A House is not a Home
A/N: Wow thanks for the reviews. I've never gotten so many for just one chapter. I even snagged a beta! Thank you Idle Hands for the tremendous help.
Sorry it took so long to update. New semester just began and I got tons of work.
Chapter 2
Derek wandered around trying to organize his thoughts. He had a surgery coming up in half an hour and he wouldn't be able to operate if he couldn't clear his head. One thing he knew for sure. He still cared about Addison, he wasn't still in love with her but he still cared. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts he didn't see Meredith coming his way and smacked right into her.
"Whoa, Derek watch where you're going." Meredith looked up, "Hey, are you okay? You look drained."
"Yeah, I'm fine. I just haven't had any coffee yet."
"Oh, alright." Meredith said not entirely convinced, "Are you sure nothing's bothering you?"
Derek gave a weak smile, "No of course not. I'm going to get a cup of coffee. You want anything?"
Meredith shook her head, "No thanks. I'm scrubbing in on your surgery right?" Derek nodded. "Okay see you later."
- - -
"Miranda do you have a free intern? I have a few surgeries today and I need an extra hand."
"I'm sure you can get Dr. Karev. He's covering the pit. I'm sure he wouldn't mind scrubbing in."
Addison really hated alcohol right now. It made her do stupid things. She didn't want to avoid Alex. To be honest she liked him. He was a good guy. Most of the time he was actually kind of fun to be around. But after last night… to say that things would be awkward would be the understatement of the century.
Addison's plan for the next few weeks had been to avoid Alex like the plague but Bailey had inadvertently made that a lot harder.
"Thanks Miranda. I'll look for him there." She briefly considered working without an intern. Granted it would keep her at the hospital all night, but it had the advantage of allowing her to avoid Karev. Or she could just act like a professional and work with Alex, thus lessening her workload and saving him from a boring day in the pit.
After all, Alex was a talented surgeon and he was being wasted suturing people up. Addison watched as Alex carefully stitched up a guy's face.
- - -
"There's doctor staring at you." The guy Alex was working on stated. "She's hot."
"Try not to move," Alex continued to suture. "Is she a red head?"
"A very hot red head."
Alex chuckled as he finished up the last stitch. "I'm done here. You just have to sign some papers and you'll be out of here."
"Thanks man. And good luck with the hottie." Alex looked for Addison. Their eyes met for a brief second before Addison quickly looked down at some charts. Alex approached Addison and leaned forward leaving barely three inches between them.
"Looking for me?" He whispered into ear, sending a shiver down her spine.
Addison turned around and met him face to face. "Dr. Karev. I need you to scrub in on surgery I have in an hour," she breathed.
Alex took a few steps back. "Sure Dr. Montgomery."
"Oh and before I forget I need you to get some labs on my patient Dinah Lord. I'm going to go prep her for surgery." Addison said as calmly as she could while pretending that the moment they had just shared hadn't happen.
- - -
Usually after a successful surgery Derek would feel great. Today, however, was different. His thoughts kept drifting back to Addison and Alex. There was no doubt something happened between them. He had to do something or he'd go crazy. He needed to vent.
Alex was at the nurse's station getting some papers when Derek spotted him. "Dr. Karev. I need to speak with you. In private." Alex said nothing as he followed the older doctor into the locker room.
"Stay away from her." Derek said bluntly.
"Who? Addison? I can't do that Dr. Shepherd. I'm scrubbing in on one of her surgeries today."
"You know what I mean. She's sad and vulnerable. Don't you dare take advantage of her."
Alex snorted. "How would you know how she feels? Addison's a grown woman and I'm pretty sure she doesn't need her ex-husband looking after her when he has a girlfriend he should be paying attention to. Plus what makes you think there's something going on between us?"
"Trust me I know. Addison's a great person and you… you're like a mini version of Mark. She doesn't need another guy like him."
"I'm nothing like Sloan. You don't know me and you have no right to say who's allowed to be with Addison. You're not her husband, not anymore."
"That may be true but no document can get rid of the fact that I still care about her."
"Oh really? It didn't seem like you were too considerate of her feelings when you had sex with another woman on prom night, with Addison in the same building."
Anger pulsed through Derek's veins. He clenched his fist and threw a punch right into the side of Alex's face.
"You had that coming for a long time Karev," he snarled.
