Taking Over Me part 7

He found her in the gallery, over looking the currently empty OR. She was staring ahead of her, looking completely lost. He approached her cautiously.

"Iz?"

She jumped and turned around. She looked relieved, but didn't say anything. She turned back around and continued to stare into space. He sat down next to her.

"I talked to Alex," he said carefully. "He said something went down last night."

She continued staring into space. He sighed, figuring she wasn't going to respond. Then she said quite abruptly, "I was fifteen."

"What?" he said, surprised.

"He was older, but not that much older. He was everything a girl would want. Charming, sweet. He made me feel like I was the most wonderful, special person in the world. I grew to love him, I really did. How could I not? He was perfect. Except he wasn't. I definitely found that out the hard way."

She paused for a moment. George just looked at her.

"And everything changed. He was just going to take me home, after a really nice night too. But he didn't take me home. I was…I didn't believe it was happening, you know? It wasn't right, that wasn't him. I told him I wasn't…and he…I was so scared. I didn't know what to do. I was only fifteen, and he told me he'd kill me, so I…I didn't tell anybody."

"So he…?"

"Yeah," she said. "And then I became pregnant." She smiled. "Can you believe that?"

He said nothing.

"By the time she was born I was sixteen. I had told my mother the truth-well part of it. I said it was his, but I told her it had been a mutual thing. After the baby was born, he stopped coming around, which I was extremely grateful for. I was terrified of him. I didn't trust him. Every time I saw his face…." She was silent for a few moments, then continued.

"But he came back, you know. I knew he would. He wasn't…like…." She seemed to be looking for the right words. "It was different than…. Anyway he came back, and I really got tired of it. I still didn't tell anybody. And eventually he did back off…and I thought he was gone."

She looked at him. "Of course I should've known better. When I came here, I was free of him. He stopped haunting me. I didn't forget him, but I moved on. Everything was better."

"But he came back."

She bit her lip and nodded. "He's crazy, he's horrible. You may think I'm wrong for keeping my mouth shut, all these years, but you don't understand. He's…he's not a person you can rat out. But George I can't…I just can't do it. I can't live this way."

"So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," she said frusratedly. "What can I do? He knows everything. I couldn't do anything. He'll make sure I won't."

"Last night," George said slowly.

She laughed shakily. "Last night. That was…that was just great."

He could see the dark mark on her face from where he had hit her. George felt instant loathing.

"I really shouldn't be telling you this," Izzie said, suddenly sounding very frightened. "This is wrong of me-"

"No it's not," George said.

"Yes it is!" she cried, standing up so quickly he started. "I just-"

"Listen to me," he said, standing up too. "You have to tell. You can't do this on your own."

"I'm sorry," she said, and with that ran out of the room.

"Izzie!" he called after her, but it was no good. He sighed. Then he realized she hadn't said a name.

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Izzie walked down the hallways quickly, not looking at anyone. She knocked into several people but didn't apologize. She was scared. She had just made a big mistake. But she couldn't help herself. It was killing her inside. She had to let it out. And now it was. George knew. And that was bad. No one was supposed to know.

And she knew he would know soon, if he didn't already.

"Dr. Bailey!" she said, and ran up to her.

"Where have you been?" Bailey asked, and she looked more concerned than angry.

"I can't work right now," Izzie said.

"What do you mean?" Bailey asked frowning.

"I can't," Izzie said. "If I do I'll probably make mistakes, and this isn't a place to make mistakes. I just-"

Izzie stopped, taking a deep breath.

"What happened to you?" Bailey asked, noticing the bruise on her face. Izzie just looked at her, terrified.

"Izzie what's going on?" Bailey asked firmly.

"I can't," Izzie said. "I really can't."

"Izzie!"

"Oh no," Izzie said exasperatedly.

George joined them.

"Why won't you all stop this?" she said, backing away.

"Izzie-"

"No!" she screamed, and everyone looked over at them.

"Izzie don't-"

"Why won't anyone leave me alone?"

"Dr. Stevens, calm down," Bailey said, reaching out to her, but she just shook her head and backed away farther.

She's reached her breaking point, George thought, not knowing what to do.

"It's all my fault," Izzie said, tears running down her face. "I shouldn't have said it-"

"You didn't do anything wrong," George said firmly.

"Don't you understand?" Izzie said desperately. "It's not just me now. And it's all my- why'd I have to-"

"This is too much for her," George said to Bailey.

"I have to leave," Izzie said. "I have to stop it-"

"No," George said.

"Izzie listen to me." Bailey put her hands on Izzie's shoulders. "You need to calm down. You're not helping yourself by doing this. You're gonna make yourself sick. Just calm down."

Izzie shook her head. Bailey, to George's surprise, took Izzie in her arms, and Izzie broke down completely.

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"Hey Iz."

Alex sat down next to her. She had calmed down, thanks to Bailey. She was embarrassed by her actions, but wasn't surprised by it. She was reaching her breaking point, and she knew it.

"Are you okay?" Alex asked.

"No," Izzie said.

They were silent for a minute.

"You can tell me anything, you know that."

She smiled but didn't respond.

"I mean it."

She nodded. Her cell rang, making her jump. She looked at it.

"I- have to take this," she said, standing up.

"Okay."

She moved away so he couldn't hear. She answered the phone.

He didn't wait for a hello.

"You told someone."

"I didn't mention-"

"I don't care if you didn't mention my name. You told someone. That was a mistake you couldn't afford to make."

And that was all.