Author's Note: Good morning, all! Sorry that it's been over a month since the last update. :/ First the holidays were about and I wanted a bit of a break, then writers' block hit, then life got in the way. I hope you're still hanging in there and that you enjoy the chapter. I will do my darndest to get the next one cranked out in a more timely fashion. Thanks for reading and reviewing!

McDreamy's Gurl—ha-ha, nothing wrong with a screenname change and you don't suck at reviews! Thanks.

Eleanor J.—I must confess, I'm loving this Derek too, fighting for his wife and family. There will be a showdown.

I hear you regarding Shondaland. Thank goodness for fic and our own GA lands!

Anne—Hello new reviewer! Glad you enjoyed chapter 20. Hope you like this one!

Richiey—I'm always relieved when I pass your review, hee! At the rate I'm writing this, it won't be over for a while yet, so no worries. ;)

Well, in this chapter Derek sees Mark; he'll deal with the dirty duo another time.

I hope you re-read the entire story to avoid family. g

skiergal—ha! More to come.

Title: Wise Up ch. 21
Rating: PG-13, I guess. Adult themes. Some swearing.
Summary: Derek and Addison are trying to come to terms with their feelings for each other and their behavior towards each other. Will they be able to wise up, face their demons and become a stronger couple or will they give up? Circa end season 2, with my spin on things.
Disclaimer: Fanfiction, only. No infringement intended. ABC, Touchstone Television, Shonda and Co. own Grey's Anatomy.

"Who sent the flowers?" Addison asked the next time she awoke. She'd been in a deep slumber which felt good, and when she stirred the first thing her eyes landed on was the bouquet of flowers. It was a very familiar bouquet.

Shrugging, Derek said, "I don't know, there was no card attached."

"No card? Interesting," Addison mused, though she had a sinking suspicion she knew who they were from. "Who knows I'm here?"

"Obviously the staff does. Oh and Nancy. She's on her way…wait," Derek stopped and took a look at his watch, "She should be here by now. I told her not to tell Dad until we knew you were going to be okay. I hope that's all right."

"It's fine," she said quietly. "I can call him later."

"No, I'll do it," her husband told her. "How are you feeling?"

"Kind of out of it. And I don't know why. I mean, I fell, but it wasn't down a flight of stairs."

"Yeah well you were knocked unconscious for a while there."

"What exactly happened, Derek?"

"I don't know. But I'll find out and I'll deal with it."

She knew he was keeping something from her, but she didn't press. "Okay. Thanks. And Derek?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you," she told him, her voice soft. "Thank you for being here for me …and for the baby. It means more than you know."

Smiling at her, he leaned over and kissed her on the forehead. "It's where I want to be."

"So, how long until I'm sprung, do you think?"

"Not too sure. Depends what your doctors say."

"Well that's obvious, Dr. Shepherd," she teased him lightly.

"You're in a better mood now than earlier," her husband commented.

"Yeah, sorry if I was …off."

"You're entitled." And he meant that.

"I'm sure you'll be released later today. But you're going to have to take it easy. You're going to be sore—"

"I already am," she said with a groan.

"And you need to be off your feet."

"Are you an OB?"

"…just married to one," he bit back with a smirk while she rolled her eyes.

"And no more heels, I know. My poor heels."

"Addison really."

"I don't care about them, honestly. I'm just saying."

"You're just being Addison Forbes Montgomery-Shepherd."

This was weird, Addison thought to herself. Here they were carrying on like a normal couple.

"Are you hungry?" Derek asked, changing his train of thought.

"Not really. Maybe a little."

"Addison you know it's important—"

Cutting him off she said, "That I eat all my meals and take my vitamins and get enough fluids and sleep and be a good girl. I know."

He stared at her pointedly.

"I could go for some pudding I guess. Maybe banana. A muffin or something with carbs."

"Banana pudding?" He asked with a laugh. She never liked that before.

"Yes. And oh Derek please get me some bottled water. I don't like that stuff," she pointed to the jug of water which was sitting on her tray and was warm now.

"And lots of ice," he added, knowing her preferences.

"Yes, thank you."

"I'll be back in a bit. I'm going to stretch my legs."

"Lucky you," she told him as she waved him out of her room.

After watching her husband depart her room, Addison focused her attention back on the flowers. How did he know? She wondered. Because it was obvious to her who they were from.

As Derek walked through the halls, he noticed a lot of colleagues staring at him. Gossip spread like wildfire throughout the hospital, so by now most people knew that Addison was pregnant and that she was admitted. Great. His wife was not going to be pleased that she was fodder for hospital gossip—again.

When he arrived at the cafeteria to pick up banana pudding, a muffin, and bottled water for Addison, he spotted a familiar face picking up a bagel.

"Rumor has it they're not as good as Manhattan bagels," he told the figure from behind.

"Derek Shepherd!" she chastised, whipping her head around to face him.

"Nancy Shepherd Callahan!" he greeted with a smile. Placing the items on a nearby table, Derek embraced his sister.

"I've missed you so much, Nance," he told her.

