Third chapter in under 24 hours, so make sure you read chapters 10 and 11 before you read this one!

The following morning Addison was shuffling back to her bed with the help of a nurse when Alex came in with a wheelchair. "Oh good, you're up. Get in. Someone wants to see you."

She groaned a little as she sat down, then grabbed one of the bunnies from the nightstand. "How is she?" she asked after taking a few deep breaths to recover from the pain.

"Shepherd hasn't been in to see you yet?"

"No, not since yesterday."

Alex grinned behind Addison's back, glad that he would be the one to give her the good news. "Oh, I thought he was coming to talk to you after rounds. I would have been here sooner if I had known he wasn't. She had a few more seizures overnight but other than that she looks good."

"Has she had a repeat CT? What if she has another bleed?" Addison asked as Alex pushed her towards the NICU. "That could be causing the seizures."

"Addison, she just had brain surgery. Seizures are normal at this point, you know that. Her last CT showed no bleeding, and she has no other signs of a bleed so relax. She's okay."

"Yeah, but-"

"But nothing. She's okay."

Addison crossed her arms and huffed as they entered the NICU. "Know-it-all."

"Ooo, that really hurts. Especially since I learned it all from the biggest know-it-all on the west coast. Now shut up and say hello to your daughter." He reached for Addison's arm and helped her stand up slowly.

Addison squealed as she looked in the isolette. "Oh my God! She's off the vent! When did that happen?"

"Couple hours ago. Told you she was good."

"Look at you, Ella! Are you mommy's big, strong girl? Yes, you are! You're strongest, bravest girl in the whole world and mommy loves you so much," she cooed as she reached into the isolette, set the bunny inside, and stroked her daughter's tiny palm with one finger. She broke into a huge grin when the baby grabbed a hold of her. "Alex, look! She's holding my finger! Oh! She's opening her eyes! Look at you, pretty girl! You're so beautiful!"

"I told you she was gorgeous."

"She is. She's perfect. Oh, I just want to pick her up and squeeze her."

"Soon. Shepherd will probably remove the EVD in a few days when he replaces the skull cap," Alex explained, referring to the tube that allowed excess fluid to drain from Ella's brain, "and then you'll be able to hold her." He was about to go check his other patients when Ella started seizing. "It's okay. They don't usually last more than thirty seconds," he said calmly, but a minute later she escalated from a partial complex seizure to a tonic clonic seizure. He ordered the anti-seizure meds and injected them into her IV.

Addison watched in horror as the seizure progressed and her daughter turned blue. Sure, she'd seen it happen hundreds of times but never with her own child. Finally the meds kicked in and Ella was still, her color returning to normal. Addison burst into tears.

Alex pulled her into a hug. "Add, she's fine. She's okay, look at her. She's fine," he soothed as he rubbed her back.

"This is all my fault. I shouldn't have worked as long as I did. Then she wouldn't be here having seizures. We'd be going home-"

"Addison, you had a placental abruption. Nothing you did caused it, and you know that. I know you do. It just happens. It could have happened any time, anywhere, and the way you were bleeding neither of you would be here if it had happened anywhere but in the hospital. I could have gone to your house after work and found you dead, so it's a good thing you decided to keep working. And even if you had a perfectly normal birth, the aneurysm could have burst anyways so stop playing the blame game and be happy you're both alive." His words were blunt but his voice tender and calming as he wiped her tears away, then grabbed a tissue and held it to her nose. "Blow, before you get snot all over my lab coat."

She laughed in spite of herself and grabbed the tissue. "I'm not a child, I can do it myself." He waited a few minutes to make sure she was okay, then went to check his other patients.

After about an hour Alex returned and could see Addison was getting a bit shaky. "Okay, visiting hours are over," he informed her, with a gesture towards the wheelchair.

"No they're not. This is my unit, I know when visiting hours are."

"Addison-"

"We just got here! I'm not leaving."

"You're tired, and you're in pain. You need to rest."

"All I've done is stand here and talk to my baby. I'm not tired."

"And you were up walking-"

"Yeah, all the way to the bathroom. Yay me. Someone get me a gold star."

Alex put his hands on his hips and stared Addison down. "What did I tell you yesterday?"

She looked away and sighed before grumbling her reply. "That I'm the worst patient ever."

Alex had to laugh. "Okay, I was thinking about the part where I told you that you need to take care of yourself so you can take care of Ella but that works too. You really are the worst patient ever."

"But technically I'm not your patient," she argued weakly.

"Just get in the chair. If anything changes I will have someone come get you immediately, I promise. Otherwise, I'll bring you back this afternoon after you get some rest. But only if you sit your ass down and shut up."

Although she hated to admit it, she really was too tired to argue any more. "Fine. But I'm only going back because Derek's probably looking for me. I'm not tired. And since you're making me leave my baby you should probably go get me ice cream to make up for it."

Alex chose not to point out that if Derek was looking for her he would surely know to check the NICU, and instead chose to focus on her request. "It's ten thirty in the morning. Did you even eat breakfast?"

She wrinkled her nose. "It was gross. Get me ice cream or I don't leave."

"Okay. Ice cream it is. Now sit."

They were just leaving the NICU when Derek approached. "There you are. I meant to stop by after rounds but I got paged to the pit," he offered up as an excuse. "I'll take her the rest of the way, Karev."

"Well, I'm headed that way anyways, I can take her," Alex lied. While he didn't know Derek was the baby's father, he did know the guy had been a bit of a jerk to Addison lately, as she had confessed to him - only after Meredith told him about the baby's heart condition - Derek's behavior after Meredith's last appointment and he wasn't thrilled about leaving her alone with him while she was still recovering and vulnerable.

"It's fine, Alex. Don't forget the ice cream."

He looked her in the eye. Are you sure? She nodded almost imperceptibly. "Okay. One ice cream coming up."

Addison allowed Derek to help her back in bed and waited for the nurse to administer her overdue - and much needed - pain meds before she started grilling him. "So, she looks good?"

He nods. "She does. Her stats are good, reflexes are good, she's alert…"

"You think she'll make a full recovery?" She sounded hopeful now.

"She might. But Addison, we've been over this. It's too early to know for sure. She was without oxygen for a long time, you know that, and there is a chance she'll have deficits. They might not surface for months, or years, but you know the odds. Fine and gross motor delays, learning disabilities, the seizures may never go away-"

"But she's going to live. The other stuff...I can deal with that as it comes up, but you think she's going to live?"

"It's too early," he repeats, "but yes, I think she has a good chance. Obviously the next two weeks are crucial. Like I said before, she's at risk for another bleed, or a stroke, but she looks good and I'm cautiously optimistic. Good enough?"

"Good enough."

Alex returned from the cafeteria just as she fell asleep. He shook his head. "I told her she was tired."

"Karev, you can't tell that woman anything," Derek scoffed with a chuckle as they walked away.

Yay, Addison got to see Ella! Nothing too exciting. I'm still struggling with whether to have Ella's paternity revealed or not, and how to do it. Thoughts and suggestions welcome and, as always, reviews appreciated!