In Which Addison Has a Thing For Ferry Boats
Another rainy day in Seattle… I can't say I wasn't warned. Richard told me to bring an umbrella before I left from New York. Luckily, I have two; one big one that I use when I'm actually out on the town and one smaller one that I use just for running to and from my car. It never rained like this in Manhattan. I mean, it rained but not for a whole week straight. The weather is one thing that I miss about New York. Well, and Mark, Derek's best friend, but that's a whole other story. Other than that, that just might be it… I don't miss the sleepless nights waiting up on my husband to come home from work. I don't miss crying myself to sleep night after night after sleeping alone. I don't miss only seeing him while we were both at work, which was rare, seeing that he was always too busy to even say hi to me when we'd pass each other in the hallway. I won't ever miss that. I'm so grateful for this fresh start here in Seattle, even if it is too freaking rainy.
Things were starting to sink back in Manhattan. Derek and I we're together eleven years. We were happy and in love then we started working... We grew farther and farther apart as we furthered our careers but it still doesn't explain neglect and the sleepless nights I spent up waiting for him… It still doesn't explain why he always sent his best friend other to our house to make up excuses for him... Birthdays, holidays, anniversaries... Things that husband and wife are supposed to spend together, I spent with his best friend. Can you believe that it's been a month since I've been here and Derek still has yet to call? Is it depressing that I had a feeling that he wouldn't notice if I was gone? He hasn't noticed that I stopped showing up for work at the hospital or a freaking practice that we share…a SHARED practice! We started it together. We run the place together and he hasn't notice that I left.
"Fucking jerk," I say under my breath frustrated with my predicament. It's time to get ready for my day anyway. I shower and dry off deciding that today I'm going to wear my hair straight. Looking at myself in the mirror right now, I can't believe that I ever went blonde... I'm a natural redhead. Blonde Addison seems so foreign to me.
I get dressed in one of my favorite pencil skirts and a white blouse before stepping into my favorite pair of Jimmy Choo's. I grab my coat and after looking at the time, I conclude I have time to stop for some breakfast at that bakery I just discovered the other day.
By the time I grab breakfast and make it to the hospital, it's nearly seven a.m. and the sun is starting to rise on the city. I rush inside and to my office so I can eat before rounds. I have four surgeries scheduled for today and that's not including what may come in through the emergency room. I have a busy schedule so before I get started, I go by the coffee cart for some juju; my own specially made batch of coffee. I take a few sips and I start to feel the heat rush through my body. It's time to start my day.
I come out of my second surgery of the day and it's two o'clock. It's as good of a time as any to eat lunch. My next surgery isn't until 3:30 and the last one is at 8 so I may have time to actually sit and enjoy my meal. I opted to eat in the Attendings' Lounge but in the end, I ended up back in my office. I haven't really made many friends here yet but I've grown more acquainted with Dr. Burke and Dr. Bailey but that doesn't mean I'm ready for lunch dates yet.
I finish up my lunch and I see that it's a couple of minutes to 3. I wonder if the prep team has already started prepping my patient for surgery so I decide to stop by her room to see if she has any questions before we start.
I press the elevator and of course, it doesn't come. What if this were an emergency? Can't really take a gurney up the stairs...
I'm texting on my phone until I hear familiar footsteps approaching. I look up to see that it's Meredith. It's my first time seeing her today. She stands in front of me silently as we both wait for the elevator to arrive. I decide to break the ice, "Seattle has ferryboats."
"Yes," she responds.
"I didn't know that," I continue to text, "I've been living here for like three weeks and I did not know they had ferryboats."
"Seattle is surrounded by water on three sides," she responds still not turning around to face me as the elevator dings notifying us of its arrival.
"Hence the ferryboats," I say putting my phone in my coat pocket, "Now I'm going to have to like it here. I wasn't planning on liking it here."
The elevator opens and everyone makes their way out. As Meredith and I walk into the elevator I speak up again, "I'm from New York. I'm genetically engineered to dislike everywhere except Manhattan."
Now, on the elevator, she's standing behind me. Since she hasn't spoken up yet, I continue to speak, "I have a thing for ferryboats."
The elevator closes and we go up a floor before Meredith finally speaks up, "I'm not going to go out with you."
"Did I ask you to go out with me?" I glance at her. She doesn't speak so I turn back around, "Do you want to go out with me?"
"I'm not dating you," she shakes her head, "and I'm definitely not sleeping with you again. You're my boss."
