A/N: We're getting close to the end of the story :)

Chapter 12

"So, I'll just be taking a statement from you today and then we can discuss the next steps," the officer stated in a routine voice.

Addison nodded and swallowed back the bile that had risen to her throat. She adjusted herself in the plastic chair, finding no more comfort in it than she did the moment she sat down.

The officer flipped through some pages in a manilla folder, scanning the text quickly before clicking a button on his tape recorder and speaking directly into it.

"This is Officer Mendez. Today is January fourth, 2006. I'm speaking with Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd."

He set down the recorder so that it lay between the two of them on the table. "Okay, Addison, I'm going to start with just a few questions. Would that be alright with you?"

Addison nodded again. She briefly looked at the female officer standing discreetly in the corner, notepad in hand.

"I'll just need a verbal response." He tapped the tape recorder.

Addison stared at it for a long time. "Sorry. Yes."

"Can you tell me what happened on Christmas night?" Officer Mendez asked.

"Yes." Addison cleared her throat and tucked a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I was at a bar down the road from here. Ale House is the name, I think-"

"Sorry. Could you start with earlier in the day? Where were you before the Ale House?" Officer Mendez gave her a flash of a well-rehearsed smile and waited patiently.

"Oh, yes. Of course." Addison cleared her throat again, suddenly finding it very hoarse.

"I went to work with my husband. Afterwards, we went to Joe's bar and…" She stopped when she started feeling lightheaded again.

"And…" Officer Mendez continued for her expectedly, dawning that irritating smile again.

"Sorry, I think I made a mistake. Can I have my husband join me? I think I would just feel better if I had…Can I just ask him to come in?"

The officer in the corner looked up from her notepad at the same time Officer Mendez nodded in understanding. He turned to look at his partner. "Lisa, can you get Mr. Shepherd in here, please?"

"Doctor," Addison muttered under her breath.

Derek watched as Addison disappeared into a meeting room with two officers. One of which had mentioned something about post-op. Why would they be heading to post-op?

He darted into the stairwell, taking the stairs two at a time until he reached the landing for the post-op floor. He burst through the doors to find two police officers standing by an unconscious man that had already been handcuffed to the bedframe.

The same man he had operated on a mere twenty minutes ago.

His brain swirled with confusion.

"Excuse me," he said as he made his way over to them. "This is my patient. Would someone like to tell me what's going on?"

"This man is wanted in regard to an investigation," the shortest one said. He was a stout man, his hands locked to his hips like they belonged there, exaggerating his round frame. Crumbs clung to the front of his uniform and on the little goatee he had just started to grow.

Derek's body flushed with premature panic. An investigation that Addison was tied to. He was trying to work out what that meant, when he saw a shadow of a person next to him. He looked over to find Mark peering curiously past the officers to catch a glimpse of his patient.

"What kind of investigation?" Mark asked, ignoring the palpable tension between Derek and himself.

The short officer puffed his chest out noticeably. "Assault allegation. I can't give you any more than that, Gentlemen." He turned back to his partner, shutting the two of them out again.

Mark should have infuriated Derek, standing so close to him after what had happened earlier, but he was too focused on the unsettling connection between his patient and Addison.

An assault allegation that Addison had called about and was being questioned for. It could be in relation to one of her patients, but Neal Turner was his patient. And she hadn't seen any patients that weren't infants since she'd returned to work.

His head was spinning. He thought he was going to be sick.

He felt a hand on his shoulder shaking him slightly.

"Hey, you don't look so good. You okay?" Mark asked.

Derek could see Addison's face again from the observation deck. It wasn't him that had caused that forlorn look. It was Neal Turner.

"Get off me. I'm going to be sick," he said quickly and snatched a nearby trashcan to empty the contents of his stomach.

Derek set the trashcan down and turned around slowly.

Mark had never seen the dark overcast look that Derek now wore. "Derek?" He asked, confusion and concern etched in his chiseled face.

"I'll fucking kill him," Derek growled. He stormed over to the patient's bed; his hands pulled into fists so tightly that his knuckles had gone stark white.

Mark grabbed him by the collar and pulled him back. "Derek, stop! What the hell are you doing, Man?"

"Get off me!" Derek shouted and tore out of Mark's grip.

The police officers turned around at the sound of the commotion.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" The taller of the two officers yelled. They both moved quickly to refrain Derek themselves.

Derek swung his arms around and pushed forward, determined to get past these men so that he could get his hands on Neal. "I should've let you die on that table!" He screamed at the unconscious man.

"Derek! Calm down!" Mark shouted over the uproar.

"It's HIM," Derek screamed in fury. "Addison- He-" Derek started and stopped, fumbling to find the correct wording. But it was no use. He couldn't bring himself to say it out loud and it wasn't necessary. He could see the look on Mark's face when it registered who exactly Neal Turner was and what his connection with Addison was.

Mark stumbled backwards. The missing puzzle pieces finally fell into place. Addison's bruises, her change in demeanor, the mystery man she'd told him about. If Addison had never left New York; if only she'd stayed with him, none of this would have happened.

As much as he wanted to kill the man himself, or maybe even Derek for dragging her out here to Seattle, he had to help his old friend.

He moved to assist the police in pulling Derek away. Together, they managed to get him into a vacant patient room.

"I need you to calm down before I have to put you behind bars too," the taller officer said as soon as the door was shut.

"How am I supposed to calm down!?" Derek yelled.

