Okay Precious Things has sucked me in and distracted me from all my other fics, lol. So I'm going back and updating everything else. Hope you guys enjoy!
Izzie sighed as she hung up her phone. Cristina had called her in a panic, and if Cristina Yang called you in a panic, it meant something was definitely wrong. Meredith had the day off but was refusing to leave her bed. Fortunately, Cristina didn't have to be in until late afternoon for a night shift so she could stick around and make sure Meredith didn't do anything stupid. The worry in Cristina's voice made Izzie uncomfortable; Meredith's mental stability had been in question since she nearly died, but everything had seemed fine until that moment. Even the night before Meredith was talking and seemingly okay, but the struggle for slumber caused her mind to wander and the thoughts obviously weren't good.
Izzie began to think of a solution and Lexie was the first person to come to mind. She knew that Lexie was the last person that Meredith wanted to see (aside from Derek) but Izzie knew, of all people, that hiding from a problem only made it worse.
Izzie went in search of Bailey, hoping she could use the old 'I need an intern' trick to get to talk to Lexie. Though being a general surgery resident and Bailey's assistant of sorts made things difficult. Luckily, Bailey was doing a bowel obstruction with two of her other interns and Izzie could take a surgery scheduled at the same time if she felt comfortable. Though the surgery was on a patient that also needed Neuro work, she took the opportunity and hoped Lexie and Derek would put their personal issues aside.
Izzie found Bailey emerging from her patient's room and stepped in front of her. "I'll do that 3:25 surgery," Izzie nodded.
"Good," Bailey smiled. "You'll be working with Doctor Shepherd; your patient is in room 405. You need to help me on rounds first."
"I'll need some interns," Izzie said. "Is Grey available?"
Bailey raised an eyebrow and Izzie gulped: Bailey was no idiot. "You take Grey you get O'Malley too. Package deal, they're a team today."
"O'Malley?" Izzie sighed.
"Oh, because he didn't advance to second year with you he isn't good enough for your surgery? Are you forgetting he performed heart surgery in an elevator? Ya'll move up and leave everyone in your dust. Someone needs to deflate your ego, Isobel Stevens."
"No! No! I have no problem with George; it's just I only needed one intern and-"
"Now you have two interns. Now come with me on rounds," Bailey ordered. Izzie nodded and followed Bailey down to her waiting group of 'suck ups.'
"Grey and O'Malley, you'll be working with Doctor Stevens today..."
George's eyes shifted up from his shoes as Bailey continued speaking to the rest of the interns. He looked first at Lexie and then over to Izzie. Izzie turned away as soon as she noticed George watching her and the entire group made their way around the hospital checking on surgical patients.
"If you need me, page me. I can have Doctor Samuels take over for me," Bailey said, turning to Izzie.
"I'll have Doctor Shepherd and George and Lexie, I think I can do this!" Izzie smiled. Bailey gave a nod and patted Izzie on the shoulder.
"Wow, her heart isn't made of ice," one of the interns laughed and Bailey turned around and glared at the whole group.
"Ya'll think I don't know everything you say and do? Michelson, you're on scut."
Dana Michelson groaned and Bailey glared at her. "I'm sorry, did you have something else to add?"
Dana shook her head and started down the hall.
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"I will pull you out of this bed if I have to," Cristina groaned, plopping on the foot of Meredith's bed with a granola bar in her hand.
Meredith didn't respond and Cristina rolled her eyes, chucking the granola bar at Meredith. Meredith just grunted and pulled her comforter up over her head.
"I never thought I would say that I miss bright and shiny, Meredith. So please, stop with the dark, damaged, scary & twisty Mer act and get out of this bed. I WILL pull you out of it. I have a good ten pounds on you," Cristina growled.
Meredith didn't even respond, she didn't peek out from under the comforter and Cristina had to place her hand on her to double check that she was even breathing.
"Meredith, I will suffocate you if you don't speak to me," Cristina stated.
Meredith didn't move.
"I'm grabbing a pillow," Cristina said, "I'm moving closer...I'm going to do it...with no remorse!"
