It's been a while but here is the next part. It's a little long, that's part of the reason it took so long. Let me know what you think.
George pulled his arm around Izzie and started leading her through the house. Under his arm he could feel her shivering and damp patches where the water was soaking through his jacket. He led her to the bathroom and sat her down on the toilet. Then he started running a hot shower. All he could think about was getting her warm, getting her warm was something he could do. He checked the water wasn't too hot and turned back to her. She was hunched over on the seat and staring down at the ground. He knelt down in front of her.
"Iz," he began saying to her. "I'm going to go and get some towels and some dry clothes for you." She lifted her head but she seemed to be looking right through him. "I want you to hop in the shower."
She nodded like she'd heard him but it might have just been a reflex. He stood up slowly and gave her knee a squeeze. He started walking out the room. He half expected her to ask him to stay but she hadn't said a word since she came home. He closed the door and began making his way through her house. He took his time to find the towels and select some dry clothes, partly because he didn't know where anything was but partly because he wanted to give Izzie some space. He hoped she might snap out of the current state she was in. After twenty minutes had past he selected a pair of pajamas which he'd given her for Christmas four years earlier. He thought they'd be a safe option and he started making his way back to the bathroom.
At the door he knocked loudly and waited for Izzie to say he could come in but there was no reply. He waited a moment and entered the room anyway, he could still hear the water running, maybe she hadn't heard him knock. As he entered the room he intentionally looked away from the shower, he didn't want to see Izzie like that but she wasn't in the shower. She was exactly where he'd left her twenty minutes earlier.
He dropped the towels and the clothes he was holding and knelt down in front of her again. "Izzie," he tried to get her to look at him but she didn't move. "Izzie," he gently reached for her chin and lifted her head to face him. The look in her eyes made his heart ache, they were so empty and vacant, it was like she wasn't there. "You're freezing cold; we need to get you warmed up."
After some hesitation George placed both his hands on Izzie's hips and lifted her to her feet. He gently lifted her arm and slowly began unfastening the brace around it, it wasn't supposed to get wet, though it was already soaked from the rain. She let him do this, she didn't try to pull back at all. He placed the brace beside the basin and tried to get Izzie to look at him again.
"Iz, you need to get in the shower, you need to get warmed up." She didn't move though, she just stood there shivering. "Izzie please." He stepped away from her and waited for some indication that she was going to do what he said, but there was nothing. He didn't know what he was supposed to do he didn't want to physically put her in the shower, he didn't want to see her exposed and vulnerable like that but he couldn't leave her the way she was either. "Izzie please you need to do this yourself." He told her but she made no indication that she was even hearing him.
George's words washed over her, she could hear he was talking but she couldn't listen. Her head was full of nothing, everything was cloudy and messed up. She'd withdrawn so far into herself she didn't know how to come out. She didn't know how to do anything, she couldn't even move on her own.
She felt George place his hands on her hips again. She felt him grab the bottom of her shirt and start lifting it up. She lifted her head a little and looked him in the eyes, he turned his head away, his cheeks were burning red, she could tell he didn't want to be doing this, but she didn't try to stop him. He lifted her arm up and pulled the t-shirt over her head exposing her bear chest. She watched him close his eyes and turn away. He bent over and picked up one of the towels he'd brought in. He held it out for her, still with his eyes closed. "Izzie." He said her name as a question, an almost plea. Slowly she reached out and took the towel, she wrapped it around her shoulders and watched as he turned back to face her.
His eyes looked desperate and confused, she could tell he didn't know what to do but neither did she. "Iz," He tried talking to her again, he was trying to get through to her but she was completely shut off. "You need to get in the shower." He waited a moment and then he placed his hand on her hip again. He held it there for a moment and then pulled the draw string on her pants. He turned away as soon as they started falling to the ground. He wouldn't look at her, not like that, it wasn't right, she was his friend, she needed his help but he wouldn't look at her. He checked the water again, it was still hot but it was getting colder.
