Thank you all, and keep reviewing!

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to my parents and my grandfather.

And to all their fellow surgeons around the world.

Chapter Four – How to Save a Life

Addison watched in pain as Blair's hair was cut by a sharp pair of scissors. Her large and long waves hit the floor and didn't bounce – they just lay there, staring at her, like a past to which she was about to wave goodbye. Blair didn't have a single tear coming out of her big greenish blue eyes.

"You're been very strong." She read Addison's lips. But, to Blair, there was nothing to be strong about. In a few hours, she was gonna be a normal pregnant woman, expecting beautiful and most importantly healthy twin girls. Addison went into the room to give her support.

"So, how are you doing?" She asked, giving Blair her best smile.

"I'm good. It's kind of weird, really. One moment I found out I was pregnant and I was so happy." Blair smiled, staring at the nothingness through the window. "No husband, you know? No nothing. It's just me and my girls. Emma and Juliette." Blair turned to Addison, smiling. "You know I'd picked out their names already? Even before I found out I was having twins? I figured, if I only have one baby, then I'll choose. But, for now, I have two names." Addison felt her lifelong desire to be a mother being set on fire inside her heart.

"And when I found out I had the aneurysm, I was just afraid it would burst during labor. But, what really killed me was finding out my babies were sick too." She took a deep breath. Addison had tears in her eyes. "It's actually kind of beautiful. My girls shared their blood. The most intimate pieces of themselves. Do you think they're gonna be close once they're born?"

"I'm sure they will!" She responded, trying to hide the tears. "Now, I gotta start preparing for your surgery, okay, Blair? Don't worry about anything." Addison left.

"Dr. Shepherd?" Blair yelled.

"Yes?"

"Dr. Lennon told me there were only eight doctors in the world that can perform this surgery."

"She is right."

"Thanks for being one of them."

O.R. 2

Derek was the first one to go into the O.R. As a surgeon, he had seen it all, but looking at such a young girl with so many wires connected to her body, he still felt a slight pain in his heart. Addison scrubbed in, staring at him through the glass and trying to give him her most confident look.

Derek stood in front of Blair's naked scalp, with his mask, scrub cap, gloves and surgical light on. He was ready to save some lives. With his hands standing firm, he grabbed the scalpel and started cutting into her fair skin. She could see the shiny red blood leaking from his cut and spreading through her head. He felt the hardness of the skull in thick friction with the tip of his scalpel, while he cut through skin and muscle. He then grabbed the bone saw and turned it on, causing a loud noise that made Addison shiver at scrub room, just waiting for her time to swoop in.

Derek put the spinning blade of the saw in contact with her now exposed skull. While bone dust came out, blurring his vision, he could feel the bone loosening and the top of her skull was coming out like a giant lid to a box where anything can happen. He kept on moving the bone saw slowly, completing the circumference of her head. When he finished, a large chunk of bone fell into his hands. He was at the dura mater. He pressed the saw further in, always careful, because as a neurosurgeon, he knew what came next.

Brain.

Seeing that amazing mass of neurons connecting together in such a particular way always made him fascinated and teary. He gave Addison the sign to come in.

Addison burst the door open with her back, holding up her hands, already covered by sterile gloves. Standing three feet away from Derek, on Blair's right side, Addison picked up both laparoscopes and positioned them on top of the patient's uterus, the only part of her abdomen that wasn't skilfully draped by the surgical interns. The tips of the scopes were pressing into Blair's skin, just waiting to break in. She looked at Derek. He nodded. They were ready to roll.

Addison pierced Blair's skin mercilessly, staring at the monitor and waiting to see the familiar image of a woman's uterus appearing. She felt a rush of adrenaline when seeing layers of skin, fat and muscle being ripped apart by the scope. She saw the uterus on the screen and watched as the two babies moved subtly, without struggling against each other's heart. Addison then realized Blair was right. These two girls will be the closest sisters can be when they're born. TTTS babies are usually agitated, moving around swiftly, trying to get away from each other's net of vessels wrapping them together. But Juliette and Emma were just there. Enjoying the ride.

Meanwhile, Derek's agile neuroscope poked around Blair's brain, looking for the little bastard. All her vessels seemed perfectly healthy, and they reflected the advantage of being a perfectly healthy 33 year old woman. He started to think the doctors may be wrong about this. Maybe she didn't have an aneurism after all.

