She had seen him in and out of the hospital for checks ups. She'd seen him around and was hoping that he would come back sooner rather than later. Today was the day it seemed. His return to peds. Beside the few brief jealousy fuelled weeks, Alex Karev had been her best resident – bar none. He seemed to have enough knowledge about parents to know what buttons to push to get what he wanted and he had a way with kids that completely contrasted his outward persona.

She had invested a great many hours in his development, knowing that he would be an asset to any peds unit anywhere once he was fully trained, hopefully earning his loyalty as well as his friendship. It was easy to see that she had a soft spot for the young resident. It was even more obvious when she and Callie had heard the news of his injury.

They both had visited him, glad to hear that he would be fine. They both watched over him and Lexie, who had stayed by his bedside, both thankful that Alex had lived through the ordeal.

He walked over to her with an impish smile.

"What do you need today, Boss?"

She smiled, happy that he seemed to have returned to his pre-crazy-maniac-shooting-up-the-hospital-self.

"Well you have a whole pile of charts that need to be completed, when you are finished that you can go and the lab results for Rooms 5407, 5429 and 5433. Ok?"

While her 'Ok' sounded like a question, she really didn't mean it that way. He opened his mouth to protest the lack of surgery and she cut him off.

"Mmm-mmm, no way. Teddy said that you are on light duties. That does not mean standing for 5 hours in an operating theatre, because that's a sure fire way to get you back on the table. Charts and labs. If you are really keen you can sit in the gallery and watch."

She started to skate off, and then paused and turned back.

"Oh and don't think any other specialties will let you in to a surgery. They all know I own you." She smiled innocently and continued on her way leaving him staring at the pile of charts that awaited him. He lifted the charts and followed her to the surgical wing. He would get as close to a scalpel as he could today.

He looked over the surgery and saw his mentor making the first incisions on a tiny body. By the look of the draping and the staff in the gallery it was going to be a long boring surgery. He set himself up with the charts and began to read.

He heard the OR door open and his girlfriend walked into the room below. He watched her move over to the table and watched as she and Arizona worked together.

Arizona looked up to the gallery and saw the look in Alex's eye. The look in his eye told her that despite all previous appearances, Alex was not back to normal. Not yet. He stood up and picked up his work, before turning back and looking at his girlfriend one more time. Before he left, his eyes met Arizona's and she gave him the most reassuring look she could with her mask on. He nodded slightly before leaving.

Halfway through the surgery Lexie looked up to see that Alex was no longer there. Arizona could tell that the resident was not surprised, but could feel the disappointment radiate from the younger woman.

Later in the day she found Alex at the nurse's station in Peds, eating a sandwich and looking over charts.

"What are you doing Karev?"

"Working."

"At lunch time? When you could be spending time in the cafeteria with your friends or an on call room somewhere doing things I do not want to know about."

While he was surprised by the latter part of her question, he just shrugged.

She sighed. She knew that look. He was broken, and she had to do what she did best. She had to fix him.

"If you tell me what is wrong, I'll let you into my next surgery today."

This time he let his surprise show a little. He thought about the trade off.

Two months since he had held a scalpel. Two months since he had felt the rush of surgery. Two months he was behind on his hours for his residency. His residency was the one thing he was always sure about, so it would be worth it. If he could show her he was fine today, tomorrow she might be a little more accommodating with the OR hours.

"I- I called Lexie, Izzie."

She blinked a few times and then her face changed. Her nose scrunched up and she blushed. Arizona found herself regretting her offer.

He saw the change and couldn't understand, until it dawned on him what she had assumed.

"When I was shot. And lying on a table being operated on... I called out to Izzie."

Immediately Arizona relaxed. Alex almost laughed at the relief on her face.

"You weren't that well. I'm sure Lexie understands."

"Yeah." He sulks.

"Karev, she loves you it's obvious to everyone." She wasn't lying, Mark Sloan could even see that Alex Karev had stolen her heart. As a result Mark ended up spending a lot of time around the apartment before Callie had decided she had had enough and wanted sexy time with her wife. Alone. Her exact words were 'Mark, I love you, but can you not see my hot, hot wife that I married a week ago? Come back in a month." Arizona smiled as she played the scene, along with the honeymoon sex that followed, over in her head for a few moments (almost missing Alex's answer of an unenthusiastic 'Yeah') before returning to the current reality of Alex acting very un-Alex-like and more like their patients. He had sunk further into his chair and looked even more upset.

Arizona's first reaction is one of protection for her sweet friend.

"Look Alex, I like Lexie, a lot, if you don't love her you need to tell her."

He shakes her head and continues to look down.

"She thinks that Izzie was the great love of my life. I used to refer to the relationship Lex and I as a 'thing', I never made her feel special... she's not going to trust me."

Arizona smiles. 'He does have a heart' she instantly thought.

"Have you talked to her?"

"Yeah, she said it was fine."

"So she says it's fine, but you think that it's not?"

"Yeah."

"So you are sitting here avoiding her, what? To make her realise you love her."

"Then what do I do?"

"Talk to her? Maybe show her that you care? I mean girls like that, you know."

"I want to move forward with Lexie. I want her and me to be... something."

"I've already told you, just face forward and make plans. Sometimes they fail, sometimes they don't, and when they don't fail, well, it's really nice."

"Last time I took your advice I ended up married and abandoned."

She pauses for a moment, studying him.

"Karev, look at yourself. Jeez, if every divorced doctor in this hospital was as self pitying as you we'd have a less dreamy-McDreamy, a crying Nazi, the Chief would be somewhere dead on the side of the road and I would not be married to the hottest doctor in the hospital. Like I say, it doesn't always work out, but when it does it's worth it. So get up, find Lexie and find a spare on-call room. But be back by two because I have an appendectomy with your name all over it."

Surprised with his own actions he got up and followed her instructions. Cancer and loss had burdened his marriage and the damage done was irreparable, but he wasn't going to let this do the same damage, he wasn't going to let Lexie slip through his fingers quite so easy... he just had to tell her that.