Help is Around the Corner
Addison and Derek's trailer catches fire, and Meredith offers them a place to stay for a while.
"Rr." says Doc disapprovingly.
"I'm hungry-" Addison whines.
"Rr." says Doc.
"They're food Doc, and it's 2am. And why aren't you sleeping?" says Addison.
"Rr." says Doc.
"I'm sorry I blamed you, I panicked okay? And I didn't think they'd actually believe you were eating the chips," says Addison.
"Rr." says Doc.
"No, I wasn't planning on scapegoating you again," says Addison.
"Rr." says Doc.
"Okay maybe I was, but can you hear me out here?" says Addison.
"Rr." says Doc.
"Alright, alright. Maybe we can make a deal then?" Addison offers.
"Rr?" says Doc.
"If you don't sell me out, I'll buy you a steak, and I'll cook it for you," says Addison.
"Rr?" says Doc.
"Yes, a steak," says Addison.
"Rr?" says Doc.
"Yes, all to yourself," says Addison.
"Rr?" says Doc.
"Fine, it can be tenderloin," Addison huffs at Doc. "How do you have such fine tastes anyway?"
"Rr," says Doc.
"You're right, you're right, we eat it all the time, because it's less gristly," says Addison.
"Rr," says Doc.
"Okay, so tomorrow I'll go to the store by myself to pick up your steak. I'll cook it just how you like it. And then we can both have a midnight snack tomorrow evening. Sound fair?" says Addison.
"Rr," says Doc.
"And all I ask is that you don't sell me out for these chips. And if needed, you'll grovel and let them say it was you who ate them. It's foolproof right?" says Addison.
"Rr," says Doc.
"That's my final offer," says Addison.
"Rr…" says Doc.
"You're not to say anything to Meredith about this, or the deal is off, and I'm eating your steak," says Addison.
"Rr!?" says Doc.
"And I won't share it," says Addison.
"Rr!?" says Addison.
"As I said, final offer. So are you in or not?" says Addison impatiently.
"Rr…" says Doc, considering all his options. "Rr!" says Doc.
"Good boy," says Addison. "I'll even give you a dog treat for now. Consider it as a sort of 'signing bonus,' says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Shh-" says Addison. "It'll be our little secret…"
So Doc eats his dog treat, before Addison carries him back upstairs because he refuses to walk upstairs after 10pm. And then she brushes her teeth, and crawls into bed carefully without waking Meredith. Doc slides onto his spot between their two pillows, and Addison winks at Doc before she kisses Meredith goodnight on the forehead one more time, and goes to sleep again.
It's chaos when they wake up in the morning, this time with Callie discovering that the chips are missing, and George being the first one to frown at Doc for it.
"He's eating them again," says George, crossing his arms.
"Rr…" says Doc, playing his role expertly.
"How did he even get up there to them!?" says Izzie.
"He did crawl out the window to get to the hammock," says Derek.
"True," says Mark.
"What's going on?" says Addison 'innocently.'
"Doc's been up all night eating our chips again," says Alex.
"Doc," Meredith sighs, and crouches down to pet him. "You're gonna make yourself sick with those!"
"Rr," Doc shrugs.
"He seems fine," says Addison semi-nervously.
"I don't think so-" says Meredith. "There's so many chemicals in those things, and who knows how they'll react in a dog's stomach? He's eaten half a family-sized bag between today and yesterday, I think we should take him to a vet," says Meredith.
"Really?" says Addison.
"Rr!?" says Doc. "Rr!"
"I know you say you're fine, but you've been eating orange-flavored chemicals that are coating triangle-shaped corn crunchy bits. We're going," says Meredith.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"No buts," says Meredith. "Addison, are you coming?" says Meredith.
"I'm coming," says Addison.
"Rr…" says Doc.
"Save your strength," says Meredith. "We're on our way."
"Tell Bailey we're at the vet," says Addison.
"It's an emergency," says Meredith. "Take my car, we'll take Addison's," Meredith says as she tosses Izzie the keys.
"Fine, but I'm driving," says Alex, as they pile into the vehicles and head on to work.
"It's gonna be okay Doc," says Meredith, as she brushes his ears down as Addison drives.
"Rr….." Doc grumbles.
"I know you don't love going to the vet, but hey I know, why don't we get you a steak after?" offers Addison, to let Doc know that the deal is still on.
"Addison!?" says Meredith. "He might have eaten twenty chips! We have to see what the vets says first!?" says Meredith.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Alright, if your studies check out, we can see about getting you a steak," offers Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"I can't believe our dog is so interested in tenderloin," Meredith huffs, as she holds Doc close to her chest.
"Tell me about it," says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Alright, we're here," says Meredith, as she carries Doc to the door in case he's injured.
"Hi, we're here with our dog, he needs a check-up," says Addison.
"He needs an emergency check-up," says Meredith. "He ate an entire half-bag of a family-sized bag of nacho-flavored-nacho-chips," says Meredith. "In two evenings!"
"He has no symptoms, he seems to be doing fine, he seems hungry even," says Addison.
"Alright, well I have an opening now, and we can get him checked out. What's his name?" says the vet.
"Doc," Meredith and Addison say in tandem.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Alright, let's take a look Doc," says the vet. "Oh, and I'm Finn by the way. Finn Dandridge."
"It's a pleasure," says Addison. "Thank you so much for taking him in right away," says Meredith.
"So this might be a bit gross and uncomfortable, but I'm going to have to ask you a whole lot of questions about his poop," says Finn Dandridge.
