Fic: Falling Awake

Rating: Nothing bad here, unless you would count angst.

Feedback: Of course, feedback is like our crack!

Summary: Just when George thought his life couldn't get any more complicated, it does.

Disclaimer: I do not own anything, unfortunately. It would be cooler if I did though.

Spoilers: All the way until the end of the episode "The Other Side of Life" after that my version takes a different route. I started this fic over the summer so this season doesn't really count, any similarities is only by coincidence. If you haven't watch S4 yet and are staying away from spoilers don't worry nothing here will spoil you.

A/N: Many thanks goes to those who have already read a lot of this and help me sort through my writers block. It was much appreciate:)

Just a little warning, the medical situations in this may be completely off, I don't know anything, really, when it comes to hospitals or medical knowledge, so prepare yourself for having to suspend your imagination and belief.

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"Son of a…"

"Huh...I'm not asleep!" Izzie groggily yelped, sitting up quickly. She blinked hard a couple of times and looked around and realized she obviously had fallen asleep by George's bedside. She rubbed the back of her neck where a crick had formed from where she had laid her head down on top of his chest.

"I don't care," Cristina said, offhandedly while staring at the charts in front of her.

"What's going on?" Izzie asked, concerned.

"The lab just sent the results from the tests you ran earlier."

"And?" Izzie asked, standing up and walking over to look over her shoulder at the chart.

"And… his pressure is starting to drop," Cristina said, surprised. She looked up and over at Izzie who just stared at her blankly for a second.

"Seriously?" Izzie asked, disbelievingly snatching the chart to see for herself.

"Seriously."

Izzie flipped through the pages of the chart and studied the results for herself. Soon a bright smile started to spread across her face.

"Seriously?!" She asked, this time excitement showing in her voice.

"Seriously," Cristina confirmed again, trying to hide the smile that was forming on her own face. It soon dropped as Izzie squealed and engulfed her with a hug. Cristina awkwardly stood there as Izzie hugged her.

Izzie pulled back smiling. "So this means he could wake up soon, right?"

"Yeah…I guess. It's definitely got to be a good sign. His pressure dropped considerably since we first started this freezing technique."

"Wow…Go George. Go us," Izzie said, excited, jumping up and down on her the balls of her feet.

"I better go inform Bailey of the results," Cristina said, walking towards the door. "Oh, and Izzie if you tell anyone I allowed you to hug me… we'll be trying the freezing technique on you next."

Izzie just ignored her threat as she stood in front of George's bed smiling at him. She looked around to see if anyone was watching as she moved to the side of the bed. She took his cold hand into her warm one.

"Way to go George," She said smiling with tears in her eyes.

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Callie sat in the hard plastic chairs of the main entrance waiting area, listening to the quietness of the hospital. You could always count on Seattle Grace to be buzzing with life. It was one of the busiest hospitals on the west coast, but every once in a while the hospital would fall into a quiet lull. No big cases to attend to, no big disasters to keep them busy, no world-renowned surgeries to partake in. Just quietness. For many of the workers this meant a time to relax and enjoy the break, but not for surgeons. Surgeons never liked to see a lull period. They were an anxious bunch. Always strung out on the scalpel. Always impatiently waiting for the next great surgery. Craving the sweet taste of action that a surgery brought. The quietness was something that they were never prepared for. In their profession they thrived on the action, the chaos, and the bigger than life cases.

However, for Callie she accepted the quietness for once. As she sat in the darkened waiting area she took in the tranquility of the hospital and for the first time in what seemed like weeks, she felt like she could breathe. In the darkness, it was just her. No husband to worry over, no best friend of husbands to be jealous of, no sadness that maybe their marriage wasn't meant to be. It was just her and the silence.

"Callie?"

Callie slowly lifted her head from the back of the chair to see Mrs. O'Malley standing in front of her.

"What are you doing here?" The older lady asked.

"Thought I would get some fresh air," She replied, but thought it felt more like running away from George and his friends.

George's mother nodded her head as if she understood. She studied the raven-haired doctor for a moment as if she was trying to make some sort of assessment. Finally, she sighed and sat down beside her.

"My Georgie, he's never been much a talker," Mrs. O'Malley began. Callie kept her focus straight ahead. "I had two typical boys. Always loud, always getting dirty, and always causing trouble. But then there was my Georgie. Sweet, quiet, and always my little angel. Did you know he never once got a spanking when growing up. Not like my other two who got at least 3 on any given day. But noo, not George though. When he was little he would follow me around like a shadow. He was my little helper. Helping me with the housework and taking care of the family. He would follow me around quietly and do whatever I did with no complaints. Of course I always knew it was partly because he needed protection from his older brothers, but I also liked to think that he just wanted to spend the day with me."

She was smiling at the memory as she talked.

"I miss those days," She said, sighing heavily. "But now he's the big smart doctor. Helping other families. But he's still my little angel and he's still as quiet as ever."

She looked over at her daughter-in-law and noticed her own quietness. She gently reached out and placed her hand on top of hers to get her attention. Callie looked over at her with apprehension.

"Earlier… when I said you were the reason why I haven't talk to him for months… well, its not true. It's not your fault. It's mine."

Callie's furrowed her brow at the older woman in confusion. She wasn't quite sure where she was going with this conversation.

"I don't know if you've ever noticed but when George is under pressure or gets stressed out he tends to lash out. He pushes people away and closes down and usually ends up in some sort of screaming match with the ones he loves. Unfortunately, the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. I wish he could have gotten my bad spelling, but nope, he had to get my worst trait."

She laughed lightly as Callie listened, who still wasn't entirely sure what to say.

"Like I said George has always been quiet. He bottles things up. And I always worried about him doing that too much. I'm a talker obviously and they say its good to get things off your chest. But with George, getting him to talk about his life and the things that bother him is like trying to pull teeth sometimes."

Callie scoffed. "You're telling me."

Mrs. O'Malley smiled. "That night when he called to tell me about you guys eloping. I was still reeling from the death of my husband. To find out that my baby boy was now a husband himself… it was a shock to the system. And that bad trait of mine that he seems to have inherited, well it struck again. So for all this time… when he didn't call or reach out… it was because of me."

"I'm sorry," Callie said, apologetically. "He still should have called you. If I had known…"

"I know," Mrs. O'Malley said, patting Callie's hand. "It wouldn't have done any good though. He also inherited his father's stubbornness."

Callie smiled at her. She was just glad that her mother-in-law was finally beginning to open up to her a little.

"So I apologize for my little outburst from before. As long as George is happy, I'm happy. And if he opens up to you… if he talks to you about his life, well then I'll always welcome you to our family with open arms."

Callie's smile dropped a little as Mrs. O'Malley reached over and pulled her into a hug. She closed her eyes as George's mother held her close. She couldn't tell her that her son never really opened up to her either. She knew exactly how his mother felt because sometimes it felt like he was giving her the silent treatment as well.

Mrs. O'Malley pulled back from the hug and Callie plastered on a shaky smile.

"Now," Mrs. O'Malley said. "How is his freezing thing going?"

Callie swallowed hard.

"I'm not sure," she said, meekly. "I've just been wondering around for a long time … I thought I would let his friends take care of him."

Mrs. O'Malley nodded her understanding, but before she could say anything else Callie's beeper went off.

The both looked at the black electronic device clipped onto her side. They both knew it was about George. Callie slowly lifted the small device up and looked at the message on the screen.

"Well?" Mrs. O'Malley said, anxiously.

"It's George…" Callie said, looking up in amazement. "Apparently there's been some sort of change."

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