Author's Notes: Sorry for the delay guys! I am really struggling with future chapters and changed a few things up so I wanted to be sure I didn't need to go back and change anything here.

This chapter is way different than the rest. I just wanna say upfront that I'm not trying to make light of what's depicted in this chapter. My grandmother experienced what Alex is going through after she was taken off the ventilator. It was a great stress reliever for us all because of the hilarity that ensued after weeks of horrible stress.

Also, in my little mind Alex has a stronger bond with Amber than what is shown on the show. I just don't see how he could have sit by her bed in the hospital after their brother tried to kill her and not stay in contact with her. To me, that would be completely out of character. It really infuriates me how that whole story was just dropped. So anyway, in my mind Alex has grown closer to Amber since that incident and talks to her often.

As always thank you for your support and encouragement! It really means a lot to me and helps with the writer's block!

Cheers!

Izzie finished her notes in the patient's chart at the ICU nurses desk. The young woman was going to be discharged today and she was very disappointed to be losing her reason to be close to Alex. She sighed as she filed the papers in their proper place and slowly stood. She was about to walk away when she heard Alex's voice loudly yelling words she couldn't quite make out.

She walked in that direction, her anxiety increasing along with her gait. She entered his room quickly to find Jo laughing with another woman, "What's going on?" she asked in a voice that came across as much more demanding than she had intended.

Jo looked up surprised, "I'm sorry, what?"

"I heard him yelling down the hall. I thought he said..."

"George!" Alex yelled, his good leg moving agitatedly and his head swiveling.

"Oh that? ICU psychosis. They've given him something, but it's not really working so they are checking with the on-call doctor," Jo explained from her bed as she lay on her side facing Alex, a magazine open in front of her.

"Are you the on-call person? Cause Jo swears this is okay, but I'm freaking out," the other woman asked.

"And who are you?" Izzie asked sharply. Damn, two for two.

"Who am I? Just who the hell are you?" the woman snapped, "You came in here remember?"

Jo motioned to the young brunette to calm down, "I'm sorry Amber, this is Dr. Stevens. She uh... took care of me when we first came in."

"Double oh seven!" Alex yelled, louder this time.

Amber looked quizzically at Alex, "Were you guys watching James Bond while in Florida?"

Jo shook her head, "There's no telling what he's talking about. We may not want to know," she added with a smile.

"He's talking about George, he...he was an intern with us," Izzie stated hesitantly.

Jo nodded in understanding, "Double oh seven is a nickname?" At Izzie's nod, Jo smirked at Amber, "Well that makes sense, I mean we all know he's great about coming up with nicknames."

"One of his few true talents," Amber said in agreement.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" Izzie asked again.

She saw a spark of defiance and agitation in the young woman's eyes, "Amber Johnson. Great to meet you. I see you already know my brother." Izzie instantly regretted getting off on the wrong foot with the young woman. Now that her relationship to Alex had been explained, Izzie could see the strong physical resemblance. Amber also had the same mix of pain and determination in her eyes that her brother had often shown.

"Bacon!"

Jo rolled over on her back to laugh heartedly while resting her hands on her belly, "We should make a list to share with him later, this is getting good!"

"I'm on it!" Amber called out, searching her bag for a pen and paper, "What did he say earlier?"

"Let's see, he asked to hang a rat's ass on the living room wall," Jo supplied laughing. "And rapped 'Baby Got Back' in its entirety."

Izzie laughed, "It's amazing how the brain works. I would have never imagined he would yell for George."

"I know, he rarely talks about him. I would think he would yell out stuff about people he's close to now," Jo agreed.

"Like you?" Izzie asked with a slight hint of sarcasm that she instantly regretted.

"Well he did yell at you earlier. Was that a fight you guys had about our father?" Amber asked, the laughter gone.

Jo slowly nodded, "Yeah, that wasn't pretty."

"I could tell," Amber said softly.

"You've met his dad?" Izzie asked dumbfounded. It seemed as though every time she entered Alex's room she was slapped in the face with new information about his life that she had missed in their time apart.

Amber laughed sarcastically, "Bet she wishes she hadn't. Right Jo?"

Jo slowly shook her head, "No, I'm glad I did. It was rough, reeeeeally rough, but it brought Alex and I so much closer in the end. Plus meeting Jimmy and spending time with him helped me understand Alex even better. Some things are just hard for him to talk about." Jo rolled back over on her side to look at him lovingly, "I needed to spend time with Jimmy to really understand how Alex sees the world."

Amber nodded appreciatively, "God love you for it." Izzie suddenly felt incredibly jealous of Jo's relationships with Alex's family. She should have taken Alex up on his offer so many years ago to take her to Iowa. Maybe meeting some of his family would have helped her gain the insight Jo seemed to have.

Alex began to get agitated again, "Damnit Jo, I'm serious!"

Amber laughed, "Now I know what it's like to be a fly on the wall in your house."

"Damnit Jo, turn 'round. Marry me?" he mumbled incoherently.

Amber's eyes opened wide in surprise, "Please tell me that's not how he proposed!"

