
"I didn't know what else to say!" she answered laughing, "I mean, you did your best."
"Oh, great. Thanks. You too." he said stroking her shoulder, "It's really nice work."
"We used to be really good at this, didn't we?!" exclaimed Addison, moving her hands, "What's going on?"
"Oh! I don't know. We're going to do this until we get it right." he said putting himself on top of her again.
Derek's cell phone rang, so he rolled his eyes out from inside his wife to lie down beside her again.
"Ow! Jeez! Perfect." he complained, picking up the receiver.
"It must be from the hospital."
"Hello? Hi."
"Hospital?" she asked.
"No... It's about Doc."
Addison came and kissed her husband's chest.
"No, I'm here. Yeah, I can pick him up this morning..."
Addison reached over and tried to pull the phone from her husband's hand.
"No, Addison..." he said trying to get out of the way, "Come on…"
She pulled the receiver out and held it to her ear while Derek tried to get it back.
"Dr. Dandridge... Dr. Dandridge, We'll call you back. We're trying really hard to have some decent sex here."
Derek laughed.
"What's so funny?" Meredith heard the woman's voice on the other side of the line, followed by Derek's laughter.
Then the call fell. Derek threw his wife back on the bed and lay on top of her. He penetrated her a few times until they heard knocks on the door.
"Mommy, I already woke up."
"Fucking hell!" Derek complained in a whisper.
"Okay... Another time we try again." Addison said, causing her husband to leave.
"Mommy..."
"I'll go, baby. Just waiting for me in your room."
Addison took a quick shower, then met her daughter in the girl's room to help her with the clothes. When they arrived at the hospital, Derek led Katie to the daycare, while Addison arrived at the surgical floor with a stressed face. Meredith, who already had an idea of what it was, left the doctor with Cristina, leaving only Alex to work with her.
The intern entered the elevator and was surprised to see that Derek was there.
"Hey."
"Well, hey"
"Uh, you picked up Doc?" asked Meredith.
"Yeah. He's home."
"He seems to be doing much better."
"He seems to be doing good."
Meredith was silent as the elevator went down, then laughed. Derek raised one eyebrow.
"I'm not laughing at you." she said.
"No?"
"No, it's just..."
She laughed again.
"You know, bad sex isn't really something that wives want announced to the dirty ex-mistress."
Derek laughed wryly.
"It was not bad sex. It was great sex. Wonderful sex. Addison is good at it." he lied.
"Okay." Meredith said, shrugging ironically.
"And you're not the dirty ex-mistress. She's your friend. I'm your friend. We're all friends."
"But you didn't tell her."
"No. How's your day going?"
"Great. The vet asked me if we were together and I set him straight."
"Ah, of course. I saw you cleared it." he said coming out of the elevator as soon as the door opened.
Meredith was surprised. Then he followed.
"What did you mean by that?" Meredith asked.
Derek didn't answer and kept walking.
"I never should have told you about Finn."
"Ah! The vet? You didn't have to tell. I saw. You really get around..."
"What did you just say to me?" Meredith asked, grabbing his arm.
"It's unforgivable..." he said turning to the intern.
"I don't remember ever asking you to forgive me."
"So was the knitting a phase? Who's next?" he asked, "Alex? Because I hear he likes to sleep around. You two have that in common."
Meredith pulled him into a hallway.
"You don't get to call me a whore. When I met you, I thought I had found the person that I was going to spend the rest of my life with! I was done. So all the boys and all the bars and all the obvious daddy issues, who cared? Because I was done. You left me. You chose Addison. I'm all glued back together now. I make no apologies for how I chose to repair what you broke. You don't get to call me a whore."
Derek was silent. Furious.
"This thing with us is finished." he said, "It's over."
"Finally." Meredith said.
"Yeah."
"It's done."
Then he moved away. He didn't work that day with the intern and returned home at the end of the day without his wife and daughter, who went earlier. He walked over to Katie, who did some homework on the coffee table, and gave her a kiss on the forehead.
"Mommy's angry."
"She is?"
