back, and with some stuff with me :)

"How is pancreatic divisum treated?" Addison asks absentmindedly, turning the pages.

"Ha, that's a good one. Dorsal duct sphincterotomy. So, Meredith's stepmom of sorts died the other day. Must be hard on her, Susan was such a good woman. Sometimes she would buy our groceries and do our laundry, can you believe it? She was admitted for hiccups and next thing I know she's having surgery. There were complications, according to what Bailey said —I didn't want to ask Mer, this is a difficult subject for her— and Mer was the one who told her father. It turns out he blamed her for Susan's death. He railed against her because Susan trusted her enough to come to Seattle Grace," Maddox relates, popping some chips into her mouth. "Today is her funeral. She came willing to attend, but it's a tough situation, isn't it? Your father abandoning you to have another family, and that woman being so nice? It must have been hard for Meredith not to hate her."

Maddox gradually stops talking when she sees Addison peering at her over the top of her glasses. "You guys have weird lives —today's exam day and all you can do is gossip?" Addison takes off her glasses and Maddox smiles a little. "I don't know if I should be worried or really impressed."

"It's not gossiping. It's telling my girlfriend everything that goes on in my life. Or my friends' lives. Anyway, go on."

"Okay, girlfriend," Addison points out, smiling but sweetly. "What is the most common cause of diarrhea in hospitalized patients?"

"C. Diff, which can cause toxic megacolon, perforations, sepsis and death. It's what killed Susan Grey," Maddox mentions and her smile fades a bit.

Addison looks up, impressed. "These are Torres' study cards. You've gotten every single one of them right —what are you, some kind of child genius?"

"You know when people say that gifted kids usually show their abilities early and so they impress at a young age, but then years go by and they get the hard blow of realizing that their talent as a child was just a phase and when in college they can't even remember how to form a simple sentence?" Addison nods, listening intently. "Yeah, that didn't happen to me. It's just that I retain more information than the rest. It also helps that I have a good memory."

"Okay, now you're just being a smartass."

Maddox hops down from the break room countertop with a grin. "I'll prove you wrong when the test results come in. If I've read about the question before, chances are I know the answer."

Addison rolls her eyes as she walks out of the room with Maddox at her heels. "All this confidence will bite you in the ass if you don't study at all. You're a doctor, you're obviously smart, but this is the most important exam of your life."

"Okay, mom," Maddox drags out the last word, bored. "What's in it for us today —another massive casualty? Life-threatening heart surgery? An extremely rare case of glass bones?"

"No, no and no," Addison replies. "Besides, the Chief has made it clear he doesn't want the interns around. Put them away until they leave were his exact words."

"Tough crowd today," the brunette mutters, sniffling. "I'm going to find me a study buddy. Have fun today, I won't." Maddox yells down the hallway, trying to incite an embarrassed reaction in Addison that she definitely gets as people turn to watch their exchange of words. Maddox walks away laughing as Addison avoids the stares of her peers.

"Good morning to you too," Derek smiles beside her, as if appearing out of nowhere. "I love seeing people embarrassed, especially Addison. You're confident in your knowledge then?"

"Yes. You're going to see a lot of me, you'll see. I heard nothing from any interns today," Maddox comments.

"Exactly, so don't try anything," Derek counters, and Maddox looks crestfallen. "You'll be able to participate as of tomorrow. Just make sure you do well on the test and it'll be fine. By the way, have you seen Meredith? I haven't seen her since this morning and I'm worried about her."

"No, not really. I was actually going to meet up with them, I can let you know in case anything happens."

Derek nods, satisfied. "That'll be good, thanks."

But she doesn't need to, because before they each go their separate ways, they watch as Thatcher Grey yells at Meredith. Maddox tries not to listen to the conversation, but the man's screams are uncontrollable, and the words that she is not welcome at Susan's funeral reverberate throughout the room. Meredith's half-sister Molly —Maddox knows her because her baby was born there, and because of her remarkable resemblance to Susan— grabs her father by the arm, prompting him to leave, sending an apologetic look to Meredith and the rest of the staff for her father's anger. Maddox finds herself unable to say anything as Meredith turns, they exchange glances, and the blonde walks past her with her face unhinged no matter how hard she tries to avoid it.

