Chapter 13: Painful Steps

"Is that everything you need? I'm missing rounds." Aelwyne said to the detectives, who had come to take everyone's statements.

Addison, Derek, and Meredith had already given their versions of the story. She had been the last one to talk. Meredith and Addison switched turns holding her hand as they gave their statements, since the detectives wanted to interview them one at a time.

She was beyond tired and breathing hurt a bit. She still had to go in for an x-Ray and have an ortho doc take a look at her ribs. She hated everything about this. Hated that Ethan had found her. Hated that she had been so weak to defend herself properly. Hated that her friend had seen her this way. But above everything she had hated the moment when she saw the guilt flash through Addison's eyes as she told them what had happened. It was not the attending's fault at all. Addison knew nothing of Ethan. How would she suspect that someone could do something like that when not even Aelwyne had?

The first strike had taken her by surprise as his fist met the side of her face. She had tried running then but he grabbed her and dragged her to the supply closet. He threw her in with such force she had lost her balance falling backwards and landing hard on the metal shelves knocking everything down. The wind knocked out of her from the impact. Then he went to her, closing the door behind him. As she gasped for air he grabbed her by the neck pulling her to stand. She tried blocking the next blow but he held her in place then he was pulling her down as he was bringing his knee to her ribs. It had hurt. It had hurt so much but she had tried wrenching herself away from him. Tried so hard to get away but he was still holding on to her. Throughout the whole attack he continued to call her whore and bitch and slut. He proceeded to tell her that she was his and that this time he would take her and beat her into submission. In a flurry of kicks she managed to land one on his groin, causing him to double over in pain. Then with all the strength she had she pushed another of the shelves onto him and ran. Ran until she got to Addison's office.

"Dr. Neirhem?" The detective called and snapped her away from the memory that had invaded her once more.

"I'm sorry. Can I go now?" She said dryly, blinking away the memory.

"Yes. This is all we need. We also have footage from the hallway. When you get your check up we'll need the doctor's findings." He replied.

"I thought the pictures were enough." She said quietly.

"Those along with the doctor's notes will make this all easier for you." The other detective replied.

"Ok. I'll have them send them to you." She said getting up slowly wincing as the pain grew a bit more now that the shock and adrenaline were gone.

"Thank you, Doctor." The detective said getting up himself and opening the door for her.

As she walked out Addison was immediately at her side, putting a hand gently on her elbow. Aelwyne felt safe having her there but even having her there along with the chief, Derek, and Meredith she scanned the place.

"Where is he?" She asked softly.

"He." Addison responded knowing who she referred to. "Has been taken to the station."

"That's right. We'll take care of what happens next and notify you of when you are needed once more." One of the detectives said.

After thanking them and watching them leave she turned to everyone else. She felt guilty about this whole situation. Guilty about dragging everyone through this.

"I'm sorry." She spoke, gaze on the ground.

"You have nothing to be sorry about." Richard said.

"I wished we could have stopped him from doing what he did." Derek said clearly still angry.

"You'll be ok, Ael. Everything will be fine." Meredith said reassuringly.

"I didn't want to drag you into a nightmare, though." She said feeling her eyes sting.

"Stop it. This is not your fault. So stop it. What happened was brought about by that man not you. Do you understand?" Addison moved in front of her, lifting her chin a bit.

"Do you?" Addison insisted.

"Ok." She said softly.

"Ok." Addison repeated.

Aelwyne noticed Meredith looking at the clock and she followed suit. It was already 45 minutes into rounds.

"Bailey might kill us if we don't make it to at least the end of rounds." Aelwyne said stepping forward with a little flinch.

"Are you out of your mind? You can't do rounds. You need X-rays. You also have not slept. Even if you didn't have those bruises you'd look like death." Meredith protested.

"Meredith." Derek mumbled.

"It's ok. She's right. I look like death." Aelwyne chuckled slightly, wincing at the pain on her ribs. "But hey maybe I can scare that patient in 301 into listening to us."

"Bailey will kill you if she sees you over exerting yourself before getting an X-ray." Addison said.

"She'll see my dedication." Aelwyne responded with a grin and continued as everyone seemed to start to protest. "I just want something to be normal. Please. Just one round. Just one patient."

The high pitch at the end of her plea seemed to undo everyone. She could tell it had worked when the collective sigh escaped their lips.

"Fine. But right after I'm taking you to X-rays. I'll drag you if I have to." Addison said as she, like everyone else, submitted to her.

"Ok." Aelwyne said triumphantly.

She was stupid. Oh so stupid. They had walked through most of the surgical floor and of course Dr. Bailey and the rest of the interns were coming out of the last room they decided to check. Everything hurt and she was so tired.

"Aelwyne." Cristina gasped.