"Izzie, come on." He turned back to her but he avoided her eyes. He grabbed hold of her arm and pulled her gently towards the shower. He opened the door and pushed her under the water.
The water hit her back, it was hot and stung her skin, she instinctively tried to pull back but George was holding her under. He was holding her under the water and whispering something to her. She couldn't understand his words but his voice was soothing. Slowly she started to warm up and her body began to relax. Her mind began to work.
"I'll be back a little bit." She heard George say to her and he let go, he walked out of the bathroom, leaving her alone again.
She closed her eyes and concentrated on her breathing. The cloudy haze she'd been in was beginning to lift and she was beginning to feel again. All she felt though was pain, physical pain, emotional pain, loss. She started crying again, long silent sobs which were lost in the flow of the water. She didn't want to keep doing this she just wanted to go back to sleep.
George stepped out of the bathroom and shivered, half his shirt was soaking wet but that was the lease of his worries. He'd never seen Izzie like that before and it scared him. He'd been worried about her before but that last hour had been bad. It had been like she wasn't even there, like she was an empty shell. He was worried about leaving her again but he didn't like standing with her in the shower, he didn't' want to see her like that. As he'd held her he'd felt her body begin to relax, she felt like she was coming back, he told himself she'd be okay and he'd come and check on her again in a little bit. At least now she wasn't freezing cold, her body was warming up.
He walked all the way to the kitchen and then pulled his phone out his pocket. He'd just remembered he hadn't phoned Meredith yet, he hadn't told her, Izzie was no longer missing. The phone rang three times before she answered.
"Is she back?" Was the first thing Meredith said when she answered the phone. She'd been worrying herself sick for the last few hours but there had been absolutely nothing she could have done to help.
"She's back." George said. He let the words hang in the air for a moment, let the good news set in before the bad new came. Meredith picked up the tone of his answer.
"Is she okay?"
George swallowed, before answering. "No." Then he began describing everything that had happened. On the other end of the line Meredith listened. She tried to keep a level head but it wasn't easy, she wanted to be there for her friend, she wanted to make her pain go away and she felt like this was some how her fault, that if she'd been with her today this wouldn't have happened. But she knew even if she'd been there, Izzie wouldn't be much better, she might not have got lost but she'd still be in pieces.
-8-8-8-8-8-
Izzie reached for the tap and turned the water off. She was moving a lot better now her body was no longer freezing, and her mind no longer shut off but she wasn't feeling a whole lot better. She still felt hollow and empty, she still felt like she was being tone apart from the inside out.
She stepped out of the shower and picked up one of the towels, she ran it over her body and pulled on the clothes George had left for her. What he'd selected made her smile a little, it was a pair of pajamas he'd given her years ago which she'd never worn because they were ugly. They were still soft though and she liked the way they felt against her skin.
She looked herself in the mirror before she left the bathroom. Her eyes were so dark and her skin so pale. The cuts on her face stood out looking red and raw. Normally she would have tried to do something about that but now she didn't care. She turned away from the mirror and walked out the bathroom.
She began making her way through the house. Every step was difficult as she remembered things Alex had said or done in the very places she was moving though. They'd only been living in the house two weeks, there weren't a lot of memories, she wasn't sure if that was a good or bad thing. She was heading towards the kitchen, the one room in any house she always felt drawn too. The kitchen had always been her space and she found the art of cooking soothing. As she got closer though she realized the light was on, the kitchen was where George had gone. She pushed the door open and stood in the doorway. She watched him, he was cooking, he was cooking in her kitchen. She felt her body being to tense again, she didn't want him cooking in her kitchen, that was her space. It seemed forever before he turned around, before he realized she was watching him.
"Izzie," George said turning around. He was surprised to see her; he wasn't expecting her to be there. He recovered from his shock quickly though, he put the utensil he was holding down and walked over to her. "You look much better," he told her and he touched her arm, "I made you something to eat, come sit down."
