George stood in the door way of Izzie's room. He had the door open just enough so he could see inside. But he hadn't gone inside. Instead he just stood in the door way watching her. She was asleep, that's why he hadn't gone in, or at least that's what he kept telling himself. That wasn't the real reason why he hadn't gone inside though. The real reason was he was afraid she might wake up and he wouldn't be able to leave. He didn't know how he was supposed to act around her, what he was supposed to say. He hated himself for being such a coward. He was her friend and she really needed friends right now.

"You could go in there you know." Someone said from behind George. He turned around to see who had spoken. Standing behind him was one of the nurses who'd been seeing to Izzie.

"I can't." He said. "She's sleeping."

"No she's not, her eyes are open." The nurse opened the door a little more. "She's been watching you."

George looked closer. Izzie's eyes blinked but the rest of her body didn't move. She might have been awake. He wasn't sure what to do. If she was awake he should go in and talk to her, but he didn't have anything to say. Thankfully for him his pager went off and he didn't have to decide what to do. The decision was make for him. He had to leave.

-8-8-8-

"Come here." Alex called as he chased Izzie along the sand. They were at a beach somewhere and the sun was just setting. She stopped and turned around. She was laughing. "Come here." He said again and he held out his arms. She looked at him and smiled. She ran towards him and jumped into his arms. He lifted her up and they spun around. She placed her hands on either side of his face and pulled him closer to her. She kissed him passionately and when she finally pulled away he was smiling. "I love you." He whispered and he started carrying her towards the water.

"Alex no." She said as she felt her feet get cold. But he didn't stop. He kept moving deeper into the water. "Alex." She moaned.

"You'll be okay." He told her and then they both went under the water.

-8-8-8-

"Isobel, wake up I need you to sign this."

Izzie opened her eyes. The beach was gone, Alex was gone, she was back at the hospital. She shivered. Her blanket had fallen off and she was covered in a light sweat.

"Isobel you need to sign this." She looked up at the person who was speaking to her. She wasn't a nurse, she didn't have the right uniform on. It took a second for her to realize it was Alex's mother. She used her good arm to push herself upright in bed. She held out her hand for the piece of paper.

"What is it?" she asked.

"It's just something for the funeral. You're his wife, you need to give consent."

"Oh." She stared at the form and tried to read it but there were too many words and her eyes wouldn't focus properly. "Consent for what?"

"Moving him." Izzie noticed his mother look down. She didn't give her eye contact as she said it.

"Moving him where?" She didn't know a lot about the procedural side of handling the deceased but she didn't think they'd need consent to move him from the hospital to a funeral home.

"Back to Iowa."

"Oh." Izzie hadn't thought about the funeral at all. Meredith had promised her she'd take care of everything and she'd been happy enough to let her. She hadn't thought about where the funeral would be or where he'd be buried. They were details which didn't seem important to her. Alex was dead and nothing was going to change that.

"Why do you want to take him to Iowa?" She asked. This was the first time she realized she wasn't the only one grieving.

"It's where he grew up." His mother began. "It's where I live, where the rest of his family live. I want to bury him next to his grandfather." Izzie listened as his mother began trying to justify why she wanted to take him home. She cried as she started re telling stories from his childhood, they made Izzie cry too. Izzie tried to think what she wanted but the only thing she wanted was Alex.

"There is going to be a service on Friday. Your friend Meredith was very insistent about giving you a chance to say goodbye. But I'd like to take him back to Iowa after."

"Okay." Izzie nodded slowly. "I'll think about it."

"Thank you." His mother said as she picked up Izzie's hand and gave it a squeeze. "I'll let you get some rest." And then she walked out the room.

Izzie lay back down in the bed and closed her eyes. She was trying to work out what she wanted but the more she thought about it the more she realized none of it was really important to her. Nothing anyone did now was going to bring him back. The funeral was a symbolic gesture a way to say goodbye but the funeral itself wasn't important. What people would say was important but not the rest of it she didn't care about flowers and trimmings. She thought about what his mother had said. What his mother wanted. His mother knew what she wanted, she wanted to take him home. Izzie didn't want anything, well nothing she could actually have.

She tried to think how she'd feel if she let his body go back to Iowa, if there was no grave site for her to visit. Did she need a piece of cement with engravings on it to remember him? Not really, he'd always be in her heart that was the only place where he'd be real. A head stone was just symbolic.

His mother knew what she wanted. It was important to her where he was buried. She wanted to be able to visit him. She wasn't even sure she'd be able to bring herself to do such a thing. She picked up the form and looked at it again. She could read what it said now, it detailed everything and at the bottom had a place for her to sign. She picked up a pen. She held it in her left hand which felt weird. She started signing her name, she formed an 'I' and then she stopped. She didn't know how she was supposed to sign it. What name was she supposed to use? She was signing it as his wife. Was she meant to write Karev? The only thing she'd signed Karev was the guest book at the cabin they'd stayed at. She wasn't even planning on changing her name, not properly anyways. At work she'd planed to stay Dr Stevens, for everything else she'd be Mrs Karev. Tears started welling up in her eyes. She knew what she wanted to do but she didn't know how to do it.