Aelwyne smiled weakly as the rest of the entourage turned to face her. George's eyes went wide and Alex who never showed much emotion also shifted in surprise. Even Izzie's normal scowl towards her disappeared as she took in the forming bruises.

"It looks worse than it is guys. I promise." Aelwyne said with a soft smile that evaporated as Bailey stomped towards her.

"What in the hell are you doing here?! Aelwyne Neirhem! You're supposed to be getting an X-ray and a consult. And then you should be home resting!" Bailey said angrily which made Aelwyne back up a few steps instinctively without a thought, which resulted in her flinching and whimpering at the pain from her side.

"Hey. Be careful." Addison said as she helped her straighten up.

"I just… I wanted to… like it's my job…" Aelwyne stammered.

"I don't care. You need to take care of you. Who let you come?" Bailey said shifting her gaze from her to Addison.

"Umm well… Bailey umm… ortho hasn't come yet so we came to see if there was a resident here." Addison recovered quickly, which Aelwyne admired.

"You think I believe you?" Bailey asked, her signature stare digging into both her and Addison, which had them shifting nervously.

"Dr. Bailey didn't you say there was a new senior ortho resident coming in today?" Aelwyne could not love her friend, Cristina, any more than she did now.

"That's right Yang go have a nurse page her." Bailey said, finally turning away from Aelwyne and Addison, who both released a breath they did not know they were holding.

"Right as for your assignments. Stevens with Shepard. O'Malley you have the pit. Yang with me." She said as Cristina walked back. "Grey with Burke. Karev you're with Dr. Montgomery."

Even though she had assigned them nobody moved. Bailey huffed incredulously at them and was about to go off when she noticed all of their eyes were on Aelwyne.

"Are you ok? Like really?" Izzie was the one to ask, which surprised her even more than not seeing her scowl.

"Umm I'm …" Aelwyne began. "I will be ok." She assured them.

And that was that. None of them asked for details. Once she said she would be ok they were done. The ones who had to go left. Leaving Cristina and Alex along with Bailey, Addison, and herself.

"Karev could you check on the two emergent cases from last night and give me an update on their status?" Addison asked.

"I'll page you if it's something important because, no offense, but you look like you're gonna drop any second now." He said walking away quickly as if to avoid Bailey's retort.

Aelwyne began feeling guilty instantly as she looked at Addison and could see the tiredness in her eyes.

"I'm sor-" she was interrupted immediately.

"Shh. I told you already. Not your fault." Addison shushed her, taking her face gently in her hands, carefully avoiding the injured area. Aelwyne nodded and smiled sweetly.

Cristina did not miss a beat. She noticed the interaction between them. The familiarity and closeness between the two. But she stayed quiet.

"Excuse me. Any of you Dr. Bailey? I was paged for a consult." A brunette Latina approached them.

"I'm Dr. Bailey. Welcome." Bailey said with a nod.

"Callie Torres. So who's the patient?" Callie asked, looking around them as her eyes fell on Aelwyne.

"Yeah I'm the patient." Aelwyne with a soft smile.

Callie did not ask any questions, she just pointed to an empty exam room. Leaving everyone behind she walked into the room slowly. She winced as she got on the exam table with the resident's help. Callie helped her out of the scrubs as she palpated the area. She apologized in case the stethoscope was cold.

"I'm sorry I don't mean to get in your business but I need to know how those happened. Did you fall? Did something fall on you?" Callie asked carefully.

"I appreciate you trying to go around it." Aelwyne said with a soft chuckle. Then she explained she had been attacked and that she had taken a knee to the ribs. Callie listened quietly.

"I hope he suffers." She murmured after Aelwyne was done.

"Thank you." She responded.

"I'm 97% sure nothing is broken. You wouldn't be standing at all if it were. It's most definitely bruised ribs but I'll need an X-ray to determine the extent of it and what I will have you do to help you heal faster." Callie said as she finished.

"I'll go over now. Thank you Dr. Torres." Aelwyne said with a smile.

"Callie is fine." Callie corrected with a smile. "And I'll go with you. I have no other consults or surgeries at the moment. Also I'll give you something for the pain. If you wince and flinch too much the healing will take a little longer."

"Ok then. Thank you Callie and um... welcome." Aelwyne said, returning her smile.

Callie helped her with her scrubs and off the bed and at her request she had Addison to come in. Addison walked in and immediately went to her side, her hand once again on Aelwyne's elbow guiding her out. As Aelwyne began to walk out of the exam room slowly she heard her name being called.

"Aelwyne!" She knew that voice.

She turned way too quickly towards the voice and almost lost her footing. She would have fallen were it not for Addison and Callie who held her in place. She began to shake once more as the woman approached them and called her name once more. Fear building in her eyes.

