chapter eleven ━ a date?
( season three, episodes thirteen & fourteen )

❝Why were you smiling creepily
while you said that?❞

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐇𝐀𝐃 𝐏𝐋𝐀𝐍𝐒 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐓𝐇𝐄 night. Granted, they weren't the most exciting plans, but she had plans. That was until Derek Shepherd bombarded her in the parking lot with a pleading look on her face that resulted in her attending a dinner at Preston Burke's apartment.

She was currently glaring at Derek and he smiled back innocently at her.

She rolled her eyes and turned her attention to the woman behind the cardio surgeon. Cristina was sitting on the kitchen counter with a box of cereal in her hand while Burke was pouring Abby her third glass of wine.

"Abby?" She tore her gaze away from the intern and looked at Burke, raising her eyebrows. "Would you like seconds? I've noticed that you gave Derek your chicken."

"Oh." She shook her head with a smile. "I'm just not very hungry," she replied. "Thank you, though. But maybe Cristina would like some?"

"I only made enough for three," Burke said before she could say anything.

Abby furrowed her brows. "But I thought you said that there was enough for seconds..."

She shot Derek an annoyed look and he cleared his throat, neither noticing that Cristina was glancing between them. "So, this is, uh, awkward." Abby slumped in her seat, wanting to bang her head on the table. "You know, uh, we can go, and—and you two can talk."

"Oh, we're talking," Burke replied.

Abby frowned. "I think he meant to each other," she said, pointing between them. "You know... face-to-face... words being exchanged..."

"I am giving a—a dinner party," Burke contradicted making Derek and Abby look at each other. "If she wants to sit there, she can sit there. Let's just enjoy our evening and talk about something else."

Abby held her head in her hand while Derek obliged the cardio surgeon's request. "I heard a crazy rumor today from one of the scrub nurses that Richard was retiring."

The brunette furrowed her brows at him. "Why were you smiling creepily while you said that?" she asked.

"Mm." Burke nodded, perhaps almost too enthusiastically causing Abby to quirk an eyebrow upward at him. "That's an interesting rumor."

Cristina scoffed at her boyfriend making Derek knit his eyebrows together. "What? It's true?" he asked. "Richard's gonna name a new chief of surgery?"

"He asked Burke," Cristina said. "But Burke took himself out of the running, which, apparently, is my fault for being a part of the team."

Derek looked at Burke while Abby finished her glass of wine. "He asked you?"

"Who wants dessert?" Burke asked, changing the subject and Abby raised her hand.

"Do you have bourbon?"

___________________________

"𝐈 𝐊𝐈𝐒𝐒𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐋𝐄𝐗 𝐊𝐀𝐑𝐄𝐕."

Abby paused and looked up from her chart, her gaze settling on Addison. "You—You what?"

"It was the heat of the moment!" Addison defended, slumping into a chair across from the brunette. "I wasn't thinking straight, but I'm just..." She sighed. "I'm lonely."

"But Alex Karev?" Abby asked and Addison gave her a look. "I'm not helping, am I?" The redhead shook her head. "Right... Well, if you're lonely, that just means that you need to find someone and go on a date. Get some action."

Addison frowned. "Yeah? And who would that be?"

"Anyone!" Abby exclaimed, walking out of the lounge with her. "I'm sure there are plenty of men lining up for you. I mean, look at you! You're hot, attractive, sexy. And not to mention, one of the best fetal surgeons in the country."

"I hate to break it to you, Abby, but guys aren't exactly lining up for me," Addison told her. "Especially not after my divorce with Derek was finalized."

Abby shrugged. "Well, then it's their loss," she said. "How about drinks at Joe's tonight? Anything to get Derek to stop bugging me about Richard retiring. Did you know that he called me twice last night to talk about it? I'm a surgeon, not a therapist."

"Richard's retiring?" Addison asked making Abby looked over at her.

"Oh, not you, too," she said with a groan. "I can only handle one Derek. I can't handle any more. My head will explode."

Addison smiled and linked arms with the brunette. "Speaking of which... You two have been spending a lot of time together lately. Anything, uh... anything you'd like to share with the group?"

