AGAIN

Chapter 6

Okay, so after the complete massacre that was last night's episode, I had to go back to my happy place, which is this fic. Seriously depressing and I really don't think Shonda's going to be able to fix it this time. I do think that Alex and Izzie are end game, even if it is a single scene in the final episode (or Chambers' last show whichever comes first) of someone running through an airport, almost missing the plane, and showing up to a lake somewhere with Don Henely playing in the background ... a'la Doug and Carol from ER. But since I don't in anyway trust Shonda anymore, I'm continuing this fic in order to bring some happiness to the now gloomy world of the Alex and Izzie fandom.

So, with that rant over, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And I hope it brings a smile to your face. We could all use a little more of that, don't you think? Please Review if you like this story. I need all the encouragement I can get now.


He got to work early the next day, set on tracking down Cristina and giving her a piece of his mind. He found her in the residents' lounge, reading a medical journal at one of the tables. Walking over, he tossed his bag in the general direction of his locker. He slammed her reading material shut as he sat down in the chair next to hers.

She looked up at him, annoyance marring her usually unreadable face. "Karev! I was reading that."

"What the hell was that last night, Yang?"

"Just calling it like I saw it," she said as she leaned back in her chair nonchalantly.

"No, that's not what it was. You're pissed about something and you took it out on Izzie." He voice was a whisper, but the anger and tension was apparent. "I'm not leaving here until you tell me what your problem is."

"Look, Alex, I have my reasons for being upset at Izzie, but it's none of your business. You're not her boyfriend or her husband. Your the ex-husband, soon-to-be baby daddy. How I deal with Izzie being back is my business, so just leave it alone."

"No. Regardless of what happened, you were her friend years ago. I've moved past the hell she put me through. Why can't you? She wants to be your friend again and you're ignoring her. You're treating her like crap and I don't like it. So just get over yourself." He watched her expectantly for a response, but she didn't say a word. She simply picked her journal up and began reading again. He sighed, and stood up from his chair. "Fine. Be like that. But could you at the very least be civil to her here in the hospital? No more outbursts."

"Sure, whatever."

He shook his head at her sour expression and moved to get ready to begin his day.

"Hi!"

"Hey, Iz. What are you doing here?" Meredith motioned to the chair next to her and Izzie sat obediently.

"I just had my scan, so I figured I'd catch up with you for lunch while I waited for the results."

"Even after the dinner disaster last night?"

"I'm not going to let Cristina bother me. Avoiding her won't help, so I'll just kill her with kindness." A huge determined grin splashed across her face, and Meredith couldn't help but laugh.

"We'll you know Cristina. That may just actually kill her." Both women laughed knowingly. "I really have no idea what her problem was. I did however see Alex track her down in the lounge. He still looked pissed. Maybe he had more luck than I did. All I got was 'I don't want to talk about it.' You'd think that someone would tell their person what what bothering them."

Izzie laughed as Meredith popped a carrot in her mouth. Her eyes widened a bit as Cristina walked into the room from the door behind Meredith. "Oh, twelve o'clock," she whispered.

"I hate dealing with patient's parents." Cristina sat her tray at the chair farthest away from Izzie. "It's worse than dealing with their spouses. I mean the man is 32 years old. He sure as hell doesn't need mommy asking his doctor's questions for him."

"Hi Cristina." Izzie said with a confident smile.

She could see that Cristina desperately wanted to make a smart ass remark, but was surprised when she restrained herself. "Izzie."

An awkward silence ensued as Meredith looked from one woman to the other. "Okay can one of you say something. This thing right here, the silence thing, is freaking me out just a little bit," she said finally after five minutes.

Izzie smiled again. "Cristina, what's going on with your patient?" She knew talking shop was the only way to get to the doctor, so she went with it.

"Cardio myopathy." Cristina said with a roll of her eyes. "One of the worst cases I've seen. We would have operated yesterday, but mommy dearest wanted a second and third opinion. The woman has more questions than brain cells."

"Maybe she's just concerned about her son." Izzie suggested as she swiped a cucumber slice from Meredith's plate.

"See?" Meredith said with a smile. "That wasn't so hard. It's just like old times, right. Cristina acting like a robot, Izzie the ever-present optimist. Just like when we were interns." She was about to continue when her pager went off. "Damn it. It's day care. Last time they paged me, Georgia had bit some kid, because she said he deserved it. This should be fun. You two, try not to kill each other."

Once she had disappeared, the other two were left to stare at each other.

Sighing, Izzie looked down at her hands and began to speak. "Look, Cristina. I know that you hate me and I know you've got a lot going on right now. But I want to know what I can do to make you stop hating me. What I did was terrible. I know this. But Alex has forgiven me. So just tell me what to do to make you forgive me and I'll do it. If you won't do it for me, do it for him. He needs your support. You're friends, Cristina."

An incredulous laugh rang from Cristina's lips. "Izzie, you have no idea what's going on with me, and you have no idea what Alex really needs. If you did you wouldn't be here." With that she stood, picked up her tray and exited the cafeteria.

Izzie leaned back in her seat, running her fingers through her hair. "Well that could have gone better," she mumbled to herself. Looking at her watch she decided that her films might be ready, so she got up and headed over to oncology.

"Meredith!" Izzie bounded up to her friend, giant smile plastered on her face. "Got my scans back. All clear."

"Yeah, that's great, Iz." Meredith was clearly distracted, and Izzie furrowed her eyebrows and placed a hand on Meredith's shoulder.

