𝑺𝑻𝑨𝑹𝑮𝑰𝑹𝑳 | ᵍʳᵉʸˢ ᵃⁿᵃᵗᵒᵐʸ

⁰¹⁵ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐟𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭

𝐒𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐓𝐋𝐄, 𝟐𝟎𝟎𝟓

The corridors of Seattle Grace Hospital were buzzing with the usual rush of activity.

But here, where Addison and Derek met, it was about more than medical cases. It was about their own shattered lives.

Derek leaned against the wall with his arms crossed, his skeptical gaze fixed on his soon-to-be ex-wife, Addison, who stood by the incubator.

She was holding a premature baby. Alone and immature, brought into this broken world, fighting for every breath.

"She reminds me of Missy," she said softly, almost whispering as if afraid to break the fragile atmosphere in the room.

"When she was five... after the stroke."

Derek's expression hardened at the mention of their daughter. "Missy is not a baby anymore, Addison."

"I know," she replied. "But then... she was so young, so brave. And she still is. I wish she didn't have to be strong anymore."

The neurosurgeon pushed away from the wall, his posture stiff and tense. "Missy had no choice. You took it away when you decided to have sex with Mark."

Addison turned to him, her eyes filled with a mixture of pain and silent pleading.

"This was a mistake, yes. But I'm still her mother. And you're still her father, even though you chose to leave us."

A bitter laugh escaped Derek's lips. "And what good does that do now? She wants nothing to do with me. I've lost her."

"Missy was about to take her own life, Derek," Addison said, her voice growing sharper, more urgent. "Because she thought you will never talk to her again. You can't just ignore that."

The memory of the call that had shaken him to his core resurfaced. Missy, alone and desperate, had tried to take her own life and he hadn't been there to stop her. "I know," he said quietly.

"It haunts me every day."

"She needs you," Addison said, her voice softer now. "She needs both of us."

Derek nodded slowly, his eyes still on the premature baby. "I know," he repeated, thinking of Missy, her strength, her indomitable will, her smile that had become so rare.

"I know."

In that moment, surrounded by the sterile walls of the hospital, it was as if they had made a silent promise - not to themselves, but to Missy.

To the little girl who had once been so seriously ill, fighting for every breath, and to the young woman she had become, still fighting, but in a different, quieter way.

They both knew it was a long road ahead.
A road paved with scars and painful memories.

But it was a road they had to take.

For Missy.