So, obviously, I've been writing my fanfic instead of studying... there's nothing like procrastination. ;) Plus, that means more chapters in less time for you guys. This one is kind of short, but I promise next chapter will be longer. And... well, there's a (good) surprise coming.

Chapter Twenty-One: Taken

I can see you standing in the pouring rain
Waiting for changes to carry you away
I can see the light fall from your eyes
As we get lost in the tears of this good-bye
But you can't go farther than my heart can go
'Cause I'll still be loving you
Through the sadness and the madness here
And I'll always be with you
In the distance that has taken you from me

Plumb

…

"I want you to feel free to take as much time as you need to deal with this," Preston replied upon Addison's revelation. He had taken notice that she had been taking a lesser workload these past few weeks, but he had assumed that it was due to an attempt to balance work and family. With three children, he understood that.

"Thank you, Preston," she smiled. "I fully intend to continue working for the next two weeks until the operation," she assured him.

However, he quickly switched from boss-mode to friend-mode. "Have you decided on a surgeon yet?"

But she shook her head. "I've been looking into it, and I've consulted with a few. It's just… it's a really difficult decision, and I want to make sure I've chosen the right surgeon."

"Choose whomever you'd like. I will have the team of your choice flown to Seattle Grace," he told her. "Not only are you my head of neonatology, you're also a dear friend. And that's not even mentioning that you saved my little girl's life. Under all those considerations, I want to personally sure that you have nothing but the best. We're all pulling for you, Addison."

She nodded, doing her best to be brave. However, what was weighing on her mind even more than her upcoming surgery—although it never left her thoughts—was that she had to tell Elena that night. Derek had offered to be there for support for both of them, but Addison had a feeling that nothing would make this easier.

Meanwhile, Cristina and Alex were watching Addison and Preston through the glass wall of his office, trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

"Lucy and Ethel, don't you have anything better to do than stand around and gossip? Like check on patients or perform surgeries?" Meredith questioned jokingly

"I've been called a lot of things in my life, but Lucy is definitely a new one," Alex laughed.

With a playful grin, she corrected, "But you're Ethel."

Cristina, however, was more interested in what was going on inside her husband's office. "Meredith, seriously, what's going on? I don't care if it's Fight Club or not. Something's up, and it's something big. Now, tell us." After a slight glance at Alex, she amended, "Or we can tell Alex to get lost, and then you can just tell me."

"Okay, fine," Meredith said, finally caving. She knew that by the end of the day the secret would have already spread through the hospital anyway. "Addison has cancer. She's been doing chemo, and she's having surgery in a few weeks."

"How bad is it, Mer?" Alex questioned, noting the look on his friend's face.

"They're worried."

…

A soft knock at the door made Addison's heart jump. She knew that it was Derek, and she was fully aware that he was coming. However, because he was there, it meant that soon, she would have to turn her little girl's world upside down.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" he wondered with a smile, although it was painfully obvious that it was just as forced as her own.

"Derek, I can't do this. I can't tell her. She's too young to have to deal with this."

But he sighed and took her by the hand. "Keeping it a secret won't make it go away, Addie. In two weeks, you're undergoing major surgery; you can't hide that from her. Elle is young, but she can handle this. She's like Leni that way, you know? We need to tell her."

"Elle, could you come downstairs, please?" Addison called up. She heard her daughter's footsteps hurry through her bedroom and down the hallway before she finally appeared at the top of the stairs.

However, Elena was already about halfway down before she noticed her father standing there as well. "Daddy? I thought I was staying here tonight. Am I going to your house?" she wondered.

"Actually, Sweetheart… Daddy and I have something that we need to discuss with you," Addison answered as calmly and casually as possible.

"Both of you?" she questioned. "It's something bad then, isn't it? There really is something wrong."

Unable to lie to her any longer, Addison nodded. "Elle, let's have a seat in the living room, and I'll tell you everything. You need to know about this."

