Her phone rang pulling her from the light sleep she was in.
"Hello?" She answered groggily.
"Hey." His voice sound avoid of any emotion but sadness. It was a bad day.
"Hey." She responded trying to sound a little more awake.
"I missed you last night."
"I missed you too."
"Good."
"Alex? Are you okay?" She asked a little more seriously as worry washed over her.
"It's just one of those days, I guess."
"Sorry, Lex. I wish there was more I could do."
"I know." He sighed sadly. "I just wanted to check up on you. You sounded tired last night."
"Yeah, I'm fine today." She tried to sound convincing hoping that she succeeded, but hearing herself say it she wasn't so sure.
"I glad." He swallowed hard and she could tell that there was something he wanted to tell her, but she didn't push.
"How's everyone else?" She asked softly.
"Same old, same old. George looks murderous. Izz looks depressed. And Christina looks dark and twisted."
"Okay." She said hoping that he wouldn't catch the hurt in her voice that after all her hard work nothing had gone back to be the same as it used to be.
"I better go before someone catches me talking instead of working."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"There are just some days being here doesn't seem worth it."
Her heart broke as his words hit her with probably more impact than he intended. Tears stung her eyes hearing his voice sound so pained, but she didn't let them fall. Not today. Not when Alex was hurting so bad. She wouldn't let him hear her cry. She didn't want to be another thing he or any of her friends had to bear on their shoulders.
"Call me if you need me."
"Alright. Will you be home tonight?"
She knew more than anything he needed her to be there. They probably all did, but in the end it might just be for the best that she stay away. If they found out the secret plaguing her, then it would be far worse than if they went a week without her. Sighing deeply, she searched for the right words to say before deciding the truth would suite the situation best. "I don't know, Lex. I'll try."
"Okay. Bye." She heard him hang up.
"I love you." She said into the dead phone even though he couldn't hear her. Shutting the phone, she allowed the tears to fall. Yes, it definitely would be a hard week… for all of them.
--
She spent her day trying to keep her mind from wondering back to the test results that would undoubtedly decide her future. Just a short two and a half weeks ago, she imagined that Christina and Burke would have gotten back from their honeymoon Hawaii as a happy couple. Instead Burke was god knows where, and Christina was dark and twisty. She imagined George married to Callie and trying for a kid. Instead Callie was living in a hotel, and George was always mad or moping. She imagined Izzie being her happy bubbly self doing whatever kept her happy. Instead Izzie was depressed and baking. She imagined herself happy with Alex. She would have always been smiling and laughing without a care in the world. Instead Alex was dealing with guilt and pain, and she tried to fix everybody else's life while her own hung in the balance. It wasn't that the last two weeks made her love Alex any less. When she looked to the future, she still saw Alex. She loved him. There was no doubt in her mind. But, fate seemed to have other plans.
He looked up when she came in and his face softened a little, but she could tell he was upset over something. Sighing, she set her bag on the ground and kicked off her shoes pushing everything that had been running through her head all day into the back of her head. She bent over Alex kissing him lightly on the lips. She was about to walk into the kitchen, but he pulled her down onto the couch beside of him. He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer to him. Letting her eyes shut, it seemed the rest of the world faded. None of her problems, none of his problems, none of their friends' problems existed.
A loud clanging sound came from the kitchen followed by a loud groan. Meredith sighed opening her eyes savoring a moment in his arms. "I better go check of Izz."
He sighed reluctantly. "Yeah."
She wiggled free of his grasp as he let his arm fall limp on the couch beside him. She turned to him, cupped his face, and gave him a long kiss before getting up and walking into the kitchen.
"You okay, Izz?" Meredith asked sitting down on the counter across from her.
"I can't get this damn pot clean." She sobbed scrubbing the pan as hard as she could. Meredith knew she really wasn't upset over the pot.
"Alright, Izz. It's fine." She said softly grabbing her hands to stop her from scrubbing. Izzie looked up at her friend as tears made their way down her cheeks. Forcing a small smile, she wiped the tears from her friend's faces. "Go take a bath or something. I'll take care of this."
Izzie shook her head sniffling. "I can do it."
"It's fine, Izz." She gave her an encouraging nod. Slowly, Izzie nodded putting the things on the counter.
"Thank you, Mer." She whispered before walking out. Sighing, Meredith looked around the kitchen. It was cluttered with pot, cookie sheets, muffin pans, and mixing bowls. Plates of cookies, muffins, bread, cupcakes, and cakes sat on every other open surface. The sink overflowed with dishes, and batter was splattered on the counters and oven. It was going to be a long night. Making her way to the sink, she turned on the water and started with the first dish knowing that there were many more to come.
It was long before she heard the front door slam loudly. She cringed at the loud noise that only seemed amplified in her head. She heard Christina say a few words to Alex, and Alex retort.
"Meredith!" Christina yelled walking into the kitchen causing Meredith to cringe. She knew something wasn't right. She should be able to hear the door slam or her friend yell without her head throbbing. Turning to look at he friend, she turned off the water as Christina slapped a piece of paper down on the counter. Meredith leaned over to see a picture of Burke smiling up at them.
"Oh god." She sighed.
Christina wasn't freaking out. She just sat there. Meredith watched her cautiously mindlessly scrubbing a mixing bowl clean. She stared down at the picture reading the article. It was about him winning a very prestigious medical award.
"I did his surgeries." Christina finally said without breaking the daze she was in.
"What?"
"When his hand had that tremor, I did all of his surgeries."
"Okay." She said unsure.
"I get nothing. No recognition."
"Would you like to drink? Or would you like to eat all of Izzie's food?"
"I'm just going to bed." Christina mumbled before walking out of the kitchen. Meredith sighed, leaning back against the counter as she rubbed the bridge of her nose.
Since the wedding failed, all the residents' lives got turned upside down, and it only seemed to get worse. Izzie and George slept together. Izzie is in love with George. George is mad at her, and his marriage with Callie is on the rocks. He's trying to deal with Callie wanting a baby and her rich father's frequent, unannounced visits to Seattle. Alex couldn't cope with the fact that the organ donor he found gave at least two people contaminated organs, and both transplant patients died as a result.
