The next time Isobel Stevens was reminded Alex Karev, it stung more than a dark look and a brush off. She had transferred to a hospital in Spokane one year earlier, after her mother had been diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Who else was going to help the woman take care of herself if Izzie did not? She tried not to resent the transition, she was there for her mother when she needed her most, but the hospital she was at was much smaller than any she had found employment in and nothing about it was cutting edge. Lately she had felt that she was slipping backwards, regressing instead of moving up, something she had not felt in a number of years, not since…him. But she tried to make the best of it, working her way up to head attending in the small OBGYN unit. She found satisfaction in treating her patients and managing the staff in the department and for now that would have to be enough.
"The medical team from Seattle is here to transfer Melody Carson." Hannah, the unit's head nurse, informed Izzie.
"Alright, send them to me before they move him." She instructed her while flipping through a patient's charts. "They aren't allowed to move him without my say-so."
"Will do."
"Thanks Hannah." Izzie started her rounds, meeting with each of her patients admitted to the hospital. She was currently supervising four women in active labor, not a particularly hectic night but it gave her enough to keep busy. Her fifth patient, Melody Carson, had been under observation since early that morning, since her high-risk pregnancy was topped with even concern when Izzie noticed signs of severe birth defects during a routine check-up. The diagnosis required more than what the small medical center could provide for the anxious woman and Izzie arranged for her to receive treatment somewhere that would be better equipped for the case, Grey-Sloan Memorial.
Izzie found herself back at the nurse's station when she was finally met with the collection of medical staff that the Seattle hospital had sent. All three visitors were dressed in the uniform blue scrubs that identified them as surgical residents, at least two of them were residents- Izzie was pretty sure that the mousy looking boy lurking in the back was an intern.
"Dr. Stevens?" One of the residents approached her. "We're here from Grey-Sloan Memorial for a medical transfer."
"Of course, Melody Carson, she's this way." Izzie lead all three down the hall, the awkward silence they carried with them was interrupted by the persistent chime of someone's ringtone. The other resident with them frantically dug in her scrub pocket to retrieve the offending device and silence it.
"I'm sorry." She quickly said. "Do you mind if I…? It's important." In any other case, Izzie would have reverted back to her experience as a teaching resident and scolded the subordinate for answering a phone call while working. But the pained expression the younger woman seemed so genuine Izzie could do no more than nod.
"Hello?" She answered the call. "What are you doing up? Baby, it is way past your bed time. . . I'm sorry you don't feel good. Did daddy make his super-special soup to help you feel better? . . . I know it's just soup from the can but daddy says it has magic medicine powers so it must be true. . .I'll be home when you wake up in the morning . . . No you can't stay awake that long . . . You'll have to ask daddy about that, last time you slept there he said you stole all of his blankets and tried to take up the whole bed . . . Okay . . . Tell daddy I'll call him as soon as I get back to Seattle. . . I will see you soon, Love you baby." The resident hung up the phone and blushed when she realized that all eyes were on her.
"My daughter has the flu and we're afraid it might turn into pneumonia and then she'll have to be admitted…again." She quickly explained to Izzie. "I'm Dr. Wilson by the way."
"That's okay, I understand." Izzie was not a stranger to staying in contact with home, she had become her mother's emergency contact for absolutely everything, the term "emergency" being use loosely. "Ms. Carson is in here. She needs constant fluids and has been a mild sedative for the past several hours, she's not taking well to the situation."
"I don't blame her." Dr. Wilson sighed as she read the patient's charts. "Ms. Carson? My name is Dr. Wilson and this is Dr. Edwards, we're here to take you to Seattle, to Grey-Sloan Memorial." She continued to speak to the woman with ease, reassuring every concern Ms. Carson brought up.
"How old is your daughter?" Izzie attempted to make conversation while she supervised the transfer a little while later.
"Three and a half going on twenty." A small smile played on Dr. Wilson's lips. "She's smart for her age and she knows it. She can talk her way out of just about anything, especially with my husband."
"Is your husband home with her now?"
"Yeah, he volunteered to take a few days off to stay home with her, which is good because he knows all of the "secret medicines" to help you get better that only "kid doctors" know."
"Secret medicines? What are those" Izzie could not help but ask.
"Most of them are just your normal remedies that Alex just adds a little dramatic flair to, like making Campbell's chicken noodle soup in the "special" pink cooking pot. I found the thing on clearance at some department store and he told me that no way would that ever be used in the house and that I should just throw it out. Now he uses it more than I ever have." Dr. Wilson scuffed playfully. "And he will set up the most intricate nest of blankets and pillows you have ever seen on the living room floor in front of the TV, so that Hayley can watch her favorite movies and be comfortable enough to fall asleep."
"That sounds like quite the routine." Izzie said, openly impressed by her husband's antics.
"We have had lots of practice." Dr. Wilson explained easily. "Hayley was eight weeks premature and her immune system has never really caught up, she catches bugs pretty easily. "
"That must have been scary for you, her coming so early." She felt strange, talking so candidly to this woman she just met about her personal life. But Dr. Wilson seemed to truly enjoy talking about her little family.
"I was a wreck through the entire event but Alex stayed calm enough that no real damage was done. But Hayley has been a surprise from the very start so we really shouldn't expect much less from her." They had made it out of the room and were now in the hallway, where the team from Grey-Sloan would wheel the patient to the awaiting ambulance. "I'm so sorry to talk your ear off about myself. Alex and I both work at Memorial and everyone seems to know way to much about us anyway so any chance I get to talk about my daughter to someone who doesn't already know is too good to pass up, I guess." Dr. Wilson said sheepishly
"No, I loved it. She sounds so adorable."
"She is." There was the smile again.
"Jo, 'you ready?" Dr. Edwards called from down the hall where she and the mute intern stood waiting with Ms. Carson on the gurney.
"Yeah, I'm coming." She said. Izzie felt herself stiffen at the name. 'Jo Wilson', she knew that name from somewhere. Where had she heard it?
"Wilson. Is that your married name?
"No," Jo said, looking confused at the question. "It's Karev."
"Jo, let's go." Dr. Edwards said impatiently, tapping her foot for dramatic effect.
"I'm coming. It was nice meeting you Dr. Stevens, thank you." She quickly said before leaving to join her colleagues. Izzie was too distracted to do more than mutter a 'goodbye' toward the leaving group. Something had begun to grow in the pit of her stomach, something she did not like. Izzie was stuck on the name Karev, Alex Karev. Alex cooked chicken soup in a pink pot just to make a little girl feel better? Alex let a small child hog all of the blankets? This woman, Jo Wilson, was married to the same man she had divorced years ago. But in some way they had married completely different men. Who was this person that Jo Wilson had gushed about? Why did she have everything that Izzie did not?
