GREY'S ANATOMY
--A BLAST FROM THE PAST--
Chapter XII
"Promise For More"
A/N: Hey there and thanks for reading all the way to this chapter—and thanks for all of your reviews! They're very helpful and they keep me going. I hope you'll enjoy chapter 12. Don't forget to review afterwards. Enjoy!
SCENE
1:
Alex is walking back and forth, his right hand rubbing his
forehead constantly, and he's obviously a nervous wreck. He's
just outside Izzie's room. Izzie is sleeping on her hospital bed
and Alex keeps looking at her from time to time, just to check up on
her.
Meredith (voice-over, VO): As doctors, sometimes we promise our patients that they're gonna be okay.
(Richard comes towards Bailey who is standing by the nurses' station looking after Alex. Bailey looks extremely exhausted and dead-pan, her eyes wearing out)
Richard: So?
Bailey (shakes her head): No. I'm sorry, sir.
Meredith (VO): We tell them they're in good hands and everything's gonna be just fine because we want to spare them the pain of hearing the truth.
(Richard has a saddened look on his face. He looks at Alex who keeps walking back and forth. Alex stops and looks at Izzie then continues walking again)
Richard: Karev.
Alex: She will wake up. She will wake up.
SCENE
2:
Cristina is trying to save Steve Dickinson in trauma room 1.
The guy is coding and he's crashing really badly. Cristina is in a
mess, trying so bad to save him along with some nurses and Callie.
Meredith (VO): The pain of losing their lives.
Cristina: Damn-it, there's a partial tear in his aorta.
Callie: I just shock him for 200.
Cristina: We need to get him to an OR.
Callie: He won't make it. We need another unit of blood. Paddles. Charge for 300.
Nurse: Charged.
Callie: Clear! (She shocks him, no change) Ok, change for 350.
Nurse: Charged.
Callie: Clear! (She shocks him again, still no change) Damn it.
Cristina: I've still got a lot of bleeding. I'll place a partial occluding clamp.
Callie: 4-0 prolene.
Cristina: He's crashing.
Nurse: BP's 70 over 50, he's having a heart-attack.
Callie: Page someone, anyone!
Meredith (VO): We promise them that they have a long life ahead of them…
(Judy watches from the door, crying really bad and looking completely messed up)
Judy: Oh my god, Steve! You have to get better! STEVE! You can't die on me, Steve! No, you can't! I just went to get you ice-chips. You can't leave me! (gets closer to him, almost chocking him) Not again you bastard!
Cristina: Someone get her outta here.
Meredith (VO): …because if we don't, we know they might die.
Judy: (covering her mouth, crying) My god, Steve, wake up. Please. For me.
Callie: Judy, you're gonna have to wait for us outside.
Judy (nods): Save him, ok? Save him. Please.
Cristina: We'll do the best we can.
SCENE
3:
Clinic. George is filling out some paperwork at the counter as
Meredith walks towards him.
Meredith (VO): So we open them up, we do our thing, and then we close. Just like our promise said.
George: Meredith! How's Izzie? She wake up yet?
Meredith: You're crazy.
George: What?
Meredith: If you do this, if you walk out on your best friend like that—
George: I'm not walking out on her.
Meredith: Is that why now you've suddenly decided to do this? George, if you do this… if you go, you are crazy and unforgivable and inexcusable.
George: Meredith.
Meredith: No! Don't. Don't talk because Izzie had surgery today and you're walking out on her. Izzie has cancer, and you're running away. So don't. (starts to leave then stops) And no, she didn't wake up yet. (exits.)
Meredith (VO): But what happens if we can't keep that promise? What if none of us can? What if our promises…are only the stairway to more pain?
(George just stands there, thinking)
(SCREEN FADES TO WHITE)
SCENE
4:
Outside Izzie's room. Izzie is fully conscious in there and
Alex is feeding her. They seem to be laughing and enjoying their
time. Richard is at the nurses' station observing them through the
window when Derek approaches.
Richard: Look at them. Happy. (Derek nods) Stevens doesn't deserve this.