"Hmmrmm..."
"Have you had dinner yet?"
"Not yet. We have now come a little."
"I'm gonna change clothes and we'll be down."
"Okay."
Then he went upstairs and entered the room. Addison still wore his trousers.
"You would not believe the day I had." she said while Derek took off his shirt, "I went out of my way to give a patient exactly what she wants, only to have it explode in my face. I mean, lawsuit, threats. Richard's pissed. Don't get me started about Alex Karev."
"Get in the shower..." he said lowering his pants.
"What?"
"Get in the shower with me."
"Honey, I need to prepare something for Katie to eat. She's hungry. "
"You want to have hot sex?" he asked, lowering his underwear.
Addison was surprised by the proposal, but without thinking twice, pulled the dress and walked in lingerie until her husband took her in his lap and entered in the bathroom with her.
"Oh... Thank you... Thank you..." she said between the kisses.
###
Meredith was already seated in the armchair in the waiting room of Finn's clinic, when Addison and Derek arrived, visibly happier and greeted the vet. Derek sat on a couch and Addison by his side to hear the vet's diagnosis.
"That's it? That's your diagnosis?" asked Derek.
"He said bone cancer, so that would be his diagnosis..." Meredith said.
"I heard him. I was double checking."
Addison felt a heavy mood between the two people, then looked at them both.
"I still need to do a bone scan to see how far it's spread." said Finn, "Osteosarcomas are aggressive, but we can try and treat it with chemo or remove the tumor entirely. If it's spread too far, we may have to amputate the limb."
"At that point, should we even bother?" asked Derek.
"Oh, right. Let's just let him die?" asked Meredith ironically.
"I don't want him to suffer, Meredith."
"Really?" asked the intern.
"I don't want Katie to suffer, either. She is hopeful... So if you have no hope, be honest."
"The odds are few, but they do exist." said Finn.
At the end of the consult, everyone left the clinic. Addison got into the car with her husband and then fastened the seat belt as he started driving.
"Are you all right?" she asked.
"I am. Why?"
"I don't know... You look different."
"It's all right."
She nodded, then stood silently staring ahead. Every now and then she took her eyes out of the way to see her husband, who seemed to be driving very well.
"I hired a person to take care of Katie at home so you don't have to worry about picking her up at school."
"No?"
"No."
"And who is this person? You trust?"
"Known to Miranda. Katie loved her."
"Hmm..."
He continued driving quietly until they reached the hospital. The two hurried up the pace when they saw that the elevator would close while they were a few feet away. Then Derek reached for the door, which opened again, and Addison entered. She was surprised to see that Meredith was alone in there, also arriving at the hospital. Derek also went in and stood beside his wife. They were silent as the door closed.
Addison, who was between, felt the heavy weather between them, then looked both ways to study their faces.
"So what's I mean, is there something going on?" asked.
"No." Meredith said.
"No." Derek said.
Addison nodded and went silent again.
"Did you guys have a fight?" asked.
"No." Meredith answered.
"So we're all still friends?" asked the redhead.
"Yes."
The elevator door opened and Meredith left, Derek was followed, then Addison followed.
"Did you hear me, Derek?"
"I heard. Hear what?"
"Then tell me what's going on with you."
"It's not happening anything."
They passed alongside Bailey and some of his interns. The resident pointed tasks at them. Then Addison stopped them.
"Dr. Karev, there you are!" said the doctor as if surprised to find the intern, "You're supposed to be up on the OB-GYN rounding up my patients."
"What?!" asked Alex surprised.
"Oh yeah..." Addison said, "After the complaint, you made against me for caring about the patient, I thought it best that you stay in my department."
Cristina, Izzie, and George laughed.
"You're kidding, aren't you?" asked Alex.
Addison raised one eyebrow.
"No."
Alex took a deep breath in his boss's anger.
"Come with me." Addison said.
"Oh, yeah, I got paged. 911. Pregnant mom. Car accident. Very serious." said the intern wanting to get rid of gynecology.
