How Far We've Come(5/?)
Chapter 5: A Hard Day's Journey
Pairing: Mark/Addison
Disclaimer: If I owned them, there would be a Maddison baby. Sadly, I do not.
Summary: Because it was only a matter of time before he chased after her again...
The phone in her office jolting her from the first peaceful rest she’s had in days, Addison yawns when she answers, trying to rid the tired sound from her voice.
“Doctor Addison Montgomery.”
“I told him,” the woman declares. “I told him and he smiled and laughed and we’re looking for a house.”
“I told you he’d be happy.” Addison smiles, so glad that things are going right for her best friend. Someone needs good and happy at the moment and Callie deserves it. “How do you feel about making a move to L.A.?” she jokes though the underlining seriousness is definitely present.
“How do you feel about making a move back to Seattle?” Callie counters.
The fact that Addison says nothing for over a minute is telling and when she does speak, it’s strictly to change the subject. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. Tired and nauseous but good.”
Addison can hear the excitement in her best friend’s voice. “I feel so much better now that he knows. I think I can actually do this. And how are dealing with Mark?”
“I’m not,” Addison simply states. “We had a fight a few days ago. He didn’t break our bet.”
“I know that,” Callie almost laughs. “Everyone knows that.”
“How?” she’s even more frustrated now. “How could everyone know and not me?”
“Because he was too afraid of screwing up his last chance with you. There’s no way he would have cheated and I’ve had to listen to the nurses whine about the lack of McSteamy flirting. Revolting, really.”
Addison doesn’t know what she can say, so she simply tells Callie she’ll call her back and puts the phone back on its charger, she lets her face fall into her hands and can’t believe she missed how much devotion he had actually put into another chance.
-------------------------------------------
Addison’s only patient of the day consists of Chelsey Henderson, a 40 year old woman previously diagnosed with preeclampsia now in her sixth month of pregnancy.
“You were diagnosed with preeclampsia two weeks ago?” Addison asks, looking at her patient’s files and though the diagnosis is clearly printed on the paper, she needs to hear it because she knows the complications associated with toxemia and the fact that the longer the pregnancy continues, the higher the fatality rate for both mother and child.
Chelsey sighs. “Yeah. She’s making this difficult on me.”
They both smile as Ms. Henderson places a hand on her protruding abdomen.
“While we’re waiting on your test results, let’s have a look at her,” Addison smiles, not willing to upset a woman that seems so blissfully happy. “Have you had any problems, pain, cramping, bleeding?”
“Some pain in my back and abdomen. No bleeding though” she answers as the heartbeat of the infant fills the room and while Chelsey Henderson seems delighted by the rhythmic beating, Addison knows that it should certainly be faster than what it is.
Addison searches the ultrasound for the culprit of the weaker heartbeat and hopes that Dell is rushing the results as she told him to.
“Do you have children?” Ms. Henderson breaks the silence.
“No,” It’s Addison’s turn to sigh now.
“You will.” Chelsey seems certain. “I remember that feeling. I didn’t think it would happen and now I have Bethany.”
Addison takes a sharp intake of breath as she sees the placenta, separated from the uterine wall. It isn’t a complete tear, so as Addison explains what is happening and Chelsey and the baby are attached to heart monitors and an IV is administered, she’s certain she can stop the condition from worsening and get baby Beth’s heart rate back into the normal range.
St. Ambrose is on standby though and unfortunately, three hours later, Addison cannot wait any longer as both mother and daughter’s heart rates take a drastic drop and they’re rushed to the hospital.
“You’ll take care of her?” she pleads with Addison as she is wheeled into O.R. 2 where Bethany Leigh Henderson will be born. “She’s my life.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Addison promises and since she doesn’t in fact say that she promises she’ll save baby Beth, she doesn’t think she’s broken one of the medical cardinal rules.
Despite the knowledge that at twenty-four weeks, Bethany’s lungs will be severely under-developed and that an infant born at this point has only a fifty percent chance of life at best, she is determined to do everything in her power to bring the girl into the world and eventually pass her to her mother to raise.
Good people deserve good things: a whispered mantra that constantly repeats in her head, a reminder that she deserves every bit of karma that comes back.
Bethany Leigh is welcomed into the world, two minutes after Chelsey was put under. The infant doesn’t cry and even though Addison knew she wouldn’t, she still expected the loud noise to penetrate the still, sterile room. Her skin is translucent and Addison is afraid of what her patient will think when she wakes up to see the tiny baby, veins visible, unmoving.
After resuscitation on the not breathing baby is performed and successful, a blood gas analysis shows what was feared and it is established that the premature girl has a severe case of Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. The odds of her survival continue to plummet and she’s immediately placed on a machine to both deliver oxygen and keep her lungs inflated.
