Prompt: In wake of his mother's death, Alex and Jo fly down to Iowa

Closure

Alex Karev sighed heavily as he approached the nurse's station of the peds department. Having been called in at three that morning, the man was exhausted, and it wasn't even lunch! "Cross, get me a coffee," he growled at the intern that was lingering nearby. "Black from the cart near the hospital entrance. Don't dare get it from the cafeteria!"

"Yes, Dr. Karev!" the blonde intern replied before scurrying towards the elevator.

The peds surgeon smirked as he picked up the tablet, flipping to the physician's notes. His phone blared as he pecked away at the screen. "Ugh," he groaned, checking the screen before stuffing the phone back into his pocket. It was his sister Amber calling, and the man didn't have the patience to deal with her right now. He loved her to pieces and would do anything for her, but Amber Karev was a lot to take. Small doses usually worked for him-Thanksgiving and Christmas-but anything beyond that was a true test of his patience. Amber was a very...unique person to say the least. Many years younger than him, his sister was the act first think later type, and her thinking later usually involved much regret. He'd give her a call later that evening-he wasn't in the mood to deal with her lovable dramatics at the moment. "Think it took you long enough?" he frowned as the intern returned.

"There was a line," the blonde squeaked, passing him the cup with shaking hands.

Alex gave him another glare before sipping the warm liquid. "Check the pit to see if there's anything I should check out."

"Yes, sir."

"Whoah, Cross, where's the fire?" Jo Wilson asked as the intern nearly knocked her down.

"Pit!" came the panicked reply as the elevator doors opened and the blonde burst inside.

"Are you scaring your interns again?" the resident tisked as she joined her boyfriend. "Dr. Torres wants your opinion."

Alex took the extended tablet, looking over the xray. "Hmmmm, looks like the tibia is shattered. What the hell happened?"

"He and his brother were trying to fly."

"Kids," the attending chuckled as his phone blared. Amber. Again. Didn't she know he was working?!

"Who's that?" the brunette inquired.

"My sister."

"Shouldn't you answer it?" she prodded gently. "What if something is wrong?"

"She can leave me a message," the surgeon shrugged.

"Alex!"

"What?" he frowned deeply. "You don't know Amber the way I do. Nothing is ever seriously wrong with her. She's done something stupid probably, and just wants me to tell her it's okay and I love her."

"Then do that for your sister," Jo nudged his shoulder. "She's probably freaking out." The resident looked to his pocket as the phone started to ring once again. "Answer it!"

"Fine," Alex rolled his eyes before reaching into his pocket. "Yes, Amber?" he greeted.

"Alex," her voice cracked.

"Ambs?" he frowned, concern etching his features. "What's wrong? Are you okay?"

"It's...it's mom."

His whole body went cold. "What...what about mom?" he asked, gripping the phone tightly as the images of his mother flashed through his mind.

"She-She's gone, Alex," his sister cried softly. "Mom died this morning..."

The phone fell from his grip as he stared blankly at the wall. Gone? Gone?! His mother was gone? No longer living?! Dead. His knees weakened, and Alex slid to the floor slowly.

"Alex?!" Jo exclaimed, kneeling beside him. "Alex, what is it?! Are you okay?!" She put her hand to his forehead then checked his pulse. "Nur-" she turned away from him, stopping when he reached out and grabbed her wrist. "What is it?" she asked desperately, looking him over again. Her boyfriend stared ahead blankly, holding her wrist tightly. Jo stretched over him and retrieved the phone. "Amber?" she asked. "Yeah, hi, I'm Jo, Alex's girlfriend. What's wrong?!" A gasp caught in her throat. "Okay...yeah, uh, we'll call you back later." After ending the call, the resident looked to the man she loved. "Alex, I'm so sorry," she whispered softly, sitting beside him.

Several minutes passed as his mind roamed. Gone, his mother was gone. The woman who had raised him was gone. The woman he'd defended was gone. The woman who had suffered beating after beating from Jimmy was gone. Both of his parents were gone now. "I haven't seen her in a couple of years," he admitted quietly. "Life, work, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Jo consoled, wrapping her free arm around his shoulders.

Alex leaned his head against her for a brief moment, then cleared his throat. "Where-Where's my phone?" he looked around. "I should call Amber...there needs to be a funeral, and she won't be able to deal with that. I have to deal with it." He moved to his feet abruptly after retrieving his phone.

