Chapter 13 - Thank you to everyone who has been reading and reviewing Second Chances, it is our pleasure to be able to write something that sparks so much emotion and passion from our readers and we are so grateful to you all for being our audience. This chapter is the latest instalment and we hope that it gives you so more closure to the piece but also sparks something more intense and emotionally strenuous. Anyway here's chapter 13 of Second Chances don't forget to read and review!

When a child is born your whole world changes, everything that you once knew is thrown away as this tiny human comes into your life. There's this newfound responsibility and obligation that comes with being a parent and for a lot of people it's hard and no one's perfect. Some seek guidance to become the perfect parent in parenting manuals and others through relatives and friends but the truth is that there is no such thing as a magical guide. The best parents are the one's that learn through experience, the ones that take the time out to notice the little things and the ones that are never left behind. No one can really tell whether or not they'll be good parents and only time itself can tell but until then we hope and we take things slow just day by day and we cherish each and every moment of it.

Derek was just about to enter the nursery to grab a closer look and hold his son for the first time, when a voice from behind startled him.

"Get out!" The stern voice called out.

"Nancy, I uhh I didn't see t.." But before he could say anything further he felt her cold hand collide with his cheek in a swift motion.

"You son of a bitch!" Nancy shouted after slapping him.

"Hey calm down!" Derek warned.

"No I won't calm down, I know you're my little brother and I'll always love you but Derek Shepherd right now I hate you more than anything in this world. I…I can't even look at you." The woman voiced to the shocked gentleman.

"Nancy…" Derek said in an attempt to reason with her but his attempt seemed unsuccessful.

"Do you have any idea of the mess you've made?" Nancy asked angrily.

"What?!" Derek said confusedly.

"Why did you just leave like that? What in God's rather was more important in that moment that just caused you to up and leave?" Nancy questioned again.

"I…I…" he stuttered.

"You left your wife and child there to die! What were you thinking?" Nancy screamed.

"…She's not my wife…" Derek said in a quiet voice as he averted his eye contact to the ground.

"Just cut the bullshit Derek! Why did you leave Addison there lying in pain on the brink on death?" Nancy shouted.

"I just don't know what I was thinking Nancy, she told me about the baby and I was… shocked! I didn't know how to deal with it I….." Derek said in self defense.

"Stop babbling Derek!" Nancy shouted again.

"Please Nance, I need to see them… I need to know that they're fine! God after what I did, I just feel so guilty and so sick to my stomach." Derek admitted.

"Don't try to apologize, you gave up the right to know anything about Addison and that child from the moment you turned your back on them!" Nancy commented.

"I'm not proud of what I did… Please let me at least see him. He's my child." Derek said as the tears began to fall from his eyes.

"I'm not letting you anywhere near him Derek!" Nancy said sternly as she blocked the door.

He tried to force his way into the nursery past Nancy but once again his efforts were unsuccessful as Nancy held her ground. "Back away from the nursery Derek or so help me god I will call security on you."

"You're my sister, you can't do that, you…you should be on my side. You're my family not hers." He demanded.

"Really Derek because she was there when you weren't, she was more of a family member than you ever were Derek. How do I get it through to your knuckle head and tell you that a woman is fighting for her life in surgery all because of you? Believe it or not but right now I'm protecting you because as soon as Addison gets out of surgery and Jake finds out about this, about what happened at the scene…. Let's just say that I'd watch out if I were you Derek."

Derek slid down against the wall and buried his face in his hands as he began to sob. "I didn't want to hurt them Nancy, I just needed time to process… I wasn't thinking and I screwed up everything again. I walked away and this time it could have cost her, her life!"

It took a lot but Nancy was finally seeing how remorseful Derek truly was and slid down beside him against the wall. She was still angry with thin and she was pissed off as hell, but in all of Nancy's life she had never seen her little brother so broken and defeated.

"Derek, what's done is done." Nancy said apologetically. "We can only hope that Addie pulls through this if not for your sake but for Christopher's. Go home Derek, it's been a long day for all of us." Nancy said as Derek began to walk away. She made sure that he had left the hallway completely before returning back into the nursery and checking on the baby again.

