Current mood:	amused
Current music:	matchbox twenty
Entry tags:	author: burningeden, character: cast

Title: Ready For A Fall (27/?)
Author: Chelle Storey-Daniel
Rating: NC17
Pairing: Addison/Mark, Callie/George, Callie/Alex, George/Izzie, Meredith/Derek
Summary: Sometimes it hurts to fall, but if you're lucky someone may catch you. And they may be falling, too.

A/N: So, it's time for Izzie's friends to give her a wake up call. It may come across as harsh, but it needed to happen and Cristina wouldn't know a kid glove if she was suffocated with one. Izzie's coming back, y'all. She is. It just took a little while to get her here. ;)






One
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Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Twenty
Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
Twenty Six

*~*~*~*~*~

But I'm not crazy, I'm just a little unwell
I know right now you cant tell
But stay awhile and maybe then you'll see
A different side of me
I'm not crazy, I'm just a little impaired
I know right now you dont care
But soon enough youre gonna think of me
And how I used to be... Izz-ie ;)
-Matchbox Twenty

*~*~*~*~*~

Callie hoped that the demure dress and *pearls* she wore would help offset the purpling bruise and black stitches on her face. She had opened her tube of concealer to try to cover over it, but Alex had taken it from her and handed her a band-aid instead. It didn’t really give her any comfort that the band-aid was Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or that Alex assured her it accessorized well with the greens and blues of her printed dress. It stuck out like a sore thumb, even when she tried to strategically pull a curl over her cheek. Alex had resolutely tucked the lock of hair behind her ear and told her to stop trying to look like Slash.

When they arrived at the restaurant on top of the Archfield, her parents began to fuss over her and that same feeling of being smothered to death came creeping back in. She hated that feeling. She hated being the center of attention or having anyone flutter around her like a gnat, no matter how great their intentions were. She had two feet that she could stand up on just fine. Callie told the story of what had transpired with Izzie twice before her parents would concede that it was time to place their orders. They had sent the poor waiter away four times already and Callie was starving.

"It’s assault. We’ll take you to press charges after dinner," Raphael declared as he handed the menus to the waiter. "And we’ll call our lawyer in the morning about making sure she covers your medical fees."

Callie watched the young man walk away before she shook her head. "It’s really not necessary, Daddy. You know I’m not litigious."

"Honey, this girl attacked you," Melana said, tilting Callie’s face for the tenth time so she could study the bandage again. "She could have permanently damaged your eye."

"She didn’t so I’m not worried about it."

"What will happen at work? Will you be punished?" Raphael asked.

"Probably." Callie put her chin in her palm and sighed. "Can we change the subject? There are still construction workers on my property, Daddy. There are trees that they start cutting down before the sun comes up so I know they can’t *see* well enough to do it."

"Which is why they’re still there, kitten," Raphael replied. "It’s not well lit. Once the trail is widened and street lights are put in -"

"Street lights!? I like it very dark when I sleep! I’ll have to put black curtains on the yacht and-"

"It will be worth it. Unless I’m very mistaken you had black curtains put up in your bedroom back home just for the hell of it. And to annoy me." Melana patted her hand and looked at Alex. "So, Alex, tell us about your family."

Alex took a deep breath. He had two options: the truth or a lie. The lie just seemed easier and less stressful to all parties involved. "I’m afraid it’s a boring story. We’re from Iowa and my dad is in ... real estate and my mother is a ... special education teacher."

"Oh, that’s lovely. Educators are so valuable." Mel smiled at him. "Do you have any brothers or sisters?"

"I’m an only child. To hear my mother tell it she had enough pain during my delivery to absolutely make sure that it never happened again."

"Where did you go to college?" Raph asked.

"Do not give him the third degree," Callie said, putting her hand on Alex’s. "I’m changing the subject again. What are -"

"It’s fine, baby." Alex winked at her. "I went to the University of Iowa and then to Cornell."

Melana smiled when Alex spoke the endearment to Callie. "What surgical field are you interested in?"

"I’ve always been fascinated by plastics. Not for vain reasons, but for reconstructive purposes ... especially in trauma victims. Lately, though, I’ve become interested in Neonatology and Pediatrics."

"So you like children?"

"I do."

Callie narrowed her eyes at her parents. They would have her barefoot and pregnant faster than she could say ‘the divorce is final’ if they could. "Do you need to know his shoe size, too?"

"No," Melana replied. "But it’s very nice to actually have a chance to get to know someone that you’re seeing. Especially when it’s someone that your father doesn’t want to hire a hit on."

"Mother, would you please not scare him off?"

"I don’t scare easily," Alex replied. "And if George was one of those intended hits then I probably would have done the honor myself. Just ... theoretically speaking."

Raphael grinned at him. "I hated him on sight. He was pale, sweaty, and smelled like a brewery. No wonder my daughter turned to alcohol. She probably got legally intoxicated just by smelling him."