"Mer, what's wrong?"

"Georgia's sick. She's got a fever and chicken pox have been going around the day care. They think she probably has it too." The smaller woman ran her fingers through her hair, clearly trying not to look panicked. "Okay. I'm going to have to take her home. I'll just hand off Mr. Allen's surgery to someone else. It's not like it's some once-in-a-lifetime surgery, except it totally is," she mumbled, talking more to herself than to Izzie. "Baby trumps surgery. Baby trumps surgery."

"Mer, I can take Georgia home and watch her the rest of the day. I'm done here, so I'm free."

Meredith's eyes widened at the suggestion. "You wouldn't mind?"

"Not at all. Why don't you go get her and then I'll take your car home, since it has the car seat in it. You can ride home with Derek. We'll stop by the store on the way home and get some sick-kid food and then we'll just hang out until you get home. It'll be fine. I need the practice anyway."

"Please, your not even a mom yet and your already a better one than I am." Meredith rolled her eyes, nodding. "Okay. I really appreciate this, Iz. I'll owe you one."

"I'll hold you to that," Izzie said with a giggle.

"Miss Izzie?" Georgia looked up at her as she crawled into her bed.

Pulling the blankets up over the little girl, and tucking them tight around her, she smiled. "Yeah?"

"How do you know my mommy?"

"We were doctors together a long time ago." Izzie fluffed the pillow behind the girl's head, knowing that she needed to be comfortable for as long as possible. The spots that were beginning to appear on her arms and chest would start itching soon enough and the poor kid was in for a long week.

"But you're not a doctor anymore are you? Daddy says you're going to be his 'sistant. Why aren't you a doctor wike everyone ewse?" Georgia's big blue eyes stared up at her, making it impossible to dodge the question.

"Well, sweetie, I was sick for a while and then I made some bad decisions in my life. So I had to stop being a doctor."

"What kind of sick?"

"I had cancer. But I beat it. It took me a long time to get better, and I took lots of medicine and eventually got well."

"I was sick when I was a baby. At weast that's what mommy says. My tummy was messed up, but Unca Awex fixed me. Now I's fine. Cept for the pox."

Izzie giggled at the child. "Chicken pox. Now, you need to rest, okay? I'll be downstairs, but the monitor is on, and I'll take the other half with me. Just call for me if you need me, okay?"

Georgia nodded and closed her eyes, as Izzie brushed the hair from her face. As she looked down at the child, she couldn't help but wonder what it would be like when her baby got the chicken pox. Would she be able to handle it? Could she stay this calm if her kid ever broke an arm or sprained an ankle. What if her cancer came back. What if she had to say goodbye? Tears formed in her eyes at the thought, so she quietly slipped out of the room before she let out a whimper.

Through her moment of doubt, she felt her phone vibrate in the pocket of her sweater. She pulled it out, figuring that it was Mer calling into check on Georgia. Instead, the display read "Alex".

"Hello?"

"Hey, I heard you had to take Georgia home from day care. Everything okay?"

"Yep, nothing that some rest and an oatmeal bath won't fix."

"Yeah, I thought that was going around. She's a little trooper, though, I can tell you that. She'll be up and around in no time. Kids are resiliant like that. Georgia especially."

"I couldn't help but think what it will be like when its our baby. Do you think ... I mean ... we'll be able to handle it, right?"

"Iz, you're freaking out a little bit. Yeah, our kid'll get the chicken pox. Stuff happens, but we'll do everything we can to keep the kid safe and healthy."

"I just ... it hit me that my cancer could come back, Alex. What if I'm the one that gets sick. Then what?" She hated the tears that began to fall as she settled down on the plush sofa in the living room.

Alex sighed, and she could hear his voice wavering slightly. "Then you fight again. You fight for you yourself and you fight for our kid. You did it before, you can do it again." He hesitated for a moment. "Where is this coming from Iz? The scans came back clean, didn't they?"

"Yeah. Everything was fine. I'm sorry I didn't mean to get you worried. I was just watching her rest and feeling so bad, it reminded me of everything that I went through when I was sick. Which got me thinking about what could happen ... Alex, you would take care of our baby if anything happened to me, right?"

"Iz, I wasn't joking when I told you that we would do this together. I meant that. Nothing's going to happen to you. But if it did, you know I wouldn't just abandon our kid. I'll be an attending before the kid gets here and my schedule will get better. But you're fine so it's a moot point. You're not changing you mind are you?" She smiled a little bit at the fear she heard in his voice. It did a lot to reassure her that he really did want this.

"No. No I'm definitely not. I don't know where any of this is coming from. I'm just hormonal I guess. The stupid shots, you know. "

"Here's what you do. Go to the kitchen. Raid Mer's refrigerator, and bake something. Anything. It doesn't matter what. Just be sure you save some for me!"

She giggled. "Enough with the sweets already. You ate three cupcakes last night. Seriously how do you not weigh 500 pounds?"

"Haven't had to worry about it with you not here. Now I'm not so sure," he said, both of them relieved to be talking about something other than chicken pox or cancer. "I may have to spend extra time at the gym from now on. So I've got to go, but I just wanted to check in."

"Okay ... Oh! Alex, I forgot. I scheduled a consultation with Dr. Campbell next week, you know, if you want to come. It's just going to be drawing blood and preliminary crap but ..."

"I'll be there, Iz. Got to go, but I'll call you later."

"Bye." She closed the phone, smiling again.