The Reason Why – Part III
Just then Dr. Stevens entered the room, Molly and Addison looked up at her with anticipation.
"Great new Mrs. Storm" Izzie had a big smile on her face "Jeremy is out of surgery he made it though with flying colors. He is now awake in ICU and he should have a full recovery. Your husband is with your son right now" both women let out a breath they didn't even know they were holding.
Addie gave her patient a quick hug with tears in her eyes she said "see I told you he was in good hands" she smiled down at the Molly "I know how anxious you are to see you son, we made arrangements for you to be moved to his room. I want to keep you here for observation over night"She told the woman with a small smile, she gave the woman's arm another gentle squeeze.
"Thank you Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd" she said with a sigh of relief then she looked up at Addie and she saw the doctor was struggling to keep her emotions in check.
"Okay you get some rest Molly" she smiled down at her you could see the shine of tears starting to form in her eyes. "I'm going to make sure all the arrangements have been made for your room" she gave Molly a smile and her leg squeeze then rose from the bed and left the room.
Molly and Izzie looked after the retreating doctor.
"Dr. Stevens who is Aidan?" Molly asked hesitantly because she really wanted to know.
"Aidan?" Izzie looked confused "I don't know an Aidan" she shrugged "Why do you ask?"
Molly had a puzzled look on her face "well both Drs. Shepard mistakenly called Jeremy Aidan when they were talking to us about his condition" she furrowed her brow "it just seemed like an odd mistake."
"Hmm, I have no clue" Izzie thought that was odd too. "Well I'm going to go and check up on Jeremy again, so I can give you more news." She grinned at the woman as said "I'll have one of his doctors come and talk to you too."
"Thank you Dr. Stevens and please tell my husband not to leave Jeremy's side" her smile grew on her face as the relief sunk in "and please let him know I'm fine."
Izzie nodded and assured the woman "I will make sure he knows." She could see the woman relax before her. Thank god her son is okay. She didn't know how the Storms would have handled things if this had turned out differently. Luckily for the Storm family they had both Shepherd doctors here to take care of them.
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Izzie ran into Christina and Meredith at the nurse's station "Oh My God!" Christina exclaimed "that was the most amazing surgery ever. I can't believe Dr. Shepard pulled that off."
Meredith nodded in agreement "Derek was so intense in there, it was like he had a personal stake in the out come I don't think he would have been able to handle it if that boy didn't pull through" she said with a hit of worry in her voice.
"Hey Meredith, has Derek ever mentioned an Aidan to you?" Izzie asked timidly.
"Aidan?'she looked puzzled. "Funny you should ask that during surgery, I could have sworn Derek called Jeremy Aidan. why do you ask?"
"Mrs. Storm asked me, I guess both Shepherds called Jeremy Aidan a one point, it's just kind of weird" she said with a shrug.
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Addison entered Derek's office; she knew she would findhim there. He was sitting behind his desk with the back of the chair to her.
Shewalked across the room to his side he sat there with his head in his hands. She could tell by how he was shaking he was crying.She rushed to him kneeling in front of him. She gently placed her hands on his knees giving him a light squeeze. He looked down at his wife, their eyes locked and she saw the pain in his eyes she knew exactly how he felt, his eyes matched hers.
He grabbed her hands and pulled her up onto his lap. He put his arms securely around her and she kissed his cheek gently then whispered in his ear "you did it baby" she choked out "you saved him."
He looked at her again she had tears running down her face that matched his own. He wrapped his arms tighter around his wife and snuggled her closer to his chest and whispered back "I know baby, I saved him."
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Addie walked into Molly Storms room, now that the crisis was over all of Molly's stats were back to normal. She still wanted to keep her in the hospital because she knew Molly would want to stay with her son until he was fully recovered.
She walked over to the sleeping boy, the boy's dark curls were gone now and his head wrapped with white gauze hiding the fact that they shaved his head for the operation. She smiled down at the boy then looked over at his mother.
"Hi Molly"she said with a smile "How are you feeling?"
"Amazing Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd" she let out a small sigh "a little tired but I've never felt so happy" she gave Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd a smile.
"That's great to hear"she looked around the room.
Molly could tell what the doctor's next question would be, so she answered it for her "now that Jeremy and I are both ok, I made Robert go home and get some sleep."
She smiled at her again and asked "so do you have any questions I can answer for you?"
"Well actually I was curious about something. It's really not medically related though. I don't want to pry and you don't have to answer if you don't want to, I would totally understand" Molly smiled weakly at the doctor standing before her.
"Well ask away, I'll do my best to ask whatever question you have" she smiled at her patient. She was so relieved this family wasn't going to have to live with the heartache of losing a child.
"Okay"she began hesitantly she had been curious about this, but she wasn't sure if she had a right to ask her doctor this question, she hesitated not being able to go on.
