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Chapter 9 – Love Dealer

"You think I should go after him?" Addison took a sip of her glass of Scotch. Amelia still had tears in her eyes.

"I don't even think he's in L.A." She wiped her face with the back of her hand. "Seeing me was too much of a shock for him."

"No, Derek is not like that." Addison brought her knees to her chest, curling up on the couch. "Derek is not the kind that just flees out like that." All of a sudden, the phone started ringing.

"You're not gonna answer that?" Amelia pointed at the phone.

"It can probably wait." Addison answered, letting her head fall backwards, to the back of the couch. The answering machine picked it up.

"Dr. Montgomery?" The speaker said out loud. "This is from St. Ambrose Hospital."

"What the hell?" She whispered, right before hearing his next sentence.

"It's about your patient, a Carly Evans?"

All of a sudden, Addison leaped across the room and threw herself at the phone. "What happened?"

On the other side of the phone, the news about her patient made Addison shiver. "Mrs. Evans has had a few problems. She has presented with severe burns."

"Why? How did this happen? "

"Her husband said that she was making fries with a pan full of boiling oil. Apparently, everything was normal until she had a nervous breakdown and suddenly, not recognized her husband anymore. "

"Oh." Addison knew exactly what happened.

"They got into a physical fight and she accidentally spilled boiling oil onto herself."

"Oh, my God."

"Her chest is severely disfigured and we don't know if the baby is alive."

"I'll be over in five minutes." Addison hung up the phone, mortified.

"What happened, Addie?" Amelia asked.

"My Multiple Personalities' patient, Carly Evans. She had a breakdown."

"Oh my God!"

"Yes, she burned herself with boiling oil."

"Do you want me to go over there with you?"

"Sure, let's go!"

St. Ambrose Hospital

"Dammit, Addison Montgomery, what the hell took y'all so long?" A blond woman with a southern accent pulled Addison by the arm.

"That bad, huh?" Amelia asked, peeking over Addison's shoulder.

"Who is this now?" Charlotte pointed at Amelia.

"Oh, I'm sorry, I'm Amelia Shepherd."

"Shepherd?" Charlotte asked, shaking Amelia's hand. She turned to Addison. "Don't I know someone with the last name Shepherd?"

"No, you don't, let's see my patient!" Addison pushed Charlotte and Amelia towards the ER. Charlotte opened up the drapes, revealing a horrific image.

Carly Evans was lying down on the hospital bed, her face taken by a morbid tone of scarlet, tears flowing involuntarily from her eyes. Nurses carefully wiped the black dust from her arms, while Carly screamed in pain. The burns started on her shoulders. Her fair skin had been burned to the point of leaving nothing but raw tissue, pulsating with blood. She was wired up to a monitor that showed her rapid heart rate. Addison could almost see the blood passing through, heavily. Painfully.

Her black lace bra had turned into ashes, and her stomach was completely absent of healthy skin. Addison couldn't help but look at her slightly prominent uterus, wondering if her baby was able to survive such a serious accident. She leaned over and talked to her.

"Carly, it's Dr. Montgomery. You're okay now."

"Dr. Montgomery!" She moaned. "Why are you calling me Carly? Why is everybody calling me Carly? I'm Elizabeth! I'm a 25-year-old Med Student; I'm from Dayton, Ohio! I'm single!"

"Okay, Elizabeth, I'm sorry. I know who you are, now, let's make sure we get you better, okay?"

Addison walked away from the patient, very slowly. Her face had a worried look.

"So, what's the prognosis?" Amelia asked.

"Very tough one." Addison said. "3rd to 4th degree burns in 30% of the body."

"Pretty much a gonner, huh? I kinda already knew when I called you-"

"She can be saved." Addison interrupted.

"Montgomery, she'll need multiple skin grafts-"

"I know."

"We might even save her, but the baby-"

"No. We can save them both."

"She's gonna need an amazing plastic surgeon." Amelia started. "More than that, Addie. She's gonna need-"

"Mark Sloan."

"You wanna call Mark Sloan? Here?"

"Yes. That's our only hope!"

"Who is Mark Sloan?" Charlotte asked.

"He's a plastic surgeon I know from Seattle."

"Addie slept with him." Amelia giggled.

"Shut up, Amelia! He's our only hope, Charlotte." Addison looked at her patient, lying on the hospital bed on excruciating pain. "He's Carly's only hope."

"Then what are you waiting for? Call the man already!" Charlotte said, walking away.

"Addie, do you really think Mark is the person to call here? With my brother here and all?"

"Amelia, this is not about me or Derek! This is about the patient!"

"Still! Derek is a man child, Addison! He'll see Mark here and he'll freak out!"

"Amelia, I need to do this." They both looked at the bed. Charlotte was standing beside the patient, caressing her hair slowly, trying to calm her down. She was still crying. "I need to do this for her."

Amelia hesitated. "Okay, then! Call Mark!"

8 HOURS LATER

"Hey, Elizabeth." Addison walked into her patient's room smiling. She had her whole skin covered up by gauze, and her face, though not crying and screaming anymore, wasn't relaxed.

"Hey, Dr. Montgomery." She said, in a weak voice, like the words slipped out of her lips in pain.

"I have excellent news. I have brought you someone who can fix you and keep your baby alive."

"No, Dr. Montgomery, that's not what I want!" She all of a sudden found strength to speak. "I wanna abort this baby before it's too late!"

Addison didn't know what to do. She knew Elizabeth's alter ego still wanted that child. She, for the first time in her life, made up an excuse. "We can't perform an abortion on you like this. You have to let this doctor fix your skin first, okay?"

"Who is he?" Addison's face lit up in a huge smile. She opened up the door.

Mark Sloan walked in, and everything else turned black and white. He had a smile on his perfect face that Addison already associated with good times. His defined arm and abdominal muscles had just the perfect shape that made her fly right off the ground. But his grey eyes offered her comfort, as if hugging her in thought and never letting her go. His slow, gentle walk, created and air gush that hit Addison in the face inebriating her, making her feel like no matter what she did right now, it would be okay.

"Now I understand why I cheated." Addison thought, silently.

"Hello, Elizabeth." He said, in a deep, smoky voice that made the patient shiver. "I'm doctor Mark Sloan."

"He's a plastic surgeon." Addison walked closed to them. "He's a great plastic surgeon."

"C'mon, Addie." He laughed softly, making Addison's nerves climb up to the epidermis. "You're a double board certified neonatal surgeon, and I'm just 'a great plastic surgeon'?"

"Okay, he is the best plastic surgeon I've ever met!"

"That's more like it." He kissed Addison on the forehead, and she smiled involuntarily. "Now, let's take a look at you." Mark started gently unwrapping her bandages to look at her skin. "Oh, you're a tough one, aren't you? You'll need skin grafts."

Elizabeth looked sad.

"Hey, don't worry, I can do it! I'll tell you what, I bet a glass of brandy that you will walk out of here sooner than you think." Elizabeth smiled.

"And this is a man who is very serious about his brandy." Addie whispered.

"We should let Elizabeth rest for a while before the surgery. Would you care to join me outside, Addie?"

"So, you can really save her, huh?"

"Addie, I've been your friend for over twenty years, and you haven't given me a hug since I got here."

"Oh, I'm so sorry, Mark!" Addison threw herself onto Mark's body. "I'm so happy to see you." He held her closer to his body than she ever was, missing that woman with every cell of his being.

"Now, this is just perfect." A familiar voice spoke, breaking their moment.

"Oh, my God." Mark said. "This is not what you think."

Addison was speechless. The only word she could say was the name of the man standing in front of them, with an angry, confused look on his face.

"Derek."