Chapter 14: What She Feels
"Beautiful."
Her eyes went wide and her cheeks heated up quickly. Aelwyne just looked at her, a smile still in place but with a raising blush as well. Addison did not know what to do with herself or how to explain what she had just said. But thankfully she was saved by Meredith and Cristina.
"Aelwyne! You're up!" Meredith exclaimed happily as she walked in.
"Hi." Aelwyne said quietly blush still working itself through her face.
"You ok? You look flushed." Cristina started.
"You too Dr. Montgomery. Are you guys ok?" Addison and Aelwyne both mumbled that they were indeed fine.
"Dr. Montgomery why don't you go get some rest? We'll stay with her." Meredith offered Cristina nodding in agreement next to her.
"You should go rest Dr. Montgomery." Aelwyne insisted when she noticed the hesitation.
"You'll be ok? I'll just be a few minutes." Addison said.
She didn't want to leave her alone. Even if her friends were with her. She just did not want to. Even if she felt embarrassed by what she had just blurted out.
"I'll be ok and take more than a few minutes. You need rest." Aelwyne responded with a soft smile.
'Dammit! Stop smiling!' Addison felt her face heat up once more.
"Ok. I'll check on you later." Addison left trying her best to hide her face while walking out.
She walked a few steps, her heart racing and her face still heated. She leaned against the wall for a minute trying to calm herself.
"Dr. Montgomery, you good?" Bailey questioned as she approached the redhead.
"Fine." Addison said. She could still feel the heat on her cheeks.
"Are you sure?" Bailey asked again, a bit concerned.
"Yes. Anyway the rest of the squad is in there with her so I'm going to go eat and rest a bit." She responded quickly, turning to leave.
"Wait." Bailey said, making Addison face her once more. "Thank you. Thank you for taking care of her."
"It's hard not to. She's..." Addison stopped trying to find the words to describe Aelwyne.
'She is strong. She is compassionate. She is smart. She is beautiful. She put others before her all the time. She takes care of everyone. Took care of me. She is just amazing. She's just everything anyone could ask for. It'd be so easy to fall in love with her. Dammit Addison focus!'
"She's special." Addison finished, her blush still not wavering.
"That she is. And don't worry I'll make sure someone is watching her while you rest." Bailey said with a knowing smile walking towards the intern's room.
Addison stared after Bailey. Once the resident disappeared into the room she leaned against the wall once more with a deep sigh. She was in so much trouble.
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Nobody knew how, or so they kept saying, but Bailey had managed to get the chief to agree to keep Aelwyne in-patient for at least a week. The short resident had her ways. Her friends would visit constantly, she was never alone. They had taken to going to her for help with different diagnoses aside from the normal gossip. Also she had somehow convinced Bailey and Addison to let her organize their charts. She was being a very good patient. Unlike Cristina had. Though honestly the bruised ribs were not as major as what Cristina had had. She had stayed in bed as much as possible but also walked a bit as recommended by Callie. She just wanted this whole bed rest thing to end so she could try and go back to normal.
Normal. Such a funny word to her now. She knew how things went from here. The whispers and looks. Everyone would try to shield her from things. The pity in their eyes too. There was no going back to normal. Though she had found that at least her intern friends, Bailey, Callie, and some of the attendings, including Addison, showed no pity at all. Richard seemed to look at her with some sort of pride. Her friends aside from Izzie, who might as well have done a full 180, were the same way they had always been.
'Maybe normal isn't really necessary.' Aelwyne considered.
"Heeeeyyyy! Sickly mama how you doing?" Cristina waltzed in along with Meredith who kept on shushing her.
"Cristina. They will throw her out of the hospital because of you." Meredith said with a huff.
"Sickly mama? Get a better nickname Cristina." Aelwyne chuckled.
"Yeah not too good. Sorry. I'll keep Angel Eyes. I think it goes better with McHot's other nickname." Cristina laughed.
"Any good surgeries today?" Aelwyne asked trying to change the subject as quickly as possible.
"Appy." Meredith said.
"Sutures." Cristina replied bitterly.
"Ooof not very fun today." Aelwyne chuckled.
"At least I'm not stuck on a bed." Cristina said with a wicked grin.
"Cristina you're annoying." Meredith said playfully.
"You got to do surgery. You have no say." Cristina protested.
"You got to be out of this room and this hallway. I am stuck. But I'll figure out a way. I'll sneak right out to the ER and do stupid sutures." Aelwyne said sitting up on the bed.
"You are not gonna do nothing. You'll stay there if not I'll tell McHot." Cristina said, raising her brow with another grin.
"Don't call her that." Aelwyne begged.
"Why? Is it only you that gets to now?" Cristina continued.