Derek: That's why I'm operating today. That's why I'm cutting into her brain. Because she doesn't deserve what's happening to her.
Richard: What are the chances, Shepard? I don't want you to talk to me like a surgeon. Talk to me like a friend, Derek. Tell me. What are her chances of survival?
Derek: Well, surgery isn't risky on her life, just on her memory. But it's what comes after the surgery, Richard. I'm afraid… I, some patients walk out of the OR with a brave face and a broad smile and they make it and they think it's over, that they've survived surgery and life is good again. But then again, sometimes patients go through post-traumatic stress that could be fatal.
Richard: Give me numbers. Two months?
Derek: She doesn't have two weeks.
(Richard looks down)
(Richard just nods and swallows his throat as if something just stung him bad. He turns around and Meredith is standing at the end of the hall, watching Izzie and Alex in tears)
Richard: Meredith.
Meredith: She can't die. She can't die in two weeks. She-she has to-she has to live.
Richard: Meredith.
Meredith: (suddenly gets closer) What can I do?
(Richard takes a deep breath and Derek comforts her)
Richard: Call everyone she loves. Let them be here. Let them… (He stops, he can't say it)
Derek (takes over): Let them say goodbye.
(Meredith tears up, but tries to avoid crying. Derek has his arms around her now. She nods frequently and repeatedly now)
Meredith: Ok. Ok. Ok. (She walks away now and covers her mouth)
Derek: Mer. (He follows her and gives her a passionate kiss. Then she exits)
(Derek turns around and looks at Izzie and Alex again. Alex is sitting on the bed with her and he has a spoon-full of food. He puts it in her mouth and drops some on her clothes. She laughs hard and cleans it off of her. He gets up and throws more food at her. She says stuff like "Alex! Stop!" and she's laughing really hard now but Alex doesn't stop.)
SCENE
5:
Trauma Room 1. Cristina is with Steve Dickinson when Callie
enters.
Callie: (sighs) How is he?
Cristina: He's stabilizing. Blood pressure went back to normal and he's doing okay.
Callie: Ok, good. Keep monitoring him for any inactivity.
Cristina: Wait, no, Callie, I can't. I have to…go.
Callie: Go? Yang, you're on this case. You're not going anywhere.
Cristina: No, I have to be with Izzie. (Callie has a confused look on her face) She's having brain surgery.
(Callie looks shocked)
Callie: Uhh, uh… g—go. Go.
(Cristina nods and starts to the door. When she reaches the door, Callie speaks again)
Callie: Uh…is it serious?
Cristina: Stage IIB Brain Cancer. It's spread and Derek has to operate on her cerebrum.
Callie: Oh my god. How's George?
SCENE
6:
SGH Hallway. George is walking with a patient's file in his
hands when he sees Meredith making a call at the nurses' station.
(He notices Meredith is in tears so he gives the files to a nurse, tells her to get the lab-results ASAP and he walks towards Meredith. Meredith, seeing George, hangs up and calms her tears)
George: Did they start yet?
Meredith: Yeah, Derek's taking her to the OR right now. (George nods) You have to be with her, George.
George: Of all the people, she tells Cristina. (chuckles) Izzie doesn't even like Cristina! I'm her best friend and I was the last one to know.
Meredith: Does that really matter now?
George: Yes, it does. It matters, Meredith. And I…I can't see her. I can't go be with her. But you'll call me, tell me what happened with the surgery if I leave early.
Meredith: Where are you going? You have lab-work to do all day, George.
George: I enlisted. In the army. (Meredith suddenly looks up at him.) I'm leaving tomorrow morning, to Iraq. I'm gonna be the trauma-doctor on call.
Meredith (shakes her head): George… what have you done?
George: I have to do this, Meredith. This is just something… (Pause) I have to do this, Meredith. You wouldn't understand.
(Meredith just keeps staring at him for a long time before she walks out and leaves him standing there)
SCENE
7:
SGH Hallway. Derek and Richard and wheeling in Izzie into the
OR while Alex, tearful, is walking with them.