Alex laughed and glanced at Callie, who was staring down at her free hand, which was in her lap. It was her left hand he wondered if she was thinking about George, about their marriage. He pushed the thought away and put an arm around her shoulder. "You look exhausted."

She flexed her hand and said, "I think I’ll need to ice this again when we get home. I don’t usually throw punches with my left hand so my form was a little off."

"You want to take one of your pain pills?"

"I already did. My head is spinning."

He reached up and brushed her hair back. "When did you take it?"

"In the car when you stopped for gas." She yawned, then grimaced because it hurt her cheek. "Sorry. I take Tylenol for *everything* so I’m pretty sure you’ll be dragging me from the car to the yacht."

"Perhaps you should get your dinner to go," Melana suggested. "We can do the same. We actually asked the two of you to come tonight because we had a little something for Alex."

Callie groaned. "Oh god. I don’t scare easily either and I’m suddenly terrified."

Melana simply shot her a look, then turned her attention to Alex. "I fear that I didn’t make a very nice impression on you when we first met. You saved our daughter’s life. Twice now. Once from herself and once from a shark." She raised a brow at Callie, who looked down at her lap again. "We appreciate that more than any token of our gratitude could show you, Alex, but we wanted to get you a little something to say thank you just the same."

Raphael pulled a thick envelope from the front pocket of his jacket. "I was going to buy you a car like Callie’s, but Cambyses assured me that you would prefer a SUV. I believe that you already drive a jeep of some kind so I bought you the closest thing to a jeep that I could find on the Mercedes lot. It’s a 2008 G55 AMG. It’s fully loaded and had just rolled off the truck when I got there. They’ll deliver it tomorrow. I had a few upgrades that I wanted in place."

Alex vehemently shook his head when the man held the envelope out to him. "No, Mr. Torres, that’s not-"

"Call me Raphael, son."

"Raphael, I appreciate the offer. I really do," he said. "But the best gift in the world is that Callie’s okay now and I get to be with her. That’s all the thanks I need."

Callie’s heart spun even faster than her head if that were at all possible. She didn’t think it had anything at all to do with the pain meds and she grinned so wide that her face hurt. "Alex, your car is pretty old and this new one is probably a lot safer."

"Callie, there’s no way that -"

"I don’t think your seat belt works in the jeep, Alex. You always check mine so it’s my turn." Callie took the packet from her father and put it in front of him. "You’re not the only one who worries. I’d feel better if you drove this."

"I can’t accept this. It’s very generous, but it’s also excessive and -"

"No, it’s not excessive. You can’t put a price tag on what you gave back to us." Raphael reached across the table and put his hand on Alex’s arm. "It’s bought and paid for. It’s yours. I hope you enjoy it."

"We spoil people we care about, Alex," Melana grinned at him, then lifted her glass of water. "To Dr. Karev, who not only gave us back our daughter, but gave her a reason to smile again."

"Hear, hear," Callie said, clicking her glass to her mother’s. To Alex, she added, "It’s rude to try to give back a gift, even one that you think is overkill, so just take it and smile. You’re outnumbered and Cubans and Greeks can be pretty brutal on their own and I’m half of both."

Alex looked at the Raphael, then at Callie’s mother, who nodded her encouragement at him. "Then I guess the only thing left to say is thank you. You really didn’t have to do this, but I appreciate it. Thank you very much."

Their food arrived, but Callie declined to take it to go and assured everyone that she was fine. She had never tasted anything better than the filet mignon, even though it was prepared no differently than usual.

As she watched her parents interact with Alex she knew that her mother had been wrong. Having her parents like her boyfriend was not a kiss of death.

It was a breath of life.

And she had never felt more alive than she did at that moment.

*~*~*~*~*~

Addison, Mark, and Alex found every reason in the world to linger in the hallway in front of the Chief’s office the following morning. Callie had arrived for the meeting before Izzie and the four of them stood and talked until the blond had shown up. Alone. Addison made a loud comment about her looking like the Joker and Izzie had scowled and sank into a chair near the Chief’s door. He arrived a few minutes later and nodded for the two women to follow. Before he shut the door, Webber shot a pointed glare at the three remaining people in the hallway, who tried to look busy. They were still doing it an hour later when the door finally opened.

Izzie stalked past them, her face red, her eyes swollen from crying. Alex watched her go with raised eyebrows and anxiously waited another ten minutes for Callie to emerge. Her face was a polar opposite of Izzie’s. She was actually smiling and her cheeks were rosy, but apparently not from being upset.

Addison put down the chart she was immersed in, which was blank, and hurried up to her. "Well? What happened?"

Callie pointed down the hallway. Her friends followed her to an open conference room and she ushered them inside. "Izzie got suspended without pay for two weeks. When she comes back she’s on probation. He said that the hospital had already covered up stuff once for her and that if UNOS found out what she had done with Denny we would have lost our teaching credentials and been sued by them for the whole organ theft by deception or whatever. So when she does come back she has to talk to Psych once a week to learn to keep her emotions out of her job."

