Several miles away at Seattle Grace, things don't look much better. Addison Montgomery has already lost count of the number of times she's had to wipe minor surgeries off the board to make room in the operating rooms for those injured in the ferry accident. She has counted several head injuries that have resulted in internal hemorrhages, pieces of metal piercing skin and even vital organs, and severe fractures that have required urgent reconstruction. When she looks around she doesn't find Derek or Callie, so she assumes they will be operating. However, they each have a battle that day, and hers will be one of the worst.

Yang and O'Malley hover around the ER like avid interns. Addison takes a few moments off to observe them, and thinks she understands the reason why Maddox wants to tell them before anyone else about their clandestine relationship. George is warm, he is attentive, and he is caring. He cares about others and goes out of his way to please their wishes, even when he sometimes gets vexatious treatment in return. Cristina, on the other hand, is sharp. She is opinionated, self-assured, and often the one who gets the humiliating treatment that O'Malley suffers. Precisely because she is so contrary to George, Addison doubts why Cristina and Maddox form such a strong bond. Perhaps it's because they are so different, although Maddox doesn't let Cristina walk all over her, and Cristina respects that.

But neither of them is Meredith, and that's not hard for Addison to understand. It's obvious the strong friendship that unites both girls, despite how distant they are lately because of their two parallel relationships —and some secret. You only have to watch them together to understand that they form a bond that will be hard to separate, and even though Addison has tried to hate Meredith for everything that has happened in her life, she puts herself in Maddox's shoes and understands why Maddox loves her so much. It's impossible to hate Ellis Grey's daughter, and it's inevitable to love Maddox Easton.

Addison realizes that she misses her. Her presence brightens the room —it's an effect Maddox tends to have on everyone, Addison knows— and the mood always improves when she's around. Addison knows she's in her honeymoon phase, thinking about her all the time, even when she shouldn't, but she can't and won't help it either. From that very morning that they have said goodbye, Addison already needs her presence. She knows it will be a difficult day, and what comforts her most is knowing that Maddox is out there, helping everyone who needs it, and Addison hopes that she will reaffirm her conviction to be a good surgeon, because the redhead is convinced that she will be.

However, she has no more time to think about her.

"We need some help here!" A male voice shouts from the ER entrance, and since when Addison comes back to reality there is no one else, she approaches him. "Female, twenty-nine, head trauma which causes her temporal memory loss. The Chief said she needed a head CT and an MRI. Could you take it from here? I have other patients to get to."

"Of course, thank you," Addison nods, proceeding to inspect the young woman's body. "My name is Dr. Montgomery and I'm gonna need to run some tests, okay? Did you come here with someone?"

"Micah," the girl whispers in a shaky voice, clenching her jaw in pain.

"Okay. Is Micah your partner? Your friend?" Addison insists, but the girl's answers are always negative. "We'll contact Micah later. Right now, I need to check your head."

"Maddox," she says suddenly, and this does catch Addison's attention, who stops the gurney in its tracks.

"What did you say? Did you say Maddox?"

"She's been saying Maddox nonstop, as if she knows her," a paramedic explains as she walks by, and Addison frowns. "Her chart says she suffered a seizure fifteen minutes ago. Maybe she's just confusing names."

The blonde girl wipes the oxygen from her face and speaks again. "Maddox. Pretty eyes. Gentle."

Addison smiles. "That's her. She helped you?" Nat nods again, resting again when she's already communicated her message, somewhat calmer. "You can see her later, I promise. And we'll find Micah, too. Be calm, you'll be fine."

Not even ten minutes have passed since Addison tends to Nat, and both women are strangely connected by Maddox's presence in their lives, when an ambulance pulls into the driveway with great speed. The doors open with a clatter, and Derek asks for room to lower the two stretchers. However, his concern lies mostly with Meredith, so when Bailey sees the scene and sees that she must take care of not one, but two of her lifeless interns, she is breathless for a second.

"What the hell happened here?" Bailey asks aloud with a blank stare inside the ambulance.

"As far as I know, Meredith fell into the water and Maddox jumped after her. I saw Maddox with Meredith in her arms and trying to help her, but when we were trying to make her wake up, Maddox passed out. Adrenaline must've worn out," Derek points out, stressed. His eyes are wet and Bailey doesn't question it. "They have no pulse. We've tried— They're too cold."

