Any doctor could remember their first day of internship as one of the most intense, confusing, exhausting, and even terrifying moments of their life. However, Addison could confidently say that her first day had been, in simple words, one of the best—and, at the same time, worst—days of her life. And one that she would never forget.

At that time, Dr. Richard Webber, head of the general surgery department, had welcomed them with an inspiring speech as they walked through the halls of New York Presbyterian Hospital. His firm and confident voice aimed to instill confidence, though the words quickly dissipated in the face of the anxiety that permeated the new interns.

When it came time to assign the weekly rotations, Addison and Derek had been placed under the supervision of Dr. Vivian Carlsmith, head of the obstetrics and gynecology department. An unexpected twist that had sparked whispers and giggles among the other interns. In the locker room, as they prepared for their first rounds, Mark couldn't resist the opportunity to make a sarcastic remark upon seeing Derek in the pink uniform characteristic of the maternity ward.

"Pink suits you. I'd say it brings out your ass," Mark teased, arms crossed as he leaned a shoulder against his locker.

Derek let out an exasperated sigh before slamming his locker shut. "Thanks for the comment, Mark."

"I can't argue with him, honey," Addison chimed in, gathering her hair into a high bun with a mischievous smile on her lips, "you look... hot," her eyes sparkled with a playful glint that caused Derek to flush slightly, though he tried hard to hide it.

Since they had gotten engaged, she hadn't missed an opportunity to flirt with him at the slightest provocation, and Derek hadn't resisted too much in returning the affection. He had approached his fiancée with mock indignation, but his smile betrayed him.

"You're the hot one," he replied in a low, affectionate tone, leaning down to plant a soft kiss on her cheek.

But Addison didn't settle for that. Without caring that their colleagues were present, she had taken his face in her hands and kissed him passionately, as if that kiss could calm the nerves that were eating her inside in light of the new challenge ahead.

Derek had wrapped his arms around her without hesitation, lifting her off the ground with ease as a nervous laugh escaped him.

"Ready to conquer the world, Dr. Montgomery?" he asked with a mix of enthusiasm and fear that she found adorable.

"Of course, as long as you don't let me go, Dr. Shepherd," she replied, laughing while casually wrapping her legs around him.

Derek laughed with her and, without overthinking it, kissed her again with the same euphoria they had shared since he had proposed at the end of medical school. In the past few months, they had both been more cuddly and intense than ever, as if they couldn't get enough of each other. And that day was no exception.

"It was supposed to be a rotation in obstetrics, not sending Addison to see the OB," Mark interrupted from the back of the locker room.

Derek rolled his eyes. "Oh, shut up," he said before gently lowering Addison, though not stepping back too far.

"Such displays of affection are prohibited during working hours. Get yourselves a call room."

Addison let out a short laugh while fixing her bun again. "This may surprise you, Mark, but there are other spaces in this hospital besides call rooms."

"I'm also familiar with the emergency stairs," Mark raised his eyebrows, sporting a devilish grin, "the basement ones especially..."

Before he could continue, Dr. Rothew, the head of trauma, appeared in the doorway. "Sloan, you're with me today. Get ready, the patient in room 6 needs a rectal exam."

Mark let his shoulders drop dramatically. "Seriously? Who decides these rotations? Do they throw darts at a board?"

Addison, holding back laughter, had leaned close enough to whisper to her friend, "Maybe it's a sign you were born to be a proctologist."

"You talking about your dream profession?" he quickly shot back.

"Oh, shut up."

"If you find the stairs, lemme know," Mark couldn't help but smile to himself as he walked out behind Dr. Rothew.

"Doctors," Dr. Carlsmith had entered just as Mark left, "hurry, I need one of you to assist Dr. Davis with the delivery of a patient who just came into the ER; the other comes with me right now to the OR. I have a salpingectomy."

Addison and Derek looked at each other. On one hand, they had the chance to assist in delivery, bringing a life into the world; on the other, the opportunity to participate in a real surgery for the first time. In a real operating room. Both options sounded equally tempting and terrifying. Neither had done either before.

"What do you want to do?" Addison asked.

"Whatever you want, Addie."

