As Derek walked through the halls of Mt. Sinai, he received many curious looks. So far, his former colleagues had respected their privacy and left Addison and him alone. He knew word had spread like wildfire of Addison's brain tumor, but most people had no idea why they left in the first place. He was hoping to keep it that way.

He found Mark in his office studying a patient's file. "Hey." Derek said to get Mark's attention. "What case are you working on? You hardly ever look so serious!"

"Oh, hey Derek." Mark said a little startled. "I didn't hear you come in. I am reviewing a severe burn case. Poor kid fell into a campfire."

"Seriously? How old is the patient?" Derek asked.

"4. Actually, I could use your help on this case. It was also discovered that the kid has tumors beginning on his spine." Mark said tossing the file over to Derek. "What do you think?"

Derek looked over the file. "The fall may have saved this kids life. These types of tumors are rarely discovered this early. By the time they are discovered, it is usually too late."

"I know. The burn will make surgery more difficult to remove the tumors You are the best there is. Are you up for helping?"

"I don't know, man. WIth Addison, I am not sure if I have time. Also, I don't work here anymore." Derek replied as he continued looking through the file. This poor kid was only 4. "Let me think about it. Can I tell you tomorrow?" He asked handing the file back to Mark.

"Sure. So how is Addison anyway?" Mark asked cautiously. He wasn't exactly sure where he stood with Derek.

Derek figided in his chair before looking up at Mark. "Physically she is doing really well, but her memory is shot. The last thing she can remember is January 2000." Mark sat there in stunned silence. He looked at Derek and saw the pain in his friend's eyes.

"She doesn't remember anything from the last 7 years?!"

"Nope. Nothing."

"That means, she doesn't remember, uh, you know, " Mark stammered. "What we did" he finished quietly.

"No. Or what I did with Meredith. Or how I put work before her so many times. As far as she knows, we are still happily married. I am not ready to tell her all that has happened yet. She needs to get stronger. That is what I wanted to talk to you about. " Derek paused, taking a deep breath. "I need you to act like nothing happened. At least for a little while."

Mark stood up and started to pace around his office. "You want me to lie to her?" he asked beginning to get a little angry. He may not be great at relationships. He may sleep around and flirt with inappropriate women. But one thing he was not was a liar. He always told the truth.

Derek jumped up and put his hand on Mark's shoulder. "No man! I don't want you to lie to her. I will tell her everything soon. I just don't want you to act weird around her."

Mark looked at Derek. "I don't know. It feels like lying."

"This is for her own good. Please Mark. Do it for her!"

"Fine." Mark finally conceded. "But I will NOT lie. Are we clear?"

"Yes" Derek replied. With that, he turned and walked out of Mark's office. Next up, he had to tell his family. After calling his mom and sisters, who also did not think it was a good idea to not tell Addison about the last few years, he walked to the neurosurgery wing to find Amela.

"Morning Amy." he said walking up to her near the nurses station.

"Good morning. You look like shit!" she said looking over her brother. Derek laughed.

"Can I talk to you in private?" he asked, leading her to an oncall room without waiting for a reply.

"What's up Derek?" Amelia asked after the door was shut.

"I am guessing you have heard from Dr. Koracick that Addison's memory is still gone. The last thing she remembers is January 2000."

"Yes, he told me. She picked my finest moment to remember." Amelia said sarcastically.

"Look. I know you will be working with her closely over the next few days until she is discharged. I need you not to tell her anything about Seattle, or Mark or Meredith or pretty much anything from the last few years. I don't want to tell her about all of it until she is stronger."

"Derek, I really don't think that is a good idea. She is going to know something is off."

"I will cross that bridge if it happens. But for now, I don't want her to know." Derek said a little to forcefully.

Amelia backed away from him a little. "Relax. I won't tell her."

"Sorry." Derek said sitting down on the bed. "Everyone keeps telling me this is a bad idea, but I don't know what else to do. She needs to recover and if she finds out about everything that happened, I am afraid it will hurt her recovery." he said putting his head in his hands.