But, suddenly, endless amounts of blood started pouring out of her brain. Derek's vision was completely compromised. He started suction, but still, it was too much blood. The aneurism had burst.

Addison saw what was happening and stepped away from the laparoscope, holding it still, feeling it hanging on Blair's amniotic fluid. If she made the slightest move, she would burst the babies' fragile vessels and ruin everything. She could see Derek's desperate face, and she fought the shivers that came all over her body while her heart pounded, insane.

Derek could finally see the broken aneurysm. He picked up a vein and started making up a bypass. His moves were slow and precise, but, he couldn't help but constantly think about what he'd done. He'd burst a patient's aneurysm. That was making him very nervous. He decided not to leave that O.R. until he made sure the patient wasn't brain damaged.

Addison couldn't move. It wasn't because it was dangerous, and it wasn't because she didn't want to. Her muscles were literally paralyzed. Her eyes were glued to the babies' monitor, watching every glitch in the heart rate, every change in the O2 saturations. Her hands couldn't move the scopes, touching the brittle walls of an unborn child's aorta.

Derek carefully micro sutured the veins together, creating a brain bypass. His movements were now microscopically precise. But, all of a sudden, a huge beeping noise took over the room. The babies' heart rate had gone dangerously low.

Addison woke up. Her hands became skilful tools that moved rapidly to fix the problem. The scope travelled freely through Blair's uterus, cutting the twins vessels exactly where they needed to be cut. The babies' heart rate climbed up to the 120s. All was well.

One hour later, still in O.R. 2

"She's waking up." Addison poked Derek with the tip of her fingers, talking stuffily from behind her mask. "Derek, she's waking up." They both looked straight into Blair's face, waiting for her eyes to open completely.

"What…" Blair outlined a word. "What happened?" When she completed a sentence, Derek realized how good of a job he and Addison had done. A bright smile took over his face and he ripped his mask off.

"What happened is that this amazing doctor here," he wrapped his arm around Addison's shoulder "just saved your babies' life." Addison could feel the tears climbing up to her eyes and fought against them.

"And this guy," She said, hugging him back. "Just saved your life."

"And, now, we're gonna let you rest in your own room, okay?" Derek asked. "Nurse!"

When the nurse came in to take Blair away, she looked at both of them and mouthed the two words they wanted to hear.

"Thank… You."

When she completely left the room, Addison and Derek ran to the scrub room. Derek looked into Addison's eyes and noticed that they had tears running from them. He peeled off his gloves and touched her face with the tip of his fingers.

"Don't cry." He said, in a low, smoky voice.

"I'm not crying." She said, walking backwards and throwing her gloves in the garbage. He walked towards her.

"Yes, you are." He pressed her back against the scrub room wall and wrapped his hands around Addison's waist. Addison felt her heart beating faster by the second. "And I don't ever wanna see you cry."

Derek's blue eyes were looking at her with amazing passion. She stared at them, trying to picture that moment and leave it in her memory forever. She had to have a piece of Derek with her always and she had to find a way to be with him at all times. She wrapped her hands around his neck, as if trying to pull him closer and never let him go. Derek leaned in. They both knew what would happen next.

Derek ripped the mask off Addison's face and kissed her lips fiercely. She hugged his neck with all her strength, and wrapped her leg around his, feeling his radiating heat spread through her whole body. He pressed his eyes shut, praying to never wake up from that dream. All of a sudden, he felt so stupid for letting her go. Even more suddenly, he found himself wishing he could take everything back.

Her fingertips gently caressed his hair and made him get shivers all over his spine. Derek's warm hands were holding Addison's back that now, instead of pressing against the wall, was relaxed, falling into Derek's arms. Releasing herself completely for him.

That kiss was long and passionate, starved and tender. Every feeling everyone's ever felt was poured into that kiss, and for them, there was nothing else happening in the world.

Derek finally let her go, feeling her fall into his arms, burying her face in his shoulders. Her warm tears wet his scrubs and her red soft hair released an arousing scent, which made him dizzy.

"I will always be with you." Derek whispered in her ear, running his fingers through her hair and inhaling deeply. Addison couldn't speak.

"Derek."