chapter thirty-seven ━ intervention in LA
( season five, episode eight )
private practice

❝Did you hear that Mark has a
baby daughter now? He's a 'matured'
Mark Sloan as he likes to say.❞

— trigger warning: mentions of drug use —

ADDISON STOOD IN front of her outside of the airport and let out a breath of relief when she saw the woman she had watched grow up. "Ellie!" she exclaimed and the blonde smiled. "Thank you for coming so quickly."

"It sounded important," Ellie said, hugging Addison tightly. "What's going on, Addie? What happened to Amelia?"

She sighed as she went around to the driver's side of her car. "She was gone for twelve days," she began and Ellie looked at her, opening the door of the passenger's side. "She's using again, Ellie. She tried to break into the practice for her prescription pad. She finally came back yesterday, acting like nothing even happened. You know that this isn't her."

"No," Ellie agreed with a sigh. "It isn't. But... She was doing so well. What happened? Why is she using again?"

"Her friend Michelle came to her asking for her help to commit suicide," she explained and the blonde raised her eyebrows. "We all tried to tell her not to do it, but she helped anyway—well until she had to call 911. Then when she went home, she found out that she had died from an overdose. Ever since then, she started using again. She vanished and now we're all worried."

Ellie nodded. "I can see why."

"We're doing an intervention at the practice," Addison continued, turning on the engine of the car and pulling away from the airport. "And since you're the closest thing Amelia has to a sister—well, a sister who cares—I figured you'd be able to get through to her."

"Hopefully," she said with a sigh before glancing at the redhead. "So, what else is new? Anything I should know?"

Addison shrugged. "Sam and I broke up."

"You were dating Sam?!" she exclaimed and Addison let out a breath. "Hold on, like—like Naomi and Sam, Sam? Geez, a girl moves to Seattle and suddenly she doesn't know anything."

She chuckled. "Now that's the Ellie that I know and love."

☀️

"HEY, EVERYONE!" ADDISON called out once she and Ellie had stepped off the elevator and the blonde began looking around at the practice. "We're back."

"Who is we?" Ellie looked over at the sound of the voice and smiled softly at the sight. "Elizabeth Sloan," Sam Bennett said, looking at one of his oldest friends' younger sister. "I'm surprised to see you here."

"Sam Bennett," she echoed, hugging him tightly which he gladly returned. "It's been a while. How have you been?"

"I'm good," he replied and she broke apart the hug, resting her hands on his shoulder. "Things still frosty between you and Mark?"

Ellie chuckled and shook her head. "No. No more frostiness for the Sloan siblings. Though, did you hear that Mark has a baby daughter now? He's a 'matured' Mark Sloan, as he likes to say."

"I'll have to see that to believe it," Sam quipped and she smiled. "Amelia will be glad to see you, Ellie."

She nodded and looked around the room. "So... is—is she here?" she asked before glancing at Addison who had stayed quiet since returning to the practice. "Addie, where is she?"

"She isn't here," Sam said and she looked back at him. "Not yet."

"So—So it's happening today?" she asked. "I can't even talk to her beforehand?"

Violet Turner—who Ellie knew from conversations with Addison—shook her head. "She was gone for twelve days," she replied and the blonde sighed, rolling her neck. "And now she's lying to us about not using. We don't really have any kind of time."

"And she's engaged to Ryan," Sam added and Ellie furrowed her brows.

"Who the hell is Ryan?" she asked.

"Somebody she's been getting high with," Addison replied and Ellie sighed, running a hand through her blonde locks. "She's falling off the wagon. We have to help her."

She nodded. "And we will."

☀️

[ JACKIE ]
10:30 am
Where are you? We all
went to your office and
you weren't there.

[ ELLIE ]
10:31 am
In LA. It's a long story.
Can you go through the
schedule for me? It's all
on my desk already.

[ JACKIE ]
10:32 am
Sure. Call if you need
anything.

[ ELLIE ]
10:33 am
:)

"She should be coming up soon."

