Izzie watched Alex walk out the room. She waited until the door was closed and she was sure he was out of ear shot.
"Meredith," she spoke softly. "I saw Denny."
Meredith stopped what she was doing and look right at Izzie. "Iz," she said. "Denny's dead."
"I know." Izzie said turning away. "But so was I."
"Oh." Meredith said realizing what Izzie was saying. She put her stethoscope away and sat down on Izzie's bed. Right at this instant she didn't need a doctor she needed a friend. "What did you see?"
Izzie closed her eyes and tried to picture what she'd seen. "I was in a church." She began slowly. "We were getting married. He said he misses me and he loves me but then he said I have to let him go. He kissed me and then I was on the boat and Alex was…" her voice trailed off as she remembered the boat. Remembered Alex breathing into her, the feeling of warmth she'd felt when he'd touched her, held her. "…He saved my life." She whispered as her eyes closed and a warning light began flashing on the monitor.
"Izzie?" Meredith looked up at the monitor and swore. "Shit." Her oxygen stats had just dropped dramatically. She grabbed the oxygen mask from the back of the bed and secured it to Izzie face. She gently rubbed Izzie's back and watched as her stats returned to normal ranges.
"What happened?" Izzie asked a few minutes later when she opened her eyes.
"You talk too much." Meredith smiled. "Now lets get you up to x-ray."
/\/\/\/\
Alex stepped out of the locker room. He felt a lot better now that he was clean, warm, and dry. He'd stayed in the shower long enough to think things through. He knew now what he had to do, he needed to find Addison.
Finding her was a lot easier than he'd thought. He practically walked into her when he rounded the first corner.
"Alex!" she cried, wrapping her arms around him in a tight embrace. "I'm so glad you're okay. You had me so worried."
"Yeah." Alex said pulling away from her. "Addison we need to talk."
She nodded at him. She wasn't really surprised; a part of her had seen this coming. She took his hand and led him into an empty on-call room. They sat down next to each other on the bed.
"Addison." Alex began. "I like you, I do care about you and I don't want to hurt you. That is why I have to do this now. We can't keep seeing each other."
"I know." Addison said placing a hand on Alex's leg.
"You do?" He was surprised, usually when he'd broken up with someone they didn't react so understanding.
"I saw you today, what you did. You still love her don't you?"
"I didn't think so, but now. I can't stop thinking about her, every time I close my eyes she's there."
"I knew it was too good to last." Addison said standing up and holding out her hand for Alex. "Come on. You need to go find Izzie and tell her how you feel."
"Thank you." Alex said taking Addison's hand and standing. "Thank you for understanding."
"Thank you," Addison said, embracing him one last time, "for being honest with me."
Then they walked out the on-call room and went their separate ways.
/\/\/\/\
Meredith held Izzie's chest x-ray up to the light and pointed to the shadows covering her lower lungs.
"The x-ray shows you have some pulmonary edema. That is why you're still having difficulty breathing."
Izzie nodded but didn't dare take off her oxygen mask. Only minutes earlier Meredith has lectured her about the need for her to keep her mask on and that she was talking too much.
"You're lucky to be alive." She'd said. "You need to rest now. You can talk all you want later."
So now Izzie was sitting up in the bed listening very quietly to Meredith explain to her what was wrong. Meredith continued talking and as she did the door opened and Alex walked in.
"Hey," he said giving Meredith and then Izzie a hug. "How's the patient doing?"
"She's doing well." Meredith held up the x-ray again for Alex. "She has some mild pulmonary edema but it should fix itself." She paused for a second and then added. "She keeps talking too much."
"Oh." Alex said looking at Izzie with a mock serious expression. Then he turned to Meredith. "Do you mind if we arr…" he tilted his head sideways indicating that he wanted her leave the room.
"Yeah sure. I've got other patients to see anyways." Then she picked up the x-ray and was gone.
Now that they were alone Alex sat down next to Izzie's bed so that their eyes were level. He took her hand in his and he began talking.
"Izzie," he said, still not exactly sure of what he wanted to say. "I love you. I didn't know until today. I didn't think I still felt this way about you but I do. I love you. I want to be with. I can't imagine being with anyone else." He paused for a moment and took a deep breath. "I know you're not ready for a relationship, I know you're not ready to let anyone in and I understand that. I just wanted to let you know that when you are ready I'll be waiting for you."
He lent forward and kissed her forehead, then stood up to leave. He made it all the way to the door before she called out for him to stay.
/\/\/\/\
Izzie listened to what Alex had to say. His words slipped over her, through her, into her. She'd been thinking about the same thing a lot today. She'd been thinking about Denny and what she'd seen, what he'd said to her. She had to let him go. She had to move forward. And here Alex was telling her he loved her, telling her he wanted to be with her, that he didn't want to be with anyone else. This was what she wanted to hear and didn't want to hear all at the same time. She wanted Alex but…
He finished what he was saying, he kissed her forehead, stood up and began to leave. He was almost at the door before she found her tongue and was able to speak.
"Stay!" she called out to him and he stopped, turned around and walked back.
He sat down next to her bed again. He took her hand but he didn't say a word. He was waiting for her to say something. She looked him in the eyes, she took a breath as deep as she could manage and pulled the oxygen mask from her face. She pulled him closer to her and then in a soft voice she whispered to him.
"Marry me."
/\/\/\/\
"Marry you?"
Alex hadn't been expecting that. He'd been expecting to have to wait for her. But she wanted him, she wanted him now. She stared into his eyes beckoning him for a response. He wasn't sure what to say and then he remembered everything he'd just said and the answer was obvious.
"Of course." He said before leaning in and kissing her like he hadn't done in a long time.
a/n: Well that's the end. If you've read this far please review I'd love to know what you thought. And thanks to everyone who reviewed the previous chapters.