The Little Bit of Hope I Cling to

Izzie goes to Grey Sloan looking for Dr. Grey, Dr. Bailey or Dr. Karev, meets Dr. Jo Karev instead.

Part 1:

"Hello Ms. Stevens, my name is Dr. Helm and I will be the resident on your case today. Now it says in your medical history that you're a cancer survivor?" Helm asked the woman in front of her.

"Yes," Izzie Stevens nodded her head. "I've been having some distressing symptoms lately. I came here to make an oncology appointment since this is where I used to get my treatment, but this morning I fainted while in the shower. I've been very nauseous and have not been able to keep any food down. I've lost a significant amount of weight. I think my mets may be back."

"Alright, well I will call for oncology and surgical consults while I get you up for CT," Helm nodded.

"Could I request a surgeon?" Izzie asked. "I used to work here. I'm a surgeon myself."

"Sure," Helm smiled. "Who would you want on your case?"

"Dr. Bailey or Dr. Grey, or Dr. Karev would be fine," Izzie paused. "We used to be great friends."

"Of course. Let me go find out if they're available," Helm said before walking off to the nurses station to find out. Minutes later Helm returned to Izzie's bed side. "Okay, so Dr. Bailey and Dr. Grey are both in surgery right now, but Dr. Karev is available. Is that alright?"

"Yeah," Izzie nodded nervously. She was jittery at the thought of seeing her ex-husband again. "That's fine."

"Great," Helm smiled. "Dr. Karev should be down here soon. In the meantime I'm going to run a portable ultrasound to see if there are any masses in your abdomen."

Izzie took a deep breath. She hadn't expected to see him so soon. She knew coming back to Seattle for treatment would bring back all kinds of complicated memories. She didn't come to start any trouble, though. She didn't come to try to get him back. Sure, a part of her hoped that maybe he'd want her back and she'd have a chance to fix what she so horribly destroyed before. It really wasn't why she was here, honestly. Her cancer was back. She was sure of it. She didn't need to look at the scans to figure it out. She just wanted to be surrounded by friends as she fought it again.

"Hey!"

"Hey," Jo smiled as Alex came up behind her and placed a kiss on her cheek. "I've missed you today."

"I've missed you too," Alex bent down to give her another kiss. "Anything exciting so far?"

"Not really," Jo shook her head. "I did a bowl resection, supervised a resident perform an appy, and just checked on my post-ops. I think I'll just go to the lab and work on my research if nothing comes up."

"You could always join me," Alex offered. "I have a kidney transplant in about an hour if you want to scrub in. I'm actually getting to do surgery today and the only thing that could make it better is if you were there with me."

"Sounds tempting," Jo leaned forward and brushed her lips against her husband's. "We haven't scrubbed in together for a while now."

"I know," Alex nodded. "And maybe after we can go to my office and... do some other stuff, too."

Jo laughed, "You just want to get in my pants."

"Always," Alex wiggled his eyebrows and grinned. "I'm really just trying to knock you up before the year is over."

"If I would've known you'd be this eager to have sex with me when I suggested trying to a baby I would've said yes years ago," Jo giggled. She wouldn't admit it to his face, but she found his desire for her incredibly sexy. If anything, it made her want him even more. "You know, that reminds me actually that I'm supposed to be getting my period this week. So, let's cross our fingers and hope for the best."

"Hey," Alex smiled and his face softened. "We just started trying. It usually takes a while. So, whether you're pregnant or not, it's okay. We'll just keep having fun trying until it happens."

"Yeah. I know," she sighed and reached up to wrap her arms around his neck. "I love you."

"I love you, too."

"Sorry chief, but I need to speak with Dr. Karev," Helm walked up interrupting their moment. Jo and Alex separated and nodded for Helm to continue. Helm looked at Jo. "Dr. Karev, there is a patient in the ER requesting you. She's said that you worked on her along Dr. Bailey and Dr. Grey. They're both in surgery, so I told her that I'd come find you."

"Oh, okay. I'll be right there," Jo turned back to Alex. "I guess I won't be scrubbing in with you after all."

"Some other time," Alex gave her one last peck on the lips and walked down the hall. "See you later!"

Jo looked at Helm, "Alright, let's go."

They walked down to the Pit. Helm briefed her on the patient's condition and Jo tried to rack her brain for anything that may remind her of the patient, "What did you say that patient's name was again?"

"Um... it started with an 'S.' I'm sorry, I don't remember. It was something common, though," Helm apologized. "Oh! And I detected an abnormal mass in her abdomen using the ultrasound machine, so I think her mets are back."