Alex: I love you. I love you. I love you.
Izzie: (smiling) I love you too.
Alex: I love you.
Izzie: (smiles) Stop saying that.
Alex: (looking at her funny, tears reaching his chin) I…love you, Isobel Stevens.
Derek: Karev.
(Richard touches Derek's arm, mentioning to let them have another moment. They've all stopped walking now because they're just outside OR 1. Derek nods at Richard secretly)
(Izzie and Alex keeps staring at each other's eyes, Alex crying his lungs out and Izzie just smiling)
Alex: Promise me.
Izzie: What do I promise you?
Alex: Promise me you'll walk out of here alive. Promise me, Izzie.
Izzie: I promise you, Alex. I will walk out alive.
Alex: Promise me you will remember me. Promise me, Izzie.
Izzie: I promise. (smiling now) Cancer or cancer-free.
(Alex nods and cries some more then leans in for a passionate kiss. His hands reach to Izzie's hair while hers stroke Alex's neck in an adoring kiss. Then they break out of the kiss and Izzie is still overwhelmed by its affection)
Derek: Izzie, are you ready?
(Izzie, still smiling, turns her neck 90 degrees to face Derek who's wheeling her from behind)
Izzie: Can you ever be ready?
Meredith (voice-over, VO): Promises. We're surgeons. We make promises.
Richard: We have to go now, Karev.
(Alex and Izzie are holding hands while Richard and Derek start wheeling her into the operating room. Alex lets go of her hand because he can't go in)
Alex: I LOVE YOU! (he screams out)
Izzie: Derek?
Derek: You don't have to worry, Izzie. You're in great hands.
Izzie: Not that. Promise me…
Derek: (smiles) That I'll get you out of here alive and memory-full?
Izzie: No. Promise me that if any of those two don't happen…promise me that it won't break Alex.
(There is a long pause of silence. Derek turns and trades glances with Richard)
Meredith (VO): And it's often that we make promises also because we're human.
Derek: I promise me you, Izzie.
(Alex, Meredith, Cristina and Bailey are watching the surgery from the observation deck—gallery—above)
Izzie: (whispering to herself) It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok.
(She shuts her eyes then opens them again and looks at the crowd watching from the gallery. Alex smiles at her and puts a hand on the glass, as if trying to touch her, to feel her…maybe it will be the last time and neither of them knows it yet. Then Izzie's eyes turn to the right, to see Meredith who has obviously just finished crying her eyes out. Izzie glances at Cristina now. Cristina, who used to be the robot that never cried or felt any gooey and emotional feelings. Cristina was crying this time. And then Izzie's eyes kept going right, to notice Dr. Bailey with her tired, gaunt eyes watching the surgery and trying to keep a strong face)
Meredith (VO): We want to spare the pain. To make it better. To save a life.
(Izzie's eyes then turns left. Then right. No sign of George. And just when she was looking for him, someone else showed up at the corner. It was Denny)
(Izzie shut her eyes again)
Izzie: It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok. It's gonna be ok.
Meredith (VO): We make our promises, we try and keep them. Because without them…
(She opened them again. Yep, he was still there. She wished someone would say something now, something encouraging to get her mind off of that. She wished she'd go to sleep now and Derek would just open her brain up already. And then, as if he'd heard her thoughts…)
Derek (loud and clear): All right, it's a great day to save lives, people.
Meredith (VO): There would be no hope.
(Everyone in the gallery and down at the surgery smiles now, not the fake don't-feel-like-it smile, but the real broad can't-help-but-smile smile)
Derek: Scalpel.
SCENE
8:
Trauma Room 1. Callie is alone with Steve Dickinson and the
patient suddenly starts coding and crashing really bad. The nurses
immediately rush in to help.
Callie: Get a crash cart! Ok, open a cut-down tray. Gloves. All right I need you to do everything exactly as I do ok? Steve? Listen to me. You have to listen to me. You're not dying on me. Not when everything and everyone around me seems to be…walking out on me. So you are not wakling out on me, you understand? Can you do that? Alright. (to the nurses) Hold his legs. Follow my lead.
