It was Thursday morning and the clock on the nightstand read five o'clock. Derek had woken up with an uncomfortable yet pleasant feeling, his body burning with overwhelming excitement that led him to a single desire: to be with Addison.

The night before hadn't gone as he expected; he had fallen asleep waiting for her to come out of the bathroom, and now he couldn't let the chance slip by to make the most of the hours they would be together before she had to leave for the hospital.

Eager to share that intimate moment with his wife, Derek slowly and carefully wrapped his arms around Addison's body. He gently pulled her closer, savoring the softness of her skin and the familiarity of her sweet scent.

Addison, still enveloped in a state of semi-consciousness, murmured in a breathy voice, unable to fully wake up in response to her husband's affectionate attentions.

"Hmm?" she softly uttered, her eyes still closed.

Derek's kisses continued to travel across his wife's skin. Gently, his fingers brushed the smooth contours of her face, savoring every texture and expression it reflected.

"Der, what time is it?" she asked without opening her eyes.

"It's five, we have an hour…"

Derek's words whispered in a breathy tone, revealed the hidden intentions burning inside him.

With delicate movements, Derek slid his hand down Addison's body, reaching for her pajama pants that covered her waist. His fingers played with the fabric in a gentle caress, feeling the warmth of the skin nestled beneath it.

She shivered at the contact and suddenly opened her eyes, looking at him with a confused expression. She still felt a bit disoriented.

"I'm sleepy..." she complained.

"I promise to make your sleepiness go away..." he whispered, gazing at her with lust shimmering in his eyes.

Derek slid his hand further under Addison's pajama pants, caressing the smooth skin of her abdomen and moving down to her most intimate area. He could feel her breathing becoming heavier with each playful touch of his fingers.

"Derek, not now. I'll be late for work…"

"Addie, please... this isn't just a physical need; it's a longing to connect with you. I feel like each day that passes, you drift further away from me, shutting yourself off and not letting me be part of whatever is happening with you. I miss you... I miss what we used to be before the shooting. What happened?"

Addison sighed uncomfortably. She didn't want to talk about it now; she didn't feel ready for it. The distance she was imposing on Derek was becoming more evident, and he was starting to feel rejected. She couldn't ignore it or dodge it for much longer.

"Can you grab a condom?" she asked unenthusiastically, trying to change the subject and seeming more interested in completing a task than enjoying the moment.

Derek nodded with a smile and moved away from her to look for a condom in the first drawer of the nightstand. He knew that communication between them wasn't at its best, but he still loved her and desired her with all his being. He wanted their intimacy to be more than just a physical act. He wanted to rekindle the spark and the deep connection that had once existed between them.

Addison, sitting with her back against the headboard of the bed, watched intently as he opened the small package, carefully unrolled the latex condom, and placed it along his erection.

"You gonna...?" Derek asked, somewhat nervous to see her still watching him.

"Oh, yeah…"

She began quickly unbuttoning the top of her pajamas, and once she finished, she removed her pants as well. Derek approached her again and captured her lips in a passionate kiss while his nimble hands slid down Addison's panties.

Amid their kisses, and with some difficulty, he positioned himself between her legs and began to enter her.

"Ouch!" she exclaimed, letting out a moan of pain.

Derek immediately stopped, his face filling with concern upon hearing his wife's whimper.

"I'm sorry, I... I'll try to be more careful."

"It's okay…"

Addison felt uncomfortable and anxious, and the physical pain only heightened her emotional discontent.

She couldn't go on with the act, realizing it just wasn't working at that moment.

"Derek, Derek, stop," she said with a shaky voice when she could no longer bear it.

"You wanna change positions? You can be on top and take control of…"

"No. This isn't working."

Derek's heart sank at those words. He didn't want this if she felt uncomfortable if she wasn't enjoying it. So he simply nodded with a hint of sadness and moved away from his wife.

~•~

"I feel like a criminal doing this..." Ryan complained, holding Amelia on his shoulders as she tried to reach the second-floor window of her room. "Are you sure this is a good idea, Amelia?"

"I'm almost there, just give me one more push..." she replied, determination in her voice as she tried to reach the window. "Ryan, trust me, there's no problem. It's my brother's house, it's practically my house too. Push me up higher..."

"How sure are you that no one's home? What if..." he tried to object again, concerned about the possible legal consequences.