Abby furrowed her brows and glanced at the redhead. "Are you asking me if I'm seeing your ex-husband?"

"Well, are you?"

"No!" Abby exclaimed, shaking her head. "No, I am not going out with Derek Shepherd! We're just friends. And colleagues. Who sometimes go out for drinks."

Addison nodded. "Friends... sure..."

"Do you want me to go out with your ex-husband?" Abby questioned, crossing her arms. "Because, Addie, I don't want to. And, frankly, my life is too chaotic for dating right now."

"Oh, come on!" Addison said, practically begging. "I have a friend who I think would be perfect for you!" The brunette rolled her eyes as she pulled her locks into a messy bun. "He's single, he's in the Air Force and I already told him about you."

"Why?" Abby asked. "And what did you tell him about me?"

Addison waved it off. "Only the good things," she assured her friend. "Please? At least one date?" Abby sighed in defeat before nodding. "I promise, you'll love him."

"That's a big promise, Addie," Abby said, pushing open the doors of the ER. "Especially because I hate dating."

___________________________

"𝐒𝐎, 𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃 𝐎𝐍 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐄𝐓 is that you're on the dating market again."

Abby furrowed her brows and looked up at Mark in confusion. "How could you possibly know that?" she asked.

"A little birdie told me."

She rolled her eyes and looked back down at her chart. "And by birdie, you mean Addison?" Mark nodded and she sighed. "Well, she didn't really give me much of a choice. But considering all that's going on in my life right now consists only of my estranged brother, my dead brother, and my severely brain-injured sister, I figure nothing can get worse than the present."

"That's the spirit," Mark said, though his tone was doubtful. "I think..."

"Now what about you, Mr. 'I'm leaving Seattle without a word to anyone'?" Abby asked, crossing her arms.

He blinked at her and scratched the back of his neck. "How do you know about that?"

"A little birdie told me," she replied, using his own words. "I overheard Grey talking about it," she said. "Now, when were you going to tell me? When you were back in New York?"

"I was going to tell you," he told her and she narrowed her eyes. "I was just... waiting for the right moment."

She tilted her head. "The day before?" she deadpanned.

Mark sighed. "Look, I love you, Abs, but everyone here hates me. I hate it here. Derek won't talk to me — hell he won't even look at me — and Addison nearly punched me a few days ago. The interns all suck—"

"Might help if you actually taught them."

"—the weather is awful."

"The weather?" she repeated with a chuckle. "You're telling me that you're backing out of your multi-million dollar contract because of rain? Also, you sold your practice to come here. What exactly are you gonna do in New York?"

"And the people are mean."

Abby paused and looked at him. "The people of Seattle are worse than New Yorkers?" she asked slowly. "Where were you living in New York? Because I happen to remember a college-aged Mark Sloan almost fighting a guy because he tried to steal his pizza."

Mark looked at her in betrayal. "You promised you would never repeat that!"

"And I didn't," she said. "Look around you, Sloan, we're alone." She shrugged and clipped her pen to her coat pocket. "You know, I didn't think you'd leave when there's a possibility that you could become chief of surgery." She smiled innocently at him and started to walk away only to be pulled back. "Ow! Jeez, I do need my arm to be in its socket, please."

"What was that about chief?" he asked.

"Oh, you didn't hear?" she replied, tilting her head. "Richard's retiring. I guess one of you idiots could become the next chief — god help us whoever it is — but by all means, go back to New York. I'm sure Derek or Burke... or even Addison... will do a great job."

___________________________

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐖𝐀𝐒 𝐏𝐀𝐆𝐄𝐃 𝐓𝐎 𝐓𝐇𝐄 lobby and the nurse directed her to a blonde man sitting in the waiting room. "Um..." She approached him in confusion. "The nurse said you wanted to see me, Mr...?"

"Scott," he replied, standing up. "Scott Connolly. Um, I'm a friend of Addison's, and—"

"Ah." She nodded. "Well, I can go get her for you—"

"No, actually..." She turned back and looked at him. "She said you'd be free for dinner sometime." She furrowed her brow. "If you wanted to... that is..."