"That's fine. You can go ahead and check on other patients while I do the consult," Jo instructed.

Jo walked up to ER bed 3 and pulled the curtain open, tablet in her hand. She smiled at the blonde woman and extended her hand, "Hi. I'm Dr. Karev. I heard you requested me. I'm so sorry, I but I don't seem to remember your case. Could you remind me your name?"

Izzie was confused. Who was this woman that walked into her room saying that she was Dr. Karev? Izzie furrowed her brows, "I'm sorry, you're Dr. Karev? The Dr. Karev I was expecting is male."

A look of realization dawned on Jo's face, "You must be looking for my husband."

"You husband?" Izzie asked. "You're married to Alex Karev?"

"Yes," Jo grinned widely. "We recently got married. Everyone keeps mixing us up since I decided to change my last name. I've to tell the residents to start being more specific when they're paging us. What did you say your name was?"

"Izzie Stevens."

Jo raise her eyebrows in surprise, "Huh... so I guess you really weren't expecting me."

"Nope," Izzie shook her head. "So, I'm guessing you know who I am?"

"I do," Jo nodded. Jo would be lying if she said she'd never thought about what it would be like to meet the woman who broke Alex's heart. She'd also be lying if she said that the thought of this woman didn't intimidate her. Jo had heard all about their tragic love story and a small part of her questioned where Alex's loyalties lied. Ultimately though, it didn't matter who this woman was. She was a patient and deserved the best care. Jo had done this before. She'd taken care of Alex's dad. She could take care of his ex-wife, too. "So, you think your cancer is back?"

"Yeah," Izzie's voice cracked. "I was doing great for many years. No symptoms, no relapses, nothing. I was cancer free. I thought I beat it."

"When did you realize something was wrong?"

"I've been here in Washington for the past year taking care of my mom. She was in a car accident that should've killed her and has been going through really intensive rehab. A few weeks ago I started feeling sick while on my way to pick her up from physical therapy," Izzie sighed. "Look, I'm not here to cause any problems or issues or bring back the past. I'm here because I need help if I'm going to fight this, and I can't let my mom fight for me. She's got enough to worry about. It would just be nice to see a familiar face again."

Jo considered herself an empathetic person, which is why it was so difficult to hate this woman. If anything, Jo felt bad for her. Deciding to be the bigger person, Jo called Helm back to bed 3, "I need you to get Dr. Stevens up to CT and admit her. Do you know if Dr. Bailey and Dr. Grey are available yet?"

"They're still in surgery," Helm replied.

"How about the chief? Or Webber?"

"Let me check," Helm pulled the OR schedule up on the tablet. "Dr. Webber is off for the day and Chief Karev is about to go in on his kidney transplant kid."

"Thanks Helm," Jo turned back to look at Izzie. "I'm going to go talk to Alex while Dr. Helm takes care of you. I'll be back soon."

Jo left the ER and made her way to the OR floor to find her husband. Seeing his name on the board for OR 4, she hurried over to the scrub room. Walking in, she saw him through the window speaking to his patient. Jo waved to get his attention.

Alex scrunched his face and walked over to the scrub room, "Hey. What are you doing here? Didn't you have a consult?"

"I did," Jo took a deep breath. "I'm going to tell you something, but I don't want you to freak out. Just know that I've got this and I'm taking care of it. If at any point you feel uncomfortable with me taking in this patient you let me know and I'll hand it over to Bailey."

"Who is it?"

"It's Izzie Stevens," Jo bit her lip. "I have Helm taking her up for CT now, but I'm pretty sure her cancer is back."

"Izzie is here?" Alex asked, shocked expression on his face.

"Yeah," Jo let out a breath she didn't know she'd been holding as her eyes watered. "Look, I know you two have lots of unresolved history and when you married me, you didn't think you'd ever see her again, so I'd understand if—"

"What?" Alex couldn't believe what he'd heard come out of Jo's mouth. "Stop talking. I'm not going anywhere. I didn't marry you because I couldn't have Izzie. I married you because I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. So shut up with this 'unresolved history' crap and trust that I'm right here Jo."

"Okay," Jo gave him the tiniest nod and a small smile. "I'm sorry. You know how it is... a lifetime's worth of abandonment issues will really do a number on you."

"I'm not abandoning you, Jo. Someone would have to kidnap or kill me before I ever willingly leave you," he cracked a smile.

"I know."

Alex looked at Jo for minute before speaking again, "Hey, how about I come with you. I can get the peds fellow to do the transplant. We'll go in and treat her until Bailey gets out of the whipple she's doing and then we can transfer Izzie's case to her."

"Alright."