"What about you?" Mark asked, his arms crossed over his chest.

"It’s so weird." Wrinkling her nose, Callie said, "I am now in charge of the fund raiser for the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic. Webber wants to make it an annual thing during the holiday season and he wants me to somehow get it mentioned on the news when Ava’s story goes national. And he wants me to stay away from Stevens when she comes back."

"That’s your punishment?" Alex sounded shocked. "That’s it?"

"Well, I also have to go to psych evaluations for the next eight weeks, learn to ‘turn the other cheek’ and take a course about avoiding conflict, but that’s pretty much it. Maybe he was afraid that if he was too hard on me I’d off myself or something." Callie shrugged her shoulders. "I’m not really going to complain about his reasons why, though."

Addison grabbed her suddenly and hugged her. "I didn’t sleep at *all* last night because of you!"

Callie grinned. "Judging from the bags under Mark’s eyes I’m positive that you didn’t toss and turn in agony all night."

"Shut up." Addison took a step back and glanced at her watch. "I’m going to go find an empty bed. And *sleep*."

Mark cleared his throat and said, "That actually sounds like a good idea. I think I’ll go, too."

"Fourth floor on call room," Callie called after them. "Don’t get caught."

Alex chuckled and then pulled her into his arms. "I was scared. I’m not gonna lie."

"I think I would have tossed and turned all night if I wasn’t in a narcotic coma." She kissed the side of his neck and grinned mischievously over his shoulder where he couldn’t see it. "I’m sorry I fell asleep on you. I actually don’t remember getting from the car to the yacht," she lied.

"You don’t want to remember it." He held her a little closer. "It wasn’t pretty."

"Oh god. In my defense, I have no tolerance for medication. What did I do?" She eased away from him, a look of exaggerated agony of her face. "Tell me."

"You took off down the trail ahead of me and almost got up close and personal with your favorite mud hole. I caught you in time. I scared you, apparently, because you cursed in several languages and then fell asleep on the living room floor while I took a shower."

"That doesn’t sound so bad. Why do I feel like you’re leaving something out, Alex."

"Dammit," he growled, looking pained. "The reason I was in the shower is because you made *me* fall into the mud hole. Happy now?"

She tried valiantly to look shocked, to look regretful, but it was futile. She burst out laughing and jabbed a finger into his chest. "*That* is what you get for telling my parents the lobster story *and* the shark adventure with such joy. And for laughing at me when I fell into it to begin with."

His jaw dropped a little. "You did it on purpose!?"

"Hell yes."

"I actually *believed* that you were high as a kite and-"

"Oh, I was pretty buzzed," Callie grinned at him. "But not so buzzed that I couldn’t formulate a plan of attack."

"You are so evil."

"I know." Callie leaned forward and kissed him. "Guess what? They delivered your car today. It’s gorgeous. You’re really gonna like it."

Alex’s look of shocked regret was purely genuine. "I shouldn’t take it, Callie. It’s too much. Mark said that those things cost over a hundred grand and -"

"Alex?"

"Yeah?"

"You do realize that we charge people about fifteen bucks for an aspirin in our profession, right?" She patted his cheek. "So, shut up and enjoy the ride."

"I’ve enjoyed it this far."

"So have I."

*~*~*~*~*~

"Hey," Izzie said softly, sitting down on one of the bar stools in the kitchen. She leaned her elbows on the counter and looked at Meredith and Cristina, who were doing a crossword puzzle together. The two women glanced up at her, but said nothing. Izzie bit her bottom lip and immediately regretted it. It hurt. Everything hurt today. "So, I’m suspended for two weeks and then I’m on probation indefinitely."

"Is she talking to us?" Cristina looked bewildered.

Meredith ignored her and spoke to Izzie. "This is only the opinion of someone with no tits and a twelve year old’s ass, but what did you expect? You attacked someone on hospital property."

"Hello?" Izzie said. "She broke my jaw! And all she has to do is -"

"Izzie thinks she has a right because she grew up in a trailer park." Cristina filled in another word on the crossword puzzle and glanced up at Izzie. "You almost attacked me once. Over a scrub cap. You wrecked her marriage. I’m surprised she didn’t break your neck."

"I did not wreck her marriage. Why do people keep saying that? I’m not the one who took vows. I’m not the one who was married. George wrecked his marriage. He could have told me no, but he didn’t."

"What guy is going to say no to a night with a centerfold?" Cristina asked. "To have Bethany Whisper in his ear. Literally."

"Derek would say no," Meredith told her. "And so would Burke. Did you call him yet?"

"No just doesn’t seem like a strong enough word." Cristina shook her head. "It’s so over with Burke that it’s not even worth mentioning."

