Izzie liked being married. She loved introducing herself to the people of the town they were staying near as Mrs Karev. Everything was going the way it should be. They'd had the dream wedding and the dream honeymoon.

"Do you think right now we are the luckiest people around?" Izzie asked Alex on the Monday afternoon as he packed the car.

"I know we are." He replied and they kissed once more. They hadn't been able to keep their hands off each other all weekend.

"I wish we could stay here forever." Izzie began to muse. "We could live in out own little bubble of perfectness."

"Yeah" Alex smiled. "But what about all those people we've been trained to save."

"Someone else will save them." Izzie shrugged but she knew Alex was right, the hospital was just as much a part of them as anything else was and if they didn't go back who they were as people might begin to change.

"I guess we should get going if we want to be back before dark." She continued, knowing they had to go back.

-8-8-8-

Alex pulled the car into gear and they began the drive back to Seattle. They'd been driving for less than two minutes when Izzie lent over and began kissing Alex's neck.

"Not now Iz, I'm driving." Alex said but she didn't pull away. She ran her fingers down his arm and placed her hand on top of his on the gear stick. Even the inches between them in the car were too much for her to handle. Alex turned and smiled at her. He took his eyes off the road for just a second but that was all it took. They started going around a blind corner. From the other direction another car was coming, the other car was going too fast and crossed onto their side of the road. There was no time for Alex to react, they both saw what was going to happen the second before it happened. Izzie screamed and gripped Alex's hand tighter and then the cars collided.

-8-8-8-

Izzie opened her eyes and blinked. There was blood running down her face, she couldn't see straight. She tried to use her hand to wipe it but she couldn't move her arm. "Shit" she whispered as her vision finally became clear and she realized the seriousness of their situation. Alex was slumped forward over the steering wheel. There was blood coming from his mouth and he wasn't moving. "Alex! Alex!" she began calling and she tried to reach out for him. She couldn't reach him. "Alex!" She took a deep breath and she forced her body to move toward him. Pain shot down her arm and across her neck and chest. But she reached him. She reached out and touched his face. "Alex, Alex! Wake up!"

For five long minutes she sat in the car stroking his face. She was so scared he was dead but then he woke up. Alex opened his eyes, the first thing he saw was Izzie. Her face was only inches away from his and soaked in blood and tears. "Izzie." He whispered and reached out and touched her cheek. A moment later the first sign of help arrived. "We're going to be okay." He told her and then he passed out again.

-8-8-8-

A paramedic slipped a brace around Izzie's neck and told her to lean back. She didn't want to lean back though she wanted to be close to Alex. She reached out for his hand as the medic carefully pulled her back to the seat. Next to her another medic was treating Alex. They'd slipped a brace around his neck and where carefully pulling him back against the chair. They were hooking them both up to small portable BP and pulse rate monitors. Izzie could hear Alex's beeping very slowly.

Outside the fire department was trying to cut them free of the wreck. Izzie heard someone say they'd cut the driver out first, that his condition wasn't stable. She reached over and grabbed Alex's hand again. She wasn't going to let him go.

It took over an hour to cut Alex from the wreck. He was unconscious for the majority of the time but occasionally he'd come too. He kept telling her he loved her and everything would be okay. She tried not to cry but she was so scared. She was comprehending a lot more of the situation. When they finally removed enough of the car to free Alex the medics carefully pulled him out and lay him on to a stretcher. Someone had to physically pull Izzie's fingers from his. In the background she heard a helicopter take off and only now that she was alone did she let herself cry.

-8-8-8-

Meredith and Christina sat together in the cafeteria. They had just over an hour left on their shift and no patients to cut open.

"Do you think anyone would notice if we left early?" Meredith asked Christina.

"You, probably not, but the Chief's been on my back all afternoon with this Chief Resident stuff. I'm all for the power trip but the paper work is just annoying. You know we have twenty new interns starting tomorrow and I had to read everyone one of their profiles and assign them all to a resident."

Meredith took a bite of an apple. "You're the one who wanted it." She shrugged. She hadn't applied for the Chief Resident position. "Izzie invited us over to her place tonight to catch up. Are you coming?" She asked changing the subject.

Christina looked up at her with a 'you've got to be kidding me expression'. "Are you sure about that? I don't think those two are going to want any company for a while."

"That's what Izzie said on Friday. They've had nothing but each other for two days. I'm sure they can handle some company for a couple of hours."

Meredith took another bite of the apple, they sat there for a moment eating and then their pages both went off. They checked them simultaneously.

"911 to the roof, shit." They both said standing up and taking off at a run. The food they'd been eating was left discarded.

"What do you think it is?" Meredith asked as they rode up in the elevator.

"I hope it's something interesting." Christina stated as they both walked onto the roof.

The chopper was just landing as they walked out. The wind blew their hair around and the noise was so loud they could hardly hear each other. The personal on the chopper started wheeling the patient out. They yelled as loudly as they could.

"Alex Karev. Thirty-three. Male restrained driver. Prolonged extraction, obvious chest and leg trauma. Has been slipping in and out of consciousness reroute."

Neither woman heard the name when it was said, or if they did, it didn't register. Christina was examining the chest trauma and Meredith had taken the chart and was examining the stats. They wheeled the gurney into the elevator and it was finally quiet enough for them to hear themselves.

Alex opened his eyes and blinked. His head hurt, his chest was screaming. It hurt to breath. "Izzie." He said and he tried to look around but he couldn't move. He couldn't remember what had happened. There were people standing all around. He moved his arm, he reached over with his hand grabbed hold of someone he pulled them down to him.

Meredith felt the patient grab hold of her arm and pull her down. She looked at the patients face for the first time and she froze. "Alex." Everything she'd been planning to do, planning to say suddenly went out her head. He pulled her down to him. Their faces were so close they were almost touching.

Alex recognized the doctor as Meredith. "Where is Izzie?" he asked feeling terrified.

Meredith looked back at Alex stunned. Her brain wasn't working fast enough, she couldn't find her tongue. "Where's Izzie?" he asked again.

"I . . . I don't know." She replied realizing Izzie had to have been in the car also. Alex stared back at her, she could see the fear in his eyes. It wasn't a look she'd seen on Alex before and that was enough to scare her also.

"Find her."He whispered. And Meredith felt his grip on her loosen.