Jo laughed, "It kinda is. We had this patient who lived with his grandparents, and they hated each other. I had joked all day how that was going to be us in forty years. You know just snapping at each other and calling each other names. After the surgery I said something else about it and he said he would love nothing more than to be my husband and spend the next forty years listening to me be a sarcastic bitch. I laughed, called him a jerk and started to walk out when he begged me to stay. He said he was being serious, that he loved me and would always love me and wanted to be with me forever as my husband. I thought he was just trying to make nice after making a brash, flippant comment, but when we got home he showed me the ring. He offered to hold onto it and propose in a better way, but I didn't want him to." Jo shrugged her shoulders, "I loved it because it was just so him, you know?"

Amber was smiling brightly, "Sounds like Alex."

Izzie shook her head in disbelief, "You liked that he proposed by calling you a bitch?"

"Well... yeah. I know he really doesn't view me as a bitch. He was just so relaxed and simply being himself and I love it when his guard is down like that," Jo explained, staring lovingly at Alex before glancing up to Izzie. "How did he propose to you?"

Izzie had an instant feeling of dread and wished the floor would swallow her whole. Amber gasped, "Wait, you're the woman he was married to? Shut up! I didn't think I would ever get to meet you. So what really happened between you two? Cause he swears he didn't do anything wrong and you just left. Is that really true?"

"Oh crap, I'm sorry Dr. Stevens! I wasn't thinking..." Jo started.

Izzie held up her hand as if to brush it off and sat in a visitor's chair, "Don't worry about it. And its Izzie, I think we can be on first name basis." She smiled at Jo before turning to Amber, "And no, Alex did nothing wrong. I thought he did and left him a note saying I was leaving. He couldn't forgive me for that after I thought it over and tried to reconcile. It was completely my fault and I've regretted leaving him every day since I learned the truth." Izzie looked down at her hands to gather her thoughts before meeting Jo's eyes, "And he really didn't propose to me in a traditional way either. It was a quick afterthought the day I was given a death sentence." She gave a self-depreciating laugh, "He pretty much just told me to put on the dress."

Jo gave her a sympathetic look, "With Alex nothing like that is an afterthought. You meant a lot to him."

Izzie rolled her eyes that had filled with tears, "Not as much as you seem to. I can't imagine him giving up on you."

"You don't see her leaving him either," Amber muttered.

"Ambs..." Jo gently admonished.

"I'm serious. Do you know what it's like to be repeatedly abandoned and forgotten about? That's our lives in a nutshell. He probably felt like his life was finally a tiny bit normal when you got married and then you left him too. He was so broken after that I'm amazed he had the guts to try with Jo!"

Izzie began to shake her head, "I'm not perfect. I know I made mistakes and I know I hurt him, but I did love him. I just didn't try hard enough, not like what he deserved."

"Brass monkey balls," Alex muttered much calmer than before.

"I think that means he's cold," Jo said slowly standing to pull his blanket up and tuck it around his shoulders.

Alex sighed contentedly, "Thanks mom."

Izzie smiled softly, "Well you definitely speak his language."

"He's really not that hard to understand if you pay attention to him. I know if he sighs with his hands on his hips it means he thinks something is stupid. If he squints his eyes and tilts his head to the right he's thinking someone is a moron. If he chuckles as his head goes back slightly it means he knows he's being a jackass but he's going to act like one anyway. And if he grabs me by the waist to kiss me it means he is emotional about our relationship," Jo smiled as she looked at the surprised looks on the other's faces. "He's just not that hard to understand."

Amber sighed happily, "Do you need anything before I go? Visiting hours are almost over."

"No. Thank you Amber, for everything."

Amber had made her way over to Jo to give a goodbye hug, "Anything for you guys. I'll be back tomorrow." She then bent to kiss Alex's cheek and told him to be good. As she was walking towards the door she stopped and looked at Izzie, "It was...ah... interesting meeting you Dr. Stevens."

The young woman then extended a hand that Izzie eagerly shook, "Likewise."

Izzie sat for a second in an uncomfortable silence. She had so much she wanted to say and ask Jo, but didn't know where to start, "Can I ask you something Jo?" Jo met her eyes and waited for a question. "When did you figure out who I was?"

Jo nodded, "I felt something was up when I watched you and Meredith talk. You two appeared so familiar with each other, but it also seemed like you were both hiding something from me. Little alarms started going off whenever I saw you, something just seemed off. Then I heard a nurse say your full name and it clicked. Really, how many blonde Izzie Stevenses can there possibly be running around practicing medicine? But I still didn't quite believe it." Jo shook her head as she laughed, "I mean of all the hospitals in all the world..."

"You two had to get wheeled in to mine," Izzie finished.

The two laughed together awkwardly before Jo became serious, "Look Izzie, I'm not trying to be ugly, but when he's awake I really don't want you in here. He just doesn't need any more stress right now. I hope you understand."

Izzie interjected as she stood, "I do. And I wouldn't want to do anything to jeopardize his recovery. I still...I still care about him a great deal."

Jo nodded, "I know you do."