"Where’s George?" Izzie asked, clearly miffed that they weren’t feeling her pain. "Isn’t he off today?"

"He’s gone to see his mother." Meredith unwrapped a Hershey Kiss and popped it in her mouth. "So, what happened to Callie? What’s her punishment?"

Izzie rattled off the nauseatingly light sentence the other woman had been given and plucked a Kiss from the bag for herself. "I just don’t get it."

Cristina put her ink pen down with a sigh and said, "Which part? I’ll gladly explain."

"All of it! I’m the villain in everything I do. Webber actually brought up what happened with Denny as a deciding factor in *my* punishment, but she tries to kill herself and she’s the stable one? Please!"

"She wasn’t on duty when it happened and what she did hurt *herself*," Cristina replied. "You almost got us fired along with you when you cut that damn wire."

Meredith cleared her throat and said, "Chief Webber probably sees a lot of his wife in Callie and a lot of himself in George." She looked at Izzie. "That would make you my mother and if my mother had ever tried to beat up Adele then he probably would have killed her. He stayed with his wife for a reason."

"Yeah, but that’s part of the problem." Cristina picked up her pen again. "George was here to take Izzie soup instead of going to check on Callie. He’s got no loyalty where it should be and too much where it shouldn’t be."

"Which proves that I am not a villain! George always chooses me!" Izzie told them. "He never told me to accept her or like her or told me that our friendship would be -"

"Am I the only who remembers George’s little speech about ‘if you push Callie away then you push me away’? That was right after you made it very clear that you didn’t want her moving in with us." Meredith took a sip of her coffee. "If you were his best friend you should have supported his decision to be with her. The way that I support the fact that Cristina is damaging the walls in her bedroom as she throws darts at Burke’s picture."

"I told you I would putty it. And it’s a wallet sized photo! It’s hard to hit!" Cristina wrinkled her brow. "What the hell was that Tom Hanks movie? With the dog? Something and ‘Hooch’."

"‘Turner and Hooch’," Izzie replied. She watched in silence as the two women worked on the puzzle. "I didn’t support him because I thought he was moving too fast."

"Did you not move fast with Denny?" Cristina asked, scribbling in the puzzle book. "I moved fast with Burke and we all know that fast is Meredith’s middle name."

"Hello? I can evict you," Meredith said. "I knew that Derek was special and I think Callie probably knew that with George, too. No matter how fast it was."

"If George was so special then why is she with Alex?" Izzie asked.

"If Denny was so special then why did you fall in bed with George three months after he died?" Cristina raised a brow. "You didn’t want Callie with George so you got that wish. You didn’t want George to be married so you're getting that wish. You have no right to have an opinion or a reaction to Callie being with Alex. You left him for Denny, remember?"

Izzie looked back and forth between the two women, her anger rising rapidly. "I’ve always felt like an outsider here. Always. The two of you teamed up almost instantly and I’m the third wheel who never shares your secrets or gets the inside jokes. You two had each other and I had George. When he suddenly started going away more and more to be with her I was completely alone. I don’t have anyone else."

"Ever wonder why?" Cristina asked softly. "Why you don’t have anyone else?"

"Cristina," Meredith warned.

"No, I’m telling her." Cristina sat forward. "The reason you’re the third wheel is because you’re the kind of girl who ... if Denny had lived and we had all gotten fired ... that would have been okay with you because you’re selfish. The ends would have justified the means. I accidentally stumbled onto what you were doing with Denny, but you *forced* George to do it. He told me that you threatened him if he didn’t and you knew that he would because like you said ... he always chooses you. And that's the kinds of friends we were ... we risked everything for *you*. But that’s not the kind of friend you are. You just assume that you know the best, the truth, and what’s right for everyone and you don’t always know that. No one does."

"BUT!" Meredith rubbed a hand over her forehead and quickly added, "We think of you as a friend and not the third will. We do. A very close, very good friend non wheely friend, but some of the things that you do and say are not okay. They’re not, Izzie. And I’ve been dismissing a lot of it because I know how much Denny’s death hurt you, but you don’t have a filter between your brain and your mouth -"

"Neither does Cristina! She says whatever the hell she’s thinking," Izzie cried.

"That’s just it," Cristina replied. "I tell the *truth*. Not what I assume to be the truth. If all you’re stating is an opinion then you shouldn’t be purposely cruel with it because that’s *all* it is. Everyone’s got an opinion. The truth should hurt. Not what you *think*."

"I am not a horrible person," Izzie snapped. "I’m not."

"We know you’re not." Meredith took her hand, nudging Cristina with her leg.

Cristina looked heavenward and said, "If you were a horrible person you would have spent your inheritance on the blackjack table in Vegas. Whatever. You’re helping save lives, blah blah blah, but you played a big part in destroying quite a few others. Like, for instance, the family who was ahead of Denny on the waiting list. Ever wonder what happened to them?"

