Author's Note: So there really wasn't much Alex and Izzie interaction in the last episode, and when there was it was about Meredith. But still, they have a connection-a strong one at that. Still though, it's been two episodes, and no mention of Hannah...is she even still at the hospital, or did they bring her in just so Izzie would know things would be okay? Because really...


Izzie shut her locker door, turning to see Meredith and Cristina seemingly deep in conversation. Pulling her hair back into a ponytail, she hoped that she looked composed. The night before, after she left Alex at the bar, Izzie went home, baking cookies until two in the morning followed by sleep that was continuously interrupted, just about once every hour.

"Iz?"Meredith called, pulled her shoes on. "You okay?"

"Huh?"Izzie asked, surprised. "Oh, um...yeah. Just fine. Good. Great."She bit her lip silently, thinking that the overly perkiness would be an obvious sign that she wasn't. As George walked around the corner, she felt her demeanor change. "Shouldn't we get moving? I mean, Bailey will be here any minute and-"

"And exactly what does that mean?...Izzie, we wait here. It's what we do."Cristina said, noting her behavior.

She caught Alex studying her out of the corner of her eye, but pretended not to notice.

Bailey opened the door, ready to go as usual. "Okay interns, we have patients to take care of...places to go, people to heal. Yang-you're with Torres. Karev and O'Malley, you'll be with Shepherd-he's got surgery in an hour, by the way, so be prepared. Grey, you're with Burke, and Stevens, pit-"She held up her hands, knowing Izzie would try to interject. "There is a virus going around and people are having trouble breathing, people with allergies and cuts...everybody, scoot!"

Just as Izzie attempted to make her way past, Bailey caught her arm. "What's going on?"

"You know what's going on, Stevens. How are you holding up with this?"

"Well, I would be doing better if I could actually get in to see Hannah, but I guess it's clear that won't happen. So-"Izzie said, taking a deep breath. She flashed Bailey a smile shrugging, "I'm doing my job."

"Good, okay. And listen, Izzie...I put you on pit as a precaution, and I'll be working the clinic, so if you need-"

"I'm fine."She insisted. "I've gotta get to work."


She wasn't sure how long she had been standing there, in the hallway on the pediatric floor. Her hands were curled into balls, her fingers grasping the ends of her sleeves. Taking an even breath in and out, Izzie slowly began shaking her head. Looking at her watch, Izzie knew it was time. She had to leave, had to get back to work. Because she was sure that if she didn't, one of the nurses would probably report her, just standing there.-If they already hadn't.
"Hey-"Alex said, pulling off his scrub cap.

George turned around, expectant. "Yeah?"

Alex, slightly surprised that George had even shown him any attention, shuffled his feet in an attenpt to find something to say. He wanted to talk about Izzie, about the awkward silence when he walked in the locker room, but he knew that couldn't be the opener. "Kind of tense in there, huh?"

George turned , washing his hands. "Yeah, it was. The guy nearly passed...but Shepherd..."

Alex nodded, grabbing the soap from him. "He may be an ass to Mer sometimes, but he's a great surgeon."

Nodding, George went about washing his hands. "So uh...anything else?"He asked after he was done, noticing how Alex was standing.

"Hmm? No, No..."He moved towards the sink, watching George dry with a towel over his shoulder. "So hey, I noticed things got a little tense this morning...anything wrong?"

"Why would you think that?"George asked, almost dreading the conversation. "Everything is good. Fine."

"Okay Izzie."Alex muttered under his breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, but seriously...if you're actually fine, say something other than what Izzie would normally say when she's not..."

George twitched, recoiling. Shrugging, he let out a laugh. "I've gotta go meet Callie for lunch..."He said, pushing past.


Izzie stared down at a wilting turkey sandwich trying to find the strength to eat it. In truth, it didn't look at all appetizing, but the growling of her stomach told her that she should at least attempt to eat. Reaching for her water bottle, she saw Meredith sit across from her. "Hey."

"Hey."Meredith replied, seemingly out of breath.

"What's wrong?"

Meredith shrugged, unwrapping her sandwich. "Fine. Just...our, um...our patient this morning kind of-"

"Oh."Izzie said. "I'm sorry."

"No, it's okay, I guess. But it was a girl...a little girl. I guess that's the part that made it so sad."Meredith said, with no clue that Izzie would ever be affected.

Izzie's heart silently dropped, her sandwich halfway to her mouth. "A little girl?"She asked, fear laced through her voice. She thought of Hannah, of the small glimpse of her she had gotten sitting in the hospital bed. While Izzie knew that it wasn't-that it couldn't be her, a fear inside of her latched on, determined not to let go.

Meredith eyed her, frowning. "Yeah, it was a complication with her system."She paused, taking a bite of her food. "So how's your day?"She asked, curious.

"It's been...interesting. I guess."

