Unfortunately, life has a funny way of throwing us curve balls.  Some that we don't even see coming.  You know the saying, 'when life gives you lemons make lemonade.'  I was always taught as a kid never to judge a book by its cover and the same went for people.  That sometimes your first impressions about someone can either be your right or wrong impressions.  To always see the good in people unless proven otherwise.  But what do you do when everything you've heard of that person is the worst?  Do you go against your better judgment and still try and see the good in them knowing that your friendship with the person who hates them could be on the line?  Or, do you run?

-

"I'm happy that your work is doing well, Anthony," Alison started out on the phone.  "I just wish I could see you more."

"I know, I know."

Alison and Anthony got along well but the problem was that they barely saw each other.  Then when they did it was almost as if he used her as a babysitter for Bentley.  Not that she didn't love kids or Bentley but she wanted to see her boyfriend too.  She didn't think that was too much to ask for especially with both of them working all of the time.

Lately it seemed as though he didn't want to spend time with her.  Like he used every excuse not to and she tried talking to him about how she felt.  God, did she try.  But he would just brush her feelings aside.

She just wasn't sure how much more of this she could take.

Or how much more she was willing to try if he wasn't putting in the same effort.

*

"Hey, still looking for another place to stay?" Alison asked Callie as they were walking through the hospital hallways.

"Yeah, I'm staying at a nearby hotel right now.  I'm hoping it's only temporary."

"Well I have an extra room you could sleep in.  It's yours if you want it."

"I wouldn't want to intrude on you and your boyfriend."

"Trust me.  You wouldn't.  No matter how much I wish that were true.  I feel like I spend more time with his son Bentley than I do him."

"Ouch.  That bad huh?"

"I guess you could say that.  So, you in?  You would have to pay rent of course but we can split it fifty-fifty."

"I'll think about, thanks."

"Yeah, no problem," the blonde doctor smiled at the Latina doctor.

"Hey Müller, you ready for a big day today?" She asked the nurse practitioner as she just came in.  

Alison was snacking on some popcorn before she went and saw her patient as she overheard Derek with Grey.  She smirked at his not so subtle way of flirting with her at work as she sat down in the chair.

"Definitely," she smiled at her.

"Doctor Bailey can I get-" Addison started but paused as she looked at something or rather someone.

"You okay, Addison?" Alison asked still eating her popcorn.

"Oh my God," Addison replied.  At that Derek and the others turned to look to see what she was looking at.

"Is that Mark?  The Mark?"  Alison gasped as she continued to eat her popcorn.

"Why the hell do you act like you know him?" Derek asked concerned as his hands were on his hips, not liking this one bit.

"Because I met him."

They were watching the scene as Mark was talking to Doctor Webber and some others.  Derek then repeating what Addison said and same with Alison.  She could feel knots in her stomach as she watched the scene unfold.  Of course this would happen.  Of course he was the Mark that Derek hated.  All of a sudden Grey throws up and George starts yelling.

"No, Mr. Sullivan don't light that!"

Alison is confused at first but then she sees it and her mouth widens in both shock and horror as they feel the effects from the fire and see the patient in flames.

"Call a code red," Bailey says and Derek asks for a fire extinguisher.

"Make sure he has an airway, sir, can you hear me?" Mark asked Mr. Sullivan.  "Sir?"

"He's out," Bailey told Mark.

"Try to stabilize him and get a CT," Mark told Bailey and the others.  "Go."

"Right away, doctor," she told him and left with the gurney that held the patient and the nurses around them left as well.

He saw Alison standing in the doorway as he looked up and was in shock.  He didn't think he would ever see her again.

"Its you," he smiled at her.

"And you," she walked up to him and instead of hugging him like he thought she would, she ended up slapping his shoulder making him wince.  "Your the Mark?  That slept with my best friends wife."

"And you must be the Ali that is Addison's right hand woman.  Of course she would tell you."

"Oh no," she shook her head.  "I didn't find out from her.  Derek's the one whose my best friend." 

"Funny. . . I used to be his best friend."

"Yeah. . .before you ruined that."

For some reason Mark was finding Alison's banter amusing.

"That's why I'm back.  To try and fix things between Derek and I."

"Good luck with that," she scoffed.

Great.  Now this was all ruined.  She knew that Derek would be upset with her if she tried being friends with Mark and was in no mood to deal Derek's ego on the subject.  

This is just great.

*

"Hey, I heard you have a meeting with the chief today," Alison greeted Burke as she saw him walking with a sling on his arm.

"Yeah," he cleared his throat as he slightly looked around.  "I'm not really sure what I want to do."

"What do you mean?" Her eyebrows furrowed.  "Didn't Shepherd clear you for surgery?  I know Cristina was saying that you've been doing a lot better."

"Word travels fast around here, huh, Wendy Darling?"

"Preston," she told him testing out the way his first name sounded for the first time.  "Your hands do not define who you are.  Your job does not define who you are.  You are the same Preston Burke before you became a doctor and you are the same Preston Burke after surgery.  If you need to take a break - take one.  If you still feel like being a doctor after your break then your job will be here when you come back.  But don't blame Cristina for trying to rush you to come back into surgery when she only wants the best for you."

