Disclaimer: I don't own Grey's Anatomy, or the characters. In case it wasn't really obvious.

AN: I have no medical knowledge, just way too much time to search the internet.

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Enjoy!

Bailey and several nurses come running into the room within seconds. Bailey quickly assesses the situation as she moves over to the bed, she leans over Alex. "Karev, how're you doing?"

Using almost all his strength, Alex shrugs. He then points weakly at the breathing tube.

Bailey looks to Meredith, who is standing by the ventilator. "What setting is the vent on?"

Meredith looks at the machine, and then answers. "Sixty percent O2, sats are holding steady at ninety-eight percent. Are you going to extubate?"

Bailey thinks for a moment, then replies. "Yes." She then turns to a nurse. "Set up for extubation." Then more quietly, she adds. "Be ready to reintubate if we need to."

Again, Bailey positions herself, so that Alex can see her. "We're going to take the tube out now."

Meredith then disconnects the ventilator from the breathing tube, and moves it away.

Bailey wraps her fingers around the tube as she instructs Alex. "Okay, take a deep breath in, and then on my count of three, blow out."

Alex follows her direction, and breathes in as deeply as he can.

"One... Two... Three." Bailey counts, and when she reaches three, she pulls the tube out.

Alex starts coughing violently, and Meredith quickly puts her arm behind him, and helps him sit up, whilst one of the nurses straps an oxygen mask over his face. "You're alright, Alex. Just breathe."

Eventually his breathing stabilizes, and one of the nurses gives Alex a few ice chips, to soothe his irritated throat.

Then, as Meredith helps him lie back down, Alex asks in a hoarse whisper. "What 'penned?"

Meredith pauses a moment before answering. "You went into septic shock, it was pretty touch and go for a while, Alex."

Now fighting to stay awake, Alex asks. "Why?"

Seeing his exhaustion as a way out of telling him the story, Meredith says. "You should rest, I'll explain everything to you when you wake up again, okay?"

Alex nods weakly before allowing himself to drift off to sleep.

Once he's completely asleep, Bailey looks at Meredith. "You are going to have to tell him eventually, Grey."

Looking chastised, Meredith replies. "I know, and I will ...when he's ready to hear it."

It is several hours before Alex wakes up again, and when he does Bailey is sitting with him. Meredith had been called to assist in surgery, much to her relief secretly. After lying awake for a moment, unnoticed by Bailey, Alex clears his throat.

Bailey looks up, and she actually looks slightly surprised. "Karev."

Alex raises the bed head, until he is almost sitting upright. "Dr Bailey. Where's Mere?" His voice is still very hoarse.

"Grey was called in to assist Hahn in surgery, she'll be back when she's done." Bailey tells him quickly, she then concernedly asks. "How're you feeling? Do you need anything?"

"I feel like I got run over by a truck, twice." Alex says, laughing dryly at his own comment. "What happened to me?"

After hesitating slightly, Bailey tells him. "Like Grey told you earlier, you suffered septic shock. The blood workup showed that it probably started as a cold."

Alex then looks around the room at the variety of machines, IVs, and monitors. "Bad?"

"Very, within minutes of being brought in, you went into arrest, we nearly couldn't get you back." Bailey says, her voice breaking slightly, remembering that day. "You've been here, in the ICU, on life support for twelve days."

Alex's jaw drops, and he stammers. "What?"

"You gave us all a scare." Bailey admits.

After taking a few seconds to absorb this information, Alex asks. "How did it get so far? With Meredith doing her dark and twisty version of a mother hen routine, I can't believe I even caught a cold."

Just as Bailey is about to tell him, she hears a knock on the door frame. She turns around in her seat. "Grey. Just in time."

Meredith just looks at her questioningly.

Bailey elaborates. "Karev wants to know how he ended up here, and I know how badly you wanted to be the one to tell him." She says, knowing full well that Meredith had been purposefully absent just so she didn't have to explain this to him.

Alex looks between the two of them, confused. "What's going on here? Mere, what don't you want to say?"

For a moment, Meredith looks tempted to turn tail and run, but she then says, in a very small voice. "I messed up."

Neither of them even hear her.

Feeling the barely hidden pain and guilt bubbling back to the surface, Meredith yells. "I screwed up, okay?! I screwed up, and you almost died!"

Alex looks at her, too shocked to speak. It is several minutes later, when he whispers. "What?"

Meredith stares at her feet as she replies. "It was late at night, I'd just finished up a sixteen hour long surgery, I came home, and went straight to bed." Here comes self hating Meredith again. "If I had've just checked on you, maybe..."

Alex nods in understanding, now this makes sense. "Mere." He says, motioning for her to sit on the edge of the bed, which she does. "You aren't my keeper. You are human, you were exhausted. Since I got sick, you've been running yourself into the ground. Don't beat yourself up about this, Mere."

They continue to talk for another hour before Alex gets tired and falls back asleep.

Late that afternoon, Sam arrives in Alex's room, where Alex and Meredith are sitting in silence. "Hey."

They both look up, and Meredith greets him. "Hey Sam. What're you doing here?"

"I heard that our patient was awake." Sam says simply, he then looks at Alex. "Good to have you back with us, we were a bit worried there."

"So everyone keeps saying." Alex states, obviously sick of hearing how he almost died, for the thousandth time today.

Sam then gets down to business. "Now, Alex. For obvious reasons we've withheld the chemo since your admission, but we really will need to restart it as soon as your blood work shows that it's safe, okay?"

"Do I have a choice?" Alex asks jokingly.

Sam smiles weakly, and says. "Not really. I have to get back to Mercy West, I'll come and see you again before you're discharged." He then stands up, and walks out of the room, and they watch as he walks down the corridor to the elevators.

It is another week before Alex is well enough to be released. Meredith, much to Alex's annoyance, insists he uses a wheelchair to go out to the car, and in that moment he gets the distinct feeling he won't be allowed to so much as lift a finger for a long time.

TBC...

Thanks for reading! Hope you liked it.

I think the next chapter will probably be the last. I've had a great time writing this fic, but I am planning to focus more on Supernatural fics, at least for a while.

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