Derek lifted his head from its spot next to his fragile daughter's arm. He smiled a small, comfortable smile. His baby was all right. His daughter, his miracle, his reason for going on after Addison died… she was going to be fine. Sure, she'd be in some pain, and of course it wouldn't be easy for either of them, for any of them, to see her in such pain. To see her so helpless would kill each of them. But it would be much better, he knew, than what could've been. What might have been, had there been some twist of fate. He kissed her hand and saw from the corner of his eye two bodies in the door. It was George, standing behind Izzie's wheelchair-bound body.

"What are you doing out of bed, Izzie?"

Tears stained her pale face, but she forced a smile. "I had to see her, Derek. When… it happened, I just felt so horrible. I didn't care about me, honestly… all I could think was 'Dear God, if someone is going to die today let it be me'. I know it's not something you approve of, this kind of self-sacrifice. But I would do it again, in a second. I would trade places with her any day, because we need her more than I'm needed," she held up her hand to stop either of the men from interjecting, "You know it's true, and I'm okay with that being a fact. That girl has saved us all from falling apart. From imploding on ourselves and exploding on each other. I just had to make sure she was really okay. Can I… can I have a minute with her, please?"

Derek nodded, and kissed Izzie's forehead as he pushed her to Grace's bedside. "We'll be just outside, so shout if you need us or when it's okay for us to come back."

The men stopped outside the window, watching as Izzie cried and Grace, still half asleep, comforted her beloved aunt. "Did you…"

George blushed slightly, and shook his head. "I didn't get the chance. Karev was in her room when I left here. Then, once he left, I did tell her, but she'd fallen asleep. Karev was eavesdropping, and he just… he made me so angry. He's still that arrogant asshole. He had the nerve to tell me that I wouldn't get her… that I had no chance. And I stood up for myself, ME, of all people. I told him off, I yelled, and then I took a step back, and got this black eye that you've been staring at so openly for the past few minutes. Thank you for that, by the way. It's not like I wasn't already self-conscious over it."

"Alex punched you? What did you say to him?"

"That after he cheated on her with Olivia, she finally saw him for what he really was, what I had seen in him from day one. He didn't like that, I guess. But get this—he didn't just show up, she called him into town…"

"Seriously?" Derek shook his head, and rested his hand on his friend's shoulder. "Sorry, George. Don't worry, the perfect time will come and you'll be able to tell her everything. But don't rush it…"

"DADDY!" Derek looked over, through the window to see Izzie slumped over in the chair. Derek called to the nurses for help, and George panicked. He paused, frozen as he stared at her body, awkwardly crumpled and leaning uncomfortably against the bed of their niece. Everything was happening around him—he was an outsider to it all. Everything was going on in slow motion, and it was void of sound. He saw Grace, her fire-red curls bouncing as she cried for someone to help. He saw the rushing group of his colleagues colliding into the room, hurrying around her and placing her on a bed. Derek was suddenly in front of him, pale and on the verge of breaking down. As soon as he grabbed George's shoulders, he was back to reality. Izzie, his Izzie, was in there, surrounded by doctors and nurses, hurt in some unknown, unimaginable way. He couldn't see her then, in that moment. He heard the doctors shouting orders to each other and to the nurses, heard Grace crying. He heard Derek telling him it would be okay. All he wanted to hear was her bubbly optimism, her strong personality oozing out of her solid voice. All he wanted was to know he'd hear that again. And he didn't know.