(no subject)
Title: Ready For A Fall (26/?)
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: I don't know if the much anticipated fight scene played out the way I hoped, but I did enjoy it. I hope you like it, too.
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*~*~*~*~*~*
The world still is the same, you'll never change it
As sure as the stars shine above
You're nobody 'til somebody loves you
So find yourself somebody to love
- Dean Martin
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie and Alex arrived for work the following day in matching jovial spirits. He had tried to sing along with Dean Martin, somehow making ‘You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You’ the most horrific song she had ever heard. She kept a straight face as he parked, but the second he met her behind the car to dance with her while he sang the chorus, she lost it. She had to double over and fight hard to breathe when he asked her if it was the song or his voice. He had mangled the lyrics all to hell and back and never hit one note correctly, but the humor was in his genuine delivery. As tone deaf as he was, he still tried to sell it.
"I’m crying!" she said, fanning her face as he tried once again for the chorus. "Stop singing! Or whatever that is that you’re doing. You sound like that bird in ‘The Little Mermaid’."
"Well, we can’t all sing like Ariel can we? And that was mean." He put his arms around her waist and kissed her, then goosed her in the ribs. "You’re supposed to be more Paula than Simon."
"Stop tickling me! I'm going to pee my pants!" She jumped and gripped his hands. "Okay, fine. Here’s my Paula. You look really, really good and you get an A for effort. It’s all about song choice, though. So, later on, if you really want to sing ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ by Rod Stewart while you strip ... I promise to be seduced."
He smiled at her. "I can do that."
Wrapping her arms around him, she spoke softly. "You know what else you can do?"
"What?"
"You can think about the fact that I’m wearing those infamous crotchless panties. All day."
He slipped his hands over her backside, confirming that she was indeed wearing what she claimed. They fit her ass a certain way and he loved the way they did. He traced her panty line and then moved his hand to the seam of her jeans between her legs. "We could go to an on call room. Right now."
"We’re not on call yet, but if you want to meet me there after lunch for dessert ... I’ll say yes."
"Fourth floor?"
"That’s the one."
"How do you know this?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I’ve been here five years. I know all the best hiding places and I can’t wait to show you every single one of them." She kissed him again and he pressed her against the trunk of her car. She put her hands in the back pocket of his pants and leaned her head back, letting him nip at her neck, then her ear.
"Get a room!" Cristina called, crawling out of the back of Meredith’s car. George and Izzie quickly walked past them, but Yang and Grey strolled up, smiling. "What are you doing?" Yang asked.
"Groping my girlfriend," Alex replied, pulling Callie a little closer. "And loving every minute of it."
"That’s nauseating. It’s too early in the morning for that." Cristina stretched and yawned. "You should be inside sucking down coffee and trying to get on the surgical boards before anyone else can. Doctors don’t need sex. We need scalpels. And multiple traumas."
"Well, I think it’s sweet," Meredith said, smiling when Callie leaned her head against Alex’s. "No matter what time of the day it is. People should just be happy. And laughter is the always the best medicine."
"Oh my god." Cristina glared at her. "I’m throwing away that damn inspirational calendar you bought. That’s the second time today that you’ve said ‘happy’ and it’s making me want to strangle something. Like a furry white kitten."
"It’s not my fault that Burke is an ass." Meredith looped her arm through her friend’s. To Alex and Callie, she added, "He still isn’t talking to her."
"And I don’t care." Cristina rolled her eyes and looked at Alex. "I’m sleeping in your bed, douchebag. Are you planning on coming back or can I move in?"
"Move in. I’m moving on." Alex shrugged. "I’ll try to swing by and get my things on Friday. We’re both off and that’ll be a good time to do it."
Meredith nodded, still grinning as Alex playfully walked his fingers up Callie’s ribs until he found her ticklish spot.
She had to admit it ... they were a gorgeous couple.
*~*~*~*~*~
"They’re a hideous couple," Izzie told George, digging through the fruit on the lunch line. "I don’t know what he sees in her."
"I do," George replied. "I’m pretty sure it has to do with her bank account. Did you see the Rolex he’s been wearing? She’s very generous."
"I overheard Montgomery telling Bailey that they’re living on a yacht. Callie’s yacht. Out at Harbor Cove." Izzie wrinkled her nose and glanced across the lunchroom as Alex laughed at something Callie was saying. "I think they’re just doing it for show. It’s not real."
"Who were they trying to show in the parking lot this morning, Izzie? They were all over each other." George sighed. "God, I hate this."
"That’s what they want us to do, George. It’s all a game to make us jealous. That’s all. I bet they haven’t even had sex." Izzie put an arm around his shoulders as they walked across the room and sat with Meredith and Cristina.
Cristina looked at George and said, "How do you like the fold out sofa?"