Amy walked over to the bed and sat down next to Derek. She put her arm around him and said, "Derek, it is going to be ok. Whether to tell her or not, that is up to you. Either option doesn't sound fun to me!."

Derek looked over and Amelia and smiled a little. "Thanks for the support little sis." He gave her a quick hug and then stood up. "I need to get back to Addison. She will be waking up soon."

"Derek " Amelia said. Derek turned to look at her. "Go take a shower first. You really stink." Derek laughed as he headed out of the oncall room.

After getting a shower and some food, Derek headed back to Addison's room. He was relieved to find she was still sleeping. He also noted the nurse had brought a cot in for him. He knew Addison would still be out for awhile, so he decided to catch up on some sleep.

The next morning, Derek woke up to Addison staring at him from the bed.

"Hey Beautiful." he said as he stretched. "How are you feeling?" He stood up and gave Addison a kiss on the cheek.

"I've been better. I told them to start weaning me off of the good drugs." she said in obvious pain. Derek sighed. He knew this was going to happen. Addison hated feeling foggy from pain medication. She was stubborn and would insist she didn't need them.

"If the pain gets too bad, please promise me you will take something." he said despite knowing arguing with her was pointless. Addison just gave him a slight smile. She looked around the room and back at Derek.

"I really want to go home. What do I have to do to accomplish that, Dr. Shepherd?" Derek laughed slightly. He too would love to get back home. Even though he spent half his time in a hospital, it was totally different being on the patient side.

"For starters, you have to be able to walk. Do you feel up to trying?"

"I can do that, but first, could you help me put something on besides this hospital gown?"

"Of course. While I would enjoy the view of your fine ass hanging out of the hospital gown, I don't want the entire hospital to also enjoy the view!" he winked at her. Derek pulled a pair of jogging pants and his old college T-shirt Addison loved out of the suitcase. He helped Addison change, careful to avoid pulling on some of the wires still attached to Addison. It helped that the IV had already been removed.

After changing her clothes, Addison lay back on the bed and closed her eyes. Just the process of changing her clothes had worn her out.

"Give me a minute." Addison told Derek. "I can't believe how tired I am just from changing my clothes!" she said frustrated.

"I know honey. This is normal for recovery from brain surgery." Derek said sympathetically.

Fifteen minutes later, Addison was ready to try and walk.

"Remember, we are only going to the chair." Derek said for the millionth time. He knew Addison would try and push herself too far. He also knew from experience with other patients that if she pushed too fast too soon it could actually slow recovery time.

Addison sat up on the bed and held on to Derek. She was a little dizzy when she sat up but slowly, with Derek's help, she stood up. She walked 5 feet to the chair and then collapsed in it breathing heavily.

"I feel like I am 80 years old! Who would have thought a little brain surgery would make it so hard to walk!" Addison said laughing.

"Babe, removing a 7 cm tumor is not 'a little brain surgery'. Plus, um, well, never mind." Derek stammered.

Addison looked up at Derek. "What?" she asked expectantly.

"Nothing." Derek said looking away. He did not want to tell her she coded on the table and was down for at least 5 minutes.

"Derek Christopher Shepherd. What aren't you telling me?!" Addison said crossly.

Derek looked over at her and knew he had to tell her. She deserved to know and would eventually find out anyway when she read her own chart.

"You coded during surgery and was down for about 5 minutes."

Addison was shocked. She was quiet as the full impact of what he said sank in.

"I could be dead. I could have not woken up. I could have major mental deficits." she said still staring at the wall. Derek knew she wasn't really talking to him. He walked over to her and put his hand under her chin forcing him to look up at her.

"Yes, Addie. All of that could have happened. But it didn't. I am so thankful it didn't. " he leaned down and kissed her. Then he hugged her close to his chest.

" I never want to lose you again." he whispered into her hair. Derek held her close for a few more minutes and then leaned back.

"Do you want to walk to the bed, or do you want me to carry you?"

"I'll walk." Addison said determined. After she made it back to the bed, Derek got in bed next to her. She laid her head on his chest and was soon asleep.