"Cristina stop." Aelwyne begged once more.
"Am I missing something?" Meredith asked innocently.
"Dude really? You haven't seen how Angel Eyes looks at Satan? Or how Satan stares at Angel Eyes?" Cristina asked incredulously.
"Cristina." Aelwyne warned.
"What I didn't say McHot?" Cristina whined jokingly.
"Wait?" Meredith said, finally understanding.
"You are slow. It's the whole McDreamy thing." Cristina chuckled.
"Ael..." Meredith began.
"Please don't. I don't even know why or how or if this is actually something or if Cristina is seeing things that aren't true. I don't know." Aelwyne said her gaze falling to the ground.
"I wasn't going to ask. I was gonna say that I think it's pretty and nice and sweet and you deserve it if you want it." Meredith said with a smile squeezing Aelwyne's hand.
"I think you should stop being a coward and just go for it." Cristina added.
"Go for what exactly? My life is a mess. A total and complete mess. Her life was a mess and she is trying to fix it. I don't want to ruin that for her. I don't want her to have to deal with me. I don't want her to see just how broken I am. I am broken." Aelwyne replied, her eyes filling up with tears.
"You aren't broken." Meredith started. "Stop being all dark and twisty. You are not broken. Wanna know why? Because when a piece falls off, you have us to put it back in place. To fix it all over again."
"We'll be all dark and twisty with you but we'll put you back together the same way you do us." Cristina continued.
"You'll put me back together?" Aelwyne attempted to smile.
"Yes." Both Cristina and Meredith said in unison.
"Now about Satan..." Cristina began again. "What? You said no McHot and I will comply." She added quickly as Aelwyne rolled her eyes wiping away the tears.
"So about her. You should just let it happen. Maybe you find out how she feels. I think she has a thing for you." Cristina continued smirking.
"You are insufferable." Aelwyne said shaking her head as a smile finally rose to her lips.
"But you looooveee me." Cristina beamed at her.
"She so loves you. I would have kicked you out already." Meredith said with a chuckle.
A few minutes went by and they started talking about their intern's exam, which would be two months from now. Then Cristina brought up Meredith's father who was constantly roaming the hospital because of her sister and baby. Meredith tried her best to change the topic but Cristina just kept going. She started comparing Meredith with her father and at some points Aelwyne agreed. Then the conversation moved to Burke and how he had somewhat gotten back to treating Cristina the way he used to before the pregnancy and their relationship. All three were surprised their pagers hadn't gone off yet but neither Meredith or Cristina wanted to leave so it was fine.
"Umm guys. I want to wash my hair. I'm sorry I don't want to bother you. But Callie said that I can't..." Aelwyne tried asking.
"You can't move your right arm too far away from your body just yet. We know." Meredith said.
"I'm sorry it's just, it's been a few days. I didn't want to as..." Aelwyne tried again.
"Shut up we'll help you wash your hair." Cristina said.
"Let's do it now. We've got time. We can have you sit in that plastic reclining chair thing." Meredith said moving to the bathroom.
"Unless you wanna give us a show. Striptease you know." Cristina joked, raising her brow.
"What are you two doing?" Bailey came in questioning before Aelwyne had a chance to retort back to Cristina.
"We were going to help Ael with her hair." Meredith offered coming back out of the bathroom.
"Not right now you ain't. We have multiple trauma coming in. So you best make your way down to the E.R." Bailey announced.
"Eh! Eh! Eh!" Bailey said as Aelwyne began to shift in bed. "Don't even think about it." She added as she noticed the intern start to protest.
"But I cou-" Aelwyne started.
"You could nothing. Now be a good patient and stay there." Bailey said using her 'you-don't-want-to-try-me' tone.
"Oh she'll be a good patient." Addison said from the doorway dressed in street clothes.
"Oh Dr. Mc... emm Dr. Montgomery. Aelwyne wanted to wash her hair. Meredith already set up the bathroom with the chair so she can sit while it's washed." Cristina said with a wicked smirk and walked out.
"Yeah we gotta go. See you in a bit Ael." Meredith said with a smile as she followed Cristina out.
"Well there you go." Bailey said raising a brow and leaving as well.
Aelwyne stared longingly after the three as they left her behind. She wanted to go. She wanted to help. She was tired of the bed and short walks. She wanted to work.
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"You are hopeless." Addison said with a soft chuckle noting Aelwyne's longing.
"What... I finished all the charts." She whined.
"Well you need to get better before you can go all cowgirl in the ER." Addison said with a smile.
"Now. How about washing your hair?" Addison continued finally stepping closer to her.
