Chapter 10

They looked on as Derek and Mark studied her films carefully. Silent. Throughout their intern year, they'd grown so close that silence was enough. Miranda, Richard, Addison, Christina, Izzie, Alex and George huddled close together and stared through the thin glass pane that separated them from the two men in the shadowy room in front of them. Callie had volunteered to sit with her, promising that she would page them if there was any change. George quietly slipped his hand into Izzie's and squeezed hard. Her head whipped around until her eyes met his. He shrugged his head in the direction of the storage closet down the hall and he pulled her toward him. They slipped down the hall unnoticed, hand in hand.

George gently closed the door behind him and motioned for her to sit down on the bed. She looked up at him expectantly and tucked her long blonde locks behind her ears. He'd always loved her to wear her hair down, and she didn't do it nearly enough. "There are so many things I need to say to you, Iz," he whispered as he sat down beside her and took her hand again. "I need you to listen."

"I'm listening, George." She smiled and turned her body towards him, bending one knee and placing her other hand on her sneaker in front of her.

"I mean, really listen." He pleaded. She nodded, and he looked down for several seconds attempting to gain his composure. When he looked up, he immediately began speaking. "I love you, Isobel Stevens. I love you in a way that nobody else will ever love you." Her smile widened and she leaned closer. He tensed up and pushed her hand away from him, but didn't let go. "But one day, someone will come along, and they will love you deeper, and harder, and more passionately than I could ever imagine loving you. You are the best friend I have ever had, and the most beautiful person I have ever met, both inside and out." Her smile faded only slightly and she listened more intently. "But I'm not in love with you. Not the way you think you're in love with me." Her face dropped and she pulled her hand away from his. "You and I both know that if we hadn't gotten insanely drunk and unruly, we would have never slept together. Oh, you would have still been jealous of Callie and thought you were much better for me than she is, and all of that. But, you wouldn't have woken up with me next to you, thinking that maybe it felt right. That maybe I could be your happily ever after. "

Tears coursed down her cheeks and she sobbed quietly as she looked down at her hands. He placed his index finger under her chin and tilted her face back up towards his. "But you don't love me the way that you so badly want to." He paused. "The way you loved Denny." She quickly jerked away and turned her back to him. He helplessly watched the quick rise and fall of her shoulders as she wept openly and loudly for several minutes. Finally, he inched closer to her and wrapped his arms around her shoulders from behind. He squeezed and rested his shin on her shaky shoulder. "Shh. It's okay," he whispered softly into her ear.

"I was sitting right here," she said quietly, her voice weak and unsteady, "When I realized that I loved him."

"Izzy, I'm sorry," he breathed.

She slowly turned around to face him. "No, I'm sorry. I'm sorry that I let it happen."

"Don't be," he said simply. They stared at each other, holding each other's hands for a couple of minutes before he began to speak again. "There's something else."

"What is it, George?"

"I failed my intern exam."

Another tear cascaded down her cheek. "I'm so sorry. It was my fault."

"No, Iz. It wasn't. That's the same thing Callie said, and I told her the same thing. It wasn't anybody's fault. These things happen. Did you know that I barely made the program? I was waitlisted, and somebody dropped out. I found out the day before we started. I'm a bad test-taker, so my scores weren't quite what the rest of yours were. I took the MCAT three times and USMLE step 1 twice."

"I never would have guessed."

"It's true. And, the fact that a lot was going on at the time, and that I caught Meredith with a blank answer sheet, well, it was bound to happen." He shrugged. I was shocked, but I wasn't all that surprised, it that makes any sense."

"It doesn't, but okay. I'm still so sorry…. What happens now?"

"I have two choices: drop out all together or do my intern year all over again. I cleaned out my locker last night."

"Oh, George. No. As your best friend, I refuse to let you just give up."

He smiled. "And Callie helped me put everything back in it an hour ago."

They all met in Meredith's room early the next morning. Meredith seemed a little better, or at least conscious and talking, which in their eyes was a gigantic step in the right direction. After more coaxing for her to tell them what had happened to her, they'd finally given up after she'd eventually replied calmly, "It was a mugging. Simple as that. Now, can we all go on with our lives?" Christina sat on the bed beside her, George and Izzie sat on the windowsill, and Alex leaned against the wall opposite Christina's side of the bed. George calmly told Alex, Christina, and Meredith what he'd told Izzie the night before, and though they were initially shocked and confused, they put on their best "supportive friend" faces and agreed that he was doing the right thing.

Meredith slowly attempted to sit up, grimacing only slightly as Christina held her upper arms and helped her get upright. "Look at you guys, all ready for your first day of work as second-year residents. And here I am looking all pitiful in a hospital bed. How many of you are going to come examine me during the day just as an excuse to brag about all the new privileges you have?" They all glanced at each other nervously, and she made the realization. "Um, sorry George. I didn't mean to…"

"It's fine Meredith, really. I should go, though. Interns start earlier than everyone else, remember?" George pushed himself up from his seated position on the windowsill and sighed. "See ya around…maybe." He crossed the room and walked out the door. "Dr. Shepherd." He nodded in Derek's direction. He'd been camped out beside her door with a pillow all night long, slipping into her room occasionally to check her vitals and EEG patterns.

"George." He nodded back in the intern's direction. By now, word about Dr. O'Malley had spread to the attending, and they'd all reacted in the same manner….shock. "How is she this morning?"

"Looking a little better, doc." George continued down the hallway in the direction of the stairs as the door shut behind him. Derek crept to the long, rectangular window on the side of the door and stared into her room. Her bruises were really starting to show now. A blotchy, bright purple hue covered one side of her face, and her right eye was nearly swollen shut, yet he could still see her smile. She was laughing, smiling, and he had nothing to do with it. But, her smile was beautiful. A little crooked, but still beautiful.

Thanks for still reading everyone! Hope you're liking it, and I hope to update and get the story really moving very soon. But, if you're bored, check out the video I made with the song this story's named after (link at bottom). It doesn't really go with the story…yet, but maybe a little foreshadowing…who knows?