Authors Note: This is going to be a sequel to my story Not A Hero. If you haven't read it you should but you don't have to, to understand the story. I haven't entirely worked out the storyline, and updates may be few and far between. What this really is is a happy alternate to my other story Learning to Live because sometimes I just don't feel like writing depressing stuff. And I want to write something where Alex and Izzie are actually together.Anysways if haven't read Not a Hero and don't plan to read it or have read it and want a reminder, below is a summary of what the situation was when the story ended.
When the story left off. Alex was working as a resident specializing in neonatal surgery under the mentoring of Addison. Izzie has finally made a relatively full recovery (she's not going to get much better) from her injury. (She was shot in the head.) She still has some issues, mainly a seizure disorder, but she also has some coordination issues, she learns things slowly, and is prone to getting tired and upset easily. Hence she's no longer a doctor. She's just starting to explore the idea of working in motivational speaking. She's also speaking to her mother and trying to build a relationship there. Her best friend is a woman named Sarah who is a nurse and used to work as Izzie's carer. Oh and Alex just proposed in a cabin in the woods just outside of Chehalis.
Izzie sat alone in the apartment; it was Monday evening, she was waiting for Sarah to arrive, she'd invited her over so she could tell her everything. She hadn't told anyone yet, they'd got home late last night, too late for her to phone anyone. She'd only invited Sarah; she wanted Alex to be around when she told her other friends. Alex wasn't home, he wouldn't be home until tomorrow night, he was working his first overnight on-call shift since everything had happened. He said he had to work it to make up for taking the entire weekend off. It was only an hour past the time he'd usually be home but she was already missing him. Subconsciously she started twisting the engagement ring he'd given her and she told herself she was alright. She told herself it was only one night and one night was a fair price to pay for the most wonderful weekend she'd ever had.
Everything about it had been perfect and those things that weren't exactly perfect were just right, everything had fallen into place. Her presentation, it wasn't what she'd planned, it wasn't what she'd practiced but it had been so much better. The rush she'd got when it was all over, when everyone was clapping, the thought of it still made her smile. The time spent with her mother, she wasn't expecting it. Somehow the thought that her mother might show up never occurred to her. She'd been unsure about the encounter but her mother wasn't the person she remembered, she'd changed in a good way and she was looking forward to seeing her again.
But the most wonderful part of the weekend had been Alex. He was everything she needed and then some. She still couldn't believe he'd asked her to marry him, that they were engaged. She gazed down at the ring he'd given her. She still couldn't believe she had it. The ring was special; it had been her mother's engagement ring. When she was little her father used to tell her that someday a handsome young man would give her the ring and ask her to marry him. But after he died it had become the most sentimentally valued piece of jewelry her mother owned. She didn't think her mother would ever part with it, especially since it had been years since they'd spoken. Apparently Alex had been talking to her for weeks though and when he'd told her he intended to ask her daughter to marry him she'd showed up at the hospital the next day with a box holding the ring. The ring was small, he'd planned on buying something much bigger but she'd told him he should give this ring to her. She'd said to him. "Give Isobel this ring, she'll recognize it, she'll know what it is, it's better than anything you could possibly buy." Which was true nothing could ever measure up to this.