ALIVE AND KICKING
FADE IN
INT – MEREDITH'S HOUSE – MORNING
Meredith is standing over George who spent the night sleeping on her couch. She bumps him a couple of times to get him to wake up.
"Hey…life's too short to sleep all day…especially in your case. You've already been dead once" she says as she walks over and grabs her coat and keys.
GEORGE (V.O.)
It feels like a million years have passed by since I've been here. A million years and then no time at all. This house was my home once…a long time ago and then what seems like just yesterday.
He looks around the room at all of the memories.
GEORGE (V.O.)
I almost expect Izzie to come tromping down the steps in her Hello Kitty underwear and bitch at me for leaving the toilet seat up or leaving hair on the soap.
It's strange…knowing that everyone thought you were dead and more than just a little annoying that they all seemed to have moved on just fine without you.
Meredith interrupts his train of thought "So what are your plans for today?"
George sits up on the couch and wipes his face.
"Oh, nothing much" he says. "I just need to inform all of my family members and friends I'm not dead. Should be a piece of cake."
"Wait! Do you have any cake?"
He gets up and goes into the kitchen and starts rifling through the cupboards.
"Ahhh, cake…chocolate, moist, yum! You know, being in a third world country makes you realize you take so many things for granted. Like food, and a hot shower, and not having to wash sand out of your ass crack several times a day."
He load up his plate with a double sized piece of chocolate cake and unable to find a clean fork, he begins eating with his hands…making yummy sounds.
Once again Meredith has to reel him back in "GEORGE! Focus…you have a lot of people to talk to today and you need to get your thoughts together before you see them. How are you going to tell your Mother you are still alive? She's going to freak out. After your Dad died and then you and then the news about Callie…"
Still eating George responds "You know…I hear what you're saying, but right now…all I wanna do is eat cake. Wait…what news about Callie?"
Deciding it's too soon to tell him she deflects "Oh…it's nothing. GEORGE…you realize you are still in denial."
"I know…Oh my God." He stops for a second.
What!
George continues… "Forget about what I'm going to tell my Mom…I have to tell Jason's family that he's dead. Aw crap…"
He then shakes his head in sadness.
"He was such a kind person. When he told his parents he was gay, his Dad went upstairs and grabbed everything out of his room that wasn't nailed down and threw it on the front lawn. He left home that night and never saw his parents again. His Mom would call him once in a while to see how he was doing…he was only 17. It's sad you know. He didn't deserve it. He didn't deserve any of it."
Meredith tries to comfort him. "You can tell his parents he died a hero. He saved someone's life and gave his own in return."
"Do you want me to come with you? I can stay home today and be there to support you…you know…Izzie-style."
The comment brings back more hurtful memories for George. "I forgot about Izzie. Jeezus…is it too late to go back to Iraq…or back in time and do everything over…and different."
He stares at his cake. Meredith goes to the phone and calls Bailey.
"Miranda, this is Meredith. How's he doing? Not good. I guess it's easier to be dead than to have to tell people you're alive and kicking. Anyway, I'm going to stay with him today to help him get through it. Ok…I will…See you tomorrow."
"You will what?" George asks.
Meredith walks over and punches him in the arm.
"Ow. That's hurt."
"It's from Bailey. She's still pissed at you."
George is rubbing his arm with the hand that has chocolate on it.
"I find it ridiculous that people are mad at me for not being dead."
Meredith takes off her jacket and starts making breakfast.
"People are not mad at you for not being dead. They are mad at you for leaving without saying goodbye and then not calling anyone to let them know you were ok. We're your family too you know. You had obligations here. You didn't just run away from your life, you ran away from us. It hurts to know that you didn't trust us enough to tell us the truth. You know us…after everything we've been through together you should have known that we would all be there for you."
"Well…my being alive should make up for some of that" he says.
"You would think so wouldn't you?" Meredith says as she grabs the cake from him and tugs at the sleeve where he just wiped the chocolate and rolls her eyes.
