Complications Chapter 5
Title: Complications
Chapter: 5/?
Author: picric_drea
Pairing: Derek/Addison
Rating: PG-13
Summary: We all have choices to make in life. What happens when you choose wrong?
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Okay, I have no excuse for the length in updating time, though I am fairly certain that it’s better than my previous times. I hope that this makes up for the wait.
Addison leaned back in her desk chair and turned it to look out of her window. She was bored. Incredibly bored. She had no patients, no office business to take care of. There wasn’t even any juicy office gossip to catch up on. There was nothing to do but sit with her thoughts. The thoughts that kept her from sleeping for the last two weeks, ever since his impromptu visit. And with the thoughts came the memories. Memories of cold Chinese food, ferryboats and viewfinders, walks through Central Park, Enza, and steamy shared showers tumbled through her mind.
Dangerous memories.
Kevin had been wonderful. Last night she had come home to find him putting the finishing touches on his chicken primavera, the table romantically set for two, complete with white tapered candles.
Addison smiled softly as she placed her purse on the counter, “What is all this?”
“Hey,” Kevin placed his spoon down and walked around the corner to her. “You’re early.”
“My last patient cancelled. What’s going on?”
“Well,” he stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I thought that you were due for a little spoiling. You’ve seemed a little…preoccupied lately, so I thought that we could stay in.” He led her into dining room. “I would cook you dinner, open a nice bottle of wine, and give you a chance to relax.”
“Hmm,” she sat down as he pulled out her chair, “This is wonderful. I’m going to have to find some way to repay you.”
He leaned down and pecked her lips gently, “I’m sure you’ll come up with an adequate form of repayment.”
Later that night, they lay side by side amidst her exquisitely soft sheets attempting to catch their breath. His eyes roamed the room, eventually settling on her little bear in the corner. He smirked, “Ya know, it’s kind of weird that your bear is watching us. I feel like it’s judging me.”
Addison giggled, “She would never judge. Enza is very diplomatic that way.”
“How long have you had her?”
“Oh,” Addison cast her eyes to the ceiling, “A lifetime.”
“Well, I think it’s amazing that you’ve kept a memento of your childhood. She’s cute.”
Addison smiled tightly.
Kevin propped himself up on his arm and reached over to wipe her sweat soaked locks from her forehead. He let his fingers trail down her face and brushed them across her kiss-swollen lips. He met her gaze and held it for a moment. “I love you, Addison.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, but didn’t break their eye contact. Her lips stayed shut.
Kevin continued when it was clear that she wasn’t going to respond. “I know that you’re not ready to say it back, but I think that if we were able to come back together that it was for a reason.” He sighed as she continued to stare silently, “I just-I just wanted to tell you that I love you and that I’m not going anywhere this time.”
Addison traced his features lightly, before pulling his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
She sighed and twirled in her chair. She would kill for a surgery right now. She really needed to cut someone.
“Knock, knock.” Addison looked up to see Naomi step into her office.
“Hey.”
“Hey, are you alright?”
“Yeah, fine just a little restless I suppose.”
“Yeah me too. Do you have plans with Kevin this weekend?”
“Not that I know of, why?”
“I was thinking, why don’t we have a girl’s night in tonight? Sam has Maya this weekend, so it works well. C’mon, it’ll be like old times.”
Addison smirked at her, “Fine. I’ll get the food.”
“And I’ll bring the wine.”
**********************************************************
Later that night Naomi showed up with the bottle of wine as promised. “Hey, I’m here.”
“Perfect timing,” Addison called from the kitchen. “The food just arrived. You know where the glasses are.”
Naomi settled down onto the couch and Addison brought out the cartons of Chinese food. “Alright chicken with broccoli for you and Hunan chicken for me. We also have crab Rangoon and spring rolls.”
“Hot mustard?”
“Of course, here ya go.”
Naomi looked at the spread before them. “I’m gonna gain five pounds before this is over.”
Addison smirked, “This isn’t even half of it. I stopped by Godiva on the way home.”
“Oh, you’re killing me. What movie are we watching?”
“Arsenic and Old Lace and Duck Soup. I needed to laugh tonight.”
“Sounds good.” Naomi leaned further back into the couch. “What the…?” She sat up and reached behind her, pulling out an old, but well cared for teddy bear. “Oh, my g…Is this Enza?”
“Yeah,” Addison mumbled, reaching forward and taking the bear.
“I haven’t seen her in years; I can’t believe that you still have her.”
“Why wouldn’t I still have her? She’s one of my favorite gifts. Plus, she’s so cute,” Addison stated, cuddling the bear closer.