"Okay," Bailey nods, nervous. "Someone page the Chief. Tell him it's urgent. Come on!" Bailey hurries. "Lower the gurneys. Take them to warm rooms. Dr. Torres, help me with Easton. Dr. Shepherd, take Grey with the Chief and follow his orders. Now!"

Callie nods absently, staring at the cold, lifeless body of her friend. The huge tube coming out of her mouth, the same one that helps her breathe, is what strikes her most. She is deeply pale, and her wet hair sticks to her skin, and her face is so expressionless that Callie seriously doubts if she is really alive. Bailey catches her eye, and Callie reacts, surprised at how Bailey seems so composed and calm in the most tense situations.

Speed collides with chaos and they make an explosive mixture. Bailey asks for as much discretion as possible for the state of health of the two interns, who are struggling between life and death in two separate wards. Their body temperatures have yet to reach twenty-five degrees Celsius, and Bailey wonders internally how Maddox has been able to be awake and conscious —standing, even, talking to Derek— when her body was on the verge of going into multi-organ failure. The resident massages Maddox's chest, who still shows no signs of life, and makes it a little louder every time she thinks about how she might die from trying to save someone else's life.

"Get Burke," Bailey asks after practicing CPR unsuccessfully several times. "He'll be with the Chief in Grey's room. He'll know what to do to wake up her heart. Go!"

Callie doesn't cross paths with any interns on the way to Meredith's room, not even her recent husband, which she is extremely grateful for —she couldn't have lied to his face even if she wanted to; even she is too pale right now. When the door opens, Burke, Webber and a nurse turn around but Derek is still trying to get Meredith to breathe on her own. "Maddox is not waking up. Bailey needs you, Dr. Burke."

The man nods. "Let's go," they close the door on their way out carefully, trying to keep the blinds down for discretion. "Things don't look good. We need to warm up their organs first in order to make them breathe on their own. Breathing will be nothing without alive organs."

"We tried warming her up. Her body temperature won't go up and we're running out of time."

Burke nods once again, unable to find the right words for the situation. Callie hesitates for a few moments before entering the room, and that time lapse is just long enough for Addison to catch a glimpse of her from the stairs. Callie opens her eyes wide and swallows, trying to think of any excuse to distract Addison from the situation: she's aware of the relationship between intern and attending, and the hospital can't afford to have her as absent and distracted as Derek is with Meredith.

"You don't look too good. Are you feeling okay?"

Callie turns to see that the blinds are still down. "Didn't— Didn't you hear?"

Addison lifts her head from the charts. "Hear about what? The ferry incident? Of course."

"No," Callie tries. "There's been something else."

The redhead takes off her glasses, urging Callie to continue. "Well, tell me. You sure you're okay? You're scaring me."

"Torres!" The door to the room opens, and Bailey pokes her head out. "Oh, Dr. Montgomery, that's perfect. Both of you, come in. We need all hands on deck."

"It's Maddox," Callie confesses in a whisper before they both enter the room, and Addison looks at the scene, horrified. "She went after Meredith after she fell in the water. She was responsive for a few minutes until she passed out and she's been unresponsive since."

Addison's heart shrinks so much that she thinks it will stop right then and there. The scene horrifies her, and she feels deeply guilty at the thought of the brief conversation they've had that morning, which hasn't even ended the way she wanted it to. She makes her way into the room, pushing Callie and one of the nurses aside, and looks at Burke silently, as if seeking comfort, something to tell her that things are going to be okay.

"Her body temperature is stabilizing up to thirty three. That's a good sign," Burke says, and Bailey breathes, somewhat more relieved. "Now we must find a heartbeat. Push one of epi," the nurse prompts, and although no lifeline is detected on the machines, Burke nods. "I'm gonna check on Grey. I'll come back later."

"What happened to her?" murmurs Addison as Burke leaves the room, and only Bailey, Callie and her are left. At that moment she doesn't seem to care that few people know about her real relationship with Maddox. "What happened to her?" she asks again, this time with a louder tone.

"Grey fell and she went after her. No jacket on, you know Seattle waters. Who knows how long they were under the water. Shepherd found them at the dock, Easton trying to resuscitate Grey," Bailey replies, oblivious to it all. "Keep trying CPR. Now that her body is warm, this is all we have to do."