"I said hurry! I don't have all day!" Vivian complained impatiently. "Montgomery, delivery room. The patient is already in the expulsion phase. Shepherd, go scrub. OR 3. Now!"

Derek looked at Addison before following his attending. "Whatever you need, call me. Okay?"

She nodded, trying to ignore the knot in her stomach.

"Good luck, Addie. I love you."

"Love you too, Der."

"It's a beautiful day to save lives!" he exclaimed before disappearing down the hallway.

Addison went down the opposite path, heading towards the delivery room where Dr. Amber Davis was preparing everything to start the delivery.

"Montgomery, go scrub and put on sterile gear. You're gonna deliver this baby."

"Me?" she repeated, confused.

"I'll be right here by your side at all times. You can do it. It's an easy delivery."

Addison had nodded without hesitation. Of course, she knew she could do it; she had come prepared for anything that day: an emergency C-section, an ectopic pregnancy, a breech birth. Whatever it was, she had studied all the procedures in medical school.

Once she was ready, she approached Janet, her patient, to introduce herself for the first time ever.

"Hi, Janet. I'm Dr. Montgomery. I was reading your medical file. Is this your third delivery?"

Janet nodded, gasping between contractions as her husband held her hand tightly.

"Yes... my third girl."

"Okay, good. Everything is going perfectly. You're fully dilated. When you feel the urge to push, do it."

The next few minutes became a whirlwind of activity. Janet pushed with strength, guided by the firm yet reassuring instructions of Addison and Dr. Davis. Then, suddenly, there she was: the baby, enveloped in a powerful, healthy cry, full of life.

As soon as she was born, Addison gently took her into her hands with a delicacy she had never experienced. She was small, warm, and slippery. She was perfect. Her cries echoed throughout the room, momentarily stopping the world. Feeling the fragility and miracle of a new life for the first time filled her with indescribable emotion. Never, even in her wildest dreams, had she imagined it would be like this.

"Hi, little one... welcome," Addison whispered, her voice slightly cracking. She subtly handed the baby to Janet, who took her with tears in her eyes.

"Thank you, Dr. Montgomery," the woman said, gratefully holding the intern's hand, "I don't know how to thank you."

Before she could respond, Janet, who just seconds ago had been laughing and crying with joy holding her baby, began to pale abruptly. Her face faded to a ghostly white. Her eyes slowly closed, and her breathing, which had been steady, became erratic, almost absent, as if her body were gradually disconnecting.

"Code blue!" Dr. Davis exclaimed in a firm tone, cutting through the air as soon as the cardiac monitor began to emit its insistent alarm. "I need help here, code blue!"

A nurse moved quickly to take the baby from Janet's arms and carried her out of the room, ensuring the newborn was safe, while another nurse led the father away. Addison, however, remained frozen in place, caught in the scene unfolding before her as if she were watching a strange and terrifying dream. Everything around her began to feel distant, as if the sounds and images were muffled, submerged under a dense layer of water.

The emergency team quickly entered with the crash cart. The voices became a mix of clear and frantic instructions as hands moved with surgical precision over the patient. However, she couldn't fully process it all. She still held Janet's hand, gripping it tightly, as if physical contact could keep her connected to life, as if letting go would mean giving up on her.

"Charge to 50! Clear!" Dr. Davis ordered with determination, her voice echoing above the chaos.

But Addison didn't hear the last word. She remained there, motionless, her fingers still intertwined with Janet's. Her mind, stunned by the rapid events, didn't register the imminent danger. When the paddles of the defibrillator made contact with the patient's chest, the electric current coursed through the young intern as well, running through her body like a stinging whip.

"Dr. Montgomery, step back!" someone shouted, but it was already too late.

The impact was brutal. Addison felt a searing heat rise up her arm and spread across her chest, a sharp pain that took her breath away. Her vision blurred instantly, and her body, unable to resist, collapsed to the floor.

Everything went dark.

"Addie, come on, wake up!"

"Addie, don't leave me!"

"Addison!"

In the distance, she could hear Derek's voice calling for her desperately. He was shouting and shouting, but she couldn't respond. Her body wouldn't allow it. It was as if she were lost in a dark cave, and her fiancé was on the other side of an impenetrable wall.

Half an hour had passed before Addison regained consciousness. Her vision slowly returned, fragmented, while the pain in her arm and chest reminded her of what had happened.

