A Grey's Anatomy Fanfic

Life Is Never Black and White

By greyeyedgirl

Summary: Life is never black and white...just grey. A look into the life of each of the doctor's childhoods, starting with Isobel Stevens. (Each surgeon will get their own chapter.)

Author's Note: This idea just sort of came to me, and I'm not sure how it's going to turn out. This first chapter is about Izzie, I'm just going to write what comes into my head and hope it turns out okay...

Chapter 1-Eternal Beauty, The Beginnings of A Model Doctor.

Date: January 13th, 1991

"Izzie!" Lauren Stevens called to her daughter as she walked into the 3-bedroom trailer. "There's groceries in the wagon, can ya get 'em for me? I have to call Madame Lola."

A tall, attractive 13-year-old looked up from her seat at the counter in their tiny kitchen. "Yeah, Mom," she called, blowing the long blond hair off her face as she closed her eighth grade science book, titled "Core to Crust: The Basis of Our Earth." She worked her way outside, bracing herself against the cold Ohio wind as she opened the door to the family's run-down old station wagon. She grabbed the bags and the gallon of milk sitting in the front, bumping the door shut as she headed back inside.

"We got out mid-terms back-" she started, as she headed back into the kitchen where her mother was talking on the phone. "Not now, Cricket," her mother said, distractedly. "Madame Lola says my biorhythms are looking hazy for this evening."

Izzie sighed quietly as she took her science book off of the counter and headed down the narrow hallway to her room. "I got a 97," she finished quietly to herself.

Date: June 5th, 1991

"Last day of school!" April Golding exclaimed to her best friend. "Can you believe in a few months we'll be in high school?"

Izzie laughed. "Hardly. But it isn't like we don't still have a bunch of school left. 12 years." She sighed, but kept the smile on her face.

The girls walked in silence for a while, as they headed home from the school that they had attended for the last 3 years for the last time.

"Hey, Izzie?" April said softly.

"Yeah?"

"Do you ever have...doubts...about becoming a doctor?"

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, Izzie, it's just that sometimes I think about it, and it's scary. The thought of slicing somebody open, and putting your hand inside like...the root of their existence. What if we can't handle it?"

Izzie was quiet. "I guess that's the hard part."

April laughed, obviously regretting bringing the subject up. "You mean, the hard part besides the parts where you work 48-hour shifts and have to go to school for 21 years."

Izzie laughed too. "Exactly."

The girls walked the rest of the way without saying anything, and Izzie felt perturbed as she opened the door to her trailer. An odd sight came before her.

Her mother was standing in the living room, clutching a phone extension in her hand looking pale, her long white-blond hair lying limply on her shoulders. "Izzie..." She murmured. "Your father called."

Pause

"What?"

"Your-your father. He's coming home."

Izzie stared. "Mom, are you okay? I mean, Dad's been gone for 6 years. And it's not like we miss him."

Lauren frowned. "Don't speak of your father like that. He's a good man."

Izzie's face contorted, even furious she looked pretty. "A good man? Just how thick are you, really? Good men don't leave their families. Good men don't HIT and YELL at those families BEFORE he leaves them. Good men don't-"

"That was a long time ago, Izzie. Your father's changed. He got himself fixed up, the drinking's not a part of him anymore."

Izzie stared at her mother, anger still resting in her cheeks, hatred shining in her eyes. Or maybe that was just tears. She shut her mouth, as she turned silently away from her mother and, with her head hanging, found her way back to her room.

June 6, 1991.

"My father's home." Izzie's voice was calm, but her eyes showed something different as she stood in the doorway of April's room.

April sprung up from her bed, her brown hair bouncing. "What?"

"Last night. He came home. Mom thinks he's not drunk anymore."

"What-but-" April paused. "What's he like?"

Izzie was quiet for a moment, her face expressionless. "He looks the same. A different haircut from what I remember."

"Is he-I mean-" April stilled seemed to be struggling. "How long is he staying?"

"Mom thinks forever."

April stared.

"Duh, April. He still smells like beer."

"Has he-I mean...Is he...the same?"

"He hasn't hit either of us yet, if that's what you mean."

"Oh, uh, I just meant-"

"He's still angry. I could see it."

April was quiet, and she nodded slightly. "Yeah."

September 12, 1991

"You ! What's the matter with you, you gotta call every god 'psychic' in the country? The f'in horoscope in the paper aint good enough for you? I'm not made of money!"

Izzie hugged her pink teddy bear tightly, as she heard the thunk in the next room that meant her mother was going to have a black eye in the morning. She pulled the covers over her head, recognizing even to herself the irony of the past repeating itself. The stench of alcohol in the hall, the glaze of her father's eyes, the small blond girl huddled in her bed with her teddy bear as the voices rang through the trailer. She could remember her early years so well when this happened. Her memory sprung open, hearing voices of the past mix with the fresh tears of her present.

"A man comes home, expects a meal on the table, not you huddled over that kid like she's a life preserver. She's not a baby, she can read to herself."

"Spendin' all my cash, trying to stash my beer, what the f's wrong with you?" thunk

"All you do is baby that kid, your gonna make her a nothin, a piece of crap like you!"

Her mother's voice shook in Izzie's memory. "Pete, please-You'll wake her-"

"What's the matter? That hurt? Maybe that'll teach you a lesson, you son-of-a-"

Izzie buried her head further, trying to drown it all out, before grabbing a book from her night stand and a flashlight and carefully, stealthily creeping down the hall and out the door. She ran to the park 3 blocks away, feeling the deep check of her breath as she pushed herself, hearing the beat of her heart in her head, and pushing the tears off her face. She spread herself out on a bench, opening the book she'd checked out from the library and a few days before. She whispered the first sentence aloud, feeling the wind blow her hair as she focused her mind.

"The muscle known as the heart is probably the most major organ, and is broken into many sections, all of which serve a purpose that coincides with the main function of the heart..."

When Izzie went home the next morning, her father was gone.

AN: That didn't turn out like I expected, and I know, slightly awkward ending, sorry. I'll try to write more to her story if anyone wants, but it's probably finished. Please review and be honest, I really appreciate it. I hope you liked it, though!