Chapter eleven
One week later- 1st August 2012
One week old
Jo looks around the chaotic ER in the search for somebody the could help her. In front of her was a pram that contained her newborn daughter. She had been screaming for the past half an hour and after several failed attempts at soothing her, Jo decided to resort to outsider help.
She looks to her right and notices Alex was talking to a blonde haired woman. Jo slowly walks over to him, careful as to not agitate her incision site.
"Alex?" Jo questions. Alex and the blonde hairs woman look over at Jo and Alex smiles.
"Izzie, this is Josephine Stadler. Jo, this is Izzie Stevens, my ex-wife," Alex announces.
"Alex, she's crying and she won't stop. I've gone through the checklist and nothing. She's been fed, she's slept, she's been changed and I gave her a bath so she's she's clean, which for the record, made her cry even more. I have no idea what to do," Jo pleads.
"Hold her," Alex instructs.
"I've tried that too. She doesn't want to be held," Jo replies as Alex picks her up. Alex begins to smooth the infant and she stops crying.
"Wh... how... how did you do that?" Jo questions shocked.
"Jo, you need to relax. She is your daughter not some form of vicious animal. She won't bite you," Alex replies.
"A baby looks good on you Karev, congratulations, you both must be very happy," Izzie says genuinely.
"Oh, the baby's not mine. Jo isn't my wife... she's not even my girlfriend, we're just friends," Alex replies.
"Oh I'm sorry, I..I just assumed and I have no idea why," Izzie replies flustered.
"Her father is my husband... soon to be my jerk face, asshole, pathetic excuse for a human ex- husband," Jo says casually.
"Woah, wow," Izzie replies shocked.
"And yet it's all true," Jo replies Casually.
"I'm going to hand her back to you now," Alex says to Jo.
"Oh no, no, please don't hand her back to me. She hates me," Jo insists while quickly shaking her head.
"She doesn't hate you Jo," Alex replies. He hands Jo her daughter and the instant Jo's arms touch her she begins to cry.
"See, she hates me," Jo says seriously.
"Relax. Take a deep breath. She can feel your anxiety, that's what is setting her off," Alex advises.
Jo nods her head and takes a deep breath and begins to calm down and as she does her daughter begins to stop crying.
"See," Alex replies.
"We're getting discharged in an hour. I'm supposed to be taking her home today. I haven't even named her, is that even allowed? Can I take a nameless baby home?" Jo questions seriously.
"You have 60 days to register the birth of a baby. But you need to have a name for her when you register. At the moment she's just on the hospital records and that's okay," Alex explains.
Jo nods her head and carefully places her daughter back into the pram, "I'll come back in half an hour when she hates me again," Jo states before leaving.
"Wow, Okay, I'm guessing motherly instincts are not her thing," Izzie laughs.
"Its complicated. Her husband would abuse her so she didn't exactly want to be pregnant, or have a baby. But she couldn't get rid of the baby either. She also grew up in foster care, so with no parental guidance growing up she is way out of her depth," Alex explains.
"Well, lucky she has you," Izzie replies suggestively.
"Yeah, lucky," Alex replies. "How have you been Iz? It's been a long time," he asks.
"Good, I'm married, I still use Stevens at the hospital but I use Hancock everywhere else. My husband James and I have three children. I can't get pregnant because, well, you know, so we adopted. Two girls, Ava and Hailey and a boy, Luke," Izzie smiles. She takes out her phone and pulls up a photo and shows it to him.
He gives a grin and laughs, "they're cute."
"They are," Izzie replies back with a smile. "What about you? How have you been? Married? Babies?" She asks with a grin.
"I've Ah, I've had a few relationships but nothing that was serious," he says as his mind drifts away to thinking about Jo.
"Oh my gosh, you like Dr Stadler don't you? You like Josephine," she says with a massive smile.
"She just had a baby. She's getting out of an abusive marriage. She's not ready to start anything," Alex replies. "But I can't help it Iz. When I'm around her I just... I can't explain it but she's the one for me, I just know it," he explains and his face lights up.
"It sounds like she's worth waiting for," Izzie smiles. "And I'll know if you don't wait Karev. Dr Webber hired me as the new Head of Obstetrics."
"Welcome back," he says with a smile.