After an enduring three hours of surgery, performed by a team assembled with four of Grey-Sloan Memorial's finest surgeons, Addison Montgomery was finally out of surgery. As she was wheeled back into recovery, her husband who had never left her side since they got to the hospital, waited patiently by her side for the anesthesia to wear off. Jake was tired and exhausted as the multitude of emotions that he had experienced today were starting to take their toll on his consciousness. Still he was determined more than ever to be patient and pray that his wife was going to be ok. It wasn't meant to be like this, they had a birth plan and they were going to be happy. Never in a million years did Jake ever envision his wife being involved in a car accident and giving birth at the scene. Jake was concerned about both Addison and the baby but he knew that Nancy had taken on the responsibility of tending to the child if anything were to happen so that he could stay with Addison and monitor her condition.

Addison's eyelids flickered open as the last traces of the anesthesia were wearing off. Her first impulse as she awoke was to reach down to leg and check if it was still there. As her fingertips touched the sterile dressing of the bandage, her heart rate began to speed up as the fear built up inside of her. Callie noticed Addison's state of panic and moved in closer to the distressed woman in an attempt to comfort her. She gently lifted up the shed and with a genuine smile reassured the woman. "It's still there Addison, the surgery was a success and your leg should heal just perfectly. There wasn't any major damage to bones, vessels or nerves which in your case is pretty lucky, the only difficult part was trying to get that bar out."

"Th….Thanks Callie," she replied in a dried up voice.

"When do you think that she'll be able to walk again?" Jake asked in an apprehensive tone.

"Just for these first few days, I would recommend bed rest, but I'm positive that she should be up and walking in no time." Callie said as she finished writing some notes on Addison's chart.

"I feel nauseous Jake… Everything's spinning." Addison said as she closed her eyes and placed a hand on her forehead.

"It's normal sweetheart, it's just a side effect from the drugs, it will all go away in a couple of hours."

Addison opened her eyes again and surveyed her surroundings. "Where am I?" She said in a anxious voice.

"Honey, you're at Grey-Sloan Memorial remember the ambulance took us here?" Jake said in a comforting voice.

"Yeah, sorry I guess everything's still a little bit hazy." Addison said as she tried to give Jake a reassuring smile.

Jake smiled back at his wife as he leant in a placed a tender kiss on his wife's lips. "How's Chicco?" she asked.

"He's doing well Addie, Nancy's staying with him up on the Neonatal ward."

"I want to see my baby." Addison said in a quiet voice.

"I know that you want to see him badly sweetheart, but you're exhausted and you need to rest a little. You just came out of major surgery and you need to make sure that you have all of your strength for when you finally get to meet Chicco. I promise that I will bring him straight to you as soon as you're moved into your room and rest, ok?"

She nodded at her husband's words and stared down at her hands. The idea of still not being able to hold her baby in her arms was killing her, but everything in her entire body ached in pain and the convenience of sleep was all to close for her to fight it off any longer.

Addison closed her eyes and left the realm of consciousness as her body began to drift into the grasps of a deep slumber. When she opened her eyes she noticed that the beige hospital walls were gone and surrounding her was the crushed interior of the bus. Before she could react to the strange change of surroundings her body began to betray her violently as the pain spread through every inch of her, she was in labor. The contractions were becoming more and more frequent as the strain on Addison's body was all too much. Just when she thought about giving up, Derek appeared beside her and held her hand. She smiled at the kindness of his gesture and felt a small sense of relief overcome her.

"Derek, the baby is coming!" She said through a contraction as her body shook in pain.

"I know Addison, it's going to be ok," Derek said in a monotone.

"You have to call an ambulance Derek, he's coming NOW!" Addison screamed through a distraught sob.

"No Addison, you're delivering the baby here." Derek replied void of any emotion.

"No Derek, I AM GOING TO A HOSPITAL!" Addison yelled angrily.