"Ael?" Addison called.

Bailey and Cristina immediately moved to block the woman from where Aelwyne stood with Addison and Callie.

"How could you? Are you an idiot? You insensitive bitch. How could you do that to my brother? Piss off already you poor excuse of a woman. Piece of trash!" The woman said bitterly.

"What the hell is your problem lady? Get away!" Cristina said as she and Bailey held the woman away from Aelwyne.

Those eyes. Those eyes were the same as his. They were twins. And those eyes brought back the supply closet and the hitting and the struggle to get away. Aelwyne began shaking more violently and started pulling away and back into the exam room. She could not breathe. Her heart beat so fast and hard she thought it would come out of her chest. Everything hurt more intensely now. Her body shook with more force than before. Then everything went black. Darkness dragging her down to its depths.

"Oh look at how well she plays the victim." The woman kept struggling against Cristina and Bailey.

Addison held on to Aelwyne's limp body as the intern fainted. Her hand moving swiftly to find her pulse as Callie ran for a gurney.

"Aelwyne. Aelwyne, please." She begged but the intern's eyes remained shut.

The woman kept struggling and calling out names to Aelwyne, which made Addison's blood boil. After Callie came with a few nurses and a gurney she helped place Aelwyne into it. Then she turned to the woman quickly.

"You better get out of my sight before I forget I'm a doctor!" She spat bitterly and the ire in her eyes must have done the trick because the woman stopped talking and backed away.

"Shotgun all the labs. It may be an emotional response but I need to be sure it's not a physiological issue." She commanded the nurses.

Security was there a few seconds along with the chief as Aelwyne was being wheeled away. Cristina and Bailey pointed at the woman and the guards went to her immediately.

"I got a 911 page. What the hell is going on?" Richard asked as he noticed Aelwyne being carted away, Bailey and Cristina watching for the woman to make a move, and Addison's anger.

"I'm pretty sure that woman is the sister of the piece of shit that hurt Aelwyne." Addison spat unable to hold her tongue.

She had noticed the subtle similarities between the two. Same blonde hair and skin tone. Same mannerisms. Same eyes.

"Do not talk about Ethan that way. That slut is the one that left him. She deserves what she got." The woman spat back.

"Say that again. I dare you! Say it!" Addison said, stomping over before Bailey and Cristina grabbed a hold of her.

"Addison calm down." Bailey said holding onto her, but she kept trying to wrench free from the other doctor's grip.

"Dr. Montgomery, she isn't worth it. Let's go see Aelwyne. She needs you." Cristina added.

At her words she stopped struggling altogether and she flattened her white coat and fixed her hair. She turned but before she went to go to check on Aelwyne she turned to the woman once more. There was something that was nagging at her.

"What's your name?" She asked lifting a hand to stop Cristina and Bailey who thought she'd try to walk to her once more.

"Edith. Edith Bridges Allenton." The woman responded with a wicked grin. 'Bingo!'

"Well Edith. Get this through your head. If you or your animal of a brother so much as look in Aelwyne's direction again. I'll make sure you regret it. Do you understand me? I'm a Forbes Montgomery. And we don't play games. Rats like you should already know that." After that she was done.

She was satisfied at the look of fear in Edith's face. She knew of the Bridges Allenton's and their twins and who they begged to and revered. Why Bizzy wouldn't let such people in her presence or continue to appear as a family of great status had she known how these children behaved. Today she actually felt happy about being a part of her family.

As she walked away she heard someone run to catch up to her. She turned to find Cristina walking next to her now.

"Wow. That was like a mafia movie scene. You're badass Dr. McHot. Sorry Dr. Montgomery." Cristina admired.

"I guess having my cold mother works. Thank you for stopping me Yang." She smiled weakly.

"No problem. Besides I can't have you losing your license. You haven't taught me much at all. It's like Evil Spawn, Barbie, and Aelwyne are hogging you." Cristina said rolling her eyes playfully.

"Cristina Yang. You want nothing to do with OB. What was it you called it the other day? The vagina squad. So stop rolling your eyes." She laughed.

"You got me there but I made you laugh a little." Cristina said, a bit amused.

They made it to Aelwyne's room where she was already hooked up to the monitor and an IV 'Just normal fluids she's dehydrated.' a nurse had said. She still lay unconscious as Addison and Cristina walked in. The nurses had already taken the blood for the labs and Callie was walking in with the portable X-ray machine.

"She's unconscious so it won't bug her too much." Callie explained as she prepped the intern for it.

Cristina moved to help her while Addison still stood at the doorway. The images were taken quickly. They all had waited outside as Callie took them. After that Callie was gone leaving the two in the room. Cristina stayed for a while but left after she got a page saying she had to update Bailey and the Chief. Addison sat next to the bed and took Aelwyne's hand slowly and squeezed. She did not know how to pray but she begged to whatever higher power for the intern to wake.

