chapter twelve ━ drowning
( season three, episodes fifteen, sixteen & seventeen )

❝Maybe I'll just be petty and
die instead.❞

"𝐌𝐎𝐌, 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐂𝐀𝐍'𝐓 𝐊𝐄𝐄𝐏 𝐃𝐎𝐈𝐍𝐆 this!" Abby exclaimed once the twins and Adam were out of earshot. "Do you know how it looks to them when their mother comes home high on pills after abandoning them for the entire day?"

"Sweetie, calm down," Carol Thompson said with a slur, waving her hand aimlessly at her daughter. "Nothing bad happened to me. Now, where are my babies? I want to see them."

"No." Abby stood in front of the stairs. "No. You will not see them until you are sobered up. I don't need Ana to see you like this. She loves you too much to have her vision of you destroyed."

Carol frowned, stumbling slightly into the wall. "I'm their mother," she contradicted. "I will see them if I damn well please. And you can't stop me."

"I can," Abby said, forcefully. "And I will. You may not care about the fact that your actions affect your children, but I do. So listen to me very closely, Mom, you are not yourself. So go to bed, sleep it off, and we'll talk in the morning."

"Listen here, missy," Carol said, her words becoming more and more incoherent. "I am the adult in this family which means I will do whatever I want whenever I want. And I want to see my children."

Abby scoffed. "But they don't want to see you."

"Oh, shut up!" Abby brought a hand up to her cheek where a red mark was starting to form. "You don't get to tell me what to do! You aren't an adult. Let me see my children!"

"I am an adult," she said, stepping dangerously close to her mother. "I turned eighteen yesterday. You would've known that if you had been home. So if you don't clean up your act, then I'll have no choice but to go to the authorities and show them how unfit of a mother you are. And the twins and Adam will go to me. Don't make me make that choice."

"You wouldn't dare."

"Yeah?" She narrowed her eyes. "Try me."

Abby's arm fell from the nurse's station and she looked up, seeing if anyone had noticed. She let out a breath and closed her chart, rubbing her eyes.

"Hey, there's my favorite birthday girl!" She looked over and saw Mark walking toward her. "Happy Birthday, Abs!" He held out a flat cupcake and as she took it, he smiled apologetically. "Sorry, I sat on it."

She chuckled lightly. "Thanks." She looked down at the cupcake and played with the wrapper silently.

Mark pressed his lips together. "So, how's Adam?" he asked carefully.

Abby looked up and shrugged. "Fine."

"Just fine?"

She nodded, blinking rapidly. "He decided to go to the rehab facility," she whispered, looking up at him. "He said he went to visit Ana. And... she only remembered him until the accident and I guess that was the wake-up call he needed. He wanted to be the brother she remembered him to be. Who I want him to be."

"That's good, right?"

She nodded, chuckling and wiping the tears from her cheeks. "It's really good," she said, her voice breaking. "I don't know why I'm even crying. It's just—It's been a really long ten years." They both looked down when they heard their pagers go off. "Mass casualty... What a birthday..."

___________________________

"𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐏𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐃, 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐌𝐏𝐒𝐎𝐍, 𝐈 𝐍𝐄𝐄𝐃 𝐘𝐎𝐔 both on the next rig," Richard told them while Abby looked at a chart over Derek's shoulder. "I want you both on that scene."

She nodded. "Roger that."

"You don't need me here?" Derek asked and Abby frowned.

"I'm gonna pretend to not be offended by that," she said.

"They're reporting lots of closed head injuries," Richard continued, disregarding Abby's quip though Derek chuckled at her. "I want you to get in there and bring them back alive."

"Will do."

Abby dragged Derek with her just as Mark leaned down to her. "You know, I'll go with you," he said and she looked at him. "I don't get annoyed being with you."

She rolled her eyes. "Shut up."

Derek handed her a jacket as she collected their supplies before walking over to the ambulance bay and sitting down in the back of an ambulance. They felt themselves start to move as they made their way to the ferry boat crash.

"So, how's it going with Scott?" Derek asked, breaking the silence and she looked up at him.