"No," Izzie admitted, her eyes downcast. "It was worth it to try to save Denny."

"See what I mean? The ends justify the means."

"That's not what I -" Izzie began.

Cristina cut her off.

"Well, I think about them. If that man died, you’re the villain. To Callie, you’re the villain. To me, you’re a girl who could still write horrible things about all of us in your diary even though we helped you." Cristina took a swig of Meredith’s coffee. "I know you took Callie’s DNR papers from her chart so that means you’re more responsible for her being here than anyone else in that room. So ... think about her. You didn’t let her die so don’t make her regret it."

"When did you become friends with Callie?" Izzie asked. "Seriously?"

"She gave me her flash cards. She agreed to be a bridesmaid before Burke decided to channel his inner asshole and she agreed to write my wedding vows for me when I told her I was coming up with a blank." Christina put a Kiss in her mouth. "Plus, we’re both cynics who don’t believe in much of anything other than our capabilities and she cut a dude’s legs open with no pain meds. And her hands never shook once."

"She took my panties off the board." Meredith smiled. "That was a little more enjoyable than being slammed into the lockers by her, but she still gets a few points. She’s cynical, but she’s a little dark and twisty herself and I get that."

"So the two of you are Team Callie?"

"Are you really this dumb?" Cristina asked her. "The fact that there has to be a Team Callie or a Team Izzie is *your* fault. You’re the one who drew the line in the sand and stood safely behind it to fling mud at her and then hid behind George with your hand up his ass making him be your little dummy instead of encouraging him to be a man."

"We’re not Team Callie." Meredith unwrapped another piece of chocolate. "Teams aren’t always a good thing to have so we’re actively abstaining from being on any team."

"Oh, I’m Team Callie," Cristina replied. "I walked in on the nasty sex romp. I saw little George. I'm Team Callie for that fact alone. Poor girl."

Meredith kicked her ankle. "I’m not picking sides. I can see both. Derek was married and it didn’t stop me from pursuing him at first."

"But you never tried to beat Addison up!" Cristina snapped, lifting her leg to massage her bare ankle. "And you didn’t dog her to her face. Which, now that I think about it ... shame on you, Meredith. You dogged her like hell to all of us, but -"

"Can we focus?" Meredith took a deep breath. "All I’m saying is that there were a lot of things I could have said and done to Addison, but I listened to my filter. A filter which shut completely down at the Prom and when it shut down it pushed my panties down with it and -"

"We know what happened at Prom." Cristina put her leg down and bit the lid of the cap. "So skip the play by play. What’s a four letter word for spouse? Second letter is ‘a’."

"Mate?"

Izzie watched as they finished their puzzle and stood, joking with one another about something she didn’t understand at all. Cristina walked out of the kitchen, but Meredith hung back and said, "Iz?"

"Yeah?"

"You really aren’t a bad person. Diary notwithstanding. You’re a good person with a big heart, but that heart gets you in a lot of trouble. Maybe you don’t need a filter between your mouth and your brain, maybe you need one between your brain and your heart. Or ... maybe you just need to learn to listen to both in equal measures."

When she was alone in the kitchen, Izzie reached for her rosary beads, which she kept in her purse. She let one bead at a time work through her fingers as her mind talked loud and clear.

And for the first time in a very long time, she listened.

*~*~*~*~*~

Izzie was flipping channels in the living room when George got home. She took one look at him and handed him the Ben and Jerry’s she had been trying to enjoy. The coldness seemed to sink into her and as he took the carton, she pulled her blanket a little tighter. "How was your mom?"

"She hasn’t really cried that hard since my dad was buried." He held the container, but didn’t eat any. "I’ll be the first O’Malley in over thirty years to get a divorce. She really loves Callie."

"Must be an O’Malley thing." Izzie put her head on his shoulder. "Your dad loved her, too."

"Yeah. So, what happened today?"

Izzie told him everything. Even her conversation with Meredith and Cristina. "Do you think I’m unfiltered?"

"Honestly? Yeah, I do. You told me to go be with Callie and that you were letting me go, but the minute I made it official it was like the rules changed. You started trying to hold me back, you started saying crap about her to her face, and then ... we had sex and you said you were in love with me and I didn’t know what to do."

"I thought I was."

"I knew I wasn’t in love with you. That kiss in the elevator that day just felt wrong. It wasn’t just because I was married or because it was cheating ... it was wrong because you’re my friend. It felt like I was losing everything at once. I knew Callie would leave me if she found out and I knew that our friendship was ruined."

"It’s not ruined. We’re still best friends."

"We’re friends, but I need you to understand that I’ve always been the one to sacrifice for you. I would drop Callie at a moment’s notice if you said you needed me. I put my career on the line by saying I cut that wire and I did it because we’re family. I did it because I love you." He glanced at her and his eyes were filled with tears. "But you’ve never done anything like that for me. Even when I begged you to back off a little."

