Addison woke up around 12:00 completely disoriented. It took her a moment to remember the events of the night before. As soon as she remembered, she jumped up and ran to find the Chief.
"Addison!" Dr. Webber yelled down the hallway when he saw Addison.
"Richard!" Addison exclaimed heading his way. "What happened with Kyle, Sahara? Is Katie ok?"
"Let's talk in my office." Richard said looking around noticing they were starting to cause a scene. He quietly led Addison into his office. "Kyle and Sahara were taken into custody around 8 this morning; however, neither are talking. Katie is also refusing to talk to anyone. We are waiting to hear back from the FBI with the DNA results." Richard informed Addison.
"And have the babies and Katie been stable?" Addison asked as she processed what Richard was saying.
"Yes. I know you want to check them out yourself, but everyone has been stable while you slept." Richard informed her. He was quiet for a minute before continuing. "How are YOU doing, Addie?" Richard asked with concern. "You have been through a lot in the last week between Derek and now this…"
"I am ok, Richard." Addison said with a smile. It felt good to have someone else care about how she was doing. "It has been a lot, but I am ok."
"Ok, Addie. I am always here if you need anything." Dr. Webber said tenderly. Addison was like a daughter to him.
Addison left Richard's office and went to check on the young girl and twins. Katie was staring at the TV when Addison entered the room. She briefly turned to look at the red head before turning back to the TV.
"Hello, Katie. How are you doing today?" Addison asked calmly. She proceeded to check Katie's vitals and do an ultrasound of the babies. "Everything is looking well. I think we can move you out of the ICU."
"Can I see Kyle?" Katie asked in a hoarse voice. Addison froze. She didn't know what to say.
"I haven't seen him yet today." Addison said as she filled in the chart.
"He is the babies' father. He should be here." Katie said quietly while she rubbed her baby bump. Again Addison didn't know what to say. She knew she was not qualified in counseling the girl and didn't want to make anything worse.
"I will see what I can find out." Addison said smiling at the girl. After discussing the move of Katie from the ICU with a nurse, Addison made her way to Derek's room. The whole time she relied on her Forbes-Montegomery upbringing of maintaining decorum no matter what was going on.
"Hey" Addison said as she entered Derek's room. She noticed that Derek had changed his clothes and some one had helped him shave. Derek looked up from the bed at Addison and immediately recognized the fake smile and tension in her body.
"What is wrong?" Derek asked. Addison was surprised that he noticed. She let out a sigh, but didn't say anything. "Addison. What is wrong?" Derek asked again as he gestured for her to come over. She walked over and sat on the edge of the bed and told him about the conversation she had with Richard and Katie.
"So she admitted that Kyle is the father?" Derek asked with concern. He pulled on Addison's hand until she laid down next to him.
"Yes. The whole situation breaks my heart. She is only 16." Addison said while Derek began to rub her back.
"Addison. Please don't get too attached to this girl." Derek started.
"I know Derek. But it is really hard." Addison sighed. Both were quiet for a few minutes.
"Have you eaten yet?" Derek asked casually, changing the subject. At the mention of food, Addison's stomach growled. She hadn't eaten since the night before.
"I guess my stomach answered for me." she laughed.
"My lunch will be delivered shortly. You can have it if you want." Derek offered. "After the morning I have had, I don't have much of an appetite." He proceeded to tell her about the physical therapy session he had, as well as being bathed and changed.
"Being bathed by 2 20 something year old male orderlies has pretty much made me lose my appetite." Derek finished.
"I see." Addison responded doing her best not to laugh. Derek clearly was not thrilled about the situation.
"You find it amusing, don't you?" Derek said, crossing his arms as he noticed his wife was trying not to laugh.
"I don't know what you mean." Addison smiled. It was then that lunch was delivered. Addison thanked the nurse for dropping it off. "Derek, in all seriousness. You really do need to eat something to gain your strength back."
"You really think hospital food is going to do that Addie?" Derek asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Why don't we split the food." Addison countered as she got up and started dividing up the ham sandwich and bowl of fruit. They started to eat in silence.
