As promised…another update! Enjoy and review if you find the time!

"Excuse me? Do you know where I might find Derek Shepherd?" Michael approached the nurses' station, setting his jacket down and leaning on it.

"He's in surgery. Are you a patient?"

"No. I'm his brother-in-law." Michael said, throwing the young nurse a charming smile.

"Just wanted to take him to a late lunch. I'm in town visiting my sister."

"That's nice of you. Dr. Montgomery's great." She smiled back flirtatiously. They continued talking about irrelevant stuff. Michael could tell he was wearing her down.

"You know, come to think of it, his surgery is probably over. Why don't I page him for you?"

"That would be great, Liz, thank you." Liz smiled back shyly and picked up the phone. They continued talking until Derek made his way to the lobby. Scanning the room, he quickly saw Michael laying it on thick with the new nurse. He walked over cautiously, with no idea in mind as to why Michael came back, aside from busting his chops.

"Michael! I didn't expect to see you back here so soon." Derek feigned joy.

"As I informed Liz before, I thought it would be nice for us to go to a late lunch and catch up; man to man." Derek could see the wheels churning in Michael's head. He had a plan, something he wanted to tell Derek, but wasn't about to just blurt it out. Derek thought it best to play along.

"How kind of you. Lunch sounds great. Thanks Liz." Derek threw on his own McDreamy smile. "Shall we?"

"Sure. It was nice to meet you Liz." Michael pushed of the desk to walk with Derek.

"Same here." She called after them. Both men walked in silence to the cafeteria, grabbed their coffees, and made their way back to Derek's office. The privacy seemed necessary.

Derek led Michael into his office, shutting the door behind them. He motioned for Michael to take one of the two available chairs facing the desk, but Michael just wondered around the room, staring at the plaques and such. Derek shook it off and settled into his own seat. He was unexcited for the conversation to come, to say the least.

Derek sipped his coffee, watching Michael methodically cover the room. Since his intention was unclear, Derek felt awkward starting. Thankfully, Michael took it upon himself to break the silence.

"Very impressive, Derek."
"You've seen those all before Michael. Addison and I went to the same school."

"I know. I'm proud of her too." Michael held back eye contact, and continued to survey the office. "So, it's been awhile."

"How do you mean?" Derek asked curiously.

"It's been awhile since we've seen each other."

"I suppose, yes."

"We saw each other at Thanksgiving two years back, but only for a moment before you skipped out on us for a patient." Derek grimaced at the memory, but did his best to shake it off. He remembered the day clearly: Addison had begged him to come for weeks. At that point, he was severely absent from her life. When that page came, he couldn't have bailed faster.

"Downfall of being a doctor." Derek attempted to keep face.

"Whatever you say." Michael smiled quickly, and Derek sheepishly reciprocated. Michael made his way closer to the desk, picking up the sole picture on the desk of Derek and Addison. Apparently visitors' of Derek's liked that picture a lot.

"That's from our house in the Hamptons." Derek felt it good to break yet another awkward silence.

"I recognized it. Addison looks beautiful."

"She always does."

"And very happy. Must have been before you decided to break her heart." Michael placed the photo down and stared Derek in the eyes for the first time since entering the office. Derek's smile was instantly wiped from his face, and got replaced by anger.

"So I see we are throwing politeness out the window."

"Who were we kidding anyway? Derek, you and I have never really gotten along. We pretend to for Addie's sake, but she's not here and as her brother, there's a lot I need to say to you." Michael took in a deep breath to gather his thoughts. Derek sat back, preparing himself for what was to come.

"I love my sister very much. She's a special person, a good person. She's sweet, sympathetic, caring, and beautiful. Any guy would be honored to have her. And she knows that. The thing that separates Addie from most women is that she is self-sufficient and does not settle for anything less than she deserves. Do you agree?"

"Yes."

"I thought so. So then that begs the question as to why she finds herself so infatuated with you. The two of you marry, and you ignore her and break her heart. She then proceeds to follow you out here and does everything except physically beg you for forgiveness for her mistake, and still you ignore her. Finally, after about all the abuse she can handle, she gets back the dignity she's always had and leave your sorry ass behind."

"Do you have a point Michael? Because if you hadn't noticed, this is my life you're talking about. I was there. I know my mistakes and how dumb I was to do that to your sister. I apologized for my errors, as did she." Derek proclaimed smugly.

"Even after everything you've done, and all the pain you've put her through, she's still in love with you. I saw it in her eyes after you kissed her today."

"Not to be cliché and I know you don't want to believe this, but we are in love. We have been since we met. We hit some bumps along the way, but now we are happy again." Derek again smugly responded to Michael.