What she didn't know was that Mark Sloan heard their whole conversation and then he left to go back to check on his patient.  He had known about Doctor Burke and how famous he was.  

*

"What's the deal with Doctor Burke?" Mark asked Alison as they were walking to their next destination.

"You saw him?" She asked shocked.

"Yeah," Mark nodded his head.  "I actually overheard both of you talking.  What happened to his hand?" He asked genuinely curious.

"He got shot when he was coming back with a heart for a patient," Alison let out a sigh.  "Apparently it was someone who shot some patients here in the ER and that guy wanted his boss dead.  Unfortunately, Doctor Burke was one of those men that was also shot."

"You're close to him?"

"He's a really good friend and colleague.  We were all nervous that he might not ever be able to perform surgery ever again.  We weren't prepared for the shock that he might not want to perform surgery ever again."

"I thought you were okay with it though if he never performed again?"

"I am," she nodded her head.  "If that's what he truly wants.  Personally, I think giving him time is the best thing for him."

"So you don't think he really wants to quit?"

" A man like Preston Burke?" She smirked at the Plastic surgeon.  "Get real."

She walked away and the Plastic surgeon stared at the blonde in wonder and amazement.  She was feisty, he had to admit.  But she seemed like a damn good friend and he knew that Derek was lucky to have her.  Hell, her boyfriend was lucky to have her.  He shook his head and started to walk into his office when he felt someone tug at his arm and pull him into an on-call room.

"Shit, Addison," you can't just surprise me like that."

"Shut up, Mark," she hissed at the New Yorker.  "What the hell are you still doing here?"

"I'm working here now.  I thought that was obvious?" he asked as he furrowed his eyebrows.

"But why?" she asked as she flailed her arms.

"To repair my friendship with Derek," he grinned softly.  "I'm not here to win you back, Addison.  I've had my time to get over you."

He realized that the Peds doctor wasn't ready for a relationship with him.  And he respected it.  It was probably for the best anyways as there was too much baggage with her.  It hurt like hell but once he got over it - he started to be okay.

"Derek isn't going to want to be friends with you again," she let out a frustrated sigh at Mark's inability to know when he should stop being persistent.

"We've been friends since we were young.  I mean his mom practically raised me.  I'm not going to throw away decades-long friendship just because I slept with his wife."

"Just because?!  Are you even listening to yourself right now?  Because in a normal situation that husband would stop talking to that friend and his wife all together.  Possibly even divorce her, to which I wouldn't blame."

"People make mistakes.  But I've learned from mine.  I'm trying to be a better person and try to not make the same mistake especially if that means it's hurting people."

Addison just shook her head with a scoff as she opened the door and left.  

*

"Bokhee can you please hand me the scalpel?" Alison asked the nurse to which she did quietly.

Alison always had great respect for Bokhee.  She did her job and didn't get involved into the stupid drama that doctors did.  She was always precise with everything she did.

"Thanks Bokhee," she smiled at the scrub nurse even though she couldn't see but she could tell..

Alison was performing a C-section on her patient whose baby unfortunately had a heart problem.  After she was done with this she would then go on to perform the c-section with Doctor Hahn, giving her a break.  

Whenever Bokhee wasn't on the schedule for someone else - Alison always tried to make sure she snagged her and put her name on her service when she knew she was needing to have a surgery.  Which oftentimes made people upset with Alison because lots of the doctors loved Bokhee, but she didn't care.  In Alison's mind: you snooze, you lose.

*

"And there he is," Alison told her patient who was now a mom as she showed her baby to her which made her cry and try to reach out to him.

It pained Alison to know that the parents couldn't physically touch their baby like normal parents could whenever they had something wrong with them.  It was like a physical ache in her chest.  Being around babies all the time made Alison excited for her own kids someday.  

"He's beautiful," Natasha told her doctor/surgeon.

"Doctor Hahn is going to help him live a happy life now too.  Do you have a name for him?" A nurse asked Natasha.

"Jonathan.  Jonathan Marshall Whitley."

"Beautiful name for a beautiful baby."

*

After the end of the day, Alison was going on empty.  

"Hey, I'm going to a new bar I've never heard of. . . I think it's called Joe's?" He furrowed his eyebrows still unsure of everything as it was still pretty new.  "Want to join me?"

"Mark I - you know what?  Let's go," she smiled at the New Yorker and off they went both with smiles on their faces.

Sometimes though you decide to break the friendship rules even if it does eventually bite you in the ass. . .

--

First I want to start out by saying how incredibly sorry I am for the complete lack of updates on this book!  I had someone ask me if its being discontinued and I can promise you all its not.

I haven't even gotten to the good stuff yet, so how could I just stop writing?

I did want to let you all know though that I am taking an online statistics summer course.  It's hard but I finally have a tutor to help me with my homework so hopefully that will free up some of my time to write!