"It’s fine." His expression changed suddenly. "Why?"
"Because Alex is moving in with Callie and he said I could have his room." She smiled and looked back and forth between Izzie and George. "What does it feel like?"
"What does what feel like?" Izzie asked.
"To know that the people you want to be with are with each other and look happier than they ever did with either one of you."
Izzie’s eyes widened. "How do you know that I want to be with -"
"You leave your diary out and I’m reading it." Yang shrugged and turned to George. "Did you know that Homewrecker Barbie here called your second little dalliance a nightmare moment of incestuous proportions? She said your legs looked like you were riding a chicken."
George blushed, but did not reply. He listened to Izzie implore Meredith to control her new tenant and found himself watching Callie again as Meredith mediated the dispute. Callie’s hair was insanely curly. He had never seen it that way. Her bangs had disappeared into the frenzy of spiral waves and she looked more Latino, more exotic than he had ever seen her look before. Her skin was darker, but her eyes were lighter somehow and he wondered if it was because she really was happy. Surely no one could fake what Alex and Callie were currently faking. Not the way they did it. It was palpable. He could feel it from across the room.
Alex reached up and wrapped his finger around a lock of her hair and pulled her forward. George held his breath when she smiled at Karev and kissed him, her hands on his chest. Even from across the room he could see that it wasn’t a friend’s kiss. He had no doubt that they were tasting each other’s lunches and when he saw Alex’s hand graze her breast and heard her laugh at something he had whispered against her ear, he pushed his plate away.
Cristina followed George’s gaze, watching as Callie and Alex stood and left the cafeteria hand in hand. "Awww, Bambi, are you finally seeing how stupid you were? I mean, I’m not *calling* you stupid or anything, but I kinda think you were sixteen before you learned how to tie your shoelaces."
Izzie put a hand on his arm. "Ignore her. She’s still upset about Burke so the rest of us must pay."
"Oh, right," Cristina replied. "What were you upset about when you were making Callie pay? If memory serves all was right in the land of Izz-Me when you started picking on her."
"Since when are you Callie’s public defender?" Izzie snapped. "You’ve been doing that for weeks now, talking her up, saying that she’s great. Why don’t you go make out with her too?"
"Oh, I would." Cristina shrugged. "But she’s a one person kind of woman and I don’t steal from anyone. Plus, she’s a friend, and unlike you guys I really understand friendship boundaries. You two together?" She pointed back and forth between Izzie and George. "That would be like me and Meredith throwing down. We are *family*."
"I got all my sisters with me," Meredith said, putting a hand on the arms of both of her female friends. "Can you just *try* to get along?"
Cristina nodded. "For you, sure. Hey, Izzard, you want to go outside and play ‘hide and go fuck yourself’?"
"Cristina!" Meredith cried.
"Do you know what else she wrote in her diary?" Yang kept her eyes on Izzie. "She wrote that I was an overbearing and annoying token Asian who didn’t deserve Preston Burke because I was too bitchy to live. And, Meredith, she said that you were a commitment phobe who didn’t have a chance in hell of hanging onto Derek because you have no tits and your ass looks like a twelve year old boy’s."
Izzie got up from the table fast enough that she knocked her chair back. "Stay the hell out of my room!"
"Oh, but aren’t we friends?" Cristina asked. "Isn’t there a revolving door when it comes to your friends? Don’t you share *everything* with us?"
Izzie stalked from the room and Cristina looked innocently at George. "You know what she can’t stand? The truth."
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie and Alex were undressed and well on their way to making history fifteen minutes after they finished eating. She had been right about the fourth floor on call room. It was at the end of a dead end hallway that never got much action. He was watching her ride out the waves of her orgasm as he sank into her flesh. When she lifted her hips up against his, he grabbed one of her legs and pulled it over his shoulder. Smiling, he leaned down and bit her bottom lip, sucking at it until it was even fuller. "God, you feel good."
She wrapped her free leg around his waist and bucked against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh was erotic and as she gazed into his eyes, she felt the familiar tingling between her legs began to build again. "Touch me," she whispered.
He rolled them so that she was on top and reached between her legs as she undulated her hips, massaging her clit with his thumb. She came hard and let her head fall back so far that the ends of her hair tickled his thighs. He sat up, pulling her legs around him. He surged against her, gripping her hips as he lifted her once, twice, three times and he got off with a hoarse cry. The sounds of their mutual pleasure drowned out the sound of the door opening. When he could think again, he kissed her softly and said, "I love you, Callie."
"OH MY GOD!"
Callie turned her head in time to see Izzie Stevens rush from the room. She groaned and said, "How much do you think she saw?"
"Judging by the look on her face it was enough to show her that you’re better than she could ever hope to be." He kissed her again, cupping her breast with one hand. Her nipple was taut and he tweaked it, grinning when she hissed. "What time is dinner with your parents?"