"Seriously George, there is such a thing as a napkin. Now go take a shower. I'll make some breakfast and we'll get it all done in one day. Like a bandaid…rip it off."
She smacks him on the butt as he walks by and reluctantly he goes to get ready. "You're getting skinny. We need to put some meat back on you."
"I was trying but you took my cake away from me." He gestures to the cake.
"Fine…I will make you chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. Now get going."
"Ok then" he says as he walks away.
He leaves the room and Meredith giggles. A serious look then comes over her as she realizes he hasn't figure out the most obvious thing yet. She brushes it off and pulls the pan out from under the cupboard and begins making pancakes when George calls out from upstairs.
"Hey Meredith?"
Meredith thinks…here it comes…
"What…" she responds…bracing herself for a long uncomfortable conversation.
"Can we swing by the hospital today so I can check on Momo?"
Momo is the boy that George befriended in Iraq. She breathes a sigh of relief.
"Of course!"
INT. SCH ON-CALL ROOM – MORNING
Callie is sitting in the dark in the on-call room slid up against the wall on the inside corner of the bottom bunk with the covers pulled up over her knees. She is thinking about George…happy he is still alive but hating herself for feeling like he should have been just as happy to see her as he was to see Izzie and the others.
The door opens and Arizona peaks in, turning on the light. "Are you ok?"
She walks over and sits on the edge of the bed trying to comfort Callie.
"What? Oh yeah…I'm fine. It's just such a…shock is all."
"Shock is right" Arizona says. "Nothing short of a miracle."
Callie is clearly distracted. "What? Yeah…I just need a minute ok?"
"That's fine. Take all the time you need. I just came in to check on you and make sure you were ok."
"I appreciate it. I really do. But I just need a minute to process what just happened."
"I know. If you need me you know where I am."
She leans over and kisses Callie and leaves the room. Before she can shut the door Callie calls her back…
"Arizona?"
Arizona quickly walks back into the room and is disappointed when Callie asks her to shut off the lights on her way out.
Arizona stands there for a second and then leaves shutting off the light as she closes the door.
INT – SGH NURSES STATION - MORNING
Mark is standing over by the nurse's station and catches Arizona as she comes out. "Is she ok?"
"Well, she says she's ok but she won't talk to me so your guess is as good as mine."
"Maybe I'll go in and talk to her" Mark says.
Arizona is irritated that Mark would think he had a better chance of getting through to her and snaps back. "She wants to be left alone. In fact, she specifically asked to be left alone."
"So…what are you saying?"
"I'm saying leave her alone!" She walks away visibly pissed and throws one last look at the door to the on-call room as she leaves.
Back inside the on-call room Callie is once again sitting in the dark by herself. She begins to cry.
INT MEREDITH'S HOUSE – MORNING
George walks into the room having gotten dressed in some of Derek's old clothes. Meredith does a double take as he stands with his back to her.
"I hope you don't mind. I grabbed some of Derek's things because my clothes are so dirty I don't ever think I'll get them clean again. Seriously…they're standing up in the corner of the bathroom."
"Not at all" she says. "You look adorable."
"You say that to all the boys."
Meredith giggles.
"So…where's Derek? And why are you living in this house again?"
Meredith sighs…thinking that making it through the day without George realizing was ridiculous on her part.
"Long story… and a story for another day" she says.
"Can I at least ask where he is?"
"He's home…at the other house in the woods. His house…in the woods."
"His house? Not your house?"
She interrupts his questions. "GEORGE! Shove those pancakes into your pancake hole so we can get going."
George starts shoving pancakes in his mouth like there's no tomorrow. He didn't need Meredith's idle threats. Then with his mouth full he begins to speak again… "Can I have a glass of milk?"
Meredith once again smiling goes to get him a glass of milk and then hugs him and kisses his cheek.