"Ah! Pity. I've got three surgeries. I was going to ask you to scrub in, but you should stay with that pregnant lady. You see to it, Dr. Bailey?" asked the redhead.
Bailey nodded.
"Karev, go find your patient. Stevens, scrub in on Noah's patella fracture."
Addison smirked and turned away from everyone.
"The She-Shepherd just walks in and pulls me off surgery?" asked Alex.
"You burn the She-Shepherd, she burns back. Go."
###
The day was quite hectic in the emergency. Derek received a patient in very serious condition, that he didn't need many exams to decree brain death, however the parents of the young woman refused to sign the forms of consent of organ donation, since they wanted to keep the daughter alive for the generation of the baby she was expecting. The neurosurgeon tried to reverse the situation but, without success, left the hospital looking for Addison. He found her climbing up one of the stairs, then ran to catch up.
"Hey, you got a minute?" he asked.
"You ready to talk?" asked Addison.
"Talk?! Talk about what? Uh, my patient, Kendra Thomas. She's brain dead. Her parents want to keep her alive to have the baby."
"You want me to talk to the parents?"
"I tried, but you're neonatal, you might have a better shot at it than I do."
"Right."
"You can give them a more detailed..."
"I said I'd do it."
Derek paused and followed his wife to her patient's room. Addison looked at the young and pretty girl unconscious on the bed, then stood in front of the girl's parents, who had a sad countenance on their faces.
"Mr. and Mrs. Thomas. Dr. Shepherd asked me to talk to you about your daughter..."
"We've made up our mind. She's having the baby." said the short man with gray hair.
"I know Kendra meant the world to you and I know the terrible grief you must be going through, but from a medical standpoint, this is a very bad idea." Addison said.
"Well, if we wanted your opinion, miss, we'd ask for it."
Addison swallowed.
"It's just we love our daughter. Please try to understand." the lady said in a tone that seemed ashamed of her husband's reply.
"I do understand. I do. You think if you love her enough or love her baby enough that will keep her close to you. But she's already gone and if you go with this, you're risking I mean, if Kendra were to contract an infection, she could pass it on and it could cause brain damage."
"We're taking our chances." said Mr. Thomas without taking his eyes off his daughter.
"Now they keep organ donors alive after they're gone. Why not Kendra?" asked the mother.
"Organ donors aren't kept alive for six months." Addison explained, "Your daughter is brain dead. She can't regulate body temperature, hormone output. These things are very important for a fetus."
"You can regulate that stuff, right?" Mr. Thomas asked.
"We could try..."
"THEN TRY, DAMN IT!" he shouted, startling Addison and Derek who approached his wife in case of any aggression or uncontrollability on the part of the patient's father, "WHAT THE HELL'S THE PROBLEM HERE?"
Addison took a deep breath.
"The problem is you want to use your daughter's corpse as an incubator!"
Derek pulled his wife out of the room.
"Addison..."
"That's the problem!"
"Ok, I'm sorry."
He took his wife down the hall.
"You should not have done it..." Derek said.
Addison continued walking in silence.
"Addison!"
"What?" she asked, turning to him.
"They just lost their daughter!"
"I know. They need to face that. She's not coming back."
"A little sensitivity would be nice here, Ok? They love their daughter. They don't want to let go."
"What they're doing is not about love. It's... It's…"
She stopped walking, causing Derek to follow.
"Well, it's like you." she said pointing to her husband.
"Excuse me?"
"Like how you pretend to love me, but you're just using me to fill your need to be a good guy."
"We're not home. Now is not the time to talk about this." Derek said walking again.
"You walk away? That's all I get?" Addison asked as she followed him.
"Addison..."
"You're not going to yell at me? Call me names? Or I don't know ignore me in an elevator?"
"What do you want from me, Addison?" he asked turning to her.
"I WANT YOU TO CARE! I sleep with your best friend and you walk away. He comes out here from New York and rubs it in your face, and still you get a good night's sleep. What do I have to do?" she asked, "Oh! I know. Maybe what I should do is go out on a date with the vet. Because that seems to send you into a blind rage. Oh, but wait. That won't work either because I'M NOT MEREDITH GREY!"