Nurse: Should we page someone?
Callie: Um, drop him 30 milligrams of Morphine, get me the paddles. Charge for 200.
Nurse: Charged.
Callie: Clear! (Shocks him, no change) Page Dr. Yang. Now!
Meredith (VO): No hope of survival.
SCENE
9:
OR 1 Gallery. Everyone up there is really intense and nervously
worried as Derek and Richard work on Izzie down there.
Alex: She's gonna be ok, right? I mean, she's not gonna die, right?
(No one answers. Cristina and Meredith just trade looks. Alex turns around and looks at them, as if waiting for an answer but they are both speechless)
Meredith: She's gonna be fine.
(Cristina's pager goes off)
Cristina: It's Torres. I'll go check it out. (exits.)
(Another silence in the room. Alex is just standing up against the glass, glaring down at the surgery)
Alex: You can do this, Iz. You can do this. You can do this. You can do this.
Meredith: Alex! (Alex sighs and looks down) She will be ok. And she can do this.
SCENE
10:
Trauma Room 1. Callie is still desperately trying to save
Steve Dickinson and Cristina rushes in to her opposite side.
Cristina: What happened?
Callie: Pulmonary anema. It's post-op trauma, he's in distress. I've shot him 30mg of Morphine and Angiogram.
Cristina: Damn-it, there's a partial tear in his aorta.
Callie: I just shock him for 200.
Cristina: We need to get him to an OR.
Callie: He won't make it. We need another unit of blood. Paddles. Charge for 300.
Nurse: Charged.
Callie: Clear! (She shocks him, no change) Ok, change for 350.
Nurse: Charged.
Callie: Clear! (She shocks him again, still no change) Damn it.
Cristina: I've still got a lot of bleeding. I'll place a partial occluding clamp.
Callie: 4-0 prolene.
Cristina: He's crashing.
Nurse: BP's 70 over 50, he's having a heart-attack.
Callie: Page someone, anyone!
(Judy watches from the door, crying really bad and looking completely messed up)
Judy: Oh my god, Steve! You have to get better! STEVE! You can't die on me, Steve! No, you can't! I just went to get you ice-chips. You can't leave me! (gets closer to him, almost chocking him) Not again you bastard!
Cristina: Someone get her outta here.
Judy: (covering her mouth, crying) My god, Steve, wake up. Please. For me.
Callie: Judy, you're gonna have to wait for us outside.
Judy (nods): Save him, ok? Save him. Please.
Cristina: We'll do the best we can, ma'am.
SCENE
11:
Outside Izzie's room. Izzie is unconscious and obviously,
the surgery is over. Alex, freaking out, is talking to Derek while we
can see Izzie not-up from the window.
Alex: Why isn't she awake yet? Why is she unconscious?
Derek: Karev, it's completely natural that, after the surgery, she might've gone through some post-traumatic stress.
Alex: Post-traumatic… she has to wake up!
Derek: Wait. Just wait. (walks away)
(Alex keeps going back and forth now, nervously freaking out and in tears, desperately waiting for Izzie to wake up)
(Richard approaches Bailey at the counter)
Richard: So?
Bailey (shakes her head): No. I'm sorry, sir.
(Richard has a saddened look on his face. He looks at Alex who keeps walking back and forth. Alex stops and looks at Izzie then continues walking again)
Meredith (VO): Without promises, there would be no hope that it will get better.
Richard: Karev.
Alex: She will wake up. She will wake up.
SCENE
12:
Clinic. George is filling out some paperwork at the counter as
Meredith walks towards him.
George: Meredith! How's Izzie? She wake up yet?
Meredith: You're crazy.
George: What?
Meredith: If you do this, if you walk out on your best friend like that—
George: I'm not walking out on her.
Meredith: Is that why now you've suddenly decided to do this? George, if you do this… if you go, you are crazy and unforgivable and inexcusable.