Ellie put away her phone and sighed, looking up at Sam and Addison. "How did we get to this?" she asked them. "She had been doing so good. Derek should be the one that's here. Not me."

"Do you really think that'd be wise?" Sam asked in response and she glanced at him. "I know that Derek loves her, but... he's not the most supportive when it comes to her addiction. Isn't Amelia the reason that you and Mrs. Shepherd don't really speak anymore?"

She frowned slightly. "How do you know about that?"

"I talk to her occasionally," he replied with a shrug and she nodded, looking over when she heard the elevator ding.

Amelia stepped off the elevator and noticed Addison. "Hey."

"Could we talk to you for a minute?" Addison asked, walking over to her.

Amelia furrowed her brows. "Who's we?" Addison stepped to the side to show the group from practice when the youngest Shepherd's eyes found the blonde. "Ellie? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in Seattle?"

Ellie gave a small, tight smile. "Hi, Amy," she said quietly, standing up. "Why—Why don't you take a seat?"

Amelia glanced at the woman to Ellie's left. "Uh, hello."

"Hi, Amelia," she replied. "I'm Lenny."

Amelia turned back to look at Addison. "Does she have a brain tumor?" she asked and Ellie shared a glance with Sam. "A giant carcinoma that she wants me to excise? That had better be what's going on here, because—"

"Amelia," Lenny interrupted the brunette. "Everybody here cares about you. And they'd like you to stay and listen to what they have to say. Will you do that?"

"Wow," she scoffed, shaking her head. "An intervention? An intervention? Okay. You know what? I have patients to see."

"No patients are coming in today," Lenny told her and Ellie began walking toward the woman she saw as a sister. "Today is about you."

Amelia turned to look at her. "Are you freaking kidding me?"

"Amelia—"

"Doctor," she said, interrupting Lenny. "Dr. Shepherd, and I know how an intervention works." She looked around at the group. "You're not the one who talks. You're just the party planner. One of you—One of you is supposed to have the guts to speak up instead of hiding behind this chick. One of you has to have the balls to say something to me. Do you? Any of you?" Ellie pressed her lips together. "Okay." Amelia nodded. "Great intervention. I have been intervened upon. I will see you tomorrow."

Amelia pressed the elevator button and Ellie took her by the arm. "I'm not letting you leave," she told her.

"Ellie."

"I'm not letting you leave, Amy," she said again. "I know you're upset—and you have that right—but we all care about you. Please."

Violet walked over to Addison who had been standing to the side. "You want to do this?" she asked her. "You have to do this. Come on."

The redhead sighed. "If you get on that elevator, I will fire you," she said and Ellie glanced at her.

"Then I quit."

Ellie shook her head. "Amy—"

"Amelia, get off the elevator or I'll call the police on you," Jake Reilly, another doctor at the practice, interrupted the blonde.

Amelia crossed her arms. "And tell them what?"

"And tell them that you've been writing prescriptions for your own personal drug use," Charlotte King answered and Ellie blinked; she didn't know about that.

Amelia stared back at her. "You don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah, actually, I do."

"Okay, fine." Amelia relented, walking away from the elevator and Ellie sighed. "I will stay at the practice."

"Amelia—"

"I said I would stay at the practice," she said, cutting off Charlotte. "I did not say I would hang out with you."

Addison let out a sigh. "This isn't working."

"A united front," Lenny reminded them, and Ellie frowned.

"She just walked out," she said, gesturing to the retreating brunette.

"So go after her," Lenny replied. "You have to be in this. You can't just come along for the ride. There are times that you're gonna have to steer the ship."

Addison raised her eyebrows at the woman. "We're using sailing metaphors now?" She chuckled and shook her head. "I mean—Can I just—What are the qualifications for this anyway? Are you even—I mean—Is there a certification for this? Are you qualified to do this?"

"Addie—"

"We all agreed," Sam said and Ellie held up her hand.

"Wait, wait." She looked at Addison. "You didn't want to do an intervention?" she asked and Addison shook her head. "Well, then what did you want to do?"

"I don't know," she replied with a shrug. "But not this."

