It was clear, when Meredith entered the house, that Izzie had been its primary inhabitant for the past 2 years. The old pillows she had dug up from the attic had been replaced with new floral patterned throws. She was fairly certain the curtains were new as well - honestly, Meredith couldn't remember if there had been curtains before.
"I hope you don't mind," Izzie said sheepishly, biting down on her lip. She entered the house behind Meredith with her luggage in tow. "You know I like to nest when I'm depressed."
Meredith shrugged. "It looks nice."
"Good. You have a new comforter on your bed, by the way. Make sure you take the pillow covers off before you sleep on them too."
"Is that Mere?" a voice asked from in the kitchen. Suddenly Alex stepped out onto the foyer, shirtless with a pair of pajama bottoms and holding a can of soda. "Welcome back."
Meredith stared at him, dumbfounded. "Since when do you live here?" she demanded, giving Izzie an accusatory glare.
"I'm sorry," Izzie apologized profusely. "I just… I don't even know where he was living before. For all I know he could have been sleeping in the on call rooms-"
"Hey!" Alex interjected.
It dawned on Meredith what was occurring here. Her eyes widened as she looked between Alex and Izzie. "Are you two sleeping together?" she asked.
"No!" Izzie exclaimed at the same time Alex responded, "Occasionally."
"Oh my god!" Smirking, Meredith took her suitcase from Izzie and began heading up the stairs. "I'm going to go unpack. Try to be decent before I come back down, ok?"
"You're not funny," Izzie shouted as Meredith slowly dragged her suitcase up and over each of the steps.
The comforter Izzie had put over the bed was a sickening bright yellow color printed with a floral pattern to match. Meredith flopped down on top of it, staring up at the ceiling. She remembered waking up here with Derek at the beginning of her intern year. Going to the trouble to sneak him out unseen before her roommates woke up.
Rolling onto her side, she caught her reflection in the vanity mirror. Derek was right. She did look different. It wasn't only her hair.
Meredith stood and lifted the hem of her shirt. There was an angry, puckered scar on her right upper abdomen where the first bullet had hit. The second had landed lower. The midline incision began above her belly button and disappeared into her jeans.
Her hands began to shake as she recalled what it was like to wake up that first day. Frankie had been the one to tell her about the hysterectomy. Meredith told her it wasn't a big deal, because she'd never planned on having children anyway. Truthfully, she'd never considered it. But the decision had been made for her.
Just then someone rapped on the door. Meredith dropped her shirt quickly before Izzie stepped inside.
"Are you ok?" she asked, looking at her strangely.
"I'm fine," Meredith snapped, perhaps too defensively. Taking a deep breath, she continued. "Did you need something?"
Izzie shook her head. "No. I just wanted to talk." Closing the door softly behind her, she crossed the room and sat down on the bed.
Meredith looked back at herself in the mirror. "About what?"
"What was it like over there?"
Slowly, Meredith turned to face Izzie. Her face held nothing but genuine concern. Unable to stifle it, Meredith let out a hiccup that sounded suspiciously like a sob.
"Meredith! What's wrong?"
"I can't have kids, Iz," Meredith said.
Izzie frowned deeply. "Oh, Mere." She stood and wrapped her arms around Meredith's shoulders, guiding her over to the bed. "Because of the accident?"
Meredith nodded into her shoulder. "They did a hysterectomy. I can't get pregnant."
Izzie didn't mention the "other options" that she had been presented with by her surgeon - adoption, surrogacy. Instead she simply hugged her tighter, in the way only Izzie Stevens could.
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Thank you for the spectacular reviews, they are very inspiring. Please keep it up!