"George-"

"It’s okay. It’s done." George put his hand on hers. "But I’m telling you again since begging doesn’t seem to work ... to leave Callie alone. Let her have Alex if that’s what she wants because if you go after Alex and actually do get him ... I’m going to do the same thing to you that you did to me and Callie. I’m going to make you feel like you have to pick between us and I’m going to dog him every step of the way."

"I’m not going to go after Alex. I’ve decided to be celibate for the rest of my life."

"So have I." He took a bite of the ice cream and glanced at the television. He quickly did a double take when he saw Alex. "Oh my god. They’re doing the segment for that girl."

Izzie quickly turned the volume up. They listened as Alex spoke about the Jane Doe he had found in the wreckage during the ferry disaster. He told about the extensive facial reconstruction and how her appearance had been forever altered. The scene cut away to Ava, who explained that she had no memory of her life before she was injured, but she did know that she was a voracious ‘Buffy the Vampire Slayer’ fan, apparently had a chocolate addiction, and loved playing video games. She showed a small scar on her arm and one on her hand and said that she woke up almost every morning dreaming about palm trees.

The scene cut again to show Alex holding Ava’s baby in his arms. He gave information about the baby’s blood type, Ava’s blood type, and implored anyone with information to contact Seattle Grace Hospital’s special hot line that had been set up. The number flashed as they showed Bailey’s clinic, where several telephones and small desks had been put in one corner and they were filled with volunteers who worked at the hospital. Then Ava was back on the screen and talked for a moment about the incredible care she had been given and that the hospital had a free clinic that was always in need of funding. She urged people to donate to the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic and mentioned that there would be a fund raiser after Thanksgiving.

The number flashed again and then the news anchor promised that there would be a more in-depth interview on the woman with the new face, but blank canvas for a past the following day. Izzie took a deep breath and said, "That was Fox News."

"Put it on CNN."

They changed channels just in time to see a slightly different montage. This one featured Ava being wheeled to the nursery to see her baby and several shots of her rocking the little girl and singing to her. Alex appeared with the exact same clip that had been shown on Fox and then Ava’s comments about the memorial clinic were featured at the end.

"Chief Webber told Callie to get it on the news and she did." Izzie shook her head. "Do you realize how much money this clinic could make? This story is in millions of houses tonight."

"Do you realize that right now Ava’s parents could be seeing their daughter and their granddaughter for the first time in who knows how long?" George handed her the ice cream and picked up his cell phone.

*~

Across town in the parking deck of the airport, Callie frowned at the name that appeared on her caller ID. It still came up with a bursting of hearts around it. She gazed at it for a moment, then answered, "Hey, George."

"Oh, god, hey," he replied, clearly startled. "I - I didn’t expect you to answer. I was going to leave a message and tell you that I just caught the news segment on Ava. I heard rumors that you were the one who made it happen and it was really well done. Good job."

"Thanks," Callie said. "Tonight was just the teaser. There’s a bigger interview that was filmed today and clips of it will broadcast for the entire week. If we keep her in the public eye for as long as possible that will increase the chances of someone seeing her."

"How did you do this?"

"I didn’t do much. I just asked my dad. He’s got friends all over the place."

"Right, I forget how powerful your family is." George glanced at Izzie, who was staring at the television even though she had muted it. "Uh, is it okay - can I ask you how you are? How you’re feeling?"

"You want to know if I look as bad your best friend?" Callie chuckled a little. "Not quite, but bad enough. She’s a hair puller. I’m still shedding."

"I’m sorry this happened."

"Me, too. It sucked." Callie took a deep breath. "Let Izzie know that if she can crunch little pieces of ice on the broken side, as much as she can handle without pain, it’ll help her chew solid foods faster. Plus the ice will ease the swelling on the inside."

"I’ll tell her." George felt his chin begin to tremble. "I saw my mom today. She’s finally speaking to me again and she asked me to tell you that she’d like to call you sometime. Her birthday is October twenty first and she knows that you’re a Halloween baby so she wants you guys to have lunch or something in between the dates."

"Are you okay with that?" Callie asked. "Are you okay with me being friendly with your mother?"

"Yes, I am. And I’ve made it very clear to her that you’re with someone else and that you’re happy so she won’t be pushing you or anything."

"Okay."

George listened to her breathing on the other end of the line. He remembered the nightmare he had and the way she had breathed against his neck when he had asked her to. "I know you said that we’re not friends, Callie, and I can understand why, but you can call me sometimes, too. You can - you can talk to me at work even if it’s just to bitch about the rain. I’d like that."

"I’ll keep that in mind," she told him. "Listen, I have to go. Cam and Blake are flying home tonight and I’m here to see them off. I’ll catch ya later, okay?"

"Yeah, see ya." George closed his phone and put it on the table. "Iz?"