Abby nodded. "Oh, right!" she exclaimed. "Um... sure, I guess."

He smiled lightly. "This might be a bit of a long shot, but is there any chance that you'd be free tonight? I leave for deployment soon."

"Oh, yeah, Addison mentioned that you were in the Air Force," Abby said with a nod. "Sure, tonight is fine."

"Great. Well, I'll let you get back to your job. And I'll text you the address."

"Oh, sure, here's my number..."

Derek, meanwhile, was charting at the nurse's station in the lobby when Addison tapped his shoulder making him jump. "Oh, God..." he muttered, trying to slow his heart rate.

"Oh, calm down," Addison said with a frown. "I only tapped you. Now, word around the hospital is that the chief is stepping down. What do you know?"

"Nothing." He shook his head and looked at her. I know just as much as you do."

Addison rolled her eyes. "Oh, that's a lie," she said. "You're Derek Shepherd, 'knower of all'. Now, spill."

"There's nothing to spill," Derek replied. "I'm telling you, I know... nothing..."

Derek trailed off when his eyes landed on something just above Addison's head. "Derek?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. "Hello?"

He shook his head and refocused on her. "Sorry... what'd you say?"

"What's got you so distracted?" she asked, looking behind her. Her gaze landed on Abby and Scott talking making her smile as she turned back to Derek.

"Who's that?"

"That's Scott," Addison replied. "I told him about Abby. If all is going well, they should be going on a date soon."

He nodded, still watching them. "Hmm... nice..."

"Yeah... nice..." Addison narrowed her eyes at him. "Just nice? No other emotion you can think of?"

Derek frowned. "What are you talking about?"

She sighed. "Never mind."

Mark joined them and squeezed himself between the former couple, much to their annoyance. "Guess who's staying?"

"I thought you were going back to New York," Addison said.

Derek nodded. "It was the best news I got all day."

"Well, when word gets around that there's a race to be the new chief of surgery, you cancel your plans," Mark told them with a smile before looking over Addison's head. "Who's talking to Abby?"

___________________________

"𝐖𝐇𝐘 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐍'𝐓 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐀𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐓𝐇𝐄 lunatics trying to get me to pick you for the next chief?" Richard asked, making Abby look up at him. "All day, I've had attendings following me around like ducklings... except for you. Is there a reason why?"

"Aside from the fact that I would rather do anything than be chief of surgery?" she replied with a shrug. She pulled her hair out from the inside of her coat and let out a breath. "I never sat up in bed dreaming of being chief. I didn't even dream of winning awards. But I did dream of becoming a doctor. That was good enough for me."

"And that right there is why you would make a hell of a good chief," Richard said, pointing at her. "You'd be good."

She smiled at him. "I appreciate that, sir, truly, but I beg you, don't pick me. Those four may be lunatics, but they want the job. I don't." She paused at the doorway. "Congratulations on your retirement, sir. You deserve it."

She walked out into the chilly Seattle air and took in a deep breath. Once she had gotten into her car — and turned up the heat — she drove to the restaurant that Scott had texted her.

Chinese food? she thought to herself as she got out of the vehicle.

Scott was standing in front of the building and smiled when he saw her approaching. "I hope you like Chinese," he said, keeping his hands warm in his pockets.

She nodded. "So long as they have good egg rolls."

"This has always been one of my favorite restaurants," he told her, opening the door for her and they sat down at a table. "They have the best pork egg rolls I've ever had."

Abby smiled just as a waitress came over to take their order. Once she had left, they sat in mild uncomfortable silence. "Nice weather we're having..." She nodded, warming her hands on her cup of tea. "Is this awkward for you, too?"

"A little," she said with a shrug. "I'll be honest, I haven't gone on a date in a really long time. And the last one didn't end very well..."

"You're not the only one," Scott replied. "We sound like a pair of losers..."

"Or homebodies."

Scott shrugged. "I guess it could be worse."

"Oh?" she questioned, resting her head on her hand. "And how could it be worse exactly?"

"I don't know," he said. "You could live with a bunch of cats. Be the crazy cat lady."

