We stare, dumbfounded, at the light showing that we have apparently come to a stop at the third floor.

"Are you kidding me?" Addison mutters, pushing the buttons on the panel in annoyance.

I kick the door in frustration. "Stupid fucking elevators," I say under my breath. I can't be stuck in here with her, of all people. "It can't be a power outage, because the lights are on." Wow, good one, Meredith. That sounded intelligent. Now I'm talking just to fill up the space.

Addison nods. She takes out her beeper and I know exactly who she's paging.

"Why aren't the backup generators working?" I ask her. I wonder if I'm subconsciously trying to distract her from calling Derek.

"I have no idea. Maybe it's mechanical and not electrical, or something." She taps her foot impatiently, and for the hundredth time I wonder how the woman manages to wear three-inch heels all day in a hospital. I look down at my own beat-up sneakers. She lifts her phone to her ear. "Hi. It's me. I'm stuck in the elevator. The second one. Can you call maintenance?" She pauses. "Um, no, I'm not alone." Another pause, where she carefully avoids my gaze. "Meredith." I see her bite her lip lightly as he responds, and I wonder what he's saying. Does he even care if I'm stuck? Does he even care if I'm alive?

Well, the looks he gives me every day makes it pretty clear that he does, but I don't even know.

God, this is awkward.

"Okay, thanks." She hangs up and I look at her expectantly. "The other elevators are all working, so he's not sure what's wrong with it. I'm sure maintenance will be here soon."

I nod and tuck a stray strand of ponytail behind my ear. My hair is always all over the place – and hers is always perfect.

Oh my god, stop comparing. This is insane.

We both look each other for a moment, and then our eyes awkwardly fall to the floor.

"So," she says conversationally.

"So."

"How's life?" she asks lightly, and then I can tell she immediately regrets it when her eyes widen. She knows how my life is… after she came here, it all went to hell.

"Fine," I say shortly, looking up at the light that is stuck on 3. Jesus, who designed these elevators? There's nothing to look at when you need to avoid someone's eyes. "How about you?"

"Fine."

"Good. That's good."

Awkward silence again.

God, I'd welcome even some elevator music right now. Although I guess that's not appropriate in a hospital.

How many tiles are on the floor? Five, six, seven…

"I don't hate you, you know." She breaks the silence.

I look up quickly. "What?"

"I feel like you think I hate you. And I don't," she says simply.

"Oh." I pause. "I don't hate you either."

I can't hate her. Not when she's so annoyingly kind and gives me hot chocolate. Or ju-ju, whatever the hell that means.

She nods. "Good."

Awkward. Again.

I feel like my head is being hit with an invisible hammer.

My pager vibrates and I look at the screen. They're saying it's going to be awhile until it's up and running. You okay? The message is from Izzie, of course. Izzie, who acts more like a mother to me than… well, than my own mother ever did.

I hold back a groan.

"What is it?" Addison asks.

"It might take some time for this to get fixed."

Addison raises one of her perfect eyebrows. "Seriously?"

"Seriously."

She blows out a deep breath and leans back against the wall before sliding down to the floor. "Well then. Might as well get comfortable."

I force a smile and wonder if it's possible to go insane from awkward claustrophobia.

Could this get any worse?

"So…" Addison looks up at me thoughtfully. "Why don't we talk about how you managed to make my husband fall madly in love with you?"

Oh, lord. I shouldn't have asked.