Hey everyone! Sorry it's taken me so long to update. I had finals at school, and then I had to move out, and then I was out of town, so yeah, I've been super busy. Anyway, I'd like to thank listentoyourheart555 and Red Bess Rackham for reviewing chapter 2. I loved your reviews! Oh and a special thanks to Red (Red Bess Rackham) for being my beta. You're the best!! Well here is chapter 3. Please R&R!!

--Nessa

Chapter 3

Izzie stared at the monitor, waiting, hoping, for any change. She wasn't sure how long she had been there, but not a single thing had changed in the entire time she'd been there. The stats were exactly the same as they had been the moment she walked through that door. She sighed deeply as she put her head in her hands.

She wanted to be there for Meredith when she woke up, but she was in desperate need of sleep. Normally, she could count on Derek to be here for her friend, but now that just wasn't possible. Derek was gone. Derek Shepherd was dead, and he wasn't coming back. Meredith, unlike Derek, had survived the shooting. Izzie still couldn't wrap her mind around the fact that someone could do something that terrible to someone she knew. Izzie had of course been aware of the crime that occurred in the city, but why Meredith and Derek? Why outside of Joe's bar? Those were questions she wasn't sure if she'd ever find the answer to.

She knew she couldn't just sit here and wait for something to happen. She was too restless and as long as she just sat there, the horrible images from the night before would keep running through her mind. Images of finding Meredith lying there, surrounded by a puddle of blood. She shook her head, stood up and pulled her jacket on. She walked over to the bed and laid a gentle hand on Meredith's arm.

"I'm sorry I couldn't do more," she said quietly, choking back tears. "You have to pull through this. You have to wake up," she whispered. She turned around and walked out of the room. She paused at the doorway and turned back to take a final look at her friend, before leaving the hospital.

Mark was sitting on the bench outside of the hospital as the rain poured down on him. He came out here quite some time ago, but found himself unable to go back to his lonely hotel room. He was use to living alone, but he wouldn't be able to sleep, so what was the use of going to his room. Derek had just been over there the night before, drinking with him. And now if he went back, he would be reminded of him and just have to endure the eerie silence. He clenched his fist as tears slowly fell from his eyes. Why hadn't he been able to save him? He could have acted quicker, or done something different. Derek had just begun to trust him again, and now he let him down. He had once again failed his best friend.

"I let you down," Mark whispered to the darkness.

"Doctor Sloan," Izzie said.

Mark ignored her and continued to stare ahead.

Izzie stood beside him for a moment before stepping into his view. "Mark," she tried again softly.

This time he looked up. He could see the worry and exhaustion on her face, but wasn't sure why she was talking to him right then.

"Shouldn't you go home?" she asked, feeling worried about him.

"I live in a hotel Stevens," he said shortly.

Izzie regarded him sadly and sighed. "Well are you going to go to your hotel?" she asked instead.

"No," he answered, turning away, wishing for her to just leave him be. He was not in the mood to talk to anyone, let alone someone who seemed determined to be concerned about him.

"Get up," Izzie said, abruptly. She was not going to let him do this to himself. He wasn't the only one grieving and she wasn't going to let him sit here in the rain all night.

"What?" he asked, as he faced her, feeling a little surprised by her tone.

"I'm not going to just leave you here, so you're staying at my house tonight," she stated firmly, sounding stronger than she felt.

"Stevens, I'm perfectly fine where I am," he said, but his voice began to crack, betraying him. He was in no way fine, but he would never admit that to this young resident.

"You can either come willingly or I'll physically make you. But either way, you are coming with me," Izzie extended a hand to him.

Mark stared at her hand for a moment, contemplating saying no again, but he simply didn't have the strength to argue with her anymore. He sighed as he took her hand, and stood up slowly.

She gripped his hand tightly and led him to her car. She was extremely glad that he had come willingly, because she didn't know what she would have done if he had said no again.

