Synopsis:
"If I don't say this now, I will surely break…and I'll look after you." With Izzie, Meredith, Cristina and Alex about to enter their second-year residency and George repeating his internship, it seems like things are finally settling down at Seattle Grace Hospital, right? WRONG! With troublesome interns, flaring tempers, new doctors and explosive confrontations, our favorite characters discover that this is only the calm before the storm. Because someone in the group is hiding a devastating secret from them all…
A.N. Hmm, I never realized that I misspelled synopsis for the first seven chapters^.^…shucks! Hello all! First things first: a sincere apology for dropping off the face of this Earth ever since my last update:)! I got a nice big dose of what is known as real life kicking me in the you know what. An intensive summer course in operations management, a family medical crisis, university drama, and projects all conspired to screw me over…but as they say, "what doesn't break you makes you stronger," right? But fear not; this chapter was always playing around in the back of my mind, and believe me, Alex's part in this chapter was originally much smaller. But my wonderful online pal/motivator (overth3moon…thanks, Meredith;), she convinced me that I'm truly as dark and twisty as our title character, at least in terms of fanfiction writing. I've decided to take Alex for a very rough ride; after all, I've always excelled in dramatic writing/angst (as my last chapter proved it, I can't write comedy worth crap). Lastly, I must stress that the medical research for this chapter may be the most inaccurate out of all the chapters (so I apologize for that). In honor of seeing the long-awaited softer side of Alex on the show (and finally getting my hands on the wonderfully melodic debut album of American Idol alum David Archuleta), here is the overdue next chapter of Look After You, titled "To Be With You". A HUGE thank you, once again, for standing by patiently for this; I hope I didn't scare anybody off with this freaking long author's note. FYI, this chapter is emotional…I wrote it with a wad of tissues^.^. Enjoy!
Previously on Grey's Anatomy:
-Dr. Richard Webber: Every patient that comes through surgery is my personal responsibility, and Meredith is especially important to me. I promised…I made a promise to a very special friend that I would take care of her. Since I can't do that, the least I can do is be there for her friends if they need my support.
-Dr. Nick Gladys: This type of amnesia doesn't occur very frequently with brain injury patients, but like any other type of amnesia, all we can hope for is that she regains her memories. There's a long recovery ahead for Dr. Grey, and she needs all the support she can get."
-Dr. Izzie Stevens: "Whenever things get rough, just remember that the angels are watching."
-Dr. Mark Sloan: You guys have a second chance to make things work, and that's more than a lot of people get. We're both doctors, and we've both seen our fair share of tragedy. But this…this isn't a tragedy.
Dr. Mark Sloan: You owe her this much. You're always talking about being a believer in happy endings; so prove it.
-Dr. Alex Karev: My mum almost died because of my abusive bastard of a father… We're her family – her real family – and we're going to help her get through this!
-Dr. Derek Shepherd: She can't remember me, and I can't breathe. I'm suffocating, ADDIE!
-Dr. Alex Karev: Alex will tell Izzie why he's so cheerful. Alex's mum finally came down from Ohio to visit her grownup, ridiculously handsome, incredibly talented son, and they're going to have lunch today! Now why wouldn't Alex be sitting on the top of the world?
-Dr. Cristina Yang: Oh, holy crap!
Renowned Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel once said, "…just as despair can come to one another only from other human beings, hope, too, can be given to one only by other human beings." Since birth, we're taught to have bravery and strength in the face of adversity. Unfortunately, when a crisis does turn our world upside down, we tend to scatter like a pack of wolves. In other words, when given the choice to run away or fight, our primal instinct is flight. But every so often, we manage to pluck our courage from deep within ourselves, and, well…fight.
Izzie watched Alex's jaw tighten, his face a remarkable shade of alabaster. The hands that had been shaking with excitement only moments ago were now trembling for a totally different reason. Her eyes met with Dr. Bailey's, who was motioning frantically at her. Confused, Izzie slumped down a little, careful to not make any sudden movements. "What?" she hissed at her old resident.