She shrugged. "I don't know..." she replied with a sigh. "I wasn't that enthusiastic about going on the date in the first place. And then he left for deployment a few days ago so I haven't really spoken to him much." She pressed her lips together as they fell into an awkward silence. "How about you?" she asked. "Are you seeing anybody?"

"Oh, uh, no."

"Not even Grey?" Derek looked at her and she shrugged, looking out the window. "It's just... I know that you two have a history. That's all."

"Yeah, but..." He let out a breath. "That sort of ended when Addison came back and she moved on with the vet."

She nodded. "Got it."

The ambulance stopped and Abby let out a breath, relieved to be able to do something. Derek opened the door and she followed him out, looking around at their surroundings. The fire had been put out, but there were still people being treated all over.

"Holy shit."

___________________________

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐋𝐎𝐎𝐊𝐄𝐃 𝐀𝐑𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐃 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐒𝐂𝐄𝐍𝐄 when she saw a man laying at the edge of the docks, nobody helping him. She glanced behind her and saw Meredith was helping Derek and Bailey. George and Alex were loading patients onto ambulances while Izzie was nowhere to be seen.

"Sir?" Abby asked, approaching the man who was groaning in pain. She knelt beside him and put on a pair of gloves. "Sir, can you tell me what happened?"

"Some metal — something in my leg... thrown off," he muttered. "God, it hurts. It hurts."

She nodded. "I know," she said softly, seeing the bleeding leg. "I know."

"I started swimming," he told her, still writhing in pain. "I needed to go... got a meeting." Abby put gauze on the cut. "Aah!"

"I'm sorry," she replied, holding his wrist in comfort. "I'm so sorry. But please try to stay still." She felt a tap on her shoulder and Abby looked around, seeing a little girl with blonde hair looking at her. "Sweetie, are you lost?" The little girl didn't respond. "Okay, honey, you don't want to watch this." The girl nodded and turned around as Abby let out a breath. "Okay, sweetie, I'm gonna need you to be brave for me. Can you do that?"

She nodded and the surgeon turned back to the man. She took out supplies to create a makeshift splint. She tied his leg tightly to ensure that the bone wouldn't become more injured when the man started to seize.

"Ah, damn it," she groaned and she looked back at the little girl. "Alright, sweetie, do you see that nice man over there with the dark hair?" she asked, pointing at Derek who was looking in their direction. The girl nodded. "Good. I have to help this man. Can you go to that man and he can help you? Tell him that Abby sent you, okay?" The girl nodded once more and walked away just as the man stopped seizing before it was soon followed by another, his arms flailing around him. "Sir, I just need to—"

Abby hadn't noticed how close to the edge of the dock she was and, in her attempt to roll him over, her foot slipped, sending her into the ice-cold water.

___________________________

𝐃𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐊 𝐀𝐍𝐃 𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐄𝐃𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐖𝐄𝐑𝐄 𝐂𝐇𝐄𝐂𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 over a patient when the neurosurgeon felt a tug on his jacket. He looked down and saw a little girl with blonde hair. He had noticed her talking to Abby, though she was nowhere to be found.

"I remember you," Meredith said, looking at her. "You still haven't found your mom?"

The little girl didn't answer, only looking at Derek who knelt to her level. "Did that nice doctor send you over here?" She nodded wordlessly. "Do you know where she is?" She nodded once more. "Good. Can you take me to her?"

Abby awoke with a start and looked around at her surroundings.

She was in a bedroom; a soft pink bedroom to be more precise. Her eyes shifted to the bookshelf that was filled with books and pictures. She walked closer to the shelf and picked up one of the photographs; there were three teenage girls crowded together while holding cups of frozen yogurt. They looked familiar. Her gaze moved to the second photograph of a family of six — two boys, two girls, and their parents.

Her parents.

She looked at the door sharply when she heard a creak outside of the room. She pressed her ear against the door, listening for a sound when she heard another creak. Abby opened the door and her eyes widened.

"Daddy?" she whispered, her voice breaking.

Brian Thompson smiled at his eldest daughter. "Hi, princess."

The little girl took Derek's hand and led him to the edge of the docks. Derek looked out at the empty water and knelt beside her. "Okay, now can you tell me where Abby is?"

