I tried not to leave you on a cliffhanger for too long! Hope you enjoy this and thank you so much for your reviews so far :)
She drew her knees up to her chin, burying her face between them and shielding herself from whatever was going to happen next. She didn't care. She was blocking it all out.
'Addison?'
She didn't recognise the voice, completely disregarded the gentle, soothing tone and immediately went on the defensive.
'No,' she whispered, shaking her head.
'Addie, it's me.'
Shut up, shut up. Go away.
'Leave me alone.'
Addison started rocking back and forth, wishing that she were anywhere but there. She stiffened as someone started wrapping their arms around her, ignoring her attempts to throw them off.
'Shh, I'm here. It's fine,' they promised.
That voice. She almost didn't recognise it, and wouldn't have believed it if someone had told her.
'Derek?'
She didn't believe it. Surely it wasn't him? But it sounded like Derek, not her Derek, but Meredith's maybe.
'I'm so sorry, Addie, but I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, I promise. I've got you.'
Oh my god.
It was Derek.
Addison wrapped her arms around his, clinging onto it as though her life depended on it; and maybe a small part of her thought it did.
'He… he…'
'I know.' Derek smoothed her hair reassuringly and Addison's mind flew back to when they were in med school and she'd just gotten back from visiting her mother. For the first time in her life, she'd let herself cry in front of Derek and he held her in his arms, whispering soft promises that she was fine, that she was worth something and she wasn't a disappointment.
'It's all over now, Addie. Ok? The police are on their way, and they'll sort him out. Are you ok? Did he hurt you?'
She shook her head and winced as her old injury flared with pain.
'Addie? You all right?' Derek asked worriedly. His fingers moved to her hairline, brushing the flaming red hair back to reveal the wound that had reopened in the struggle with Peter. 'God, that doesn't look good. That needs a scan, Addie, just to check there's no bleed on your brain or anything.'
Addison brushed him off.
'How the hell did that happen?'
She bit her lip as the realisation dawned on him.
'Crap. It's not from now, is it? Addie, what happened.'
The pieces fell into place. He knew she hadn't been ok, if only he'd pushed further.
'Who else hurt you?' he demanded.
She fixed her eyes on Peter's unconscious body a few feet away.
'No.'
Derek's eyes held her gaze, as though he was silently begging her to tell him she tripped in the shower.
'Ok, it's fine. It's all gonna be fine, Addie. Ok? You believe me? Right, I need to go meet the police and show them where he is. I'll come right back, ok?'
Addison shook her head furtively, grabbing his arm as her breathing started quickening again.
'Ok, ok. I won't go anywhere. It's fine. Do you mind if I call someone to bring the police to us ?'
She nodded slightly.
'Ok. Meredith?' No, that was a stupid idea. 'Callie? Arizona?'
No, she didn't want them. They'd just smother her and, in the nicest way possible, that was the last thing Addison needed.
'Richard? Bailey?'
Bailey. Yes, if anyone had to know, Bailey would be the best. Addison nodded again.
'Ok. Bailey won't tell anyone, you know that,' he tried to reassure her, but he realised it was fruitless. Addison had already been hurt by this excuse for a human being more than once. They were a little past reassurance.
He made the call and held Addison tightly while they waited for Bailey and the police to arrive. Mostly they sat in silence, Derek staying firmly in front of Addison to try to make her feel safer. Nothing could get to her without getting past Derek, and some small part of her knew that wouldn't happen. She jumped slightly when the door opened, but relaxed when she saw that the police had sent Bailey in first.
'Addison, the police are here. They want to take care of him first, so shall we get you somewhere quiet and I'll just make sure you're ok?' Bailey asked, standing by the door so as not to crowd her.
Derek took her silence as agreement and helped her up, keeping a firm grip of her. Avoiding the body, Derek and Bailey smuggled Addison past a group of chatty nurses and a few interns into an exam room, drawing the blinds to give her maximum privacy.
'Ok, Addison, we can take this nice and slow and we'll do whatever we can to make you more comfortable. Now, is there anyone else I can't get for you?'
Addison shook her head in response to Bailey: no one else needed to know.
'Right. Ok, that's fine. Can you tell me what happened? Or you can tell Derek, whichever you're more comfortable doing.'
Addison held eye contact with her, unable to find the words to tell her what had happened. Eventually, she pulled back her hair and showed them the head wound, which Derek quickly examined and determined was superficial. She quickly let Bailey examine the bruises on her chest, stomach and upper arms but faltered when it came to the ones on her legs.
'It happened two days ago, so there's still time, right?' she asked quietly.
Bailey nodded, squeezing her hand.
'Ok,' Addison took a deep breath, 'you can do it. But only because he's done it to Holly, and I won't let him do it to anyone else.'
It pained Derek that she wouldn't do this for herself, but he visibly relaxed once she gave her consent.
'All right, then. Do you want Derek to leave, or stay with you? Either is fine and it's completely up to you. I'll go grab you a gown and the kit, ok?' Bailey left the pair alone, carefully shutting the door and making sure no one was walking past as she did so.
Wordlessly, Addison reached out with her right hand and Derek grabbed it, holding it close as he wrapped an arm around her. He hugged her as tears rolled down her cheeks, ruining her makeup and showing some more of the fading bruises.
'I'm so sorry, Addie,' he whispered, kissing the top of her head lightly as she relaxed into his embrace, closing her eyes and feeling safe for the first time since the incident