Chelsey Henderson wakes up with “Beth” on her lips and Addison has to explain the extent of the girl’s medical condition, but she stops listening after “the next twelve hours are critical” leave the doctor’s mouth.
It goes against everything Addison Montgomery has ever learned in her years of medical experience, but she’s wheeling a woman who has had major surgery only five hours before to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to peer into the incubator at the tiny pink bundle hooked to monitors, small body moving up and down though not of her own accord, aided by the machine breathing for her.
“She’s all I have,” Chelsey stares at the small girl. “She was my last chance. I got sick of waiting for that guy. All I need is her.”
Addison places a reassuring arm on her shoulder.
-------------------------------------
Sitting on the stairs in the exact place she sat when she learned of her infertility, Addison cries again, this time over the loss of an actual child, something so much harder to grasp than the idea of potential children. She held this girl in her arms, looked into her mother’s eyes and said she’d save her and now she’s a complete failure.
Only an hour after Chelsey Henderson laid eyes on her daughter, did she hemorrhage into her brain, and all hope was soon lost, her mother deciding it best to simply let the small girl go, her brain non-functional now.
Addison holds her breath to stop the small whimpers that leave her lips when she hears the creak of a door. She doesn’t turn around, hoping they’ll simply turn and leave and she won’t have to explain her tear-stained cheeks. She isn’t that lucky though and before she knows what is happening, she’s been pulled into strong arms and her head is tilted up towards the slate eyes that bore into her own. He’s now rubbing soft circles on her back and she hears a whispered, “Breathe” and she doesn’t realize until she’s released a breath, that her own chest hasn’t moved in almost a minute.
“Breathe, Addi,” He continues to soothe her and notices that she’s biting on her lower lip, a sign that she’s holding in emotions that need to be in the open. “I heard.” he simply whispers and when the audible gasp slips from her mouth, he removes his arm from around her and uses both hands to hold her head in place. “It’s not your fault.”
He sees her shield begin to weaken and within a minute, she’s in his lap, and his shoulder is drenched in tears, so he shifts her and offers his dry one in its place, which prompts a new set of water to pour from her eyes.
Ten minutes later, Addison is sure she’s dehydrated from the crying she’s done and when she assures Mark that she is finished being dramatic, he simply smiles, and wipes the remaining lines from her face with his thumbs before placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Good,” he simply says. “I was afraid I would be cleaning an Addison puddle off of the stairs.” He’s proud of himself when he sees the smile he loves make its way across her face.
Pairing: Mark/Addison
Disclaimer: If I owned them, there would be a Maddison baby. Sadly, I do not.
Summary: Because it was only a matter of time before he chased after her again...
The phone in her office jolting her from the first peaceful rest she’s had in days, Addison yawns when she answers, trying to rid the tired sound from her voice.
“Doctor Addison Montgomery.”
“I told him,” the woman declares. “I told him and he smiled and laughed and we’re looking for a house.”
“I told you he’d be happy.” Addison smiles, so glad that things are going right for her best friend. Someone needs good and happy at the moment and Callie deserves it. “How do you feel about making a move to L.A.?” she jokes though the underlining seriousness is definitely present.
“How do you feel about making a move back to Seattle?” Callie counters.
The fact that Addison says nothing for over a minute is telling and when she does speak, it’s strictly to change the subject. “How are you feeling?”
“Good. Tired and nauseous but good.”
Addison can hear the excitement in her best friend’s voice. “I feel so much better now that he knows. I think I can actually do this. And how are dealing with Mark?”
“I’m not,” Addison simply states. “We had a fight a few days ago. He didn’t break our bet.”
“I know that,” Callie almost laughs. “Everyone knows that.”
“How?” she’s even more frustrated now. “How could everyone know and not me?”
“Because he was too afraid of screwing up his last chance with you. There’s no way he would have cheated and I’ve had to listen to the nurses whine about the lack of McSteamy flirting. Revolting, really.”
Addison doesn’t know what she can say, so she simply tells Callie she’ll call her back and puts the phone back on its charger, she lets her face fall into her hands and can’t believe she missed how much devotion he had actually put into another chance.
-------------------------------------------
Addison’s only patient of the day consists of Chelsey Henderson, a 40 year old woman previously diagnosed with preeclampsia now in her sixth month of pregnancy.
“You were diagnosed with preeclampsia two weeks ago?” Addison asks, looking at her patient’s files and though the diagnosis is clearly printed on the paper, she needs to hear it because she knows the complications associated with toxemia and the fact that the longer the pregnancy continues, the higher the fatality rate for both mother and child.
Chelsey sighs. “Yeah. She’s making this difficult on me.”
They both smile as Ms. Henderson places a hand on her protruding abdomen.
“While we’re waiting on your test results, let’s have a look at her,” Addison smiles, not willing to upset a woman that seems so blissfully happy. “Have you had any problems, pain, cramping, bleeding?”