"Eight." She took his wrist and gazed at his watch. "I have a spinal fusion in forty minutes. You want to go take a shower with me?"
"And risk getting caught again? Absolutely."
They didn’t get caught, but they emerged just in the nick of time. Callie was putting on fresh scrubs when Sydney walked into the locker room and looked at her. "I need you to let Stevens scrub in with you on the spinal fusion."
"No way!" Callie shook her head.
"Team player! Be all that you can be!" Sydney cried, looking so frazzled that it was almost comical. Her hair was frizzy, her face was devoid of makeup and her scrub shirt was not only inside out, it didn’t match her pants. "I need her off the floor and I know that you won’t let her do anything stupid."
"What did she do now?"
"Nothing. Yet. But Chief Webber is coming in and I want to look like I can delegate. I need all the new residents somewhere and you’re the only one on the board for a surgery that she can’t kill someone on. That crazy little tart whore."
"Fine." Callie laughed at her, feeling a newfound kinship with Sydney due to her choice of words. "I’ll do it."
Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness!"
Callie hastily added, "I’ll do it if you help me with my freakin’ hair because I don’t have time to dry it all the way and I have to go to dinner right after work. I need it to fit under my scrub cap better, too."
"Oh my god! Absolutely! I live for this stuff! Sit down, sit down."
Callie avoided looking at Alex at all as Sydney began elegantly French braiding her hair away from her face. She heard him laughing, though, and had to smile along with him. When Sydney began to sing ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera, she joined him in the laughter and within moments, Dr. Heron had done the same.
*~*~*~*~*~
Being bent over a spine with a heavy piece of equipment was not the easiest thing to do after being bent in other, more satisfying ways, but Callie made the most of it. She adjusted a screw and looked at the monitor, checking the depth and placement. Her mind put 'screw' and 'placement' together and she wondered what Alex would think of the place in the basement where she used to live. She’d be showing that to him the following day. Every time he touched her it felt like the first time all over again. She chuckled a little behind her mask and pulled the tool away, relieved that the worst was over and the home stretch had finally arrived.
Glancing up, she saw that Izzie was staring at her. "You want to stitch him up?"
"Not really."
"Okay." Callie shrugged, picking up the tools needed to suture the incision. She adjusted the light and twisted a little, trying to pop her back. It finally worked and she moaned in relief. "Hurts so good."
"Having your legs bent in ways they do not go apparently agrees with you," Izzie told her, not bothering to keep her voice low. "Who knew?"
There were several sniggers in the room and Callie resolutely put the first stitch in. "I think it depends on the one doing the bending."
Izzie continued to glare at her. "You get that Alex is using you, right?"
"Thank you for your opinion, but since I didn’t ask for it I think you can safely assume that I don’t want it." Callie worked on the third stitch. The only outward hint of the aggravation she was beginning to feel was the way she twisted her head side to side, working on the rapidly building tension in her neck.
"It’s because you have money. You’re his sugar mama and nothing more."
"I do have a lot of money. So if that’s why he’s staying then he’ll never have a reason to go." The fifth and sixth stitch were thankfully silent.
On the seventh stitch, Izzie said, "You’re not his type."
Callie kept her eyes on her job. "That’s because I refuse to be a ‘type’."
"He will always want the cheerleader and you will always be the weird girl who doesn’t wash her hands."
Callie worked on the tenth stitch. "My hands will never be so dirty that they’re stained with someone else’s blood. You can’t wash that off. Ever."
Izzie snorted. "You love to go there. You love to bring up Denny every chance you get."
Callie looked at her. "And you love to prove how unprofessional you are every chance you get. Look around you, Dr. Stevens. We’re in an operating room. We have someone halfway open on the table and I’m trying like hell to do my job. So, can you please stop talking?"
"You’re actually calling me unprofessional? I’m sorry ... did I not walk in on sex earlier?"
"I’m sorry ... did you not make out with my soon to be ex-husband in the elevator?"
Someone coughed softly and Izzie stood a little taller, suddenly aware that every eye was on her. "Your soon to be ex-husband made out with *me*. He clearly wanted to feel what a normal woman felt like."
"You and normal? Not even distant cousins. Not even in the same zip code." Callie adjusted the light again, working on the remaining stitches. When she was finished, she took a step back and nodded at the anesthesiologist. "Dr. Jamison, nice job."
"Likewise, Dr. Torres." The man nodded his head.
Callie thanked the crew, told them they had done well, and pulled her gloves off. She walked to the scrub room, took off her surgical suit and put it into the trash. Despite the exchange of words, she was calm, cool, and collected. She would be willing to bet that Alex would give her a massage if she asked really nicely. She smiled as she thought about the possibilities and she was happily picturing it ...