An hour later, Mark stopped by the room to find both Shepherds asleep in the bed. It was bittersweet for him to see them like that. A part of him still loved Addison, but he knew his friends belonged together.

Later that evening, Derek was reviewing emails on his iPhone. Addison looked over at him confused.

"What are you doing?" she asked, pointing at the device in his hand. It then dawned on Derek that she didn't remember what a smart phone was. They didn't exist in 2000. He was still getting used to the new contraption as it was!

"I am checking my email." he said trying to figure out how to explain a smart phone to her. "So there is a new invention called a smartphone. You can check e-mail, use it as a camera, play music…" he tried to explain.

"Cool!" Addison said. "Where is mine?" she asked knowing if Derek had one, she did too. Derek knew he couldn't let Addison have her phone or she would start asking too many questions.

"Um, it is at the house." he said quickly. "Here, you can look at mine." He handed her over his phone, hoping she wouldn't find anything to raise a lot of questions. He was showing her the basics of how to work it when a nurse came in to check Addison's vitals. Derek was relieved. He took his phone and moved out of the nurse's way.

The next few hours went by quickly with physical therapy, a revolving door of visitors, and a checkup from Dr. Koracick. He was very pleased with Addison's progress and said she should be able to go home in a few days, especially since her husband was a world renowned neurosurgeon. Both Addison and Derek were thrilled at the possibility of going home soon!

As they were winding down for the night, Derek realized he still owed Mark an answer on the surgical case.

"Addie, " he said tentatively. "Mark asked me to help him on a case of a 5 year old boy with tumors on his spine. It would require me working over the next several days until you are ready to go home. Are you ok with that?"

Addison looked up at him confused. Her first thought was, "why is he putting work before me again?" She wasn't sure why she felt that way. They were surgeons. It wasn't unusual for emergencies to come up but she had a nagging suspicion that there was something more to her feelings. It was like trying to remember a dream. Wait, was she actually starting to remember something?

"Addie?" Derek asked when she didn't respond. Addison shook off the feeling. Maybe it was just being so worn out from the day.

"Of course it is fine Derek. We are surgeons." she said sweetly. "Tell me about the case. I could use a distraction." He proceeded to tell her the whole story of the young boy and the details of his case. While he was talking, he noticed Addison's eyes were beginning to droop.

"Let's go to sleep sweetheart." Derek said kissing the top of Addison's head. "Tomorrow will be another hard day." She curled up next to him in the bed and was soon fast asleep.

Derek, on the other hand was unable to sleep. After staring at the ceiling for a half an hour, he slowly untangled himself from Addison and got up. He went to Mark's office and was not surprised to find him still there. Mark looked up as Derek knocked softly on the open door.

"Hey, come on in." Mark said. "What's up?"

"I wanted to let you know that if Chief Hutchingson agrees to give me privileges here again, I will help you on that case." Derek knew he wasn't his former Chief's favorite person since the last time he was here he up and quit over night.

"I already talked to him. He has agreed to give you privileges." Mark said.

"Ok." Derek replied. "Can I have a copy of the file to fully review? Also, I would like to meet the family tomorrow. Can we schedule the surgery for 2 days from now? Addison will be going home the day after that, and I really don't want to work once she is discharged."

Mark looked up at Derek in surprise. It has been a long time since Derek had turned down working for anything else.

"I don't see any issues with any of that." Mark said, handing a copy of the file to Derek.

Derek took the file back to Addison's room. He reviewed the scans of the tumor and began to come up with a surgical plan.

Early the next morning, Derek went with Mark to meet the Brooks family. It felt surreal to Derek to walking down the halls of Mt. Sinai with Mark. In some ways, it was as it the past 2 years had never happened. In other ways, it felt like a lifetime ago that they had worked together.

"Good Morning Carol and Ryland." Mark said to the parents. "This is Dr. Shepherd. He is the neurosurgeon who will be operating with me on little Caden here." Derek walked over and shook the parents' hands.

"Any relation to an Addison Shepherd?'" Carol asked as she was shaking Derek's hand.

"Um, yes, actually. She is my wife." Derek said surprised. How did this woman know Addison?

