❝𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃❞ ɢʀᴇʏ·s ᴀɴᴀᴛᴏᴍʏ

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO.

Several miles away at Seattle Grace, things don't look much better. Addison Montgomery has already lost count of the number of times she's had to wipe minor surgeries off the board to make room in the operating rooms for those injured in the ferry accident. She has counted several head injuries that have resulted in internal hemorrhages, pieces of metal piercing skin and even vital organs, and severe fractures that have required urgent reconstruction. When she looks around she doesn't find Derek or Callie, so she assumes they will be operating. However, they each have a battle that day, and hers will be one of the worst.

Yang and O'Malley hover around the ER like avid interns. Addison takes a few moments off to observe them, and thinks she understands the reason why Maddox wants to tell them before anyone else about their clandestine relationship. George is warm, he is attentive, and he is caring. He cares about others and goes out of his way to please their wishes, even when he sometimes gets vexatious treatment in return. Cristina, on the other hand, is sharp. She is opinionated, self-assured, and often the one who gets the humiliating treatment that O'Malley suffers. Precisely because she is so contrary to George, Addison doubts why Cristina and Maddox form such a strong bond. Perhaps it's because they are so different, although Maddox doesn't let Cristina walk all over her, and Cristina respects that.

But neither of them is Meredith, and that's not hard for Addison to understand. It's obvious the strong friendship that unites both girls, despite how distant they are lately because of their two parallel relationships —and some secret. You only have to watch them together to understand that they form a bond that will be hard to separate, and even though Addison has tried to hate Meredith for everything that has happened in her life, she puts herself in Maddox's shoes and understands why Maddox loves her so much. It's impossible to hate Ellis Grey's daughter, and it's inevitable to love Maddox Easton.

Addison realizes that she misses her. Her presence brightens the room —it's an effect Maddox tends to have on everyone, Addison knows— and the mood always improves when she's around. Addison knows she's in her honeymoon phase, thinking about her all the time, even when she shouldn't, but she can't and won't help it either. From that very morning that they have said goodbye, Addison already needs her presence. She knows it will be a difficult day, and what comforts her most is knowing that Maddox is out there, helping everyone who needs it, and Addison hopes that she will reaffirm her conviction to be a good surgeon, because the redhead is convinced that she will be.

However, she has no more time to think about her.

"We need some help here!" A male voice shouts from the ER entrance, and since when Addison comes back to reality there is no one else, she approaches him. "Female, twenty-nine, head trauma which causes her temporal memory loss. The Chief said she needed a head CT and an MRI. Could you take it from here? I have other patients to get to."

"Of course, thank you," Addison nods, proceeding to inspect the young woman's body. "My name is Dr. Montgomery and I'm gonna need to run some tests, okay? Did you come here with someone?"

"Micah," the girl whispers in a shaky voice, clenching her jaw in pain.

"Okay. Is Micah your partner? Your friend?" Addison insists, but the girl's answers are always negative. "We'll contact Micah later. Right now, I need to check your head."

"Maddox," she says suddenly, and this does catch Addison's attention, who stops the gurney in its tracks.

"What did you say? Did you say Maddox?"

"She's been saying Maddox nonstop, as if she knows her," a paramedic explains as she walks by, and Addison frowns. "Her chart says she suffered a seizure fifteen minutes ago. Maybe she's just confusing names."