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Izzie stared up at the ceiling from her position on her bed. She was lying haphazardly across it, still in the position she had heavily flopped down in when she came home. She was still the scrubs she wore home from the hospital and she couldn't find it in herself to move to go take a shower to wash the day away.

The house was empty and still. The other's where still at the hospital finishing their shifts out. After Bailey had found her in the locker room, she had awkwardly told her about what went on in the hospital that day, outside of their stuck elevator. What everyone had heard and what that meant. The other doctor was surprisingly nice about the situation and had even let her go home early.

She figured her resident thought she was on a verge of another breakdown and was trying to prevent another Denny Duquette disaster from happening, but she was afraid her mentor was too late.

Sure she hadn't put any patients in harms way or crossed any medical ethical guidelines, but her actions of the day still had caused an impact on her life and the lives of others.

Other people whose lives she cared about, loved even. She had left George behind in the elevator to, unbeknownst to her, deal with the aftermath.

When she woke up that morning she didn't know she would be destroying marriages, dealing with public humiliation, and worst of all, loosing her best friend all in one shift. If she could have foreseen her day beforehand she would have called in sick.

She heard the front door open and close downstairs, she hoped that who ever was coming home for the day would just leave her be. She didn't have the strength to talk to anyone. She just needed the silence for once.

When she heard the light knock at her door and Meredith's voice calling out her name on the other side, she should have known her roommates wouldn't leave her in the darkness alone.

"Iz?" Meredith asked, carefully after she opened the door slightly and stuck her head in.

When she saw the blonde doctor lying aimlessly on the bed, she opened the door more and stepped in.

"I just wanted to check in on you…" Meredith said, quietly. She wasn't exactly sure what to say to her friend. She didn't think 'glad to see Callie didn't murder you on the spot' was appropriate for the situation.

When she was greeted by silence she turned and closed the door behind her and walked over to sit on the edge of her bed.

"Is there anything I can get you?" Meredith asked, caringly. "Maybe something to eat… or some kind of hard liquor?"

Meredith tried to lighten the situation. Something she knew that was lost on her distress friend, but she had to try something. Izzie was starting to remind her of the sad period of time after her dreams of marrying Denny had been shattered by his death.

Once again Izzie just kept her stare focused on the ceiling above her.

"Well you didn't miss much after you left…" Meredith said. Well nothing if you didn't count Callie going berserk on George and punching him, she thought to herself. Another thought that she didn't think her friend needed to hear right now. "It was pretty quiet…mostly."

Meredith looked over at Izzie, who kept her quiet front up. She knew she wasn't going to get through to her friend tonight. She understood how she felt. It hadn't been that long ago when she was devastated by Derek's marriage to Addison. She could remember how hard it was to work in the same hospital with the two of them. Much less seeing Derek everyday and feel her body ache for him. And how easy it was to give into temptation. After all she wasn't the leader of the Dirty Mistress Club for nothing.

She also remembered wanting to be left alone after everything went down between her and Derek. Sometimes her roommates listened and sometimes they didn't. This was a time she needed to listen to Izzie's silent pleas and give her space.

"Well if you need anything, you know where to find me," She said, standing up and heading towards the door. Right before she got to the door she heard the soft sound of Izzie's voice.

"How did you get through it?"

"I'm sorry?" Meredith asked, turning around. She almost didn't hear her at all.

"When Derek didn't choose you," She said, a little louder now. "When he cut you free and broke your heart… how did you get through it?"

"I dunno…" She said, crossing her arms. "I just took it one day at a time I guess, as corny as that sounds."

Izzie brought her hand up and wiped her fresh tears away and laughed bitterly. "Probably helps if you don't have to deal with public humiliation like having your dirty moments broadcasted all over the hospital and igniting a fury of talk among the gossip whores."

"Yeah probably so. Of course having your panties pinned up to the bulletin board for all to see wasn't all that great either."

"Mmm, yeah," Izzie agreed, simply.

"Look it could be worse," Meredith tried.

Izzie's head popped up as she gave Meredith a crazy look.

"How?"

"There could have been video camera's in the elevator for the gossip whores to enjoy," Meredith shrugged, trying to hide her smile.

Izzie just let her head flop back down to the mattress as she groaned.

