Chapter 10

The next week passed in a relatively normal pattern, at least for Seattle Grace. Mark performed his surgeries, Izzie ran heard on her interns and got in on a few interesting procedures. The only thing that wasn't normal for Izzie was that George was avoiding her. Whenever she came into the cafeteria, George found a way to make a quick exit, especially if Mark was with her. If she was taking the elevator, he took the stairs. By the end of the week, Izzie was more than a little upset and annoyed, although she didn't say anything. However, the new and improved Mark noticed the decrease in Izzie's smiles that corroborated with the increase in George's avoidance and awkwardness.

"Dr. Bailey, just the woman I was looking for," Mark drawled, finding the Chief resident as he was preparing to leave. "Could you page Dr. O'Malley for me?"

"Sure," Dr. Bailey said looking suspicious. She glanced down the hallway and saw George walking towards her with Meredith's other interns.

"O'Malley!" she called. "Dr. Sloan needs you."

Although he tried to fight it, there was an obvious look of dread and annoyance on George's face. Mark inwardly smiled, but kept a stern, unyielding expression on his face. He wanted O'Malley to be afraid. He was torturing Izzie with this wishy-washy shit and he deserved a healthy amount of fear.

"O'Malley, follow me," Mark barked. George looked a bit startled but hurried to keep up with Mark's long strides.

"Um…What do you need help with?" George asked, following Mark up the stairs.

"Take notes! I want a bone-dry cappuccino, a blueberry scone, and for you to talk to Izzie, so she can stop fretting about you," Mark growled. "She has done nothing wrong and she doesn't need to be worrying about you. Tell me, Dr. O'Malley, what can high levels of worry and stress lead to in pregnant women?"

"Uh, well, in some cases it can lead to pre-eclampsia. In most cases, an excessive amount of stress, especially in women in the first or third trimesters can lead to complications in the pregnancy, such as miscarriage or pre-term labor," George answered mechanically.

"Very good, O'Malley," Mark mocked. "At the rate she's going, Izzie will be fifty miles passed neurotic by the time this baby's born. All because you are being a shitty, self-absorbed friend. Izzie Stevens cares about you; she considers you her best friend. That should mean the world to you, but you're sitting there sulking."

"With all do respect, I really don't see how this is any of your business," George muttered defensively.

"Izzie is my business now," Mark snapped. "She is carrying my baby, which makes anything involving her for the next five months my business. Now, get me my damn coffee and scone and then apologize to Izzie!"

George scuttled off angrily, muttering under his breath the whole way.

MIMIMIMI

"Izzie!" an angry voice called out. Izzie was sitting in the basement charting trying to clear her head before heading home. She looked up to see George charging down the hall towards her.

"George?" she said, frowning in confusion.

"Your boyfriend said I had to come talk to you, so here I am!" George declared. "He told me to apologize for being a 'shitty, self-absorbed friend,' but you know what, you still hold the award for that. You weren't supportive of my marriage to Callie, but you expect me to be supportive of you having a child with McSteamy when you're not even with him! Damn it, Izzie!"

Izzie stared at him, her big eyes wide with shock and pain.

"I know stress isn't good for you or the baby, but at this moment, I don't care. You're just gonna have to hear this. I hate that you're having his baby. I gave up my marriage to Callie because I wanted to be with you and hopefully start a family with you. I held your hand as you gave your bone marrow to Hannah. I helped you when you cut Denny's LVAD. I listened while you sobbed your heart out for another man. I did everything I possible could to be there for you. I thought that if we could survive that, we could survive anything! We could have had the kind of marriage Callie and I never had. And here we are, over five months later, and you're pregnant and I'm alone living in a crap-partment being the Chief's intern. Do you really think I could go back to the way things were?" George exploded.

"Oh, George," Izzie said, her voice full of tears. "You know we wouldn't have worked out as a couple. Not in the long run. We were both on the rebound. I didn't plan to get pregnant, and I certainly never meant to hurt you. You're one of my best friends and I will always love you as a friend, but having a child is much more permanent than any marriage, so if you can't accept this baby, then we're done."

"That's rich coming from you," George sniped. "Permanence was never your strong suit was it?"

With that, he stalked off. Izzie sat there fighting back the waves of tears that were threatening to explode. She got up, gathered her things, and moved by rote out of the hospital into the rainy Seattle night.

MIMIMIMI

Mark had just pulled on a pair of blue cotton pajama pants when he heard a frantic knock at the door. Knowing he hadn't ordered room service, he moved quickly to answer the door. He opened it to find a wet, distraught looking Izzie standing in the hallway.

"Izzie!" he exclaimed, drawing her into the room, securing an arm around her shoulders. "What's wrong, baby?"

Izzie just shook her head, sending a small spray of water from her loose hair.

"Ok, let's just get you into some dry clothes, then you can tell me what's got you so upset." Mark led Izzie into the bedroom nook of the hotel room and pulled out one of his t-shirts and a pair of drawstring basketball shorts. He held them out, but Izzie made no move to take them. She just stood there, all of her energy going into fighting back tears. Seeing that she wasn't going to move into action, Mark deftly removed her shirt and slid on his dry shirt. It enveloped her, but as it slid down, he couldn't help noticing the slight curve to her normally flat belly and the extra weight that was being added to her already impressive breasts. After the shirt had fallen to rest a little ways above her knees, he helped her slide out of the wet jeans and step into the silver shorts. He made her sit down on the bed and got a towel to sop the water out of her hair. Once she had stopped shivering from cold, Mark picked her up and sat down on the bed with her in his lap.

"Ok, Iz, what happened?" Mark demanded. "Why are you so upset?"

"George," she whispered. "He…he…he just kind of exploded at me."

Mark groaned as guilt swamped him. "Oh, Izzie, I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault; you were just trying to make everything better," Izzie said softly.

"What did he say to you?" Mark asked, his voice full of concern.

"Um, well," Izzie said, her voice wavering. "I'm not exactly sure of everything he said, but he went on and on about me not being supportive of him and Callie and it being my fault that they got divorced. Then he started talking about everything that had happened with Denny and Hannah. Then I said that a baby was much more permanent than a marriage and that if he couldn't accept the baby, then we were done. Then, he said that permanence was never my strong suit and he stormed off. I can't believe he said that! Seriously?!"

As she finished her quickly spewed explanation, tears began streaming down her cheeks. Before she could stifle them, a few wet sobs escaped her. The sight of her so upset caused Mark an almost physical pain in his chest. Instead of speaking, he tightened his arms around her and gently rocked her for a few moments until her sobs had quieted.

"Izzie, it'll be ok," Mark soothed. "He's just angry and hurt. I know he's your best friend, but you can't let yourself get this worked up. It's not good for you or the baby. You don't need any extra stress. O'Malley is an asshole. If he won't accept that is best friend is having a baby, then he needs to go back to playing with his Tonka trunks and Playschool Drs. Kit."

Izzie let out a small giggle and snuggled closer to Mark. "Hey," Izzie complained playfully, still sniffling. "Why am I suddenly the one with all of the neurotic freaking out things? Isn't that your job in this dynamic duo?"

"It's a reciprocal thing," Mark insisted. He reached up and wiped away Izzie's tears with his thumb. "Now, why don't you stay here tonight and get some sleep? You're in no shape to drive home."

Wordlessly, Izzie crawled under the covers. Mark smiled slightly as he turned off the lights and joined her. His body curled around hers, his hand resting on the slight curve where their baby grew.

A/N: PLEASE REVIEW!!