"I.. you... well umm... it's like... umm you don't have to." Aelwyne stammered out. "You've already done lots. You got my clothes and personal stuff from the loft. I don't want to keep on bugging you. Especially on your day off." She finished her gaze dropping to her hands.
"Stop that. I don't mind and you know I've got nothing to do but be in this hospital. Now get up and stop fussing." Addison smiled at her once more offering her hand.
"Fine but I'll find a way to repay you." Aelwyne yielded.
"Yeah. Yeah." Addison responded helping her out of the bed.
Aelwyne was grateful for the support though she did not need it anymore. The pain at her side had lessened considerably the past few days. She followed Addison into the bathroom and caught a glimpse of her face and neck, the bruises still clinging to her skin. She stopped and took them in. She had mostly avoided looking at the mirror, she did not want to see how awful she looked. Sleep had not been very easy. There had been nights when she did not sleep at all. Too many nightmares and too many thoughts. Memories of that night repeated over and over and over again in her head. She sighed heavily at the marks and the bags under her eyes.
"Beautiful." Addison whispered, dragging Aelwyne back.
"What?" Aelwyne said facing the redhead.
"Sit down Dr. Neirhem." Addison said with a smile tapping the top of the chair.
Aelwyne was certain of what she had heard but she made her way towards Addison and sat on the chair reclining back a bit without pushing about the comment. Addison placed a towel on Aelwyne's back to keep her dry. Aelwyne waited patiently as Addison got the shampoo and conditioner ready. Thankfully the shower head was detachable.
"Ready?" Addison asked, popping into view above Aelwyne with a playful smile.
Aelwyne nodded her response not trusting herself with words as she looked up at Addison. She could hear her heart beating furiously as her whole body grew hot. She tried to even her breathing. It was absurd the way she could get like this from just looking into Addison's green eyes. She managed a small smile then looked away trying to find a point to focus on.
"Ok then. Let's get started. Let me know if the water is too hot for you." Addison announced as she brought the shower head closer to Aelwyne. Aelwyne just hummed in response.
The water was actually the perfect temperature as Addison started. Aelwyne had found a spot to focus on but feeling Addison's hands on her head was starting to get to her. Her body began to heat up even more as Addison worked the shampoo on her hair and scalp. A soft smile still adorned the redhead's face as she worked, Aelwyne noticed it out of the corner of her eye. She thought the contact was extremely hard to endure and released a sigh of relief as Addison finished shampooing and washed off the soap. She had thought the shampooing had been unbearable but she was not ready when Addison worked her way up from the ends of her hair back to the scalp massaging in the conditioner. As soon as Addison reached her scalp with her amazing fingers a slight moan came out of Aelwyne. She tried masking it with a cough but she knew it had been audible enough. She found the spot on the ceiling again but she could not focus. She started shifting on the chair as her leg started bouncing away nervously. Her insides were on fire and clenched with every single movement of Addison's hands. She was sure her face showed the heat she felt inside.
"Always so fidgety." Addison broke the silence with a smirk. "You ok there Dr. Neirhem?" She asked coming close enough to the intern's ear that she could feel the heat of her breath.
"I.. uh.. mmmmm." Aelwyne tried to reply but Addison's movements at the base of her head close to her neck made her begin to moan once more.
"I what? Neirhem." Addison asked playfully.
Aelwyne knew what she was doing. She knew Addison was aware of the effect she was having on her. She knew. Aelwyne was unsure of what that meant. Maybe Cristina had been right. Maybe Addison did see her as more than an intern, student, friend thing. Addison seemed to be enjoying what she was doing to her, she looked like she was having a lot of fun. But then two could play at this game and she so wanted to play. She pushed away her sadness and the pain and the brokenness she felt. Just to focus on her, which honestly was not that hard because just being close to Addison calmed her.
"I'm good. Your fingers are amazing. Kind of magical." Aelwyne managed looking up at Addison, allowing her eyes to darken a bit.
Addison's movements slowed for a bit as a blush grew on her face this time. 'Score.' Aelwyne smirked up at her. 'Two can so play at this game.'
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Addison had no idea what had possessed her to act the way she was acting. Well she did but she was still in a bit of denial. She had observed the intern the whole week. She had noticed how her eyes would change when she was talking to her as opposed to talking to her friends and doctors. The way Aelwyne would track her movements if she saw her out in the hallway. She found that she really enjoyed all the attention the intern gave her. Just her. So she was curious. She wanted to find out if what she was thinking was also what Aelwyne was thinking. She needed to know if Aelwyne also felt this tingling every time they were close to each other. She needed to be sure.
Right now after hearing her moan and watching as the blush creeped up the interns neck and to her face. After being bold enough to go so close to the intern's ear to allow her breath to caress it. After watching the intern's eyes darken a bit as she praised her fingers. She was sure there was something. She was so sure and she knew the intern had caught on to what she was trying to do as she watched the smirk forming on her mouth. She knew her own face had the same pinkish hue the intern's had had.
