Fic: Falling Awake

Rating: Nothing bad here, unless you would count angst.

Feedback: Of course, feedback is like our crack!

Summary: Just when George thought his life couldn't get any more complicated, it does.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, unfortunately. It would be cooler if I did though.

Spoilers: All the way until the end of the episode "The Other Side of Life" after that my version takes a different route. I started this fic over the summer so this season doesn't really count, any similarities is only by coincidence. If you haven't watch S4 yet and are staying away from spoilers don't worry nothing here will spoil you.

A/N: Many thanks goes to those who have already read a lot of this and help me sort through my writers block. It was much appreciate:)

///000///

George didn't understand a lot of things in life. He definitely didn't understand anything in his life right now. The last year had been a whirled wind of emotions for him. Ranging from death to disasters to destruction. If anything bad could happen, he'd seen it in his first year of internship.

He had seen too many disasters to count from the ferryboat disaster to Izzie's breakdown when she cut Denny's LVAD cord. But he had somehow managed to make it through those events. He had stood strong and made it through, even if he had to drag Izzie with him after Denny.

It was the deaths that left him reeling in their wakes. Both his Dad's and Meredith's had happened so fast, so unexpectedly that the events had left him in shock. Sure Meredith's was only temporary, but the combination of her death and his Dad's had left its mark. Much to his surprise though, despite such tragic events he was still standing. He was numb from the impact, but still functioning, even if it was on autopilot.

Then there was the destruction. He wasn't sure he would survive the destruction. The previous events of death and disaster had left such a toll on him he wasn't sure he had enough energy left to handle to deal with it all. It may be the last straw that finally broke the camels back. His marriage with Callie was flailing and as much as he tried, he couldn't manage to wrap his mind around it to save it. But it wasn't because he didn't want to save it, he did. He desperately wanted everything to be perfect between them. But as much as he tried to make that happen the more it wasn't it seemed.

Then it was the other destruction in his life, his friendship with Izzie, which had broadsided him in the back of his head and left him numb. When he first started dating Callie, he could feel his friendship with Izzie slipping away. It was another thing he didn't want to see happen, but it just did. Then after one drunken night filled with passion and sin, he knew he had just managed to be the dynamite that would blow both important relationships away.

Now he was trying to save face. He was desperately trying to keep both relationships intact, because he didn't think he could survive if he didn't have both in his life. But much like his marriage as much as he tried to hold onto them, the further away they seemed to get.

Izzie had told him yesterday, that their night together had been a mistake and nothing else. That she didn't feel anything for him. It was just yet another blow he didn't see coming. The words she said cut through him more than he thought they ever could. She said she didn't love him and what little of the broken heart he had left was shattered into a million more pieces. A feat he didn't think was possible.

He had also told Callie about his plan to transfer to Mercy West and she seemed happy about the fact. She seemed like she couldn't wait to get him away from Seattle Grace. The one place that stayed a constant in his life. The hospital had remained the same despite how much death, destruction and disasters it saw with in its walls. It was a place that was sometimes his only reason for getting up in the mornings.

But he couldn't tell that to his wife. He couldn't even tell it to his best friend. No matter how much he wanted to tell them how tired he was. How much he just wanted to lie down and sleep for a month, just to forget his troubles for a little while.

"Here's your damn coffee," Callie said bitterly, roughly dropping the cup of black liquid beside him on the counter of the nurse's station.

The sudden movement shook George from his thoughts as he looked down at the cup in question. He looked back up suddenly as his wife retreated towards the surgical wing.

"Oh god, I forgot again!" George said, snatching up the cup and followed quickly behind her. "I'm sorry I got caught up in patients I guess, I just completely blanked on our coffee date."

"Yeah I know," Callie bit out, keeping her quick pace.

"I'll make it up to you!" George tried, still following behind her. "We'll do lunch! I'll… I'll even pay for it and everything."

"George," Callie said, pushing open the doors that lead to the surgical wing. She briefly turned around. "I've heard it before. Just save it."