Abby chuckled lightly. "My Grandma Ella was just like that," she said. "She had so many cats that there was hardly ever anywhere to sit. One sat on my little sister once and she couldn't get up. It was really funny actually. Not for Ana... she cried for three hours."

___________________________

"𝐇𝐄𝐘, 𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐅." 𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐎𝐕𝐄𝐑 her shoulder from beside Richard and saw Burke walking toward them. "I need a signature. I'd like to use the helicopter to transport a patient from Denver."

"Good morning, chief," Derek said, suddenly appearing at Abby's side and she jumped. "I found a way to fund a stereotactic robot." Abby shook her head in amusement. "I want to make sure you're on board before I move forward."

"It's a little early in the morning for you two to be chasing me down," Richard told them.

Abby chuckled lightly and patted their shoulders. "You know what you could do? You could leave the man alone and go see the new clinic with me."

"A great idea, Thompson!" Richard exclaimed with a nod. "Listen to her. Go away."

Abby's pager went off. "Or... I go see what Grey's got. See you later, suck-ups." She flashed a peace sign before walking to the patient's room only to find—

"My mother is here," Meredith said, stopping Abby in her tracks and she looked inside the room through the window. "She's here and she's completely lucid. And she would like you to find a way to cure her Alzheimer's."

Abby blinked at the intern before walking inside the room. She stood next to her bed while Ellis Grey continued giving her possibilities.

"What about a functional MRI now, while I'm lucid?" Ellie asked.

Abby shook her head. "An MRI won't show us anything new," she replied softly. "No test is gonna help us understand what's going on."

Ellis sighed. "So in five years, you've made no advances, and there is nothing else you can do for me. I don't know how you do it, day in and day out, work with people with this awful disease."

Abby's eyes widened slightly. "Oh. Well... Dr. Grey, I am not an Alzheimer's specialist. I'm a neurosurgeon and your daughter paged me. We don't have an Alzheimer's specialist here. It's just Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Nelson, and myself. I'm very sorry if we gave you false hope."

She sighed again. "So you have nothing for me."

"I'm sorry." Abby looked down when she heard her pager. "Excuse me." She hurried down to the OR hall where she saw Richard, Alex, and several other surgical staff members on gurneys. "What the hell happened?"

___________________________

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐈𝐒𝐎𝐍 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 on Richard and the surgical staff's levels while Derek spoke to a scrub nurse. "The patient's blood is apparently highly toxic," he told her. "Any contact is dangerous. Nobody goes in until we figure out what the hell is going on." He walked toward the two women. "How's he doing?"

"He's tachypneic, but his BP is starting to stabilize," Abby replied, wrapping her stethoscope around her neck. "He's doing better on oxygen."

"It's a good thing he got out of there when he did," Addison added and Derek nodded.

"Yeah..." he agreed before looking up when he saw Mark and Burke walking toward them. "What do you got?"

"They found a herbal supplement in her purse," Burke said. "The lab guys think it combined with the chemo chemicals and turned her blood into some kind of neurotoxin."

Mark sighed. "We're lucky they're all not dead."

"The only reason she's alive is because she's intubated," Derek said and Abby crossed her arms.

"Who got them out?" she asked.

Derek pointed behind them. "O'Malley."

Abby followed his extended finger just as Callie ran up to her apparent-now-husband. "George," she said, hugging him tightly.

"Okay, all our people are being treated," Addison said, joining the group of four. "Now what do we do about her?"

Abby frowned, looking inside the OR. "Well, we can't just leave her there. She's been open for too long."

___________________________

"𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐒𝐄 𝐒𝐔𝐈𝐓𝐒 𝐀𝐑𝐄 𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓," 𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐊 said in the scrub room while he and Burke put them on. Abby and Mark were putting the batteries into the suits.

Burke nodded. "Yeah. These packs recirculate the air trapped inside."

"These batteries haven't been charging long," Mark said. "I'm guessing you got about thirty minutes before they die and you have to come out."

"Oh, my God," Addison said suddenly, making them all look at her. "These anesthesia's wearing off. She's waking up!"

Mark nodded and started the stopwatch. "Thirty minutes starting now."

"She's fighting intubation," she added.