"Just take a minute to process..."

"I can't process right now, I have things to handle," he cut her off.

The resident pursed her lips, not taking offense to his snapping. She knew that it wasn't personal-Alex was simply stepping into the leader of his household, of his family, and she was going to respect that. "Okay. Are you going to talk to the Chief while I call the airline?"

"The airline?" Alex looked to her.

"We'll be flying to Iowa, right?"

The man's body visibly relaxed as he realized what she was saying. He wasn't alone anymore; he had someone by his side to help him. He didn't have to handle this by himself. Alex blinked back the threatening tears and nodded. "Yeah, we'll be flying to Iowa."

Jo shifted to move, but instead, he caught her in his arms, holding her tightly. Her arms wrapped around his shoulders in return. Neither of them said anything, and they didn't have to.

Things moved in a blur for Alex as he went into auto-pilot. Robbins was taking his cases while he took a few personal days. Jo was able to get Edwards to cover for her with a promise of owing her one. The two would stay with Amber once arriving in Iowa and arrange the funeral. His sister claimed she could handle selling their mother's house, but Alex wasn't so sure.

Jo was quietly there for him, bless her. She didn't push or prod him to express his feelings; she was simply his quiet support system. The woman knew that when he was ready, he'd talk to her.

"This is it," Alex announced as the taxi pulled into a quiet neighborhood after departing the airport.

"This is where you grew up, huh?" his girlfriend asked as she looked around.

"Yeah, before I was sent to juvie," the surgeon shrugged. He cleared his throat before speaking again. "Amber left the key under the doormat, so...we can go right in." They were to meet his sister at the funeral home later that afternoon, but first he had to say goodbye to his home. Supposedly the house was going on the market next week.

"Closure," Jo mused, looking over to him and taking his hand, squeezing it gently.

"Right." A sense of dread settled in the pit of his stomach as the familiar house came into view. Good grief at the history in those walls. Good times, bad times, and some things he wished he could forget. "You ready for this?" he tried to bring humor into the situation. "Seeing where I grew up and meeting my sister all in the same day?"

"I wish it could be under better circumstances."

"Me too," he answered quietly, looking away and clearing his throat. "Thanks," he directed to the taxi driver as the cab rolled to a stop in front of a plain two story house. After handing the man a wad of bills, the two left the cab.

"It's nice," Jo observed, looking over the house. It wasn't anything fancy, but it was nice, considering the age. It clearly needed a new paintjob, but all in all it seemed like a nice place to live. "Are you sure Amber is okay with this?"

"Yeah, it's one less thing for her to do." Alex took her hand, leading her down the sidewalk and to the front door. "This mat was here when we left," he smirked as he kicked by the corner and retrieved the key.

"At least no one broke into it or anything," his girlfriend observed, expecting to see windows busted out and the door kicked in.

"Amber claims she checked in once a week."

"I wonder why she didn't just live here," Jo mused. "It's paid for, right?"

"Too many bad memories," the surgeon answered quietly as he pushed the door in. "Amber and Aaron...they were, uh, young when Jimmy...you know..." He dropped his gaze and closed the door behind her. "So, this is where I grew up."

"Want to give me a tour?" the brunette asked, sensing that he was trying to switch gears.

"Sure." Alex took her hand again. "Man, the place looks bigger without furniture," he mused as he lead her around. "This was the living room. The tv was right there, the couch was over there, and Jimmy's chair was right there."

Jo looked around as he pointed, it not being lost on her that he never referred to Jimmy as his father. "What about that hole over there," she pointed near the front door. "You and Aaron playing ball in the house?"

"No," the older man shook his head. "Jimmy tried to hit me, I ducked, and he hit the wall."

"He put a hole in the wall?! With his fist?!"

"It's just the cheap stuff," the surgeon shrugged, leading her away from the living room. Too many memories, and Alex swore that he could still smell alcohol lingering in the carpet. "This is the kitchen. We had a table over there."

The brunette looked around, her gaze lingering at the door frame. "Your mom measured your heights?" she asked, kneeling and running her fingers along the wood frame.

"Yeah," he murmured. "That's mine...Aaron was there, and Amber...over there."