"At this hour, Derek's picking up his daughter from kindergarten and my sister-in-law is working. We have at least an hour when the house is empty. Stop talking and help me get to the window; as soon as I'm inside, I'll look for my key and let you in," Amelia assured Ryan, urging him to help by intensifying his effort.

With an extra little jump, Ryan provided the necessary support and she managed to firmly grasp the window frame.

Once secured, Amelia sighed in relief and leaned against the windowsill, catching her breath. She took a quick look around to confirm that everything was silent before continuing.

Determined to find the long-desired prescription pad, she remembered clearly that she had left it on her desk. The night before, they had run out of drugs and the idea of having to wait for more was unacceptable to them, so they had to be quick and discreet.

Carefully, Amelia peeked through the window before venturing inside the room. The silence and tranquility that reigned in the environment confirmed to her, just as she had predicted, that no one was home.

Once inside, she moved quickly, lightly stepping between the familiar furniture and objects. When she reached her desk, she opened the drawer cautiously and searched for the coveted prescription pad. She found it under some papers, and her face lit up with a triumphant smile. Holding it in her hands, she felt an indescribable relief, as if she had found a lifeline in an uncertain ocean.

However, she couldn't afford to stay longer than necessary. Grabbing her phone in one hand and the prescription pad in the other, she gently closed the drawer and exited the room.

"I'm ready. Got it," Amelia announced as she showed the recipe book to Ryan, who was waiting anxiously.

"But if Jenny's cat doesn't have a uterus, then how did it have two kittens?" Olive's voice was heard from afar as she got out of her father's car.

"I don't know, sweetheart. Stop torturing me with that," Derek said while unbuckling Arleth's car seat.

"But answer me! Milo could still have kittens!" she insisted.

"No, he can't. Here, hold your sister's bag while I look for the house keys."

Olive took the bag and walked along the stone path to the front door of their house. Ryan, who was hiding behind the bushes in the backyard, sprinted off into the woods as soon as he saw Derek and the girls approach.

Amelia, from her room, heard Olive's unmistakably high-pitched voice and immediately felt the front door of the house open. Damn it. Had they returned earlier than usual, or had she miscalculated the time?

She stuffed the prescription pad into her jacket pocket and hid under her bed. Maybe she could stay there until she was sure she could escape unnoticed.

"Go change out of your clothes and wash your hands before we have lunch, Olive," Derek said, leaving the food bags on the dining table.

"But I have to show Milo the ball we brought him first!"

"You can play with him after lunch. Come on, go change."

"Okay."

The girl obediently went upstairs to her room to change clothes, but as she walked down the hallway, she noticed that Amelia's door was open. That door had been closed for weeks, and no one had gone into that room.

"Milo? You here?" she asked as she carefully stepped inside.

Amelia's heart started to race even faster upon hearing her niece's little footsteps. Why had she entered at that moment?

"Hey, I can hear you, Milo. Come on, come out... Dad bought you a new toy."

Olive knelt on the floor and peeked her head under the bed, believing her cat was hiding there, but was taken by surprise to find her aunt there.

"Aunt Amy? What are you doing here?"

"Shhhh, Olive! Don't tell your dad I'm here!"

"Why are you here?"

"I... I came to look for something under the bed and I'll be leaving soon. Please don't say anything."

"I miss you. I miss playing together," she said, sitting on the floor with a sad expression on her face.

"Well, we can't play right now. Go away."

"When will you come back to live with me?"

"I don't know, I think never."

"Is Ryan's house nicer than ours?"

"No, that's not it. Come on, Olive. Go away."

"Did you know Arley is eating food now? She has two teeth!"

"Wow, that's a lot. Go be with her then."

"No, it's not a lot. She needs to have more. Did you know that humans have thirty-two teeth? That means she still has to grow thirty more teeth!"

"Olive..."

"My mom told me that when I was six months old, I had four teeth, two on top and two on the bottom. And she said you used to feed me sometimes. Do you remember that? Because I don't."

"Yes, I remember, you went crazy for the carrots."

"I don't think Arleth likes carrots that much. She likes squash more. See this I have on my forehead? I got it because I tried to take her spoon while she was eating squash puree. I still haven't forgiven her for that."

"Well, go forgive her now. Come on, improve your relationship with your sister before it's too late and you end up like me."

"Why do you not get along with my dad?"

"It's... it's complicated, Olive."

"Why?"

"Because your dad is a jerk."

"Hey, don't insult him."

"I'm sorry... he may be a great person to you, but to me... he's not a good big brother. I'm not a good sister either..."

"Sometimes I feel like you're my big sister instead of my aunt."