Meredith still had no reaction to Cristina and Cristina growled, throwing her hands up in surrender.
"It's already old, Meredith. Burke left me at the altar and I went along with my life. I went along with my life because I didn't want you to feel sorry for me. I didn't want anyone to feel sorry for me, and I especially didn't want to feel sorry for myself. The point is, the man I have been faithfully standing by all this time left me behind and I shed my tears and moved on, or at least I'm doing a damn good job pretending I've moved on. So you have no right whatsoever to sit here sulking in this bed when you broke things off with Derek," Cristina said, her voice wavy as she fought back emotion. "Meredith Grey, I have kept my composure, I have struggled through this because you've been there. You cut me from my dress, you helped me with my newfound liberation and now you're not doing your job. You're not being my person and you're not letting me be yours!"
Meredith slowly pulled the comforter from over her head and stared blankly at Cristina.
"Are you..."
"Crying? No," Cristina lied, wiping at her eyes.
Meredith sat up and wrapped her arms around Cristina, and soon enough Meredith was crying into her shoulder. Cristina's few tears were quickly stopped by the sound of Meredith sobbing.
Derek stood in front of the scheduled surgery board, his arms folded over his chest as he exhaled. His eyes scanned the perfect grid and perfectly legible handwriting.
"Lexie Grey, eh?" He heard to his right. He caught a glimpse of Mark Sloan from the corner of his eye and took a deep breath.
"Hear anything from Addison?" He retorted.
A moment of silence was followed by Mark muttering, "Ouch."
"I had a feeling," Derek sighed. "Everything she did reminded me of Meredith, her mannerisms, even the way she laughs...like Meredith and I continued to think it was all in my head. Truth be told I have no clue why I slept with her. "
"I'm handing over my manwhore crown," Mark stated. Derek turned and glared at him. "Well, you're not an intentional manwhore at least. I mean, to her you're the filthiest of manwhores at the moment but you're not...never mind."
"I don't know what to do," Derek sighed.
"At this point, there is little you can do except wait for her to let the level of loathing drop a little, when she's ready to talk...talk and don't stop talking. If you love her, don't shut your mouth until she gets what you are saying."
Derek pursed his lips in thought and remembered a summer long ago when he and Mark built a homemade tree house in Mark's sprawling backyard. Derek fell from the tree and snapped his arm and Mark sat with him, talking him through the pain. Mark, despite his setbacks, could talk Derek through anything. He had the uncanny ability since childhood and Derek's fingertips grazed his elbow that had once throbbed in pain on a warm spring morning.
"Addison will come back," Derek stated. "You know her, she needs her space, a life changing experience and then she comes back..."
"Except this time I won't be waiting around for her," Mark responded.
"Oh?"
"It's in my best interest to let go and move on..." Mark nodded.
Izzie made her way over, followed by Lexie and George.
"Doctor Shepherd, I'll be assisting you and doing the SKP transplant for Adam Tansey," Izzie said. Mark's eyes shifted from the board to take in Izzie Stevens, standing tall with her hands clasped behind her back.
Derek turned as well, giving a nod. Izzie watched his eyes move to Lexie, whose own eyes shifted to the linoleum.
"O'Malley and Grey are my interns for the day," Izzie nodded.
Derek gave another slow nod. "Alright," he managed to push out.
Izzie locked eyes with Mark for a moment and she couldn't pinpoint the look in his eyes. It wasn't his normal suggestive glance and flirty eyes. It was as if he were looking into her core and seeing her for something more than everyone else. Izzie shifted uncomfortably and Mark turned himself, resting a palm on Derek's shoulder.
"I'm here if you need me," he said before adjusting his scrub cap and heading off to surgery.
Derek watched Mark head down the hall and then turned back to Izzie, "Make sure our OR is prepped and ready," he said.
Izzie nodded and Derek excused himself.
"Go help prep the OR," Izzie ordered, her eyes never meeting George's. "I'll go check our patient again."
"Izzie," George sighed.
"Don't, George," she growled.