"What happened? Where's Janet?" was the first thing she asked.

"Fine, she's fine. They managed to revive her, and now she's resting."

"Where am I? What happened to me?"

"You got electrocuted and passed out. Addie, why didn't you let go?"

"I... I don't know."

"You could've had terrible consequences; you could have suffered permanent damage to your heart or your nervous system, or..."

"I know. But none of that happened... I'm fine, honey. What are you doing here, by the way? And your surgery?"

"Dr. Carlsmith let me leave early to be with you."

"You didn't have to skip your first surgery for me."

"Well, technically I was just observing. It's not like they let me do anything. Anyway, it was really boring. I don't like this specialty."

"Hmm... you're saying that just so I don't feel bad."

"Of course not."

"Hmm..."

"And your delivery? I heard you delivered a baby girl with your own hands."

"Yeah... they named her Lisa. It was... beautiful..." she replied with a tired voice but filled with emotion, "it was beautiful."

"Great way to start your internship, huh?" he said, getting up from the couch to lovingly kiss his fiancée's forehead.

"Fortunately, I didn't have to do a rectal exam."

Derek laughed, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I love you, Addie. Don't scare me like that again."

"I love you too, Der."

Addison spent the next 24 hours hospitalized for precaution, undergoing tests and monitoring, while her fiancé never left her side. After that day, she never experienced that feeling of darkness and confusion again... until the night before, when her body completely shut down once more.

The last thing she remembered was talking to Amelia in her bathroom, and then suddenly... she wasn't anymore. Now, as she opened her eyes, she found herself semi-reclined in a hospital bed.

The room was dim. It wasn't dawn yet, but a faint light from the hallway was filtering through the window of the door. To her left, an IV was connected to her arm, with the bag hanging from a metal stand, almost empty. Addison squinted, trying to read the medication label, but the letters were blurry. Everything felt hazy. Her body felt heavy as if every cell were still waking up from a deep, involuntary sleep.

The sheets covering her were a pale pink, soft to the touch but... strange. They didn't belong to any place she could identify. The hospital gown she was wearing didn't help either; it was pink, with a butterfly embroidered in one corner, but without logos or brands to give her a clue. This place clearly wasn't the practice. Nor St. Ambrose Hospital. Not Seattle Grace, nor a New York hospital; none that she had been to before. At least not in the inpatient wing. This was different, and that lack of familiarity was causing a knot of anxiety in her chest.

She slowly turned her head to the right, where a small sofa was placed against the wall. Someone was lying there, sleeping with their back to her, covered with a gray blanket that left one leg exposed. A blue scrubs was sticking out, the kind worn by surgeons. For a moment, her heart skipped a beat.

"Derek?" she whispered, her voice rough and hoarse, almost inaudible, as if her throat refused to cooperate after being silent for so long.

The figure on the couch moved quickly upon hearing her. The blanket fell to the floor as the person stood up and approached her.

"Hey, Addie. How are you feeling?"

It wasn't Derek. Addison blinked several times, trying to focus her blurry vision. The silhouette in front of her gradually became clearer, and Amelia's tired yet clearly relieved face appeared under the dim light.

Addison looked at her with a mix of confusion and disappointment. For a moment, she had thought her ex-husband was there, taking care of her, just like he had the first time she was admitted. But he wasn't... it was just Amelia.

"How are you feeling, Addie?" Amelia asked again, cautiously leaning slightly toward the bed. "We're at Santa Monica Clinic."

"Did I lose it?" Addison asked bluntly.

Amelia shook her head immediately, placing a warm hand on her forearm to reassure her.

"No, Addie. The baby is fine. They did an ultrasound as soon as you were admitted, and everything is perfectly normal. The problem now is you."

"Me?" she asked, frowning in confusion.

"You had a severe case of dehydration," her tone was a mix of reproach and concern. "Addison, you really scared me. You were unconscious for four hours!"

"I... don't know what to say. The last thing I remember is that we were in my bathroom... we were talking about the baby and then... I don't know. I don't remember anything else."

"Of course, you don't remember anything; your body was completely collapsed. Between the vomiting and the lack of fluids, you became unstable. God, for a moment I thought I was gonna lose you, Addie."