Just as Meredeith was about to reply, her pager began to beep. "Oh...sorry-"She muttered. "I have to go..."Finishing her bottle of water, Meredith apoligized again, and then headed for wherever it was she was going.

Izzie, feeling more defeated than she had before, shoved her plate further away. She was suddenly feeling the immense need to sleep, or to at least breathe in air that didn't smell like lemon cleaner and antiseptic.


"Doctor Shepherd-"Alex said, spotting him at the nurses' station. "I got the results back for the patient in 2021 There's a problem with the-"

Derek took the file from him, examining the results. "Well, this is interesting. Schedule a CT scan, and try and make it quick."

Alex nodded, spotting Izzie on her way out the door. "Right away."Alex said, walking to the elevator. As he was waiting, he leaned to look out the glass, and saw her standing on the walkway, running her hands through her hair. Convinced that something was indeed wrong, he headed up to CT, vowing to go back out to see what was wrong.

Standing by the doors, he could see her shaking her head, wiping away at what he knew were tears. Debating on wether or not he should just go over, Alex wished she could just tell him what was happening. He wanted to be there more than he had expected. It was a thought that surprised even him. "Izzie."

Startled, Izzie straightened, looking out at the parking lot. "Alex...hey."She said, trying to act as if nothing had happened. Her hair picked up with the breeze, adjusting itself against her shoulders. "So why are you out here?"She asked.

"Because I saw you, and I thought that I could come out here. You were acting kind of wierd this morning, so I assumed something was wrong."Alex paused, watching how Izzie reacted.

"I'm fine."Izzie replied numbly, arms crossed. She hated it. The irony of it all. There was Hannah, her daughter. The one she thought she would never see again. And then there was George, her best friend. Former best friend, Izzie corrected herself. While she tried to ignore the fact that she saw him with Callie at lunch, and the fact that she caught them both looking at her several times, she felt herself being pulled to a bench.

Alex sighed, his hand on her shoulder. "Izzie. I know that I probably crossed a line last night by asking you to go into detail. I know that there are-"He said, shrugging. "-And probably always will be a place in your heart that won't be filled. You're trying to get over that, and...it's okay."

"Is it really? Is everything really okay? Because everyone keeps saying that it is, but they have no idea. They have no idea how fast things can just fall apart like that."Izzie spilled out. She looked over at Alex who was sitting next to her and stood. "I'm sorry, I should get back inside. I've gotta get back to the pit-"

"Izzie-"Alex said, standing with her. He reached out for her arm, determined to let her know that there was at least someone there. "What is going on?"

Between Alex looking at her the way he was, and offering what he was offering, Izzie couldn't take it any more. She felt like she was tearing at the seams, and if she kept it all in, she wouldn't be able to control it any longer. Letting out a sob, she shook her head. "It just doesn't make sense, you know? How one minute everything is just fine, and then the next your whole life changes? I-I have...I had a daughter. A girl named Hannah...and I gave her away for adoption, because I thought it was the best thing to do. I thought that by giving her away, she would have a better life. She would get all the oppurtunities that I didn't."Izzie said, clapping her hands against her legs loudly. "And now she's here. At the hospital...she has Leukemia, and I...I donated Bone Marrow. It was the least I could do but-"

Alex watched her, both surprised and concerned. Still, he felt that Izzie being Izzie, she needed to finish the story.

"She won't see me. I mean, I know I gave her away. I know I...let her go when she was...not even an hour old. But now she's here. Suddenly...back in my life. I guess I always knew it would happen. One day."She said, surprisingly finding telling Alex what she was as releasing. "But now? I mean, she's..she's eleven. Or so, and..."

"And it'll be okay, Izzie. Give her time-"Alex said, trying to console her.

"But that's not even it. George won't talk to me because of one big, stupid mistake. One big, huge mistake that I will end up regretting...forever. We got drunk. We...slept...together...and now the one person who never hurt me, or who I never hurt...is gone. He's gone, Alex. He will probably never talk to me again. And I just...I just-"Izzie stopped, in a fit of tears. She felt ger knees buckle underneath her, but as she did she felt Alex catch her.

He wasn't sure of why or how, but Alex knew that it was the right thing to do. Despite the people walking by, or the fact that it had slowly began to rain around them. "Izzie..."Alex muttered, finding even saying her name hard. Because he knew that he was on that list, that he had hurt her once. More than once. "Everything is gonna be okay. You have to believe that. You have to...have to let people be here for you."

Relaxing against the warmth of Alex's neck, Izzie nodded, muffling the sound of her 'thank you'. She hadn't felt safer in a while, and Izzie couldn't help but think that she wanted it to last.

"Do you want to see her?"Alex asked.

"What?"Izzie asked, slowly lifting her head from his shoulder. "How could-"

"Just...do you?"