"Yeah?"

"She said for you to chew small ice chips to help the swelling and the pain."

"She said that? Really?"

"My marriage is over. She’s gone, Izzie. It’s like ... she’s a stranger now." George looked at his best friend as if he had realized the truth for the first time. "And I can’t get her back. I want her back, but she’s gone."

He sobbed, the sound harsh and gut wrenching. Izzie put her hand on his back and then pulled him against her, cradling him as he cried on her shoulder.

She didn’t need a filter between her brain and her mind to know the part she had played in George’s pain.

The evidence was trembling in her arms.

And Izzie knew that it was time to wake up and see what was going on around her.

*~*~*~*~*~

Callie sat next to Cambyses while Blake went to check the baggage. She held onto his hand and said, "Why do you have to live so far away?"

"I’ll be back in three weeks for our birthday. You know I won't miss it," Cam replied. "Where’s Alex?"

"He had to stay late at work. Trauma. He said to apologize and tell you that it was nice to meet you." She looked at her brother and her eyes filled with tears. "God, I miss you so much already."

"I’m a phone call away."

"And three thousand miles."

"You’re the one who took the residency out here." He smiled at her. "Now stop crying before you make me cry. I don't want my mascara to run. Even if it is clear."

"I knew you wore it! No one's lashes are that perfect!" She blotted at her eyes. "Will you call me when you land?"

"Absolutely." He tugged a lock of her hair. "Will you call me if anything happens to you that makes you want to get piss drunk so that I can talk you out of it."

She nodded. "You could talk me off a ledge."

"I hope I never have to." He kissed her on the forehead. "Do me a favor and remember that I’ve been pretty much excommunicated from Heaven so God would probably get pretty pissed at me for running into the light to yank your ass out of it."

She chuckled. "No fears there. I’m officially an adulterer. You’d be pulling me out of the pits of Hell."

"And I would, little sister, I would."

Blake walked up a moment later and said, "I hate to do this, but if we’re going to get through security in time to board then we should probably go."

Callie got her feet and hugged Blake, telling him that she loved him. He kissed her and walked toward the escalator, giving her another second alone with Cam. She looked up at him, then reached up and touched his face. "Be good, Cambyses."

He leaned down, putting his forehead against hers. "Take your own advice and don’t fight anybody else, don’t drink, don’t run off and dive with Jaws, and don’t let your ex hobbit make you crazy. Angst is apparently your oxygen and I get that, but can you try to be normal? For me?"

"Where’s the fun in that?" She kissed his cheek. "You better go."

Cam nodded and picked up his carry on. "For what it’s worth, I heartily approve of Jock Strap. He’s one hell of a man."

"I heartily agree."

"And I don’t think it’s too fast, Cal." Cam kissed her one last time. "I know I mentioned that you were being impulsive, but-"

"I’m not. I know."

"He loves you. I can tell."

"Yeah, he does." She beamed up at him. "Now go because I’m about to cry and I don’t want you to see it."

"This is not goodbye."

"Never say goodbye." She held up her fist and waited for him to put his against it. "Wonder twin powers, activate."

"Activated," he replied. "Forever."

"Forever."

Callie watched him walk away and kept her smile resolutely in place as he stepped onto the escalator and glanced over his shoulder at her. She held up her hand, but didn’t wave. They never waved goodbye. When he was out of sight, she sat back down in his chair and dug tissue from her purse. Her phone rang again while she was blowing her nose.

"Hello?"

"Callie, it’s Louise."

"Oh, hi!" Callie said, standing to throw away her tissue. "How are you?"

"I’m okay. You sound upset, though."

"My brother just left town. I hate seeing him go."

"Aww, honey, can I do anything?"

"You want to have lunch next week? I have to plan a fund raiser for the clinic at the hospital and I need a brainstorming partner."

"How’s Monday?"

"Perfect." Callie walked out of the airport and headed to her car. "Noon? At the Emerald City Bar?"

"I’ll be there with bells on and a brain full of ideas for your fund raiser." Louise cleared her throat. "How was your party?"

"Way too long. I was exhausted when it was finally over."

"I wish I could have been there. I would have liked to see you all dressed up. What color did you wear?"

"Red." Callie opened her door and slipped onto the cold leather seat. "Oooh, it’s freezing tonight."

Louise apparently got the hint and followed her into the new topic. "The weather’s been unpredictable lately. That’s for sure."

"Hey, Louise?"

"Yes?"

"Could you let Ronnie and Jerry know that I’m still interested in their lives and stuff. They can call me. They can come and see me."

"I’ll tell them and the same goes for you, too. We’re having a big dinner at the house for Thanksgiving. It’s the first one without Harold so ... if you find yourself with nothing to do then come on out. Okay?"

"Thank you. I’ll see what I can do."

"Okay, sweetheart. I’ll see you on Monday."

"Okay."