"Come on, Amelia, you're a doctor. You can't get scared over these silly things when you literally open up brains for a living," she said with a teasing tone, but her sister-in-law wasn't amused at all.

"I thought I was going to lose you," she repeated seriously. "I had to call an ambulance because you weren't responding!"

The sound of the door opening interrupted the moment. Dr. Reilly entered briskly, holding a clipboard and Addison's medical history.

"Well, when I said I wanted to see you soon, I clearly didn't mean this..." he joked as he crossed the room. He looked at her with genuine concern. "How are you? How are you feeling?"

She rolled her eyes at his approach. Right. She had an OB at Santa Monica Clinic. That's why she was admitted there. In a way, she was grateful. Because if it had been at St. Ambrose, all her colleagues would have been behind the door eavesdropping.

"I'm fine," she murmured as he began to examine her.

Jake turned on the lights, took the pulse oximeter hanging by the side of the bed, and gently placed it on Addison's index finger to measure her saturation. At the same time, he pulled out his stethoscope and placed it on her chest to listen to her heartbeat.

"Your heart rate is a bit elevated, but that's normal considering your condition. To compensate for the low blood pressure and maintain blood circulation, the heart beats faster."

"Okay, get to the point. What's going on with my baby?" Addison interrupted. She tried to use a firm tone, but instead, a fragile and fearful tone accompanied her words.

Jake set the stethoscope aside and gave her a reassuring smile.

"The results of the fetal DNA test came back, and everything is perfect. It's exactly what we would expect from a strong, healthy fetus."

Addison took a deep breath, but her face still showed doubt.

"Is everything okay? Is the baby okay?" she repeated, as if not trusting what she was hearing.

"Yes, your baby is doing very well," Jake said in a firmer yet warm tone. "Do you want to check for yourself?"

Addison stretched out a hand, and he handed her the clipboard. She began to read aloud as her eyes quickly scanned the document.

"Autosomal aneuploidies... Trisomy 21, negative; Trisomy 18, negative; Trisomy 13, negative; Monosomy X, negative; Triploidy, negative... Karyotype 46, XX... Microdeletion syndromes: deletion of chromosome 22q11.2, negative, syndrome of..."

"Whoa, whoa, wait a damn minute," Amelia interrupted from across the room, her eyes wide open. "Did I hear correctly, or did you just say karyotype 46, XX? It's a girl?"

Addison looked up from the sheet for a moment, blinking quickly as if she couldn't process the information. She glanced back at the report and read the paragraph more thoroughly.

"The observed chromosomal pattern shows findings consistent with a karyotype 46, XX. No specific sequences of chromosome Y are identified..." Her voice broke at the end, and she looked up at Amelia with tears rapidly welling up. "Oh my God..."

"It's a girl," Jake smiled broadly, crossing his arms while nodding.

"I knew it!" Amelia exclaimed, raising her arms with excitement. "I knew Derek was gonna have a girl!"

Addison dropped the clipboard onto the sheet, covering her mouth with both hands. A muffled laugh escaped her lips, mixed with sobs. "A girl," she repeated as if the words were too good to be true.

"Derek owes me ten dollars and a can of Coke. Believe me, it'll be the most satisfying Coke I'll ever drink," Amelia assured, rubbing her palms together.

Addison bit her lower lip, unable to stop smiling. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh, an old bet we made when we were kids. He said his first child would be a boy, and I said that was impossible. Always, without exception, the first baby of a Shepherd is a girl. Just look at the facts," she smiled, pointing at her sister-in-law's belly. "Oh, I'm gonna take her to Paris and get her a Little Black Dress in front of the Eiffel Tower!"

"Everything is fine with the baby," Jake interrupted, gently cutting Amelia's enthusiasm. "The NIPT test results are normal, her heartbeat is strong and steady, her weight and size are appropriate for her gestational age; the placenta and amniotic fluid are in perfect condition. But I can't say the same for you, Addison."

The smile on Addison's face faded instantly.

