"Good luck," Alex says, giving Izzie a quick kiss.
"Thanks. My hands are shaking. That's a really bad thing for a surgeon. I'm scared. Really scared. I didn't think I'd be this scared. What if I get to close to the eyes. The torch is really hard to keep steady. When it's lit, it has this force, and you have to hold really tight to keep it still and if I…" Izzie rambles nervously.
"Iz…you're going to be fine. You're going to be great. You've done nothing but study and practice all weekend…which by the way, we are going to discuss later. I am going to ask you why two of my wrestling trophies are melted…but I won't ask you now," Alex says.
Meredith comes over and says, "Hi."
"Hi Mer. Izzie was just saying that…" Alex begins.
"That I am completely prepared and ready for Lexie's surgery today. I'm so ready, it's unbelievable," Izzie says, pasting a plastic smile on her face.
"That's good, Iz. I thought you might be nervous, but I'm glad to hear you're all ready. Me…I'm terrified. I'll be in the gallery though…I'll be watching with my fingers crossed," Meredith says.
"Make sure you stay in the gallery. I don't want you to blind me with that rock on your finger!" Izzie says, more brightly than necessary.
"See you later," Meredith says, rolling her eyes good naturedly.
"You better get me a rock that big…" Izzie mutters to Alex when Meredith leaves.
"Oh…so now we're getting married too? What is it with you women? When one does something you all have to do it?" Alex teases.
Izzie looks at him stunned. "You don't want to marry me?" she asks.
"I didn't say that…I just…I mean…marriage is huge. It's like…" Alex stammers.
"Marriage is what people do eventually if they love each other. Thank Alex. I have the hugest medical responsibility of my career in 5 minutes and you choose now to tell me you never want to marry me. Great!" Izzie says, storming away.
"Wait! Iz! I didn't mean that!" Alex calls after her.
(Break)
"You suck," Alex says to Derek as he slides into the chair next to him in the gallery.
"He doesn't suck. He's wonderful, and bright and shiny and my fiancé!" Meredith says, defensively with a huge smile on her face.
"Yes…he does suck. He had to go and propose to you, and now Izzie's pissed off at me because I told her that I thought marriage was a big step. I didn't mean anything by it and now she's all mad and thinks I never want to marry her," Alex says.
"So would now be a bad time to ask him about the groomsman thing?" Derek whispers to Meredith.
"I don't know…he's always like this…" Meredith replies.
"Alex, what if I told you that you could walk down the aisle with Izzie without marrying her?" Derek asks.
"What do you mean?" Alex asks.
"I mean, Izzie is one of Meredith's bridesmaids, and I want you to be my groomsman. How about it?" Derek asks.
"Me? Really? I never thought you liked me that much…" Alex replies.
Derek laughs. "I don't. But I don't have many friends. Seriously, Karev, you're a good guy. Through these past few months, I've gotten to know you better and well…you're not a bad guy. I'd be honored to have you in my wedding party," Derek says, sincerely.
"Wow. Ummm…yeah…I guess I'll do it. Do I have to rent a tux?" he asks.
"Yes." Derek says.
"Good. I look so hot in a tux," Alex replies.
"And that is my friend, Alex Karev," Meredith says. "Alex! Look. Izzie's coming into the O.R."
"She looks nervous," Alex says.
Derek takes Meredith's hand. "Izzie's tougher than you give her credit for. She's going to be fine…" he says.
Alex clenches his fists, tensely.
Owen and Cristina walk into the gallery. "Sorry I'm late. I just saw Izzie outside. Alex! What's wrong with you? Why would you tell Izzie you never want to marry her now? Really bad timing!"
"I didn't! That's not what I meant! I made a stupid joke! It was a stupid joke! Of course I want to marry her!" Alex says.
"I know. That's what I told her. I tried to explain that you try to make jokes. You're just not funny. It's not your fault. Now, Mer and I, we're funny. You…not so funny," Cristina says.
Owen squeezes her hand. "Let up on him. He looks like he could use a break," he whispers to Cristina.