"I'm going to chose to ignore your unhealthy level of smugness and get to my point. When Addie has her mind, and more importantly her heart, set on something, there is no talking her out of it. She clearly has decided to love you, so my only option is to speak to you about my concerns."

"I'm listening." Derek studied Michael, trying to figure out where he was going with his insinuation.

"Apparently you will be a part of our lives for a very long time. I can accept that. But what I will not stand for is you hurting my little sister, in any way, one more time." Michael was firm.

"Look Michael, I'm giving you my word that I love your sister with all my heart, and never again will I let her feel neglected." The sincerity in Derek's voice was evident as he answered.

"As much as it even shocks me, I believe you. I was more alluding to her physical condition. Addison was in a serious car accident only seven days ago. She's healing well, but I know she's pushing herself to get out of here. It's her nature. Once she leaves this hospital, she will actually be putting her life in your hands."

"I know that." Derek answered seriously. "I plan on taking very good care of her, as always."

"I realize that. After all, you are a doctor. I'd hope that you would be able to watch out for her. I'm just here to make sure that you are very, very careful. Emotionally, I trust she'll be fine. Physically, she's weakened. There are stitches on her face and bruises all over her body from that asshole Sloan. She's strong, but even her shoulder can't take too much; clearly she's favoring her right side. It is your job to nurse her back to health."

"Okay, Michael, I got it. She'll be well taken care of."

"Good. And while I don't enjoy thinking about my sister in that way, obviously you two are intimate. Addison's a loving person and will clearly be eager to spend that sort of time with you. Just do your best to hold off, will you?"

"Are you giving me advice on my sex life with your sister?" Derek asked shocked.

"Just asking you to put her needs before your own and keep her comfortable."

"Point taken, Michael. Thank you."

"I'll see you Wednesday, Derek."

"Sure." Derek watched Michael leave the room. He grabbed the picture of him and Addison from his desk and held it in his hands. She was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. She always had a spirit about her; life practically flowed through her. Seeing her in the hospital, all bloodied and broken, made his heart break. She wasn't the same strong Addie right now, as much as he wanted her to be. Michael, in his entire brotherly honor, had a point. It was his job to physically and emotionally care for her, give her everything she needed. Even if it meant holding off his own wants.

Addison's Apartment

6:00 p.m.

"Home sweet home." Derek opened the door to Addison's apartment, pushing it all the way open so that she could go through. Richard let Derek go early to bring her home and keep her company.

"God, I missed this place. Anymore time in the hospital and I was going to shoot someone."

"I bet." Derek struggled to speak as he attempted to pick up all of her mail from the past eight days. Addison turned to see him struggling and started laughing.

"Would you like some help?" She managed to say in between laughs.

"No, I'm fine."

"How about the common sense to take it in two trips since you have the papers from the week in the other hand?"

"I've missed your sarcasm, really I have." Derek replied with equal sarcasm.

"Men: you're always so freaking stubborn. Why is that you think?"

"I don't know." Derek said with accomplishment, throwing everything in his hands on to her kitchen's island. "Proves our manhood."

"Does it really?" Addison said seductively as she moved closer to him. "You know, I have another way in mind of how you could do that. Might be a little more fun." Addison began to run her hands up and down Derek's chest.

"What did you have in mind?" Derek played along. He wanted to be cognizant of her injuries, but he just needed her so badly; eight days without being free to kiss and touch her was torture. He would just have to stay in control and stop it before it went too far.

As Addison leaned up to capture his lips in a kiss, all his reasoning went out the window. With her good arm, she ran her fingers through his hair, resting them on his neck to pull him closer. He brought his hands to her waist as relished the feeling of having her back with him and pulled her as close as possible. He got so lost in his bliss that he didn't notice the struggle Addison was having in trying to undo the buttons on his shirt until she stopped kissing him completely to focus. Seeing her frustration, he couldn't help but smile.

"You know you're extremely cute when you're frustrated." Derek said, his hands still resting on her waist.

"I'm glad you think so." She replied sarcastically.

"Would you like some help?"

"No. I can do it." Addison said with determination.

"And you were calling me stubborn?"

"It's different with you. You're always stubborn." Derek looked at her incredulously, to which she just shook him off. "There; all done." Addison said with her own sense of accomplishment.

"Impressive. One handed and all."

"Yeah, well I am a surgeon. I'm very skilled with my hands." Addison brought her hand to Derek's waist, running her fingers all around under the waistband of his jeans. She knew it drove him wild. He knew where she was going, and had to do something before that happened.

"Hand, actually. The other one is in a sling." He said, taking it from his waist and joining it with his own.

"Your point?"

