I everyone I'm finally back! Sorry it took me so long again. I hope you like this chapter though! Please leave me lots of reviews! I really wanna say a huge thank you to everyone who's still sticking with this story and thank you to my great reviewers for Chap. 7: Acajou Amarth, gizziefan118, speckled girl, PheobeHasABadPenName, addisonkarev, kat priestly and mistysparks. It really means a lot to me! I'm really hoping to get over 100 reviews with this Chapter so keep it up!

Disclaimer: I still don't own them and I'm getting impatient!

Chapter 8

„Alex?" Laura murmured faintly. After hours of sleeping she was slowly coming out of the drug induced sleep, but sadly her brother wasn't there to meet her. Instead a stunningly beautiful redheaded doctor sat by her bedside, sleeping in an uncomfortable position on a chair, her legs pulled up to her chest.

It took her a few moments to remember where she was and what had happened the previews day. However, she couldn't shake the slight feeling that something was off. Alex was always by her side when she was hospitalised. He always had her back, so why wasn't he here now?

"Alex?" She asked again into the room and felt her panic level rise. However, before anything else happened the woman on the chair jerked slightly and opened her eyes to meet Laura's. She slowly put her feet down, slipped back into her crocks and rubbed her eyes for a second before gathering the power to speak up. It was now 4 am and Addison hadn't really gotten much sleep, if you count dozing off on a chair "sleeping".

"Laura, hey, I'm Dr. Montgomery. How are you feeling?" She asked compassionately. After having spent a great deal of the night studying Laura's files, she knew that this wasn't a situation the younger woman would like to be in. It would bring back very hurtful memories for her, so Addison knew that she had to approach her carefully.

The sweet and caring tone in Addison's voice immediately made Laura feel save. At least as save as she could feel in this sanitary place, with that distinctive smell that reminded her too much of her childhood. She still couldn't believe that her brother had actually chosen to work in a hospital, after everything they'd been through in those places.

"Where's Alex?" She demanded to know, ignoring the older woman's question. She needed her brother. That's why she came here. She needed him to tell her what to do.

Addison moved over so that she was standing as close as possible to Laura's bed. She knew she had to tell the girl, with her being Alex's next of kin and all, but the events of the previous day had shaken her too much for her own liking. That was probably why she'd stayed in the hospital instead of going home and enjoying a warm nice bubble bath after an exhausting day.

"I'm sorry, but Alex can't be here tonight!" Addison began and started telling her what she knew about the "incident" and his condition. However, after she realised that Laura became more and more agitated and scared, she stopped and simply placed one hand comforting on her patients shoulder, telling her that he was going to be okay and assuring her that he would be allowed to see her as soon as Dr. Bailey gave her OK. Laura forced a tiny smile on her face. This was actually the first time in her life that she didn't feel too intimidated by a doctor and she believed her when she told her that Alex was really gonna be alright.

--

"What?" A more and more irritated Alex asked a stern looking Dr. Bailey. She'd been sitting with him for hours, watching his every move. Apparently she'd decided that staring him down would be a great way to pass time while she was baby-sitting him. She therefore prevented him from detaching himself from the hear-rate monitor, let alone leaving his bed. Usually he wouldn't have dared acting so rudely around her, but this was different. He wanted to see his sister desperately. He needed answers. And he couldn't get them when he was attached to all kinds of machines.

"I don't need a baby-sitter you know!" Alex told Dr. Bailey who hadn't said a single word in those past few hours. To Alex's relieve it had turned out that Dr. Bailey really was capable of ignoring everything she'd learned about her resident and treat him the same as always. Well, as usual as possible, considering the fact that he'd been hypothermic only hours ago. He was actually glad for the quietness she granted him. So at least she didn't try to persuade him that a shrink would solve all his problems. Like anyone would be able to help him. He snorted quietly at the thought that seemed so far-fetched. He was never going to be "whole and healed".

He didn't intend to play Mr. Good-patient though. Sooner or later she'd have to leave and this would be his chance. He simply ignored the fact that he could still hardly feel his limbs, that he was colder than ever and that he was clearly running a fever. But Alex knew that Laura would probably be throwing a tantrum if she awoke in a hospital bed and he wasn't there to meet her. So when he would sneak out of his own room as planned, it was for the other hospital staff's own good, he convinced himself.

"I'm very aware that you're not a baby Karev, otherwise you wouldn't have been brought in as an ice cube!" she replied cheekily.

"So…" He started again

"So what?" Dr. Bailey asked

"You don't have to watch me. I'm sure you have other thing to do. More important things." He said, trying to not sound too annoyed.

"See, that's the thing Dr. Karev. I have to. I don't necessarily want to watch you but if I didn't.." She wanted to continue when her pager went off.

"Damn it" She swore when she checked what it was. A trauma that needed her immediate attention was brought into the pit. She quickly sent a message to Meredith Grey before standing up to leave.

"Don't you dare leave that bed Karev!" She warned him, a finger pointed directly at him before she stormed off towards the ER.