The girl pointed out at the water and Derek paled.

"I—I don't understand," Abby said, looking at her father in confusion. "You're dead. I watched the machine flatline. I saw when you took your last breath..."

"Sweetheart, we have to talk."

She furrowed her brows. "About what?"

"Adam."

A Coast Guardsman picked up the little girl when he heard the sound of water behind him. Derek was pulling Abby out of the water. She was cold to the touch and her skin was extremely pale; almost white.

She looked like Snow White.

"What happened?" Meredith asked when she saw Derek carry an unconscious Abby. He laid her on a gurney. "Derek."

"She drowned," he replied simply. "She—She drowned." He felt for a pulse before starting compressions.

"Well, what do you need me to do?"

"Get on," he said. "Come on, Abby." He gave her mouth-to-mouth. "Do not die on me. Your sister needs you."

Meredith looked at Derek as he was pumping her chest. Specifically, the way he was looking at her. He used to look at her that way.

"What do you mean we have to talk about Adam?" Abby asked, following her father down the stairs and she looked around at what looked to be her childhood living room. "What could we possibly have to talk about?"

"You know what," Brian replied, sitting in the armchair he always occupied when she was younger. "He's trying, Abby."

She shook her head with a scoff. "Everyone is always on his side," she said. "I've always been on his side, even if it was killing me. But when is someone gonna be on my side? Hmm? Does anyone ever think about that? What I had to go through?"

"Nobody's taking that fact away, Abby," Brian said calmly and she rolled her eyes. "But he's had it much harder."

"Oh, has he?" she questioned, raising her eyebrows. "Tell me, did he have to commit our sister to a facility? Did he have to arrange our brother's funeral? Did he raise all of his siblings as an eighteen-year-old? Sure, he's had it hard, but not harder."

"Abby, please, calm down—"

"No!" she snapped. "No. He ruined everything! He decided to drive Aiden and Anabel when he was high on pills. And because he was high, his vision was impaired and he crashed the car into a light post. And Aiden died. He was ten! My baby brother... and he was dead..."

"What do we got?"

"Jane Doe, hypothermic drowning—"

"She is not a Jane Doe," Derek said, still giving compressions. "It's Abigail Thompson." He glanced at Bailey. "It's Abby."

"Derek." She looked between them before climbing into the ambulance. "Derek. Derek, how long has she been down?"

He shook his head. "I don't—I don't know. She's—She's alive."

"Derek."

"She's alive," he said again and Bailey nodded.

"Okay, look, I need you to help me get her inside." She looked behind her at the ER. "Clear a trauma bay, stat! Move it!"

___________________________

"𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐘 𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐋𝐃 𝐎𝐍𝐋𝐘 𝐏𝐔𝐓 𝐀 20-gauge IV in, but I think it blew," Derek said in the trauma room.

Bailey nodded. "I'll start a central line, but you have to get out of the way."

"We—We put, uh, three milligrams of epic down the ET tube—"

"Derek!"

"The last dose was three minutes ago," Derek continued, not hearing the resident. "We should push—"

Richard walked in and looked around at the chaos happening in the trauma room. "Shepherd, get out."

"I think we should push just one at—atropine." Richard took over the compressions. "I think I saw some reactivity in her pupils before the atropine, and I think she might have actually had some cardiac activity—"

"Shepherd, get out," Richard said again.

"We need to put an external pacer on just to make sure."

"We need to save her life," he corrected, looking at his neurosurgeon. "And you can't do this. You're the one who works with her the most. You two are close. So, we will do this. And you will go. Now."

Bailey looked at him. "I'll update you. I promise." Derek nodded and she looked at the chief. "Okay, she has a new 18-gauge in her left AC. Push one of epi through it."

"Abby, please, just listen to me," Brian said as Abby walked around the house looking like a maniac. "You need to listen to me."

"You're not him," she replied, shaking her head. "The father I remember would never pit his children's trauma against the others'."

"Abby, please."

She turned to face him. "What do you want from me?" she asked. "What more could you possibly want from me?"

