Loved reading the thoughts and comments that were posted from the last chapter! Thank you for taking the time to read!
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Derek starred up into the darkness for what seemed like the millionth time. It had been a tough first week at home. The kids had been adjusting to going back to school. Addison had been adjusting to juggling getting their kids to and from school as well as helping out on a few cases at the hospital. He had been having extreme mood swings, which had caused petty fighting between Addison and him.
As a doctor, he knew that mood swings were normal after such a major accident. Add on top of that to readjusting to family life after basically forgetting he had a family for so long made it even worse. He was just so tired of not being able to do ANYTHING for himself. It was going to be at least 6 weeks until his ankle casts could come off. Even then, he would have to go through several weeks of physical therapy before he could put weight on his legs after weeks of muscle atrophy.
Derek looked over at the clock. It was 2 in the morning. He then looked over at the empty space where Addison should be sleeping. He sighed and ran his hand through his hair. He knew their massive fight had mostly been his fault the night before. He wanted to go look for her but he couldn't get out of the damn bed! The poor nurses had already had to put up with enough of his attitude. He wasn't about to wake Nurse Connor up to go find his wife!
The Previous Night
"Mom, why CAN'T we meet Uncle Weiss and Aunt Savvy at the Hamptons this weekend like we do EVERY Labor Day?" Apollos complained.
"Apollos, I have told you 3 times now. They are coming here. Plane tickets are already bought. I know you love the end of summer BBQ we do every year at the Hamptons, but it isn't going to work this year." Addison replied, doing her best to keep her cool. Derek's up and down attitude had rubbed off on her oldest, who was now giving her attitude at every turn.
"But why can't we just leave Dad and go? It isn't like he would have come anyway. He always misses stuff." Apollos tried to reason.
"No, Apollos." Addison replied.
"Well, why can't you just fly ME back? Nana will take me." Apollos said defiantly.
"No." Addison said plainly, rubbing her temples. Apollos stalked off to his room and slammed the door. This proceeded to wake Derek up, who was sleeping in their bedroom.
"Addison!" Derek bellowed, frustrated at being woken up. It was hard enough to sleep at night, let alone in a house full of people!
Addison sighed. From one fire to another. She slowly made her way into the bedroom again thankful Nurse Anderson had learned to completely stay out of any arguing going on in the Shepherd household.
"Yes, Derek?" Addison asked as she approached the bed.
"Why are doors being slammed and waking me up?" Derek grumbled.
"That would be your son, who is upset we are not going to the end of the year BBQ in the Hamptons." Addison answered through gritted teeth. She was doing her best not to yell at either her son or husband.
"Sounds about right. Spoiled, just like his mother." Derek bit back. Addison looked at him stunned.
"You can insult me all you want. But leave the children out of it. They have done nothing wrong in all of this." Addison said, her voice beginning to raise.
"These children know nothing about suffering. Nothing about pain." Derek went on, ignoring Addison.
"These children have suffered more than you will ever know, Derek. You weren't there during the countless crying sessions when their Daddy chose work over them. You weren't there when their Daddy left without a word and didn't speak to them for 6 weeks. " Addison said, seething. The comment Apollos had said about Derek missing so much was still very fresh in her mind. She didn't even try to hold back the tears that were coming. "Why don't you ask THEM about their expectations of you even coming to family stuff. Or even coming home for that matter." All of the emotion Addiosn had been suppressing the entire time they had been in Seattle came to the forefront. She was visibly shaking. She turned and left the room before Derek could even respond.
Derek layed there staring at the ceiling letting the tears stream down his eyes after Addison left. He knew she was right. He shouldn't have said what he said.
Around 3 in the morning, Derek heard their bedroom door open and could see the silhouette of Addison enter. He watched as she quietly made her way over to the bed.
"I'm sorry." Derek said, startling Addison. "I shouldn't have said what I said about the kids. It was unfair." Addison sat down on the bed and didn't say anything for a minute. Part of her wanted to just say she forgave him and move on, while the other part wanted to let him know she was still livid. She decided to go with the truth. Avoiding the tough issues was part of what had landed them in this whole mess to begin with.
"I understand you are sorry, Derek, but that doesn't change the fact that our son still does not believe that you are going to be around at events. I know nothing but time will change that. I also know that while you are healing, nothing will change that." Addison replied, staring out into the darkness.
"What do you want me to do, Addie?" Derek asked, reaching out for her hand. She let him take it, but made no effort to get closer to him.
"What I want Derek is for you to talk to the children. Especially Apollos." Addison proceeded to tell Derek the comment that their oldest had said earlier. Derek winced when she did. Now he understood better why she had reacted the way she did.
"I will talk to him." Derek said, genuinely sorry. The couple sat there hand in hand for a while before Addison laid down and cuddled up to him. Dere rubbed circles over Addison's back until she fell asleep. He laid awake for a while thinking more of what Addison had told him. He felt horrible about how Apollos felt about him. He had been so afraid of not being able to provide for his family, he had worked and worked. The fear of something happening to him was very real because of his own father dying young. But by trying to work harder, he had in return hurt his wife and children. And the reality that he actually had almost died by falling off the roof had snapped him back into what really mattered in life.
