Note: This is a part of the All Too Well Series, but it can be read as a stand alone fic. Each part of the series has a number in front, as there are no series indicators here :)
No copyright infringement intended.
Happy reading!
Derek's pager beeps as he was rushing to get decently dressed after not sleeping the whole night, after grueling hours of wondering where the hell his wife went.
He had no clue where to go first to look for someone in Seattle who went away willingly, on their own accord.
She left him so suddenly. Her absence made him lose direction, lost in a sea of memories, where he went wrong, when they fell apart.
And for the first time since he moved here from New York, he finally felt the crushing realization that he was in a strange land, even stranger for his wife, with no one to turn to in case things went down… like what's currently happening.
His body worked on its own, leading him to the hospital, yet his mind was in another place, heading to the Archfield in hopes he would find his wife there.
When he set foot in the ER, she was there.
His feet led him to her, yet someone—Bailey—stopped his stride and rattled on and on about the patient needing his attention. He could not take his eyes off Addison, and the way he was drilling holes on her head seemingly worked, as she looked up and turned to his direction.
She stared at him blankly, like an empty shell, as if she was incapable of any emotions.
Yet with all those 11 plus years of being with her, getting to know her like the back of his hand, he knew she had about the same sleepless night as his, picking apart every crack and every flaw of their relationship.
Someone shook him from his trance and he turned his focus on the patient, breathing a sigh of relief and frustration—relief, that he knew Addison's whereabouts and she was just a couple of feet away from him, and frustration, as he can't seem to reach her despite the short distance.
She's slipping away from his grasp and he can't do anything, trapped and barely moving in a sea of blood.
The day went on like a haze, as he was constantly preoccupied by thoughts of Addison, despite her strategically avoiding him.
When he slipped out of the room of his last patient for the day, he finally caught sight of Addison filling out some charts by the nurse's station.
He walked purposefully yet quietly, so as to not alert her and possibly send her away from him again before he could even go near.
"Addison," He said quietly, hand itching to reach out, to stop her from moving away from him, which he knew was what she was about to do given how her body stiffened from hearing his voice so near. "We need to talk."
"Unless it's about who's taking which in our joint assets, there's nothing more to talk about." She was looking at him with those dead eyes, way beyond exhausted and tired, yet steel and cold enough for him to take the hint that she truly meant what she said.
"We have to talk about last night," He tried once again, desperate to just… fix something. He followed as she attempted to walk away, to obviously ignore him.
"Addison."
"I'm tired, Derek. I already told you, I have nothing else to give." He swallowed as he felt his stomach turning. Addison said it so quietly, looking at him and giving him the briefest hint of her sincerity that it made him nauseous.
"No, Addie. I… I'll do everything. We're Derek and Addison and we don't—"
"I quit, Derek. I'm done. I don't know and I don't think I care anymore whether you understand what I'm saying, or whatever the hell it is you want. I'm just tying up loose ends here and the soonest I do that, I'll head back to New York and you won't have to see me again. Seattle's yours, all yours. You're free. And you don't have to worry about looking like the bad guy because I'm taking all the blame here, I'm the adulterous bitch who cheated. Just, let me go. Please."