"Addison, if you were in my shoes, what would you tell the patient?" Derek questioned.

"Ok, Derek I hope you know what you're doing!" Addison replied.

"Please, I'm a doctor. It's a beautiful day to save lives." He said smugly. "Addison, you're going to have to push ok?"

Addison nodded at Derek's request and began to push as her screamed echoed off of the walls of the bus. Her body was not her own as the pain violently attacked her from within, but still she held on for her child. Just as her own screams subsided and the final push was made, Addison heard the sound of a different type of scream that was all too familiar to her, it was the scream of a newborn baby. The relief rushed over her body as she realized that it was all over, that her beautiful baby boy was welcomed into the world and that she had finally become a mother.

"Is he healthy Derek?" She asked her ex-husband anxiously.

Derek didn't reply as he wrapped the child up in a blanket and stood up beside her, ignoring Addison's question.

"Derek? Did you hear me? Is the baby ok?" Addison asked again.

Derek began to gather his things and began to walk away with the baby.

"Derek! Derek! Where are you taking my baby?" Addison screamed from the ground.

"Did you really think that you were going to be a good mother Addison? Look at where you are, you risked the life of your child because of your own selfishness to be the hero. You say that you've changed and that you're a better person, but who are you kidding you'll always be the adulterous bitch in this situation and I'll be damned if this kid has you for a mother. I'll fight for full custody and Meredith will be his real mother, you'll never see this child again Addison." Derek said before he turned his back on the distressed woman.

"DEREK! COME BACK HERE! GIVE ME BACK MY BABY YOU SON OF A BITCH! HE'S MINE, BRING MY BABY BACK!" Addison screamed as she tried to get up from the ground. As she went to stand up the pain pulsated from her leg as she discovered the metallic bar that was protruding from her thigh. She gasped in shock and horror when she realized that she was trapped in the unstable rig, where Derek left her to die. "DEREK! GIVE ME MY BABY DEREK!" Those seemed to be the only words that were said through the tears and bloodcurdling screams that emerged from the vehicle as Addison tried to free herself.

"DEREK! DEREK! DON'T LEAVE ME HERE TO DIE! GIVE ME BACK MY BABY DEREK!" Addison screamed as the tears rolled down her face.

"Whoa, Addison calm down." Jake said to the terrified woman. "Where's Derek going and where is he taking our baby?"

"I want to see my baby Jake, I have to know if he's ok. Please Jake, please, please. I haven't even held him in my arms yet and he needs to know that I'm here and that I'm a good mother, please Jake please!" Addison pleaded through sobs.

"Addie, you just had a terrible nightmare. Derek isn't even here and Nancy is watching the baby like a hawk making sure that not even an intern can lay a hand on him." Jake said to his wife. "You've been through a terrible ordeal and you need to calm down sweetheart. You're safe now and as long as I'm here no one and I mean no one, not even Derek can hurt you."

Jake didn't quite fully understand Derek's relevance in Addison's nightmare but simply dismissed it when he realized that his wife was more important right now and he would do everything in his power to make sure that she was going to be ok, it was the least that he could do. A sense of guilt plagued him as he looked into his wife's terrified eyes, he wished that it was him instead of her, he wished that he could take away her pain, but for now he was going to stay with her and let her know that he wasn't going anywhere.

"Jake…" Addison said quietly.

"Yes honey," he replied.

"How does he look?" She said nervously.

"Oh, he's perfect just like his Mommy!" He said caressing her head. Jake knew that Addison was on edge after her nightmare and decided to do the one thing that he knew she needed. He slowly, but carefully climbed into bed beside her and began to stroke her hair.

"I barely saw him… I'm afraid that he won't recognize me…. I'm such a bad mother…" she said tearing up again. "I don't even know how much he weighs or how tall he is or anything. A good parent knows these things."

"Addison, they're only little things and he won't even remember but if it concerns you that badly, he's 5.5 pounds with 10 fingers and 10 toes, a head of soft brown hair and the bluest eyes that you'd ever see."