"It'll get better, Iz. Between Cristina's wedding coming up, Alex getting all friendly with Ava, and my life being my life, something is bound to happen in the next couple of weeks to take all the gossip whore's attention off your situation."

Izzie just nodded. She was back to looking up at the ceiling again.

"You should probably change into some different clothes, I'm sure it would feel good to get out of the clothes you've been in all day," Meredith tried, but was once again greeted by silence.

"I'll just be downstairs. If you need me just give me a yell," Meredith offered before stepping out of her room, leaving the door cracked just in case her friend did need her soon.

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George stepped into the lobby of their hotel. He looked around at the bustling reception area. People whizzed by him going out the door, to their life, whatever that was. A man with a nice coat and tie on breezed pass him while carrying a briefcase and talking on his cell phone at the same time. A couple in formal wear, holding each other close, lost in each other brushed passed him, oblivious to him standing there numbly in the room. A family came into the hotel, wearing tourist shirts and holding shopping bags, all laughing and having a good time as they passed him. Even the workers behind the counter seemed to be buzzing with life as they did whatever their assigned duty was for the evening. He had become a regular there, so they no longer took notice when he came and went. But as he stood there, while other people's lives swirled around him, he felt paralyzed from the world wind events of his life.

He could be any of those busy people in that room. Could have their lives, and be oblivious to the pain and sadness of the world. He could be the savvy businessman who was caught up in his work and unconcerned with the world around him. Or he could be part of the loving couple, so lost in each other that they were blind to everything else around them. He could even be the family man, happy and devoted to nothing but his family. But somehow he just couldn't be all three at once, not at this point and time in his life. When everything seemed to be flying past him in warp speed, all he wanted to do was scream and reach out to something to hold onto. To find a balance, once again.

He looked around the busy hotel and he knew had to find that balance again. It was the only choice he had left.

He walked over to the elevators and pushed the small arrow button up. As the elevator chimed and the doors opened up, he thought about how much of his life he had spent in elevators. Working in a large hospital will have you riding elevators for a good portion of your career. To get lab results, move patients, go to lunch, or to even just go home. There was no way to avoid the elevators at Seattle Grace. Or the people who rode them with you every single day.

When the door slid shut, he noticed his reflection from the glossy gold metal. He lifted his hand to the spot where Callie had punched him earlier. It was already sore to touch, but he did it anyways. The pain reminded him that he was alive.

He pressed the button for his floor and the elevator started its upward bound with out a hitch or a bump, unlike the elevator he just spent most of his day on.

When the doors finally opened again the first thing he noticed was familiar looking clothes flung across the hallway. He slowly made his way down the corridor, picking up a shirt here or a pair of pants there. He picked up a few books and a broken picture frame with a picture inside of it of him, Meredith, and Izzie in front of their Christmas tree last year, smiling because it was a better time. He stopped short at their door and just stared at it for a few moments with his clothes and things gathered in his arms.

He hated confrontations. He had never been good at them. His brothers had always picked on him when he was younger, because he was the grunt of the family. Small and quiet, but the smart one. He knew when to keep his trap shut. He knew his brothers would eventually either bore of bullying him around or get in trouble before they could do much damage. All he had to do was stay quiet and avoid confrontation until his Dad got home.

But as he stood there, he knew his father wasn't coming home anymore to save him. He also knew he had avoided this long enough and that staying quiet wouldn't get him out of this.

He got his key card out and slid it through the electronic key slot on the handle. When he saw the little green light bleep, he held his breath as he turned the handle and opened the door slowly.

As he opened the door, he was almost afraid a large blunt object would come flying towards him, but nothing but a dark room greeted him. So dark he could hardly see the hand in front of his face. Everything was quiet and still, the complete opposite of what he had witness in the lobby downstairs or the hallway outside of their door. For a moment he thought that maybe she had left. Left him and their marriage. Not that he could blame her. Maybe she left him a note explaining how she deserved better and was leaving him. To find a better man.

He blinked a couple of times in hopes it would get his eyes to focus in the dark. He slowly made his way towards the main room where he knew the window was, hoping the lights from the city outside would give him some light to see by. When he rounded the small corner, he stopped when he saw her sitting on the edge of the bed just staring into space in front of her. The grey steely light from window was just enough light to see her just sitting there numbly.