"Okay, doctors: time's up. Please, put your pencils away and turn the tests in. Test results will be announced shortly. Meanwhile, have a good day."

It's the first time Maddox raises her head from the paper in the whole time, but she seems satisfied to see that she has answered all the questions. It would be a bit bold to say that she has answered each and every one of them for sure, but most of them rang a bell, so she would have considered it a failure to leave any of them blank when she had a 33.33% chance of getting them right.

She turns in her seat, giving a knowing look to Alex, who only nods. It may be because of the importance of the exam, which will determine her future at Seattle Grace, but it seems significant to her that the first thing she has done is look Alex up. She feels strangely attached to him: she doesn't even know how old he is, but it comforts her to know that the two of them have had each other's backs almost from the very beginning. Yes, she also feels a special connection to Meredith and Cristina, but Alex is Alex. So she smiles a little at him, trying to comfort him and take tension out of the atmosphere, and the boy responds in kind, as slyly as ever.

'The die is cast,' Maddox thinks. There is nothing more she can do, but wait for the results as patiently as possible. So she decides to go about her life as if this were a normal day. Well, maybe with a twist or two.

The obstetrics and gynecology floor is sparsely frequented. It is a place that is calm, where there are usually no screaming doctors running around, because the emergencies up there are easier to control. Precisely because of this, finding Addison is not too difficult. She's reaching for something in the supply room, and Maddox stares at her for a few moments before Addison turns around with towels in hand. The brunette sends her a smile, and whatever is in Addison's hands slips and falls to the floor. The redhead smiles nervously, as if apologizing for her clumsiness, and the truth is, she can't recognize herself: what the hell is wrong with her when Maddox smiles at her like that?

The intern crouches down in front of her to hand her back the towels. "Here you go. I hope you had a good morning, Dr. Montgomery. I'm at your service today. I mean, on your service."

Maddox knows exactly what she's doing. Addison's breath hitches when she sees her crouched at her feet, and that boosts Maddox's confidence even more. Not that she's an overly confident girl, at least in the realm of seduction, but Addison's look of arousal and her body language are too obvious in Maddox's eyes to pass up opportunities. So she stands up, moving a little closer to her, but not close enough for their bodies to brush against each other, which makes Addison even more nervous.

"Hey, uh, how was the test?"

"The test?" Maddox asks aloud, fiddling lightly with the buttons on Addison's robe. The older woman's response is simply to back away until her back collides with the rack of towels, causing her to wobble. "I think I will ace it," the brunette whispers close to her, and her lips stretch into a playful smile, lowering her voice simultaneously. "I think I will ace the resident's test, too."

Maddox's hands work almost as fast as her lips, which move to the connection point between Addison's neck and shoulder. She deposits a soft nibble that's enough to make the redhead gasp and try to stifle it so no one hears her. The white robe slides off her shoulders and down her back until it ends up on the floor, and Maddox takes her time to admire the clothes covering her body —clothes she's already seen scattered across the floor of her room on one occasion or another, causing the flame inside her to kick in.

"Are we really doing this here?" Addison manages to mutter when Maddox momentarily pulls her hand out of her skirt.

"Say the word and I'm all in."

Addison swallows audibly and has to bend her legs because she firmly believes the heat she gives off will be noticeable to the brunette. "Let me lock the door—"

"Already locked," Maddox sentences, and there's something in her voice —perhaps her dominance, perhaps her visible eagerness— that makes Addison have difficulty suppressing the urge she has to kiss her, so she stops fighting her instincts and collides her lips with the young intern's.

The kiss is long and unbridled. Maddox's hands travel everywhere, finally locking on the back of Addison's neck, who has let her hair down today and emits short moans as the brunette's fingers massage her scalp with some force, prompting her heart to race by the minute and her lips open again to let out moans that Maddox silences again.

