Meredith stood outside the room, looking like she was about to cry. George seen her standing there, and he felt fear inside him by just one look at her face. She was scared, and that couldn't mean anything good.
"Mer?" he said cautiously, walking up to her. "What's going on?"
She didn't answer at first. She seemed to be too busy looking at the floor.
"Cristina's in there," she said quietly.
George looked at her for several moments as he figured out exactly what she meant. It hit him hard.
"Oh no," he said, shocked.
"Oh yes," Meredith said with a small laugh. "Yes, yes…."
"Mer," he said, though he didn't know exactly how to comfort her. "It's going to be alright."
"It's going to be alright," she repeated, and laughed again. "Yeah, it's going to be alright even though she's going to die."
"You don't know that-"
"George, come on. Look around you. Everyone has died. Everyone-"
She stopped and closed her eyes, trying to calm herself. George was at loss for words. He could not imagine this happening to Cristina. She was Cristina.
Derek joined them. He looked as harassed and as worried as Meredith did.
"Where's Cristina?" he asked.
Meredith motioned towards the door behind her. He looked at it, then back at Meredith.
"Her too?" he said disbelievingly.
"Burke?" Meredith asked.
"Yeah," Derek replied.
"Wait, Burke's sick too?" George said, looking from one to the other. Neither of them answered him.
"He wants to see her," Derek told Meredith. "I think that they should be together."
Meredith nodded but didn't look at him. This was all going to fast for her. It was unreal. And she had no idea what to do.
"Do you want to talk to her?" Derek asked her.
After a moment Meredith nodded. She looked at George for a moment, who seemed lost, then opened the door and entered the room.
Bailey was in with Cristina. From what Meredith could tell, she had been fighting Bailey to let her go.
"I already know where this is going," Cristina was saying to Bailey, looking desperate and unlike herself. "I-"
She looked over as Meredith came in the room. She looked frightened and didn't seem to want to be there.
"Burke wants to see you," Meredith announced.
"He can come in," Cristina said, for she wanted to see him too. Meredith looked at Bailey. Cristina knew what that look meant.
"He's sick too," Cristina said hollowly.
Meredith opened her mouth to say something, but nothing came out. She looked to Bailey for help. Bailey looked quite lost too. Now Burke was sick. Everyone was getting sick.
"Do you want to go see him?" Bailey asked Cristina.
"Yeah," she said, after a moment of hesitation. She was afraid to see him. But she wanted to see him so bad. Because…she was dying. And now he was too.
"Why are you standing out here?" Alex asked George, who was waiting for Meredith to come out.
"Cristina's sick," George said. "And so is Burke."
"Seriously?" Alex said, surprised. It seemed like a joke. But he was not lying.
"Yes," George said. "They're…."
He shook his head. He did not want to think about it. There was so much to think about, and it was going to drive him crazy.
"Where's Izzie?" he asked instead.
"I don't know," Alex said. "I was talking to her a little while ago, but she said she had somewhere to go."
"Where would she have to go?" George asked, distracted. "There's no where to go."
"I don't know," Alex said. "She was pretty upset with everyone for ignoring her."
"I have been distant," George admitted. "I just…I don't know. But I'm going to find her and tell her about this before she finds out another way. Make it easier."
"It won't really make it easier," Alex said.
"I know," George agreed. "Tell them I'll be back."
"Yeah," Alex said, and took George's place in front of the door.
The day was almost dark now. Everything was quiet and so eerie. She was not used to this quietness. It didn't fit in with the city. There were cars in the road, but they didn't seem to have moved in a while. As she walked down the street Izzie seen people lying motionless on the ground, and that made it hard to look at anything at all. She tried to pretend that it wasn't there, but it was hard to do so when it kept on staring at you.
As she walked past a house she saw someone looking out at her from a window. She stopped, but the person quickly hid out of sight, as though afraid of her. There really were people out here, which was a comfort. They were all probably afraid to leave their homes, in case it was still around. A lot of people had probably left town too, trying to escape it, only to find it everywhere else too.
She was starting to feel more afraid and wanted to go back to the hospital. She had no idea why she had left in the first place, except for the fact that she was getting tired of just sitting in there. She turned around and decided to go back. She felt like someone was watching her, and not the person from the window.
Cristina went into the room. Burke looked back at her. They only looked at each other for a few moments. They really didn't have to say anything. They both knew what was happening. They knew that a day from now, they wouldn't be there.
"How are you?" Cristina asked.
"How are you?" he replied.
"I'm guessing you know."
"Yeah."
She went and lay on the bed with him. She was tired but afraid of sleeping. She never wanted to sleep again.
"This is it?" she said. "We just die now?"
"I guess so," Burke said.
They were silent for several moments. They had no idea what to do or what to say, even though they should be doing and saying a lot. They were dying, and it would only be hours.
Meredith and Alex stood outside the door, waiting. Meredith was scared. She did not know what she was going to do. She hated herself right now, doing nothing while her friend was dying. Addison walked passed them. She and Alex looked at each other, but then she moved on. She knew that he would need to be with his friends for now, and she respected that.
George searched the whole hospital for Izzie, but came up with nothing. It was driving him insane. He had no idea where she would be, and he did not like not knowing where she was, not now.
She made her way back to the hospital, walking as quickly as she could. It was almost fully dark now and getting cold. She wished she hadn't come out here, but it was if she had almost been drawn out.
Someone staggered out of nowhere, making her jump. The man started coughing, then said through gasps of air, "You…a doctor? I need…can you…?"
"I-I can't help you, I'm sorry," she said, backing away as the man came nearer. "There's nothing I can do-"
"But I need- I need-"
The man collapsed on the ground. Izzie turned away from him, feeling like a terrible person, and continued on her way to the hospital.
Meredith closed her eyes as she heard Cristina cough in the next room. She was still waiting outside the door, waiting for something to happen, for someone to tell her something. Alex had not said much. He was sitting on the floor, his head down. Whether he was asleep or not, Meredith could not tell. Her mind was to preoccupied to find out.
"How is she?" George asked as he passed.
Meredith shook her head. George looked into the room, and felt sadness that for a moment took over his worry.
"Are you okay?" George asked. "Do you want me to-?"
"No," Meredith said. "No."
"Have you seen Izzie?" he asked her, remembering what he was doing. "I've looked everywhere for her."
"I don't know-"
Cristina suddenly called Meredith's name from inside the room. George fell silent as he followed her into the room, Alex, who was not asleep, close behind him.
Cristina was standing next to the bed, looking completely desperate and afraid. It was a look that did not fit her. She was almost hysterical as she shook Burke on the bed, but he did not respond.
"Mer, you have to do something," Cristina said, she herself gasping for air. "You have to- I have to- I can't-"
She too collapsed onto the floor. Meredith kneeled down beside her, telling no one in particular to go find Bailey, as Alex and George just stared hopelessly, because they knew there was nothing they could do.