"Why do you feel that way?"

"Because aunts are boring adults, like Aunt Nancy. They only talk about work and boring adult stuff... they also have kids and live in their own homes... but you... you live with me. And you play with me... and you cheat when we play... you never let me win. And you eat my candy and blame it on Milo... and you're much younger than Aunt Nancy or Aunt Kate... they don't hide under the bed..."

"Are you calling me immature, brat?"

"What's that?"

"Olive? Who are you talking to?" Derek asked, confused as he heard the girl talking to herself upstairs.

Hearing that, Amelia quickly crawled out from under the bed to cover her niece's mouth to prevent her from giving her away.

"Mmmt ammelm!" complained the little girl.

"Shhhh! Olive, please, keep this secret," she whispered through clenched teeth.

Worried that his daughter wasn't coming down for lunch or responding, Derek decided to head upstairs to see what was going on.

"Amelia? What are you doing here?" he asked, confused as he entered her room.

"Oh, I... hi Derek. Don't worry, I was leaving. I came to... I came to grab some clothes and..." she said, awkwardly standing up, not realizing that the prescription pad had fallen out of her jacket pocket.

"Why is there a prescription pad on the floor?" he asked, his tone much more annoyed than before. He had already figured out why his sister had come back.

"Oh, I..."

"Olive, I left your sister alone downstairs. Go with her and eat your lunch," he ordered in a firm voice, looking at her seriously.

"But Dad, I was talking to Aunt Amy," she complained.

"Downstairs, now."

The girl nodded, a bit scared by her father's tone, and quickly went down to the kitchen.

"Which way did you come in? Through the window? How dare you come back like this? Are you a criminal now? Breaking into houses?"

"I'm not stealing, I'm looking for something that's mine, in my room."

"Why do you want that prescription pad? What patient are you gonna prescribe medicine for? The drug addict under the dumpster in the alley? Or maybe the one sleeping under the bridge with the rats? I didn't know you had a new practice there."

"It's not what you think..."

"Of course, it's what I think. Did you run out of suppliers? Did you run out of narcotics? Lucky you're a doctor, right? Free prescriptions!" he said sarcastically.

"Derek..."

"You did me a great favor by committing this stupidity of coming here. Now I'll make sure you don't leave again."

"What are you saying?"

"You'll stay here and won't leave until Addison arrives and we decide what to do with you."

"Am I your pet now? What's wrong with you, idiot? You can't keep me here."

"Are you coming to lunch?" he said, ignoring his sister's anger.

"I wanna leave here!"

"Well, I'm sorry, you're not leaving. I have the keys to this house and I won't give them to you. The doors are locked and the only way for you to escape is through this window. Do you want to break your bones jumping from this height? Okay, go ahead. I won't take you to the hospital after that."

"Screw you!"

Amelia slammed the door of her room shut, and Derek sighed in frustration. How was he supposed to act in that moment?

~•~

Addison's day at the hospital wasn't easy either. She had lost a baby at eight months during surgery, and nothing made her sadder than that.

After delivering the devastating news to the baby's family, she went to her office to change her clothes, then headed down to the hospital cafeteria to have lunch with her colleagues.

"Is everything okay?" Callie asked, offering her a french fry.

"I lost a baby today. It was a very complicated case; we knew the chances of survival were slim, but... I don't know. I thought it would go well. I thought he would recover."

"Oh, I'm sorry... babies shouldn't die..." Callie said, giving her a gentle pat on the back.

"I know..."

"Hey, Mark told me Arleth tried her first food yesterday. How did that go?"

"Oh... good. She really liked the squash puree. I think Derek was going to prepare apple puree for her today..."

"How's he handling being a full-time dad at home?"

"Fine... He's a good father; the girls adore him..." she murmured somewhat awkwardly, taking a bit of salad to her mouth.

"Everything okay with Shepherd?" Bailey asked, noticing her discomfort. Addison was terrible at hiding her feelings.

"Oh, yeah... it's just that... it's complicated to explain."

"Complicated?" Callie raised an eyebrow.

"It's just sex, right? Why can't I have sex with my husband of almost eighteen years?" Addison exclaimed impatiently, slamming the lid of her salad.

"Well, there can be a lot of factors..." Bailey said.

"Maybe you're just not attracted to him anymore..." Callie said calmly. "Does he have a lot of scars on his chest? Bruises? Did the surgery affect his erectile function?"

"What? No!" Addison looked at her with confusion.