"Uhm, Callie? Are you - are you happy?"

"Yes. I am."

There was an uncomfortable silence and Louise finally sighed and said, "I’ll see you Monday."

"Okay. ‘Night, Louise."

*~*~*~*~*~

"Why would I move into your hotel room?" Mark snapped. "Why don’t we just buy a house!? It would be cheaper!"

"But no room service." Addison put her fork on her plate and wiped her mouth with a napkin. "We need room service to feed us. We’re not in New York anymore. Everything doesn’t deliver here."

Mark picked up the real estate brochure he had been looking through and held it out to her. "Look at page forty two. I circled the one I like. It’s about two miles from Callie’s place, it’s on the water, and it’s perfect. There are actually trails between the two places that you women can keep plowed down by going to see each other."

She took the booklet with a sigh and her eyes widened when she saw the house. "It’s a log cabin. A cabin!?"

"I know what it is," he replied. "Just under three thousand square feet of finished living space, but three thousand more in the basement that can be turned into whatever we want. It’s priced to go and the sellers are motivated."

"Have you seen it?"

"Yeah. That’s where I was coming back from the other day when I saw Callie tearing out of the parking lot." Mark smiled at her. "You’ll love it."

"Did - did you bid for it?"

"I did. I’m just waiting to see if they’ll accept my offer."

Addison stared down at the photo again. The cabin wasn’t small per se, but it wasn’t huge. It had a wrap around porch with matching gazebos on either end and a garage that sat a few feet away from the house. A covered walkway joined the two structures. She read the information provided and looked back up at him. "Gourmet kitchen? Because we know how to cook?"

He took the booklet and said, "Three bedrooms, a library, two separate office spaces and a hot tub. Who cares if it even *has* a kitchen?"

She picked up her fork again and took a bite of her baked potato. "It’s a cabin, Mark."

"It is not just a cabin. When you see it, you’ll love it."

"I don’t rough it well."

"You’re thinking about Derek’s trailer, Addison. This is not Derek’s trailer."

"No, I’m thinking about that little cabin we rented back in ninety-nine in Colorado that couldn’t be heated, didn’t have electricity, and had wildlife peering in the windows at us. Derek almost had a heart attack when -"

"I know. I was there. And this is nothing like that." He closed the book and glared at her. "Will you come and see it tomorrow? We’re off work. It’s Friday. I’ll call the realtor and have them meet us so we can go in."

"Do people live there?"

"No, but it’s fully furnished. It was a rental property and everything’s going with it. There’s a boat, there’s a couple of four wheelers and it’s beautiful." He reached across the table and took her hand. "Move in with me, Addison. Please? Between us we’re paying close to five grand a *week* to stay at this hotel. The money we save can go into a trust fund for our kids or -"

"Whoa!" Addison pulled her hand from his and stood. "Did you just say kids ... like, plural?"

"Well, yeah." He slowly got to his feet, watching her. "Neither one of us had siblings, but seeing Callie with hers and seeing her big family-"

"Oh my god! Who are you and what have you done with Mark Sloan? The guy who hates family. The guy who would forget Christmas if he didn’t get asked by fifteen Santas to donate money to the Salvation Army?"

He reached into his pocket and pulled out his BlackBerry. "Look, I’m programming Christmas in right now. And your birthday is in here and so is the anniversary of us finally getting back together and-"

"The fact that you have to program Christmas is a strong indicator that -"

"I am bad with dates. I don’t like holidays. I don’t like birthdays or anniversaries. Valentine’s Day makes me nauseous and the only good thing about Halloween is the candy that you can get for a couple of dollars the day after." He finished pressing keys on his phone and closed it. "But I’m telling you that I’ll try for you and if we do have kids, plural, I’ll stay up all night on Christmas Eve to put the bikes together or the dollhouse or the whatever else little kids like that have a lot of parts. Because I love you. And we’re not getting any younger."

Addison looked at him, her eyes wide. "That was the most rambling and absurd and quite possibly the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me."

He smiled. Big. "Does that mean that you’ll move in with me?"

"I will go and see this *cabin*. I will also scour the area for any poison ivy or poison oak because any time I step out of the concrete jungle that is the city ... I get it in unmentionable places."

"If you knew what it looked like you wouldn’t get it. So, I’ll scour the area while you stay inside. With your unmentionable places."

"Aww, aren’t you a manly man? Going to kill the big, bad plant and -"

He kissed her. Thoroughly.

She was breathless when he pulled back. "You really are a manly man."

"You’re about to find out just how right you are."

"Life with you is going to be very exhausting," Addison said, as he pulled her shirt over her head.

"We're making up for lost time. You don’t get to complain. Not after the *weeks* of whining and crying foul over your lack of a sex life." His hand moved to the buttons of her pants and he grinned. "But if you do whine I could punish you."

She whined.

He was true to his word.

*~*~*~*~*~