Addison admired the bracelet on her wrist slowly reading the writing. "Christopher William Montgomery Reilly…" she said proudly. "He must be so scared, I mean he's all alone up there whilst I'm just lying around down here!"

"The nursery is always full of doctors and nurses and like I said before Nancy is watching him 24/7, Chicco is not alone nor will he ever be." Jake said yawning into his wife's hair. "It's been a long day for everyone even Chicco, just close your eyes and rest so that when you wake up you'll get to meet you're beautiful baby boy."

For Owen Hunt, today felt like the day that never ended. Today was meant to be simple, textbook but it appeared that simple just wasn't in the cards for him as the car pileup and news of Addison's injuries sent his world into chaos. It was strange though, out of everything negative and bad that had come out of today, it seemed as though Owen had found a friend within Nancy, a fellow co-worker, which before today he had never really made an effort to talk to. Grey-Sloan Memorial was known for it's strict in-circle cliques of the social and professional hierarchy but there was something about Nancy and her New York personality that intrigued Owen and struck him as being refreshing. Nancy saw things from a professional point of view but always went beyond the medicine to give the most beneficial patient care that she could. Such traits reflected that of Owen's own and maybe that's what drew him to check on her.

He passed the nurses station and made his way to the nursery with two cups of coffee in either hand searching for the female doctor. As he opened the door, he saw her there, gentle rocking back and forth with little baby Christopher in her arms softly whispering sweet nothings into his ears.

"Dr. Shepherd, I though you might like a coffee after the day we've all had today." Owen said as he took a seat next to the doctor.

"Thank you Dr. Hunt you really didn't have to." Nancy replied shocked at the Chief's generosity.

"No, please it's my pleasure after seeing how calm and composed you were out there in the field I wanted to recognize you efforts with a token of my appreciation." Owen replied to the confused woman.

"Well again, thank you Dr. Hunt." Nancy replied again.

"Oh… you can call me Owen, we're equals there's no need to address me so professionally." Owen said.

"I will Owen." Nancy said as she smiled at the trauma surgeon.

"He's gorgeous." Owen said commenting on the child.

"He's going to be a heartbreaker when he grows up, just like his mother." Nancy said. "Plus the hair, he's gorgeous, just perfect."

"You look so natural with him." Owen noted.

"Well, I'd hope so. I've done it three times before." Nancy laughed "Two girls and a boy, if you were wondering."

"Well I'm sure that they've all turned out fine. What are their names?" Owen asked.

"Let's see there's my oldest Annie, she's the genius who's currently studying at Harvard Law. Then there's Michelle, the free spirit who's travelling around Europe as a freelance journalist and finally there's my baby Noah who's still in high school but wanted to stay in New York with his father." Nancy replied

"Can I ask you a question and please stop me if it's too inappropriate or personal but why are you so protective of Addison's son after everything that's happened between her and Derek?" Owen asked hesitantly.

"I know how it looks right, the ex-aunt of this child is acting like it's her own, but you see blood has nothing to do with it. I know Addison better than I know some of my sisters and I know that she's wanted a child for so long and has sacrificed so much to help others instead of helping herself when she needed it. Christopher here is her dream, her light at the end of the tunnel, he's her second chance at true happiness. The love that she has for this child is something that keeps Addison from giving up when the world's against her, makes her have a purpose when she feels worthless but also keeps her hopeful that even the most screwed up people can catch a break sometimes. For the over two decades Addison has been a part of my family in one way or another just as much as Derek even sometimes more than he has. Addison was there to deliver my children and she took care of them when I needed help without hesitation, wherever and whenever, and something like that doesn't just simply go away with a divorce. Owen, sometimes you just do things that you don't question for the people you love." Nancy replied wholeheartedly.

"She's your person isn't she?" Owen commented.

"She's my person." Nancy said as she smiled.