Jo smiled softly, studying the etches in the wood. "One of my foster parents did this," she mused. "I stayed with her for two years, and each year, she'd mark my height."

"Mom always measured us on our birthdays," Alex smiled fondly, a pleasant memory coming to mind. "We'd have birthday cake for breakfast, and then she'd mark our height."

"That sounds like a wonderful tradition."

The man looked around the house. "I just...I can't believe she's gone..."

"I know, I know," his girlfriend soothed, standing and wrapping her arms around him.

Alex fought the tears, pushing them back as he pulled away from her. "Hey, want to see my room?"

"Sure." She took his hand again as he lead her to the second floor. The rooms had an odd odor to them, and the carpet was shabby and in need of repair. "This is it?" she asked as they stepped into the small bedroom.

"Jimmy needed a room for his instruments, so we got screwed on the rooms," he replied defensively.

"What happened here?" Jo smirked, walking over to a red stain on the carpet.

"Amber knocked over my paint. She claimed it was an accident, but I know she did it on purpose."

"That was mean."

"It's okay," Alex grinned. "I ripped the head off her doll."

"You were horrible!" the woman laughed, looking over the room. "Have you ever thought about coming back here?" she asked curiously. "I'm sure there's a hospital nearby..."

"I left this place for a reason," he cut her off. "I'm never living here. Never."

"Okay, okay," Jo raised her hands. "I get it." She walked to the window, looking over the street. "It's a nice neighborhood. With a little cleaning up, this will be a great house for a family."

"Let's hope they have a better time here than we did," Alex muttered, running his hand through his hair. "Let's get out of here. I've spent enough time down memory lane for the day. Okay?"

"Okay."

They didn't return to the house, even though Jo would have liked to; Alex was too busy burying his emotions and taking care of things. As he expected, Amber didn't have a clue how to organize the funeral. Not that there'd be much of a funeral anyway-their mother was a nutcase who didn't have any friends. Jimmy was dead, Aaron was still institutionalized, and the only people that voiced an interest in coming were the staff who had taken care of her for all those years. Not even their neighbors wanted to attend her funeral. Not that Alex could really blame them.

"Are you ready?" Jo asked a few days later as she adjusted his tie.

"Yeah, let's get this over with," Alex replied abruptly. "We have to get back to Seattle."

"Alex," his girlfriend sighed. "I know you're ready to put all of this behind you, but...you haven't really mourned, you know? You've been so busy taking care of things...how are you feeling? Are you okay with all of this?"

"I have to be okay!" he snapped, frowning deeply. "She's gone, and there's nothing I can do to change it! It's time to move on. Don't linger on the things you can't change."

"Okay, fine," Jo backed down, adjusting her skirt. "I'll call the airline and get us a flight out tonight."

"Thank you."

The brunette shook her head as she followed him to the car. He could deny it all he wanted, but it was clear to her that he was hurting. He needed that time to mourn. This was his mother, a woman who'd marked his height on a door frame, kissed his boo boos, and took care of him when he was sick. Despite the mental illness, she was still his mother. That wasn't going to change. Alex had defended the woman with everything he had, ultimately ending up in juvie because of it! Why was he being so stubborn?!

Alex was able to kick into auto-pilot once again, going through the motions of a funeral. They weren't the religious sort, so the speech was short and sweet. He and Amber thanked the staff for coming and for taking care of their mother all this time. The motions of the funeral were too much for Amber, and she bid them farewell at the funeral home, promising to take a trip to Seattle some time to visit. So of course, Alex had to step up once again and go to the cemetery. As he and Jo left the taxi, it hit him in one massive wave. "Wait!" he hurried to the plot, reaching out for his mother's coffin.

"Alex?" Jo questioned gently, putting her hand to his back.

"She's gone," he said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. "She-She's really gone."

"Give us a minute, please," his girlfriend directed to the attendants. They nodded and returned to the hearse. "She is," she confirmed, her voice cracking. "But she loved you, Alex. She loved you so much." Jo felt the tears in her eyes as he gripped the coffin, his shoulders shaking as he cried. She held him close as he grieved the loss of his mother.

Alex wasn't sure how long they were there, but he felt a sense of healing as he wiped the back of his hand over his eyes. "Goodbye, mom," he whispered, backing away from the coffin. "I love you."