"Same here, little brother."

"Thank you for coming. You don't know what this means."

"I do. I'd do anything for you and Addie, you know that."

"I do," he acknowledged, kissing his sister on the cheek.

"Richard said that Addie and the baby are going to be okay."

Nodding, Derek said, "Yes. They are. It was a close call for a while though."

"But they're okay, Derek."

Swallowing a lump that formed in his throat as he thought about what had happened and what could have happened, he said, "Yes. I'm sorry if this was a wasted trip for you."

Shaking her short brown hair, Nancy said, "Don't be silly. I'm glad they're all right. I'm happy to be here. Maybe I want to see how my sister-in-law and niece or nephew-to-be is, in person."

"Well thanks. I appreciate it. And Addison will too."

"Can she have visitors?"

Shrugging, Derek said he wasn't sure but he assumed so. He told his sister that he was going to bring food back for her to eat and then her doctors were going to see how she was doing. He told her that she could visit Addie after.

While waiting for Derek to return, Addison protectively put an arm around her belly. "I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry. Mommy's going to be more careful from now on. I promise you."

"Why am I not surprised you're talking to your baby?" a voice asked after opening the door.

Narrowing her eyes, Addison said, "Get out."

"Addison," the voice turned soft. "Please. Let me just see that you're going to be okay."

Relenting, Addison allowed Mark to enter her room. "Why are you here, Mark?"

"I'm here because I'm worried about you, Addison."

"Well, I'm going to be fine."

Picking up her chart, Mark looked through it. "See?" Addison asked.

"Yeah. Well it's no surprise, you're a tough New Yorker."

Pre-affair with Mark, Addison would have smiled at that.

"Why did you send those flowers?" Addison asked, pointing to the bouquet.

"Because I wanted to," was Mark's glib reply.

Rubbing her temples, Addison sighed and said, "You just can't help yourself, can you? And not including a card?"

Stepping closer to Addison's bed, Mark said, "If I sent a card, Derek would have flipped out."

"You're right about that. And if he sees you in here right now, he'll flip out. So go."

"Addison, I care about you. I love you."

"So you keep saying. But Mark, I don't love you. Not like that. I love my husband."

Narrowing his eyes, Mark retorted that, "He doesn't deserve you, Addison! He's in love with the intern. I know it, he knows it, and deep down you know it. So stop fooling yourself. You think that because there's a baby now he's going to change his tune and be Perfect Husband again?"

Biting the inside of her cheek, Addison didn't respond. It was her fear that Derek was only changing his behavior because of the baby and not because of her too.

"Come back to New York, Addison. I'll take care of you. And the baby. I'll treat you the way you deserve."

"You mean you'll cheat on me with my receptionist again?"

"Addison," Mark began but she cut him off.

"Mark, don't delude yourself. I'm staying here."

Mark was about to protest when Callie Torres entered the room with Miranda Bailey.

"What in the hell are you doing here?" Miranda asked the plastic surgeon.

"I'm visiting Addison," he said, stating the obvious.

"Addison, do you want this guy to visit you?" Callie asked and Addison responded by shaking her head.

"Leave. Addison does not need the stress. You're a doctor, you know that. Shoo," Bailey told him, making a shooing motion with her arms.

Mark rolled his eyes at her. "This isn't over, Addison."

"The hell it's not," Derek said as he entered the room with Addison's breakfast.

"Oh God," Addison groaned, sinking down against the bed.

"Well well well, if it isn't Dr. McDreamy himself," Mark said, crossing his arms against his chest.

"Well, well, well if it isn't Dr. McAsshole Sloan," retorted Derek, crossing his arms against his chest.

"What in the hell do you think you're doing in my wife's hospital room?" Derek snarled.

"I wanted to see how she was."

"Get out," Derek demanded.

"Derek, stop being childish," admonished his former best friend.

"I'm being childish? Excuse me for not wanting my wife's mistress anywhere near me. Or her and our baby."

Callie and Miranda shook their heads at the men. Both were acting like children. Addison pleaded with her eyes to make this stop.

"Dr. Sloan, it's time for you to leave," Callie informed him.

But Derek and Mark were too busy yelling at each other about Addison, their friendship, and the affair to hear Callie's remark or to even care. Addison was growing more and more agitated and it was only the loud beeping of the monitors that stopped the conversation.

"Addison?" Derek asked, rushing to her side in concern.

Addison was panting, her heart racing.

"Her blood pressure is jumping like crazy. Dr. Sloan, you get out of here. Dr. Shepherd you page her doctor. Now," she bellowed and the men followed suit.

A few minutes later, Addison stabilized. "What happened?" she asked confused.

"Your blood pressure was elevated and you were on the verge of having a panic attack," explained Miranda.

Derek had returned to his wife's side but he was quiet. "This stress is not good for her. Or the baby. She needs to be calm. I don't know what that man was doing here and I know you hate him, but you leave her out of it. You two want to fight, you do it outside of my patient's hospital room," she ordered.

