Author's Notes: As always, thank you all for your overwhelming support! You guys really brighten my days and I'm so happy so many of you are enjoying this story so far.

Meredith Grey walked briskly down the hospital corridor glancing quickly at the room numbers looking for Jo. She wasn't used to not being able to go wherever she wanted within the walls of a hospital and was seething with anger that she had been denied access to Alex.

She turned another corner and her frustration grew as the room numbers jumped past what she had been told was Jo's room number. She whirled around and walked determinedly to the nurses' station. When she got back home she would be checking the signs in the hospital to make sure they made sense to visitors. "Excuse me ma'am, can you tell me where 3286 is?" Meredith directed at a nurse seated at the nursing station.

"Oh, Mrs. Karev? It's right over here. She should be waking up again soon. She's been in and out of it all morning poor thing," the nurse offered. "Are you her sister?"

"No, just a close friend. Her husband and I..." Meredith stopped in her tracks as she looked into Jo's room to see Izzie interpreting the baby's cardiac strip. "Thank you," she directed to the nurse as she paused briefly before stepping determinedly into the room, blatantly ignoring Izzie's presence. She put her overnight bag on the floor and moved the visitor's chair closer to the bed and sat down staring at Jo. She could feel Izzie's eyes on her as she gingerly took Jo's hand in hers.

"Mer, please. We don't have to be this way," Izzie began.

"No. Stop that. Only my friends call me Mer. You forfeited that right when you walked away from me. From all of us." Meredith said determinedly. "I'm here to focus on Alex and Jo. I'm not here to make nice with you and repair anything. I don't have the time and I don't have the energy." Meredith had spent the entire plane ride replaying her friendship with Izzie Stevens and had found herself getting upset all over again at how Izzie had abandoned them all. She should probably be thankful for the distraction that kept her from focusing on her friends' injuries for the entire flight.

She noticed out of the corner of her eye that Izzie was shaking her head, "What would you like for me to call you then?"

"How about you don't talk to me at all," Meredith suggested flippantly.

"Hey," Meredith jumped up at the sound of a scratchy voice coming from the bed and bent over Jo to look into her eyes.

"Hey you. How are you feeling?" Meredith asked her voice thick with worry.

"Like I hit a log truck," Jo said with a small grunt. "How's Alex?"

Meredith sighed, "I'm not sure, the staff wouldn't let me in the ICU since I'm not family. I thought you would know something." Meredith glared at Izzie accusingly.

"Why don't I see what I can find out?" Izzie offered and began to head out of the room when a tall doctor with a friendly smile walked in.

"Hi Mrs. Karev, do you remember me from last night?"

"Last night's kinda fuzzy," Jo said her voice still weak.

"That's to be expected. I'm Dr. Clifford with neurosurgery. You had a pretty significant concussion, but your scans still look good today. I think we are in the clear for that. Your wrist and arm look good right now, the surgery went smoothly. You'll need some physical therapy once the cast comes off, but I think..."

"Alex?" Jo asked with more strength in her voice.

Dr. Clifford sighed, "He made it through the night. We've given him four units of blood since he came in, but his blood count is now good. We had to remove his spleen. His kidney was badly damaged, but we were able to salvage it."

"And his head injury?" Meredith gave Jo's hand a light squeeze when she recognized the fear in the young wife's voice.

Dr. Clifford sighed, "We were able to get the bleeding under control, but he has a good bit of swelling. We completed a craniectomy and kept the skull cap in his abdomen for preservation. His cranial pressures were good today, but with his kidney injury high blood pressure is a big concern going forward. We will keep him sedated to let his body have time to heal. As you know with this type of injury to his temporal lobe we are worried about memory loss, difficulty with speech, increased aggression, and hearing deficiencies. Of course we won't know the full extent until he wakes up."

"When can I see him?" Jo asked determinedly.

Izzie interjected, "I'm sorry, I can't permit that now. You will be on complete bedrest for the remainder of your pregnancy and a trip to the ICU would be too risky."

Meredith was about to counter, but Jo beat her to it, "This bed has wheels right? Why can't you people just wheel me in there? I never have to get out of the bed. And not seeing him will just make things worse for me which will in turn affect the baby."

Meredith gave a satisfied smile as Dr. Clifford spoke up, "I would tend to agree. It can only help him as well to have his wife visit occasionally." He then glanced at his pager before giving a clipped, "Excuse me," and left the room.

Meredith looked at Izzie, who seemed to be struggling with what to say as she shook her head slightly, "I have to look out for the baby. The heart rate dropped towards the end of your surgery. We need to do everything we can to prolong your pregnancy."

Meredith spoke up, "Like she said she'll be in the bed the whole time. The only difference is she will be looking at her husband instead of an ugly painting of a beach."

Izzie put her hands on her waist as she stared at the ceiling, "Do you think it's that easy? Seeing him in that state will most likely upset her and affect her blood pressure which will affect the baby. I'm not trying to be a bitch..."

"Woah, stop. I'm right here, talk to me," Jo demanded in a frustrated voice. "I'm a surgeon and I've heard about his injuries. I saw what it looked like in the car. I heard him gasping for air and saw the blood everywhere. Please, let me see for myself that he's stable." When Izzie didn't respond, Jo continued quietly with a tear rolling down her cheek, "Do you really think I haven't already built it up in my mind as worse than what it probably is? Wouldn't you do the same if it was your husband?"

Meredith heard Izzie gasp slightly before nodding her head, "Okay, but I go with you and stay the whole time." Meredith could feel her eyes narrow at Izzie and began to speak when Izzie continued, "I go or you don't."

"Deal," Jo said enthusiastically. "Let's move this thing."