“Yea, I know Addie. I remember when you got her. I just thought that given her history that-”
“I am perfectly capable of separating my feelings for the giver from the gift itself.” Her hand lightly rubbed the bear’s fur. “Besides, Enza has gotten me through a lot of lonely nights. She listens to me without judgment and has never told a single one of my secrets.”
“If she did, I think we’d have a problem,” Naomi quipped.
“Shut up!” Addison laughed. “You know what I meant.”
“So does she still reside on your bed?”
“Of course, that’s her place of honor. The only time she was not on my bed was in the trailer. I just didn’t want to expose her to that coldness and hostility. And I really didn’t want her lying on a bed where he had…been with someone else. That’s just creepy.”
“Yet you lay in that bed.”
“Only after disinfecting and flipping the mattress and buying a new comforter set, sheets, and pillows. I was desperate, not stupid.”
Naomi stifled her laugh. “And after, you know…it happened in New York, did you take her to Mark’s?”
“NO!!” Addison exclaimed. “That was never my bed. I was merely a guest. But, I couldn’t put her back on my bed since that was the scene of my crime, so I took her down the hall and put her in the nurser-” Addison stopped and cleared her throat. “I put her in the spare room.” She allowed herself a wistful smile, “She guarded his grandmother’s rocking chair.”
Naomi saw the growing sadness in her friend’s eyes and tried to redirect the conversation. “That little bear has a lot of history.”
Addison smiled softly, “Yeah, she does.”
“Addie,” she hesitated, “Do you think that it’s healthy to keep her around? I mean, especially given all the memories associated with her…”
“A lot of those are good memories.”
“Okay, but you don’t see a problem with keeping a bear that you got from your-I mean what does Kevin think about it? Isn’t it awkward for him?”
“He’s fine with it. He thinks she’s cute.” Addison avoided eye contact.
Naomi narrowed her eyes, “Really?”
“Yes.” Naomi continued to stare. “He does.” Naomi didn’t even blink. “He thinks it’s great that I saved a memento from my childhood.”
“Your childhood?” Naomi repeated incredulously. “I don’t exactly consider medical school part of childhood.”
“He made an assumption and I saw no need to correct him.” Addison stood and walked to her entertainment center. “Whatever it’s fine, now are we going to watch the movies or not?” she asked with slightly more than a hint of irritation in her voice.
Naomi shook her head slightly at her friend. She made things so hard on herself. “Let ‘em roll.”
A few hours later, Naomi had fallen asleep and Addison was watching the credits roll on the second movie. She glanced down at the bear she was softly stroking. She had never even considered getting rid of her. It wasn’t Enza’s fault that they screwed up, so why should she get punished? Besides, she was much too special to throw away or donate.
Addison shuffled to the door, the pounding on the wood matching the pounding in her head. “Who is it?” she croaked out.
“It’s Derek.”
Her brow furrowed as she stifled a sneeze in the crook of her elbow. “Didn’t you get my message?” she called through the door.
“I did.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Are you going to let me in?”
“No.”
“Addison.”
“I told you not to come.”
“You also said that you were sick.”
“I’m…” she began coughing uncontrollably. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, yeah you sound just peachy. Open the door.”
“Derek…”she whined.
“I’m not leaving until you let me in.”
“I look horrible,” she said, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders and running a hand through her hair in a futile attempt to tame it.
“Hey, I’ve seen you after pulling multiple all-nighters. There’s no way you can look worse than that.” He smirked picturing her eye roll, and then he heard a sigh followed by the unlatching of the door.
The door opened revealing her red-rimmed eyes with a matching nose, her tangled hair pulled into a messy ponytail on top of her head. She wore a ratty red “I love band” t-shirt over gray sweatpants, covered by a purple fleece blanket with Bugs Bunny slippers.
Derek took all of this in before once again meeting her annoyed gaze. He cleared his throat and swallowed his laughter. “I stand corrected.”
Her eyes narrowed and she moved to close the door. He quickly wedged his foot in and winced as she slammed her weight against the frame. “Okay, I deserved that. No more jokes, I promise.”
She had no choice but to relent as she launched into another series of unpleasant coughs. She retreated to the couch and lay back on her makeshift pallet. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“You’re sick, so being the perfect boyfriend that I am; I came to take care of you.” He carried his bags into the kitchen and set them on the counter. “And I brought all of the essentials: ginger ale, orange juice, saltines, and homemade chicken soup from my mother’s recipe. It’s guaranteed to cure anything, even the flu.”
“We both know that there’s no cure for the flu.”
“You haven’t had my mom’s soup.”
