Thanks for all of your responses to the last chapter. I appreciate every one of them!
Here you go, FriendsFan! A little QT with your favorite characters! Sorry it has taken so long!! More to come after this chapter!
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
After leaving the police station, Mark and Izzie drove around for awhile before going back to Meredith's house. There was no need for words, so they said nothing. Mark simply drove, allowing time for Izzie to assemble her thoughts before going home. When they finally arrived at the house, Mark parked on the street curb because there was no room in the driveway.
"Wow, it looks like a party," he joked.
"Yeah," she agreed quietly, wondering what so many people were doing there. Changing the subject, she turned to face him. "Listen, Mark, I really appreciate everything you did for me today. I don't know if I could have survived the police station if you hadn't been there with me."
"I was happy to do it," Mark said genuinely. Although he had hated to see Izzie in pain, he had sincerely enjoyed spending time with her. She wasn't her usual self, but he had gotten glimpses of her remarkable personality earlier in the day during their lunch, and he was reminded of the amazing woman that he had steadily been developing feelings for since moving to Seattle.
"Well, thank you anyway," Izzie said gratefully, smiling at him. Mark returned her smile, and together they climbed out of the car and walked toward the front door of the house.
When they walked in, they found "the party" sitting around the living room. Addison was sitting between Alex and Bailey on the couch, Meredith was sitting on the chair with Derek, who was perched on the arm of the chair, and Callie, George and Cristina were sitting of the loveseat. They all stopped talking and looked up when Mark and Izzie came through the door.
"Hey," Meredith said with a smile. "You're finally back. I was surprised when you guys weren't here when we got home," she told them. "I hope you haven't eaten yet. Callie is making us dinner."
"It's not a big deal," Callie said modestly. "George and I just thought we would bring some groceries over and, well, since everyone was here, I thought I would make some food. It should actually be ready any minute."
"Sounds great," Mark said enthusiastically.
"So where were you?" Alex questioned pryingly, still suspicious of Mark's intentions with Izzie.
"Um…well…we had to go down to the police station," Izzie explained, and everyone immediately grew serious. They all had curious concerned looks on their faces, so she continued. "Officer Davis called me this afternoon and asked me to go down there because they had arrested a man who matched the description of my….my attacker."
"Oh my God," Addison said, conveying the surprise of everyone in the room.
"Well, was it him?" George questioned anxiously.
Izzie closed her eyes, briefly thinking about her time at the police station. "That's him," she told Officer Davis confidently, immediately recognizing her rapist. "Number four is the man who raped me. I am absolutely sure of it." She stared at him, transfixed by his face. Suddenly he looked toward her, as if he could see through the one way mirror. She felt like he was looking right at her, and she could hear his words from that night echoing in her mind: "Try anything like that again, and I'll cut your heart out," he had promised. The memory had made her shiver.
Standing in the living room, she shivered again as she thought about it. She opened her eyes when she heard George repeat his question. Looking at him, she said quietly, "Yeah, it was him."
Everyone in the room began talking at once, expressing their excitement that this was finally over. Izzie remained quiet, watching until their excitement died down. It was Meredith that eventually addressed her, saying, "Izzie, you don't seem excited about this. Aren't you happy?"
Izzie immediately plastered a small smile on her face. "No, no I am," she quickly replied. "I'm happy." Meredith gave her a skeptical look, clearly not accepting Izzie's false assurances. Izzie sighed, continuing her explanation, "I really am happy that they caught him. Seriously, I am. Eventually, though, there might be a trial. Officer Davis told me that I'd have to testify if there was and I just…I guess I can't feel like this is over until I know that he's in prison for good, you know?"
They all nodded, silently reprimanding themselves for their foolishness in thinking that this could all be resolved so quickly. Obviously it would be a long time before Izzie could completely get over what happened to her.
They were all startled from their thoughts when a timer went off in the kitchen. "Dinner's ready if anyone is hungry," Callie said, standing.
Everyone nodded, hungered by the incredible aroma of lasagna and garlic bread coming from the kitchen. Callie and George went in there to retrieve the dinner from the oven and Meredith and Derek went into the dining room to set the table.
Within minutes, everyone was seated in the dining room, helping themselves to the lasagna, garlic bread, and salad. "Callie, this is delicious," Bailey told her between bites.
"Seriously," Cristina replied. Patting George's stomach, she said, "I think Bambi is going to put on a few pounds being married to you, Martha Stewart."
Callie smiled proudly, pleased that everyone was enjoying their meal. "Well I am glad you all like it," she said. Then, making small talk she asked, "So, who is speaking at that conference tomorrow?"
Everyone looked sharply at her, clearly scolding her for her loose tongue. Izzie noticed their looks and asked, "What conference?" No one answered her immediately, so she repeated more forcefully, "What conference?"