Meredith laughed at her friend's wife as she helped pull the bed out of the room. She walked beside Jo as Izzie pushed the bed from behind. She talked to Jo about all the gossip she and Alex had missed while on their trip as well as some of Zola and Bailey's antics. She showed pictures that Zola had sent to cheer them up.

"She was very clear that Alex get the letter F pictures," she explained as she showed them to Jo. "So a lovely fish and flower for his room." Meredith smiled in satisfaction as Jo laughed at the pictures. "She also had to come up with her own word that starts with F and picked 'father.' She wanted to be sure that Uncle Alex got that since he is going to be a daddy." Meredith looked on in fear as Jo began to tear up and then whispered conspiratorially, "I had to sneak it out of the house without Derek seeing or we would have had a fight on our hands."

The two shared a laugh as Jo looked up at Meredith, "Thank you for this and for coming here. I know that wasn't easy for you with everything you have going on."

"Hey, nothing could have kept me away. I'm glad I can help in some way," Meredith said sincerely as she squeezed Jo's shoulder.

"Okay here we are," Meredith looked up quickly at Izzie having forgotten she was there. "Let me check and make sure nothing needs to be moved." Izzie stepped past them to fully open the doors to Alex's ICU room before stepping in the ICU bay.

Meredith rubbed Jo's arm as she suspiciously looked towards Alex's room, "Let me go help her." Meredith walked with intense determination into Alex's room to see Izzie holding Alex's hand, a single tear falling from her cheek. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" Meredith felt herself hiss.

Izzie looked at the monitors and bit her lips, "Do you really think she's good for him?"

Meredith grabbed a chair and moved it to the far wall, "His wife who loves him? Yes, she's good for him. Now help me move this stuff so she can come in here or get out."

"He's going to need so much. She doesn't have much of a support system..."

"That's not really your concern," Meredith interrupted to shut down the direction of Izzie's thoughts. She pushed the bedside table out of the way, "I'm going to get Jo. I suggest you remove your hand from her husband before she gets in here. Even in her current state she could probably still kick your ass for what you're thinking."

Izzie backed up to stand against the wall as Meredith pushed Jo into the room. Her heart broke as Jo let out a quiet sob and reached out for Alex's left hand. Meredith quietly walked to the other side of the bed to really study him. It broke her heart to see someone she loved like a brother in such bad shape. She sat down in the visitors chair and just stared at him thinking how much he of all people does not deserve another obstacle to overcome in life.

She then felt Jo's eyes on her, "He really does look better today. His coloring is much better. He'll be okay, he's much too stubborn to give up."

Meredith laughed slightly and wiped at her eyes, "I'm supposed to be supporting you."

"You are. And we so appreciate it. I know Alex won't be able to tell you that, but he'll be grateful." Jo's eyes had fixated back on Alex's bruised face as she rubbed his hand.

Meredith stared at Jo and considered how lucky Alex was to have found her. Not too many people in the world could handle him, but Jo made it look effortless. She had always considered herself to be a strong woman, but she sometimes envied Jo's resolve and strength.

Jo must have sensed eyes on her and glanced at Meredith, "How bad does my face look?"

"Well it's the worst shiner I've seen on you and that's saying something," Meredith said dryly.

Jo smiled and gave a half-hearted laugh, "Then I'm glad Alex is drugged for now. He tends to go nuts when I have a bruised face."

Meredith gave a knowing smile as Izzie spoke up, "Has your husband hit you before Mrs. Wilson?"

Meredith felt as if her head would explode in anger. Jo turned to Izzie before looking back at Alex, confusion written all over her face, "No. No, he could never hit a woman especially me. I've been hit by other men I've been involved with and the last time...well the last time I couldn't run to Alex fast enough." Meredith could see tears begin to fall from Jo's eyes, "He's the only person who's ever truly made me feel safe."

Meredith began to rise, "We'll give you some time alone. Just yell if you need something, okay?" At Jo's nod Meredith exited the room motioning for Izzie to follow.

"This is not what I agreed to. She needs to be monitored," Izzie whispered harshly.

"We can monitor from here. She needs some time alone with him," Meredith said her eyes never leaving Alex and Jo.

An uneasy silence fell over them before Izzie ventured, "Mer, why didn't you call and tell me Alex had been shot?"

Meredith was taken aback by the question, "What? How do you know about that?"

"A nurse was taking a history and Jo told her. How could you not tell me? I know you were upset at how I left, but you know I would have come back to help take care of him had I known!"

"Maybe because I knew Alex didn't want you there. Maybe because I was trying to protect him from you. Maybe, just maybe it's because I was busy taking care of my husband who had also been shot in the chest on top of having a D&C from my miscarriage on top of sitting with my sister in the psych ward after she had a breakdown. I guess I should apologize that I never found time in all of that to make sure you knew about Alex when you couldn't find time to pick up a phone and check on the rest of us."

"God Mer, I'm so sorry. I had no idea..."

Meredith cut her off, "Take yourself off Jo's case."

"What? That's not necessary..."

"It's inappropriate. She is your ex-husband's wife, Izzie. You're not rational when it comes to him, how can you possibly be the best person to care for her?"

Izzie motioned towards the ICU room, "That is Alex's baby, Meredith. Alex's baby. Do you really think I would do anything to jeopardize the health of that child? Seriously?"

Meredith took a deep breath, "How do you think Jo will take it when she finds out her doctor is her husband's first wife? How do you think Alex will feel about it? That your hands have been on her cervix? Do you really not see the problem with this? Either you take yourself off her case or I will explain the situation to your chief of surgery. I wonder if the higher ups know your history of getting too close to patients and cutting LVADs." Meredith took in Izzie's tortured face and softened her tone, "Give whatever excuse you want, but get off her case and stay away from them." Meredith then left Izzie standing in the corridor as she rejoined Jo at Alex's bedside.