“I’m not hungry,” she pouted, as he returned with a steaming bowl.
“C’mon, just take some of the broth,” he encouraged. She appeased him with a few spoonfuls before lying back down. “That’s my girl,” he murmured, lightly stroking her cheek. “You’re burning up, did you-?”
“I just took some.”
“Okay,” he brushed her hair from her face. “Oh, I almost forgot. I brought something else for you.” He quickly disappeared then walked back into the room, holding an item behind his back. He offered her a bashful smile. “When I saw this I had to get it for you.”
He produced a teddy bear with fur the same color as her hair, dressed in salmon pink scrubs, a white coat with a stethoscope around its neck, and the softest fur she had ever felt. Addison smiled softly and cuddled the bear to her chest, “Thank you. She’s beautiful.” He sat back down beside her. She smirked as she stroked its fur. “I think I’ll name her…Influenza.”
Derek began to chuckle as he urged her head back onto his lap. “I think the fever has gone to your head.”
“What? Are you laughing at me? Influenza is a great name,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes, snuggling the bear closer.
“And what are you going to nickname her? Flu?”
“No, that just sounds dumb. I can call her Enza for short.”
“I can’t imagine what you have in mind for kids’ names,” he smirked as he began to stroke her hair once more.
“Shut up,” was the sleepy reply. “It’s a great name. Unique, even.” He laughed softly, watching as her heavy eyelids slid shut. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she said as she drifted off.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He continued to stroke her hair as her breathing evened out. “I love you, Addison,” he whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead.
The next morning, Addison opened her eyes as the sunlight streamed through her bedroom drapes. She clutched Enza to her as she rolled over in bed, staring at the sleeping figure beside her. She smiled softly and ran the back of her hand against his cheek. “I love you, too.”
Addison shook her head as she hugged the bear closer, unable to stop the single tear that made its way down her cheek. No, getting rid of Enza was not an option.
**********************************************************
More to come relatively soon. You know what to do.
Chapter: 5/?
Author: picric_drea
Pairing: Derek/Addison
Rating: PG-13
Summary: We all have choices to make in life. What happens when you choose wrong?
Disclaimer: All television shows, movies, books, and other copyrighted material referred to in this work, and the characters, settings, and events thereof, are the properties of their respective owners. As this work is an interpretation of the original material and not for-profit, it constitutes fair use. Reference to real persons, places, or events are made in a fictional context, and are not intended to be libelous, defamatory, or in any way factual.
Okay, I have no excuse for the length in updating time, though I am fairly certain that it’s better than my previous times. I hope that this makes up for the wait.
Addison leaned back in her desk chair and turned it to look out of her window. She was bored. Incredibly bored. She had no patients, no office business to take care of. There wasn’t even any juicy office gossip to catch up on. There was nothing to do but sit with her thoughts. The thoughts that kept her from sleeping for the last two weeks, ever since his impromptu visit. And with the thoughts came the memories. Memories of cold Chinese food, ferryboats and viewfinders, walks through Central Park, Enza, and steamy shared showers tumbled through her mind.
Dangerous memories.
Kevin had been wonderful. Last night she had come home to find him putting the finishing touches on his chicken primavera, the table romantically set for two, complete with white tapered candles.
Addison smiled softly as she placed her purse on the counter, “What is all this?”
“Hey,” Kevin placed his spoon down and walked around the corner to her. “You’re early.”
“My last patient cancelled. What’s going on?”
“Well,” he stepped closer to her, wrapping his arms around her waist, “I thought that you were due for a little spoiling. You’ve seemed a little…preoccupied lately, so I thought that we could stay in.” He led her into dining room. “I would cook you dinner, open a nice bottle of wine, and give you a chance to relax.”
“Hmm,” she sat down as he pulled out her chair, “This is wonderful. I’m going to have to find some way to repay you.”
He leaned down and pecked her lips gently, “I’m sure you’ll come up with an adequate form of repayment.”
Later that night, they lay side by side amidst her exquisitely soft sheets attempting to catch their breath. His eyes roamed the room, eventually settling on her little bear in the corner. He smirked, “Ya know, it’s kind of weird that your bear is watching us. I feel like it’s judging me.”
Addison giggled, “She would never judge. Enza is very diplomatic that way.”
“How long have you had her?”
“Oh,” Addison cast her eyes to the ceiling, “A lifetime.”
“Well, I think it’s amazing that you’ve kept a memento of your childhood. She’s cute.”
Addison smiled tightly.