"My point is that you just got released from the hospital today. Your other arm is in a sling. As much as I've missed you and would like nothing better than to start making up for lost time this last week, we can't with you still hurt."

"Derek, I'm fine! Richard was just being overprotective. I can take my arm out and still be okay." Addison went to pull her arm out of her sling and prove herself, but Derek instinctively put his hands on it to hold it in place.

"Not so fast. Richard actually threatened to fire me if I don't make your stubborn butt keep that on until at least Wednesday."

"But he's not here."

"It's Richard…he knows things. And besides, you need your shoulder to heal properly if you want to get back to work." Derek was praying his reasoning would work, because if she started touching him again, his restraint was going out the window.

"Okay, you win. No sex for you." Addison said, pulling away harshly and getting herself a glass for some water.

"Thank you." Derek stood, contemplating her last sentence. "How is that a victory again?"

"Oh it's not." Addison said, sipping her water. Derek frowned, wanting so badly to throw her against the refrigerator and have his way with her. "But you are right. That should support your manhood for now." She said with a smile, placing the glass in the sink.

"I appreciate that, thank you." He said smiling back at her. "You hungry?"

"Starved actually."

"Stay in or go out?"

"As long as you don't mind a date in a sling, I'd like to go out. I've been "in" too much lately. Plus hospital food is as bad as the cliché says."

"Are you kidding? I'd take you out if you were wearing a garbage bag. You're still the most beautiful woman ever." Derek brought a hand to cup her cheek and kissed her softly.

"Keep up that talk and you might have gotten some tonight…" She pulled back from him and sauntered off to change for dinner. He watched her go and kicked himself for pushing her away. For now, he had her shoulder as an excuse. Pretty soon, she'd be out of the sling and he was going to have to get creative. Considering how much he wanted her, not a lot of ideas were coming to mind.

Three Days Later

9:00 a.m.

"Addison, come on your going to be late for your ortho appointment." Derek shouted from the kitchen as he poured her coffee.

"Remind me again why I have to go to this? I'm fine!" She shouted back to him.

"You can be fine all you want, but until Richard gives you the okay, you'll be stuck at home. He just wants a check-up on your shoulder."

"Derek, you've seen me moving around just fine! I don't feel like going to the hospital and just coming home. I want to go back to work today." She shouted from the bedroom. Tired of shouting, Derek moved towards the bedroom and leaned against the door frame, folding his arms across his chest.

"But I'm not Richard. Just go in, show him your stuff, make him satisfied, and then you'll be able to spend your days saving babies and whatever else it is you do up there all day." Addison stuck her head out the bathroom door and looked at Derek.

"Excuse me? Whatever else I do up there? We've been together for like fifteen years and you don't know what I do up there?" Addison was now leaning against the doorframe of her bathroom.

"Oh, I do. It's just a lot of fun to see you squirm." He smiled at her as he pushed himself of the wall to move towards her. He loved pushing her buttons; their faux fighting was an important element of their relationship. It started with their competitiveness as interns, and has only grown since.

"Really? Did you enjoy the show?

"Yes, I very much did."

"Good." Addison leaned into kiss Derek on the cheek. "Now, it's only fair that I return the favor." Addison kissed him again, this time on the lips. She stayed their momentarily, drawing him closer to the bed. He sat down first. Addison was straddling him soon after.

Pulling back from his lips, she moved her own down his face to her favorite spot behind his ear. Derek's grip on her waist tightened as she got closer and closer with each kiss. He loved when she did this to him, but never lasted very long because it felt so good. And since he was still trying his best to restrain himself, he needed to stop her before she actually got there.

"Addie…" Derek whispered, trying to maintain his composure. "Addison…" Addie barely flinched, just kept doing what she was doing. "You know we have to go soon right?" He managed to spit out before her lips were on his again to silence him. Unrelenting, she continued to tease him with her mouth and keep his attention on her instead of the time. When he pulled back again, she gave up.

"Derek, what is with you?"

"What? Richard and Callie are expecting us. I don't want to be late."

"You're right." Addison hoisted herself off the bed, visibly pissed off.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Derek asked, standing up.

"Nothing, I'm fine. We should go."

"You're mad." Derek stepped in front of her to stop her from moving forward.

"Yes, I am." She said bluntly, staring him straight in the eyes.

"Okay, then talk to me."

"Not now. We're going to be late, remember?" Addison said bitterly as she moved around Derek to leave. Derek stayed in the bedroom for a minute after, hoping to give her a little time to cool down. This was not how he had wanted to start his day, and with dinner with her parents tonight, it was only going downhill.

Don't worry! She can't stay mad for too long. Next chapter should see a nice rebound. Review this one and I'll write as quickly as I can!