"Evil Spawn? No. He doesn't need a break. We don't take breaks from insulting each other. It's what we do," Cristina says.
Alex looks at Cristina pathetically. "Did she understand? Like did she get that I'm just not funny?" he asks.
"No. She's Izzie. She's all dramatic," he says.
Izzie stands in the O.R. as Lexie is wheeled in. Izzie is so nervous that she avoids eye contact with Lexie. Mark walks over and kisses Lexie. "This will be over before you know it," he says.
"Will I look normal by Meredith and Derek's wedding?" she asks.
"Normal? Mer better watch out. You're going to be so beautiful that you'll take all the attention off her!" Mark promises.
"Meredith might like that…she's not big on attention!" Lexie points out. "What's wrong with Izzie? She's pacing."
"Izzie's fine. You just relax. By this time tomorrow, you'll be on your road to recovery," he says, giving her another kiss and walking over to Izzie.
"Stevens. This isn't the time to freak out. What is wrong with you? We've been over the details a million times. If you can't do this, just say so…but I need you to…" Mark says, feeling his voice rise to the point where he is almost yelling at her.
"It's not that! I'm ready. It's just that Alex just told me he never wants to get married. He said he's mad that Derek and Meredith are getting married because now he feels like he has to marry me too," Izzie says, her eyes filling with tears.
"Is that all?" Mark says, rolling his eyes.
"Yes!" Izzie snaps defensively.
"Karev is a wuss. He's scared because he loves you so much. It's like me and Lexie. It's hard for guys like me and Karev to say what we mean. We're just screwed up. You can't take him seriously. The guy is up there in the gallery staring at you like a fat kid stares at a doughnut. You've got REAL things to worry about. Stop worrying about Karev. The guy would die for you," Mark says, dismissively.
Izzie looks up at Alex in the gallery who smiles back at her and mouths, "I'm sorry."
Izzie smiles back at him.
"Now get to work! This isn't Dr. Phil. It's an O.R!" Mark says to Izzie.
Izzie walks over to Lexie.
"Hi Lex. How are you doing?" Izzie asks.
"Terrified," Lexie replies, shakily.
"I know. We're going to make this as easy as possible for you…okay?" Izzie replies.
"Okay…" Lexie says, doubtfully.
"Now, I am going to hang something directly above you. It's important that you keep your eyes focused on that. I can't put goggles on you because I need to get as close to the eyes as possible without actually touching the eyes. You need to keep your eyes open aside from normal blinking and focus on the object. Okay?" Izzie explains.
"What if I close them?" Lexie asks.
"Then you make my job harder. We'll still get it done, it might just take some extra tries. My goal is to get your out of here as quickly as possible," Izzie says.
"You sound like a doctor," Lexie jokes.
"This is Izzie, the doctor right now, and she says, that if you need me to stop at any point in time, you just tell me and we'll take a break," Izzie says gently.
"Okay. I'm ready. Let's just get this over with," Lexie says.
"Dr. Sloan! I'm ready!" Izzie calls.
Izzie ties a string above the operating table. It moves swings back and forth in response to the slightest motions. "Just focus your eyes on that string…okay?" Izzie tells her.
Lexie does what Izzie asks her to do.
"Dr. Sloan. I need to weigh this down. It's moving and her eyes are going all over the place. Can you get me something while I mark the area?" she asks.
Mark returns with a small object in his hand. "Are you ready to go, Dr. Stevens?" he asks.
"As soon as you help me weigh down that string so she has somewhere to look. I'm worried about the eyes…" Izzie explains.
Mark nods and ties a small, but heavy object to the string. He kneels next to Lexie. "Alexandra Caroline Grey, I am a flawed man, but I kneel beside you, hoping that you can see past those flaws and know how much I love you. You have taught me how to be the best person that I could be. You've shown me the value of unconditional love, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving you the way you have taught me to love. So, Lexie…I'm asking you…will you be my wife?"