Sam stepped forward. "We don't have any more options, Addison."

The OB sighed. "Fine," she said. "I'll go."

"I'm coming with," Ellie said, following after her and she looked back at her. "You asked me to fly out here. I'm not just going to sit here and do nothing."

Jake walked behind them and they found Amelia desperately digging through her desk drawers. He and Ellie glanced at each other while Addison let out a breath.

"Look, I know—This is—Would you just listen to what everyone has to say?" she asked her former sister-in-law.

Amelia slammed the drawer shut and Ellie winced at the force. "Addison, I got sober young," she said. "And then I spent the bulk of my twenties in a library, studying my ass off—college, med school, residency, neuro fellowship. So now I want to have some fun. I made a mistake and now I'm fine. I would think that you or Ellie would get that."

"I do." Addison nodded. "I get that. But, you're an addict, Amelia."

"You down a bottle of wine with every meal," she retorted, shaking her head. "You drink when you're happy and when you're sad and when it's Tuesday. Should we do an intervention about your alcoholism?"

"But she hasn't had a history of troubles with alcohol," Ellie interjected making Amelia's gaze shift to her. "That's the difference."

Addison nodded in agreement. "I don't need to drink," she added. "I haven't had a drink in months."

"Yeah, because the only thing you're more addicted to than booze is having a baby," Amelia said and Ellie glanced between them. "Which is sad, because, hell, you're freaking barren! You waited too long, and your junk dried up, and you've ruined any man who would want to even consider impregnating you. Poor Derek and poor Mark."

Ellie shook her head and stood in between them. "You aborted his kid, right?" Amelia called after a retreating Addison. "And now you've got Sam, and at least he's smart enough not to want to try and breed with you, because let's be honest—not even Rosemary's baby would want to live amongst the tumbleweeds in your uterus."

"Alright, that's enough," Ellie said, cutting off the brunette before looking behind her. "It's Jake, right? Could I have a minute alone with her?"

He nodded. "Yeah."

He closed the door behind him and she sighed, turning back to look at the woman she thought of as a sister. "What's going on with you?" she asked. "When you were in Seattle, you seemed to be doing good."

"Just go home, Ellie," Amelia said, pulling herself out of the blonde's hold. "I don't have a problem."

"I beg to differ," she argued and the brunette scoffed. "I see it, and I need you to see it. I need you to see that you have a problem, Amy. That the words you say affect people—you're hurting them. I need you to see that this is a problem and that we're all here because we love you."

"Really?" Amelia questioned, tilting her head. "Then where's Derek? If he loves me, he would be here."

Ellie hesitated. "He—He—"

Amelia nodded. "That's what I thought," she said and Ellie sighed. "I'm just his younger sister who has a drug problem. The younger sister who crashed his car because she was high."

"Amy, please—"

"I don't have a problem, Ellie," she said once more, this time more forcefully. "Stop making it seem like I do. It was a waste of time for you to come here. Go back to your life in Seattle. Go be Derek's favorite sister and leave me the hell alone."

"Amelia—"

"Go."

Pressing her lips together, Ellie closed the door behind her and let out a breath. She pulled out her phone and played with it in her hands, debating whether or not to call.

"No, he'd just judge her."

Shaking her head, she walked out to the main room and Addison looked up with a hopeful look in her eyes. "Any luck?"

"No," Ellie replied with a small sigh, sitting down beside her. She linked her arm with the redhead's and leaned her head on her shoulder. "She's mean."

"What do we do now?" Cooper Freedman asked. "Do we just—like—leave or is it—"

Charlotte frowned. "Coop."

"No, I'm just saying—she's not listening," he defended, looking at his wife. "She's not listening."

"I'm not in favor of this," Violet said and Ellie looked at her. "Research shows that group confrontational strategies with alcohol and drug abusers do not work."

"She's going into withdrawal soon," Lenny told them.

Ellie and Addison glanced at each other. "What?"

"She's using," she continued and Ellie held her head in her hands. "At a certain point, she's going to go into withdrawal. That's our chance. We just have to keep her here until that happens."