"Callie?" George rasped out, quietly.

She didn't move. She didn't show any kind of reaction indicating that she knew he was in the same room. She just sat there staring straight ahead. Her arms lay numbly by her sides, her shoulders slump from defeat. The small grey light from the window also revealed the many tears she had been shedding, a fact that made his heart drop to his stomach.

He carefully placed his things on the small love seat against the wall. He wasn't exactly sure what to say or do. He wanted to explain everything. He wanted to tell her how sorry he was. He wanted to tell her that she deserved better. He wanted to tell her what she deserved to hear long ago. But he couldn't find the right words that would express all of that. He opened his mouth to say something but closed it again. He looked down at the floor as if that would give him the answers he was looking for.

"That night, when we had that big fight," Callie whispered, roughly. "You went away and got drunk with your friends. That night when you didn't come home…"

He kept his head down, ashamed of the mistakes he made that night.

"Today, it wasn't the first time, was it?" She said, keeping her focus on the space in front of her.

He swallowed the lump in his throat and shook his head, even though she wasn't even looking at him. He didn't want to break her heart even more.

"That next day," she started again. "When you smelled so bad and looked like crap and you bravely stood up to my father and made plans for our wedding party, that day… I knew."

George looked up at her in surprise.

He closed his eyes as he remembered that tortuous day. He had felt horrible from his drunken night, but when the memories came flooding back, he sunk to a whole new level of horrible.

"I tried to kiss you.. and…and you pulled away… it wasn't a move that was anything major…but something inside of me just shifted then…. And I somehow knew, right then and there, something had changed."

"Callie…I…" George tried but was interrupted quickly.

"NO!…don't. You've had all of this time to talk but you chose time and time again not to, so don't start now." Callie said, coldly.

George shut his mouth and nervously ran a hand through his short hair.

"All this time…. all these little things… I knew something weird was going on between you and…" she bit out, but couldn't finish the sentence. Fresh tears were running down her face now and George clinched his jaw in order to keep his emotions straight.

"All of this DAMN TIME… I knew… and I've been so DAMN stupid, George."

Her tears were running freely now. George tried to fight back tears of his own.

"I knew…but I just didn't want to believe it. I lied to myself, just like I lied to myself when we got married, thinking that it was the right thing to do and that it was what you needed to help you get over your Dad. Or how I lied to myself after I told you that I loved you and you gave me that stupid speech about how you wanted to say it when you meant it…I lied to myself thinking that one day you would actually do that, that you would actually mean it."

"I did mean it," George whispered.

"No, you didn't. If you had you wouldn't have slept with her," she said, bitterly.

"I didn't mean for any of this to happen, Callie, I swear." George said, hoping she would hear his sincerity.

Callie shook her head. "George, locking your keys in the car is something you don't mean to do, sleeping with your best friend… it's something you mean. It's something that means a lot."

"You've got to know that I didn't mean to hurt you. I...there's nothing I can say that will excuse anything I've done, but please believe me when I say, I didn't want to hurt you," George pleaded.

For a moment Callie didn't say anything as she sat motionless.

"We've done this a lot haven't we?" She asked, suddenly regaining her composure and going back to an eerie calm.

George's brow furrowed in confusion. "I'm sorry?"

"This back and forth. One of us will mess up, one of us yells, then one of us apologizes. This routine of ours that we can't seem to escape, its so tiring."

George nodded slowly in agreement.

"You deserve better than this," George tried.

"Funny you should say that, all this time I thought I did get what I deserved in life. I got you. But really, I didn't. I didn't get all of you at least."

"I really did want us to work out, Callie." George said, determinedly. "When we got married… I never thought…"

Callie smiled sadly. "I had an amputee case today. A guy who had a bone destroying bacteria, but it wasn't the bacteria that did him in. It was his history with his bad legs. He never had a chance of keeping his legs to begin with. And I think a small part of him knew that before he went into that operation room."

George was a bit confused by the sudden change in subjects again, but he tried to read in between the lines.

"So what does that mean for us?" He asked, swallowing hard.

Callie looked over at him for the first time since he had entered the room and locked eyes with him. And George found his answer.

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