Callie nods, knowing that she must be the one to take over for Addison, who pales and pushes her wet hair away from Maddox's face, with a little more color on her face but equally lifeless. "Not now," Addison whispers, taking her cold hand. "You have to wake up, okay?"

"Here I come!" Maddox shouts down the hallway, propelling herself on the scooter. The air she creates shakes her dark hair, completely dry, and her eyes sparkle as she glides across the hospital floor. Suddenly the force that makes her move quickly stops her in her tracks, and Maddox stops in the doorway. She directs a glare at the man. "You're no fun, Dylan."

"I've told you at least three times that this is serious. You shouldn't be out here riding a scooter."

"All right. No scooter then," Maddox rolls her eyes, and the scooter next to her disappears in the blink of an eye, and it's only then that she notices Meredith's presence in front of her. "Mer!"

"Maddox!" Meredith's eyes widen in surprise, and she runs to hug her. "What are you doing here? Am I dead?"

Maddox shrugs. "I don't know. I've been here for ten minutes but no one has explained anything to me. They said we were waiting for you."

"Staying here longer than necessary can be dangerous," Denny explains. "Maddox can leave whenever she wants, but she decided to wait for you."

"How did you know I was coming?" asks Meredith.


"She just trusted us."

"It's warm in here," Maddox interjects, happy. "I like it here."

"You shouldn't," Dylan says flatly, and Maddox frowns.

"Why?"

"Because if you stay here you'll end up like the rest of us: dead," Denny explains more carefully. Now he turns to Meredith. "We need to make this quick. You two need to leave. But you'll only leave if you really want to. Like I said, Maddox is ready to go."

"But I'm not leaving without you," Maddox states, nodding toward Meredith. "Don't you want to come back, Mer? Do you want to be here?"

"What? Of course I don't. I want to come back."

"That's not what I was told. Remember what happened this morning? When I was in the kitchen with Izzie, and then you and Derek came in, fighting because you drowned in the bathtub? You said it wasn't serious, but today you were in the water. Didn't you try to swim before I got to you? Did you give up before I grabbed your wrist?"

Meredith shakes her head. "No, I did. I did try. I did swim."

Maddox smiles warmly. "I believe you. But you're still not telling the whole truth. You're not feeling what I'm feeling now. You can't leave because you don't yet have the will to fight for life that I do have."

"Then leave!" Meredith suddenly shouts. "Go without me. You don't have to be here."

"She's already here because of you," Denny reminds her. Suddenly it's just the three of them in the hallway, forming a triangle as they sit. "If you don't tell the truth, she will die with you. She's come to save you once, don't make her do it twice."

The pressure in Meredith's chest grows so great that two thick tears fall from her eyes. "I was swimming. I was struggling. And then I thought, just for a second, I thought —what's the point? And I stopped fighting. Don't tell anyone, please," she quickly insists, and Maddox and Denny look at each other, nodding.

"Okay. This is good enough, right?"

"You've done well," Denny smiles at Maddox. "But you have to go now. Izzie would never forgive me if she knew I let you die."

The defibrillator crashes against her chest once more, and it's the last time she needs it to bring her back to life. The machines signal life on their lines, rising steadily as a high-pitched beep indicates that there is a heartbeat. Maddox coughs a couple of times, causing the water in her lungs to be suddenly expelled. Next to her, Bailey pulls the tube out of her windpipe, and Maddox, despite being in this situation, knows she must remain calm so she can get it out safely. Her resident breathes a sigh of relief when she succeeds.

"Meredith," Maddox's voice is gruff and hoarse.

"Don't talk, Easton. You've been out for a couple of hours. You need to rest."

"Meredith," Maddox insists again, and Bailey listens to her this time. "Try again. She's alive. Tell them."

Bailey frowns. "Grey? How do you know?" But Maddox doesn't answer, just clutches Bailey's robe, and it's enough for the resident to nod and leave the room. However the door remains ajar, so Maddox is able to see Cristina through the gap in the door, and smiles slightly.

"Don't ever do that again. You hear me?" Cristina's tone of voice is serious, she even sees her wet eyes, so Maddox has no choice but to nod. "Good. You better."

"Mer... will be... awake... soon," Maddox manages to mumble haltingly. "She's... okay. Go. Thanks," the green-eyed girl says nothing more, but from Cristina's affection-laden gaze she knows she doesn't need to add anything else. Cristina squeezes her hand once more shakily and leaves the room, blindly trusting Maddox's words, taking a deep breath to remove the knot still in her chest, which appears with renewed strength when this time it is Addison who enters the room and makes sure to close properly. "Addie..."