Bailey shook her head and barely managed to staunch her sarcastic reply. Keeping her eyes firmly locked on the unstable Patrick Karev, she spoke quickly. "Stevens, you're the closest to the ER nurses' station. Make your way there…DISCREETLY…and tell them to call the cops. Let them know this is a hostage situation, and we need them here now. Go quickly…" She almost sighed in relief as Stevens slowly backed away from the crowd and disappeared from sight. Turning her attention to a shell-shocked Olivia, she gently nudged the young nurse. "Olivia, listen to me." Nodding encouragingly, she almost smiled as the nurse looked at her. "Honey, the Chief is still up in surgery. He's in OR 2; get up there, and make sure he stays away from this floor. We can't risk having anybody else come in here, because it might trigger this man into doing something crazy. I don't care if you have to tie the Chief down to an OR table, or whatever, but stop him from leaving the surgical floor. Got it?" When Olivia nodded, Bailey patted her arm. "Okay, go!"
As the younger woman scurried away, Patrick suddenly started raging, tears dripping down his cheeks. "You ba..bastards, get away from here! I just want to talk to my son; he's a doctor here!" He glanced around him, eyes wild with insanity. "What are you all doing?! Alex…ALEX DANIEL KAREV! Come out here! Where are you? Too afraid to talk to your old man?"
Alex winced, but then his resolve tightened. His mother was at risk every minute that she was in his sadistic father's hands, and he would be damned if he let her suffer for another minute. Shrugging off his lab coat, where he let it fall to floor, and ignoring Bailey's hoarse and terrified "KAREV!," he pushed past his shocked colleagues to stand in front of the bastard. Cold brown eyes steadily met insane, calculating ones.
With a deep breath, Alex dug out his prescription pad from the front pocket of his scrub shirt and waved it in front of Patrick. "So I'm here…I'm here now. I have what you want. You want drugs? Right here, I can write you a script. You want money to buy more guns or crap like that? You've got it. I'll take you to the bank and withdraw my whole damn savings account. But you let Mom go. NOW! Or no deal. What do you say, Patrick?! You've always been a smart man…let Mom go, and you'll walk out of here a happy man. Hurt her in any way, and I can tell you right now that you're just going to be pissed off and mad as hell. What's it going to be?"
Patrick smirked, "So you want to sacrifice yourself in order for the bitch to be safe?! Ha..fine. You know, son, you've become the man I raised you to be! I should be proud of you. But I also see that you're still that sniveling, whiny idiot. Useless! Take her!" Patrick, still snarling, slowly began to release his ex-wife as Alex made his way to his father. Just then, shouts were heard from the emergency entrance, and a megaphone-enhanced voice was heard. "ATTENTION INSIDE – THIS IS THE SEATTLE POLICE. RELEASE THE HOSTAGE PEACEFULLY, AND NO ONE WILL GET HURT." After that proclamation, all hell broke loose; Patrick Karev officially crossed the line into insanity.
With fear gripping his heart, Alex quickly reached his mother and shoved her in the direction of Bailey. He felt one hand tightly gripping his throat and another holding the gun to his head just as the police burst in. Aware of the danger he was in, Alex's breath caught in his throat, making it even harder to breathe. At least Mom's okay, he reminded himself. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to relax and remain calm. He barely heard the police chief order his dad to drop the gun and not do anything stupid. It only served to further anger Patrick, and with an incensed scream, he began dragging his hostage backwards towards the ambulance bay doors. Choking from a lack of air, Alex struggled to keep his body responsive.
As they made their way out to the ambulance bay, Alex felt his heart stop. A line of steadily aimed guns filled his vision, and in a twisted sense, it felt as though he was facing the firing squad. He found his distressed mind wandering, and he started seeing memories of his good times with Izzie, Meredith, Cristina, and George. And then, he was bombarded with images of Ava, her beautiful face glowing. At that moment, Alex made a promise to himself: if he survived this, he would propose to her. Life was too short to be wasting time getting to know each other. His next conscious feeling was an explosion of pain in his chest, and then his world went black.
Bailey watched helplessly as her former intern stumbled out the sliding doors, his face turning even whiter than it had been. Izzie skidded back into the room, her face red as she tried to regain her breath. Quickly scanning the room, the blonde realized that something was amiss. "Where's Alex?!" she demanded. Bailey didn't need to answer her, since Patrick Karev conveniently stood in front of the sliding doors, allowing them to hear snitches of conversation as the doors continued to swish open every so often. Shouts of "LET GO OF THE HOSTAGE!" and "PUT YOUR HANDS UP IN THE AIR!" mingled with Patrick's threats that he would kill Alex. Suddenly, three gunshots rang out in the quiet air, and the two Karev men fell to the ground, motionless.