"I'm your boss's boss," I point out.
"You're my teacher… and my teacher's teacher… and you're my teacher."
"I'm your brother, I'm your son," I tease.
"You're sexually harassing me," she tosses back.
"I'm riding an elevator," I counter.
"Look," she says, "I'm drawing a line. The line is drawn. There's a big… line," she says flustered.
"So, this line," I turn around to face her, "is it imaginary or do I need to get you your own marker?"
She then smashes me up against the elevator wall and starts kissing me. I want to rip her clothes off right here but I restrain myself. The elevator dings and comes to a stop. Meredith then gathers her things and rushes off the elevator when it opens.
"We'll talk later?" I call out after her. I'm left looking flustered as people pile into the elevator. I just go on about my day with that elevator scene never leaving my mind.
Two surgeries later, it's nearly midnight and I'm sitting in my office eating my dinner that I was supposed to eat between my last two surgeries but my 3:30 went over a couple of hours. I'm scrolling down my Facebook timeline in the meanwhile and I comment now and then on a friend from New York's status. I almost forgot I had friends in New York… I was so consumed with my screwed up marriage that I forgot about my life in New York… minus Derek that is. So, I guess there are other things I'll miss about Manhattan but I plan on making a life here and it's not like I won't ever see my friends again. I can always visit.
I just finished eating my dinner when my pager goes off. It's the ER. I rush out of my office and down to the ER floor. There was a train crash and since we have the best trauma center in the city, mostly everyone got sent over here. I hear they are calling in the entire staff. I'm glad I'm not one of those people who literally just got home and have to come right back.
"Dr. Montgomery," a voice calls out which I soon discover belongs to none other than Dr. Bailey. She's one of my favorite people here, "We have a third trimester burn victim over here."
I rush over to the patient then I look to Dr. Bailey, "I'm going to need an intern."
"Stevens, go," she sends over a tall, blonde, perky woman. This must be the intern that everyone is calling 'Dr. Model.' I can see it. She's cute and pretty hot but I can't think about that right now. I have to see what I'm working with… I need to see if this new batch of interns have any talent. I'm looking for one that I deem worthy enough to pass my skill set down to… Not every doctor can handle Neonatal. It's one of the most difficult specialties.
"Have you had any contractions?" I ask the patient.
"No," she responds. I nod writing it down in her chart.
"Stevens, get us a room."
We're in the room and I'm flipping through the chart but I can feel the intern's eyes on me. I turn around to face her, "Dr. Stevens, did you need something?"
"No," she goes back to treating our patient's burns.
I continue going through the patient's chart when she yelps, "Ow!"
"Oh, I'm sorry," Dr. Stevens says, "Am I doing this too-"
"Ow! Ow! Was that a…" the patient turns to me, "Did I have…"
"A contraction. It was definitely a contraction." I turn to my intern, "We need to book an OR." She takes off out of the room then I turn back to our patient, "Look, you are in no shape to push, and the baby is still in some distress. So, we're going to have to proceed with a C-section."
"Okay," she chokes up as if she's about to explode in tears, "okay but can we call a lawyer first?" I look at her confused as she continues on, "I don't have a will… and there's no father. In case something happens to me…"
"There's no cause for panic, Brooke. We have some time, okay?"
"Okay."
I was about to say something else when someone calls her, "Brooke?"
Another pregnant patient in a neck brace, "Jana? Thank God."
They hug and then another intern walks in after her. I've heard about this one. He's so horrible that they had to give him to another resident, "Dr. Karev?"
"Yeah, I couldn't stop her. She wanted to see her-"
"She was on the train?" I cut him off as my intern walks back up to the door.
"Yes, but-"
"Have you done an ultrasound? Cleared her c-spine?" he's standing here looking stupid and it starts to infuriate me. "Is there any reason you can think of that this patient should be wandering around the hospital unattended?"
"She's not unattended… I came up with her," he smirks.
"You can leave now," I dismiss him, "Dr. Karev." He turns around and kind of makes a face towards my intern. He's incompetent even for an intern… "Dr. Stevens, how about we get our new patient into a bed? Shall we?"
We managed to get Jana to sit down in a wheelchair because she refused to be anywhere but at Brooke's side. Apparently, they are each other's midwives... I'm teaching my intern, who I now know name is Izzie, how to perform an epidural. She has a gentle yet firm touch and grip that is essential for Neonatal. She could just be the intern that I'm looking. So far, she hasn't done anything to give me any doubt. "Right there… in between the vertebral spaces. Don't be shy about pressure."
