Meredith drove away from Izzie's home but she didn't drive to her home, instead she headed back to Joe's. It was still early and she hoped Cristina might still be there, she needed to talk to someone about what had happened, about Izzie. She was worrying about her again, she never really stopped worrying but the worry had taken on a new intensity again. The last time she'd seen Izzie like that had been in the weeks right after Alex's death, then her grieving had been spinning out of control. She didn't want her to do that again, it had been hard enough pulling her out the first time. She hoped she'd taken her advice and was trying to get some rest, they couldn't do anything about it then, in the morning she would pick her, they would work everything out then.

She pulled her car into the parking lot near Joe's and walked towards the door. Inside the bar was still full, she scanned the tables and booths looking for Cristina, she was sitting at the bar by herself, chatting to Joe in between shots of something and sips of beer.

"Cristina." She smiled sitting down on the stool beside her.

"Meredith." Cristina smiled at her and took another sip of her drink.

"Meredith," She looked up and saw Joe had made his way down to their end of the bar. "I wasn't expecting to see you back here tonight."

"I wasn't planning to but I just had to."

"Understandable." Joe placed a shot glass in front of her and poured out her standard tequila. "Is Izzie okay?"

She reached for the glass and downed the shot. "Yeah." She watched the faces of the two people she was with, they wanted more; she could tell they wanted more. Joe poured her another shot and she downed it before continuing. "She's pregnant."

"What!" It was Cristina who was first able to form the one word they were both thinking. "How is that even possible?"

"I don't know." Medically speaking it shouldn't have happened, she knew it, Cristina knew it, and Izzie sure as hell knew it. "Devine intervention."

It was an explanation, not one she would normally consider, she didn't entirely believe in that stuff but this time she couldn't help thinking maybe there was something to it. It wasn't the fainting and the vomiting that made her want to give Izzie a pregnancy test, she'd wanted to give her a pregnancy test for weeks, the vomiting and fainting just gave her a reason take some blood. It was the dreams she'd been having which made her want to do the test. Ever few nights for the last four weeks Alex had been in her dreams, when she saw him he always had the biggest smile across his face, and he would tell her he was going to be a dad, he would tell her Izzie was pregnant.

At first she'd tried to ignore the dreams, she didn't want to make that suggestion to Izzie, it would break her she was sure but the dreams kept coming back and after a while she couldn't ignore them. She'd run the test to get the idea out of her own head, she hadn't expected it to come back positive.

"How did Izzie take it?" Joe's question broke into her thoughts.

"She freaked." The others stared at her for more explanation so she continued. "She's afraid she's hurt the baby. She's been doing things to her body, to help her cope, that no pregnant woman should do. She thinks she's going to lose it, she thinks she's already lost it."

"Oh, where is she?"

"At home." She reached over for Cristina's beer and took a sip of it. "I told her to try and get some rest. I've got to pick her up in the morning and take her to a doctor, get an ultrasound and run some tests, see if everything is okay."

"Do you think she will be okay?" It was Joe asking the questions.

"I don't know." She took another sip of beer and began to exhale. "I think either way it's going to be hard for her."

"Yeah."

A silence fell between the group and Joe wondered off to serve some customers at the other end of the bar. Meredith took another sip of Cristina's drink and gazed down at her watch. It was starting to get late now.

"I should get going." She sighed. "Try and get some rest. Tomorrow is going to be a bitch."

"I'm glad it's you doing it and not me." Christina smiled at her. "I'll be back here tomorrow if you need to unwind again."

"Thanks." She got up and walked out the bar. She began the short drive home, all the time she was hoping everything tomorrow would work out.

-8-8-8-8-8-

All night Izzie dreamed. Dream after dream, image after image of Alex filled her head, engulfed her sub conscious. They were the most vivid dreams she'd ever had; it was almost like Alex was with her, like he was shearing the moment with her. Time after time she told him she was pregnant and sometimes she didn't even tell him, he just knew.

"Izzie, I love you." The words rolled off Alex's tongue as he gently nibbled her ear.

She rolled over to face him and brushed her nose against his. They were laying outside on a blanket in the back yard of their home. They'd been looking for shooting starts together.

He pulled her tight to his side and rolled her back onto her back. He wrapped one of his arms around her neck and the other he rested on her abdomen.

"You're going to be okay." He whispered to her. She could feel him trying to get the words to sink into her. "Look." He pointed up and they watched as a shooting star streaked across the sky.

"It's beautiful." She whispered, and she gazed up at the sky hoping to see another one. There were no more shooting starts though, not tonight. "Do you ever wonder what they are?" She asked not really expecting an answer, she just wanted to hear Alex talk, she wanted to hear his voice.

"I know what they are." He began saying. "They're loved ones trying to find each other."

"Really?" She looked up at the sky again. "How do they know?"

"Know what?"

"Where to find each other?"

"I don't know, they just do." He pulled her even closer to him, and lifted his hand from her abdomen, he pointed to a group of starts above them. "See those stars, the one on the left, right at the bottom, that's my star. That's where you'll find me."

"Where I'll find you?" She ran the words through her head, she didn't understand them, she didn't know what he meant, how would she find him. She wanted to ask him, she wanted him to tell her everything, explain what he meant by find him but the words caught in her throat. He lifted his fingers to her mouth.

"Shh…" He whispered to her and he pulled her into a tight embrace.

They were laying on their sides again, their eyes level, gazing at each other. She could feel the energy between them building; something was drawing them closer together and something pulling them apart. She was going to lose him, she was about to lose him again. She wrapped both her arms tightly around him held on for dream life.