"NO!! ALEX!" Izzie screamed as "all clear!" was heard. Desperately pushing past the motionless crowd, she rushed towards the ambulance bay, with George, Cristina, and Bailey hot on her heels. She skidded to a stop, her heart stopping in fear. Alex was lying facedown on the pavement, blood spreading rapidly from the gaping bullet wound in his back. For one terrifying moment, she thought he was dead. With a shaking hand, she placed her fingers on his carotid artery. Please, oh…please Alex! You have to be okay!
Breathing a sigh of relief when she felt his weak pulse, she checked his breathing, while Bailey quickly turned him around. They all gasped in alarm when they saw Alex's chest, which also sported a hole. "Somebody get a gurney!" Izzie shouted, knowing time was of the essence. When the gurney stopped in front of the two doctors, Cristina leaned down to help. "Okay, moving on one, two, THREE!" Lifting together, they managed to keep the pressure on Alex's gunshot wounds. "This way…Trauma Two!" the ER chief resident motioned as he waved urgently at his staff. Once they were in the trauma room, Bailey started shouting out orders. "Okay, start a central line; I want x-ray in here now! Push an amp of epi!" Examining the gunshot wound, she hissed. "It looks like a through and through, but we need x-ray to confirm that." She barked at a nurse, "What are his vitals?!"
The nurse glanced quickly. "89% SpO2, BP's 100/60, pulse is ..." Just then, the monitors started their high-pitched wail. Bailey looked up in alarm. "V-Fib, start compressions! Charge the paddles to 360!" Quickly rubbing the electrolyte paste onto the paddles, she quickly placed them on Alex's sternum. "CLEAR!" she shouted. As the shrieking alarms continued, Bailey motioned to the nurse. "Charge again!" The nurse nodded and quickly pressed the charge button on the defib monitor; when she heard the beep of the machine, Bailey placed the paddles on her former intern's chest again. "CLEAR!" Alex's heart still remained in V-Fib. Taking a deep breath, she turned to Cristina. "Yang, push in 2 milligrams of intracardiac epi!" The Asian surgeon nodded, and placing two fingers on the approximate location, she plunged the needle into Alex's body. The medical personnel in the room uttered a collective sigh of relief as the heart monitor began to emit a steady beep again.
Bailey motioned at the x-ray tech. "You…get in here. Shoot those films, please." When the tech was done, he nodded at her. "I can get these to you in fifteen." Bailey shook her head. "No, I can't have that! We need to get him up to surgery ASAP. You've got five minutes." Shaking his head, the x-ray tech left the room, mumbling a sarcastic comment under his breath. Bailey looked up, studying Alex's weak vital signs. "Stevens, call CT. We're bringing him down there as soon as x-ray gets back to us." The younger woman nodded as she picked up the phone and dialed to the department.
Pacing the trauma room, she stepped back and let the ER team continue stabilizing Alex. Her thoughts drifted away, but when a knock sounded on the trauma room door, Bailey's head snapped up. Taking the films from the x-ray tech's hand, she gave him a curt nod and hurried over to the light board, slapping the films onto the device to study them. She barely heard Cristina's muttered, "Oh, DAMN! Did the cops do this?!" All of a sudden, Bailey felt like she couldn't breathe. With her hands shaking, she reached over and picked up the phone. She dialed the extension for OR 2, where she knew the Chief was still there.
When a nurse picked up the other line, Bailey didn't even waste time with a greeting. "Get me the Chief; tell him it's an emergency." Pacing impatiently, she finally heard her boss' pissed off voice. "Out with it, Bailey!" he roared. "What the hell's going on downstairs?! First, Nurse Olivia comes up here to tell me that there's a situation developing, and that I'm not allowed to leave this OR. Now you're telling me that this is an emergency! I'm in the middle of a complicated surgery, and I don't have time to play games. Now you tell me, and you tell me right NOW, what's going on?!"