"You have a moderate degree of hyperemesis gravidarum that caused this dehydration," he continued, his tone not harsh but firm. "Your tests show dangerously low levels of potassium, sodium, and chloride in your blood; there is a buildup of ketones in your urine, and your blood pressure is below normal. Also, you show dryness in your mucous membranes and skin, clear signs of severe dehydration. To stabilize you, we've placed an IV line with electrolytes and glucose. We've also administered 8 mg of ondansetron IV slowly every eight hours to control the vomiting."

"Okay."

Jake watched her for a moment before continuing, making sure she was listening.

"I know you already know this, but I still have to tell you, this complication can be very dangerous. Dehydration can be very dangerous in your condition. It could reduce blood flow to the uterus and placenta, putting your baby at risk. You were lucky to faint near your sister-in-law because a fall like that could..."

"Okay, I get it," she replied defensively. "I'm aware of all that, but let me disagree."

"Addison..." Amelia murmured.

"I don't think I have hyperemesis gravidarum. I think it's too serious a diagnosis for simple dehydration."

"Simple? You were unconscious for like four hours!" Amelia protested angrily. "Does that seem simple to you?"

"No, but I know why it happened. Last night I performed two cesarean sections, I slept half an hour between one surgery and the other. Then I went to the practice without breakfast because I was nauseous; I saw patients until noon. I had a vanilla cupcake for lunch, it made me sick, and I vomited. In the afternoon, I continued seeing patients until I was called in for a consultation at St. Ambrose, I was still nauseous so I didn't eat anything. Then I returned home, talked on the phone with Pete about Violet's medical leave while eating an apple, and I vomited again. Plus, it's May, it's too hot. I didn't hydrate enough and I fainted. It's not that big of a deal."

Jake let out a brief sigh, maintaining his composure.

"You are admitting out loud that you're not eating properly. You're not respecting the timing or the minimum amounts a person should be ingesting daily," he said with a serious expression.

"It's really hard to eat if you know it's all going to end up in the toilet half an hour later. Besides, I don't do that every day."

"She does it every day," Amelia said, looking at Jake with concern.

"Addison, I think it's unnecessary to tell you that if you don't make a change in your habits and routine, you're gonna put your health and your unborn daughter's health at risk."

"I know..." her voice trembled, and for the first time, she lowered her gaze. "The last thing I want is to hurt her, it's just that... I feel so bad. Days pass, problems multiply. The second trimester arrived almost unnoticed, I'm starting to notice how my body is changing, but... I don't feel better. I don't see any improvements. I think I've developed a resistance to the medication because it's not working anymore, I..." she paused briefly to catch her breath. "I know my symptoms match hyperemesis gravidarum, and I know it's serious. I'm worried about it, it's just that... I don't know what to do. I don't know how to control it. And I feel useless for that... it's absurd, don't you think? Every day I tell my pregnant patients what they need to do with their bodies and their babies. I know the instructions, the procedures, the medications by heart, but I... can't follow my own advice!"

Addison could no longer hold back and broke into tears. The tears soaked her face, her shoulders trembled, and she struggled to breathe between sobs.

"Calm down, Addie," Amelia quickly took her hand and tried to soothe her. "Just calm down."

Jake frowned with concern and gave her a moment to let it all out before speaking.

"You know that, as your doctor, I can easily manage hyperemesis gravidarum before it gets worse. I can increase your medication dosage, switch you from one drug to another repeatedly, I could even hospitalize you for weeks if necessary... but none of that will work if you don't address the emotional factor that's causing all of this."

Addison blinked, confused, while she dried her face with a tissue.

"Excuse me?"

Jake sighed and moved a little closer.

"Addison, the body and mind don't work separately, especially not during pregnancy. Everything you're feeling—your anxiety, your stress, your emotional exhaustion—your body processes it as if it were a real threat. And when that happens, it reacts."

She looked away. She knew he was right, but admitting it out loud made her feel even more vulnerable.

"You know this: constant stress raises your cortisol levels, affects your blood pressure, your digestive system, your sleep, even how your uterus receives the oxygen and nutrients your baby needs. And if your body is in a constant state of alert, no medication will be enough. You need to find a way to calm down, to slow down. You need to talk to someone about what you're going through."

"Oh, you have no idea what I'm going through," she let out a sarcastic laugh amidst her tears.

"No, I don't. But I could help you in some way if that's what you want. You can trust me."