"Amazing and magical huh?" Addison tried to even her breathing as Aelwyne's eyes connected with hers.
"Oh yeah. Very amazing and very magical." Aelwyne said with a grin.
"Hmm good. So I'm doing a good job? It feels good right?" Addison asked mirroring Aelwyne's grin.
Aelwyne seemed ready to respond when they heard a knock on the door. Both of them jumping slightly at the sound.
"Give us a minute. We're almost done." Addison called out. She cleared her throat and began washing away the conditioner.
"It felt good." She heard Aelwyne say softly once Addison was done and had put the intern's hair up in a towel.
"Good." She chuckled and turned to the door.
"Dr Neirhem. Dr. Montgomery. Sorry to bother you but there's a detective here for you." Said a nurse as they both walked out of the bathroom.
Aelwyne tensed up once she heard of the visitor and sensing this Addison reassuringly put her arm around the intern's shoulders. She felt the intern relax into her as she released a sigh.
"Ready?" Addison asked with some concern.
"For you to wash my hair?" Aelwyne tried to joke.
"I will do it again." Addison smiled.
"Maybe one day I will return the favor. But for now could you just stay close?" The intern asked with a sad smile.
"I'll be right here. Not moving." She replied, squeezing a bit. "Celine could you tell him to come in?" She asked and the nurse nodded.
"Hello doctors." The detective greeted them as he came in.
"Hi." Addison responded as Aelwyne nodded.
"I came to let you know that bail was denied and the trial will begin next week. As of now the restriction order has been put in place against him and his sister. We will need you to come to the second day of the trial to recount the attack in front of the judge and jury." He explained.
"Just once? She'll just have to be there one time?" Addison asked.
"Yes just once and maybe she'll like to go to sentencing. That's up to you. I'd like to warn you beforehand. You will have to face him. As in he will be there when you testify." He continued and Aelwyne nodded warily.
"Thank you. Was there anything else?" Addison said quickly as she felt the intern begin to tense up again.
"That was everything. I'll let you rest and thank you for your time." He said nodding and leaving.
"Why don't we get you into bed?" Addison said guiding the intern over.
She helped the girl take off the towel, her hair still a bit damp but not too wet. Aelwyne allowed her to guide her over to the bed. The intern climbed on and gently pulled at Addison. Wordlessly the redhead obliged, kicking off her heels and climbing carefully next to Aelwyne. As soon as she settled the intern shifted closer until she nuzzled onto Addison's chest pulling at her shirt. Addison wrapped her arms around Aelwyne. She drew aimless circles on the intern's back trying to soothe her for a few minutes until she noticed the even breaths, which announced her intern had crossed over to the sleeping realm. The worry lines in her face fading as she slipped peacefully into a deep sleep.
The door opened again after a soft knock, Celine walked in once more. The nurse had been specifically assigned to Aelwyne by Bailey because she was one of the few trustworthy nurses in the hospital, discrete and good at her job.
"She's asleep." Addison locked eyes with her and whispered.
"Really? Already?" Celine whispered back.
"Yes." Addison responded with a confused look.
"I'll make sure nobody whatsoever enters this room. I promise." The nurse said.
"Thank you?" Addison responded, still slightly confused by the happy look on the nurse's face.
"Dr. Montgomery that girl has not slept more than 2 hours at a time since she woke up after being unconscious. And it takes her forever to actually fall asleep. So I won't let anyone bug you. She needs rest." The nurse explained silently backing out of the room and shutting the door.
Addison watched the intern as she slept so contently in her arms. She looked so very peaceful. The fear and pain and worry washing away. Addison settled resting her chin above Aelwyne's head. She closed her eyes allowing the scent of the intern's hair to drag her to a deep slumber.
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They slept for a few hours at some point Meredith and Cristina popped in before Celine came to drag them away. They both apologized and left.
"Angel eyes and Satan sitting on a tree." Cristina began merrily.
"They looked so peaceful. You think it'll be ok? You think it'll work?" Meredith asked as they walked together with linked arms.
"I don't know but I'd like to think maybe it will." Cristina said with a hopeful smile.
"Guess we'll see." Meredith said.
"Yeah." Cristina responded as they continued to walk away.
And then there were 14! Hope you liked. There was a little very tiny something something with Addison and Aelwyne lol. We keep building from there. I am a sucker for the slow burn. Like it makes me mad when it is slow burn but then you get there and it's like woooowwww you know. Anyway sorry for the rambling. Remember to review and let me know what you're thinking. Until next time ;)