She glanced over at the food he'd made, some paste dish, it didn't look bad but she wasn't hungry, the mere thought of eating made her feel ill. "I'm not hungry." She said stepping away from him; he stepped closer to her though.
"Iz, you need to eat." He gently grabbed her arm and tried to pull her into the kitchen but she didn't move.
"I just want to go to bed." She pulled away from him and stepped back. "Clean up when your finished." She turned and started walking towards her bedroom, she was expecting George to follow her but he didn't. She wasn't sure if that was a good or a bad thing, she desperately wanted to be alone but she was still scared of being alone. At the bedroom door she stopped, she stood holding the handle for over a minute. The house had been hard to go through and most of it was nothing particular, the bedroom had been their room. It was the only room in the house that was properly furnished; it was where they'd spent ninety percent of their time. She closed her eyes and twisted the handle. She stepped inside and waited for something to hit. It only took a moment for the smell to become overwhelming, the cologne Alex had worn the day of the wedding still hung in the air. Immediately images of him getting ready in the morning filled her head. She took in a breath and fought the urge to be sick; she didn't want to do that, not in here.
She pushed the door closed and opened her eyes, the room was dark but she didn't turn on the light. She didn't want to see what was inside, not properly anyway, that would be too much; right now she just needed to sleep. She walked towards her bed and crawled under its covers, she curled into a ball and tried to sleep but she couldn't sleep. Her bed wasn't meant for one person, she rolled over and grabbed Alex's pillow, she buried her face in it and breathed in his scent then she clutched the pillow to her chest and started crying again.
She was still crying an hour later when George came to check on her. He opened the door slightly and stood in the doorway watching her, he stood there for a long time trying to work out if she was asleep or not. He didn't want to wake her but if she was awake he didn't want to leave her either. Eventually he walked in; he could hear her sobbing, he knelt down beside her bed so their faces were at the same level. "Iz," he whispered to her. "Everything is clean, would you like me to stay with you?"
It took a moment for her to open her eyes, she looked at him and blinked, tears ran down her face. "Just go." She whispered and she closed her eyes again. She didn't want George with her, she didn't want him sleeping in her house.
George gulped, he didn't want to leave her, but she'd told him to go. "Is there anything I can get for you?" he asked, if he was going to go he wanted to make sure she was asleep first.
The question surprised her, she wasn't expecting it, she was expecting him to fight her but he wasn't fighting her, he was asking her what she wanted. What she wanted was to sleep but if she asked for what she wanted George would know what she'd been doing.
"I just want to sleep." She whispered, and blinked letting new tears run down her face.
"Okay." George smiled at her. "I think I can help." He stood up and walked out the room. He walked through the house and out the front door; he walked to his car and pulled out his back pack. He'd brought some sleep aids from the pharmacy a few weeks ago, he'd used them once and decided he didn't like the way they made him feel but he thought they might help Izzie. Just this once wouldn't hurt her.
He carried the bottle inside; he got a glass of water from the kitchen and tipped a couple of pills into his hand. He walked back to Izzie's bedroom and knelt down beside her again. "Iz, sit up," he whispered to her. She opened her eyes again. She stared at the pills he was holding. She couldn't believe he'd brought her pills.
"It's okay." He told her. "Just this once it's okay." He had no idea she'd been taking stuff all week. She took the pills and swallowed them.
"Thank you." She whispered. "Now please go." She wanted to fall asleep on her own, she wanted to cry herself asleep, she wanted to be in a world with Alex again.
George stood up, he kissed Izzie's forehead and walked slowly out the room. He felt worried about leaving her, he didn't like leaving her but he didn't feel right staying in her house, not without her asking him to stay. There wasn't anywhere for him to stay either, the house didn't even have a sofa. At the front door he paused just long enough to turn off the light. He told himself Izzie would be okay, she was asleep, and he'd be back in the morning.