Sam nodded. "Yeah, but she's not high right now."

"Yes, she is."

"No, she's not."

"She is."

Ellie nodded and let out a breath, glancing back at Sam. "She is."

"She'll be coming through those doors any minute," Lenny said. "Her high will be on its way out, and we stand between her and getting her out of here to get more drugs. She'll be a little bit sweaty, irritable, twitchy, tweaking. My guess is she's an oxy girl?"

Ellie cleared her throat. "Uh—yeah."

Lenny nodded. "Nothing like oxycodone to turn a nice girl into a bitch on wheels. Any minute... she's coming through those doors."

The blonde leaned back in her seat and turned her head when she heard footsteps, seeing Amelia walking out of her office. "Whatever you have to say, spit it out so I can go," she said, sitting down next to Ellie. "I don't have all day."

☀️

"OKAY. OKAY." LENNY looked at Amelia. "Everyone's gonna take turns talking now. And they're all here because they want to help you. So try to keep that in mind. This is not about anyone judging you. This is—"

Amelia laughed to herself. "Okay, lady. You have clearly never met these people."

Ellie looked at her. "Amelia—"

"Fine, fine," she relented, crossing her arms. "Who's talking first?" Violet raised her hand and Ellie traded places with her. "Perfect. Shrink talk. My favorite."

Violet sat down beside her. "So—um—we're not—we're not close, so I don't have anything personal to—uh, I was just gonna ask you if you're feeling okay. You're sweating and your foot is shaking."

"And you're aging and your husband hates you," Amelia retorted and Ellie let her head fall. "So, you know, things could be worse for me."

Pete Wilder cleared his throat. "A—Amelia—"

"It's okay," Violet said, stopping him. "Pete. It's okay. She's scared. She's lashing out. I've had patients that are angrier than you and sicker than you, so I can take it."

Amelia nodded. "Awesome. Are you looking for applause as usual?"

"Amelia—"

"It's okay, Pete."

He shook his head. "No, i—it's not okay."

Amelia scoffed at him. "Honestly, Pete, all I have been able to think about since I saved your pathetic life is, was it worth it?" Ellie looked at her, unable to recognize the woman she had grown up with. "'Cause you're kind of a tool. I mean, maybe saving you was a waste of my energy. Maybe it was a waste of my mad, mad surgical skills. Maybe you're a waste of life.

"Maybe Angel-of-Death dude should call it a day and swallow some pills for yourself. What do you say? Cross on over to the other side? It'd give your wife some great material for her next book—" Ellie furrowed her brows and glanced at Addison who waved it off; that was a situation for another day. "—and she'd love that. That's her thing—" Amelia looked at Lenny. "—raping her personal experiences for attention. Oops. Did I say rape? Sorry, Charlotte."

☀️

A COMPROMISE WAS not what anyone had in mind. And certainly not getting Amelia some oxy to get her to stay in the practice.

"Amelia, please, think about this," Ellie said, all but begging her.

"I am thinking about this," she replied and the blonde let out a breath. "Get me the oxy and I'll stay. That's the deal."

Ellie sat down as Jake began reading a letter to Amelia. However, the neurosurgeon wasn't listening. She was chanting to herself, demanding drugs. The resident let out a breath and walked into Addison's room, pulling out her phone.

"Ellie?" Jackson's voice filled her eardrums and she closed her eyes.

There was something about his voice that always somehow made her feel calmer.

"She's not the person I know, Jackie," she said quietly and he furrowed his brows. "Amelia is this—this shell of a human being. The person who's screaming for drugs isn't Amelia Shepherd."

"Hey, hey, take a breath," he told her, sitting down on a nearby gurney. "You're rambling and you don't make sense when you ramble. What's wrong?"

Ellie sighed, hugging her legs to her chest. "Addison called me and said that they're doing an intervention for Amelia. But... It's so hard seeing her like this."

"Hang on, let me find Shepherd."

"No." Jackson paused and furrowed his brows. "No, he'd just say 'I told you so'. That I should've known better than to go to LA. I just... I want her to get better. But that's easier said than done."