Addison shook her head. Maybe his face seemed familiar to her, but she hardly knew him. She didn't have enough trust to discuss her problems with him.

"I wish it were that easy."

"I'm not saying it's easy; on the contrary. I'm aware of how difficult it is to carry a pregnancy. It's not easy to deal with the symptoms, the hormonal and physical changes; the uncertainty, the constant fears, the anxiety that this huge change in your life brings. Because your whole world will change. Of course, it's not easy."

Addison returned his gaze.

"As a doctor, I like to support my patients not only from the strictly medical side but also from a humanistic perspective," he continued. "I care about your overall well-being. That's why I want you to know that from my position, I will always try to offer you my support so you can feel calm, comfortable, and enjoy this stage. After all, it won't last forever. You've already passed the first twelve weeks; in less than six months, you'll have your little girl in your arms, and this unbearable nausea that torment you now won't even be a memory."

She nodded, with a new wave of tears forming at the corners of her eyes. This time they weren't out of frustration; they were out of emotion.

"Thank you," she whispered timidly.

Jake returned a small smile and headed for the door.

"I'll stop by to see you at noon to check on your progress. Okay? Keep resting."

~•~

A girl.

Addison was going to have a girl.

Ever since Jake had left, the thought hadn't stopped swirling in her mind, growing, expanding, taking on a weight she hadn't anticipated. A girl completely changed the landscape.

It wasn't that she would have preferred a boy; it wasn't that she really cared about the sex of her baby, but there was something about the girl word that shook her in a different way. Something visceral. Something deep.

Because Addison wasn't just going to be a mother. Addison was now going to be the mother of a daughter.

Of a girl who would grow up looking at her, absorbing everything, learning from every gesture, every word, every mistake. A girl who would inherit more than just her eye color or skin tone; a girl who, perhaps, would share her quirks, her fears, her insecurities.

Because it wasn't just about learning to change diapers or dealing with sleepless nights. Raising a girl meant teaching her how to navigate a world that, more often than she would like to admit, would be unfair to her just for being a woman. It meant equipping her with enough strength so that no one could break her, but also with enough gentleness so that she wouldn't feel like she had to become stone.

It meant making her believe she could be anything she wanted, even if Addison herself wasn't always sure she believed it.

It meant teaching her about love. About respect. About her own worth. And she couldn't help but wonder... how could she raise a girl to feel strong and brave when she herself felt so fragile, so cowardly at that moment?

Sooner or later, that girl would ask difficult questions that she might not know how to answer, like what happened to her father or why her mother's life was so dysfunctional. Why had they divorced? Why had she cheated? Why didn't they live together as a family? What happened at her grandmother's funeral? What was her grandmother like? Why did her mother not have a relationship with her family? Why did she live alone in Los Angeles? Would she still have a job when the girl was born? Given all the issues at hand... what circumstances would she be in to welcome her?

Addison felt a knot form in her throat. Lying in that hospital bed all day made it impossible not to overthink. One question led to another, creating an uncontrollable ball of inquiries. An uncontrollable ball of anxiety and uncertainty.

She sighed and looked down at her belly, gently sliding a hand over the fabric of her hospital gown.

"You're a girl..." she murmured softly as if she still needed to convince herself, "you're Mommy's little girl... and... we're going to be okay. I promise you..."

"Hmm, I don't wanna scare you," Amelia said from the accompanying sofa, eating the vanilla dessert that Addison had rejected, "but Charlotte wants to kill you."

The orange light of the sunset entered through the room's window while both of them finished dinner, after spending the whole day there.

Addison turned towards her, dropping the fork onto the tray with a sharp clatter.

"Did you tell her I'm here?!"

"No. That's exactly why she wants to kill you."

"Okay, don't tell her. I'll talk to her later."

"Oh, sure, yeah. Later. Like everything else. You had a surgery scheduled this morning and didn't make a peep. The patient and the surgical team are angry with you and complained to Charlotte. So now the chief of staff is calling me to ask what the hell is going on with you. And you know what? You could avoid all this mess if you just told people you're pregnant."

Addison looked away.

"How much longer are you going to wait?" she insisted, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees, her gaze fixed on her, "you've already passed the three-month mark, they told you everything is fine with the baby, there's no risk of miscarriage. Why the hell aren't you saying anything?"