"What time is your mom bringing the kids by today?" Addison eventually asked.
"Actually, Addie. Mom and Amelia took the kids on a trip to the coast for a few days." Derek said, taking a drink of water.
"What?" Addison asked, choking a little on her fruit. "Derek. Why did your mom and sister take our kids on a trip without me knowing about it?" she asked, not sure whether to be annoyed or not.
Derek looked at Addison confused. It was obvious that she was upset, but he didn't understand why.
"Because, Addie. Tomorrow is our anniversary, and we need a few days of just us before Mom heads back home." Derek said, looking Addison in the eye. "Besides, Addie. Why would it matter if my mom took the kids? She has done so many times."
Addison looked away from Derek and was silent. She wasn't sure what to think or what to say. On one hand, she was very touched that Derek thought to do anything for their anniversary. On the other hand, she really didn't like her children leaving on a trip without her knowledge. It was too close to when Derek left with no word. The pain and fear of him abandoning them was still very raw for Addison.
"Addie. What is wrong?." Derek said, taking her hand. He could see the wheels turning in her mind.
"Your mom threatened to take our kids away a few days after you left." Addison said quietly, still staring off into space.
"She what?" Derek exclaimed. He couldn't imagine his mother doing that.
Addison was numb. She hadn't heard from Derek in 4 days. He hadn't even contacted the kids. So far, Addison had been able to distract the kids with lots of activities. Their nanny Shannon had been a God send in keeping the kids busy.
Addison sat on the couch, staring off into space, drinking a glass wine. She jumped when she heard a knock at the door. She slowly got up and went to answer it. When she opened it, she was shocked to see her mother-in-law. By the look on Carolyn's face, Addison knew she had heard about what had happened.
"Mom." Addison said in a pained voice. Without answering, Carolyn walked past Addison into the foyer.
"Where are my grandchildren?" Carolyn asked looking around.
"They are at a movie with Shannon." Addison answered. Carolyn then noticed Addison was holding a glass of wine.
"Cheating and drinking. You really are your father's daughter." Carolyn spat. Addison felt like she had been hit in the stomach.
"Have you heard from Derek?" Addison asked tentatively.
"I wouldn't tell you if I had." Carolyn replied. "I am going to tell him to divorce you and file for full custody of the children. Obviously living with their mother is not an option."
"You need to leave now." Addison said angrily. It was taking everything inside of her not to yell at her mother-in-law. She didn't want to say anything she would regret later.
"Fine. But trust me when I say I will do everything in my power to remove these children from under your care." With that, Carolyn left the house and slammed the door behind her.
Addison collapsed on the floor and began to cry. Losing her husband was one thing, but losing her children?! She couldn't even let her mind go there.
"Addison, you have to know, I would never take our kids away from you. Nor would I let my mother." Derek said, shocked by the story.
"You left with no word for weeks, Derek. I never thought you would do that until now, so I honestly didn't know if you would try and take the kids or not." Addison answered honestly.
"Well, what did you expect me to do after seeing my wife having sex with my best friend." Derek spat back before he could stop himself. Addison got up from the bed and walked over to the window. Derek instantly felt bad. He could tell by her stance that she was trying not to cry.
"Addison, I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that." Derek said, running his hand through his hair. Addison didn't respond. "Addie, please come back here. I can't get out of this damn bed to come over to you." Derek continued. After a few minutes, Addison walked back over to the bed. She looked down at Derek, with obvious tears in her eyes. "I'm sorry." he said genuinely.
"Ok." was all Addison could say. She squeezed Derek's hand, and then they finished their lunch in silence.
After a while, Richard knocked on the door. "Do you guys have a minute?"
"Yes, please come in. I need to talk to you about Katie anyway." Addison responded as she stood up. Richard walked into the room, followed by an older woman.
"This is Dr. Suzanne Clark. She is the trauma counselor who is working with Katie." Richard explained as he introduced every one.
"What is it that you needed to tell me about the young girl?" Richard asked, turning to Addison.