The next morning, after dropping the kids off at school, Addison made her way to the hospital. The twins had continued to gain weight and grow. Adira's surgery had been successful However, Addison knew from experience that NICU babies could change in an instance. She sat in the rocker between the girls' beds. Addison had always found the NICU a place to think. She was able to block out the noise around.
Addison thought back over her morning. Derek was still asleep when she crawled out of bed. Apollos was in a better mood and said neither said anything of the night before. She knew better than to think that Apollos had forgotten about the argument and knew she needed to talk more with him. Hopefully, Derek would be in a better mood later and they could talk to him together. She also couldn't believe they had been in Seattle almost a month. In some ways, it seemed like years. So much had occurred in such a short amount of time!
"Dr. Shepherd?" Izzy said, interrupting Addison's thoughts.
"Yes, Dr. Stevens?" Addison asked as she stood up.
"I heard about the patient you will be seeing today. The girl from Chehalis." Izzy said as she fidgeted with her bracelet. "I was wondering if I could work on that case with you."
Addison regarded the intern with a quizzical expression.
"Shouldn't you be studying for your intern exam tomorrow?" Addison asked.
"Yes, but, well, I am as ready as I am going to be and um, well, I really want to work on this case." Dr. Stevens stammered.
"Is there a particular reason you really want to work on a pro bono case I am doing for a former student of mine?" Addison asked, still confused. All the other interns were studying. Richard had told all the residents and attendings to leave the interns alone.
"I am from Chehalis." Izzy replied. Addison got the impression there was more to the story but decided not to press the issue.
"Ok. The patient's name is Cheynne Wood. She is supposed to be here at 1. Meet me at the nurse's station at 12:45." Addison responded.
The rest of the morning was pretty light for Addison. She exchanged messages with Savvy, confirming their plane was arriving the next day around 5:00. She checked in on Derek, who seemed in good spirits despite having PT that day. She was using Derek's office as her office while she was in Seattle. It was nice to have a place to get away.
At 12:45, Addison met both Izzy and Amy at the nurse's station. Together they made their way to Cheyenne's room.
"Good Afternoon, Cheyenne." Addison said, sweetly as the doctors entered. "My name is Dr. Shepherd. Your OB at home, Dr. Turner was one of my favorite students. I am glad she reached out to me to help with your little girl." she continued. She could tell the patient and her mother both looked nervous.
"I am also Dr. Shepherd." Amy said, introducing herself. "I will be performing the surgery on your daughter to remove the spinal tumor."
Cheyenne looked back and forth between the two doctors. "Wow. When Dr. Turner said I would be in good hands with the power couple that was the Shepherds, I assumed one of you would be a man." she laughed nervously.
"Cheyenne!" Her mother exclaimed, looking embarrassed. Amy busted up laughing. Addison wasn't quite sure what to say.
"We are sister-in-laws." Addison clarified. "My husband is the other Dr. Shepherd that Dr. Turner was referring to. He was in an accident and is currently unable to practice medicine. This is his sister, Dr. Amy Shepherd. I assure you, she is just as talented as her brother."
"Actually, I am the better one." Amy smirked.
"Wow. That must get confusing with so many Dr. Shepherds." Cheyenne said. She placed her hands on her belly where her daughter was growing. It was very overwhelming for the 16 year old to be in a large city, let alone facing major decisions about her daughter.
"You get used to it." Izzy interjected.
"This is Dr. Stevens, who will be assisting us." Addison continued. This was definitely a first…being confused as her sister-in-law's wife. Derek was going to have a hay day with that!
The rest of the visit went smoothly with Addison explaining how they would perform a C-Section in a few days. Amy explained that once the baby was partially removed, she would immediately perform the surgery to remove the spinal tumor.
"I know this is a lot." Izzy said quietly.. She could tell the mother and daughter were both overwhelmed. "Both Dr. Shepherds are amazing. You are in good hands."
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"She thought you were lovers?" Derek said, busting up laughing as his wife told him the story.
"Well, Amy is pretty hot, so…" Addison teased as she shrugged her shoulders. Derek immediately stopped laughing and looked at his wife a little grossed out.
"You did not just say that about my baby sister." Derek replied. Addison laughed and moved across the bed to snuggle up to her husband. It had been a very long day with very little sleep the night before. After a full day at the hospital, Addison had taken the kids to their after school activities and hadn't seen Derek all day.
"I talked with Apollos this afternoon while you were at the gym with Ellie and Khaliel." Derek said, moving the conversation to a more serious note. Addison sat up so she could see his face.
"How did that go?" Addison asked curiously.
"He was pretty blunt with me. He told me about missing his 5th grade Christmas program and his birthday dinner." Derek answered sadly. He ran his hand through his hair in frustration. "I didn't realize how important it was to him. He told me it was fine. I should have known better."
Derek pulled her down next to him and both were quiet for a long time.
"Do you think he believes me this time that I have changed?" Derek finally asked.
"Only time is going to prove it to him. To all of us really." Addison sighed. Derek lay quiet as he ran his hand through Addison's hair. He knew what she was saying was true but it was still hard to hear.