Bailey flinched, not prepared for the sudden onslaught of noise to her eardrums, but she quickly steeled herself. "It's Karev, Chief. He was taken hostage by his father, and the cops came to his rescue, but not before he was shot. We just got his films back, and it's too soon to tell, but it looks like it was an accidental shot. We're looking at a through and through…bullet entered through his chest and exited out his back, with a possible C5/6 fracture. We're taking him up to CT right now, but we need you to find a replacement for your surgery. We're going to need you when we get Karev into an OR."
Exactly one hour later, Alex was in the operating room, fighting for his life as Bailey and the Chief tried their best to repair the damage. Meanwhile, his 'family' stood outside in the hallway. Derek studied the former interns, seeing their haggard looks of exhaustion. Izzie was once again clasping her hands, a murmured prayer escaping her lips every few minutes, while George stood next to her, absentmindedly playing with her messy ponytail. Cristina was staring into space, lost in her own world of misery. Suddenly, Derek realized that somebody was missing from the vigil: Meredith.
Clearing his throat, he quietly addressed the somber group. "Um, I should go and tell Meredith. She'll want to be here with you guys." Cristina nodded gratefully, knowing that she would be able to gain comfort from her person. "I'll page you if anything comes up," she told him with a small smile. Watching as Derek walked away, she closed her eyes and said her own prayer for her friend.
Completely unaware of the drama unfolding on the surgical floor, Meredith was humming happily as she sat in front of a computer on the hospital's OB/GYN floor, doing research and wishing that the Chief would allow her to do anything surgical. She was bored to tears, craving some kind of action. Her stomach suddenly growled, and the baby kicked, reminding her that she had skipped out on breakfast.
Just then, Derek stood in the doorway, gracing her with a grin; however, she noticed that his eyes weren't sparkling like they usually did. Shoving her thoughts out of her mind, Meredith smiled shyly as she looked up at him. "Aw, impeccable timing, Dr. Shepherd!" She stood up and leaned against the doorway, placing a gentle kiss on his lips. "Dr. Grey is hungry because she skipped breakfast … how about a lunch date? And then some time in the on-call room?"
Derek sighed and took her hand, kissing it before he started playing with her fingers. "Mere … I don't how to tell you this. Honey, maybe you should sit down for this."
Watching her smile fade away, Derek cupped Meredith's face and caught her gaze. "Karev got a surprise visit from his crackpot dad, and he was taken hostage. The cops saved him, but he's been shot. He's in the OR right now, and the Chief and Bailey are in there, trying to repair the damage. I just thought you might want to be there…" He trailed off, studying his girlfriend carefully. Her look of panic and concern for Alex's situation had turned into a faraway look. She seemed distracted, and Derek wasn't sure if she was even listening to him anymore. Her tiny hands had become clenched, the knuckles turning white.
I sat on the porch of Derek's trailer, trying to fight away the bitter physical and mental cold that was invading my body. Taking a deep breath, I listened to his melodic voice.
"One night, I parked my car, I unlock my front door, go inside my house, and something 's different. Nothing's different, everything's the same, but yet, still, something's different. And I stand there for a while. And then I know. See, there are moments for me, you know, usually when I'm in the OR, when I just know what's gonna happen next. So I go upstairs. As I'm walking down the hall, I'm trying to prepare myself for what I'm gonna see when I go into my bedroom. I step on a man's jacket that doesn't belong to me. And everything I think I know … just shifts. Because the jacket that doesn't belong to me is a jacket that I recognize. And what I know now is that when I go into my bedroom, I'm not just gonna see that my wife is cheating on me. I'm gonna see that my wife is cheating on me with Mark, who happened to be my best friend. It's just so pedestrian, common and dirty, and cruel. Mostly just cruel. I left, came out here…" Derek trailed off.
I spoke up, suddenly feeling exhausted, and not because of my long shift at the hospital. "And you met me," I stated coldly. "And I met you," Derek affirmed. Deciding that I had had enough, I stood up, but my curiosity got the better of me. I had to know. Turning around, I uttered, "Well, what was I to you? The girl you screwed to get over being screwed?"
Derek's posture visibly relaxed, and a thoughtful expression crossed his face. "You were like a breath of fresh air. It was like I was drowning, and you saved me. That's all I know."
