Hey everyone!! I know its been a very very long time since I updated this story last, but I was...well actually still am..very busy. And I decided I wanted to finish my other story before I picked this one up. I just am no good at writing two stories at once. So now that I finished it, I can continue with this one. I may not always be able to update right away, but I'll try my best. Anyway, I'd like to thank those who took the time to review chapter 3: brightandshiney, Mary Jane, marlyp, Izziefan, beth1814, Mcalison, gizziefan118, and caliginous. Thank you all so much, I appreciate and love your reviews so much...and I hope you will continue to read and review...even though I was gone for a long time. Well anyway, here is the next chapter. I hope you all like it, and please read and review :-)

Kat

Chapter 4

"Izzie?"

Izzie broke the kiss and looked over Mark's shoulder to see George standing there. Her eyes widened as Mark set her back down on the floor. He re did his buckle and she tried to pull herself together.

"George," she said, not really knowing what to say to him.

George just stood there, with his mouth slightly hanging open. He had stopped by so that he and Izzie could go into the hospital together to see Meredith, and he walked in on…well he really didn't want to think about what he walked in on.

"What are you doing here?" she asked.

"Meredith's awake, I came to get you. I thought you'd want to see her, but if you're-"

"Yeah, let me just get my purse," she said as she quickly turned off the over and ran out of the room.

George looked over at Mark who stood there, feeling extremely awkward.

"Okay, lets go," Izzie said, coming back into the room.

Uh, Izzie," George said as Izzie turned to walk out the door.

"What?" she asked, turning to him.

George nodded in Mark's direction. Izzie turned to see Mark standing there. She had somehow completely forgotten he was there.

"Oh, right. Uh, you're welcome to stay while we're gone. Just lock the front door when you leave." And with that she hurried out of the house, wanting to avoid any conversation he might have wanted to have.

- - - - -

Izzie paused outside of Meredith's room. "Has anyone told her yet?" she asked George.

"Not unless someone told her while I was gone."

Izzie peered inside the room and saw Cristina sitting there, just looking at Meredith. From what Izzie could tell from where she was standing, Meredith still looked pretty weak. She was definitely awake and alert, but it didn't seem as if she had a lot in her. Izzie sighed and looked at George.

"This might not go over very well," she said quietly.

"You're going to tell her?" George asked, sounding alarmed.

"We have to George. She would want to know right away." She sighed at the look on his face. "Wouldn't you want to know if…if the love of your life was dead," she whispered.

George gave her a strange look and Izzie decided that wasn't a very good question to ask him right at this moment. She looked away from him and took a deep breath before going in.

Meredith looked up at Izzie and George and smiled faintly.

"Hey Mer," Izzie said, standing at her side and resting her hand on her friend's.

"Hey Izz," Meredith said weakly.

"How are you feeling?" Izzie asked.

"Like I've been shot," Meredith said seriously.

Izzie mentally kicked herself for the question and gave Meredith a sympathetic smile.

"You have the day off?" Meredith asked, seeing that Izzie was the only one standing there with out scrubs.

"Yeah, Bailey told me to take the day off since…" Izzie trailed off.

"Because of me?" Meredith asked, feeling confused. Why would Izzie get the day off and not the others?

"I was the main doctor who, uhm, operated on you," Izzie said, feeling weird.

"Oh," Meredith said, feeling slightly surprised. "Well thanks," she said after a moment.

They were both quiet for a moment before they both started laughing.

"Hey who forgot to invite me to the party?" Alex said, coming in with a food tray.

"Is that for me?" Meredith asked.

"The jello is," he said, handing her the jello and a spoon before sitting down.

Izzie rolled her eyes as she watched him.

"Hey, some of us have been working hard here while you were at home sleeping comfortably," he said, eating his lunch.

"Not me," Izzie said, thinking of her sleepless night on the couch.

"Oh yeah that's right, Sloan was over," Alex said smirking.

"Sloan was over?" Meredith asked.

"Yeah, he was there when I picked Izzie up," George said, not making eye contact with Izzie.

"Wait, you took him home with you last night?" Cristina asked, speaking for the first time since they got there.

"Well yeah, I couldn't just leave him sitting all alone outside," Izzie said. Izzie looked at Meredith who was looking extremely confused and suddenly realized that she had been standing here for at least ten minutes and hadn't told Meredith about Derek.

"Wait, why was he sitting outside?" Meredith asked, before Izzie could stop the conversation.

Everyone suddenly got extremely quiet and looked at Meredith.

"What?" she asked.

"Meredith," Izzie started, looking down at her "I have to tell you something," Izzie said, trying to hold herself together.

"What?" she asked, still confused.

"It's about Derek," Izzie said.

"Oh," Meredith said, suddenly feeling very angry. "No, I don't want to talk about him. If anything he should have been the first one to visit me. He should be at my bedside groveling. I mean if he hadn't chased me-"

"Meredith," Izzie said, her eyes starting to sting.

Meredith looked up at Izzie and suddenly knew something was very wrong.

"Why isn't he here?" Meredith asked.

"Last night, when you guys ran out of the bar," Izzie started.

"Izzie, where's Derek?" Meredith asked, her voice starting to shake.

"He was shot," Izzie said, feeling her eyes water.

"Well is he okay?" Meredith asked, her eyes filling with tears as well.

Izzie tried to stop the tears as she shook her head. "He didn't make it. Mark did everything he could, but Derek had already lost too much blood," she said.

A tear slid down Meredith's cheek as she looked down at her hands. This was impossible, this couldn't be happening. They had to be lying. Meredith looked up at Izzie.

"You waited until now to tell me?" she asked.

Izzie looked down. "I was going to tell you, but I-"

"You what? Decided to make me feel better right before you tore my heart out?" Meredith said harshly.

"Meredith," Cristina said.

"No!" she yelled. "You're just as bad. You sat there the whole time and never once tried to tell me!"

"Meredith," Izzie whispered, looking back up at her.

"Get out," she said, looking down once again.

"Mer-" George stated.

"I said…get OUT!" she yelled, looking up angrily.

At this everyone decided they had better do as they were told. They hurried toward the door and left, not daring to look back.

Once everyone had gone, Meredith looked down at her hands and noticed she was shaking. She was also breathing very rapidly, and it seemed like the more she tried to stop, the worse it got. She buried her face in her hands and cried out, and began sobbing uncontrollably.