Addison feels like a teenager again, but she says nothing, just lets herself go. She can't remember the last time so many butterflies swarmed in her stomach —and maybe other parts of her body— just from a kiss and the thought that something else might be coming. The secret glances at the hospital, the touches laden with affection but discretion, the anticipation in her own mind that every morning when she walks through those doors, the best thing that can happen is that she will see Maddox again. The memory of a second stage of youthful infatuation, furtive smiles and that familiar warmth within four walls comes hand in hand with Maddox's presence in her life, and it's something Addison seems to cling to eagerly.

Plus, it helps that Maddox knows what she's doing, and that goes to all the senses of the relationship. Her warmth but playful spirit are able to turn Addison from cold to hot in moments; she bathes her in attention, in detail, and fervently assures her that everything that happens between them is not just in her head; her movements are sometimes firm, sometimes careless, at just the right point where Addison loses control, as in this very moment.

"You look so good," Maddox murmurs against her lips, and Addison can detect the scent of mint in her nostrils. "You want this, right?"

"Yes," is all Addison is able to reply, closing her eyes tightly and biting her lip as Maddox's cool hand once again makes contact with the skin of her thighs and works its way upward at a slowly accelerating pace.

Maddox pulls her underwear away from the gynecologist, who can only shudder in the meager gap between her body and the rack and Maddox's own body. The intern notices the arousal coming from the redhead and the wetness she harbors, but decides not to comment out loud in case this is some insecurity of Addison's that she is unaware of.

The intern pushes her fingers against the inside of the redhead's body, who lets out a sigh that evokes the impatience that the friction provokes. Maddox realizes at that moment that many of the fantasies she has heard are not true for her: she doesn't need erotic and sensual music playing in the background, nor petals sprinkled on the sheets and on the floor, nor a couple of candles illuminating the room: listening to the whispers coming from Addison's lips and exploring everything her body has to offer is more than enough, even if the most she can afford now is a tiny room in a hospital.

The way Maddox looks at her —her pupils dilating but she senses the familiar color of the sea, her lips half-open, the desire her gaze incites— is enough to make Addison feel like they won't be there too long. She hates feeling so vulnerable in the brunette's arms, because the weakness it provokes in her can be perceived as precocious, even, but the way her hand holds her waist gently but firmly, her lips cover hers to keep the moans from piercing the walls, or her other hand loses itself inside her expertly make it impossible for the redhead to resist the young Easton's charms.

"God," Maddox murmurs in a growl. A familiar yet unusual warmth grows inside her as well, something she hasn't felt in a long time, if she's ever felt anything like it for anyone. Addison clings to the metal bars of the rack with her blouse unbuttoned and her skirt hiked up, and Maddox thinks she's never seen anything like it. She curls her fingers one last time and it doesn't take Addison too long to fully surrender to what her body is asking for with one last agitated breath.

A hush falls over the room, with only the halting breaths of the two women intervening. Addison attempts to fix her hair using a pitcher as a mirror, preening as best she can so her disheveled locks don't exclaim that she just had sex in the supply room, and Maddox watches with sweetness in her eyes. "I can't believe we just did that," Addison comments, her eyes wide as saucers.

"I can't believe I did this," Maddox raptly blurts out, admiring the curves of the woman in front of her. The redhead arches an eyebrow, mimicking indignation, but Maddox's face is so innocent when she comes to that she can't help but leave a long kiss on her lips. "Sorry. I meant to say this was great," the girl excuses herself, taking her time redoing the buttons on Addison's blouse, who just looks at her. Then the brunette does the same with her uniform, the blue of the intern clashing with the pink blush on her cheeks. "I would love to stay but I don't want to stop your rounds," Maddox apologizes with a smile, stretching his lips. "Who am I kidding? Just page me if you want," the brunette smiles even wider, inciting a giggle in Addison. Maddox leans forward, kissing her goodbye. "See you."