“Some pain in my back and abdomen. No bleeding though” she answers as the heartbeat of the infant fills the room and while Chelsey Henderson seems delighted by the rhythmic beating, Addison knows that it should certainly be faster than what it is.
Addison searches the ultrasound for the culprit of the weaker heartbeat and hopes that Dell is rushing the results as she told him to.
“Do you have children?” Ms. Henderson breaks the silence.
“No,” It’s Addison’s turn to sigh now.
“You will.” Chelsey seems certain. “I remember that feeling. I didn’t think it would happen and now I have Bethany.”
Addison takes a sharp intake of breath as she sees the placenta, separated from the uterine wall. It isn’t a complete tear, so as Addison explains what is happening and Chelsey and the baby are attached to heart monitors and an IV is administered, she’s certain she can stop the condition from worsening and get baby Beth’s heart rate back into the normal range.
St. Ambrose is on standby though and unfortunately, three hours later, Addison cannot wait any longer as both mother and daughter’s heart rates take a drastic drop and they’re rushed to the hospital.
“You’ll take care of her?” she pleads with Addison as she is wheeled into O.R. 2 where Bethany Leigh Henderson will be born. “She’s my life.”
“I’ll do what I can,” Addison promises and since she doesn’t in fact say that she promises she’ll save baby Beth, she doesn’t think she’s broken one of the medical cardinal rules.
Despite the knowledge that at twenty-four weeks, Bethany’s lungs will be severely under-developed and that an infant born at this point has only a fifty percent chance of life at best, she is determined to do everything in her power to bring the girl into the world and eventually pass her to her mother to raise.
Good people deserve good things: a whispered mantra that constantly repeats in her head, a reminder that she deserves every bit of karma that comes back.
Bethany Leigh is welcomed into the world, two minutes after Chelsey was put under. The infant doesn’t cry and even though Addison knew she wouldn’t, she still expected the loud noise to penetrate the still, sterile room. Her skin is translucent and Addison is afraid of what her patient will think when she wakes up to see the tiny baby, veins visible, unmoving.
After resuscitation on the not breathing baby is performed and successful, a blood gas analysis shows what was feared and it is established that the premature girl has a severe case of Neonatal Respiratory Distress Syndrome. The odds of her survival continue to plummet and she’s immediately placed on a machine to both deliver oxygen and keep her lungs inflated.
Chelsey Henderson wakes up with “Beth” on her lips and Addison has to explain the extent of the girl’s medical condition, but she stops listening after “the next twelve hours are critical” leave the doctor’s mouth.
It goes against everything Addison Montgomery has ever learned in her years of medical experience, but she’s wheeling a woman who has had major surgery only five hours before to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit to peer into the incubator at the tiny pink bundle hooked to monitors, small body moving up and down though not of her own accord, aided by the machine breathing for her.
“She’s all I have,” Chelsey stares at the small girl. “She was my last chance. I got sick of waiting for that guy. All I need is her.”
Addison places a reassuring arm on her shoulder.
-------------------------------------
Sitting on the stairs in the exact place she sat when she learned of her infertility, Addison cries again, this time over the loss of an actual child, something so much harder to grasp than the idea of potential children. She held this girl in her arms, looked into her mother’s eyes and said she’d save her and now she’s a complete failure.
Only an hour after Chelsey Henderson laid eyes on her daughter, did she hemorrhage into her brain, and all hope was soon lost, her mother deciding it best to simply let the small girl go, her brain non-functional now.
Addison holds her breath to stop the small whimpers that leave her lips when she hears the creak of a door. She doesn’t turn around, hoping they’ll simply turn and leave and she won’t have to explain her tear-stained cheeks. She isn’t that lucky though and before she knows what is happening, she’s been pulled into strong arms and her head is tilted up towards the slate eyes that bore into her own. He’s now rubbing soft circles on her back and she hears a whispered, “Breathe” and she doesn’t realize until she’s released a breath, that her own chest hasn’t moved in almost a minute.
“Breathe, Addi,” He continues to soothe her and notices that she’s biting on her lower lip, a sign that she’s holding in emotions that need to be in the open. “I heard.” he simply whispers and when the audible gasp slips from her mouth, he removes his arm from around her and uses both hands to hold her head in place. “It’s not your fault.”
He sees her shield begin to weaken and within a minute, she’s in his lap, and his shoulder is drenched in tears, so he shifts her and offers his dry one in its place, which prompts a new set of water to pour from her eyes.
Ten minutes later, Addison is sure she’s dehydrated from the crying she’s done and when she assures Mark that she is finished being dramatic, he simply smiles, and wipes the remaining lines from her face with his thumbs before placing a kiss on her forehead.
“Good,” he simply says. “I was afraid I would be cleaning an Addison puddle off of the stairs.” He’s proud of himself when he sees the smile he loves make its way across her face.