Derek took a deep breath and looked to the side, where Richard, some staff and patient chaperons watched the discussion. He cast a cold glance at his wife, then walked away leaving her alone under the eyes of everyone. Addison put her hands in the pockets of her lab coat and walked slowly away. Richard handed the file he had in hand to one of the interns and reached for the doctor. He found her only at the end of the day as she walked to the elevator to leave the hospital.
"Are you already leaving?"
Addison took a deep breath and rolled her eyes.
"What about Katie?"
"I hired someone to take care of her at home."
Richard kept looking at her with a charging look.
"I know what you're going to say, but if you knew the day that I had..."
"Everybody in this hospital has those days, Addison. But no one makes a scene in front of their peers." said the chief.
Addison nodded and lowered his head.
"I'm sorry."
"Addison..."
"I can't compete." she said looking at the chief with eyes full of tears, "He's not having an affair. He's not trying to hurt me. He's just..."
She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face.
"The only people who don't know Derek loves Meredith are Derek and Meredith. How do I compete with that?"
Richard took her hand. Then George O'Malley ran past them and came back as soon as he noticed the boss.
"Chief, an emergency! They shot dr. Burke!"
Richard was startled and immediately moved, just like Addison, but her cell phone rang and she quickly answered when it was Adele, who wanted to request a consult from her in the emergency room without her commenting on Richard. The doctor was surprised, but it was. When she arrived, the nurse indicated the litter she was supposed to go to, and she approached Adele and some of the teenagers standing in front of a young woman lying on the bed.
"Addison! Thank you for meeting us." Adele said holding her friend.
"What's so important I'm keeping it secret from my Chief of Surgery?"
"I was chaperoning a prom for my niece. We had a little bit of a situation."
Addison smiled at the young woman she didn't yet know and approached her chart.
"Camille Travis, 17, lost consciousness during sexual intercourse?"
"Oh, keep it down!" Adele said.
"It's ok, Aunt Adele. I'm fine." said the girl.
"When your Uncle Richard finds out you were cashing in your V-card, none of us will be fine."
"Camille? Mrs. Webber! My God! Is she ok?" asked a young black boy approaching.
"No one ever died from having sex, right?" asked a curly-haired redhaired girl who was supposed to be Camille's friend.
"You're not going to tell my parents, right?" asked the guy, "I used a condom and everything."
Adele rolled her eyes and Addison held back the laughter.
"Let's put you in a room." Addison said, "Come on."
Addison called for an intern and helped him push Camille's stretcher to the elevator. As they left on one of the floors, they were surprised to find themselves in front of Richard, who opened his eyes wide as soon as he saw his niece.
"It's no big deal..." Adele stepped forward while her niece continued to be taken to the bedroom and her husband was approaching.
"Addison? What happened to Camille?" asked Richard by going directly to the doctor.
"I still don't know what happened, Richard. I need to do some exams. "Addison said as the girl was laid on the bed.
"But what happened? How did she come here?, "
Addison looked at Adele, and the chief caught it.
"It was no big deal..." Adele said, "You should not worry."
"Addison..."
"I can't give a diagnosis of a patient I just received, chief." said the doctor, "I need to examine her."
"Okay." Richard said, folding his arms.
"I need you to leave."
After much complaining, they all left the room and Addison closed the door so the place would finally be silent.
"Thank you for getting rid of them." Camille said with a smile on her face.
Addison smiled as she approached.
"You're the mother of that cute little girl who was at my uncle's home at Christmas, aren't you?"
"Yes." Addison said, placing her legs in a holder on either side of the bed.
"How's she?"
"She's okay."
"She's beautiful." said Camille, "I was hoping to see her there again. Very beautiful and smart kid."
"Thank you." Addison said smiling, "Can I start the exam?"
"Of course yes."
Addison began the exam as Camille stared up at the ceiling feeling a little discomfort.
"I must be the most disastrous case you've ever had." she said.