"She told me this morning that Kyle is the father of her babies. She was asking where he was. I didn't know what to say, so I told her I would find out." Addison informed her mentor.
"I figured as much." Dr. Clark said as she made notes on a clipboard. "I am glad Katie is opening up to someone. Dr. Shepherd, she seems to trust you. I am going to need you to help me get her to trust me."
"Okay…" Addison answered, a little confused.
"What exactly does that mean?" Derek asked. He was starting to wish Addison was not involved in the case at all. He felt really bad for the girl and her whole family, but he also knew how attached Addison was getting and how much potential this case had of hurting her.
"In situations like these, the victim tends to only open up to one or two people. Katie has been kept from the world for many years. She has been brainwashed to only trust Kyle. That fact that she is opening up to Addison at all is amazing. So, Dr. Shepherd, what it means is, I need Addison to be with me when I try and talk to Katie. Katie needs to see that Addison trusts me, so it is ok for her to trust me as well." Suzanne said to Derek.
"I will do whatever you need me to do." Addison promised. She was also very aware that Derek was not thrilled about the whole situation.
"I would like to go meet Katie. Are you free now to go?" Dr. Clark asked. Addison glanced over at Derek, who gave her a slight nod.
"Yes, I can. I need to check on the babies and her again anyway." Addison answered. She turned to Derek and said, "I will be back soon." Addison leaned over, gave him a kiss, and left the room.
"Addison, when you introduce me to Katie, don't use the word doctor. I want you to introduce me as your friend Suzanne. If Katie sees me as your friend, she is more likely to open up." Dr. Clark instructed before they entered the room.
"Ok. Is there anything else I need to know?" Addison asked seriously.
"No. For now, I just want to develop a rapport with the girl. I want to gain her trust." Suzanne answered. "I also know that you have a lot on your plate with your husband's accident and taking care of your family. I don't want this case to get in the way of that. You need to tell me if it is."
Addison was touched by the other woman's concern. "Tomorrow is my anniversary. I don't know exactly what we are going to do, but I would like to spend the majority of the rest of today and tomorrow with my husband." Addison answered honestly. Suzanne nodded.
"Congratulations. I will just come along with you to your routine check ups on Katie. We won't have the DNA results back for a few days anyway. I don't want to force Katie to admit that she is Gracie until then."
The two women entered Katie's room to find the young girl reading a book. "Hi Katie. How are you feeling?" Addison asked, smiling down at her.
"Ok." she answered, eyeing Suzanne suspiciously.
"Katie. This is my friend, Suzanne." Addison said, introducing the two.
"Hi Katie. What book are you reading?" Suzanne asked. Katie looked from her to the book and back.
"Gulliver's Travels" Katie answered, glancing down at the book. "One of the nurse's gave it to me to read. It is pretty interesting."
"I love that book." Suzanne exclaimed.
Addison tried not to stare at the girl. She was shocked at how much Katie was talking around Suzanne.
"I am going to do an ultrasound to check on the babies." Addison informed Katie. Suzanne continued to talk to Katie about the book while Addison proceeded. She took longer than normal to give Dr. Clark a chance to talk with Katie longer.
"Well, both girls look good." Addison said when she finished. "I won't be by to check on you until tomorrow morning, Katie, but if you need anything, just have the nurse page me. Do you have any other questions before I go?"
"Did you find anything out about Kyle? He should have been here by now." Katie asked. Addison wasn't sure how to respond. She didn't want to lie to the girl.
"Actually, Katie. I spoke with Kyle this morning. He had to go on a trip unexpectedly and wanted me to tell you he won't be able to come to the hospital for awhile." Suzanne said gently.
"Oh." Katie said sadly.
"Katie, would you like me to stay here with you for awhile? I could read to you, if you would like." Dr. Clark said.
"Ok." Katie responded without looking at Suzanne. Dr. Clark motioned for Addison to leave the room as she walked over to sit down in the chair next to Katie's bed.
Addison smiled as she left the room. She was very thankful that Katie was connecting with Suzanne.
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