Derek followed as Addison led the way into the dimly-lit living room. The TV was playing faintly in the background, occasionally painting the room in shades of blue and green. However, the only matter of concern to any of them were the words which they were waiting to hear Addison speak.

After a moment of what Elena felt was unbearable silence, Addison took a deep breath and met her daughter's eyes; she knew that there was no going back now. "Sweetheart, this is probably the second hardest thing I'll ever have to tell you," she began. She knew that the hardest thing would be explaining to Elena why Derek's and her marriage had failed… about Mark and what had happened in New York all those years ago.

Suddenly, Elena didn't want to hear anymore. The last time she ever saw a look like that on her mother's face was after a particularly troubling day at work—when something so terrible had happened that Addison was torn between pushing it out of her mind and getting it off her chest. She never knew exactly what had happened, but the memory of her mother crying as she sat next to Elena's bed when she thought she had fallen asleep had never left her mind. Nonetheless, Elena continued to listen without uttering a word of protest. Bad news was like a fire or an automobile accident; no matter how horrible it may be, something about it captures you, and you find yourself unable to turn away from the destruction.

"Elle… I have cancer," she finally confessed, the words leaving a bitter taste in her mouth even after she'd spoken them. "In a few weeks, I'm going to have surgery, so you'll be staying with Daddy and Meredith for a while, okay? I don't want you to be afraid, Sweetheart. We are going to fight this, and we're going to be strong."

However, at that moment, Elena didn't feel strong at all; she felt numb. Almost like she wanted to start crying but the tears were trapped.

"If you have any questions—right now or at any time—we want you to ask, all right?" Derek chimed in. "Anything from procedures to medicines to exactly what's going on, we will all be more than happy to explain to you." She nodded, but he could tell that she was somewhat in shock; it was more than any six-year-old should have to deal with. "Do you have any questions, Princess?"

Is my mommy going to die? she thought quietly to herself but only shook her head in reply.

…

It was late, but Addison couldn't fall asleep. She knew that tomorrow would be a long, exhausting day, yet sleep refused to come, and she couldn't get the image of the look on Elena's face out of her mine. She had hardly spoken a word since they told her; she had asked a few questions, but Addison knew that it was only to appease her. So instead of sleeping, she lay motionless in her bed, eyes fixed on the ceiling as she listened to the rain against her window.

A while later—although she didn't know exactly how much time had actually passed—she thought she heard footsteps going down the stairs followed by an opening door. There was the chance that it was only her imagination or a trick of the rain, but she decided to make sure. One rule of being a surgeon was that it was better to be safe than sorry, although very few of the surgeons she knew applied this to their own lives.

Slowly, she opened the front door; at first, she saw nothing but torrents of water falling in frenzied disarray. A moment later, however, she was able to distinguish the small, delicate outline of her daughter, her dark curls blending in perfectly with the night and completely soaked in the rain.

"Elle, what are you doing out here? Come back inside before you get sick again," Addison called from the doorway, but Elena stood still as a statue.

Finally, Addison gave in and abandoned her warm, dry place inside to go after Elena. In only a moment, she was drenched from head to toe, yet the cool rain was surprisingly refreshing. "Elle, what are you doing?" she asked again.

This time, Elena looked up at her mother. Although the rain had managed to wash away all the tears, it was painfully apparent that she had been crying only moments before.

"Oh, Sweetheart," she whispered, but she had no idea what to say to the little girl who was trying so desperately to be brave.

"I think I'm finally going to start painting. I want to paint a picture of the rain. Can we stay out here for just a little while longer, Mommy?" she requested in a tiny, exhausted voice that was painfully not like her own.

"Of course we can."

Elena managed a half-smile and wordlessly took her mother by the hand. Had there been any passers-by to witness the scene, they certainly would have found it a strange sight. But to Addison and Elena, the chaos of the pouring rain around them seemed to make more sense than the chaos that had so suddenly filled their lives.