Kevin propped himself up on his arm and reached over to wipe her sweat soaked locks from her forehead. He let his fingers trail down her face and brushed them across her kiss-swollen lips. He met her gaze and held it for a moment. “I love you, Addison.”
She ran her fingers through his hair, but didn’t break their eye contact. Her lips stayed shut.
Kevin continued when it was clear that she wasn’t going to respond. “I know that you’re not ready to say it back, but I think that if we were able to come back together that it was for a reason.” He sighed as she continued to stare silently, “I just-I just wanted to tell you that I love you and that I’m not going anywhere this time.”
Addison traced his features lightly, before pulling his lips to hers in a passionate kiss.
She sighed and twirled in her chair. She would kill for a surgery right now. She really needed to cut someone.
“Knock, knock.” Addison looked up to see Naomi step into her office.
“Hey.”
“Hey, are you alright?”
“Yeah, fine just a little restless I suppose.”
“Yeah me too. Do you have plans with Kevin this weekend?”
“Not that I know of, why?”
“I was thinking, why don’t we have a girl’s night in tonight? Sam has Maya this weekend, so it works well. C’mon, it’ll be like old times.”
Addison smirked at her, “Fine. I’ll get the food.”
“And I’ll bring the wine.”
**********************************************************
Later that night Naomi showed up with the bottle of wine as promised. “Hey, I’m here.”
“Perfect timing,” Addison called from the kitchen. “The food just arrived. You know where the glasses are.”
Naomi settled down onto the couch and Addison brought out the cartons of Chinese food. “Alright chicken with broccoli for you and Hunan chicken for me. We also have crab Rangoon and spring rolls.”
“Hot mustard?”
“Of course, here ya go.”
Naomi looked at the spread before them. “I’m gonna gain five pounds before this is over.”
Addison smirked, “This isn’t even half of it. I stopped by Godiva on the way home.”
“Oh, you’re killing me. What movie are we watching?”
“Arsenic and Old Lace and Duck Soup. I needed to laugh tonight.”
“Sounds good.” Naomi leaned further back into the couch. “What the…?” She sat up and reached behind her, pulling out an old, but well cared for teddy bear. “Oh, my g…Is this Enza?”
“Yeah,” Addison mumbled, reaching forward and taking the bear.
“I haven’t seen her in years; I can’t believe that you still have her.”
“Why wouldn’t I still have her? She’s one of my favorite gifts. Plus, she’s so cute,” Addison stated, cuddling the bear closer.
“Yea, I know Addie. I remember when you got her. I just thought that given her history that-”
“I am perfectly capable of separating my feelings for the giver from the gift itself.” Her hand lightly rubbed the bear’s fur. “Besides, Enza has gotten me through a lot of lonely nights. She listens to me without judgment and has never told a single one of my secrets.”
“If she did, I think we’d have a problem,” Naomi quipped.
“Shut up!” Addison laughed. “You know what I meant.”
“So does she still reside on your bed?”
“Of course, that’s her place of honor. The only time she was not on my bed was in the trailer. I just didn’t want to expose her to that coldness and hostility. And I really didn’t want her lying on a bed where he had…been with someone else. That’s just creepy.”
“Yet you lay in that bed.”
“Only after disinfecting and flipping the mattress and buying a new comforter set, sheets, and pillows. I was desperate, not stupid.”
Naomi stifled her laugh. “And after, you know…it happened in New York, did you take her to Mark’s?”
“NO!!” Addison exclaimed. “That was never my bed. I was merely a guest. But, I couldn’t put her back on my bed since that was the scene of my crime, so I took her down the hall and put her in the nurser-” Addison stopped and cleared her throat. “I put her in the spare room.” She allowed herself a wistful smile, “She guarded his grandmother’s rocking chair.”
Naomi saw the growing sadness in her friend’s eyes and tried to redirect the conversation. “That little bear has a lot of history.”
Addison smiled softly, “Yeah, she does.”
“Addie,” she hesitated, “Do you think that it’s healthy to keep her around? I mean, especially given all the memories associated with her…”
“A lot of those are good memories.”
“Okay, but you don’t see a problem with keeping a bear that you got from your-I mean what does Kevin think about it? Isn’t it awkward for him?”
“He’s fine with it. He thinks she’s cute.” Addison avoided eye contact.
Naomi narrowed her eyes, “Really?”
“Yes.” Naomi continued to stare. “He does.” Naomi didn’t even blink. “He thinks it’s great that I saved a memento from my childhood.”
“Your childhood?” Naomi repeated incredulously. “I don’t exactly consider medical school part of childhood.”