Lexie's eyes fill with tears as she whispers. "Of course I'll marry you…"
Mark kisses her and Izzie squeals with excitement. "Yay! Wait! You didn't even see your ring! Look!" she says, pointing to the dangling object on the string. She unties it for a moment so Lexie can look at it,"
"It's the same ring as Meredith's!" Lexie says.
"No it isn't! I beat Shepherd by a half a karat. I told him I was getting a 2 karat, but I got a 2 and a half!" Mark says, laughing.
"It's beautiful…I love it!" Lexie says, looking at it closely.
"Here…let me put it back up here, so you can look at it some more," Izzie says, tying it back on the string.
As Lexie gazes at her new ring and holds the hand of her new fiancé, Izzie turns on the torch and counts to ten. She notices that Mark winces when Lexie gasps in pain.
"Don't try to talk…" she says, to Lexie when she finishes.
"It's over…" Mark says, his voice cracking with emotion.
Meredith looks at Derek with tears in her eyes. "I can't believe he proposed to her! That was wonderful. Something good out of something really bad…you know?" she says.
"I can't believe that bastard got a 2 and a half karat ring…" he replies.
"Wait! You knew about this…didn't you?" Meredith says, suddenly putting the pieces together.
Derek laughs quietly and nods. "That's why I told you to just trust that he had a good reason for letting Izzie scrub in. We went shopping for rings together. I can't believe he took the extra half karat after he talked me out of it! Bastard!" Derek says again.
"I love my ring. It's perfect. And Lexie loves hers. That's all the matters. It's not the ring anyway…it's the guy, and mine is worth a million karats!" she says, kissing Derek happily.
Owen opens his mouth to speak and Cristina cuts him off. "If you're going to propose to me right now, I'll throw up. There's just too much happy and shiny around here right now!" she says, but her eyes betray her happiness for both newly engaged couples, and Owen knows this.
"I wouldn't dream of proposing to you here. I know exactly where I want to propose to you…" he says.
"You do?" Cristina says, surprised.
"Of course. But you're not interested in all this happy stuff, so I'll keep it to myself…" he says, walking away, smiling smugly.
"Wait!" Cristina calls after him.
Meredith and Derek rush to the recovery room where Lexie is lying in bed with Mark by her side.
"She really shouldn't move her face too much so don't let her talk..okay?" Mark says, holding Lexie's hand tightly.
"When you're feeling better, we're all going to go out and celebrate! Congratulations! My little sister's engaged!" Meredith squeals.
"Careful Big Grey, you sound a little too happy…" Mark says.
"I'll attach the new skin this afternoon. If it takes like the others have, these two should be chatting away about flowers and bouquets by tomorrow morning," Mark says to Derek.
"Congratulations, Sloan. And you're a bastard for that extra half karat," Derek replies.
Mark shrugs and smiles. "Hey…my Grey's better than your Grey!" he answers.
"Hey! I'm his Grey!" Meredith replies, slapping him playfully.
Izzie walks into the room. "Sorry to break up the party, but Lexie's room is ready. Let's get her settled and then we can all celebrate," she says.
"I can't believe you didn't tell me!" Meredith says to her.
"I can't believe I didn't either!" Izzie says.
"Oh…and don't be too hard on Alex. He's totally in love with you," Meredith says.
Izzie smiles. "I know," she replies.
"She didn't know. I had to explain it to her…" Mark says.
"I'm taking your fiancé away from you now, Sloan. You'll see her again in a few minutes," Izzie says.
Before she can get out the door, Alex appears in the doorway. "Iz…you know I didn't mean –"
Izzie cuts him off. "I know," she says kissing him.
"I do want to marry you…" he says.
"Woah…slow down…Do you guys hear that! The guy wants to rush into marriage. I'm not that kind of girl!" Izzie says, coyly and everyone laughs.
(Break)
****
So I had all the intense drama planned but when I wrote it, all the characters seemed to write themselves happy…I read it over and was going to change it back to what I had originally, but I like how it came out. Let me know what you think!
Thanks in advance for the reviews!!!
-Jess