You Save Me

8

"That sounds good," Derek said into his phone as he unlocked the door to his house, dropping the keys on the table beside the door. "Thanks Richard...yeah, I'll see you tomorrow afternoon."

Addison looked up from the chart spread out in her lap in curiosity as Derek hung up the phone. "Hey," she said, causing him to turn to look at her. "Is Richard coming into town?"

"No," Derek shook his head. "I'm going out to Seattle."

"Seattle?" Addison frowned as he settled on the couch beside her.

"Yeah," Derek said with a smile. "He needs me for a consult."

"Oh," Addison nodded slowly.

"Yeah," he said, examining her expression closely. "Is...is that okay?"

"I can't tell you what to do, Derek," she shrugged.

"But you don't want me to go," Derek stated. "Why, Addison?"

"Derek, you're flying across the country for a consult without even telling me," Addison stated. "I just...I feel like things are getting better. But how are they going to stay that way if you don't tell me things."

"I'm telling you right now," Derek sighed. She was right, things had been better between them lately. But he could feel another argument coming, and he couldn't help but think that it was going to be a big one.

"How long are you going to be gone?"

"Until the patient's stable," Derek shrugged. "Probably two or three days."

"What about the Sawyer's cocktail party on Friday?" Addison asked.

Derek sighed as he looked up at the ceiling. "I hate those things, Addison, you know that," he said.

"So you're going all the way across the country to leave me to go alone?" Addison frowned.

"Addison, if I don't go, this patient is most likely going to die," Derek stated. "You want me to let a person die so I can go to some stupid cocktail party?"

Addison sighed as she reached for the glass of wine that was sitting on the table. "You're right," she said. "I'm sorry, I guess I'm just in a weird mood lately. And I do wish that you would have at least told me."

"This is me telling you," Derek rolled his eyes. "And people get it. If I'm away on a consult, they understand why you have to go alone."

"I'm not going to go alone," Addison sighed. "And I haven't been feeling well, it might be good to have the house to myself for a couple days to catch up with my sleep and everything."

Derek examined her closely. "Are you sure you're okay with this?" he asked.

Addison shook her head slightly. "I can't not be okay with it, right?" she shrugged. "You're going to save a life, Derek. That's your job. And I...I can't tell you not to go."

Derek nodded slowly as he reached for her hand. "I'm sorry if you're upset about this," he said. "I really thought you'd be okay with it."

"I'm fine, Derek," she said, leaning in to press a kiss to his cheek. "I'm going to go call Karen and cancel."

"Don't cancel," Derek shook his head. "I might be back by then. If I'm not, take Mark or something."

"Mark?" Addison repeated. "You want me to take Mark to a cocktail party?"

Derek laughed slightly "That could be completely entertaining," he said. "I'll call him, see if he'll do it as a favor to me."

Addison nodded slowly. "Okay," she said. "I...I'm tired, Derek, I'm going to go to bed."