Addie gently touched the woman's arm "its ok Molly go ahead and ask me what has been bothering you" she gave the woman a reassuring smile.
"I was curious while you and your husband, Dr. Shepherd were talking about Jeremy's condition, you both called him Aidan" shelooked up at her doctor apprehensively. She could see the pain across her face "I'm sorry you don't have to answer me, really I'm so sorry, I know it's none of my business, please forget I asked"she head dropped she felt so horrible that her question seemed to cause her doctor so much pain.
Addie looked at the woman sitting before her; she knew Molly didn't mean to hurt her. Hell she knew thatshe would understand her pain more then anyone else in this world. She took a deep breath and slowly blew it out.
"Molly, do you mind if I have a seat here?"she asked gesturing to the side of the bed next to her.
Shepatted the bed next to her and said "please Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd have a seat."
"Molly please call me Addison or better yet Addie" she gaveher a small smile.
"Boy you asked one tough question" she let out a long breath and began to answer Molly's question. "There's a reason Derek and I both mistakenly called Jeremy Aidan" she looked up ather tentatively "my son's name was Aidan" she stopped, she wasn't sure if she would be able to go on. She could feel the tears starting to burn the back of her eyes.
Molly saw how distressed she was becoming and gently asked "was?"
Addie nodded her head "Yes Aidan was killed almost two years ago" a tear started downher cheek.
"Oh my god Addie, I'm so sorry. . . I . . . oh god Addie, I'm sorry I shouldn't have asked" Molly took Addie's hand in hers and gave them a squeeze.
"No Molly it's ok. It's funny its something Derek and I just don't talk about" she gave her a half smile "Derek and I haven't been in Seattle for very long. Derek has been here for about a year and I've been here for almost nine months." Stopped for a moment "as far as I know only the Chief, Dr. Webber and his wife know about Aidan and what happened to him."
Molly nodded at Addie and squeezed her hand, letting her know she understood and urging her to continue. "Whew, this is harder then what I thought it would be." She bit her bottom lip and looked down at her hands "there's a reason we kept calling Jeremy Aidan, it's because the entire situation was so similar to what happened to Aidan. It's really scary how closely Jeremy and Aidan's accidents mirrored each other." She hesitated again and wiped a tear from her face "Aidan was seven, he was playing in a little league baseball game just like Jeremy" she could see the tears starting to form in Molly's eyes and didn't want to put any stress on the woman sitting in front of her "Molly I can stop if want, you don't need to hear this" she started to rise but Molly held her hand tighter.
"No Addie please continue I want you to tell me about your son" said she gently.
"Okay" she nodded "okay well just like Jeremy, Aidan was playing pitcher and a line drive hit him in the head. He was in surgery for eight hours, but they weren't able to save him" the tears were starting to stream down Addie's face. Molly had tears coming down her face as well. Addie reached into her lab coat pocket and pulled out a photograph. She looked down at the picture that was taken the day of Aidan's accident and sadly smiled at it and then she passed it to Molly.
"This was taken the day of the accident, Derek and I went from this amazingly happy family with everything we could have possibly wanted to. . ." she stopped what she was saying and studied Molly's reaction to her family's picture.
Molly stared at the picture and the tears started to stream faster down her face. Staring back at her were three smiling faces, Derek with a big smile on his face with his arm around his wife, Addie also with a glowing smile on her face, both had a hand on their young son's shoulder. The boy had dark curls popping out from under his baseball cap, with a big grin on his face. You could see he was missing his front teeth. They all looked so happy, studying the picture more she could see that Addie was aboutfive orsix months pregnant as well. Their situation really was almost exactly like her family. Oh my god how did they manage to make it through this, how did they keep it together?
Molly stared at Addie they both had tears streaming down their face.She choked out another question "You were pregnant too?"
Addie nodded.
Molly hesitated a moment not wanting to hear the answer to her next question "and the child you were carrying?"
Shecould see more pain in Addie's eyes; she gave her another weak smile and bit her lower lip again. "After Aidan's death" stopped and tried to compose herself "I went into premature labor, Danica was born three and half months premature, she was what we term a micro-preemie, she survived four hours" she stopped and dropped her gaze to her hands.
"Addie I'm so sorry, my god I don't know how you both managed to survive this, I. . ." she stopped her by raising her hand.
"It was the hardest thing Derek and I ever had to go through, we lost everything our son, our daughter, eventually our marriage" she pursed her lips and composed herself.
"Derek and I both had a hard time dealing with our children's deaths" she tried to explain. "Hell we still are having a hard time dealing with it. We are only now starting to slowly work on getting our marriage back on track" she stopped again.
Molly reached out and pulled Addie into her arms and hugged the other woman tightly then patted her on the back. Both women had tears streaming down their face. They stayed like this for quite sometime crying. Molly knew she could have so easily been in Addie's situation and she could have lost everything as well. She realized her family was extremely lucky and had it not been for the Shepherds, her family could have easily been in the same position as Derek and Addie.