I stared at him, desperately wanting to tell him that I loved him, but I couldn't do that. Not just yet. "It's not enough." With that, I got into the car and left, reminding myself that he already had a wife, and I would be no dirty mistress.
Entering the scrub room, I noticed that Derek was already running his hands under the water. When he glanced at me but went back to scrubbing out, I walked right up to him, painfully aware that I was breaking the rules of personal space. "I lied. I'm not … out of this relationship. I'm in. I'm so in, it's humiliating, because here I am begging…"
He interrupted me, his eyes begging for what looked like forgiveness. "Meredith, just…just…"
"Shut up," I said breathlessly. "You say Meredith, and I yell, remember?" When he mumbled 'yeah', I continued. "Okay, here it is. Your choice? It's simple." At this point, I was forcing back tears, struggling to keep my voice even. "Her or me. And I'm sure she's really great. But Derek … I love you … in a really, really big … pretend to like your taste in music, let you eat the last piece of cheesecake, hold a radio over my head outside your window … unfortunate way that makes me hate you, love you. So pick me. Choose me. Love me."
Meredith gasped, her mind snapping back to the present. And with that painful jolt back to reality, she felt the unmistakable prick of tears behind her eyes. Derek was staring at her with his doleful but concerned eyes. "Mere, don't scare me like this. What's going on? Are you okay?!"
Feeling the tears start to pour out, she leaned into his arms and started to sob uncontrollably. "Oh, my God! I remember … I remember." Seeing his look of confusion, she forced herself to stop trembling for a few moments. "I remember us; I remember you calling me a 'breath of fresh air.' I remember the scrub room, when I told you to 'pick me, choose me, love me.' How could I have ever forgotten you?" Crying even harder now, she continued as he started to caress her face. "You were the best thing that ever happened to me, Derek…" Now that both of them were crying, there was a lot less talking and a lot more kissing. "I'm so sorry!" Meredith kept stammering, feeling her head start to ache from endless weeping. Derek put his finger to her lips, silencing her. "All that matters is that you remember now. Everything's going to be okay…" he whispered, tenderly wiping the tears off her face.
When she finally managed to regain her composure, Derek gently took her hand. "Come on, let's be with your friends. Alex needs your support." Steering Meredith in the direction of the elevators, he reveled in having his girlfriend truly back, but as they arrived on the surgical floor, he felt the smile sliding off his face when he realized that everything would be okay only if Karev survived this obstacle. Muttering a quick prayer under his breath, he led Meredith over to the door of the OR, allowing himself a small smile as she announced her full recovery to her friends. Seeing the smiling faces, Derek wondered if Meredith regaining her memory was a sign that Alex would be all right.
Nick walked out of OR 3, yawning and stretching out his sore muscles after his 6-hour operation. His patient, a 10 year-old boy, had suffered a brain aneurysm. Nick had managed to surgically clip the aneurysm, but the process had been long and dangerous, with the patient crashing once. Handing the patient's chart over to the charge nurse, he made his way towards OR 1 to check on Alex Karev.
The surgical resident had gotten on his nerves, not to mention his face, when they had first met. But during the past few weeks, he and Karev had managed to build a mutual respect for each other after sharing a stubborn patient that had almost died on the surgical table. After hours of working together as a team, they had gone out for beers at Joe's, and ever since then, he had developed a liking for the sometimes crass resident.
He had just walked up to Derek and nodded at him when the door of the OR slammed open, and out walked the Chief and Dr. Bailey, both looking exhausted. "How is he?!" Izzie demanded, immediately pouncing on her superiors. The Chief shook his head, "Not right here. Mrs. Karev is waiting in the family room; she deserves to know first." With that, the group followed their boss to the family room. Seeing Alex's mother, sitting in the chair with her hands cradling her face, broke all of their hearts. As Izzie walked up to her and gave her a gentle hug, the Chief cleared his throat. "Um, Mrs. Karev. I'm Dr. Richard Webber, Chief of Surgery … and this is Dr. Miranda Bailey, fifth-year resident. We operated on your son."
Mrs. Karev exhaled shakily, clutching Izzie's hand with a tight grip. "Dr. Webber, how is Alexander? Please tell me he's going to be okay. He's the only family I have left..."
