Derek threw the covers off the bed and quickly got out of the bed he shared with his wife. Addison rolled over to face Derek and squinted one eye open.

"Where are you going?" she mumbled softly as he buttoned up his nice red shirt.

"I have to fly back to Seattle….." he paused. He didn't want to tell Addison the real reason why he was going back to Seattle. "Richard needs a neuro consult on a special case."

Addison nodded before shutting her eye and falling back into a deep sleep.

He buttoned his jeans and pulled out a suitcase. He packed his things quietly so as not to wake Addison again.

Her voice started pouring through his head again as he sat in the cab on the way to JFK.

'You're leaving?' He remembered the hurt that had flickered across her face as he told her that he was leaving Seattle and moving back to New York.

'You can't leave. You hate New York.' "I have to go back," was all he could say to her.

'But…' she had stammered out. He waited for her to fling her arms around his neck and tell her he couldn't leave because she loved him, but he knew she wouldn't do that. He put his hand on her cheek and cupped her chin. She pushed him away, and he turned around and started walking down the hall.

'What about the ferry boats?' she called out. She thought he hadn't heard her, but he had. He just didn't want her to see his tears as he silently said good bye to only woman he had ever truly loved.

He wiped furiously at his eyes as he entered the airport. He wasn't supposed to be upset about this. He didn't even know her anymore. She could be somebody's wife. He could be somebody's mother. She could be a whole different person.

"I need a ticket to Seattle," he said to the ticket attendant at the counter. She started to type something into her computer, and he looked around at the people waiting. He saw a little girl sitting with her mother. A young man looking towards the doors anxiously with a dozen roses and a ticket tucked inside them. An aged couple waiting for someone to get off a plane. He was trying to picture their stories when the attendant interrupted his thought.

"Sir, the next flight to Seattle is tomorrow at nine AM. Would you like me to book you a ticket on that flight?" she asked.

He turned to face her. "No. No I do not want you to book me a ticket on a flight at nine tomorrow morning. I need a flight now. My…" he thought for a moment for a word to describe what she was to him, "My soul mate is dying, and I have to be there."

Her eyes widened at the word dying. "Sir, there is a sooner flight to Seattle but it leaves the gate in 5 minutes."

"Get me a ticket on that flight. I can make it." He pushed his credit card across the counter and shoved it in his pocket as she handed it back along with the ticket.

"I hope you do make it sir," she said sincerely. He nodded and rushed towards the escalator and ran up the moving stairs.

'Five minutes. 300 seconds. I can make it.'

He threw his bag on the security machine belt, and hurried through the metal detector.

Beep Beep Beep

"Fuck!"

'I can't make it.'