Next morning

When the small bundle was finally placed in her arms, she felt as all the pain that she had endured over the past 12 hours ceased to exist. Her eyes wondered all over the infant's body as she gazed into his deep blue eyes and her finger traced all of his delicate features. Everything about her son, in her eyes was perfect and to simply hold him for the first time sent her into a state of euphoria. Addison was on edge until the child tightly squeezed her finger in the palm of his tiny hand and that simply gesture caused the tears to stream from her eyes. "I…I've waited for this moment my whole life and I never thought that I could ever be this happy ever again, but here you are finally in my arms. H…Hi baby Christopher, do you know who I am? I'm…. I'm your Mommy and I love you so much!" Addison said as she placed a soft kiss on her son's forehead.

The baby emitted a giggle and opened his little mouth forming a O in the attempt to sip something and then started to wail aloud, "I think our baby Chris is a little hungry" Jake commented.

Nancy offered Addison a warm bottle to feed Christopher, "I preferred breastfeeding him" she sighed remorseful, "You will breastfeed him, Addie, it's just a precaution!" At first the baby started sipping the bottle vigorously but after a few moments he appeared distressed. Addison soon noticed the changes in her baby, and her face turned from happy to serious and concerned, "Something's not right! There's something wrong with him Jake!" she exclaimed not losing clarity of though. Jake and Nancy exchanged looks with each other, "He was fine, the pediatrician checked him, she would have told me if there was something wrong with him!" Nancy said afraid there could be something wrong with her nephew.

"He is breathing too fast and he is sweating!" and without adding any other words she grabbed Nancy's stethoscope and placed it on Chris' chest, she patiently heard her baby's heart beat ignoring his screams, "There's an heart murmur!"

"Is it loud?" Nancy asked in apprehension

"It's feeble…" she replied trying to hide the tears from her eyes.

"Ok, enough!" Jake said picking the baby from her arms and trying to console him, "Nancy, page Cristina and tell her we need to run some test on Chris!"

"Jake, give me my baby!" Addison protested.

"Honey, you need to relax, this is not good neither for you nor for Chris, I'm gonna take him to neonatal for a check up", she nodded even if reluctantly. She and her baby were separating again for the second time and the idea to be far away from him made her feel so afraid and insecure.

Cristina exited Addison's room with Christopher's chart in her hand muttering to herself as she scribbled down some notes on the pages within.

"Stupid, incapable intern has forgotten the basics of pediatric care and has not detected the presence of a heart murmur." Cristina angrily said to herself. "Oh hey Shepherd, what are you doing around here acting all mopey for?"

"I'm not acting mopey and for you information I just heard about what happened to Addison. Is she ok?" Derek asked the cardiothoracic attending.

"Eh, well you're certainly no McDreamy today, I think you're more of a McDroopey to be honest... She's fine, Dr. Montgomery is quite resilient given what's happened but I can't really say the same for the kid." Cristina said uninterestedly.

"What do you mean? there's a problem with the kid?" Derek asked curiously although it came across more anxious than curious.

"You know what are they teaching these interns in medical school now? It turns out that the kid has a heart murmur and the freakin' mother has to pick it up before the supervising physician does, now what does that say about our patient care? It's quite pathetic and it pisses me off when I have to pick up the slack for brainless morons." Cristina said cross.

"What's your course of action?" Derek questioned.

"Probably just the standard set of tests, an EKG, an echocardiogram and an X-ray chest, the kid might even needs surgery but only time will tell. You know this wouldn't have happened if they…." Dr. Yang continued as she wrote down some more notes until she looked up and noticed that Derek had vanished. "Strange, strange McDroopey." Cristina took this as her cue to leave and walked away to schedule the procedure.

Derek needed to get some air after hearing what Cristina had said to him. He wondered to himself if maybe all of this could have been prevented if he had just stayed, that maybe Christopher would be happy and healthy just like all of the other newborns. It seemed as though the wall was now the only support that Derek had, holding up his tired frame as he kept his distance from Addison's room. Just then he saw Jake walk out of the room holding Christopher in his arms as Cristina met up with him and escorted them to the neonatal ward. Derek took this as his chance to see Addison and began to approach her room until he saw that Nancy and Callie were still in there. He needed to see her but it couldn't be like this, so Derek decided to stand beside the door out of view and listen in to their conversation.