It was Bailey who finally looked at her, replying gently, "The Chief thought that it would be best to hold a conference informing people about your attack. He's not going to actually give your name at the conference, but for the most part, people know that it's you who was assaulted. Word has gotten around the hospital, and he decided that it would be better to give people some general facts instead of letting them spread false rumors." She paused, letting the information sink in with Izzie before finishing. "There will also be a rape counselor there to answer any questions and to provide the employees with some common safety tips."
Izzie stared at her plate, pushing her mostly uneaten food around with her fork. Although she had heard Dr. Bailey's explanation, she made no response, instead appearing almost detached from what was said.
"Izzie?" Alex called, testing to see if she was still listening.
"I heard her," Izzie verified roughly.
No one said anything for several moments. Finally, Callie tried to break the silence, saying, "Well I think that it'll be very helpful. I know I have never been properly informed about safety, and I think that it…"
"Can we just stop talking about this?" Izzie shouted, slamming her fork down. "I'm tired of talking about this all the time! Can we just, for one minute, talk about something else?"
Everyone looked down at their plates uncomfortably, unsure of what to say.
It was Cristina who finally broke the silence, changing the subject by announcing, "Burke and I set a date for the wedding."
Everyone remained quiet, not wanting to be the first one to speak. It was Izzie who reacted, smiling at the news and grateful for the change in conversation topic. She said, "That is great, Cristina. When's it going to be?"
The rest of the table relaxed at the change in Izzie's mood, surprised at the rapid variation of her emotions. The remainder of the dinner went more smoothly, and everyone was obviously careful to avoid the topic of Izzie's assault.
Soon afterward, Cristina went home, saying that she needed to get home to Burke. Callie and George left, as well, after the others assured them that they had done plenty, and that there was no need for them to stay for the clean up.
"Izzie, would it be okay if Miranda and I talk with you in the living room for a while?" Addison asked her.
Izzie nodded, and the three women stood up and walked into the other room.
Derek, Meredith, Alex and Mark simply stared at one another for a moment. "I wonder what that's about," Mark said.
"I don't know," Meredith answered, equally as curious.
The four of them cleared the tabled, taking the dishes into the kitchen. While they were cleaning up, Alex asked Mark, "So how did Izzie seem today?"
"It was up and down," Mark told her. "She'd be angry one minute, and then happy the next, and then suddenly she would be upset. And then sometimes it was like she just shut down completely. Different things would trigger her, changing her mood without warning. I kind of get the impression that she doesn't even know how she is feeling half the time. Oh, and she had a panic attack when we were at the police station," he said, telling them about the incident.
Meredith nodded after hearing Mark's description of their day. "I was reading these pamphlets that the rape crises counselor gave me at the hospital. They talked about Rape Trauma Syndrome, which most victims have after an attack. It sounds exactly like that. They have rapid changes in their emotions, panic attacks, and flashbacks." She walked over to her tote bag, taking out the pamphlets and reading it out loud, "Victims may openly display their emotions. They might be agitated and restless, talk a lot, cry, swear, shout, and laugh. Contrastingly, they may contain their emotions so that most of the survivor's energy is directed toward maintaining composure. If this is the case, they may sit calmly, respond to questions in a detached, logical way, and downplay their fear, sadness, anger, and anxiety. No matter how they deal with their emotions, however, most survivors feel angry, afraid, humiliated, dirty, sad, confused, vengeful, and degraded."
They all remained silent for a few moments, hating that their friend was going through this. It seemed surreal to them that the hypothetical survivor in that pamphlet now described Izzie.
"I think that someone needs to recommend therapy to her," Derek said quietly.
Meredith nodded, adding, "Or maybe even a support group."
They finished cleaning up the kitchen in silence, each lost in their own thoughts about how they would recommend therapy to their fragile friend.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
"So, what do you want to talk to me about?" Izzie asked frankly as the three women sat in the living room.
"Well, we wanted to see how you were doing," Addison said gently.
Izzie looked at them, appreciative of the support of her mentors. She had always felt close to Dr. Bailey, especially since coming back to work after her post-Denny hiatus.
With Addison, it was different. She hadn't felt particularly close with her before now, particularly since the quintuplet incident, but that had changed since her attack. She would be eternally grateful that Addison was there to help her through that day, and Izzie felt like there was a newfound connection between them.
Despite this, she felt emotionally drained and was wary of another expressive conversation. "I'm fine," she said simply.
Bailey sighed, expecting this response. After all, "I'm fine" had been the Izzie Stevens motto after Denny Duquette had died.
"Well, I doubt very much that you are fine," Bailey said, calling her out on her fib. "But we understand if you are reluctant to talk with us about it."
Izzie nodded appreciatively.
Then Addison said kindly, "I know that you may need more time to recover, but have you thought about when you'll be coming back to work?"
Izzie looked at them, confusion on her face. "Come back to work?" she said. "I can't….I don't think I can do that. I don't think that I can work at Seattle Grace ever again."
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX
I know I left you will a cliffhanger last time, as well, but hopefully this one isn't quite as bad! Hope you enjoyed it! Lilly