Title: Sweetest Goodbye
Pairing: Addison/Izzie
Rating: PG
Summary: Addison Shepherd doesn't come to see her. The obligatory post 2.27 fic.
When Denny dies, Izzie lies on the floor of the bathroom for days, waiting for the pain to go away. The others send people in to talk to her: Meredith, George, Cristina. They try to cajole her out of it, like a four year old having a temper tantrum, and Izzie doesn't respond to any of them.
Addison Shepherd doesn't come to see her, and Izzie is surprised to find herself almost disappointed. Addison, Izzie's sure, wouldn't treat her like a child, and she wouldn't try to pretend that Izzie's pain wasn't as real and overwhelming as it was.
If Addison came to see her, she would quietly approach Izzie, instead of talking at her as she opened the door like Cristina would. Izzie wouldn't look up before saying, 'Seriously, George, I don't want to talk right now."
"It's not George," Addison would say, and that would be enough to make Izzie look around, half sitting up so that her eyes could meet Addison's.
"Doctor Shepherd," she'd say, just a hint of surprise in her voice, and Addison would look awkward, lacking her usual grace and confidence away from her normal setting at the hospital. She'd look almost embarrassed as she said, "I brought you a casserole. It's chicken. I gave it to O'Ma – to George."
And Izzie would nod, already lying back down, her eyes gazing blankly and Addison would sigh and sit down next to her, the pink scrubs she'd still be wearing crumpling up.
"We don't have to talk," she'd say quietly. "I just wanted to let you know I was thinking of you."
Izzie's smile would be bitter.
"Of course you were," she'd say. "Everyone's thinking about the crazy intern who killed her own fiancé." And Addison would half wince and bite her bottom lip, but she'd lie down on the floor next to Izzie, instead of running away like Meredith would.
Izzie would be silent for a minute, and then she'd say, monotone, "When will the pain go away?"
"It won't, Stevens," Addison would say lightly, easily, and Izzie would feel like crying with relief that someone wasn't pretending that everything was ok.
"Derek had sex with Meredith at prom," Addison would say then, and Izzie thinks that her imagination might be a little off, because she's not sure Addison would talk about that, and anyway Izzie's not supposed to know about Meredith's McNasty with McDreamy but Meredith and Cristina have personal conversations right outside the bathroom door and seriously, how McFreaking stupid do they think she is? So: "Derek had sex with Meredith at prom," Addison would say, her lips twisting into a bittersweet smile and Izzie would look at her, really look at her in a way she hadn't at anyone since Denny died.
"Does it hurt?" she'd ask in a small, un-Izzie-like voice and Addison would nod, her expression guarded.
"My marriage is over," she'd say carefully and Izzie would nod absently and reach over without thinking, to take Addison's hand. Addison would look down at their joined hands and then at Izzie and then for a moment they'd look at each other, eyes locked, and then Addison would shuffle forward and press her lips to Izzie's and she'd be kissing her.
And Izzie would kiss her back, tongue slipping into Addison's mouth but it would be ok because she'd be thinking of Denny, not the woman on the floor beside her, and Addison would be thinking not of Izzie but of Derek or Mark. So Addison's hand wouldn't push up the skirt of Izzie's dress, and Izzie's fingers wouldn't slip down the front of Addison's scrub top. They'd lie still and then after a minute they'd part and Addison would look at her and smile and whisper, 'You don't have to be alone, Izzie."
Then she'd stand up and say without awkwardness, "I'm sorry for your loss." And Izzie would watch as she left the bathroom as quietly as she'd entered it, and listen until she heard the front door shut. She'd lie still for a few minutes, thinking, and then she'd stand up, take off her make up and leave the bathroom.
But Addison doesn't come and Izzie stays lying on the floor of the bathroom, because she's not strong enough to do it on her own.