June, 2001
"Really Addy, do we have to do this tonight?" he asked, a genuine annoyance was written all across his face. Addison slammed her chart shut and looked up at him. "No Derek, we have all the time in the world." she said sweetly, a fake smile plastered on her face before walking out of the room. "Seriously!" he said, looking up from his chart as his wife stomped out of the room. "Aww, c'mon Addy!" he said, slotting his chart back into the pile and chased after his wife. He caught her by the arm and spun her around. Addison looked away with a sigh. "I don't want to fight, Derek. I don't know why we are fighting. I'm sorry I yelled, but it is really important for me, Derek." she said, shrugging her arm off his grip. Derek shoved his hands into his coat pockets with a nod. "Alright." he said, not looking up. "I'll be home tonight." he promised, looking up with a smile.
"Thank you." she said, smiling genuinely now. Reaching up, she gave Derek a peck on his cheek.
September, 2001
"Don't say a word, Addy. Don't. Say. Anything." Derek said, staring straight into Addison's eyes for a moment before walking out of the room.
"Whatever happened to the man I married." Addison muttered before the door was fully shut.
"I can hear you, Addison." Derek shouted back.
March, 2002
"Any plans tonight?" Addison asked, giving Derek a kiss from behind. Derek looked up with a smile, closing his file. "Well, I have a surgery, and an old patient to check on. Why?" Addison's heart sank, but she didn't let it show on her face. "Nothing." she said, giving a forced smile before walking away.
"Hey Addy." Mark greeted, his eyes not leaving the file in his hands. But Addison didn't look up, she continued on, her head buried in the file. That caught Mark's attention. He stopped with a frown and turned his head, looking as Addison walked away, not even turning back once.
"What's up with her?" Mark asked as Derek approached him. But Derek only shrugged. "Had a fight?" Mark pushed on, flipping the pages in his file. "Not one that I know of. She asked if I was doing anything tonight and I told her I'm booked." he explained. "What cases have you got there?" Derek changed the topic, peeking over to Mark's file. Mark looked up at him with a raised eyebrow. "Dude, seriously." "What?" "It's your eighth year anniversary tonight, Derek."
January, 2003
"5! 4! 3! 2! 1! Happy New Year!" the crowd cheered. The group was off shift and were celebrating at a pub near the hospital. Addison stirred her drink restlessly, her eyes starring into blank space. She lifted up her glass absentmindedly, taking a sip from it. "He's not here?" a voice startled her. Addison jumped, spilling her drink over the table. "Jesus, Mark!" she exclaimed, grabbing a couple of napkins and dapped at the moist area.
"No. He's not here." she said dully. Mark slided up on the chair next to her. "Want to talk about it?" he offered. Addison shook her head with a laugh. "Talk about what'
"I'm not blind, Addison. And I am his best friend. If almost the entire hospital, including the regular patients knows that you and Derek have problems, I definitely do." Mark said, taking a swig from his beer. He turned to face Addison, helping her clean up the spill before tossing the wet napkins away. "Really, you can tell me." Mark offered once again, looking into Addison's eyes with concern.
March, 2003
"It's our anniversary tonight, Derek!" Addison yelled from the bathroom. "Couldn't you have try to get off work or something?"
"It's not as easy as you think, Addy. I'm a neuro-surgeon, the best in the hospital. If they don't pick me, who would they pick?" Derek explained, turning the page of his morning newspaper.
"God, you're so full of yourself." Addison muttered under her breathe. "I don't know, the second best?" she shouted over the hairdryer. Derek shook his head and took a sip of his coffee. In the next five minutes, Addison exited from the bathroom with her hair done and all dressed up for work.
"I don't get it, Addy." Derek started, putting down his coffee and turned another page of his newspaper. "Why do we have to celebrate our anniversary anyway? We don't have to be like everyone. We can't be like everyone. We're surgeons, we aren't suppose to have a life. Besides, we see each other everyday." Addison looked up with disbelief, picked up her bag and headed towards the front door.
"Aren't you going to have breakfast before you leave? I made toast." Derek said, starting to leave the table. "I'm not hungry." Addison said before closing the door behind her.
Feburary, 2004
There was the knock on the door. Addison, in tears and confusion, walked up to answer it. "Hey." the voice greeted. She refused to look up. "Hey." she whispered, turning her back against the man before walking back to the living room again. She wiped her tears away from her face desperately.
"Uhmm.. do you want anything to drink?" she asked, walking to the kitchen.
"Addison." he said, stopping her in her tracks. "Something's wrong." Mark concluded. Addison did not respond. "Is it Derek?" There was another moment of silence before she broke down.
April, 2004
"Will you be home for dinner tonight?" Addison asked casually, signing papers from a nurse. "I can't. I have two surgeries to perform tonight." Derek said without looking up. Addison nodded, returning the papers before walking away.