Mark woke up the next morning and, at first, had no idea where he was. His first thought was that he had another one night stand, and didn't get out in time. Then he suddenly remembered the events from the night before. He had to fight hard to prevent tears from escaping his eyes. He just couldn't believe that Derek was gone. His best friend was gone. Mark had been an only child, and Derek had been the only brother like person Mark had ever known. And now he would never again laugh with him or even argue with him. He would never again get to just sit there and bull shit with him. Derek was gone, and never coming back.

He had been sitting there for a few minutes before the sweet aroma met his senses. He sniffed the air and wrinkled his eyebrows. Someone was making something, and he suddenly realized how hungry he was. He stood up to go see what was being cooked, when he realized he was only wearing boxers. He didn't quite remember taking his clothes off before falling asleep, but somehow his clothes were no longer on his body. He looked on the floor, before spotting them on the chair by the bed. They were neatly folded with a note on top of them.

Mark,

Your clothes were soaked last night, so I took the liberty of washing and drying them. Your wallet and things are on the night stand. You can come down to the kitchen whenever you're ready.

Izzie

Mark smiled to himself as he began pulling his pants on. That Izzie Stevens was quite unique and he couldn't help but smile at the thought of her. He read the note once more before tucking it safely inside his back pocket. He smiled once again before heading down to the kitchen.

He walked into the kitchen and saw Izzie standing at the oven with a batch of muffins in her hands.

"You bake?" he raised an eyebrow.

Izzie looked up and smiled. "Yeah, it's my thing," she said, setting the tray on the counter.

"Your thing?" he asked as he walked towards her.

"Yeah," she nodded as she took the muffins off of the tray. "When I want to not think about something, I bake." She finished taking the muffins off the tray, then grabbed more batter.

"Is laundry your thing too?" he smirked, sitting down at the counter.

"It's not my thing, but I'm more than happy to do it," she shrugged and smiled at him.

"Thank you," Mark said after a moment, looking at her seriously.

"For doing your laundry?" she paused briefly to look up at him.

"No, for last night…or well, this morning," he said as he dropped his gaze to his hands. "If you hadn't made me come here, I'm not sure what I would have done," he said in all honesty, as he looked down at his hands.

Izzie smiled warmly "You're welcome," she replied quietly. She regarded him for a moment before going back to her baking.

"Do you only make muffins?" he asked a minute or so later, nodding at the four trays of muffins.

"Oh no," Izzie said, putting the next batch in the oven. "I made cookies too, and I can bake just about anything. I can cook some things too, but I'm not that good at cooking Turkey," she winced, remembering when she tried to make Thanksgiving dinner. "But I make some pretty delicious pancakes. Do you want some?" She immediately grabbed a pan, all ready to make him breakfast.

Mark chuckled softly. "No, it's alright," he said, smiling.

"No, you should eat," she said as she walked over to the cupboard. She reached up for the pancake batter but was stopped. She turned around to see Mark had left his seat at the counter and had a hold on her arm.

"You're used to taking care of people aren't you?" he was standing very close, eyeing her knowingly.

"I don't mind," she said earnestly, looking at him.

"But you don't need to take care of me," he said quietly.

"How do you know? Maybe that's all you really need, is someone to-"

Her words were suddenly cut off by Mark pressing his lips to hers. He wasn't exactly sure why he did it. Maybe it was because she was helping him while he grieved for his best friend or how she'd brought him in from the rain. Maybe it was because of the way her hair was up but falling out or the way her eyes were somehow glowing just a little while she baked trays of muffins. Maybe it was because she was there, caring, when no one else was.

Izzie was frozen. She hadn't been expecting it to happen and it took her brain a moment to finally catch up with everything. Without thinking further, she slowly began to kiss him back, and it was like something inside her suddenly woke up. She quickly wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling his face even closer to hers.

Mark put his hands around her as well then lifted her up onto the counter. She wrapped her legs around his waist, hugging his body. Izzie knew exactly where this was going, but couldn't seem to stop herself – it felt so wild, unexpected, and so good. She knew this probably wasn't the best idea and she didn't care. She was mid-way through removing his buckle when she heard something drop.

"Izzie?"

She broke the kiss and looked over Mark's shoulder.