So, reviews have pretty much come to a grinding halt over the last few chapters (except SarcasticAlexWilliams - thanks for sticking with me! - and a few newbies). Not sure if no one is interested in this any more, everyone is busy with summer activities, or if y'all just don't know I'm updating or what. I don't write for the reviews, but it does help to know people are reading so if you could spare a minute for a review, even if it only says "hey, I'm still reading!" that would be great. It's nice to know, as my fave ff writer winter machine says, that I'm not writing into a void.

A week later Addison got out of the shower - a much longer shower than necessary, but with Ella expected to be discharged that day she figured it would be her last shot at a long, uninterrupted shower for a while - and checked her phone. Six missed calls, all from Alex. Before she could call him back it rang again.

"Where the hell have you been? I've been calling you for half an hour!"

"Don't yell at me! What's wrong?"

"Ella had two grand mal seizures, went into status both times. She's on her way to CT now."

"Shit. I'm on my way."

By the time Addison got to the hospital, hair still wet and face bare, and ran to CT they were already gone. She was on her way to the nursery when she caught a glimpse of Alex. "Alex! Where is she?"

He sprinted to her side. "Being prepped for surgery. She has another bleed, same spot as the first, and it caused a hemorrhagic stroke."

"A...stroke? But she was fine yesterday! She's supposed to go home today!"

He gave her a quick hug and kiss. "I'm sorry. I gotta go, Shepherd doesn't want to waste any time getting into surgery."

His somber demeanor didn't escape her. "I have to see her."

"Add, we gotta get in there. This one...it's bad…"

"But what if…" She didn't have to finish her sentence.

He sighed and nodded. "Go."

She ran off and found Ella; the sight of her daughter, once again on a ventilator, was disheartening when scarcely more than twelve hours ago she was completely free of tubes and wires, one sleep away from leaving the hospital. She barely had time to kiss her daughter and murmur I love you before the infant was whisked away, leaving her to make her way to the waiting room on her own. She wasn't alone long, though, before word got out about Ella.

Richard found her first. All it took was one glance at his gentle eyes and outstretched arms for her to fall apart. "Addie, Derek is the best. He got her through the first surgery, and he'll get her through this one," he said softly as she cried into his shoulder and he stroked her hair.

"But Alex said it's worse this time. She had a stroke. A stroke! She's two weeks old! She's already had one ruptured aneurysm, and brain surgery, and now a stroke! How much more can she take?" she managed to get out between sobs.

Richard remained calm. "Kids are resilient, Addie, you know that. Derek will get her through this."

She wanted to believe him, but his confidence wasn't enough to keep her from pacing the floor.

Callie came next, and somehow managed to get her to sit for a few minutes. "She was going home today, Cal," Addison muttered as she dug through the bag she'd packed the night before and pulled out a little sleeper. It was soft and white and ridiculously adorable, with little bunnies printed on it. The feet were bunny faces, the matching hat had long, floppy ears, there was even a fluffy little tail on the back. Callie had bought it after seeing the finished nursery. "This was supposed to be her going home outfit. I was so excited to finally see her in real clothes," she choked out as she clutched the fabric as if she was holding on for dear life.

Bailey and Mark joined them next, offering hugs and shoulders to cry on. They all had surgeries, patients to check on, and paperwork to do but between the four of them they managed to make sure someone was with Addison at all times. They brought tissues that she went through at an almost alarming rate, food and drinks that went untouched. Alex appeared every hour or so with updates that did nothing to calm her frayed nerves.

Finally Derek appeared after the longest five and a half hours of her life. At the sight of his grim face her already racing heart sped up, her throat tightened, and, before he could get a word out, everything went black.

OoOoOoO

"You know, I'm starting to think you just like attention, the way you keep causing a scene," Derek teased gently as her eyes fluttered open. "Ella made it through surgery. She's in recovery now," he added quickly before she had a chance to work herself into a panic again.

"She's okay?" Addison asked hopefully as she took in her surroundings, a bit confused about what was going on.