With that she roughly turned around and went through the doors, letting them swing back suddenly on George. He tried jumping back to avoid the swaying doors, but couldn't avoid their impact. With a surprised yelp he felt hot coffee spill down his white lab coat.

"Damn it!" George bit out, frustrated. "Callie…" He looked back at the doors but his wife was long gone.

George grumbled as he went back to the nurses' station and let the cup fall heavily on the desk as he looked around for something to wipe his coat of with. When he found a roll of paper towels he angrily tore some off and started trying to wipe at the large brown stain on his coat.

"Uh oh, did another patient vomit on you again?"

George looked up as Olivia walked up to the station with a chart in hand.

"No, its just coffee this time," George grunted out, looking back down to wipe at his coat some more. Unfortunately, for him the more he wiped the worse the stain got.

"I guess you'll need to go get your extra lab coat then?" She asked.

"This is my extra lab coat, my other one is still at the wash from when the kid did vomit on me yesterday."

"Oh," Olivia said, cringing. "Well at least you wont smell bad with this stain."

George just grumbled as he wiped at his coat some more before begrudgingly giving up and throwing the useless towels in the wastebasket.

"Well I think I have a case that may cheer you up," Olivia tried, offering the chart in her hands to him. "But you gotta be quick, I saw Cristina here eyeing this chart early this morning."

George looked up at her with interest.

///000///

"Good morning, Mr. Level," George said, walking into the patients room while looking at the chart in his hands. "How are you feeling today?"

"Oh, well considering I'm going to have my skull cracked open in a few hours I would say, okay. You?"

George looked up at the man lying in the hospital bed and gave him a reassuring smile.

"Don't worry Mr. Level, I can assure you that Dr. Shepherd is the best neurology surgeon you can have. You'll do just fine."

"I wish you could convince my wife of that. She's convinced something bad is going to happen today. She's coming in a little later today, but I guarantee she didn't get a bit of sleep last night. She's a worrier."

"Ah, yes," George said, nodding. "Well when she gets here, we'll sit down with the both of you and explain how everything is going to go. We'll assure her that you are in good hands here. Now have you had any pains or headaches today?"

"No, they keep me pretty medicated here," the man started but stopped as he stared at George's coat. "What is that? That's not…"

"Hmm?" George said, looking up from his chart and noticed where the older man was staring. "Oh no no… It's just coffee. There was an incident with my coffee cup earlier. Gravity is against me as usual."

"Oh you're a coffee man. Good," he said, holding up his own cup of coffee. "I can respect a man who likes coffee. It's the only thing that gets me through the day sometimes."

"I know what you mean," George said, but then thought of something. "Wait, sir you weren't suppose to have any liquids or food after midnight last night."

"Well they didn't say anything about coffee," the man said, surprised.

"That would be a part of the liquid clause," George said, taking the cup from the man and placed it on the rolling eating table in front of his bed.

"Well what does that mean?" The man asked, worried. "I can still have the surgery today, right?"

Before he could answer Cristina suddenly appeared in the doorway, out of breath.

"George!" She huffed out, coming more into the room. "What are you doing? This is my patient."

"Excuse us, sir," George said, pulling Cristina by the arm towards the door. "She's a little confused. I'll be right back."

Once they were outside the door, Cristina grabbed the chart from him.

"This is my guy," she said, annoyed. "I called dibs on him this morning. I came in early just for this chart!"

"You can't come in early and horde the charts," George snapped back, grabbing the chart back quickly. "Besides Olivia gave me this case."

"Oooh," Cristina mocked, taking another swipe for the chart but George quickly evaded her attempted. "Olivia, the syph nurse, gave it to you, how cute. Nurses' pet."

"Look this guy just drank a big gulp size of coffee, he probably won't be even having his surgery until much later today, if at all. He's pretty boring, really. So I'm probably doing you a favor by taking him, you would just be baby sitting him all day."

"Umm," the patient called out meekly. "I can still kinda hear you."