"I'm sorry. I wish I could help."

She shrugged to herself. "It's okay. Thanks for answering, though. That's more than enough." She fell silent, staying on the phone. Her eyes wandered outside the office. "Oh, hang on, she's trying to leave. I gotta go."

"Call me if you need to talk," he said as she stood up. "I don't care if I'm in surgery, I'll answer."

"But then Mark would get mad at you," she replied with a frown.

"Then he'll be mad at me."

Ellie smiled softly. "Thank you."

Once she had hung up, she hurried out of the office toward the elevator where Amelia was. "Get outta my way, Sam."

"You have a tough life?" Sam asked her and Ellie looked around at the group, wondering what had prompted this argument. "Everybody's life is tough. Life comes with pain. Sometimes that pain is unthinkable, but that—that's no excuse to throw it away like this. Everybody here has been through hell and back—Peter, Violet, Charlotte, even Ellie. The most bubbly girl we've ever met. But we're not using. She's not using."

Ellie shook her head. "Don't use me as an example—"

"And it's why she's Derek's favorite," Amelia said and Ellie sighed, throwing up her hands. "I swear to God, Sam—"

"Shut up!" he snapped at her. "You want to stop being a drug addict—this is how you stop being a drug addict. Stop using drugs! Grow up! Take some responsibility for yourself."

Amelia's eyes were drawn behind Sam and he and Ellie looked behind them and saw Addison walking toward them with pills in her hand.

"That's my girl." Amelia smiled.

Ellie scoffed at her. "Addison, what the hell are you doing?"

"Addie..."

"Gotta love that woman of yours, Sam," Amelia said and Ellie looked back at her. "Of course, we all know you can't commit, so maybe you don't gotta, but I do."

"Addison—" She looked at Sam. "We talked about this."

"You can't do this," Ellie added.

"What the hell are you thinking?"

"She's thinking that Amelia's in trouble," Sheldon, one of Amelia's friends, answered Sam. "And if we let her leave—"

Amelia took the pills. "Thank you, Addison."

"Oh, no," Lenny said, stopping Amelia from leaving. "Here."

"What?"

"You wanna do your drugs, you do 'em here," she said and Ellie let out a breath. "In front of all these people who care about you. Show them who you really are. Or don't do the drugs at all, and show them who you want to be. It's your choice."

Amelia looked around at the group before walking to the reception desk. She held up the pill and placed it on the hard surface, smashing it with the stapler. She took a business card and snorted it making Ellie look away, shaking her head.

☀️

"SURE AS I'M sitting here, if you keep up at this, you're gonna kill someone," Charlotte was saying to Amelia. Ellie was leaning her head on Addison's shoulder, glancing at the brunette out of the corner of her eye. "You're gonna walk into some OR, you're gonna get behind the wheel of a car... you're gonna kill someone, Amelia. That's where this goes.

"And when you do... when you do that, you don't come back from it. Maybe you get sober... but you don't come back. You spend every day trying to be a better person, trying to save a life, trying to make it right. But you can't give that mother back her child or that husband back his wife. You walk and talk and you breathe, and sometimes you even smile or laugh... but you don't come back."

Amelia stayed silent making Jake sigh. "Okay, I gotta ask," he said, breaking the silence. "What is the point of this now? She's so high, she can't even listen to us."

"I'm listening." Everybody looked at Amelia. "What Charlotte said was very beautiful... and real. And I worry about that. I do."

Sheldon kneeled in front of her. "Just give us thirty days—thirty days to get you clean and sober—then you can start over again. A clean slate."

"That sounds nice, but I..." Amelia's voice broke and she shook her head. "I don't think I can do it."

Ellie sat down beside her. "Of course you can," she told her. "Because you're Amelia Shepherd. The woman who is so determined to be better than her brother at neurosurgery. You're the one who taught me every way to beat Derek and Mark at board games. You can do it, Amelia, and they'll be there for you every step of the way. Please."

"There's a rehab facility," Sheldon added. "They have a bed waiting for you. It's—It's right near the ocean."

