Addison stood up from the student she was bandaging and surveyed the situation in the lot. She was dimly aware of the man coming up to her elbow, but only turned to face him when he spoke her name. "Dr. Montgomery?"

"Yes," she answered, throwing the contents of her trauma bag back together and swinging it over her shoulder.

"I need you to come with me please." At Addison's questioning glance, he added, "It's your daughter."

They walked through the strangely empty hallways of the school, making several turns before the police officer opened a door and stepped inside.

Lanie was folded into the corner of the empty classrooms. Addison knelt down in front of her. "Lanie?"

She gave no indication that she heard her mother; her eyes were fixed on something off in the distance.

"She hasn't spoken," the police officer said. "We tried to check her and see if she was hurt, but she wouldn't let us do that either."

Addison frowned, pulling a clean towel out of her bag and dumping a small amount of bottled water onto it. "How did you know…"

"To get you? Your friend told us. Isobel O' Malley?"

Addison took one of her daughter's hands into her lap, gently wiping the blood off. Still, she gave no reaction or signs that she knew her mother was there. "Where's Izzie?"

"She in another room," was the only answer Addison got.

"It's safe in here…right?"

He nodded. "It's safe. We wouldn't have let you in here if it wasn't."

"This isn't…her blood."

"No. She was hugging her friend when we pulled her away."

Addison was dimly aware that if it was safe, something must have happened to Doug. Kneeling down, she continued to sponge off her daughter as the police man radioed out for a gurney, wondering dimly in the back of her head how she was keeping it all together. Paramedics wheeled the gurney in within a couple of minutes, and Lanie hung limply as they boosted her up and strapped her in. Covering her with a blanket, Addison ran along next to the gurney as the paramedics took her back to the ambulance. "I want to ride along. I'm her mother."

The paramedic nodded, letting her in as he slammed the door shut behind them.

OoooooooooooooooO

Izzie sat down in the chair that the officer pulled out for her, trying to make sense of the roaring inside her head.

"I'm sorry that you had to see that."

She could hear the unspoken words that the officer hesitated to say. There's a reason why we told you to wait outside—either we were going to kill your son, or… "He's dead, isn't he?" He has to be. After that…there can't be anything left.

The officer nodded slowly. "Mrs. O' Malley, do you…"

"I had no idea," she interrupted. "I had absolutely no idea. I didn't know my son at all."

"Where did he get the guns?"

"I…I don't…" Izzie stammered. "My husband, George, he's a hunter. A wanna-be…I don't know. Sometimes he hunts, I mean…His dad used to hunt, and he died, and then George hunted…but we never…There's a lock on his gun cabinet, and the ammo is locked away in a separate drawer, I don't…"

"It's okay, mame. But do you have any idea why he'd want to do this?"

Izzie shook her head, trying to clear the fog that was filling up her brain. "I don't…I…Like I said…I didn't know my son at all…I didn't know him at all, I…" She tried to stand up, but her legs wouldn't support her anymore, and she crashed down to the floor.

OooooooooooooooO

"Dr. Montgomery." Dr. Thade came up behind Addison in her daughter's room and pulled another chair up beside the bed. "How's she doing?"

"She's asleep," Addison answered, not breaking her gaze away from her child. "She lost consciousness in the ambulance and hasn't woken up since."

"Healing," Dr. Thade said.

"What?"

"She's healing her mind. After a trauma, sometimes, that's what happens. She'll be fine. No lasting injuries, just some bruises."

"I know. Believe me, I checked."

Dr. Thade reached out and squeezed Addison's hand. "Is Alex coming?"

"He was here for a while. Now he's off throwing himself into helping stitch up other victims. I'd help, but…"

"You'd rather be here."

"I'm needed here. She's my daughter. He needs to be busy." Addison took one of Lanie's hands into her own and rubbed it gently as if trying to put the life back into it.

"I don't expect you to be anywhere else right now." She stood up, pushing the chair she had been sitting in back into the corner. "I just wanted to make sure you were okay, Addison."

"Thanks, Elise," she whispered.

As she left the room, Alex came back in. "How is she?"

"Alive. Which is something to be grateful for. I just…" Shaking her head, Addison chewed on the corner of her lip and looked out the hospital room window into the darkness. "When she wakes up, I don't know how to explain that the whole world is different."

"More than you know," Alex whispered, kneeling in front of his wife.

"Alex?" Addison asked, trying to get him to meet her eye.

Refusing to let her catch his gaze, Alex pulled away and crossed the room. "There's…There's a lot of people that we know…knew…and loved…that aren't here anymore."

"Who else, Alex?" Addison asked, getting up and following him to the corner of the room away from the bed. "I mean, I know that Doug is gone, but…"

"Seventeen kids are reported dead so far," he whispered, turning his head to the shadows to hide his tears. "Seventeen. And several more in very serious condition."

"Who, Alex? Tell me, please."

He hung his head. "Cassie…Lanie's best friend."

"Oh no," Addison said, leaning heavily against the wall. "No."

"Meredith's son, Rich…According to kids who got out of the cafeteria, he was the one who wrestled the rifle away from Doug when he had it pointed at Lanie's back. Doug pulled a pistol out of his boot and shot Rich in the head."

"Poor Mer. Oh my…"

"And…The reason…The police think that the reason why…" Alex stumbled, at a loss for words.

"What?"

"The reason why Doug attacked the school in the first place was that…He was looking for George."

Addison's vision swam in front of her eyes as she sank to the floor in the corner. "Oh no…"

"George died a hero," Alex said, sitting down next to her. "My best friend died a hero. He helped almost his entire class to escape before Doug found him."

"Alex…"

He put an arm around her and drew her to his chest. They embraced in the dark.

"Have you seen Mer?"

Shaking his head, Alex squeezed me tighter. "They are calling parents down to the…morgue. They are bringing them down there to identify the…"

The bodies. Oh…wow. she thought. Addison took a deep breath. "Alex," she whispered, her eyes welling up with tears, "she's all alone, I…" She looked between him and Lanie, and back again. "Could you…?"

He nodded. "Go," he answered without her having to finish the sentence. "I'll stay here until you come back."