"Amelia..." Addison whispered, closing her eyes.

"Amelia what? Damn it, Addison! Every single day you let pass makes this worse. Derek's gonna freak out when he finds out he made a damn baby across the country and you stayed silent! Do you realize how insane that is? Why the hell haven't you told him yet?… Hey, what's wrong?

Addison shook her head, trying to regulate her breathing, but her chest was rising and falling too quickly.

"What's wrong, what do you feel?" Amelia stood up, concerned. "What's wrong?!"

Her skin started to flush, first at her neck and then creeping up to her cheeks. A burning heat coursed through her from the inside out, as if she'd been set on fire from her chest. Her forehead began to bead with sweat, and her breathing became erratic.

"Addison!"

"I feel smothered. It's... it's a side effect of ondansetron," she managed to say between gasps. "Please... open the window..."

Amelia rushed to the window and swung it open, letting the fresh air flood the room.

"Damn it, damn it, damn it..." she muttered, turning to see her sister-in-law, who still had her eyes closed, one hand resting on her chest, trying to calm herself.

Seconds turned into an eternity. Addison felt her heart pounding hard against her sternum as if it wanted to escape her chest. But slowly, the circulating air began to take effect. Her heart rate decreased, the burning on her skin subsided, and her body felt less constricted.

"I'm fine. It's a common side effect... I... I'm fine," she sighed, rubbing her face, still dazed.

"This can't go on like this," Amelia murmured, pulling her phone out of her pocket.

"What?" Addison looked up. "What are you doing?"

"What you should've done weeks ago," she said without looking at her. I'm calling Derek."

"No!"

But Amelia had already pressed the contact on the screen, and before Addison could react, Derek's confused voice came through the line.

"Amy...? What's going on?" he said.

"Derek, listen, I'm with Addison at the hospital, she's..."

In a desperate, instinctive move, Addison practically leaped from the bed and lunged at Amelia, snatching the phone from her hands with superhuman speed before she could finish her sentence.

"Hey!" Amelia yelled, struggling to get it back. But Addison turned her back and abruptly shut off the device, so he couldn't call back.

"Are you out of your mind, Amelia?!" she gasped, looking at her incredulously. "What the hell were you about to do?!"

"Tell my brother he's going to be a father, like someone with half a brain, and do you a damn favor!"

"You have no right to tell him anything!" Addison shouted, feeling her heart pound against her ribs. "I'm the mother, and I will tell him when I feel it's the right time. You can't get involved in this, Amelia!"

"I can because I'm the only person who puts up with you, the only one by your side 24 damn hours a day, watching you destroy yourself! I'm tired of seeing you like this, Addison! You don't eat, you don't sleep, you fall apart every few minutes, and you still act like you can handle this by yourself when clearly you can't! Don't you think this hospitalization was the breaking point?"

"Enough, Amelia! Don't get involved in this!"

"While you were unconscious, you kept calling for Derek!"

The phrase exploded in the air like a bomb. Addison fell silent for a moment, feeling the heat rise back to her cheeks. This time it was from embarrassment.

"That's… that's not true."

"Of course it is. 'Der, Der,' 'Derek, where are you?', 'Der, don't go,' blah blah blah," she mocked, imitating her sister-in-law's voice with exaggerated and dramatic expressions. "You wanted Derek to come!"

"I... of course I didn't."

"Of course you did. You miss him and want him to be with you, but on top of being proud, you don't have the guts to ask him to come, to tell him you're pregnant with his damn baby! I'm fed up with this game of 'I'll do it when I'm ready,' because you're never ready!"

Addison closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and tried to regain control.

"Promise me you will never try to tell him without my permission again."

"Addison, I'm telling you this is to help you, damn it. Dr. Reilly told you, you need to talk to get this burden off your chest. This secret is destroying your health."

"Promise me!"

Amelia rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance.

"Okay, I'll stay quiet for the next six months, and when I see him in the delivery room, all confused, I'm going to say, 'Wow, Derek, a baby just appeared out of nowhere and it's yours!'"

"Promise it!"

"I promise!" Amelia yelled, storming out of the room in a fury, leaving Addison even more dazed than before.