Meredith started to enter Mrs. Storm room, but stopped when she saw Addison and Mrs. Storm sitting on the bed and hugging, both women with tears running down their facing. Meredith back out of the room and leaned against the wall next to the door. She didn't need to walk into that scene. She could definitely wait for Addison to leave before checking on the Storm boy's vitals.
Addie and Molly finally separated. Addie got up and grabbed the box of tissues and held it out for Molly. She grabbed a handful of tissues and dried her eyes and blew her nose. Addie grabbed some tissues too and did the same.
Addie squeezed Molly's hand and gave a half smile "thanks for listening to me this whole day has been pretty hard on both Derek and me. We both knew we had to keep focused and make sure both Jeremy and the baby made it through this. We just. . ."
Molly interrupted her nodding "I understand and my husband and I will be forever grateful to you and your husband for saving our family. I don't know if there is anyway we could ever repay the both of you."
Addie stopped her "there is no need for repayment Molly" she got up again and poured a glass of water for Molly then handed it to her.
Addison's pager started to go off; she looked down and saw she was needed in NICU. "Well time to get back to work, try to get some sleep" she bent down and gave Molly a hug. "I'll come by later and check on you." Sheturned and walked out the door, she didn't notice Meredith still standing against the wall.
After watching Addison walk down the hall Meredith walked into the Storm room. She smiled at the sleeping boy and then looked over to his mother; she was looking intently at a photograph, but put it away when she noticed Meredith watching her. Meredith smiled at the mother and said "I'm just checking up on Jeremy making sure he's doing ok."
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It was after midnight when Derek and Addie finally left the hospital, they knew that both patients were out of the woods, they held hands as they walked to their car.
It was a silent ride home to the trailer, both deep in thought on how their day had transpired. Occasionally they would look at each other but they still remained silent holding hands as they drove.
They quietly walked up to the trailer and let Doc out of his dog run andhe bounded for them. Derek scratched the dog behind the ears "I better take him out for a walk; he's been cooped up all day."
He leaned over and caressed Addie's cheek, then place a kiss on her forehead "I won't be long babe; we will talk when I get back."
Once he left with Doc trailing after him, Addie unlocked the trailer door entered. She walked over to the refrigerator pulled out a bottle of water; she sat down at the kitchen table and started to go over the day's events.
She never wanted to have to relive that day again, but she had no choice the Storm family situation just hit too close to home and brought it all flooding back. Derek amd she never fully dealt with what happened. It drove Derek to work longer and longer hours, leaving Addie home night after night alone.
The reason it was so easy to turn to Mark for comfort, was because he was as devastated by what happed as they were, after all Mark was Aidan's godfatherand would have been Danica's as well. Mark was willing to talk with her about what happened to her children and comfort her when she was ready to break and didn't think she could go on.
She knew that's why, when Derek found her in bed with Mark, the reason he just left and didn't put up a fight, was because it made it easier for him to forget. Being there with her was just too painful; it was just a constant reminder of what they had lost. He was still in heavy denial and couldn't even bring himself to mention either child's name.
Addie dropped her head in her hands and started to massage her temples, she was drained by the day's events. She needed hot shower and Derek to be home and just curl up in bed and try her best to get the day's events out of her head.
She walked across the trailer to the bathroom and started the shower. She quickly undressed while waiting for the water to adjust to the temperature she wanted. She stepped under the hot running water and leaned up against the shower wall as the water rushed down her back, that's when the tears started to fall.
She rested her head against the shower wall and continued to sob. She felt a caress on her shoulder, then she was gently turned around, she looked up into Derek's eye and he pulled her close to him. He held her tightly to his chest and allowed her to cry a little longer. Then he pushed her away from him just enough so he could look at her. Their eyes still lock and emotions playing across there faces. He bent down and lightly kissed her on the lips the light kisses continued then eventually deepened.
The water was still running down them but was starting to cool off. He reached for the faucet and turned the water off then took her by the hand and guided her out of the shower; he wrapped a towel around her and pulled her to the bed. Their need to be close tonight was going to outweigh the need to talk about the days events.
They both would admit to each other that their physical relationship had yet to return to what it was before their loss. Tonight was the first step in healing; tonight was the first time in almost two years that had come together with the passion they had felt before their lives were devastatingly changed.
Derek and Addie lay sleeping wrapped in each other's arms, trying to stay as close to one and other as they possibly could. This was the first night in a very long time they sleep in each other's arms.
They would have to eventually talk about the day's events, but it probably wasn't going to happen until after Molly and Jeremy were released from the hospital and they had a chance to distance themselves from the intensity of what had transpired.
Doc sat next to the bed, he was resting his head on the edge, seeming to contemplate the people who took care of him.
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