"I mean, maybe the physical changes..."

"It's not that. Derek is fine. Everything about him is fine. I think the problem is me. I think... I'm scared."

"Scared of what? Didn't Altman give you permission to do it?" Callie questioned.

"Yeah, but..."

"Don't worry, they're men. They're unbreakable when it comes to that; you don't have to be afraid of hurting him."

"I'm not scared about Derek; I'm scared of getting pregnant again!" she said nervously.

"Oh, right, because we live in the Middle Ages and there are no contraceptives," Bailey said ironically.

"In fact, there is no contraceptive method that prevents pregnancy 100%. Condoms break, pills get lost, IUDs fall out... Even tying my tubes gives me a minimal chance of getting pregnant."

"And what do you propose? To start celibacy?" Callie raised an eyebrow.

"No..."

"Just go back on the birth control pills; it's unlikely you'll be that little exception who gets pregnant."

"I can't trust myself with the pills; I got pregnant with Olive because I took them wrong," she sipped her water.

"Make him get a vasectomy then," Bailey suggested.

"Well, it's not a bad option, actually..."

"Oh, I'm so glad my wife is a woman right now," Callie said, laughing.

Addison shook her head and smiled shyly while tracing the outline of the salad container with her finger. She was still sad and couldn't hide it.

"I think we're not just talking about a fear of possible pregnancy preventing you from having sex with your husband, right?" Miranda asked, looking at her with compassion.

"There might be other things..."

"You have to talk to him about it. Whether it's because you're no longer attracted to him, because he doesn't do it well, or because you feel like you're a lesbian now," Callie said, trying to make her laugh.

"I know. It's just that... I haven't talked about it with anyone. And I don't know if I'm ready to do it someday."

"Addie, he's your husband. Whatever you have to tell him, he'll understand. No one in this world knows you better than he knows you, and you know him. You can't keep this kind of secret from him if it's affecting your relationship."

"I know, Callie. But..."

Addison's phone suddenly began to ring, displaying Derek's contact on the screen.

"Speaking of the devil..." Callie joked.

"Der, what's going on? How's Arleth?" Addison asked, somewhat worried. He usually didn't call her during work unless it was an emergency.

"Arleth is fine," he said from the other end of the line. "Can you come home now?"

"You're scaring me. What happened? Does she have a fever again?" she said, quickly getting up from her chair and stepping away from her colleagues.

"No, Addie, I'm telling you Arleth's fine. They're both fine; they're eating right now. It's... it's Amelia."

"What's wrong with Amelia?" she put her hand to her chest, concerned. She was already imagining the worst-case scenarios in her head.

"She's at home."

"Oh..." she sighed with relief.

"I need you to come and let's organize an intervention. I already called Lenny, a therapist who specializes in addictions, and she's on her way. It's now or never; I don't know if I'll see her alive again if I let her go again. I'm serious."

"Oh... okay."

"Tell Mark and Richard to come with you. We could use a bit of help with this..."

"I... okay. We'll be there in half an hour..."

Addison hung up and returned to the table with Callie and Bailey. They could see from her worried expression that something had happened.

"Is everything okay?" Callie asked.

"No... actually... I need one of you to come with me to my house and stay with the girls. It's... it's Amelia."

"Come on, we'll go with you," Bailey said without hesitation.

~•~

"What the heck is this supposed to be, Derek?" Amelia asked as she saw so many people suddenly arriving in the living room.

"Hi, Amelia... I'm Lenny," said a gray-haired woman, kindly approaching Amelia.

"Does she have a brain tumor?" Amelia asked, glaring furiously at her brother. "A giant carcinoma that I need to remove? I hope that's it because I don't understand why she's been brought here and..."

"Amelia, everyone here cares about you," Lenny said, "and I want you to stay here and listen to what we have to say. Can you do that?"

"What is this? An intervention?" she asked, looking at Addison, Richard, Mark, Miranda, and Callie, "An intervention?!"

"Please sit down," Derek said, trying to be patient, "we want to talk with you."

"A FREAKING INTERVENTION! Is this some kind of joke?!" she screamed in fury.

"I think it would be better if I took the kids out of here..." Bailey suggested, seeing how the atmosphere was becoming more and more tense. Addison nodded and internally thanked her for her help.

"Amelia..." Lenny tried to calm her down.

"Doctor! Doctor Shepherd! And I know how an intervention works. You're not the one who talks. You're just the party planner. Which one of you is going to have the guts to tell me something? Who?!" she shouted.