"I'll be right there, Mr. Level, just one more moment," George said, smiling at the man from the doorway.

"No I will, Mr. Level," Cristina said back before turning back to George. "I don't care if he drank a big gulp version of Drano. He's my guy. I've never been in a wake surgery with his kind of tumor."

"Well neither have I!" George huffed out.

Cristina crossed her arms and arched her eyebrow. She knew neither one would be giving in easily. So there was only one other thing to do.

"Rock, paper, scissors," She said.

"Right."

George put the chart under his arm as he held out his hands while Cristina held out hers.

"1…"

"2…"

"3..." George said, making a paper symbol in the palm of his hand, but instead of making her own symbol Cristina just suddenly grabbed the chart from under his arm and popped back into the patients room. "Ugh! Not fair!"

"Life's not fair, George," She said, looking down at the chart in her hands as she went to stand in front of Mr. Levels bed.

"That's why I need it," George tried, coming up behind her, trying to grab the chart out of her hands, but she avoided his grasps by turning in the opposite direction. "With my life I need this right now."

Cristina looked over at him disbelievingly. "You? I'm about to get married. If anyone needs it, it's me."

"Well somebody is going to take me, right?" Mr. Level asked. "I mean, I'm still going have surgery today, right?"

"I'm taking you Mr. Level," Cristina said, avoiding another failed grasp from George. "And we'll see about the surgery, I'm sure we can work something out."

"Mr. Level, don't listen to her, she's an evil robot doctor, you're still my patient," George tried reaching around Cristina to grab the chart, but Cristina shoved his arm away which hit the cup of coffee on the table and spilled onto George's scrub pants.

"Great!" George said, looking down at the new coffee stain on his pants. "Just great!! Look what you did!"

"Don't worry, Bambi," Cristina snorted, stepping around him and over the spilled coffee on the floor. "It'll match the vomit on your coat."

"It's not vomit!" George shouted a little too loudly. "It's a different coffee stain from earlier."

"Whatever," Cristina said, grabbing her stethoscope from around her neck and put them to her ears. "Now Mr. Level, I'll go ahead and do a pre-op exam, to make sure everything still going okay."

"No you wont, I will!" George said, charging the other doctor, trying to grab at the chart once more. Cristina fought off his advances by leaning in towards Mr. Level.

"George, don't you think this is a little unprofessional?" Cristina asked, trying to shove him off.

"What, you stealing patients in the morning? Yeah, real unprofessional!"

"Are you sure you two are the only doctors available?" Mr. Level asked nervously as he leaned back as the doctors fumbled around each other in front of him.

"YES!" they both shouted at him.

" 'Kay," Mr. Level replied, meekly. "Just checking."

Cristina gave one finale shove and George lost his balance and stumbled backwards, but when he did his foot hit the puddle of coffee on the floor and both his feet flew out from under him. He went down hard, hitting the table behind him on his way down.

"There," Cristina said, smiling at Mr. Level with out looking back as she put her stethoscope back on. "Now let's begin, shall we?"

"Uh, yeah I guess so," He said, looking over Cristina's shoulder to George on the floor in front of his bed.

"George, you're not going to get this patient. Why don't you go ask Olivia for another case, I hear Alex has a good plastics case, go steal his. He'd love that," Cristina said, listening to Mr. Level chest.

"Are you sure he's okay?" The older man asked leaning up more to look at George. "Something tells me that's not coffee."

Cristina's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked up at the man.

"George?" She asked, slowly looking back. When just saw his feet lying listlessly on the floor at the end of the bed, she leaned over the edge and saw George lying on the floor completely knocked out. She could see a dark red substance gathering around the left side of his head.

"George." She heard herself whisper as she came around the bed and kneeled down. Her hand automatically reached out for his head as she felt behind it. When she pulled back she saw the same dark red substance smeared all over her hand. "Oh god."

"Is he okay?" Mr. Level asked, from his spot on the bed. "That's a lot of blood, right?"

"Uh…" Cristina said, feeling the color drain from her face. "I need some help here!!!"