"I need to go with him, I need to be with my son!" Addison said as she tried to reason with the surgeon.

"Addie, sweet, Jake's with him now and he's going to be fine." Nancy said comforting the woman in distress.

"No I…I've barely held him in my arms please Callie." Addison said as the tears fell.

"Addison, you've just come out of surgery. It's critical that you keep it immobilized so that it can have time to heal." Callie said.

"Nancy, nance please!" Addison pleaded again. "and….Callie you know what it's like not being able to hold your child in your arms just moments after it's been born. You're both mothers and you both know what it's like to be able to hold your baby, please let me do the same."

Both Callie and Nancy looked at each other teary eyed as Addison pleaded with them. They both knew that Addison was stubborn and wouldn't go down with a fight but the sight of her so traumatized and so desperate made their hearts shatter.

"It's not like she'll be alone, I mean I can watch her?" Nancy said to the orthopedic surgeon.

"This is so against hospital protocol." Callie said as she unplugged Addison's monitors and began to help Addison out of bed. "I'm doing this because you saved my daughter's life."

Nancy fetched a wheelchair and the two women helped Addison into it slowly and carefully. Addison closed her eyes and flinched in pain as she manoeuvred into the wheelchair but the sheer thought of seeing her son and holding him again made every second bearable.

As Nancy pushed Addison's wheelchair up next to the incubator, her heart began to warm when she saw Addison's eyes light up. She knew that the two of them needed a moment alone so she took Jake with her to get a coffee whilst mother and son bonded.

"Hi sweetie," Addison said as she exhaled opening the side of the incubator. "Mommy's here now to protect you and I promise that I'm never going to leave you again."

Addison let her index finger trace her son's body as the tears of joy streamed down her face. Just being able to see and touch her son made her world complete knowing that he was finally with her. She finally let her pinky feel over her son's hand as his tiny hand grasped it tightly. Addison gasped at the simple gesture her son made and couldn't wipe the smile off of her face.

"I know I'm a little broken at the moment but I'm going to get better soon and so are you and when we are better we're going to go home and you get to see your room and play with all of your toys." Addison said as moved in closer to her son, kissing him on the forehead. "God you look so much like Derek… You're going to be such a heartbreaker when you grow up, but you're always going to be mommy's little man ok? I love you Christopher."

Derek stood at the back of the nursery out of Addison's view taking in the sheet beauty of his ex-wife and the delicate features of his son. It was as if time stood still when the two of them talked, like nothing could come between them as mother and son bonded for the first time. It was strange as he viewed them seeing his own perfect little family standing right before him. His heart ached ever so badly as he couldn't bare being in the background any longer. All he wanted to do was go and hold his son and tell Addison that he was sorry, but he felt as though even the slightest movement would upset the fragile ecosystem that he had created. Derek had all of these feelings that he just simply could not express as his own guilt overshadowed his rationality but there was something that was different. The Addison that was in front of him was not Addison his ex-wife anymore, she was Addison the mother of his child and suddenly he had all of these feelings towards her and his son. He didn't know if it was because of this newfound connection that he had with her or because he started to see her like he did before. Derek couldn't take it any longer and went to walk up to Addison suppressing all of his nerves and ripping off the band-aid but just as he was about to go his phone began to vibrate.

He sighed looking at the display, he couldn't avoid this phone call. "Derek! Where are you?" The voice said on the other end.

"Meredith, please I'm at the hospital I've been with patients." Derek said tiredly into the cell.

"Derek I know that you have your obligations to the hospital but you also have an obligation to your family. I called the hospital an hour ago and they said that you're not even on tonight and that you haven't seen a single patient."

"Meredith, I have been helping out with the excess." Derek replied in his defense.

"No Derek, I've had enough I did not sign up to do this all alone ok? You have to choose it's either them or us, who's it going to be Derek?"

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