Addison sighed with worry as she watched Bailey take her daughters out through the front door. She hoped Olive wouldn't be frightened; she had never seen her aunt yell like this.

"Okay! A big intervention. I've been intervened," Amelia laughed bitterly and took a few steps to lock herself in the downstairs bathroom, furious.

"Amelia, come out of there..." Derek tried to follow her.

"She's angry. She has every right to be upset about this ambush," Addison said, following Derek down the stairs.

"Addison..."

"I just think this may not be the best way to go about it. It might not have been the best time or place. The kids were here. I don't know how much Olive heard, but she's only six and had to witness your shouting and your sister's..."

"Do you want to do this or not?" Derek interrupted, turning around to face her. He was very upset, and Addison's reasoning irritated him even more.

"I... suppose so..."

"Then we'll do it. It's the perfect time to do it. You can do this. Amelia, come out of the bathroom!" he shouted again.

"To hell with both of you!" she exclaimed angrily from inside.

"If you don't come out, I'll call the police!" Derek said, losing even more of the patience he never had.

"And what are you going to tell them?" Amelia opened the door.

"That you've been writing prescriptions for personal drug use. For you and your group of addicts."

"You don't know what you're talking about."

"Actually, I do. I know. Stop denying it to my face! Stop being such a damn liar! You came all the way here just to do this!" he yelled angrily.

"Okay. Fine... I'll stay for this stupid intervention."

Amelia came out of the bathroom and began to head upstairs to her room, where she locked herself again.

"This isn't working... I told you this wouldn't work," Addison said, following Derek down the stairs, who had gone after his sister, "you can't organize an intervention in the blink of an eye, you can't rush it. You can't force her to stay and..."

"Can you show some authority, Addison? You need to get involved; you can't just watch and let her do whatever she wants. There are times when you'll have to take the helm."

"Now we're using navigation metaphors?" she said, laughing ironically. "What are the qualifications for this? Are you certified to do this?"

"Addison... cooperate. Can you talk to her to get her to come out?"

"I don't want to. I don't want to force her to do something she doesn't want."

"Could you please just do it? She'll only come out if you ask her. She only listens to you."

"Alright. I'll go."

Though she wasn't entirely convinced, Addison approached Amelia's door and knocked softly twice. Of course, she didn't get an immediate response.

"Amelia, it's me, Addison... open the door... please... look, I know this is... can you at least listen to what we have to say?" she asked in a trembling voice.

Amelia suddenly opened the door and stared piercingly into her eyes. Addison could see the fatigue on her face; she was really in a bad place.

"Addison? I maintained my composure when I was young. And then I spent much of my youth in a library studying," she said, looking at her seriously, with a firm tone. "College, medical school, residency, and the title of neurosurgeon! So now I wanted to have some fun after all the tragedies that have happened in my life! I made a mistake and now I'm fine. I thought you would understand that."

"I do understand. But... you're an addict, Amelia..." she said, moving closer to her. Derek was behind, afraid his sister might do something.

"You down a bottle of wine with every meal! You drink when you're happy when you're sad, and when it's Tuesday! And should we have an intervention for your alcoholism?"

"I don't have a problem... that's the difference. I can quit if I want to. I can focus my attention on other things; I can..."

"Do you think I didn't hear all the voicemails you sent me daily while you were drinking yourself into oblivion? While you were crying like crazy in the kitchen? You have a problem with alcohol!"

"I could quit. I haven't drunk in weeks! Since I went back to work, I..."

"Since the shooting, you've been bingeing on wine night after night because you can't tell your husband the truth!"

Addison felt a shiver run down her spine when she heard the words furiously spewed from her sister-in-law's mouth. She slowly turned around, terrified of what she might see when looking at Derek. Their eyes met, and in his confused expression, she could see a mix of surprise and concern.

"You're happy, aren't you? Why are you pretending you're not? If that's what you wanted. To get rid of the unwanted pregnancy. You wanted it so badly that the universe granted it to you. You felt such a huge relief miscarrying it and not having to abort like you did with Mark's. Poor Mark, poor Derek. Poor every man who ever knocked you up.

"What is she talking about?" Derek asked, growing more confused.

Addison's heart was racing, unable to process what had just happened. She tried to seek an explanation in Derek's bewildered gaze, but she was so shaken that the words wouldn't come out.

"YOU CAN'T EVEN TELL YOUR HUSBAND THAT YOU LOST YOUR LAST PREGNANCY!"