"Addie, I didn't say that. It was a bad bleed, much more extensive than the first one. She coded three times, and she bled out - a lot. She's not out of the woods, not by a long shot." He hated breaking the news to her in her present state, but he knew she would hate it even more if he gave her false hope.

"I need to see her," she asserted as she attempted to sit up, only to have Bailey hold her down and point out the IV in her arm.

"Your bony ass isn't going anywhere yet," Bailey informed her in a no-nonsense tone. "Girl, you're recovering from surgery, you're breastfeeding, and you're running yourself ragged spending every waking minute in this hospital! You are dehydrated, your blood sugar is low, and you're exhausted. How the hell are you gonna take care of that baby when you can't even take care of yourself? Until that bag of saline is empty and you've eaten something - and I mean real food, not your usual cup of coffee and two bites of whatever pastry the coffee cart is offering today - you're staying right here."

"Yeah, but Ella-"

"Ella is going to be in recovery for a while, and Karev is staying right there with her," Derek interrupted. "If anything changes someone will come get you, but she's stable for now."

Callie appeared with a tray from the cafeteria - salad, some yogurt, a turkey sandwich, cut fruit; Addison noted appreciatively that at least this time there was none of that alarmingly orange, curiously rubbery mac and cheese, nor the mysterious meat loaf an aide had tried to convince her to eat on another occasion. It took some effort - and a few pauses to will herself not to vomit - but eventually the tray was empty enough to appease Bailey. Satisfied, she removed the IV and returned to work, leaving just Derek and Callie. Derek met eyes with Callie and nodded towards the door, hoping she would take the hint and give him some time alone with Addison.

"Okay, I need to get back to work. I'll stop by to see you and Ella before I leave, but in the meantime let me know if you need anything." She gave Addison a hug and headed out.

Derek took a seat on the edge of the bed. "Addie, we need to talk. Ella...she's not doing well. At this point I think it's unrealistic to expect that she won't have severe deficits from the stroke. The seizures aren't going to stop. She's at risk for another bleed or stroke. You need to prepare yourself-"

"No."

"Yes. You need to prepare yourself for the possibility that she might not make it, and I think it would be wise to decide now what you want to do if she has another bleed, if you want to continue heroic measures if she codes again, how long you want to keep her on the vent if she doesn't start breathing on her own…"

"That's easy for you to say, because you don't care about her."

"No, Addison, it's not easy for me to say, and I do care about her. Not because she's my daughter, because I made my feelings about that very clear, but because you care about her. You've done what I would consider to be some terrible things, but you're not a terrible person. You're a good person, and a good mother, and I want you to be happy. You deserve to be happy. I pray that Ella proves me wrong and pulls through this, but it doesn't do anyone any good to sugarcoat things. Realistically there is a very good chance that she is going to die, and you need to accept that and think about what's best for her. How much more do you really want to put her through?"

"Well, I'm not ready to accept it. Remember when it was your baby we were talking about? I said I couldn't help you, so you chased me down the hall and begged until I agreed to do the surgery. Now I'm begging you. Do whatever you have to do to save my little girl. When I went to LA a few years ago, I didn't just go for a vacation. I went because I wanted Nae to help me get pregnant, and she told me it was impossible. I was never supposed to get pregnant. Ella is my miracle, and now that I've had a hysterectomy, I won't get a chance for another one so I really, really need you to save her. I don't care if she's disabled. I don't care if she never walks or talks. I don't care if I have to feed her, and bathe her, and change her diapers for the rest of her life. I just need her here, so you do what you gotta do to make that happen."

Derek sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "Addison…"

"I am not ready to give up, and I am not ready to consider just letting her die. End of discussion." With that she stormed off to find Ella, leaving Derek shaking his head.

Ooo, yeah, I did that. Oops. Sorry. But this wouldn't be Grey's if it was all sunshine and rainbows, am I right? Just be glad I didn't leave you with a cliffhanger. Which, you should know, I did consider, but I figured then you'd really hate me. And also it would have made this chapter pitifully short. So yay for no cliffhangers?