"Surgeons are control freaks. With a scalpel in your hand, you feel unstoppable. There's no fear, there's no pain. You're ten-feet tall and bulletproof. And then you leave the OR. And all that perfection, all that beautiful control, just falls to crap. No one likes to lose control, but as a surgeon there's nothing worse. It's a sign of weakness, of not being up to the task. And still there are times when it just gets away from you. When the world stops spinning and you realize that your shiny little scalpel isn't gonna save you. No matter how hard you fight it, you fall. And it's scary as hell. Except, if there's an upside to free-falling, it's the chance you give your friends to catch you."
-Meredith Grey, S2E3, "Make Me Lose Control"
"The key to surviving a surgical internship is denial. We deny that we're tired, we deny that we're scared, we deny how badly we want to succeed. And most importantly, we deny that we're in denial. We only see what we want to see and believe what we want to believe, and it works. We lie to ourselves so much that after a while the lies start to seem like the truth. We deny so much that we can't recognize the truth right in front of our faces. Sometimes reality has a way of sneaking up and biting us in the ass. And when the dam bursts, all you can do is swim. The world of pretend is a cage, not a cocoon. We can only lie to ourselves for so long. We are tired, we are scared, denying it doesn't change the truth. Sooner or later we have to put aside our denial and face the world. Head on, guns blazing. De Nile. It's not just a river in Egypt, it's a freakin' ocean. So how do you keep from drowning in it?"
-Meredith Grey, S2E4, "Deny, Deny, Deny"
"What are you doing here?"
"Your hair's different."
"A lot of things are different."
"It's longer. It's very Russell Crowe."
"What are you doing here? You just pick up and leave everything? Your house, your practice, your friends? You had a life in Manhattan."
"Had. And now you have a girlfriend in Seattle. She seems sweet."
"The ice you're on. Thin."
"She's young. That wide-eyed, he's-a-brain-surgeon thing, but still sweet. Which was what you were going for. The anti-Addison?"
"If you came to try to win me back, forget it."
"I did. I flew across the country to reminisce over wedding photos, get drunk, fall into bed, and make you realize you can't live without me. Relax. Derek, I'm here for work. I'm helming the TTTS case you guys admitted last week and from Richard's briefing-"
"He knew you were coming?"
"He asked me. Didn't he say?"
"No. He didn't."
"Surprise. The hair, though. You know, I've always had a thing for Russell Crowe."
"Anna's sure happy you're back."
"I wish the feeling was mutual."
"It's not."
Derek left the nurse's station and Addison watched her stepdaughter talk with the surgical interns. The interns that were friends with Derek's girlfriend. Interesting.
~ GREY'S ANATOMY ~
"What is she doing here?"
"You and I both know she's the best in the field. Bringing Addie out was a business decision, nothing personal."
"Oh, well, what a relief. It's not personal. It is personal to me."
"The workings of my surgical unit don't have any-"
"Don't include my wife!"
"Don't include your private life! Burke will act as chief of surgery until I'm back on my feet."
"You gave chief to Burke."
"There's no room for personal in being chief."
"What is that supposed to mean?"
"You have been sleeping with an intern."
"So I guess part of being chief is personal."
"Close the door on your way out."
Anna froze after hearing their conversation. She wanted to check in with Richard when she saw her father already in his office. She was so happy that Addison was here, but they were avoiding each other in the hospital... and Meredith seemed to run in the opposite direction of her father. And, now, she understood why.
Anna shook her head in disbelief, turning around as her father walked over to her, "Anna! Honey, please! Wait! Anna!"
"Leave me alone!" Anna yelled at him, glaring, as staff and patients turned to watch the drama unfold.
~ GREY'S ANATOMY ~
"Congratulations are in order."
"Don't sweat it, I'll only be your boss for a few days."
"I'm aware of Richard's recovery time. I operated on him, remember?"
"I do. He survived and chose me to take over while recruiting your wife."
"Clearly, he has brain damage."
"Or is it your ex-wife? I'm a little fuzzy on that."
"We're separated."
"Sorry to interrupt, Dr. Burke."
"You're never interrupting."
"She always is."
"I was checking to see if Dr. Burke secured the intern-"
"The intern you requested? He did."
~ GREY'S ANATOMY ~
"Everybody knew, right?" Anna sighed, sitting at a table with Karev, Stevens, O'Malley, and Yang, "Everyone except me."
"I told him." George said, "I told Shepherd to be honest with you. This... this was gonna happen."
"That was before the secretly married thing." Alex said, Cristina smacked him on the arm, "Don't listen to Dr. evil spawn, Anna."
"I hate both of them, right now." Anna groaned, "Y'know, I just realized, my father's kinda a slut?"
The four of them laughed.
"And, apparently, people call him McDreamy, too? How embarrassing. I can't catch a break today."
The table got quiet as a shadow casted over Anna. She looked at her tray, picking at her food, "Anna? Can I have a word with you?"
"Oh, like, how you've been talking to me?" Anna laughed at her father, sarcastically, "'We don't keep secrets.' Bull."
"Okay. I'm not asking you. I'll telling you." Derek challenged her attitude, waiting for her to stand up.
"Talk all you want," Anna gathered her tray and stood up, "But I'm not listening."
The interns watched her walk away. Meredith emerged from he cafeteria with her lunch. She awkwardly stood near the doors eyeing Derek and Anna's little fight.
~ GREY'S ANATOMY ~
"I'm gonna tell you. All right. My mother's maiden name, Maloney. I have a daughter. I have four sisters. I have, uh, nine nieces. Five nephews. I like coffee ice cream, single-malt scotch, occasionally a good cigar. I like to fly-fish. I cheat when I do the crossword puzzle on Sunday. And I never dance in public. Um, favorite novel, The Sun Also Rises. Favorite band, The Clash. My favorite color is blue. I don't like light blue. Indigo. The scar right here on my forehead, that's why I don't ride motorcycles anymore."
~ GREY'S ANATOMY ~
Addison cuddled with Anna on her bed, running her fingers through her long, dark hair, lulling her to sleep, while she wondered where Derek was. It wasn't long before she dozed off herself and woke up to the trailer door being opened. He was home.
"You told Meredith what happened?" Derek's voice was quiet, almost a whisper, as Addison got off of her bed and tried not to wake her.
"I did."
"What did you tell her?"
"People do desperate things to attract attention. What?"
"Wow. That's your side of this? That I didn't pay you enough attention? You thought that when you got naked with my friend?"
"No. By that point, I wasn't thinking at all. I was just scratching an itch. We got successful, you and me. We got busy and we got lazy. We didn't even bother to fight anymore. And Mark was there, and I missed you. And now I'm sorry. I'm more sorry than you can possibly imagine, but at least I'm talking to you about it."
Derek's eyes softened as he glanced at a sleeping Anna curled up in bed. He looked at Addison, not in the mood to talk anymore, and went to his bedroom on the other end of the trailer.