"You have no idea of the crazy things I've seen in my profession." Addison said, "You don't come close to being the most disastrous."
"But no one who fainted losing their virginity, I believe."
The doctor laughed.
"Yeah... That had not happened until today."
"I'm such a fool."
"Don't blame yourself so much. Everyone has a disastrous story to tell about losing virginity. You're not the only one, don't you worry."
"Even you?"
Addison was silent and gave a shy smile.
"Yeah... Even me."
After the exam, Addison left the girl alone and left the room to meet Adele and Richard anxiously outside.
"So?" Asked Richard.
"Well, the bleeding has stopped, but her pelvic exam does concern me. I'd like to do an ultrasound."
"Three years ago, Camille was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. They only removed one ovary to try and preserve fertility, but her checkups have been clean since then." informed Richard.
Then Addison nodded as if her worst suspicion had been confirmed.
"Okay. Well, let's not worry until we must." said the doctor, who readied the room for an ultrasound.
Camille missed the doctor's sudden entrance. Before the new exams began, Addison called home to tell her daughter's new nanny that she and Derek probably would not come back later that night, and when she talked to the girl, she was heartbroken to hear her daughter cry over Doc.
"Sweetheart, mom already said that everything will work out. I need to hang up now, I'm in the middle of a consult. Sleep well."
She set her cell phone aside and turned to the patient.
"I'm sorry for the delay, but our dog's sick and Katie's crying over him." Addison said as he began to slide the staff across the girl's belly in front of her.
"Oh, how cute." Camille smiled.
Addison continued the examination, until she visualized the mass in the womb of the young woman, who quickly perceived his features.
"Dr. Shepherd?"
"I'm gonna need a CT..."
The girl rolled her eyes.
"Camille, have you had any symptoms, um any abdominal pain? Nausea? Anything?"
"No, not for, like, a month or so."
"And nobody knows?"
"No. I wanted to go to prom. I didn't want to be the girl with cancer, again."
Addison was silent as she wiped the gel from the patient's body.
"You can be sure." Camille said, "You're pretty sure I'm the cancer girl again."
The doctor took a deep breath.
"Let's do a CT scan."
Then Addison left the room and found only Adele sitting in one of the armchairs in the waiting room. Richard had been called in to receive information about Burke. The redhead came over and sat down next to her friend.
"Hey."
"Hi." Adele said, "I was just trying to remember the night I lost my virginity. And I can't. I remember who it was with and I remember I was 18, but I can't remember any of the details."
"I can remember all of the details. Kind of wish I couldn't."
"That bad?"
"No, just not good." Addison said laughing, "Good came later. And then really good came."
Adele laughed in agreement.
"That little girl in there's just getting started. She hasn't even seen what good is yet." commented.
"Please, Addison. Tell me she's going to have a chance to see what the good stuff is."
The doctor was silent, then took her friend's hand.
"I'm so sorry, Adele."
Adele hugged her friend in tears.
###
Addison continued in the hospital accompanying her friend's niece in the exams for the clinical confirmation of the diagnosis that everyone already knew what it would be. In the middle of the night, she was passing through the corridors, which were agitated by what had happened to Burke, when she saw her husband standing with his arms crossed in front of the board. She took a deep breath and walked over to him.
"Katie slept alone at home?" asked Derek noting the wife at his side.
"Theresa is sleeping with her. How's Preston?"
"He's recovering nicely."
They were both silent. Derek looked at his wife, who was pretending to be paying attention to the board. "Passive-aggressive", he thought.
"Addison..."
"I don't want to talk about it..." she interrupted him without looking at her husband, "I mean we've come so far. You forgave me for Mark and we're trying."
"We are trying..."
"We are... And I was jealous when there was no need to be. Right?"
Derek thought for a few seconds, then looked at his wife.
"Addison..."
"Hmm?"
"I learned that your patient, Richard's niece, wants to give a prom in the hospital."
"Yes. She'll do it in a few days.
"Will you go to the prom with me?" he asked with a smile on his face.
Addison smiled and nodded to her husband.