“He made an assumption and I saw no need to correct him.” Addison stood and walked to her entertainment center. “Whatever it’s fine, now are we going to watch the movies or not?” she asked with slightly more than a hint of irritation in her voice.
Naomi shook her head slightly at her friend. She made things so hard on herself. “Let ‘em roll.”
A few hours later, Naomi had fallen asleep and Addison was watching the credits roll on the second movie. She glanced down at the bear she was softly stroking. She had never even considered getting rid of her. It wasn’t Enza’s fault that they screwed up, so why should she get punished? Besides, she was much too special to throw away or donate.
Addison shuffled to the door, the pounding on the wood matching the pounding in her head. “Who is it?” she croaked out.
“It’s Derek.”
Her brow furrowed as she stifled a sneeze in the crook of her elbow. “Didn’t you get my message?” she called through the door.
“I did.”
“Then what are you doing here?”
“Are you going to let me in?”
“No.”
“Addison.”
“I told you not to come.”
“You also said that you were sick.”
“I’m…” she began coughing uncontrollably. “I’m fine.”
“Oh, yeah you sound just peachy. Open the door.”
“Derek…”she whined.
“I’m not leaving until you let me in.”
“I look horrible,” she said, pulling her blanket tighter around her shoulders and running a hand through her hair in a futile attempt to tame it.
“Hey, I’ve seen you after pulling multiple all-nighters. There’s no way you can look worse than that.” He smirked picturing her eye roll, and then he heard a sigh followed by the unlatching of the door.
The door opened revealing her red-rimmed eyes with a matching nose, her tangled hair pulled into a messy ponytail on top of her head. She wore a ratty red “I love band” t-shirt over gray sweatpants, covered by a purple fleece blanket with Bugs Bunny slippers.
Derek took all of this in before once again meeting her annoyed gaze. He cleared his throat and swallowed his laughter. “I stand corrected.”
Her eyes narrowed and she moved to close the door. He quickly wedged his foot in and winced as she slammed her weight against the frame. “Okay, I deserved that. No more jokes, I promise.”
She had no choice but to relent as she launched into another series of unpleasant coughs. She retreated to the couch and lay back on her makeshift pallet. “What are you doing here, anyway?”
“You’re sick, so being the perfect boyfriend that I am; I came to take care of you.” He carried his bags into the kitchen and set them on the counter. “And I brought all of the essentials: ginger ale, orange juice, saltines, and homemade chicken soup from my mother’s recipe. It’s guaranteed to cure anything, even the flu.”
“We both know that there’s no cure for the flu.”
“You haven’t had my mom’s soup.”
“I’m not hungry,” she pouted, as he returned with a steaming bowl.
“C’mon, just take some of the broth,” he encouraged. She appeased him with a few spoonfuls before lying back down. “That’s my girl,” he murmured, lightly stroking her cheek. “You’re burning up, did you-?”
“I just took some.”
“Okay,” he brushed her hair from her face. “Oh, I almost forgot. I brought something else for you.” He quickly disappeared then walked back into the room, holding an item behind his back. He offered her a bashful smile. “When I saw this I had to get it for you.”
He produced a teddy bear with fur the same color as her hair, dressed in salmon pink scrubs, a white coat with a stethoscope around its neck, and the softest fur she had ever felt. Addison smiled softly and cuddled the bear to her chest, “Thank you. She’s beautiful.” He sat back down beside her. She smirked as she stroked its fur. “I think I’ll name her…Influenza.”
Derek began to chuckle as he urged her head back onto his lap. “I think the fever has gone to your head.”
“What? Are you laughing at me? Influenza is a great name,” she mumbled as she closed her eyes, snuggling the bear closer.
“And what are you going to nickname her? Flu?”
“No, that just sounds dumb. I can call her Enza for short.”
“I can’t imagine what you have in mind for kids’ names,” he smirked as he began to stroke her hair once more.
“Shut up,” was the sleepy reply. “It’s a great name. Unique, even.” He laughed softly, watching as her heavy eyelids slid shut. “Thank you for taking care of me,” she said as she drifted off.
“There’s nowhere else I’d rather be.” He continued to stroke her hair as her breathing evened out. “I love you, Addison,” he whispered, placing a kiss on her forehead.
The next morning, Addison opened her eyes as the sunlight streamed through her bedroom drapes. She clutched Enza to her as she rolled over in bed, staring at the sleeping figure beside her. She smiled softly and ran the back of her hand against his cheek. “I love you, too.”
Addison shook her head as she hugged the bear closer, unable to stop the single tear that made its way down her cheek. No, getting rid of Enza was not an option.
**********************************************************
More to come relatively soon. You know what to do.