Walking back to his family, he couldn't get Izzie out of his mind. The way she smiled at him the last moment, the way their eyes had held an almost palpable feeling that they both couldn't yet grasp as to what.
Reaching his family he already had their full attention the second he got there, so he began,
"He's doing great and now you all can visit him, too."
Izzie could see the relief on his family's face and the tension that left their bodies and the entire group of people which consisted of about five people as she looked upon them from a safe distance. Oblivious to the loud and obvious footsteps behind her, she kept on looking at Denny. The slight tap on her shoulder brought her back to being aware of her surroundings.
"Stevens, have you alerted the family of the timing change of the surgery?" came Dr. Burke's question.
Izzie looked at him with a perplexed expression. " timing change of surgery?"
"Stevens, it was on the board, I could get someone else who pays more attention than you because it has been there for at least a half an hour and I expect you, the patient, and his family by now." He gave a stern look as he said, "Alright, Stevens, it's your first slip-up, but next time know that this job isn't for people who daydream all day."
"Sorry Dr. Burke, won't happen again." she said embarrassed that Dr. Burke caught her while she was in that stupor. He walked away motioning towards the family.
As she turned, it suddenly occurred to her that John needed to be operated, she had to tell Denny and his family. The dinner slipped from her mind as she approached Denny again to inform him of what was going to happen. What she didn't except was to see Denny turn around just as she was coming there and the look in his eyes. The look stopped her short of fifteen feet near him as he closed the distance to five feet.
She told herself to stop this, and treat him like her patient's son, but then a smile crept up the corners of his lips as he said, "Well, hello."
"Hey Denny, I need to talk to you about your dad." she said in an attempt of a strictly professional voice, but failing miserably as she returned his smile at the end.
"Sure, shoot." he said easily.
"Dr. Burke had an opening tonight for surgery, therefore, they will be moving the surgery up to tonight and I just wanted to inform you." she said.
His face suddenly had visible strains of stress on it, and she was surprised she hadn't noticed before.
"Oh man, get over one punch, and here comes another." he said as he looked back at his sister and family who were still visibly relieved from the earlier news of John's safety.
"I'm sorry, but I have to go and prep him up for surgery, be sure to page me if you have any questions." she said as she ignored the impulse to offer comfort for the pain she saw on his face and walked away to tell John the change of plans.