"I'm sorry, Addison," Derek whispered, brushing back hair off her damp forehead.

"Addison, how are you feeling?" Callie asked, concern evident in her brown eyes.

"A bit better now that my heart has stopped racing."

Miranda made clucking noises at Derek.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to—" Derek began, but his wife cut him off.

"Don't. Please just don't. Not now," she told him tiredly.

"Addison needs to relax and eat. Callie, you'll stay with her while I go outside and talk to her other doctor, right?" Callie nodded and then Miranda gave Derek a Look.

Sighing, he glanced back at his wife before leaving the room.
"Dr. Shepherd, you know better than to fight in front of your pregnant wife with that Sloan creature. She does not need that stress, not now. So you need to suck it up and deal with it."

Closing his eyes, Derek took a deep breath before releasing it and agreeing with the woman they called "the Nazi."

"I'm going to talk to her doctors and see about her release and if it needs to be delayed."

Pulling the stool closer to her friend's bed, Callie said, "So, tell me how you are really feeling."

Sighing with her head against the pillow, Addison admitted, "Angry. Pissed off. Upset. Annoyed."

"I figured as much. I know it must be very frustrating, but you have to do your best to keep calm so you don't raise your BP. You don't want to deal with preeclampsia."

"No, I don't and you're right. It's just…what on earth was he doing here?"

"McSteamy? I guess he wanted to make sure you were okay."

"He could have called and got that from someone else. He has his ways to wrangle that news. Instead he sends flowers without a card and lurks outside until he sees that my husband isn't with me before coming in and trying to convince me to return to New York."

"Well did it work?"

"What? Of course not. I'm not moving back to New York."

"Then it doesn't matter what he says or does. He's not getting the girl."

"This is so stupid. You know the two of them aren't even fighting about me as much as it's about each other and their broken friendship. It's just a pissing contest."

"Well let them piss all over each other and don't clean up the mess. They're grown men."

"I don't know about that one."

Chuckling, Callie said that sometimes it was hard to tell around here.

Addison asked Callie to hand her the food Derek left, and she ate it in comfortable silence with the ortho.

"Derek? What's going on in there?" his sister asked from across the hall as she watched him lean against the wall, hanging his head.

"I screwed up, Nancy."

"I saw Mark angrily march out of there and he said nothing as he past me. I'm sorry he was here in the first place. I should have told you—he was there when I got your call in my office, he followed me onto the plane."

"Figures," muttered an unhappy Derek.

"I take it you two came to blows?"

Derek gave her a pointed look. "Okay, not literally."

"We were arguing back and forth, it got pretty heated and Addison's blood pressure spiked.

Shaking her head, Nancy put a hand on her younger brother's shoulder. "Derek."

"I know, I know. Don't say it. I'm an asshole. So is Mark."

"Well…Mark is. I don't blame you for getting upset. He pushes your buttons. Just, don't let him push those in front of Addison again. It's a precarious time right now."

After giving Addison 20 minutes of alone time, Derek decided to venture back in, this time with his sister in tow.

"Nancy," Addison greeted, happy to see her sister-in-law.

"Hi Addie," Nancy greeted back, giving her a hug.

"How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay. I just finished eating."

"Good. Well, I looked at your charts and everything is progressing well."

"It seems like everyone except I have read my charts," remarked the rueful patient.

"I'm sorry that you-know-who followed me onto a plane."

"Oh Nance, don't blame yourself. It's over. He's gone. It's over, right Derek?"

Derek nodded and then Miranda Bailey returned with news.

"All right, you are ready for release this afternoon."

Addison smiled, feeling better knowing that she didn't have to be stuck in a hospital bed much longer.

"You need to take it easy. And by taking it easy, no work for one solid week."

Eyes widening, Addison wanted to protest, but Nancy interrupted. "That sounds fair. It's something that you or I would recommend to a patient, Addie."

"Okay. You're right."

"And that means no calling the office every day to check on patients either."

"Yes, Bailey."

Bailey explained a few more things and then she left along with Callie.

"I'm so glad I can go home," the redhead mused. "Well, go to the hotel. Not exactly home, but it'll do…"

"You're coming home with me," Derek told her and his sister shook her head.

"Derek," warned Addison.

"Someone needs to keep an eye on you. That someone is me. You should be at the trailer with me."

"I'm not going into that trailer again. I won't go on that land until you burn it."

At that declaration, Nancy let out a chortle and Derek sighed. "You're too stubborn for your own good, Montgomery-Shepherd. Fine, you don't want to go to the trailer? I'm staying with you at the hotel. For one week."

"Derek Patrick Shepherd…"

"Don't use my full name, Addie. Either come to the trailer with me or I go to the hotel with you, no ifs ands or buts."

Pouting, Addison crossed her arms over her shoulder while Nancy looked upon the couple with a smile. This argument over willpower and stubbornness reminded her of many arguments they used to have. They were acting like DerekandAddison again.

Relenting, she said, "Okay, okay. You can stay at the hotel. For one week only, Derek."

Score one for baby brother! Hope wasn't lost for those two.