"Oh it's fine really, we're doctors," says Meredith.
"Both of you, huh?" says Finn.
"Yes, surgeons," says Addison. "I'm a maternal-fetal surgeon, and Meredith is a surgical intern," says Addison.
"Cool," says Finn.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Alright Doc, we're going to get you some studies, and we'll be back in a second," says Finn.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Can we watch?" says Meredith nervously.
"We'll be back soon," says Finn.
"Bye Doc," says Addison. "We'll be right outside waiting for you."
"Rr-" says Doc, as Finn carries him to the exam room, and he sighs to himself about having agreed to this elaborate plan in the first place.
"I hope he's going to be okay," says Meredith.
"He's going to be fine, Meredith. He seems happy and healthy, we're getting him checked out early," says Addison.
"How are you so calm!?" says Meredith.
"Well, I-" says Addison.
"He's doing great," says Finn. "He doesn't seem to have ingested too many chips, if at all. His digestive system seems on track. He's fit, at a good weight for his size, and his heart and his lungs are doing well too."
"Why do you seem upset then?" says Meredith.
"Well, he does have a lower bone density than I'd like to see. It's not malignant right now because we caught it early, but I'm going to prescribe him lots of vitamins and set him up for routine testing," says Finn.
"Oh no!" says Addison worriedly.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"And about his feeding…" says Meredith.
"He's free to continue his diet so long as he takes his vitamins," says Finn.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"We're going to get you a steak," says Meredith definitely. "I just want to feed you something good after a scare like that," says Meredith, as she takes him into her arms again.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Thank you Finn," says Addison.
"No problem," says Finn.
"Rr," says Doc.
"Good to meet you too," says Finn. "Hey ah, I was wondering. Are you two involved? Because if not… I was kinda gonna ask one of you for your number…" says Finn.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"We're, we're involved," says Meredith.
"With each other-" says Addison, as if that weren't already obvious.
"Okay, I figured. It was kind of a long shot anyway," says Finn. "Goodbye now."
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Oh my goodness he totally has a crush on you!" says Addison.
"Are you kidding? It's totally on you!" says Meredith.
"Rrrrrrrrr," says Doc.
"We're going, we're going. You'll get your steak," says Meredith.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Yes, we know. Tenderloin," says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"I can pick it up on the way but I don't know how to cook it," says Meredith.
"I'll take care of that part," says Addison.
"We could get some for us too," says Meredith.
"Yeah, let's make lunch out of it. We took the day off anyway," says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
So they head to the store, and Doc wants to go in and pick out his steak himself, but the store doesn't allow dogs to go in, so Addison goes in with him while Meredith waits in the car with him.
"Rrrrrrr," says Doc, as he paws at Meredith's leg.
"What, Doc?" says Meredith.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrr," says Doc.
"Yes, I know you're fine, that's why we're getting you steak," says Meredith.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr," says Doc.
"What, what's bugging you Doc?" says Meredith.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr," says Doc.
"Come on Doc, I don't understand, I'm sorry. I know you don't like the vet, but it's good we took you for a checkup because now we can keep your bones in check. So let's focus on that part," says Meredith.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr," says Doc.
"I'm back, I got three steaks," says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc happily.
"Yes, you can pick which one you like best," says Addison.
"Rr-" Doc paws predictably at the biggest one.
"Of course," Meredith groans, as Addison puts her seatbelt back on and they drive home.
"Alright Doc, how would you like your steak?" says Meredith.
"Rr-" says Doc.
"No, we're not feeding it to you raw, it could have germs in it," says Addison.
"Rr-" says Doc.
"Blue rare is pretty close to raw. How about rare?" says Addison.
"Rr-" says Doc.
"You'll like it. I'll cook it that way, and if you don't like it, I'll cook it some more for one of us, okay?" says Addison.
"Rr-" says Doc.
"Yes, if you end up with a smaller steak, I'll give you a piece of mine. Happy?" says Addison.
"Rr!" says Doc.
"Normally I'd be peeved he's so persnickity, but at least he's eating," says Meredith. "I love him so much."
"Rr!" says Doc.
"I know, me too," says Addison, as she heats up the grill. Addison cooks the large steak until it's to Doc's liking, and she cuts it a little bit, and then puts it in his dish with his water.
"There you go buddy," says Addison, winking at him again.
"Rrrrrrrr-" says Doc, smiling despite himself, and licking his lips before his favorite meal.
"Alright, how would you like yours?" says Addison, as she takes another (slightly smaller) steak out of the package.
"Medium-rare," says Meredith, as she gets out some side dishes.
"You got it," says Addison, as she cooks Meredith a steak, and then cooks one for herself.
Meredith sets the table before Addison sets the plates down in front of them and they settle in for some lunch.
"This is delicious, Addison," says Meredith, as she digs into her steak.
"Rrrrr!" says Doc enthusiastically.
"It is good," says Addison. "I'm glad we cooked it. It's a nice treat. Do you hear that Doc? This is a treat, and it's not going to happen all of the time, okay?" says Addison.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrr," Doc grumbles at Addison while he savors his tenderloin.
"I guess he got jealous we were having our own junk food, huh?" says Meredith.
"I guess," says Addison, smiling.
"Rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-" Doc groans dramatically, as he picks up his corner piece with his teeth.
He's not entirely proud of what he went through to get his favorite dinner, but in the end, he's very happy while he's enjoying it.
Especially while he's with his two favorite people.
***** END OF CHAPTER 43