"Seriously?" Ryland laughed. "I guess now it is your turn to save our boys life."

"What do you mean my turn?" Derek asked confused.

"Your wife operated on me while I was pregnant with our boys. They had TTTS." Carol replied. Derek was astonished. He immediately knew which case this was. It was the first time Addison had performed TTTS surgery by herself.

January 2003

"Derek, I don't know if I am ready!" Addison exclaimed as she was getting ready for bed. "This is a really complicated case. The TTTS didn't respond with reduction amniocentesis I am going to perform my first fetoscopic laser photocoagulation of chorionic plate vessels by myself! I have only done it one other time, and that was with help! The Brooks family has been trying for so long to have a baby. Now their miracle twins has resulted in this!"

"Addie! Relax!" Derek said wrapping his arms around and looking at her in the bathroom mirror. "You are a brilliant surgeon. You've got this!"

"But what if something happens! What if I make a mistake? What if.." Derek captured Addison's mouth with his own. At first she was surprised, but then responded in kind. After a few seconds, Addison pulled back.

"I need to go study some more." Derek pulled her back into his arms.

"No, you don't. You know that procedure backwards and forwards. Hell, even I know it backwards and forwards!" he laughed. Addison had been studying with him for the procedure for about a week. "What you need is too relax. I know the best way to make that happen." he said slyly, running his hands up and down her back.

"Derek, no. I need to…" Addison tried to protest, but Derek was very persistent. She eventually gave in and began to kiss him back. She also knew he was right.

The next day the surgery went flawlessly. The boys were born a few months later perfectly healthy.

"Wow! Small world!" Derek exclaimed. "How is your other son?" Derek asked looking around for the other small boy.

"Jerim is doing well." Ryland answered "He is staying with my parents while we deal with " He couldn't finish. He just looked down at his small child in the large hospital bed and started to fight the tears.

Derek put a hand on Ryland's shoulder. "I know this is hard. Caden's fall could very well have saved his life. This type of tumor is rarely discovered in time. Luck for this little man, I am one of the best neurosurgeons in the world. I have reviewed the scans. I believe I can get the whole tumor."

Carol and Ryland looked up at Derek. They had not been expecting this. Ever since their young son had fallen in the campfire, it had been a series of bad news from doctors. For the first time, they started to have hope that Caden would be ok.

After finishing up talking with the Brooks', Derek went back to Addison's room. A nurse told him she had been up walking around that morning but was now back asleep. He pulled a chair over to her bed and sat down. He continued to review Caden's scans. He wanted to make sure that he was prepared for the surgery.

An hour later, Derek woke up. He had fallen asleep in the chair. He also realized Addison had woken up. She was looking through Caden's file.

"Hey sleepy head." Addison teased. Derek stood up and gave her a kiss.

"Hey yourself. How are you feeling?"

"A little better." she replied. Derek noticed her staring at the name on the file.

"Derek, this patient, Caden Brooks. Why does that sound so familiar to me?"

"You performed surgery on him awhile back." Derek answered cautiously. He didn't want to upset her by talking about a case she couldn't remember.

"He is a twin, correct? It was a TTTS case?" Addison said, still staring at the file.

"That's right, Addie." Derek said shocked. Was she starting to remember? "Do you remember this case? It was only 4 ½ years ago."

Addison continued to stare at the file. Her brain was a complete fog. As soon as she would start to remember something about the case, it would slip away.

"Ugh! I don't know Derek!" she said frustrated. "It is like a dream. I vaguely remember things, but nothing concrete." Addison then began to cry. Derek climbed into the bed with her and pulled her close.

"It is going to be ok, my love. The fact that you can even remember bits and pieces is good. It means that your brain is trying to restore your memories." Derek said soothingly. At least, that is what he hoped was happening. But did he really want her to remember? If he could erase all the hurt and pain from the last 2 years, he would. He knew eventually, she would remember or he would have to tell her. But now wasn't the time. He would deal with it later. For now, he just wanted to hold her and protect her as much as he could

Let me know what you think!