"I want you to listen to me." Abby crossed her arms and let out a breath. "I'm not trying to compare the two of you." She gave him a look. "I'm not. But you need to understand how much pain Adam is in."

"And you don't think I'm in pain?" she retorted, tears clouding her vision. "I... I'm so tired. Tired of being the one everybody depends on. Ana is in a facility for the rest of her life with vague memories. Adam is... Adam. And Aiden is—"

"Right here."

Abby paused and turned around. "Aiden?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper.

He smiled lightly. "Hi, Abs."

Burke walked into the trauma room after seeing Derek pace outside. "Give me a new warm blanket," Richard was saying. "Her temp's still only at eighty degrees."

"What can I do?" the cardio surgeon asked, looking through her chart.

"She needs an ABG," Richard replied. The monitor started going off and he looked up. "Was that v-fib? Charge to three hundred. Let's go, let's go."

"Clear."

Addison walked in just as Richard shocked her. "Back to asystole. Keep compressions going."

"She's hypothermic," Burke said.

Addison swallowed at the sight of her unnaturally pale friend. "Uh..." She shook her head, turning her attention back to keeping her alive. "Have you tried a warm peritoneal lavage or even a continuous lavage with warm fluids?" she asked. "You could do a thoracotomy."

"Get back to the ABG," Richard said to Burke. "Okay, now let's go, people."

"And someone page Mark Sloan!" Addison called out. "He's her best friend, he needs to know..."

"Okay, I'm going crazy," Abby said, shaking her head while looking between her brother and father. "You're both dead."

"We are." Brian nodded. "Yes, we are. And right now, so are you."

Abby looked at him sharply and Aiden sighed. "That's now how you're supposed to tell her, Dad."

"What do you mean 'I'm dead'?" she asked, knitting her eyebrows together.

"He means that you fell over the docks and drowned," a fourth voice said, joining the conversation. Abby looked behind her and saw a blonde woman laying a hand on Aiden's shoulder. "Hi, Absicle."

She clenched her jaw. "Mom."

"How's her temp?" Bailey asked.

Richard looked at the monitor. "Only up to eighty-one now."

"Come on, Abby." Addison shook her head. "Don't do this..."

The door behind her opened and Mark stopped short, seeing the lifeless body of his best friend. Addison glanced at him.

"How is she?" he asked, his voice breaking slightly.

She sighed. "Mark..."

"How... is she?" he repeated, this time with more force.

Addison let out a breath. "I'll keep you both updated."

Mark furrowed his brow. "Both?"

She nodded outside where Derek was leaning against the wall. Mark walked out and stood next to him. "I'm sorry," he said and Mark looked at him. "I forgave you a while ago. I just wanted to stay mad."

He shrugged. "It's okay. I'm sorry I slept with your wife." Derek chuckled lightly. "What happened?"

"She... She just drowned..."

Abby looked around the room at her dead family. "Okay, someone better start talking," she said, crossing her arms. "What do I have to do to get out of here? I have friends. Family!"

"The neurosurgeon friend of yours?" Carol asked and she looked at her mother.

"I'm not talking romance with you," she replied, a small scoff escaping her lips. "I'm not talking about anything with you."

"Abby—"

"Just tell me how to get out of here," she interrupted. "How do I get back to my life?"

"You have to listen to us about Adam," Brian told her and she sat down, holding her head in her hands. "And the more you listen, the quicker you can leave. Are you ready to listen?"

"Push another epi," Richard said. "How many is that?"

"This is her fourth round, sir," Bailey replied softly.

Burke let out a breath, still pumping the oxygen. "We've been here for twenty minutes."

"She's still in asystole," Addison added.

Richard stopped doing compressions and looked at the monitor as the continuous tone echoed throughout the room. "We're losing her."

Abby stared at her father before leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "Fine."

___________________________

"𝐂𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐅, 𝐈 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐇𝐘𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐌𝐈𝐀 is protective to her vital organs, but how much longer do you think we can go on like this?" Bailey asked Richard.

"I've seen people last as long as four hours," he replied.

"Yeah, but you—"

He shook his head, resuming compressions. "No, this is not—she was saving someone's life," he said.