It's close to two in the afternoon when she leaves the room, tidying her hair as best she can to avoid being spotted —she squints her eyes every time she crosses a corner or takes the elevator to check that neither Mark nor Callie are in sight, as she seems to be their prey— and it's almost a quarter past two when she leaves the cafeteria to fulfill her break, two sandwich halves in one hand and a bottle of water in the other. It's her turn to go see Meredith, and she knows it: what she doesn't know is what she can do to mitigate the pain her friend is silently suffering.

She finds her in the waiting room, arms folded, staring blankly, her bangs covering her eyes. She is surprised to find her alone, because she knows that George has gone to visit her, and she knows that Cristina will be the last one to do so, and she wonders if she has made a mistake spending time with Addison instead of going to comfort her friend. Without giving it any more thought, because she knows she won't be able to fix anything now, she takes a seat next to her, with silence as her only weapon.

"Are you going to give me an inspirational speech, too?" Meredith asks after a few moments, when the silence is so deafening that even she can't stand it.

Maddox doesn't look at her, just takes a bite of her sandwich. That Meredith has been the one to speak up is a sign. She doesn't know if it's a good sign or a bad sign, but it's a sign of something, of that Maddox is sure. "No," the brunette merely replies.

She doesn't know what to say to her. She assumes that George has become cautious and sentimental, especially after his father's death. Izzie is usually the optimistic person who knows how to look on the bright side of things, but Maddox assumes that even in such a situation, the blonde can't do much more than stand by her side. The brunette does not expect a concrete answer from Alex, a somewhat strange person, in her opinion: one day he's part of the group, another day he's a totally independent person. Cristina will be tough but fair, using a somewhat colder perspective than the others, and maybe that's just what Meredith needs.

"You can leave," Mer interjects again. "You have patients."

"I'm on my break. Just having lunch."

"Here?" Meredith responds, raising an eyebrow slightly.

"I like the waiting room."

Meredith rolls her eyes in a jocular tone. "You hate the waiting room. You hate waiting."

"I can wait," Maddox replies, looking at her for the first time. "I can wait as long as it takes. Waiting is all I've done in my life. I'd say I'm getting pretty good at it. Waiting is an art not everybody can master. You see, people like to say they'd fight, they'd find a way to face anything, they'd overcome anything. But a person who waits it's because they can't do anything to improve the situation. They're patient and they're hopeful. Because in the end everything will be okay for them. It's okay to assume that not always there's a way. Believe me, if there'd been a way, I would've found a cure for cancer at seventeen," Maddox takes another bite of her sandwich half. "I just did it, right?"

A short laugh escapes Meredith's lips, which slows when she realizes what she's done. "Inspirational speech done."

"Okay, okay. I just meant to say that sometimes the only solution is time. It hurts to say, but we won't always be in control. And we'll have to make it okay. You know what's not okay?" Maddox changes the subject, pushing the inspirational speech aside. "That the cafeteria has run out of BLT sandwiches. You like BLT."

"I hate BLT."

"No you don't," Maddox frowns. "You love them."

"I love BLT," Mer finally acknowledges quietly.

"Then there's good news for you, because though the cafeteria has run out of them, I managed to get the last one. I'll just leave it here in case you want to bite it and spit it out of rage or something. Eating it would be another option, but that's up to you."

Meredith says nothing more, as if she had forgotten that a few moments ago they had exchanged words like a normal conversation. Maddox, however, cannot press her. The thought of the mere rejection of her father for somehow not saving his current wife's life becomes unimaginable to Maddox, so she cannot put herself in her position to live through it.

A few minutes have passed in silence, and the clock is about to strike two-thirty, when Maddox has to attend Dr. Shepherd's service. The brunette leans on the armrest of the chair, and just at that instant, Meredith reaches out her arm, quickly and as if on impulse, and lays her hand on Maddox's, not looking at her but forcefully, as if it were a last resort.

Maddox nods, looking at her but knowing that Meredith doesn't see her as she does. "I will wait," the brunette gives a gentle squeeze back, and so she sees the clock tick even as she's finished her shift.