Alex knew that this was his chance and he needed to seize it before Baileys replacement arrived. He turned off the heart-monitor and picked the electrodes off his chest one by one. Then he professionally extracted the IV that was still stuck in the back of his hand and shifted slightly, so that he was able to throw off the heating-blankets. When he lifted his legs and his bare feet touched the floor he cringed a little because his legs weren't really in any shape to be moved. It seemed as though every muscle ached with every movement he made. Being aware of the fact that he was only dressed in a hospital gown, he decided that it would be better to stop at the residents lounge for some clothes.

It seemed as though he'd moved in slow motion and he would have laughed it off, had it not been for the continuously growing soreness of his body.

The pain was almost unbearable and the heat from the fever, that had probably spiked in the last few minutes, was radiating through his body, making him sweaty and extremely uncomfortable.

When he finally reached the locker room he was relieved to find it empty. He made a mental note to scan the corridor for a wheelchair when he got out again, but first he had to get dressed. He stood in front of his cubby, cursing himself for storing his spare scrubs on the top shelf. Alex carefully reached up to grab the pants and a top. However this action was too much for his worn-out body and he felt his legs give way before his body fell to the floor with a big thump and everything went black once again but this time the familiar noise of water rushed through his ears.

The running of water was always the perfect way to escape. Escape from the disturbing noises. Escape from an abusive father. Escape from hell. At least for a little while.

8 year old Alex knew that there was going to be trouble when his dad got home. Mom had gone out this afternoon and when Alex got home from school his dad had been anything but happy about that. He quickly grabbed Laura by her hand and pulled her into the bathroom. He hastily locked the door and let water run into the tub. He then told Laura to get undressed and so did he. Both of them climbed into the tub of warm water, while the faucet continued to pour litre after litre of water into the ceramic tub. When the door was slammed shut outside the siblings put their heads under water, just enough that it would cover their ears. They didn't hear anything else but the running of water anymore.

The waterfall that Alex heard in his head was beautiful and he imagined being somewhere in a jungle in Africa, surrounded by all sorts of animals. That's where he wanted to be. As far away as possible from all human beings.

From time to time a dull punch could be heard even through the distraction of the running water but it sounded less scary through the curtain of warm water and it was toned down to the minimum. It was over after about 15 minutes and when Alex opened his eyes he found Laura staring straight at him, waiting for him to tell her that it was save to leave the bathroom again.

"Alex! Wake up!" Meredith's voice pierced through his dream and he lifted his eyelids to see her crouching down next to him, patting his cheek lightly to get his attention. It took him a second to realise that he had passed out in the residents lounge.

"Mer?" He asked, propping himself up on his elbows.

"What the hell were you thinking Alex? I was looking all over for you!" She chastised him for leaving his room.

"I…. I need to get dressed" He told her while grabbing one of the cubbies handles to help him stand up. .

"What? No way, you're not leaving the hospital in this state!" Meredith replied, thinking that Alex was actually considering going home.

"What? No I'm not leaving here, I only wanna see someone" Alex told her and immediately realised that he had revealed too much when Meredith's eyes widened.

"Who?" She asked nosily and Alex was quickly searching for a way out, unfortunately the fever and the exhaustion made it difficult for his brain to work properly.

"Get me my spare scrubs from my cubby!" He ordered, almost barking at her, and immediately felt guily for yelling at his friend. Surprisingly she did as Alex had told her and took his scrubs down, but instead of handing them to him, she leaned forward and placed a cold palm of her hand on his burning forehead.

"God Alex, you're burning up. You're running a really high fever. I really think you should go back to bed. Believe me, I'm talking from experience here" Meredith tried to reason with him but he was still dead set against it.

Alex suddenly remembered what Meredith had gone through at the ferryboat accident and realised that this probably hadn't been his best idea, since he was barely able to get himself off of the cold floor without help, but the need to be by Laura's side made everything else seem kind of unnecessary. By the way Meredith looked at him right now, it would only be a matter of time before she'd call someone to help her put him back into his room.

"Please Mer" He almost begged her with a soft voice that gave Meredith goose bumps. She'd never seen him like this before and he'd never asked nor begged her for anything because Alex Karev didn't do begging, that wasn't his thing. He was blunt, honest, sometimes an ass and he was her dark and twisty friend but he didn't beg and he'd never asked for help.

"Alex" She spoke his name and suddenly realised that he was starting to shake, probably because of the fever. He was also sweating profusely, making his short hair stick to his forehead.

"Please Mer, she's my …….she's my little sister. I just wanna see her for a couple of minutes" At this Meredith's eyes grew even bigger, if that was possible. She didn't even know that he had a sister, let alone that said sister was apparently here but before she did anything, she had to make sure that he wasn't hallucinating because of the fever. His eyes darted around the room unfocused, not daring to make eye contact with her.

"Alex, Alex look at me!" She ordered, placing one of her cold palms on his cheek to get his attention.

"Are you sure she's here? Did you see her?" She asked to verify the information.

"Yes. She's in the ICU" Alex finally revealed and now everything started to make sense.

Gosh, no wonder he is so upset. Meredith thought and was finally able to comprehend his actions from before.

"Okay" she replied "I'm gonna let you see her but first I wanna take your temp and I'm gonna give you something to break that fever." She told him and he slightly nodded his head in agreement.

"Let's get you changed then." Meredith said, grabbing his scrubs and helping him get dressed.

TBC

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