Mark sat down on the bed with a heave. "If you do something to that man, you're not going to be around for Addison."

"Oh, shut up, Mark. What are you even doing here?" Derek looked over at him and then had to look away before he slugged him too.

"I'm sorry." Mark ran a hand down the length of his face as he exhaled deeply. "I didn't know. Or maybe I did, but I didn't want to believe it. Not to this extent anyway."

"I need you to go," Derek said as more of a demand than a plea.

Mark studied the floor. If there was a time to argue with your best friend over who loves his wife more, now was not that time. "You're right," he finally responded, surprising both himself and Derek. "I'll leave." He turned to go when Derek caught his attention again.

"Mark."

"Yeah?"

"If you go to 'comfort' my wife right now, I'll fucking kill you too."

"Noted."

Mark left then, allowing Derek time to talk with the officers in private.

The short officer cleared his throat and stepped up so that he was standing in front of Derek. "I'm going to pretend I didn't hear that last bit. So, I take it you knew about your wife's assault."

Derek sighed and bit back another wave of nausea. "You take it correctly."

The officer looked like he was about to ask him another question when there was a knock on the door. It cracked open and a female officer poked her head in.

"Sorry to interrupt. Dr. Shepherd-Montgomery is asking for her husband to join her while she makes her statement," she said.

"Very well," the officer in front of him responded and patted Derek on the shoulder as he stood. "Don't do anything rash. I'd hate to see you in an even worse situation than you are right now. Go be with your wife."

Derek nodded and followed the female officer through the hallways of the hospital.

He thought about how easy it would have been to let a blade slip during that surgery. One nick and it would've been lights out for Neal Turner. Sometimes he wished he could turn back time to fix a surgery. This was the first time he wished he could turn back time to botch it.

Addison looked small on the other side of the meeting table. She had always been larger than life during medical meetings, doling out advice and methodologies like candy. There was a reason she was top of almost every one of her classes and one of the very few neonatal surgeons that could do what she did in the country. But now, looking at her, she looked like only a young girl, timid and tired.

"Addison, are you alright?" Derek asked as he rounded the table and took a seat next to her.

"I'm okay," she said with a close-lipped smile and accepted his hand under the table. He gave her an encouraging squeeze and pressed a kiss to her hair. His presence felt like a blanket, calming her as it wrapped around her. "I know I'm springing this on you, but I can't seem to talk through it alone."

"It's okay. I'll sit with you," Derek responded sweetly, though he could feel his heart pounding inside his chest at the idea of listening to what truly happened that night.

Addison's brows pulled together into a worried line. "It may be hard to hear," she said as though she could read his thoughts.

Derek squeezed her hand again and lowered his voice. "I'm staying right here."

This made Addison smile, but the worried look still shielded her face.

"Alright, do you feel comfortable moving forward with making your statement, Addison?" Officer Medez asked.

Addison flashed Derek one more look and then nodded as she spoke. "Yes, I'm ready."

"This is Officer Mendez. Today is January fourth, 2006. I'm speaking with Dr. Addison Montgomery-Shepherd…"

Meredith, Cristina, Izzie and George stood tactfully by the nurses' station in the lobby, avoiding drawing attention to themselves as they looked on at the commotion.

"What do you think all of it's about?" Meredith asked before taking a sip of coffee.

Cristina propped her elbows on the counter behind them and considered the situation. "I mean, everyone heard about the fight on the fifth floor. Maybe someone called the cops."

"No way," Izzie butted in. "It was McDreamy and McSteamy arguing over Dr. Montgomery-Shepherd. I'd hardly call that a fight worth calling the cops over."

Meredith shot her a look.

Izzie shrugged sheepishly. "Sorry, it is what happened."

"So, what else would it be then?" George asked.

"Someone is in there talking to the cops right now. If we stick around long enough, I think we'll figure it out," Izzie said, pointing to the meeting room.

Cristina shoved Izzie's arm down. "Don't point! You're going to give us away."

Just then, the door opened and revealed Derek and Addison with two officers trailing behind them. One of the officers shook both of their hands and the other one nodded to both.

After the officers left, Derek wrapped Addison in a tight hug just before she buried her head in the crook of his neck.

"Okay, now I'm invested," George said as he snatched Meredith's coffee from her and took a sip.

"You don't think…" Izzie spoke lowly to avoid anybody from overhearing. "Domestic abu-"

"Oh, please," Meredith said, cutting her off. "That's a ridiculous accusation. It's probably something with a patient."

"Or that fight on the fifth floor," Cristina chimed in.

"It wasn't a fight," Izzie insisted.

"Shh!" George hushed everyone. "Look, they're leaving."

The group of interns watched closely as Derek and Addison left the lobby to head in the direction of the resident's locker room.

Meredith pushed off the counter, feeling defeated. "Well, that's that, then. I haven't heard from him outside of work since New Year's. It's official, I guess."

"I'm sorry Mer," Cristina said.

George and Izzie gave her apologetic looks.

Meredith shook her head in dismay. "It's for the best. He was never really going to leave her."

"Come on," Cristina said as she wrapped an arm around Meredith's shoulders. "I heard there's a few unopen bottles of tequila at the house. How about a little get together to fight off the dark and twisties?"

Meredith cracked a smile. "Fine, but no parties." She looked over to Izzie. "I mean it."

The four of them strode down the hall, comforting Meredith as she licked her wounds.

Ch.13 coming soon.