"Izzie Stephens is single"

"Mark Sloan and ten other people like this"

He had just logged on to Facebook for a minute when this gem of information flashed up on his news feed. Sloan is a dick. It was like a punch to the gut. Beside this piece of information was Izzie's picture of her grinning wearing a green sundress and eating an ice cream in the park. It had been her profile picture for months. He had taken it before the cancer came, before George died and before they had gotten married.

Sighing he clicked into her profile; their wedding album had been deleted. Nowhere on her page even hinted that she had been his wife, technically she still was his wife but that was only technically. He told her to go, told her to be happy so she had. He had considered himself single for awhile now but seeing Izzie's newly single status made him wonder if he had made the right decision. Actually he wondered if he had made the right decision 95% of the time, in surgery, in Joe's even when he slept he was agonising over his decision.

There were a number of comments below it including one from her ex Hank.

"So I have a chance? XX"

Alex signs out pissed off.

"Izzie Stephens is loving Miami!"

Once again the wind is knocked out of his sails. What the hell was she doing in Miami? Luckily Cristina had the same question and Izzie had replied that she was now a resident in Miami General. Cristina had replied saying "Bitch, is Dr. Keating an attending?"

Izzie had yet to reply.

Izzie has been tagged in seven photos. The album is called My New House. There are pictures of a beautiful white house which leads out to a really big garden. Izzie is looking amazing, she's already got a gentle tan. If you just met her you would never know she had cancer. Her hair is down to her shoulder. She's wearing a pretty white dress, she still looks quite skinny but she is healthy. Alex can't help but wonder if she's taking all her meds, he wishes he could check up on her more. Scanning through the album he sees that photos of her house and photos of her and her roommates having a BBQ in the back garden. There is four of them, Izzie, a red haired guy with a goofy smile called Steve, a pretty smiley looking brunette girl called Micki and a good looking blond guy called Adam. In the next photo Adam has his arm around Izzie while she is obviously laughing at whatever he is saying. He can't help the jealousy that is rising within him. Izzie would never go for a blond guy though he tells himself. He logs off and goes to look for Lexie.

"Izzie Stevens is hanging like a gate! Best house warming party ever! Thanks you guys xxx"

Alex couldn't help but smirk at this one. He wondered if she realised she picked that phrase up from him. Anytime he was hung-over he'd say that and she'd disappear for awhile and return with painkillers and toast. Now there was no one to do those little things. He told Lexie once that he was hanging like a gate and she just gave him a blank smile. If he was hung-over round her she would just say he brought it on himself. Then again he noticed he was always hung-over the morning after a night with Lexie.

He hoped Izzie was ok. He wondered if she had anyone to bring her pain killers. It had been six months since he told her to leave. Every day he checked her Facebook page. It was his guilty pleasure, it was both torture and heaven in one go. Knowing she was ok, getting to see her again even if it was just a photo, knowing that she was still there, still alive even if she was millions of miles away that was the good thing about Facebook. The bad side was it is a constant reminder that she was rebuilding her life without him. The glance he got into her life was tiny and if he was honest with himself it was not enough. It was also glaringly obvious that he was no longer apart of any aspect of her life.

Izzie still keeps in touch with Meredith but even more surprisingly she emails Cristina on a regular basis. Cristina doesn't share much about the emails telling Alex that if he wanted to know what Izzie was up too he should grow a pair and call her. He never did. Cristina calls Izzie her medical masterpiece. They must have bonded over the cancer thing. Weird how life turns out.

Their divorce finally comes through. Alex pretty much spends the day in Joe's. When he finally gets home he checks Facebook. He know's this is a bad idea. More than likely she has some comment up saying how happy she is it's all over but there's nothing. She hasn't joined any random group, or added someone as a friend basically there has been no activity. He turns the chat button on, usually he remains unavailable to chat for fear that she would be online but today he wants to catch her. Ten friends are online, Izzie is not one of them. Kelly Grant from high school immediately pops up.

"Hey Alex, long time no see, how are you?" He doesn't reply. He logs off and gets a glass of whiskey. After downing the amber liquid he stumbles up to bed, the bed he used to share with his wife. He doesn't sleep.

He checks everyday but for the past six weeks she has not been online. Every time he logs on he gets butterflies in his stomach only to feel them fall out the second he realises that there still has been no activity. He casually asks Cristina if she's heard from Izzie lately. Cristina just snorts no and goes about her business. Meredith is more sympathetic but neither of them knows that a day does not go by when he thinks about her or snoops around her profile. He cannot help but panic, he contemplates calling her but everyday chickens out. His new favourite past time is looking through her photos. Every day he trawls through her albums, his favourite are the old ones from their first year in Seattle Grace. There are still photo's of them from before they dated when every evening in Joe's was an opportunity for him to flirt with Izzie. He loves the photo's where they are not aware the camera is on them. They are just chatting in the back ground. His arm is around her waist and she is smiling so brightly. His heart stings and as each day goes by he becomes increasingly worried. His pride won't let him call her though. He hates his pride.

Two weeks later her page is alive with activity. She's accepted a bunch of friend's requests, replied to comments on her page and posted photo's of herself in Africa where she was working as medical aid. Her profile picture has changed to one of her and another doctor surrounded by children who are smiling and waving at the camera. She looks so happy. He worries momentarily how she got her meds when she was in Africa, suddenly he realises he has no idea what kind of protocol she is on. The cancer could be dormant or slightly back and he'd never know. The feeling of powerlessness that he felt when Izzie was really sick returns. He has no right to be worrying but he cannot stop.

For the next six months Alex develops a routine. He gets up at 6am and hits the gym for an hour, following this he showers and grabs a coffee in the canteen. He then goes to the office and before he begins his rounds he quickly checks his emails and then Facebook which inevitably leads to him checking Izzie's page. After a long day in work he goes to Joe's for a drink or two and then goes home and checks Izzie's page again. Some days it makes him happy but most days he still feels numb. Life has become somewhat boring. On his days off he studies and does laundry. Girls don't factor much into the equation, the odd one night stand here and there but no one special. At times he thinks he is coming close to getting over Izzie. Sometimes he doesn't even check her Facebook page, sometimes he forgets he was married to her. He pretends he is heeling never admitting that these sometimes are usually when he is so busy in work he doesn't have a moment to think about anything.

It's raining in Seattle. Nothing unusual. It's a Tuesday. Alex has been to the gym. He has rounds in an hour and surgery in the afternoon. Today he is working with Arizona. With some time to kill he decides to quickly check his emails and maybe Facebook. He smiles as he comes across a notification that Brad Retter an old friend from college wants to add him as a friend. He accepts and finds himself diverted to the Facebook page. He isn't going to check Izzie's page but something on the news feed catches his eye and makes his blood run cold.

"Izzie is in a relationship."

Alex logs off.