"That's good. You're doing so good," Jana coaches her friend.
"Somebody call for a notary?" an older woman walks in.
"I asked for a lawyer," Brooke responded.
"I couldn't get one at this time of night, but the hospital has pretty standard forms. It just says that in the case of death or permanent vegetative state, that your child will remain in the custody of, and then we'll put her name in."
"Wait, what?" Jana says to Brooke." What are we? Who's dying here?" she then looks to me.
"There's some danger… with any surgery there's some danger but with the trauma of Brooke's burns, there's an additional risk of shock. She just wants to be certain."
"That's ridiculous," she says to me then looks at Brooke, "You're being ridiculous. You're going to be fine, do you hear me?
"I hear you," Brooke responds, "but we still have to sign the forms unless you want our son to end up with my mom." After that Jana immediately signs the forms then passes them to Brooke and me.
"How long have you two been together?" Izzie asks.
"Since third grade," Brooke responds.
"We're not lovers. We're best friends." Jana points out, "We just wanted our kids to have two parents… so we got a sperm donor."
"The same donor? So your babies are brother and sister?" I ask smiling. It's kind of twisted but it's sweet. I would've never thought about doing something like that.
"Oh, how cool is that?" the notary says.
"That's… wow," my intern speaks up.
"Wet," Jana says at the same time.
"What?" Izzie questions as Jana look to the ground.
"I'm wet. I think my water just broke."
I call an OB to come perform for Jana's delivery so we can get Brooke to surgery. The OR and its team are ready and finally so are we. The other doctor walks into the room soon after the prep team comes. I greet her and introduce her and her patient. "Jana, this is our OB resident, Dr. Hoffman. She's going to be taking care of you from here."
"You're doing great, Jana, Just keep breathing," Dr. Hoffman takes over as I walk back to Izzie, "I'm going to check your cervix now."
Izzie hands me the chart, "Brooke, we booked an OR but they're not going to hold it for long so we need to go now."
"Right now?" she asks and I nod, "but we're supposed to be together. We took classes."
"I'm sorry but we can't wait," I reply. It could take hours for Jana to give birth and we honestly, do not have that much time.
"That's okay. Brookie," Jana tells her, "You go have your C-section and enjoy those drugs. This is already not fun for my vagina." She says this while shifting in her bed.
"Dr. Stevens," I nod letting her know that we're ready.
"No," Brooke says, "If I have to go, she has to stay. Someone has to stay with Jana, please"
"Brooke, Dr. Stevens is a surgeon but I'm gonna find you some-"
"It's okay," Izzie speaks up, "I'll stay."
"Okay," I say after a pause. I grab the chart as my prep team comes in and starts getting Brooke ready for surgery.
The surgery was pretty quick. It was only a c-section but by the time I close and scrub out, it's nearly six a.m. I make my way up to the maternity floor to check on Jana since Brooke is still in recovery and I stop by the coffee cart. When I get up to the room, I find my intern still there updating Jana's cart and I smile handing her the coffee as she hands me the chart, "Good morning."
"How's Brooke?" she looks at the coffee quizzically. I guess usually it's the intern bringing the attending coffee but I like Dr. Stevens. She's not like the other interns here. I could definitely work with her.
"She's good."
"And the baby?"
"He came through too." I say flipping through the chart and walking out of the room as my intern follows. "You know, Dr. Stevens, you show a real gift with my specialty. It's rare that I find a doctor worthy enough to teach my craft so don't take this lightly. I've got a lot to teach, if you want to learn. But do know that it'll be tough. Neonatal is one of the hardest specialties to master and I'm not an easy teacher. So…"
"So?"
"I'll give you some time to think about it," I start to walk away.
"Dr. Montgomery," she calls out and I turn back around to her, "I don't need time. I'd be honored to learn from you."
Later that morning as I'm heading home, I run into none other than Meredith as we both wait for the elevator in silence again. My mind can't help but wonder off to yesterday morning's elevator escapade and I smile, "So, it's intense."
"What?" she questions.
"This thing I have for ferryboats, I mean."
She looks at me, laughs and rolls her eyes, "I'm so taking the stairs this time."
"No self-control," I call out after her as she walks away, "It's sad. Really." I laugh to myself as the elevator dings and opens up. Besides the rain, I think I'm really going to like it here. To Hell with Manhattan.