Callie came back to tell her three of Aelwyne's ribs were bruised and that she would need to be in moderate bed rest for at least two weeks and depending on her healing she may need more. Addison had nodded and said she would take care of it. The labs came back and everything was normal.

"Addie aside from the stress and anxiety she's exhausted. Don't worry. You should also get some rest." Richard said as he and Bailey had come to check on Aelwyne. It had been hours since the intern had collapsed.

"No. I'm not moving until she wakes up. Neither of you can make me. I'll stay here. She needs to be safe. I'll keep those people away from her. So I'm staying." She said, still clinging to Aelwyne's hand.

"Bridges' brother-in-law was transferred over to Mercy West. The whole family has been banned from the hospital." Richard responded trying to get her to calm a bit more.

"Chief does she have a family listed, Aelwyne? Like is there anyone to call?" Bailey asked.

"No. There's no family listed. I looked earlier when this whole thing started." Richard responded as Bailey nodded slowly, taking the information.

"I'll make sure the OB residents are ready for anything then. But if there's anything too complicated I'll have Karev page you." Bailey announced.

"Fine." Addison responded annoyed.

"Fine." Bailey shot back.

"Ael I need you to wake up. Please. I just need to know you're ok. Please. I need it. Please just open your eyes. It's not that hard." Addison pleaded as she was left alone again with the intern.

She laid her head on her hands, which rested on Aelwyne's bed, still whispering her pleas. She did not understand why she felt so broken. Like a piece of her was missing. She just needed her to be ok. She needed her to wake up. She needed to see her smile. She needed to see the glint in her eyes every time she got excited over everything. She needed to hear her voice. She needed to feel her presence. She needed her. She really really needed her.

"Addison." She barely registered the whisper, her eyes opening in surprise. She did not turn yet she waited for another whisper.

"Addison." There it was.

She lifted her head and turned. She gasped slightly, her heart fluttering as she saw those golden eyes looking at her. She stood and planted a kiss on the intern's hairline.

"You're awake." She heard her voice waver as she looked into Aelwyne's eyes.

"You're awake. You said my name. You're awake." Addison repeated smiling tears running down her cheeks.

"I'm awake." Aelwyne said smiling weakly. "Umm Addison, my hand."

"Oh. I'm sorry." She said releasing the intern's hand, which she was not aware she had been clutching so tightly.

"What happened?" Aelwyne asked, still a bit dazed.

"The last thing you remember?" Addison asked carefully, keeping an eye on the monitors.

"Callie did the exam. She was going to take me to X-rays. Then…" and the intern started breathing faster now.

"Aelwyne. Aelwyne, look at me." Addison said. "Look at me and breathe. Breathe. It's ok." She continued grabbing the intern's hand once more.

Aelwyne winced suddenly aware of the pain on her side. Slowly she started breathing more evenly. Her vitals going back to normal levels.

"There we go. Good girl." Addison praised.

"Where is Edith?" Aelwyne asked once she had calmed down more.

"Edith is taken care of. No need to worry." She replied soothingly.

"They're gone then?" Aelwyne's eyes giving away the fear she was trying to control.

"They are gone. You are safe. And I'll be damned if anyone does anything to you again." Addison responded, as fresh tears flowed slowly down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry." Aelwyne said squeezing Addison's hand.

"I told you th-" Addison began.

"But you're crying." Aelwyne interrupted, her voice full of sadness.

"Ok maybe a little bit your fault." Addison said, wiping her face with a small smile. "You fainted and then decided to take a nap. That's not very nice Dr. Neirhem."

"Sorry for sleeping without you." Aelwyne said, returning her smile.

'Why is my heart racing? Am I ok? Maybe it's because I've not slept or eaten in a while. But look at that smile. It just brightened her whole face. Her eyes just lit up. God why are they so gorgeous. Why is she so gorgeous? … wait, what? Addison what? Stop heart. Stop it! Why am I all tingly? What the heck is happening to me? Calm Addison. Calm down. Just breathe. It's the lack of sleep and food that's clouding your judgement. That's why she looks so…'

"Beautiful." Addison finished out loud.

And then there were 13. Addison's mother being useful for once is nice. I feel like that lady broke her so much. The whole affair and stuff. The being lesbian doesn't bother me of course. What bothers me is how she always treated her. Like why couldn't she be nice and loving to her too? Their relationship just makes me sad sometimes. Anyway I'm sorry for the ramble. Hope you enjoyed it. This whole waiting to post it's a bit hard to do hehe. But I'll keep on doing it. Let me know what y'all think and how you're liking or disliking it. Be safe. ;)