Chapter 12

The next few days progressed rather uneventfully. Addison was getting the sleep she needed, and slowly getting back to herself. Bailey had her on a strict schedule, where she could only sleep during certain hours. Though the redhead was getting used to the routine, she was also becoming quite bored.

"Good afternoon, Dr. Shepherd…" George O'Malley entered the room, much to Addison's surprise.

"O'Malley?"

"How are you feeling today?" It sounded as if he had rehearsed his lines.

"I'm okay…" She gave him the 'look' that he had actually grown to fear.

"Dr. Bailey sent me. I just have to ask a few questions…it should only take a few minutes."
Addison smiled. "George, relax. I know what you're doing."

"Um, are you experiencing any nausea?"

"No."

"Dizziness?"

"No."

"Headache?"

"Here, just me the file."

"I can't…this is routine procedure, I-"

"George, I won't tell Bailey." George handed over Addison's file, where she quickly checked off any symptoms she had been experiencing within a matter of seconds. "There you go." she handed the file back to George.

"Oh, okay. Thanks. I just…" George felt incredibly uncomfortable as took out a stethoscope. "Really quickly?"
Addison actually started laughing at this point. There was absolutely no need to check her heart and she knew that. Bailey was just trying to have some fun, and when you're a surgeon, putting your interns in awkward situations seems to be the way to go. "Okay. Go ahead."
"Um…" He approached his superior. "I'm just gonna…"

"I know what you're doing. It's not a big deal." Her laughter continued for a bit longer. She was amazed at how George could be stuck in an OR in which a patient's heart went on fire, and yet he couldn't even check her heartbeat.

George gently slid the stethoscope under the top of Addison's hospital gown. He turned red immediately, but tried to carry on. "Sorry, I'm sorry…"

"We're both doctors, O'Malley. It's okay." She coaxed, starting to feel sorry for the young intern.

"Okay, there. All done. You're heart…it's really good. Great actually. Bailey will be pleased. Okay. Bye." George pretty much ran out of the room within a matter of seconds, leaving Addison incredibly amused.

About a half hour later, there was a light knock on Addison's door. "Come in." she responded, not bothering to look up from her book of crossword puzzles that Derek had brought her the previous night.

"Hi, Dr. Shepherd…"

The redhead looked up to see Izzie Stevens standing near the door frame.

"Come in…" she repeated, wondering what Bailey was up to this time.

"How are you?"

"I'm okay…" she felt as if she were reliving her experience with George.

"Sorry I haven't come by, I just um…I've been busy with…you know." Izzie spoke softly, leading Addison to believe that maybe Bailey hadn't sent her.

"I understand. I wouldn't have expected you to visit anyway. I'm not fatally ill." Her voice was professional, which was not actually how she had wanted to sound

"I know." she paused, "Are you feeling any better? It's been almost a week now, right?"

"6 days, but who's counting?" she made a lame attempt at a joke, "But yes, I'm feeling better by the day…hoping to get back to work soon."
Izzie nodded, taking a seat next to her superior's bedside. "What'd you to do George earlier? He's been like, freaked out all day." She started getting a bit more comfortable.

Addison rolled her eyes. "He used a stethoscope on my collar bone." Izzie laughed. "I really scare him, don't I?"

"No, you don't…no. Okay maybe a little. Yeah."

"Do I scare you?"

"No." She responded rather seriously.

"Good."

There were a few awkward moments of silence before Izzie continued. " I'm scrubbing inon a pretty complex surgery today…" she began. "The patient's um… a week and a half old. He's suffering from HLHS…"

"Wow." Addison was actually a bit disappointed to hear about the surgeries she could be performing. "Congratulations Stevens. Well earned."
"Thanks. I'm pretty excited about it…"

"But you're ridiculously nervous."

"Yeah." Izzie let out a small sigh of relief.

"That's normal."

"It's just that I've never done this before, and I kind of made it seem like I know everything already…"

Addison cracked a smile, seeing hints of herself in the young blonde. "So what, you want me to give you some hints?"

"Well, no. I mean…maybe." Izzie avoided all eye contact.

"Stevens, you're the best I've seen in a while. You've got a knack for neonatal. Trust your instinct, you know what to do. You've studied this in school a hundred times over. Go with your gut."

"Thank you, really. I appreciate it but-"

"No 'buts'. A good surgeon never second guesses herself. You've got this." she smiled, actually feeling quite proud of the intern.

"Hey, sorry I'm late. Surgery ran over yet again…" Derek walked in. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't think anyone else would be in here."

"Thank you." Addison responded sarcastically.

"Oh, no. I was just leaving." Izzie stood up, heading toward the door.

"Let me know how everything goes, Stevens."

"I will. Thank you." The blonde left the room.

Derek plopped down next to his wife's bed. "Someone's making friends." He teased.

"Shut up. We all have different ways of bonding with interns. I encourage them, you sleep with them..."

"Ouch."

"Derek, I need to get out of this hospital."

"It's been six days…"

"I'm on a sleep schedule, I do crossword puzzles, and I bond with interns. This isn't natural."

Derek laughed, "It took Mariah Carey months to recover."

"Don't you ever compare me to Mariah Carey." She glared. "I'm clearly above her." she joked. "I'm not saying that I need to go to back to work right away. I know I'm in no condition for that yet. But I think I can get some rest at home…"

"You want to spend your days in the trailer?"

Addison shrugged. "It beats being here. I feel useless, Derek." Her voice became a bit more serious. "Just laying around while I could be bringing lives into the world, performing surgeries…I can't just lay here."

"I know." he sighed, " I'll talk to Bailey, but we never figured out what got you to this point. What if this just happens again?" he questioned.

"You being here every single day, practically ever hour…that solved half the problem right there. I still miss New York and I still feel out of place, but everything will be solved in time. I think I'll be able to recover…." she tried to make sense of her words. "I think I'll be able to go to sleep…if you just promise that you'll be there when I wake up."