George: Meredith.
Meredith: No! Don't. Don't talk because Izzie had surgery today and you're walking out on her. Izzie has cancer, and you're running away. So don't. (starts to leave then stops) And no, she didn't wake up yet. (exits.)
(George just stands there, thinking)
Meredith (VO): No hope that things will turn around and change.
George: Meredith! Meredith! (He runs after her)
Meredith: (turns around, angry) WHAT?!
George: I failed. My interns exam? I failed it. Again. That's why I'm going to Iraq. Because this isn't the place for me. I don't belong here. I can't take it anymore, Meredith. I can't keep doing this over and over again. I can't keep failing.
Meredith: George.
George: Tell Izzie I'm sorry. (exits.)
(Meredith just stands there, looking at George as he walks away from her)
Meredith: No hope for bringing back what used to be.
SCENE
13:
Izzie's room. Alex is now in there too, and he's holding
Izzie's hand. He's crying over it.
Alex: Please wake up. Just wake up, damn-it. Wake up, Izzie. Wake up. I can't do this without you. I love you. And I need you to wake up.
(Bailey comes from behind Alex, she's also crying, and she touches Alex's shoulders)
Bailey: Alex… it's ok. It's ok.
Alex: (screaming, in tears) She promised me! (turns to look at Izzie again, close-up) YOU PROMISED ME!! You have to wake up! WAKE UP!
Bailey: (crying) Alex, please! Alex…
(Meredith, Derek and Richard are watching this tragic event from outside the room, noticing through the big window. Meredith is in tears while Derek and Richard, who are also cracking up, try to maintain their coolness)
Meredith (VO): Because, the truth is…we all need it.
Bailey: Alex!
Alex: She has to wake up! Izzie, just wake up!
Bailey: It's okay, it's okay…
Alex: You promised!!
Bailey: Alex…
Meredith (VO): Not just the hope. We also need a promise.
SCENE
14:
Cristina and Callie enter the waiting rooms, their head in the
ground. Judy stands up.
Judy: So?
Cristina: We did everything we could.
(Judy's lips shiver and her eyes tighten in tears)
Cristina: We're sorry for your loss.
Callie: Sorry.
Judy: Nooo! You promised me he'd be okay! Noo! You promised!!
(The cops come and calm her down, ready to arrest her)
Judy: (crying, in distress) Noo! Don't do this to me, Steve! Don't leave me alone! Oh god…
(Callie and Cristina turn around to leave)
Callie: How's Izzie?
Meredith (VO): Because it gives us something to hang on to.
(Cristina just swallows her throat. Callie understands.)
SCENE
15:
The streets. George is standing by the streets. He stops and
looks at a woman next to him, smiles at her. She turns around,
disgusted apparently, making George feel inferior.
(The woman starts crossing the streets)
George: No, wait! A bus!
(He jumps in, throws her off the road just in time when the bus crashes into him… Yeah, I know, just like the finale…)
Woman: OH MY GOD! Someone call an ambulance! Somebody!
SCENE
16:
Izzie's room. Again.
Bailey: Alex, it's ok. She'll wake up.
Alex: No, she has to wake up! Now! She has to wake up! Izzie, wake up!
Bailey: Alex, please don't!
Alex: WAKE UP!
Meredith (VO): It gives us a reason to stay.
(He stops, crying and breathing in and out… Bailey holds him while he slips on the ground flooding the floor in tears)
Bailey: It's ok. It's ok.
(She sits on the floor with him, stroking and caressing his hair as he cries)
Alex: (silently now) She has to wake up. She has to. She promised…
(Camera rolls up on Izzie's face. Her eyes are closed and she's unconscious)
Alex: (whispering) She promised.
Meredith (VO): It gives us…a reason to breathe. And to wake up…and to promise some more. For eternity.
(Izzie's eyes remain closed.)
Alex: She promised.
--END—
A/N: Hey there, thanks for reading! Now please review this story…like, NOW! Please tell me what you thought about this chapter! Thanks so much!! Next chap coming soon.