"I...I'll go check out the OR," Lexie sighed, pointing to her destination.
"Thank you, Doctor Grey," Izzie spit out, nearly choking over the awkwardness of Lexie's name.
George remained behind, watching a pained expression sprawl over Izzie's face.
"George, I am your boss. Can you please listen to me?" Izzie sighed.
"I can't do this," George groaned. "I can't have you hate me if we have to work together."
"What?" Izzie growled. "You should have thought of that before you told me off."
"You should have thought of that before you confessed your undying love for me!" George snapped back, rather loudly. Izzie's cheeks flushed with red as she roughly grabbed George by the arm and dragged him off towards the locker room. George didn't know what hit him as he replayed what he said over and over again in his head. Anyone could have heard his outburst and run to Callie. Luckily it seemed as if no one had even heard them.
Izzie spun around, her eyes burning a hole into George.
"Don't you start taking your shit out on me, George O'Malley! At least I can be honest with myself. You're following Callie around like a pathetic little puppy. It's not my fault you're miserable; you dug your own grave, now lie in it!"
"Wha...what?" George forced out, digging his nails into his palms as his hands formed fists.
"I cannot change the fact that I love you! I can't just wake up tomorrow morning and say 'I don't love George' and expect the feelings to go away. I'm not going to pretend nothing is going on just to protect poor Callie. I'm tired of this! I feel selfish and I'm even worrying about this right now when Meredith needs us, but no, you can't make up your mind...like always! It's Callie or it's me, George, and you need to stick with it!"
"Izzie! You're the one who won't even...look at me! You act like I'm...scum at the bottom of your shoe...and...don't I deserve more than that?"
"No," Izzie muttered.
"I said I'm going to stick by Callie..."
"Then stick by Callie and leave me alone!" Izzie cried.
"I don't want to lose you," George said, reaching out to touch Izzie's face. Izzie moved away as a flood of tears escaped from her eyes.
"Don't touch me," she sobbed.
"You are my best friend," George sighed.
"Correction," Izzie stated, struggling to regain composure. "I was your best friend, long before Callie, I was the one."
George's eyes lowered to the floor and he took a deep breath,. "I just wish we could go back to the way things were before we...we...had sex."
Izzie and George paused as they heard a locker slam.
Callie Torres-O'Malley could not believe everything she had just heard. Her heart beat so fast that she felt as if it were going to explode in her chest. She refused to let any tears fall, not there. She wasn't going to look weak. She wasn't going to look like her heart was shattering into a million pieces and her world was falling down around her.
She stood, reminding herself to breathe before walking around a row of lockers to find George and Izzie standing like deer caught in headlights.
"You don't have to force sticking by me," Callie firmly stated. "There's nothing left to stick by."
"Callie!" George gasped.
Callie shook her head before turning and walking towards the door.
"Callie, it's not what you think! I swear...I can explain...let me explain...you're my wife! I...I...love you!"
Callie's pace quickened as soon as she exited the locker room, George following behind her.
Callie walked fast and avoided every touch George tried to place on her tense body. She found herself at the attending lounge and slipped in, locking the door behind her.
"You look like you just caught your husband in an awkward position..." Mark Sloan stated.
Callie's body slid to the floor. "Why are you in here?" she sighed.
"My surgery got pushed back for Erika Hahn...and if you didn't notice...it says 'attending lounge' on the door."
"Fuck you," Callie growled.
"Who spit in your coffee?" Mark asked.
"I just caught my husband in an awkward position," Callie sighed.
"Now isn't a good time to gloat about how I'm always right then, I'm guessing?"
"I heard him talking to Izzie Stevens in the locker room about how they...had sex," Callie gagged, nearly vomiting as the words slid off her tongue.
Mark couldn't help but laugh. "How the hell did George O'Malley manage to score you AND Stevens...even I haven't slept with Stevens..."
Callie rolled her eyes. "Why am I even talking to you?"
"Because there's no one else."
"Ugh," Callie groaned.
Mark patted the chair to his right. "Sit down, I'll be nice."
