Disclaimer: If you don't know that I don't own Grey's Anatomy or any of it's stuff by now, there is no hope for you.

A/N: I realized that Addison hadn't broken down to anyone yet, so I let her do that this chapter. I also provided a little pathetic comic relief. Enjoy!

Chapter 7: Cover the Many Holes

Meredith's encounter with Addison was nothing short of a miracle. She was slightly dazed as she walked out of the elevator. The Addison she'd just seen was not the shrewd, conniving bee-yotch she'd seen on her first encounter. This Addison was scratched, bruised, open, raw, and defeated. She's accepting her own defeat, Meredith realized. Me. I'm her defeat. Meredith picked up a pile of charts and shifted through them. It was a slow day. No record-breaking medical problems, no complex surgeries needed. It was like the entire city of Seattle had gone on a medical hiatus.

"Meredith?" The voice made her jump. She turned around. It was Callie.

"Umm...yeah?" answered Meredith.

"Could you just hand me that...thanks," Callie said as Meredith handed her the pile of charts.

Silence.

Callie's eyes shifted to the left and right, looking for the best way to get out of the situation.

A spark of a thought leaped into Meredith's head. "Dr. Torres," she said in an official-sounding tone, "could we discuss something?" She gestured toward the pile of charts. "In private?"

Relief and worry washed over the woman's face in two waves. She quickly regained composure.

"Yes, Dr. Grey, that would be plausible." They walked to a stairwell. The second the door closed, they burst out laughing.

"Plausible!" gasped Meredith. "Do you even know what that means?"

"No!" giggled Callie. "You looked so serious! Like you were going to go into battle and die or something!"

The laughing died down. Silence.

"Thank you," Meredith suddenly said. "You helped me. You didn't tell. Why?"

"Love makes you do crazy things," shrugged Callie. "I know what it's like. To be in love with someone and you'll let them do anything to you as long as they're with you."

Meredith mentally swallowed Callie's harsh assurance. "I told her, you know, Addison."

Callie was stunned. "What did she do?"

"She apologized after I did. We're okay now."

"Whoa...she..."

"It's weird. Like we're enemies on the battlefield. But we've both been cut. And now we're fixing each other's wounds."

"And teaming up against the jerk who caused them?"

The door above them opened. Both women started and whipped around. George O'Malley came bounding down the steps.

"Hey! Callie! And...Mer?"

"Hey George! I was just discussing something with Callie."

"Yeah," Callie chimed in, "Plausibility of awkward situations."

They ran off, leaving George.

"Wait! Do you even know what that means?" yelled George as the door swung shut.

Addison sat in her office. It was a slow day. Nothing going on. She absentmindedly played with her wedding ring, pushing it on and off her finger. She took it off and laid it on the desk in front of her, and looked at her finger. She could see the slight ridge it had put in her finger, the warm ring of smooth dampness it had made around her finger. She flexed her fingers, her ruby-red nails.

There was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Addison called.

Dr. Miranda Bailey stepped through the door. She took one sharp look at the wedding ring, Addison's fingers, and her face.

"Dr. Shepherd? May I speak freely?"

Addison nodded.

"I know what everyone was doing last night," she began. "Yang was with Burke. O'Malley left with Torres. Stevens...left. With Karev. Chief went home with his wife and niece. But Grey leaves. Not with the man she came with, but alone. A few seconds later, Shepherd leaves. Without you. Later, when everyone's gone, I see the man that Grey came with leave. Alone."

"And?" Addison asked blankly.

"I'm not stupid, Addison, and neither are you. I know where everyone was last night. Except you three and your damn love triangle." Bailey sat down and stared Addison in the eye.

"Everyone here today is acting strangely. I know what they were doing last night, so I'm not surprised at their behavior today. But you three? Your husband is acting like someone died. Grey's a walking damage case, even for her. You look like you didn't go home last night. Your eyes are red, and they don't have a spark."

"It's not..."

"Tell me what happened last night," Bailey urged, "Frankly, I'm worried about you...and Grey. The girl's about to shatter. And you're not yourself."

Addison looked up.

Bailey's eyes widened. "No."

Addison closed her eyes. Two tears fell out. She nodded.

"How did you find out?"

"I was looking for Derek, and I turned the corner. Meredith was standing between him and Finn. It was like they wanted her to choose between them. She told Finn to leave so he wouldn't get hurt and then she turned around to Derek."

Bailey looked horrified. "No."

Addison shook her head, tears still falling. "No, it wasn't like that. She started screaming at him. Then she ran."

Addison could have sworn she saw a tiny smile crack Bailey's face. "Then what? You kicked his a, right?"

Addison nodded.

"I'm so sorry," Bailey said. She put her hand on Addison's arm. Addison put her head down on top of it and cried.

Please review, as always. I really like this whole writing fics thing.