Until Izzie Stevens followed her and said, "Alex likes you right now because you lost about two hundred pounds, but when you start eating again ... and you will ... he’ll drop your lard ass like the four ton weight that you are."
Callie sighed and shook her head. "You think that being pretty makes you perfect, but it doesn’t. You can be bone thin and in every centerfold on the planet, but your soul still looks like seven miles of bad road, Izzie. It’s ugly. And it’s so fat with vitriol and bitterness that it keeps getting wedged in the doorway and that’s why you can’t use it for anything other than cruelty."
"I’m not scared to kick your ass, Callie, but since I’m not tiny like Meredith I’m sure you won’t go there."
"If you fight like you save lives then I’m not really worried." Callie turned on her heel and walked into the hallway. She pulled her scrub cap off and that was when Izzie made her move.
The blond dug her hand into the single braid that Sydney had fashioned on the back of Callie’s head and yanked her backwards. Callie turned and Izzie slapped her as hard as she could. There were several gasps, mostly from Dr. Bailey and Chief Webber who were standing ten feet away. Callie caught Izzie’s arm and said, "I’ll give you that one, Stevens, but if you swing again it’s on. Consider that a warning."
Izzie yanked off her stethoscope and used it like a whip. The round metal end caught Callie just under the eye. She saw stars for a second and felt blood roll down her face, but she smiled through the pain. "God, I was *so* hoping you were as stupid as I always suspected."
Callie punched her and Izzie’s cap fell off from the force of the blow. Izzie staggered back and ran her hand over her mouth, feeling her split lip. With a shriek, she flung herself at Callie who used the momentum of the younger woman’s body to send her crashing into the wall. Izzie stumbled and Callie stuck her foot out, tripping her. The blond fell to her stomach and grunted when Callie kicked her in the ribs.
"Stop that!" Webber cried, rushing forward and pulling Izzie to her feet. "Stop it now!"
Izzie launched herself at Callie again and Callie was ready. She hit her twice, one fist to her face and one to her gut. Izzie latched onto her black hair in an apparent attempt to rip it from her skull in retaliation. There were more shouts and then Mark, Webber, and Alex were trying to get the women apart. The men only succeeded in knocking them to the ground and Callie was easily the dominant one since Izzie’s only concern was scalping her. Callie got in one last lick and there was an audible pop.
Izzie screamed and clutched her jaw.
"People will thank me for that when it keeps your big mouth wired shut for a while!" Callie yelled as Alex physically lifted her and pinned her against the wall.
Webber helped Izzie to her feet again and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you two? I have never in my life! Dr. Bailey, take Stevens to X-ray. Dr. Sloan, take Torres to trauma and check her face." He looked at Izzie, then Callie. "And then the two of you get out of this hospital for the rest of the day! I want you both in my office at nine in the morning to discuss disciplinary actions. Which will be severe!"
Dr. Jamison and several of the surgical crew had come out. Jamison pulled off his mask and said, "Dr. Stevens was goading Dr. Torres throughout the entire surgery. Callie begged her to be professional and she refused. And Stevens threw the first punch. This was clearly self defense."
Reva, one of the oldest scrub nurse’s employed at Seattle Grace, nodded her agreement and lifted a gnarled hand, pointing at Izzie. "I’m surprised she didn’t slit you from groin to gullet, little missy! The things you said to her! Mexicans cut people!"
"I’m *not* a Mexican!" Callie said, her hand over her cheek.
Richard took a deep breath and said, "Okay, fine. I want everyone who was in the OR to go to my office and wait for me. I’ll talk to you one at a time." He turned to Izzie and Callie again. "My other orders still stand. Go get yourselves cleaned up, get the hell out of here, and come back in the morning without your scrubs! I don’t think you’ll need them for a while!"
*~*~*~*~*~
"It’s actually not that bad," Mark said, squeezing a syringe full of water over the small laceration on Callie’s cheek. "Two stitches should do it."
"Then don’t numb it."
"Yeah, right," Mark replied, shaking his head. "I don’t want you to punch *me*. Helluva right hook, Torres."
"Why do you always have to one up me?" Addison snapped, her arms over her chest as she watched from the corner of the room. "And why do you have to do it when I’m not there to see it!? I knew I should have gone back and smacked her again at Meredith’s house! Did she actually hit you with her stethoscope?"
Callie nodded and Mark gripped her chin, telling her to be still. Alex took the ice pack off her hand and felt her knuckles. "Ow, crap!"
"Nothing feels broken, but we should probably get a -"
"Nothing *is* broken," Callie replied, hissing when Mark began to numb her face. "Except her jaw."
"What did she say to you anyway?" Alex asked.
Callie squeezed her eyes shut as the medication burned. "That you only want me for my money. That you’re going to stop hanging around with me when I start eating again because I’m a lard ass who weighs two tons and that I’m not your type because you only like cheerleaders. Oh, and that I’m unprofessional."
