Chapter Eight: All That Remains.

"George, how can it truly be that Alex is gone?" Izzy said, from her place on the large unmade king size bed she shared – well used to share with her husband. She was sitting Indian style, holding a very oversized pillow to her chest. George was leaning in the doorway, still unsure what to say. "I mean, he was here only two days ago. I can remember it so clearly…

'Izzy, get up,' he said softly, brushing his long, agile fingers along her shoulder, and down her upper arm, in his certain way that gave her shivers. 'Babe, you have to get up. The day is wasting away.'

"I just complained, you know? Groaned and rolled over, fell back asleep. He kissed my shoulder and said he would give me another half hour of sleep, and he was going to go to the supermarket and the café to get some coffee and stuff for breakfast. Then…" Izzy stopped her voice cracking. "He was hit by a man who ran a red light while talking on his cell phone. Totally a fluke accident. He died on the scene." Izzy was overcome by more tears. George moved to comfort her, and joined her on the bed. Izzy withdrew from his touch, before giving in, and settling into George's arms. She let out a loud, hiccupping laugh. "Who… Who knew one woman could cry so many tears?" she said, wiping furiously at her eyes.

"I did." a woman's voice said softly from the doorway, her tall slender figure leaning against the doorjamb. "Trust me. I've cried more than my fair share in my lifetime." She took a step into the room, and then headed over to the bed, sitting on the other side of Izzy. "Hey George," she whispered, squeezing his shoulder as she passed.

"Somehow, I don't doubt your experience Mere," Izzy said, a small smile starting to break onto her face, her eyes still shiny and wet.

"Oh, please, please God please! Tell me you have room on that bed for a very pregnant woman?" Cristina asked loudly as she entered the room.

"Of course we do," George said, making room beside Izzy while he sat in front of her, the four of them making a small circle. It was very reminiscent of their intern days, when they would all hang out like this, bitching about their patients, their work schedule, surgeries they missed out on, and their love lives. He realized that they had made a space large enough for another person subconsciously. It was for Alex, it dawned on him.

For the next few hours they talked about their lives since they had gone separate ways, Cristina moaned about her pregnancy, and her upcoming due date, George talked fondly of his wife Ginny, who was most likely waiting for him at the hotel room, and his two children Alexis and J.J. Meredith talked about her two children, and her husband, as well as the stress of the possibility of a third child.

"It's putting a lot of stress on our marriage," Meredith confessed. "I'm not so sure I want to go through it all again, but Hayden is so set on having another child."

"See, I'm not going past this one." Cristina said confidently, furiously rubbing her very large stomach.

"You never know," George said. "I mean, I'm no woman, but it's such a great thing, being a father- I can only imagine it's multiplied by ten times being a mother."

"Why didn't you have kids Izzy?" Cristina asked, fighting a yawn.

"We were just too committed to our careers. If I had the chance, I'd have jumped at it, as would have … Alex. We just didn't commit to it." She said simply, shrugging.

"How saaad!" Meredith sang. "Trust me, you're lucky right now. If you had children, then you'd have to deal with them right now, instead of gossiping with us."

"Agreed!" Cristina said joyfully. "I'm not a parent yet, but life's much simpler without kids."

"Oooh!" George said laughing. "Spoken like a true cynic!" Cristina looked at him, agitated. "So. How did Burke manage to get you pregnant anyways?"

"Stupid condom broke. Complete accident. But you know Burke… can't kill a living thing intentionally!"

"Yes, see in surgery, if it's an accident, that's a whole other matter!" Meredith said, laughing.

The old friends continued to talk into the night, reminiscing, sharing their lives, and bridging the gap between what used to be, and what remained now. George continued to silently mull over this strange turn of events. He could never have predicted that he would reconnect with his best friends. He hadn't talked to Meredith in ten years, and he never even tried to contact her- for reasons he could never place. Then, when Alex proposed to Izzy… he winced.

"What's wrong George?" Izzy asked, concerned, after seeing his painful face.

"What?" George asked, confused after being disrupted from his thoughts. "Oh, nothing…" he said unconvincingly, and Izzy gave him a strange look but joined the conversation again, something about what kinds of cars they owned, which confused George even more, because he still thought they were talking about their kids talents'. He shrugged, shook his head and returned to his thoughts.

When Alex proposed to Izzy, it was painful to remember, because Izzy was so much better than Alex, Alex was a playboy, always up to no good. Hadn't he cheated on her in the first place? Back then, he hadn't been able to deal with it. Even now, his heart faintly hurt, although he knew his love for her was strictly platonic. But, ten years ago, this was not the truth, and he had a hard time accepting that Izzy wasn't in love with him. In the end, it had been too hard, and he had transferred to another hospital. He still regretted the choice, even more so, because four years after he left Seattle Grace, Izzy had contacted him, and they had reconnected. Still, they were never as close, and he regretted that, because he believed that best friends, like true best friends, only came once in your life, similar to soul mates, and essentially, they are your soul mates. Not necessarily in the same Eros love way, but they know every inch of you, and they are one of the few people in the world who actually get you. George regretted that he lost all that time with Izzy, and that their friendship wasn't the same as it used to. In the end, all that remained for George was regret.