"We're all on the same—"

"She was doing her job," Richard continued, interrupting Burke. "The least we can do is save her life."

Burke looked at him. "We're all on the same side here, chief."

Richard sighed and stepped back making Bailey look at him. "Sir..." She took over doing compressions.

The chief turned back to the table in frustration. "Her body temp is at eighty-six degrees," he muttered. "She is not dead until she is warm and dead. We need to warm her up to 98.6 and start her heart."

"Yes, sir."

"Let's do a gastric lavage with warm fluids."

Abby sat on the chair with an unimpressed look on her face. "So... Adam. What about him this time?"

"When did you last speak to him?" Carol asked her.

"Last week," she replied. "He finally went to that rehab facility. He's getting help. Took him long enough..." she muttered the last part under her breath.

Aiden sighed. "Let me ask you something, Abby..." She looked at her baby brother. "Why can't you forgive him?"

"He hasn't given me much of a reason to," she said, her tone laced with annoyance. "Every time I thought I could try and forgive him... he'd go and ruin it."

Carol pressed her lips together. "I wish you could see what we see," she said and Abby looked at her. "Because believe it or not, he loves you."

"I was told my sister is here, so where is she?"

Mark tore his gaze away from Abby in the trauma room and looked in the direction of the voice. "Adam?" he asked.

"Mark," he said in relief. "Finally. Where is my sister?"

"They're still working on her," Derek told him and Adam stared at him.

"Uh... who are you?"

Mark looked between them. "Oh, this is Derek, one of our colleagues. Derek, this is Abby's younger brother, Adam. Derek is also a neurosurgeon."

Adam nodded. "Then why does he look so upset if he's a colleague?" he asked.

Mark shrugged. "I don't know. He's the one who pulled her out of the water." He shook his head. "That's not the point. What are you doing here? I thought Abby said you were in rehab."

He nodded. "Yeah. I was. They were trying to contact me and the only way they could do that was to call the center. They said I could come and see her on the condition that they test me when I get back." He cleared his throat and stuck his hands in the pockets of his jacket. "Did, uh... did they say what happened to her? Why were you pulling her out of the water?"

"She was helping a man near the docks when she fell into the water," Derek replied. "She drowned."

Adam sighed and rolled his neck. "I told her she should have taken swimming lessons when we were younger."

"So she doesn't know how to swim?" Derek asked.

He shook his head. "No. She brought everybody else to their lessons, but she never did them herself. There was a lot that she did for us..."

Mark looked at him. "She's gonna be okay, Adam. She's a fighter."

Abby blinked at her mother. "Adam came?"

Carol nodded. "Of course he did. He does love you, you know."

She let out a breath and leaned back in the chair. "But, I can't keep doing this," she said, shaking her head. "It's... It's killing me. Every time I think I can trust him, he does something even more stupid, and I just... I'm fucking losing it."

"Abby..." She looked at her father and crossed her arms. "We all love you, sweetheart, and you deserve nothing but the best in life. But right now... you can't keep ignoring Adam. He needs his older sister."

"Well, there was a time when I needed him, too," she replied, tilting her head. "But, you know what? That ship has sailed. And, I'm sorry, but he has not once tried to be a better person. It's been nearly twenty years and he's still the same fucking idiot as he was when he was seventeen."

"Abby—"

"Why are you all so pressed that I forgive him?" she asked, looking around at them. "What has he ever done to earn my forgiveness? You're all saying that you've been watching our lives, so you'd know what we've gone through. It's hit after hit and..." She fluttered her lips. "I didn't ask for this life. I didn't ask for a brother who has substance abuse problems. I didn't ask for a dead brother or a permanently-injured sister. But you died." She pointed at her father. "And you gave up." She looked at her mother. "So I did everything. I worked two jobs while in college just to make ends meet. And then three years later, I'm lowering a little coffin into the ground." She shook her head. "No, I can't forgive him. I'm sorry."

"Start the warm fluids," Richard said.

Burke took the doppler for the ultrasound. "Stop CPR."

"Anything?" he asked the cardio surgeon.

"Her heart is still," Burke replied. "No movement. No fibrillation."