Alex sat down beside her on the stretcher. "And you let a bunch of lies get you in this much trouble?"
"No. I was walking away from her. I was *fine*." She opened her eyes and glanced at Alex. "I’m still fine because I know better."
He grinned at her and took her hand, gently kissing it. "Good."
Mark worked quickly. When he was finished, he wrote her a prescription for mild pain medication, assuring her that she’d probably need it that night and the following day. Callie accepted the papers as Dr. Bailey appeared in the doorway. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Fine."
"She was the one in the wrong. The Chief knows that. We saw it." Bailey folded her arms across her chest. "And Sydney Heron is the worst Chief Resident to ever walk the face of the earth. She should have known better than to put you two together. Why did you agree to do it?"
"Because *I* can be professional and I mistakenly assumed that she could do the same."
"Hello?" Addison said. "Denny Duquette. LVAD-gate. The only thing professional about Stevens is the street corner she keeps hot during her down time."
"Nicely phrased, young Jedi." Callie smiled at her friend. "You’ll be a knight in no time."
"If I go break her nose will that win me knighthood?"
"No, it will not!" Bailey snapped. "Y’all fools are gonna give the Chief a stroke. And not the Chief that needs to have a stroke!"
"How’s Izzie?" Alex asked. "Is she okay?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Callie took her hand from his and got to her feet. She listened as Bailey told him that the fracture in Stevens’ jaw would not require surgery or her jaw to be wired shut, but she’d be on a liquid diet for a while. Callie signed her discharge papers and then heard Alex ask if he could take off early.
After a pit stop to pick up their things, they walked to the car in silence. Alex caught her arm at the back of it, the way he had done that morning when he danced and sang to her. "Do you get that the only reason I asked about her is because I wanted you to know that you got the upper hand?"
"She’s your friend. I know that. You’ll have to forgive me if that doesn’t really thrill me because the last person who said she was a friend-"
"Hey!" He tightened his grip and forced her to look at him. "Don’t ever compare me to him again. Ever."
"Alex, did you have feelings for her? When you were with her?"
"No. I didn’t know what love was until I met you. I’m pretty sure I made that clear already." He rubbed just under the bandage on her face. "So don’t worry. I won’t be talking to her anymore."
"I’m not giving you that ultimatum. I just don’t have to like it."
"I’m not going to be friends with anyone who badmouths you. It’s not gonna happen, because if she can’t respect you then she can’t respect me." He kissed her. "I’m not George. I know exactly what I want, how I feel, and that you’re the only thing I need."
"Friends are important."
"Family is more important and that’s what you are to me."
"That’s the best thing you could have said." She smiled at him. "You really think I had the upper hand in the fight?"
"Baby, you kicked her ass. It was unbelievable."
"I really did try to avoid it. I tried so hard to take the high road. I didn’t want this to happen."
"You’re not sorry it did, though."
"Therapy? Two hundred and fifty an hour. Making Izzie Stevens bleed? Priceless."
Alex laughed and opened her car door. "Your parents will *love* the stitches."
"I’ll tell them that I fell."
"Nope." He leaned into the car and fastened her seat belt, then kissed her. "You’ll tell the truth because lies *always* catch up to you."
*~*~*~*~*~
Izzie was lying on her bed, gazing at the ceiling when someone knocked on her door. With great effort she called out for whoever it was to come in. Her jaw was about thirteen shades of blue and so swollen that she looked like she had golf balls stuffed in her cheek. The swelling caused the split on her lip to pull apart every time she attempted to speak and she was rewarded with fresh blood dripping into her mouth for her efforts. Grabbing a tissue, she held it to her mouth and watched George walk into the room carrying a bowl.
"Tomato soup," he told her, setting it on the bedside table. "It’s very hot so let it cool."
She nodded and sat up. "Thanks."
"You hit her with your stethoscope. You could have damaged her eye or -"
"I know."
"You could have really hurt her and I don’t like that one damn bit." He handed her the icepack he had prepared earlier and watched her press it against her face. "I never realized just how cruel you can be."
Izzie simply gazed at him, saying nothing.
"You were *mean* to her when you first met her and it had nothing to do with you having romantic feelings for me, Izzie. You were with Denny at the time and you were *happy*. I couldn’t believe that a girl like Callie would want me and you talked her down every chance you got. You’re partially to blame for the fact that I didn’t throw caution to the wind and give her one hundred percent of me because you planted all that doubt. You made me think that I had to choose between the two of you. You shouldn’t have done that and you shouldn’t be going after her about Alex, either. Leave her alone. Just leave her alone and let her be happy because-"
"I caught them having sex today."
George closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers over them as if to prevent the mental image that was invariably coming. Neither spoke for a while. George eventually looked at her again and said, "Cristina was right. The people we want have found each other because of what we did to them. You left Alex to be with Denny and I ruined my marriage to be with you. We hurt them and now we’re the ones who have to hurt."
Izzie brushed away a tear. "He told her he loved her. I heard it. He never said that to me. At least not while -"
"Did she say it back?" he asked softly and his hands fisted in her bedspread while he awaited the answer.
"I don’t know. I yelled and ran out of the room."
He put his head in his hands. "Callie needs to hear it from someone and regardless of whether he really means it or if it’s all just a game ... she still needs to hear it. Now and not later." He took a deep breath. "Because later rarely comes."
Izzie reached out and put her hand on his arm. "I’m sorry that I ruined your marriage."
"I ruined my marriage. You murdered it."
"I wasn’t the only one in this bed, George. Granted, I was a little more sober than you, but it took both of us to do what we did."
"I’m not just talking about the sex, Izzie. I’m talking about the fact that you caused every single argument that I ever had with her. And I defended you when I shouldn’t have. Today showed me that. You hate her and you don’t even know why. Do you?"
"She reminds me of a girl who lived in the trailer park with me. She was big and hateful and -"
"I bet that girl wouldn’t have cooked for you when Denny died." George shook his head. "Don’t punish people for what other people do. If we don’t take anything at all out of the mess we’re in ... let’s take that. And responsibility for our own part in what’s happened."
Izzie watched him stand and took the bowl of soup he handed her. It was still smoking a little so she set it on her lap and glanced up at him. "You really did love her, didn’t you?"
"Yeah."
"I thought she was just a rebound."
"Well, it’s not like I went out of my way to show how I felt. I didn’t show anyone. She was certainly the last to know."
"Do you still love her?"
"I always will."
"Maybe you should fight for her. Tell her how you feel."
"No."
"Why not, George?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "Because I want her to be happy. And not once in my life have I managed to make her feel that way."
Izzie sipped the soup through a straw and grimaced. "I may have hit her with my stethoscope, but I really think her fist was deadlier."
George smiled. It was a sad, bittersweet smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "I may not have gotten to know much about her, but I did see a Karate suit in her closet with a third degree black belt. You’re lucky she didn’t break out her inner Jackie Chan."
"I really am sorry for what I did to her. And to you."
"Then learn from it. And don’t do the same thing to Alex." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Picking up her bottle of pain meds, he held one out to her and said, "Get some sleep, Iz."
She nodded and watched him walk from the room. She finished off the soup, took the pill, and curled onto her side. There was a huge difference between George and Alex. George had never told her that he was in love with her.
But Alex certainly had.
And only a fool would ignore that.
*~*~*~*~*~
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: I don't know if the much anticipated fight scene played out the way I hoped, but I did enjoy it. I hope you like it, too.
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Twenty One
Twenty Two
Twenty Three
Twenty Four
Twenty Five
*~*~*~*~*~*
The world still is the same, you'll never change it
As sure as the stars shine above
You're nobody 'til somebody loves you
So find yourself somebody to love
- Dean Martin
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie and Alex arrived for work the following day in matching jovial spirits. He had tried to sing along with Dean Martin, somehow making ‘You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You’ the most horrific song she had ever heard. She kept a straight face as he parked, but the second he met her behind the car to dance with her while he sang the chorus, she lost it. She had to double over and fight hard to breathe when he asked her if it was the song or his voice. He had mangled the lyrics all to hell and back and never hit one note correctly, but the humor was in his genuine delivery. As tone deaf as he was, he still tried to sell it.
"I’m crying!" she said, fanning her face as he tried once again for the chorus. "Stop singing! Or whatever that is that you’re doing. You sound like that bird in ‘The Little Mermaid’."
"Well, we can’t all sing like Ariel can we? And that was mean." He put his arms around her waist and kissed her, then goosed her in the ribs. "You’re supposed to be more Paula than Simon."
"Stop tickling me! I'm going to pee my pants!" She jumped and gripped his hands. "Okay, fine. Here’s my Paula. You look really, really good and you get an A for effort. It’s all about song choice, though. So, later on, if you really want to sing ‘Do Ya Think I’m Sexy’ by Rod Stewart while you strip ... I promise to be seduced."
He smiled at her. "I can do that."
Wrapping her arms around him, she spoke softly. "You know what else you can do?"
"What?"
"You can think about the fact that I’m wearing those infamous crotchless panties. All day."
He slipped his hands over her backside, confirming that she was indeed wearing what she claimed. They fit her ass a certain way and he loved the way they did. He traced her panty line and then moved his hand to the seam of her jeans between her legs. "We could go to an on call room. Right now."
"We’re not on call yet, but if you want to meet me there after lunch for dessert ... I’ll say yes."
