Tell No Lies
Chapter 1
Face still pressed against the thin mattress Alex groans deeply. He takes a deep breath before rolling over and out of the bed.
"Well that was uncomfortable." Olivia comments as she pulls the sheet up against her chest. "Close the door before someone sees." She scolds seeing other nurses pass by the room curiously.
Alex ignores her as he begins pulling his scrubs back on. With each body part through each piece of clothing he emits a low curse. He picks up his pager and hooks it to his pants and turns to leave the room.
"Alex wait!" Olivia calls.
"What?" He replies without turning around.
"I just wanted to know if I'll see you later. I mean it was good and I figured why stop something that feels good right?"
"I have a girlfriend. Well had a girlfriend. I can't deal with you right now. I have to go into surgery and pretend my life isn't up shits creek and that I know what the hell I'm doing. I can't deal with you."
"Deal with me? Excuse me I wasn't the only one enjoying this."
"Leave it alone Olivia. I don't have time for this shit right now." Alex slams the door behind him as he rushes over to the operating room.
As he comes into the operating room drying his hands Alex scans the room and watches Izzie getting prepped for the surgery. Later on as he carries the quint he tries to catch her eye, but Izzie refuses to meet his gaze. Alex pushes the baby out of the room following Derek.
Hours later all of the quintuplets are returned to the critical neonatal unit. Alex walks into the room and sees Izzie with her head resting on her folded arms as she watches the tiny baby in front of her. He stands in the doorway silently watching her as Meredith's words from the day before come back to him, 'It only gets problematic when you start to care, when you let your emotions get in the way'.
"Izzie."
"Leave." She replies keeping her eyes on the baby.
"We need to talk."
"Leave." She clenches her fists tightly, her nails biting into her palms as she waits to hear his footsteps taking him from the room. Izzie bites down sharply on her lower lip as her breathing quickens. She tries to force herself to take deeper breaths and clam down, but it's not working. Her hands unclench as she brings them to her face and tears begin to fill her eyes. She shakes her head violently trying to make it stop, but nothing works. Izzie's head falls into her hands as the sobs she's tried desperately to hold in finally break free. She cries deep heaving tears, tears for herself, and tears for the babies who sit in front of her fighting for life. She never hears the soft footsteps come up behind her.
"Izzie?" George putting a hesitant hand on her shoulder. Izzie jumps and tries to wipe away her tears before George sees him. "Are you okay?" He asks quietly.
"I'm fine George. It's just been a long couple of days. I'm worried about the quints that's all."
"Those didn't sound like 'worried about the quints' kind of tears."
"That's all it is. This is the crucial time. They need to make it through tonight."
"So your crying had nothing to do with the fact that Alex and Olivia were caught having sex in the on call room? A room that gossips said you had just left seconds before?"
Izzie's eyes fill with tears again and she ducks her head and bites her lip as she tries to fight off the seemingly never ending flood. George pulls her against him and softly rocks her.
"I should've known." Izzie's soft voice says a few minutes later. "I should've known something like this would've happened. It always does. I should've taken the hint when he had his 'technical difficulties'. I don't know why I tried to see the good in him. There's nothing there, he is just as shallow and egotistical as he seems. I'm over it and him."
"Good for you Izzie." George encourages.
Izzie's eyes fill with tears again and she looks up at George. "So then why does it still hurt so much?" She asks him softly before the tears start again. She turns away from George embarrassed about crying and lays her head on her arms as she watches the quints again. "I just want to be alone."
George nods understandingly and backs out of the room. He intercepts Meredith and Christina on their way to check the quints.
"George!" Christina yells as he grabs her and Meredith's arms and propels them towards the locker room.
"Izzie is in there and wants to be alone." He says once he closes the locker room door behind them.
"Why? We all have cases in there that need to be checked."
George takes a deep breath and looks at the two women. "There's a rumor going around that Izzie caught Alex and Olivia in the on call room. My guess is she was looking for him for the surgery and walked into that. What happened is just sinking in and she wants to be alone."
Meredith slowly lowers herself to the bench as she puts a hand over her mouth.
"Poor Izzie. How is she taking it?"
"How do you think she's taking it?"
"She must be humiliated."
"Christina!"
"What? Think about it, she spent weeks trying to convince everyone how sweet he is and look where it gets her, she's sitting in a room by herself surrounded by babies that no one knows if they'll make it through the night, just thinking about the fact that she walked in on him screwing the syph nurse."
Meredith stands up suddenly and walks out towards the critical neonatal unit. George and Christina follow closely behind her.
"Meredith where are you going?"
"I'm going to be there for my friend." She says as she softly pushes the door open. She spies Izzie with her head on her arms sleeping in front of one of the quints. Meredith notes the tear tracks on Izzie's cheeks as she sits down in front of the quint next to Izzie. George sits down on Izzie's other side as Christina pulls a chair up next to Meredith. A few hours later Izzie's head jerks up as she wakes up suddenly. She looks around the room embarrassed to see the other three interns there. Meredith hands her a wet paper towel and Izzie smiles her thanks.
"How long was I out?"
"Only about an hour."
No one says anything else as all their attention returns to the quints. Addison peeks her head into the room and motions for Izzie to come out into the hall.
"I'm heading home for the night. She better be alive when I get back in the morning." Addison warns referring to the most critical quint that Izzie is in charge of. Izzie nods slightly before heading back into the room.
The four sit in the room for hours with nothing to break the silence other than Bailey and the attendings stopping in to check on their quints. Izzie's head has returned to her folded arms as she watches the baby struggling to live. She hears footsteps behind her and her shoulders tighten as he gets closer.
"Izzie." At Alex's words the other intern's eyes drift to the couple to watch Izzie's reaction.
"Leave." Alex inhales a sharp breath at her words but refuses to back down. He opens his mouth to try again when the other three interns stand up and face him. Taking the hint Alex takes a deep breath and mumbles something under his breath before leaving the room.
After he leaves Izzie returns her attention to her quint. The other three speak in low tones on the other side of the room.
After a few minutes George walks up behind her.
"Izzie, we were just thinking about taking shifts watching the quints. Two of us stay in here while the other two get some sleep. What do you think?"
"Sounds good."
"Do you want to take the first shift? I know you were on call last night so you probably didn't get a lot of sleep."
"Thanks." Izzie says before standing up and stretching. She slowly walks out of the room, following Meredith who is also going to take a short nap.
"I'll be down in the main lounge if you need me." Izzie tells Meredith cringing at the thought of getting anywhere near the on-call room. Meredith nods understandingly and goes to find an empty stretcher she can sleep in.
Two hours later Izzie buys a cup of tea before stepping onto the elevator that will take her back upstairs to the neonatal unit. On the second floor the elevator stops and Izzie looks up to see who has interrupted her solitude. When she recognizes the petite redhead her eyes narrow.
The two women stand in silence for a moment with Olivia shifting from foot to foot sneaking nervous glances at the tall blonde next to her. Not really thinking about what she's saying Olivia bursts into how good sex with Alex was, as if that makes it okay. Izzie rolls her eyes while silently defining different medical terms, anything to block out the words coming from the woman next to her. After a few moments Izzie opens her eyes to see what floor the elevator is on and gratefully watches the number five light up for her floor and walks off the elevator with Olivia's parting words, "But I'm sure you would know," echoing in her ears.