INT. – SGH – DAYTIME
Bailey is standing at the nurse's station and filling out paperwork with a smile on her face. Richard walks up…
"Did I hear this right? George is alive and this whole time has been living in Iraq?"
Bailey responds with all of the pride of a parent. "You did indeed! I can literally say I feel like jumping out of my skin. It's not like anything I've ever felt. It's like winning the lottery or the Harper Avery Award. You know…some parents complain about their kids returning home but I never understood it. To me…not having to worry any more is a relief. I wish all of my kids would come home."
Webber knows she's referring to Izzie. "When will he be in again? He left before I could see him last night. I'm on my way home but I'd wait if he's going to be in today. I feel like he's one of my kids too you know."
He puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"I am not sure he will be in today with everything that happened and I know he wants to talk to his family to let them know he's still alive."
Richard stands there for a second weighing the option of staying even though he's been in surgery for the last 10 hours or going home and getting some sleep. Too exhausted to make a decision…sleep wins out by default. "Well, it's been a long night so I'm going to head home. I'll see you tomorrow."
He walks over to the elevator and presses the button. Looking down at his watch when the doors open he doesn't realize George is standing right in front of him.
"Chief Webber", George says.
Richard is delighted to see him. "George. I can't believe it. It is true."
George reaches out to shake his hand and Richard grabs him to give him a hug. "We've missed you here. You were my "go to" guy…are my "go to" guy. When we thought you were dead…there was a small part of me that I never thought would heal. And then…here you are. I just can't believe it."
"I know. I'm sorry I didn't contact anyone."
Richard laughs off his apology. "Well being alive exempts you from any mistake you have ever made in your life as far as I'm concerned."
George quickly responds "That's what I said."
Meredith tries to refocus George… "we should get going. How are the kids doing Dr. Webber?"
"Great!" He says. "Better than we expected based on the injuries and we didn't lose anyone."
"We're just going to go check on them and see how they're doing if that's ok."
"Sure…sure. I understand" Richard replies. "Hey look, I've been up all night so I'm going to go home and get some sleep. Give me a call if anything happens or you need me ok?"
"We will" Meredith says. "Now go get some sleep."
She pushed him into the elevator.
George walks up behind Miranda who is pretending she doesn't see him. He puts his arms around her from behind and she start to cry again.
"Awww, don't cry. I'm sorry I hurt you…but you will be glad to know that Meredith punched me extra hard for you this morning."
"I did. Total knuckle sandwich."
Bailey shakes off her tears. "So what are your plans?"
George responds thoughtfully. "Well, I'm going to go check on Momo and then I'm going to go see my…"
"No!" She snaps at him. "Not what are your plans for today? What are your plans for your life? What are you going to do with your life? Are you staying here or are you going to leave again…"
"Well…I thought I'd stay…if that's ok…"
"Well alright then. Here's all of your paperwork for HR. Sign by the green arrows on pages 1, 4, and 5 and drop them off to HR today. Here's a little welcome home gift. From me."
"Aww…thank you. What is it?"
"I'm not going to tell you what it is. Open it!"
George opens the box and it's a brand new stethoscope. "Now I'm going to cry. This is really beautiful…thank you."
"You're welcome. Now sign your paperwork and take it to HR."
"I'm just going to go check on…"
"Now!" She snaps at him again.
George, afraid she's going to punch him again stops to sign the paperwork. "Does anyone…"
Bailey slaps a pen down on the counter and walks away.
"Thank you" he yells after her and then turns to Meredith. "Is it my imagination or has she become scarier than she was before?"
"She just loves you is all."
George signs the papers and he and Meredith head to HR to drop it off. As they leave they walk by the on-call room where Callie is hiding…still deep in thought.
GEORGE (V.O.)
I've walked these halls it seems…like a million times. The echo of footsteps on the vinyl in the quiet of the morning. The smells…of antiseptic and Lysol coming from…everywhere. I don't recognize half the people here anymore…yet I feel more at home than I have in 3 years.
He looks over at Meredith and she smiles back at him.