"Fourth floor?"
"That’s the one."
"How do you know this?" He narrowed his eyes at her.
"I’ve been here five years. I know all the best hiding places and I can’t wait to show you every single one of them." She kissed him again and he pressed her against the trunk of her car. She put her hands in the back pocket of his pants and leaned her head back, letting him nip at her neck, then her ear.
"Get a room!" Cristina called, crawling out of the back of Meredith’s car. George and Izzie quickly walked past them, but Yang and Grey strolled up, smiling. "What are you doing?" Yang asked.
"Groping my girlfriend," Alex replied, pulling Callie a little closer. "And loving every minute of it."
"That’s nauseating. It’s too early in the morning for that." Cristina stretched and yawned. "You should be inside sucking down coffee and trying to get on the surgical boards before anyone else can. Doctors don’t need sex. We need scalpels. And multiple traumas."
"Well, I think it’s sweet," Meredith said, smiling when Callie leaned her head against Alex’s. "No matter what time of the day it is. People should just be happy. And laughter is the always the best medicine."
"Oh my god." Cristina glared at her. "I’m throwing away that damn inspirational calendar you bought. That’s the second time today that you’ve said ‘happy’ and it’s making me want to strangle something. Like a furry white kitten."
"It’s not my fault that Burke is an ass." Meredith looped her arm through her friend’s. To Alex and Callie, she added, "He still isn’t talking to her."
"And I don’t care." Cristina rolled her eyes and looked at Alex. "I’m sleeping in your bed, douchebag. Are you planning on coming back or can I move in?"
"Move in. I’m moving on." Alex shrugged. "I’ll try to swing by and get my things on Friday. We’re both off and that’ll be a good time to do it."
Meredith nodded, still grinning as Alex playfully walked his fingers up Callie’s ribs until he found her ticklish spot.
She had to admit it ... they were a gorgeous couple.
*~*~*~*~*~
"They’re a hideous couple," Izzie told George, digging through the fruit on the lunch line. "I don’t know what he sees in her."
"I do," George replied. "I’m pretty sure it has to do with her bank account. Did you see the Rolex he’s been wearing? She’s very generous."
"I overheard Montgomery telling Bailey that they’re living on a yacht. Callie’s yacht. Out at Harbor Cove." Izzie wrinkled her nose and glanced across the lunchroom as Alex laughed at something Callie was saying. "I think they’re just doing it for show. It’s not real."
"Who were they trying to show in the parking lot this morning, Izzie? They were all over each other." George sighed. "God, I hate this."
"That’s what they want us to do, George. It’s all a game to make us jealous. That’s all. I bet they haven’t even had sex." Izzie put an arm around his shoulders as they walked across the room and sat with Meredith and Cristina.
Cristina looked at George and said, "How do you like the fold out sofa?"
"It’s fine." His expression changed suddenly. "Why?"
"Because Alex is moving in with Callie and he said I could have his room." She smiled and looked back and forth between Izzie and George. "What does it feel like?"
"What does what feel like?" Izzie asked.
"To know that the people you want to be with are with each other and look happier than they ever did with either one of you."
Izzie’s eyes widened. "How do you know that I want to be with -"
"You leave your diary out and I’m reading it." Yang shrugged and turned to George. "Did you know that Homewrecker Barbie here called your second little dalliance a nightmare moment of incestuous proportions? She said your legs looked like you were riding a chicken."
George blushed, but did not reply. He listened to Izzie implore Meredith to control her new tenant and found himself watching Callie again as Meredith mediated the dispute. Callie’s hair was insanely curly. He had never seen it that way. Her bangs had disappeared into the frenzy of spiral waves and she looked more Latino, more exotic than he had ever seen her look before. Her skin was darker, but her eyes were lighter somehow and he wondered if it was because she really was happy. Surely no one could fake what Alex and Callie were currently faking. Not the way they did it. It was palpable. He could feel it from across the room.
Alex reached up and wrapped his finger around a lock of her hair and pulled her forward. George held his breath when she smiled at Karev and kissed him, her hands on his chest. Even from across the room he could see that it wasn’t a friend’s kiss. He had no doubt that they were tasting each other’s lunches and when he saw Alex’s hand graze her breast and heard her laugh at something he had whispered against her ear, he pushed his plate away.
Cristina followed George’s gaze, watching as Callie and Alex stood and left the cafeteria hand in hand. "Awww, Bambi, are you finally seeing how stupid you were? I mean, I’m not *calling* you stupid or anything, but I kinda think you were sixteen before you learned how to tie your shoelaces."
Izzie put a hand on his arm. "Ignore her. She’s still upset about Burke so the rest of us must pay."
"Oh, right," Cristina replied. "What were you upset about when you were making Callie pay? If memory serves all was right in the land of Izz-Me when you started picking on her."