"Don't 'Addie' me— Wait," the redhead stops dead in her tracks, looking at her. "Did you call me Addie?"

"Don't like it?"

And Addison, who for a moment has feared she'd never hear her voice again, sobs. Maddox purses her lips, knowing she can offer nothing to comfort her but her own presence, so she lets the redhead sit beside her and rest her head on her chest, as if to check, once again, that her heart is still beating. And there is that beating, still somewhat faint but strong enough to exist, which provokes calm in Addison but also a terrible fear of ever losing it.

"God, I thought I was gonna— I was so scared," Addison admits. "You looked so lifeless, laying in the stretcher. And I couldn't do anything for you. I thought I was gonna lose you."

"It's okay," Maddox affirms. "I'm warm. I like it here."

"Okay," Addison nods, smiling and giving her a kiss on the back of her hand. "How are you feeling?"

"Just a bit tired. Big pressure here," the brunette points to her chest, but breathes rhythmically. "Can you check on someone for me? She's a patient. Her name is Natalie, she was at the ferry accident."

Addison strokes her hair, pushing it away from her face to keep it from getting cold. "She's doing okay. She had another seizure when she was admitted, but she went into surgery and the blood clot causing it was removed. She should be just fine."

"That's good," Maddox smiles a little. "Did she— Did she mention Micah?"

Addison's face falls in certainty. "She did come to the ferry with someone named Micah, after all. Maddox, she was pregnant. One month pregnant. She lost the baby."

"Oh," is all Maddox says. Addison strokes her hair again, worried that this is the latest blow, the last straw in the ocean of misfortune that keeps happening all around her. "Does she know?"

"Not yet. She's still resting from the surgery."

"Can I— Can I be there? She was so desperate to find Micah and I promised her I would..."

"You need to rest, too."

"I want to be there," Maddox sighs. "I want to be there, and here, and everywhere. I helped her, and I helped Mer, and despite this situation, I feel good. I like to help, even if sometimes I can't do anything for them. I want to be there when things go right, but I'll also be there when things go wrong," Maddox said through the effort of speaking so many words in a row. "This is my world, Addie."

"Okay," the redhead smiles excitedly, though she hadn't really expected it to be such an eye-opening situation. "I'll see what I can do."

"And I... I promise I'll tell them. Today. I was going to tell her earlier. When Mer wakes up," Maddox promises.

The redhead bends down to brush her lips against hers, and not ten seconds have passed when the door swings wide open. "Oh— I'm... I'm sorry," Derek's voice enters shyly in the room, and Maddox feels oddly comforted that it was him and not someone else who discovered them; still, Maddox looks away awkwardly and can't help the blush on her cheeks.

"He knows," Addison clears her throat after a few seconds of built-up tension, and Maddox is surprised.

"I haven't told him."

"Me neither."

Against all odds, Derek laughs, and Maddox looks at him. "I just connected the dots. Before you passed out, you told me you'd kissed a 'she' and asked me not to hate you. At first I thought Meredith, but given the look on Addison's face when she found out what had happened to you, I knew," Derek clarifies, entering the room. "You don't have to worry about me hating you. I could never hate you, Maddox. Especially after what you did. You saved Meredith's life today."

Maddox's heart leaps. "Is she okay? Is she awake yet?"

Derek nods with a huge smile. "She is. Bailey said you were the one who insisted on not leaving her. How did you know?"

Maddox smiles. "She's my person. We might be connected."

"Maybe it's the drugs talking," Derek laughs, downplaying it. "Thank you, Maddox. Really. You're a good friend," the neurosurgeon pats her head gently. "By the way. Dr. Yang said you really need to read your texts."

Maddox beckons Addison to reach for her phone, which rests on the small table. She sees that she does indeed have a new message from Cristina Yang. The news is that I'm getting married to Burke. I'll know you've read this when you scream.

"Oh my—" Maddox starts to scream but as soon as she realizes the expletive she's about to blurt out, she covers her mouth. "Cristina is engaged to Burke. This is nuts," Maddox laughs, "Here goes nothing. Then now is the perfect time to tell you that Addison will be my plus one xx.

"WHAT?" Cristina's voice is unmistakable in the hallway.