Callie took a deep breath and stood, moving over to sit down next to Mark.
"Do you...need to cry or anything?"
"I'm not going to let myself cry over him." Callie sighed.
Rage, heartache, confusion, agony and a plethora of feelings and raw emotion overcame Callie. She quickly shifted her weight, leaning towards Mark and kissing him passionately. Mark slid his tongue against Callie's before his conscience stepped in and made matters complicated. Normally Mark would just ignore the voice inside his head and have his way with her, but this time he couldn't ignore the tiny voice, even as he remembered just how good Callie was in bed.
"And I'm not going to be someone else's dirty little secret," Mark said as he pulled away.
Callie threw herself back into her chair and brought her fingertips to her temples. "I'm so sorry...I don't know...what came over me."
"Payback?" Mark suggested.
"I don't want to be one of those girls..."
"You're not, which is exactly why my hand isn't in your pants right now."
"Thanks," Callie sighed.
"How about I get you some lunch?" Mark asked. Callie just gave a nod as she chewed at her fingernails, her eyes focusing on the doorknob of the room.
Mark moved towards the door and Callie's eyes didn't shift. He slipped outside, mildly irritated to see that George wasn't waiting. Even Mark Sloan knew that Callie Torres was someone worth fighting for. George was nowhere to be seen. Was he really giving up that easily? Mark sighed and opened his cell phone and after a moment of hesitation he highlighted the first name on his contact list.
Addison.
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Izzie had managed to make it through her surgery, forcing herself to pay no attention to George unless she was ordering him to make an incision or telling him what sort of stitches would be needed. Lexie stood quietly obeying, hanging on to Izzie's every word and making herself extremely useful.
Izzie pulled her aside after the surgery and used every ounce of compassion she had left in her to push aside her own personal problems to help Meredith.
"You need to talk to Meredith," Izzie stated.
"What? No!" Lexie gasped.
"Please! She's not in her right frame of mine and...she needs you. I know she hit you and that seriously sucks but...you have to look at where she's coming from."
"I have no idea where she's coming from seeing as she wouldn't give me the time of day from the beginning," Lexie growled. Izzie sighed.
"This is why you need to talk to her!" Izzie exclaimed.
"I can't," Lexie sulked.
"You know, your Mom really cared about Meredith..."
"Who are you to bring up my mother?" Lexie gasped.
Izzie's eyes lowered and she and Lexie stood in silence for a moment.
"I'm sorry," Lexie finally said. "I...I just know nothing about her and my Mom dies and suddenly I find out she's been hanging out with the sister I never knew and...that sister wants nothing to do with me...I want everything to do with her! It hurts...and...I just..."
"I'm sorry for making you uncomfortable..."
"I'll go," Lexie said and Izzie lifted her head.
"What?"
"I'll go...see Meredith...I just...need to go to my parent's house and pick something up...if that's okay..."
"It's fine," Izzie nodded as a small smile turned the corners of her mouth upwards.
Izzie tapped her fingertips against her steering wheel as she waited for Lexie to emerge from her father's house. Lexie finally ran down the front steps, a large brown grocery bag in her hands.
"What is it?"
"Oh...it's nothing," Lexie stated and Izzie nodded.
They made their way to Queen Anne Hill and Izzie was mildly relieved to see Cristina had already left. She knew Cristina would not be pleased to see Lexie.
Izzie made her way up the porch and into the house, Lexie following close behind, holding the bag tightly to her chest.
"Mer?" Izzie called out. She started up the stairs when she didn't get an answer.
She pushed open the door to Meredith's room and spied Meredith on the bed, curled up in the fetal position with a pillow pressed against her stomach. She stared at her window despite the shades being drawn.
"Meredith?" Izzie asked.
Meredith didn't turn to look at Izzie as she spoke. "I just want to be left alone," she said softly.
"I brought someone to see you," Izzie sighed.
Lexie slipped into the room and set the brown paper bag on a small table by the door.
"What is she doing here?" Meredith gasped as she sat up.
Lexie moved forward, dropping her hands to her sides. "Meredith, we need to talk."