Burke sighed. "If we go inside before these seals are secure, we won't last five minutes, and she will die."

Abby stared at her. "Well, thank you for that."

"She doesn't have two minutes," Addison said.

She started for the door and ran inside before Abby could stop her. "Addison!" She turned to Derek and Burke. "Well, don't just stand there! Hurry up and get those damn suits on!" she snapped, rushing over to help them.

"Get the hell outta there!" Mark yelled at Addison through the microphone.

"She's awake, Mark," Addison said. "She's awake and open on the table. I need to know her weight so I can dose her with the propofol."

Abby grabbed the microphone from Mark. "She looks like she's about sixty kilos." She and Mark watched as she gave the dosage through the syringe before crashing into a surgical tray from the toxic blood. Abby slapped Mark on the shoulder and he hurriedly pulled her inside the scrub room. She looked at the two men in the suits. "Go!" she yelled at them. "Everyone keeps standing around..."

She turned to watch the surgery through the window while Mark got Addison oxygen. "What a time to be alive..." she muttered to herself.

As the surgery continued, Abby's foot would not stop tapping, partially due to nerves about the patient and the rest out of fear for the two surgeons inside the OR.

"Stop right there," Richard's voice said through the intercom as he regained his consciousness. "The bowel's swelled, you have no room. How much time do you have?"

"Eight minutes," Abby replied.

Richard nodded. "Okay, now listen to me and do everything I say..."

"So, how'd your date with Sam go?" Mark asked.

Abby quirked her eyebrow upward and looked at him. "Two of our colleagues — including your 'former' best friend — are in a toxic environment and you're asking about my date? And you forgot his name?"

"Well... was it good?"

She sighed. "It was... it was fine. The date with Scott was fine." She forcefully took the microphone and pushed him away. "You're annoying. Go watch upstairs with Webber."

"Preston," Richard's voice said once more as Mark left with a mocking pout that made her roll her eyes. "You'll need to milk the bowel to get out the excess fluid. Pack her and wrap her and get her stable for transport."

"Chief, they're at thirty-two minutes," Abby told him from the scrub room, her anxiety rising with every passing minute. "You gotta pull 'em."

"How you doin' on air?" Richard asked them and Abby looked back into the OR. They looked sick, pale, sweaty, and shaky.

Not good.

Burke shook his head. "I'm out."

"You go," Derek told him, though he looked to be out of air, too. "I'll wrap it."

"Alone? You can't."

"Burke?" Derek asked as he began coughing. "Burke. Burke!" Abby leaned forward to watch through the window as Derek kneeled and collapsed beside him.

"That's not good..."

___________________________

𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐊 𝐒𝐋𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘'𝐒 𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐀𝐖𝐀𝐘 from him as she tended to him and Burke. "Stop hitting me!" she snapped out of frustration. "I'm trying to help you, you idiot! Next time that you're running out of air, say something. Same goes for you, too," she added, looking at Burke.

She had brought them to the ER shortly after Mark and the interns had finished the surgery. She was currently checking their vitals while — more than once — reminding them to keep their oxygen masks on.

"Derek," she said and he looked at her. "Put the mask on."

"Heroic work, all of you," Richard said to the group as Derek obeyed Abby, looking like a little kid being punished. "Heroic. Dr. Sloan, let's check on our patient."

Derek watched them go. "How come we do all the work and he gets all the glory?"

"Because he's Mark," Abby replied with a shrug before resting her arm on Derek's shoulder. "Trust me. He once got full marks on a paper in college because he used mine. And what did I get? A ninety because our professor said they were 'too similar.' Mark knows how to work the system." She looked down when she heard her phone ring. "Hello?"

Derek looked up and saw Abby's face twisted into confusion.

"Ad—Adam?"

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━ author's note:

briefly (as in won't be in it for very long) introducing:

glen powell as scott connelly

addison isn't jealous because 1) they're divorced, 2) she knows that abby and derek would be perfect together and 3) abby and derek didn't get together while he was still married to her :)

anyway, a very important chapter is next... or as i like to call it, the one where the truth is revealed, so stay tuned!