"What are you doing here, Aden?" Derek found himself asking again as he closed the door behind them. He had led her down the hall to the Chief of Surgery's office; he knew Richard wouldn't mind him borrowing the space for a few minutes. Derek was shocked; he barely recognized the girl in front of him. It wasn't that she looked different but this was the first time in well over a year he was laying eyes on her. Hell, he hadn't even talked to her in… god, he couldn't remember the last time. It was long before he left New York, of that he knew. And, he'd been in Seattle now for four months, moving here at the end of May. Had it really been that long since he said even two words to her?
He'd been in contact with her school; they sent him tuition bills on a monthly basis along with her latest test scores. She did well in school; she took advanced courses and had straight A's yet again. Her brains might have been the only thing Aden had ever got from her parents. That and her father's hair and her mother's eyes. They weren't close; it never seemed to bother Aden that they didn't talk for months at a time. Even when things were going well between him and Addison and they'd been living in the Brownstone in New York Aden never came home. She preferred school, even on long weekends, and that was just fine for Derek and Addison. It wasn't like they were ever home anyway.
Yet, here she was. In Seattle. In the middle of the afternoon on a school day. How the hell did she get here and why?
"Aden?" he asked again, frustrated, as she settled onto the couch.
"I take it Addison didn't call you?" she said, then muttered, "Figured she wouldn't."
"Your… your mother knew you were coming?" Derek stammered, sitting in Richard's chair facing her.
"Addison," she stressed, "knew I was coming, yes. She's the one that put me on the plane."
Derek was pissed. Who the hell did Addison think she was? Sending their daughter to Seattle without telling him. If things weren't bad enough between them, this just added more fuel to the fire. He'd be giving in and calling her tonight for the first time since he left New York to tell her everything he'd wanted to say since the night he caught her in bed with his best friend.
"Why? Aren't you supposed to be—?"
"I'm on a break from school," she interrupted.
A knock on the door prevented Derek from questioning her further. Richard Webber opened the door and entered his office.
"Dr. Webber!" Aden's face lit up when she saw him.
"Hello, Aden," he returned. "How are you?"
She shrugged. "Alright. You? Haven't seen you in awhile."
He nodded. "I'm good. Busy."
'Of course you are. You're just like Derek.' Aden turned her attention back to the man who was her father by name and genetics, nothing else. When neither of them said anything for a few minutes, Richard spoke up.
"I think there's some damage control you need to take of," he said to Derek.
Taking his eyes off of Aden, Derek replied, "Shit! Meredith." He stood up and looked at Richard. It had only been three weeks ago when Addison showed up and broke the news to Meredith that she was sleeping with a married man. Addison had left only two days later, but damage had already been done; the entire surgical staff knew about Derek's inappropriate relationship with the intern. Now, Meredith was pissed at him and had barely spoken to him since. Here was one more thing that she'd found out about accidentally. There was going to be hell to pay.
A few minutes later, Aden watched as Derek led Meredith by the arm down the hall. Meredith was clearly pissed, if not shocked. When they reached the end of the hall they turned the corner. Aden turned around to see Alex and the other interns staring at her from a few feet away.
"Guess none of you knew about me," she suggested. When they didn't respond she continued. "That's no surprise; my parents like to pretend I don't exist." She said it with a smile, but Alex could see the pain behind it.
"Stevens! Yang! O'Malley! Karev!" The voice came from the down hall. As the woman got closer, Aden saw on her white coat that she was Dr. Miranda Bailey. 'Wow, what she lacks in height she sure makes up for in attitude' Aden thought as the interns seemed to shrink in fear as the woman got closer. "What are standing around for? You've got work to do!" Dr. Bailey yelled. "Yang, O'Malley, in the pit! Stevens, Karev go check on Mr. Johnson!" Three of the four interns scattered as Dr. Bailey proceeded down the hall.
"Aden," Alex said, stepping towards her. Her eyes were laced with pain, yet no one but him seemed to notice. What was it about this girl that had captured his attention the moment he spotted her on that elevator only a few hours ago? Something about her called out to him. She turned to face him.
"Karev!" This time Dr. Bailey's voice was louder. "Mr. Johnson. Now!"
"Sounds like you better go," Aden said.
"Yeah," Alex agreed. "Guess I better." Aden turned to walk away. "Aden, I'll just talk to you later, okay?"
"Sure. See ya, Alex."