Chapter 1

Life after Death

For a moment, they stared at each other, not knowing what to say or do.

Finally, Izzie broke the silence.

'You look more handsome then ever, George'.

George smiled at her.

' Everyone in the entire hospital was looking for you. They wanted to persuade you to change your mind about joining the army. Alex told me. I remember.' she smiled back at him.

'What made you join the army anyway?' she added when he kept his silence.

She could hear voices calling her name in the background, but she chose to ignore them.

'I just wanted to do something different with my life'. George finally answered. 'I wanted to show people I am capable of doing extraordinary things, I wanted to prove to people that I'm a much stronger person than I seem.'

'But you are an extraordinary person, George. If others can't see it, screw them.

'Iz...I love you and I always will. Remember that I'll always be there for you no matter where you are.'

' I love you too.' she smiled back at him.

'What a radiant smile' he thought.

The expression on his face suddenly changed.

'Iz...I've gotta go now.....time is running out for me.'

Izzie was puzzled. Where was he going to?

'Where are you going?'

'To the afterlife. To meet Denny. We're going to hang out together'.

'But...you cannot go! You cannot leave me alone here!' she cried.

'Iz....I have to go'. George said softly.

'Let me go with you.'

'No...you have to stay in the elevator, you cannot follow me'.

'Why not?' Izzie was a stubborn person at times.

She began to walk towards George.

'No!' George cried. 'Don't step out of the elevator! If you do, there's no turning back!'

Izzie hesitated for a moment before continuing to walk towards him.

'No..no...Iz....listen to me. You cannot follow me, you understand? You need to go back down there, you need to go back to the real world.'

'But I want to follow you to the afterlife.'

'Iz...' George pleaded. 'You hear that noise? It's Alex crying. Do you want to leave him alone? He's been through so much already....his broken past, Ava and now you.... do you really want to do this to him? He'll be broke and devastated if you leave, he'll never recover from it. He loves you so much, Iz. He cares so much about you. Meredith and Cristina too.... they'll lose a friend, Meredith has just recovered from her therapy sessions, she's becoming a stronger person now. She'll get all dark and twisty again if you leave!'

Izzie stopped and stood still at the edge of the elevator. Maybe George was right, maybe she needed to give life a second chance.

'Promise me you'll always be with me. And say hi to Denny for me'. Tears formed in her eyes.

Suddenly, George started to fade away.

'No...no...' Izzie cried, stretching her right arm to reach out to him. But of course she couldn't feel him.

George was waving goodbye and fading slowly into the bright light. Soon, he disappeared completely.

Izzie could feel the elevator moving downwards.

'I see some activity! A V-fib!' Bailey cried out suddenly, back in Izzie's hospital room.

Bailey, Cristina and the Chief jerked their heads towards the heart monitor. Indeed, she wasn't flatlining anymore.

'Oh my God' Alex sobbed and rushed to Izzie's side.

'Iz...can you hear me? I know you can. Listen, I love you so much and I promised to never hurt you anymore. I know I'm such a jerk, such an a**hole, I know I shouldn't have screamed at you earlier on. I'm so sorry. Iz...come back to me, please?'

There was no response.

Just as Alex was about to give up, Izzie's eyes suddenly fluttered.

Alex cupped her face with his hands.

'Iz...open your eyes for me?'

Her eyes struggled to open.

She mumbled something inaudible.

'What is it? Can you repeat what you're trying to say?' this time it was Cristina.

Izzie's lips trembled.

'G....George' finally the word came out.

Alex frowned at his wife calling out another guys name.

'George is fine...Sheperd and Hunt are working on him. You don't worry about him first ok?' Bailey said soothingly.

'George' this time it was louder.

Alex was not having any of this. His wife had literally returned from the dead, and she might have mistaken him for his colleague.

'You get some rest, ok?' Alex kissed her on the forehead as he followed the others out of her room.

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'Time of death – 2 pm' Derek Sheperd announced solemnly.

Owen Hunt covered his face with his hands and leaned against the wall.

'It's my fault' he muttered to himself. 'It's all my fault. I shouldn't have influenced him, I shouldn't have encouraged him to join the army.'

'It's not your fault, Owen' Derek said softly. 'This is what he wanted, there's nothing you could've done'.

Meanwhile, Meredith stood in shocked silence, her face pale.

Then she started swaying from side to side.

Alarmed, Derek rushed to her aid.

'Mer, are you ok?'

'George, my George. He was my roommate, my sweet roommate. He put up with my antics. He even had a crush on me at one point, and I failed to notice. I brushed him off. And now he's gone...'

She let out a sob.

'I didn't know he was the John Doe. I should've known..'

Derek placed an arm over her shoulder.

'It's ok Mer, he knows. He knows that you're his friend and you care for him'.

Her sobs became louder and soon she was sobbing uncontrollably.

'I...can't....I can't... This isn't happening...'

She rested her head on his chest while he soothed her dirty blonde hair.

George O'Malley was dead. He died after taking a bus for a stranger. Was it all worth it- they wonder? How were they going to tell Izzie?

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So yeah....this is the first chapter of the story. Hope you enjoyed it! :) I have yet to decide how long this story will be...so we'll see how it goes from here ;)

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