Richard shook his head. "Mrs. Karev, you can't blame yourself. He loves you very much, and he would have been angry with himself if he didn't save you. And we came here to tell you that Alex is out of surgery right now, and he's stable. We were able to repair the damage; he had what's known as a C5/6 spinal fracture, but it was a through and through, meaning that the bullet exited his body. Dr. Bailey and I removed the fragments, but it remains to be seen if he suffered any lasting damage. But we're cautiously optimistic; your son is strong, and he has youth on his side."
Motioning to Izzie, he nodded at his resident's mother. "Dr. Stevens can take you to see him. He's still in recovery right now, but stay with him as long as you like. I'll make sure you aren't disturbed." Watching as they left the room, he turned his attention to the rest of his staff. "Shepherd and Gladys, can you clear your schedules for a post-op neurological exam on Karev when he wakes up?" When they agreed, Richard rubbed his eyes. "I'm going home as soon as I pick up my files."
Studying his exhausted colleagues, he sighed. "Everybody go and get some rest. All of you to go home now, and don't come back until tomorrow!" Richard ordered sternly. Walking out of the room with Bailey, they walked in silence until she heaved a sigh. "When are we going to catch a break? First, it was Meredith. Now, it's Alex lying on that hospital bed. Who's next …" she whispered ominously. Richard glanced at her worriedly; squeezing his resident's shoulder, he pointed to his watch. "Go home early today, Bailey. Give Tuck a hug for me."
Derek stood up in the waiting room, walking over to his fellow neurosurgeon. "Hey Nick, can you give Yang a lift back home? I've got to bring Meredith and Izzie back, and then I'm probably going to have to come here with Alex's girlfriend. She deserves to know about this." Sighing in relief when he nodded, Derek continued, "Do you know where Preston Burke's apartment is?" Nick smiled. "Of course I know. He and I were pretty good friends before you came here from New York. We've shared quite a lot of beers over at his place. I remember. Don't worry; I'll get her home safe and sound. Have fun with being a chauffeur," he chuckled.
Laughing, Derek took Meredith's hand and walked towards the recovery room to collect Izzie. Shaking his head, Nick walked up to a motionless Cristina. Gently shaking her shoulder, he reeled back when her head snapped up, nearing socking him in the jaw. Staring at him in surprise, she mumbled, "I'm sorry, Dr. Gladys. I'm just tired." Nick smiled gently. "Well, you found the right person. I've been appointed with the job of bring you home." Pulling her up, he kidded, "Let's go, soldier." Ignoring Cristina's glare, they walked out to his car in compatible silence. When she got into the passenger side of the car and immediately closed her eyes after buckling her seat belt. Sighing, he started the car and drove towards Burke's apartment, turning down the volume so that the music played softly in the background.
When he arrived outside the building, he whispered, "Cristina, we're here." When she didn't stir, Nick found himself studying her beautiful face. It was lined with misery, which was a far cry from the glowing face that had greeting him in several of his surgeries. The woman was a talented surgeon, and she had shown an extraordinary amount of aptitude in both neurosurgery and cardiothoracics, but it was clear what field she favored. He had fallen in love with her feisty and competitive nature from the first day that he had met her, but when she had started dating Burke, he had bowed out. But now that she was single again, he had found himself thinking of her more and more. Acting on impulse, he leaned over and brushed a gentle kiss on her rosy lips.
Stirring, Cristina opened her eyes to find Nick hovering over her. Blinking in confusion, she pushed his face away and sat up straighter in the passenger seat. "What … what happened?" She stared at him warily when his lips twitched into a smile. "You fell asleep; I was driving you back from the hospital." His words brought the day's events back to the forefront of her mind, and a sudden wave of emotion hit her. Inhaling sharply, she tried desperately to push the tears away. Cristina felt Nick's hands on her shoulders, pulling her towards him.
She struggled half-heartedly as he leaned down and whispered fiercely in her ear, "Stop fighting me. Stop fighting yourself. You're not superwoman, and even if you were, you have to give in to your emotions sometimes. Cristina, you're holding up too much inside, and take it from me, the only way to get rid of that feeling of drowning is to let go! Release all that pain and resentment, and you'll feel a lot better. I promise…" He trailed off as Cristina leaned into him; instantly, he felt his shirt grow damp as she shook with barely controlled sobs. He sighed and rubbed her back in soothing circles, occasionally running his hand through her unkempt hair. He didn't even notice how much time had passed when she pulled away from him, her face streaked with tears. Before he could process it, she was kissing him with fervor. Letting go of common sense and deciding that they could discuss the implications later, Nick responded hungrily, showering her with gentle kisses.
