"I arr…" he stammered. "Went to get some food and umm…" he pulled the book out from his bag. "I brought you another book." He held the book out to her as a life line. She looked at the book and then looked away.
"I think that's enough for today." The speech therapist said standing up. She could feel the tension building in the air. "I'll see you tomorrow, Izzie." And she walked out the room.
Now they were alone Alex moved closer to Izzie and sat on the edge of her bed. He reached over and took both of her hand. He felt her try to pull away but he held on tight. She looked away from him and closed her eyes.
"Izzie, I'm sorry." He said but she didn't react, she didn't move. "Izzie look at me. I'm sorry I was gone so long. I just needed to…" He didn't finish his sentence. Izzie turned to look at him. She wasn't crying but she looked so sad.
"You promised you'd come back." She said in a whisper.
"I am back." But he knew that wasn't what Izzie meant.
"You promised you'd be there when…" Her voice trailed off, she couldn't remember the words she wanted to say.
"I know." Alex said filling the silence. "I missed a lot of things today." He let go of her hands and wrapped his arms around her body in an embrace. "I'm so sorry." He whispered into her ear and he felt her body relax in his.
"I miss you." She whispered into his chest.
Alex rubbed his hand down her back. "I miss you too." But he wasn't talking about today he was talking about before.
They stayed like that for a while; silently holding each other. Alex thought Izzie was asleep, she felt heavy against his chest. His leg began to fall asleep, he moved and she stirred in his arms.
"Alex," she whispered, "read to me."
Alex smiled, things were going to be alright. He reached over for the book and adjusted his position on the bed. Izzie curled into his arms and rested against his chest. He began reading and after ten minutes he felt her body become heavy against his. He stopped reading and closed his eyes. Today had been a rough day. Mentally Alex was exhausted. He'd spent the day worrying about Izzie, what to tell her how to tell her. It seemed now like he'd got his wish, it seemed like she'd forgotten about the questions. Maybe she was just too tired herself to listen to the answers. Today had been a big day for her also. Alex lay there caught up in his own thoughts when he felt Izzie stir on top of him.
"Why did you stop?" She whispered, her voice soft, distant.
"You were asleep."
"No. Just resting. Please keep going. I like the sound of your voice."
Alex picked the book up and continued reading. This time he didn't stop when he felt her fall asleep against him. He kept reading and slowly the hours ticked by until it was nearly 9pm and there was a faint knock at the door.
The door creaked opened and Meredith, George, and Christina walked in.
"We come bearing gifts." George said quite excitedly as he entered the room. He was carrying a large bunch of balloons and was closely followed by Meredith who had a massive bunch of flowers and Christina who was carrying a small teddy bear.
"Shhhh…" Alex placed a finger to his lip and indicated for the group to be quiet.
"Oh sorry." They all said in unison but it was too late. Izzie was awake.
Izzie opened her eyes and blinked. She didn't know where she was. This room was different; it was full of unfamiliar things, unfamiliar people.
"Alex?" she called out fear running through her.
"I'm right here." She felt his arm around her and his hand squeeze hers. His presence made her relax a bit but she was still scared, she still didn't know what was happening. One of these unfamiliar people, the man, came around the other side of her bed. He bent down and hugged her. As he touched her, her whole body tensed up and after he stepped back she was shaking.
"Izzie are you okay?" Alex asked holding her tighter.
She shook her head. She wasn't okay. Using all her energy and concentration she looked up at Alex and said as loudly as she could. "Make them go away."
Everyone including Alex seemed shocked at what she'd just said. He gently moved her off of him and stood beside her bed. "Izzie," He said kneeling down so he could look her in the eyes. "This is George, and Meredith, and Christina. I told you about them this morning. They're your friends. They want to see you."
Izzie believed Alex, perhaps these people were her friends but she didn't want to see them. She didn't want anything to do with them; she didn't want to know them. She couldn't cope with more people, more faces, more names. She had Alex, he was all she needed.
"Make them go away." She said again.
Alex stepped back from the bed. Meredith and George walked up either side of it and tried to take her hands. She pulled them away.
"Izzie." They said softly reaching for her again.
Her body tensed up, she couldn't pull any further away. "Go away."
"Izzie."
"Go away, go away, go away, go away." Her body began shaking violently; tears began streaming down her face. She wanted to stop but she couldn't control herself. Alex stepped forward and pushed Meredith aside. He wrapped his arms around her and held her until the shaking stopped. Tears still streamed down her face.
"Meredith, George, I think we need to leave." Christina said, speaking for the first time since entering the room. She'd been standing back watching what was happening. "Come on guys." She walked to the door and held it open, waiting for the others to follow. Meredith and George stepped back and walked out the door.
Alex felt Izzie's whole body relax as the others began leaving. He felt her breathing level off. He carefully released his embrace and lay her down on the bed.
"I'll be back in a minute." He said and he felt her reach out and grab his hand. There was a look of terror in her eyes. "I promise." He released her grip and walked out the door.
It hurt him to leave her like that. He saw the fear in her eyes but he needed to leave. He needed to talk to Meredith and George and Christina. They were waiting for him by the elevator.
"Alex," Meredith said as he approached. "What just happened there?"
"I don't know. I didn't think she'd be like that, I've never seen her like that." The scene still had Alex shaking a bit. It had been scary seeing her lose it like that. "She's had a busy day. Maybe she's just tired." He was lost for any other explanation. "Maybe come back tomorrow, she might be better then."
The others looked at him doubtful, then the elevator doors opened. The others walked in and Alex began heading back up the hall.
Just as the doors were about to close Meredith called out to him. "Alex come to Joe's and have a drink with us."
The mention of Joe's made Alex freeze. As soon as the words were out of Meredith's mouth she knew she shouldn't have said them.
"I have to get back to Izzie." He stammered and he ran back to her room as fast as he could.
He closed the door behind him and told himself to breath. He was the one shaking now. He'd been doing his best to suppress the memory of the shooting and now it was on the verge of overcoming him. He told himself to breath again and walked over to Izzie bed.
He climbed on top of it and lay down beside her. She was still crying but it was okay. They were together, that was all that mattered.
a/n: That's it for now. I hope you enjoyed that chapter, it's been a part of the story I've been wanting to write for a while. Please review and thanks to all those who keep reviewing. Keep it up it mean a lot to know there are people out there reading the story.