MerAdd Oneshots

I can take care of myself just fine

She wasn't happy.

I'd been on her service all week, and she was less than amused the entire time. In fact, she seemed downright pissed. Everything seemed to make her fly off of the handle, and I knew she wasn't sleeping. She had bags under her eyes, lined with dark circles. Her body was reduced to skin and bones, and she looked like hell.

"Addison, you need sleep" I whisper to her one morning, as she flips through a chart.

"Don't tell me what I do and don't need, Grey. I can take care of myself just fine" and that's it; that's all she says to me throughout the whole day. As if my existence was no longer on her radar, she ignored me. She kept on working, like some kind of machine that didn't need rest or food or water. A car running on nothing but coffee and sheer will.

By the end of the day, she looks like she's ready to fall over. And I decide enough is enough; we may not be close friends but I didn't want to watch her do this to herself.

"Addison" I say, as gentle and as soft as I could possibly muster "please, let me take you home. You need sleep, sweetheart" I don't know where the nickname came from, but it felt right. It sounded so pure and so gentle, and she was so, so exhausted.

"Okay" she nods, and that's all she says. Together, we got our things and headed out to my car.

"Where's your place?" I ask, buckling in and turning the key. I had no idea where she was living; we weren't close enough for that. We were barely friends, but that didn't matter to me at the moment.

"I'm just staying at a hotel" she tells me, blinking slowly "I've been avoiding going there, mostly I've stayed at the hospital" her voice sounds small and broken, and it makes my heart hurt. Whatever she was going through, it was tough, and I knew what it felt like to be in a tough situation.

"Well, you're staying with me tonight" I tell her, knowing that George was on call for the night and Izzie was out of town visiting her sick Mother for the weekend. I wanted to watch over her, and make sure she slept and ate properly. Somehow, I'd turned into a mother hen and she had me worried sick.

"You have roommates, and I don't feel like being the star of this weeks gossip. 'Addison was sleeping at Meredith's? Scandalous'" she says sarcastically, and I crack a small smile.

"George is on call until tomorrow afternoon. Izzie's Mom just had her appendix out, so she's visiting her for the weekend. You're in the clear, Doctor Montgomery"

She's silent then, for a long moment. "Why are you doing this for me?" She asks finally, and honestly, I'd asked myself the same thing.

"There's something that tells me you need somebody" I say simply, trying to describe the feeling in my chest when I saw her so bent out of shape "and there's something about you that makes me want to be that somebody. You're so tired and thin, Addison, when was the last time you ate a real meal?" As I pull into my driveway, she just shrugs.

"I've been eating from the vending machines" she answers, and I raise an eyebrow.

"Chips don't count"

~

An hour later, she's just out of the shower and settled on the couch in a pair of my favourite sweatpants and my Dartmouth shirt. She's got a blanket around her, and a plate of food to munch on. Already, she looked so much better.

"This is really good Meredith, thank you" she smiles at me, a real smile, and I feel the corners of my own mouth lift up involuntarily.

"It's nothing special" I'd made us some grilled cheese sandwiches with carrot sticks and strawberries. I heated up a can of tomato soup to go with hers, just for good measure. She looked like she needed it.