Alex knew what trouble he was going to be in when he did what he was about to do, but Derek had it coming too.
Alex quickly recovered, "Is that all you've got? That was a really sissy punch," he taunted. Alex didn't know why he was doing this. Maybe he wanted Derek to get what he deserved. He'd hurt Addison, and it was pretty easy to see that she was still hurting.
That got Derek fuming and he threw another punch. Exactly what Alex wanted, and excuse for hitting back, or 'defending'. Alex dodged the punch which resulted in Derek hitting the locker. Then Alex laid out one of his own punches straight into Derek's stomach.
- - -
Bailey was going to kill Alex. First he was late for rounds, and then he was supposed to be getting labs for Addison but hadn't shown his face in nearly half an hour. That kid was going to get it. As she was tearing up the hospital looking for him Bailey heard a banging coming from the locker room. She rushed inside and no surprise, Alex was there along with Dr. Shepherd. They were on the ground, wrestling.
"Oh my god." Bailey rushed to the two of them. "Alright that's enough!" They continued to go at it though so Bailey grabbed Alex's arm and tore the two doctors apart. "What the hell is wrong with you two?"
By this time, all the noise and shouting attracted some nurses, among them the head nurse, Debbie. This incident would definitely go on her blog, a place that no doctor wanted to find him or herself mentioned. The next thing Derek and Alex knew, they were in the Chief's office meekly staring at the floor while Dr. Webber paced and shot them angry looks.
"I'm trying to be as calm as possible but would one of you be so kind as to tell me what the hell happened? If Dr. Bailey hadn't interrupted, the both of you might have had major injuries. I won't stand for fighting in this hospital, especially between two doctors." There was silence. "I'm waiting."
"It was nothing Richard." Derek spoke up.
"Nothing? Is that nothing on your face? Nothing on Karev's face?" The Chief glared furiously at the blood and cuts on the two doctors' hands and faces.
"It was just a little skirmish."
"I can see for myself that it was a 'little skirmish,'" The Chief emphasized. "What I want to know is why it happened."
"It started as a small argument. I don't even remember how it got to what it did." Alex said.
"Alright. I'll going to be frank and ask who started it."
"I threw the first punch." Derek admitted. "And started the argument."
"I'm surprised... well actually no I'm really not." Richard thought back to the Mark talking to Meredith incident. "Last time I let you off easy but you can't go around punching co-workers. These kinds of things can't be taken lightly so you are to work under Dr. Bailey for three weeks."
"Three weeks?!"
"Yes. You need to learn how you have learned how to control that fist of yours and to talk out your problems instead of acting on impulses. You are both excused." They started out the door. "And get yourselves cleaned up!"
- - -
Izzie and Cristina watched the Chief yell at Alex and Derek. Debbie had gotten the word around fast and it was times like these that they really appreciated all the large glass walls and windows that made up the inside of the hospital. Nearly half the hospital now knew of the scuffle between Alex and Derek, but only Izzie and Cristina had a front row seat.
"McDreamy looks pissed." Cristina commented.
"Alex doesn't." Izzie added.
Addison too was a spectator, silently watching the conversation the three surgeons were having. Once Derek and Alex left Richard's office Addison walked up to them.
"What happened? Are you both alright?"
"Yeah. Fine." Derek replied coldly before turning and walking away.
Addison sighed and turned to Alex, "Are you okay?"
"I'm alright."
"Come on, let's get you cleaned up." Addison and Alex left, leaving Izzie and Cristina staring curiously at their retreating backs.
"What that was all about?" Cristina wondered aloud.
- - -
"Ow." Alex winced as the cold cloth touched his cut.
"Oh don't be such a baby." Addison snickered. "If you don't want a scar you're going to need stitches."
"Do you think a scar would make me seem tougher?"
Addison shook her head, "You don't want a scar."
"I don't?"
"Nope. Scars are ugly. You've got a nice face..." Addison hesitated, "Trust me. You don't want a scar. Let me stitch you up."
"Alright. But only because you think I'm so attractive."
Addison laughed out loud, "You're so... so." she couldn't think of the right word.
"Sexy?"
Addison shook her head and smiled sweetly, "I have a needle in my hand. It's not much but it can do a lot of damage to that pretty little face of yours." That shut Alex up pretty fast. But he still sported a smirk for the rest of the day.
- - -