An ambulance and a crowd were waiting for them when they reached the shore. The ferry system had been brought to a stand still while they'd been in the water so there was a back log of commuters waiting at the docks. Some people had cameras and took photos of them. They did their best to ignore them but it was a little hard.
Alex helped Izzie to the ambulance. She refused to let them carry her on a stretcher despite the fact she was severely hypothermic and still having difficulty getting enough oxygen into her body. She wanted to walk, it was partly to show everyone that she was okay but more so to reassure herself.
/\/\/\/\
At the hospital George and Meredith waited outside for the ambulance to arrive. They'd heard on the radio that there had been an accident on one of the ferry boats but it wasn't until they'd seen the live television broadcast of them returning to shore that they realized it was Alex and Izzie who were coming in.
"They're going to be fine." Meredith assured George who was worrying that the ambulance was taking too long to arrive. "You saw them, they were both walking."
"Yeah." George was still worried though. "Did you hear what they said? She was under the water for ten minutes."
"Yeah, but that water is pretty cold this time of year." Then the ambulance pulled around the corner. "See there they are."
/\/\/\/\
The back door to the ambulance opened up and one of the paramedics pushed Izzie out. She was laying down on a gurney now and still had an oxygen mask which was blowing warm air, over her face. Alex walked along beside her, one hand griped Izzie the other held tightly onto a blanket.
As they wheeled them in the paramedic began giving them the stats. Meredith took Izzie's chart and George was given Alex's. Technically neither one of them was a surgical case and they shouldn't have been looking after them but they were their friends and they wanted to help.
Meredith led them into and empty trauma room and said goodbye to the paramedic. She hooked Izzie up to monitors and began removing her wet clothing. George made Alex sit down and tried to examine him.
"O'Malley I'm fine." Alex said pushing George's hand away from him.
"I don't care I still have to examine you." He stuck the thermometer into Alex's ear. "95, you're hypothermic."
"I'm fine."
With the exception of the cold body temperature Alex really did seem to be okay. "Fine." George said and he walked out the room.
Alex looked over at Izzie and smiled. She'd been very quiet while Meredith had been prodding and poking her. "That was mean," she said smiling back at him.
"Bambi will get over it." He shrugged, taking Izzie's hand again. "How is she doing?" he asked Meredith.
Meredith looked down at the readings she'd just taken. "All things considered. Surprisingly well." She handed Alex the chart. It did look promising, her pulse ox was almost back in normal range, her temperature was still low but was slowly coming back up, her BP was coming back up, her pulse rate was strong and steady and so was her breathing. Alex was still reading the chart when George came back into the room carrying a set of clean scrubs and several towels.
"Go take a hot shower." He said throwing them at Alex.
Alex took the clothes and looked at them. He looked at Izzie; he didn't really want to leave her.
Izzie watched Alex look at her. She could tell what he was thinking. He wanted to go but he wanted to stay. "Go." She said to him because it was what he needed to hear and she needed to say. She needed to be away from him, she needed to make sense of what had just happened.
"I have to take her up for a chest x-ray." Meredith offered. "You should go get yourself warmed up."
/\/\/\/\
Alex ran the water as hot as he could bear. The water stung his skin, made it tingle but it felt nice. He closed his eyes and let it run over him. He stayed there in the shower for a long time. He let the room fill with steam. He breathed it in, it felt so good. Now that he was alone he began playing the events of the day through in his mind.
Breakfast with Addison, lunch with Addison, the ferry boat ride with Addison. At the time everything with Addison had felt right. It had felt good. He cared about her, he knew he did. He didn't want to hurt her but he couldn't get the images of Izzie from his head. When he closed his eyes he didn't see Addison crying out for him from the ferry boat he saw Izzie lying lifeless on the floor of the rescue boat. He tried to shake the images of Izzie from his head, he shouldn't be thinking of her like that, he was with Addison, Izzie didn't want him. But he couldn't make them go away and he couldn't change the way he'd felt when he'd realized she was gone.
When he'd realized she was in the water, he'd felt the pit of his stomach twist, he'd felt instantly ill and adrenalin had pumped though his body. When he was in the water searching he'd blocked out the pain, the cold, he'd been aware that he was struggling to keep himself a float but he wasn't going to give up until he found her. When he found her, when he pulled her head above the surface and realized she wasn't breathing he breathed for her. He gave her the little oxygen he had because instinctively he knew he couldn't live without her. When they'd been pulled from the water, when he'd seen her lifeless body lying on the floor of the rescue boat he'd refused to let go. He'd refused to give up on her even when his head was telling him to stop, telling him that she'd been under the water for more than ten minutes, telling him that her chances were slim. He'd ignored his head and gone with his heart, he'd clanged to the slight possibility that she might be okay. He'd breathed for her, he breathed life into her and when she breathed for herself he felt a massive weight lift off his shoulders. When he thought she was gone he'd felt like a part of him was missing and when she came back he felt whole again.
He couldn't understand why he'd felt like that. He didn't think he still felt that way about her but he did and now he couldn't shake that from his head.