I've been alone so many nights,
And I've been waitin' for the stars to fall.
I keep holdin' out for what I don't know,
To be with you … just to be with you.
So here I am staring at the moon tonight,
Wondering how you look in this light.
Maybe you're somewhere thinkin' about me too,
To be with you, there's nothing I wouldn't do…
And I can imagine two worlds spinnin' apart,
Come together eventually..
And when we finally meet, I'll know it's right,
I'll be at the end of my restless road.
But this journey, it was worth the fight,
To be with you, just to be...
Holding you for the very first time, never letting go.
What I wouldn't give to feel that way...
Oh...
Oh, to be with you...
Oh … and I can imagine two worlds spinnin' apart,
Come together eventually!
And when you're standin' here in front of me,
That's when I know that God does exist,
'Cause He will have answered every single prayer,
To be with you, just to be with you, yeah.
You....
-David Archuleta (featuring Kara DioGuardi), To Be With You
Ava slowly walked into Alex's hospital room, turning to look back at Derek, who was standing by the doorway. When he gave her a reassuring nod, she sat down on the chair next to his bed, gently picking up Alex's limp hand. "Hey, baby … I started to get a little nervous when you didn't call me to come meet you and your Mom for lunch. I thought you guys wanted some catch up time." Ava quickly swiped a tear off her face. "I had no idea that you were fighting for your life, but you better wake up, and soon! Your mom didn't come all the way to Seattle to see me … heck, she doesn't even know who I am. That's why you've got to open up those beautiful eyes of yours and introduce us. Besides, who else is going to wake me up with a kiss every morning? Who else is going to cook dinner with me every night and make me feel like a queen? Alex, you're the only one for me. I told you a long time ago that you gave me a name when I had nothing else in this world; you allowed me to have an identity. No one can replace you, and I know that you love me so much, you wouldn't dare give up. So wake up! Wake up, because I've consulted the Karev dictionary before, and it said that no man is allowed to make his queen cry…"
Derek walked further into the room, gently placing his hand on her shoulder. "Ava, we should leave. He needs rest, but you can come back here tomorrow, bright and early. I promise, we'll be up at the crack of dawn, and you'll be here with Alex as soon as visiting hours start." Nodding, Ava wiped the remaining tears off her face and followed Derek. When they were halfway to the door, she heard a groan and then a soft "Ava…" She froze in her tracks, telling herself that the weak voice had been a figment of her imagination. But beside her, Derek had also paused. Turning around, she ran back to Alex's bedside, and what greeted her eyes made her gasp in surprise. His half-hooded eyes drooped in exhaustion, and his infamous smirk was barely there, but to her, Alex looked as beautiful as he usually did. Reaching out with his arms, he gingerly hugged her to him, looking over Ava's shoulder at Derek's relieved face. The attending's eyes were sparkling, and his million-dollar smile was visible in the dim room. "Glad to have you back, Karev…"
He nodded, hugging Ava tighter to him. Yup, it's certainly good to be back. Burying his face into her freshly shampooed hair, he allowed himself a smile. And things are finally about to get better, he thought as he shared a tender kiss with his relieved girlfriend.
I hope you all liked it; God knows Alex deserves some semblance of a healthy relationship! I didn't have the heart to give him a life-threatening injury that would damage him even more; therefore, I just put him through the wringer for a while^.^! Hehe, I'm cruel. By the way, I had always imagined that Cristina would eventually hook up with Dr. Theo Wright (the dude who made an appearance earlier on in the first chapter of this story), but the dear, dear Dr. Nick Gladys just seems so much sweeter…being there for Cristina and allowing her to know that it's not weak at all to show her emotions once in a while. Ah, I look forward to seeing how their relationship's going to evolve; I know its going to be GREAT! BTW, sorry for the double post, but I forgot to fix the formatting. Review:)? Luv you all!