Ellie rubbed her arm. "Please, Amelia. I miss the Amy who would tease me for reading too many books."

Amelia's eyes filled with tears before looking back at Sheldon. "Will you come, too?"

"I'll come see you every day," he promised.

Amelia sniffled and looked up when she heard the elevator bell ding. "Ryan," she said with a smile and Ellie looked at Addison who stood up.

"You need to go," Sam told him.

"Sam—"

"No," he interrupted, shaking his head. "He's gotta go. Leave."

"Ryan and I are getting married," Amelia told him, staying close to Ryan. "Don't speak to him like that."

"You realize you'll never get sober if you stay with him," Pete said. "Ever."

"Amelia's addiction is not Ryan's fault." Lenny stood up while Ellie glanced between the couple. "As a matter of fact, Ryan, if you want to get sober, we'll help you, too."

Sam frowned. "No, we won't."

"Yes, you will," Ellie said, looking at him. "If you want Amelia to get better, you'll help him, too. If he wants help, that is."

Sheldon cleared his throat when Ryan lifted his arm and his wrist became visible, making Ellie and Addison look at it.

"Okay, I just think we need to discuss this before we—"

"I think what Violet and Ellie said is right," Charlotte piped up. "I believe we can help anyone who wants to get sober."

"He didn't say he wants to get sober," Sam countered while Addison walked over to Amelia and Ellie moved closer.

She took Ryan's arm and looked at Amelia. "You gave him your father's watch?" she asked in disbelief. "Amelia—Amelia, look at me."

"It's his engagement present," she said quietly.

Ellie's face softened. "It's your father's watch."

"Leave me alone."

"You took this from your mother?" Addison asked, holding up Ryan's wrist once more. "Do you know how that's gonna make her feel?"

"Okay, let's—everyone, calm down."

"What's the significance of the watch?" Violet asked them.

Amelia shook her head. "Nothing. It's a watch."

"Amelia—"

"My mom gave it to my dad for their anniversary one year," she said, interrupting Addison.

She shook her head. "That is not the significance."

"Addie—"

"Addison—"

"It's not," Addison continued. "And you know it's Sam. You, too, Ellie. Amelia—"

"Addison, don't tell them," she said, shaking her head and walking toward her. "Don't make this worse."

She sighed and looked around. "Two guys came into her father's store when she was five years—"

"Shut up!" Amelia shouted and Ellie stepped between them. "Do not tell that story. You do not tell your story!" She fell into Ellie's arms, crying hysterically. "That is not your story! He was not your dad! He was my dad! You shut your mouth! Shut up, you stupid, ignorant monster bitch! You do not tell that story. You ever tell that story to anyone... and I will kill you with my bare hands."

☀️

ELLIE STOOD ON the curb outside of the airport and looked back at Sam and Addison. "You'll keep me updated on her?" she asked them. "You promise you'll call me about her?"

"We will," Addison promised, hugging her tightly. "Thanks for coming, Ellie. I just wished things could have gone better."

"Me, too." She turned to Sam and wrapped her arms around him. "It really was good to see you, Sam. I just wish it was under better circumstances."

"Next time."

She nodded. "Deal."

"Say hi to Derek and Mark for us!" Addison called after her and she smiled, sending a thumbs-up from inside the doors of the airport.

"You know I will!"

Four hours later, Ellie found herself back at Seattle Grace Mercy West, walking directly to her office with one person on her mind.

Well, two.

"You're back," Jackson said and she nodded, immediately dropping her bag on the floor and hugging him tightly. "Are you okay?" She shrugged wordlessly; she just wanted to stay in the hug. "Well, I get off in ten minutes. How about pizza and potstickers?"

She nodded. "That sounds nice. But, not yet. I wanna hug for a little bit longer."

He smiled softly and rested his chin on her head. Jackson Avery and Elizabeth Sloan always found their comfort in the other. That was never going to change.

☀️

━ author's note:

if somebody could tell me where to get a jackson, that'd be great, thanks

also, should anyone want to know... six more chapters :)