❝𝐅𝐎𝐎𝐋'𝐒 𝐆𝐎𝐋𝐃❞ ɢʀᴇʏ·s ᴀɴᴀᴛᴏᴍʏ

CHAPTER SIXTEEN.

It's close to two in the morning when a shrill sound creeps into Maddox's ears, and the brunette, in an attempt to push the noise away, puts her head under her pillow, sniffling softly but trying to fall asleep again. She seems to be able to do so, because the beeping stops and Maddox settles in between the blankets, seeking warmth, but the intermittent sound returns and she grunts under her breath. The young woman hears someone muttering, but she doesn't think anything of it, for it has made the sound stop and that's all she cares about. But after a few seconds someone shakes her on the bed, and that is already the trigger for Maddox to wake up for good.

"Maddox, wake up," The brunette takes the pillow off her head with a frown: she has been sleeping not very well for days, and for once she dives into a deep sleep someone has to come and ruin it. However, the circumstances are very different. The first thing she sees after opening her eyes are Addison's bright blue eyes, and Maddox feels like she's more awake than ever. "Your pager is beeping."

"Oh," is all that escapes the girl's lips. She rolls over in bed as she sits up, pulling the sheets off her body against her will, and reaches out to grab the pager. "Was that mine? Sorry I woke you up."

Addison smiles a little. "That's okay. I was paged, so I would have been woken up anyway. From the hours and the coincidence, I assume something must have happened at the hospital."

Maddox nods absently, pulling on the sweatshirt she took off only a few hours ago to get into bed, and blushes softly in the darkness as she realizes she's fallen asleep next to Addison. She doesn't bother to change out of her sweatpants, because she knows that as soon as she gets to the hospital she'll change clothes, so she looks at the pager and frowns when she sees the code she and Cristina use for emergencies.

"Did something happen?" Addison repeats behind her, buttoning up her shirt, and Maddox contemplates whether to roll over to answer or do it as is to respect her privacy, and though they've slept in the same bed, Maddox chooses the former.

"It's Cristina. Dr. Yang," Maddox nods, clarifying. "It's weird, because Cristina's not the type to send emergency signals. Something must be wrong," Maddox finally turns away, guessing how awkward it must be that they're barely looking each other in the face. "And with you?"

"That was Adele, Richard's wife. Chief Webber. Apparently something's happened with their niece and she doesn't want Richard to know about it. Are you going to the hospital or should I call a cab?"

"Oh, no, no. Hop in with me."

The ride to the hospital is silent. Maddox tries to stay awake enough to see in the dark, and Addison answers the phone a couple more times, so the brunette tries to disassociate herself from reality and focus on the road out of respect. Luckily it has stopped raining and she has gained a few hours of deep sleep, so her mood is noticeably better than it was the previous evening. And she doesn't know it yet, but it will be more than necessary to face the day ahead of her.

"I'll look for you later, okay? Thanks for this, really. Coffee's on me later," Addison squeezes her hand a little before walking into the hospital and smiles, and Maddox smiles back, trying to hide the nerves and the trembling in her heart.

As she says goodbye to Addison, which basically consists of just standing there watching her leave until she disappears down the stairs —pathetic, Maddox is aware— she heads uncharacteristically quickly to the locker room to change clothes. She doesn't call Cristina, just sends her a pager back before she leaves her mother's house to let her know she's on her way, so she's surprised to find her as she leaves the room, and is startled and holds a hand to her chest.

"Cristina! I was going to come and get you. I don't quite know where, though," Maddox rambles. "What happened? It must be important enough for you to send word."