"Nothing?"

He shook his head. "Nothing."

Richard looked at the ultrasound and Bailey let out a breath. "Restarting CPR."

Meanwhile, out in the hall, Meredith was standing with the other interns. Word had circulated through the hospital that Abby was in critical condition and there was suddenly a large group of people waiting for more news.

"Derek is in love with her," Meredith said as she and her friends watched Derek and Mark talk with Adam.

Cristina shook her head. "I'm sure that's not true."

"No, it is," Meredith contradicted. "The way he was looking at her... he looked like he was about to break at the sight of her."

"They're good friends," Izzie said with a shrug. "He cares for her."

Meredith shook her head. "No, he loves her. I just don't think he knows that yet."

"Chief," Bailey said while Richard continued giving compressions. "It's been over an hour. There's a ch—We need to prepare for the possibility that she may—"

"Look, she is young, she is healthy, her temp's going up, and it's gonna keep going up and her heart will start again," Richard said. "That's the only possibility I'm prepared for. We will not be responsible for not being able to save Abigail Thompson's life."

"But, sir—"

"Bailey, she will wake up," Richard told her. "She will wake up."

___________________________

"𝐒𝐎, 𝐈𝐍 𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐄𝐑 𝐅𝐎𝐑 𝐌𝐄 to get out of this... limbo, I need to forgive Adam?" Abby asked in disbelief. "Well, then tough luck. Maybe I'll just be petty and die instead."

Brian rubbed his temple. "Okay, that's fine. You don't have to forgive him," he said. "But, Abby... have you forgiven yourself?"

"What about another epi?" Richard asked.

Bailey sighed. "We've been pushing epi for an hour and a half now."

"Check another lead."

The resident looked at the monitor. "Asystole on three leads, sir."

"What about her temp?"

"Down to eighty-six degrees."

Richard looked at her. "Eighty-six? It's eighty-six now? It was eighty-nine before."

Bailey nodded. "After drop phenomenon," she said and Richard looked down at his neurosurgeon, letting out a breath.

"Forgiven myself?" Abby repeated. "For what?"

"My sweet girl," Carol said, taking her daughter's hands in her own and she immediately let go. She pressed her lips. "You've had every burden put on your shoulders since you were sixteen. And you've been through unimaginable experiences." Abby looked around. "But you've held onto them for so long."

"My death was not your fault," Aiden added and his sister closed her eyes. "It just happened. Ana's brain damage and Adam's addiction are not your fault. They just—"

"—happened," Abby finished in a whisper. She shook her head. "I promised you all a better life despite the circumstances. I promised you all so much. And—And I failed..."

"What about a cardiopulmonary bypass?" Bailey suggested and the chief scoffed at the idea. "Come on. We could do it here."

Richard looked at her. "Page Burke and the surgical team. Get him here now."

"You're joking, right?" Aiden asked with a frown. "Because if you're not, you and I have very different memories from my childhood."

"But you died..."

He shrugged. "Yeah, I died," he said. "But think about life before that. You made our childhood a golden one. You gave us everything we could have possibly needed and more. You filled our apartment with love and laughter. You made us a family again after Mom and Dad died. You're the reason we could continue." She glanced back at him. "You didn't fail, Abby, you thrived."

Abby looked down. "I can't forgive him," she whispered. "I just... I don't know if I can."

"How many epis is that?" Richard asked.

"Six," Bailey replied.

Burke looked at her. "What's the external pacer?"

She shook her head. "It's not catching."

"Bailey, what's her body temp?" Richard asked.

"Ninety-eight."

"So she's warm?" Burke clarified.

She nodded. "Yes."

The monitor continued to emit a flat tone, and Richard released a defeated breath. "And dead," he said as Bailey continued to stare at the monitor.

"V-fib," she said suddenly. "That looks like v-fib."

Richard looked up. "Shock her at three hundred."

"Charged."

"Clear."

"Start by forgiving yourself first," Brian said and Abby looked at him. "And maybe in time, you can forgive your brother."

"And remember, Abby, you didn't fail us," Aiden told her, squeezing her hand. "And we will always love you."

Abby nodded, rubbing at her tear-stained cheeks.

"It's time for you to go home, Abs." She looked up and saw her father standing at the front door. "Go home to Ana and Adam."

She stood up and looked at Aiden. "I won't see you again, will I?"

He shook his head and hugged her tightly. "But we never left you," he replied as she tucked his head under her chin, not wanting to let go. "But I don't want to see you for a long time. And tell Ana that I'm sorry I've missed the last fifteen or so birthdays."

Abby nodded, kissing his forehead. "We love you, Aiden."

"Go take care of them, Abs," Brian said and she looked back at them from the front door. "We'll be watching."

He hugged his son close as Abby gave her brother one last smile before walking out the front door.

Bailey looked up at the monitor. "Sinus brady."

"We got a heartbeat," Burke said, letting out a breath. "We got it."

___________________________

"𝐆𝐈𝐋, 𝐏𝐋𝐄𝐀𝐒𝐄 𝐖𝐀𝐊𝐄 𝐔𝐏. 𝐁𝐄𝐂𝐀𝐔𝐒𝐄 Ana and I... we both need you. If we don't have you... I think the world might implode."

"You've always been so dramatic."

Adam looked up from his chair beside his sister's bed and smiled in relief. Abby blinked at the bright lights before her eyes went to the IV in her arm and over at her brother.

"Oh, thank God," he breathed out as she looked at him tiredly. "I thought..." His eyes filled with tears. "I thought... Please don't leave me, Abs."

"Aiden says hi," she said quietly and he furrowed his brows. "So do Mom and Dad. And they told me that I should forgive you. And give you one more chance."

"You've given me so many chances," he replied, shaking his head slightly.

She shrugged. "Well... just tell me... what makes this time different?" she asked. "What makes it different from every other time you've told me that?"

"Because..." He let out a breath and she tilted her head. "I don't know," he said honestly. "I don't know, Abs. But I remember when we were little and how close we were back then." She looked away, feeling tears fill her eyes. "And I want to get back to that. I really, really do. And I know that I've messed up so many times. But I do really want to get better. I can promise you that."

Abby looked back at him. "You know, that's the first time you've sounded sincere about it," she told him. "Every other time you've been yelling at me."

He chuckled. "Yeah... I do that a lot, don't you?"

She nodded. "Just a bit," she replied, cracking a small smile. "Start by finishing at rehab and we'll talk when you're done. Good?"

Adam nodded. "Yeah. That sounds good."

"Good." She looked over at the doorway and saw Mark and Derek both standing there. "Hi."

Mark walked over to her. "You gave us all a shit scare, you know."

Adam stood up and looked at his sister. "I promised the facility that I would be back soon," he said. "So, I'll see you in thirty days, okay?" She nodded. "And the first thing that I'm doing is teaching you how to swim."

She smiled tiredly. "Deal."

Mark sat down in a chair beside her bed while Derek took hold of her chart. "How are you feeling?" he asked, looking it over.

She frowned. "Hey, hey. If you're going to be in civilian clothing in this room, then you're both here as my friends. Not my colleagues. So put that chart down."

"Still so bossy," Mark teased and she rolled her eyes.

"I'm fine," she replied. "I'm sorry I scared everyone. However, I appreciate that nobody gave up. Though I don't really appreciate being haunted by my parents and brother..."

Mark quirked an eyebrow upward. "Right... well, we'll let you get some rest. Dying must be exhausting."

Abby watched as they both started for the door. "Derek," she found herself calling out and he paused, looking back at her. "Thank you for getting me out of the water."

He smiled lightly with a nod. "Anytime." He closed the door behind him and found Mark standing at the nurse's station with a smirk playing at his lips. "What?"

"Derek... You like her."

He chuckled. "I do not."

Mark nodded, walking away. "Whatever you say, Shep..."

Derek looked back into Abby's room to see she had fallen back asleep. "I do not like Abby. He's just losing his mind."

___________________________

━ author's note:

denial is a river in egypt, derek...

friendly reminder, adam has significant character development and he's a character that's very fun to write

and, not to speak ill of the dead, i don't like her mother