"Since when are you Callie’s public defender?" Izzie snapped. "You’ve been doing that for weeks now, talking her up, saying that she’s great. Why don’t you go make out with her too?"
"Oh, I would." Cristina shrugged. "But she’s a one person kind of woman and I don’t steal from anyone. Plus, she’s a friend, and unlike you guys I really understand friendship boundaries. You two together?" She pointed back and forth between Izzie and George. "That would be like me and Meredith throwing down. We are *family*."
"I got all my sisters with me," Meredith said, putting a hand on the arms of both of her female friends. "Can you just *try* to get along?"
Cristina nodded. "For you, sure. Hey, Izzard, you want to go outside and play ‘hide and go fuck yourself’?"
"Cristina!" Meredith cried.
"Do you know what else she wrote in her diary?" Yang kept her eyes on Izzie. "She wrote that I was an overbearing and annoying token Asian who didn’t deserve Preston Burke because I was too bitchy to live. And, Meredith, she said that you were a commitment phobe who didn’t have a chance in hell of hanging onto Derek because you have no tits and your ass looks like a twelve year old boy’s."
Izzie got up from the table fast enough that she knocked her chair back. "Stay the hell out of my room!"
"Oh, but aren’t we friends?" Cristina asked. "Isn’t there a revolving door when it comes to your friends? Don’t you share *everything* with us?"
Izzie stalked from the room and Cristina looked innocently at George. "You know what she can’t stand? The truth."
*~*~*~*~*~
Callie and Alex were undressed and well on their way to making history fifteen minutes after they finished eating. She had been right about the fourth floor on call room. It was at the end of a dead end hallway that never got much action. He was watching her ride out the waves of her orgasm as he sank into her flesh. When she lifted her hips up against his, he grabbed one of her legs and pulled it over his shoulder. Smiling, he leaned down and bit her bottom lip, sucking at it until it was even fuller. "God, you feel good."
She wrapped her free leg around his waist and bucked against him, meeting him thrust for thrust. The sound of flesh slapping against flesh was erotic and as she gazed into his eyes, she felt the familiar tingling between her legs began to build again. "Touch me," she whispered.
He rolled them so that she was on top and reached between her legs as she undulated her hips, massaging her clit with his thumb. She came hard and let her head fall back so far that the ends of her hair tickled his thighs. He sat up, pulling her legs around him. He surged against her, gripping her hips as he lifted her once, twice, three times and he got off with a hoarse cry. The sounds of their mutual pleasure drowned out the sound of the door opening. When he could think again, he kissed her softly and said, "I love you, Callie."
"OH MY GOD!"
Callie turned her head in time to see Izzie Stevens rush from the room. She groaned and said, "How much do you think she saw?"
"Judging by the look on her face it was enough to show her that you’re better than she could ever hope to be." He kissed her again, cupping her breast with one hand. Her nipple was taut and he tweaked it, grinning when she hissed. "What time is dinner with your parents?"
"Eight." She took his wrist and gazed at his watch. "I have a spinal fusion in forty minutes. You want to go take a shower with me?"
"And risk getting caught again? Absolutely."
They didn’t get caught, but they emerged just in the nick of time. Callie was putting on fresh scrubs when Sydney walked into the locker room and looked at her. "I need you to let Stevens scrub in with you on the spinal fusion."
"No way!" Callie shook her head.
"Team player! Be all that you can be!" Sydney cried, looking so frazzled that it was almost comical. Her hair was frizzy, her face was devoid of makeup and her scrub shirt was not only inside out, it didn’t match her pants. "I need her off the floor and I know that you won’t let her do anything stupid."
"What did she do now?"
"Nothing. Yet. But Chief Webber is coming in and I want to look like I can delegate. I need all the new residents somewhere and you’re the only one on the board for a surgery that she can’t kill someone on. That crazy little tart whore."
"Fine." Callie laughed at her, feeling a newfound kinship with Sydney due to her choice of words. "I’ll do it."
Sydney breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh, thank goodness!"
Callie hastily added, "I’ll do it if you help me with my freakin’ hair because I don’t have time to dry it all the way and I have to go to dinner right after work. I need it to fit under my scrub cap better, too."
"Oh my god! Absolutely! I live for this stuff! Sit down, sit down."
Callie avoided looking at Alex at all as Sydney began elegantly French braiding her hair away from her face. She heard him laughing, though, and had to smile along with him. When Sydney began to sing ‘Beautiful’ by Christina Aguilera, she joined him in the laughter and within moments, Dr. Heron had done the same.
*~*~*~*~*~
Being bent over a spine with a heavy piece of equipment was not the easiest thing to do after being bent in other, more satisfying ways, but Callie made the most of it. She adjusted a screw and looked at the monitor, checking the depth and placement. Her mind put 'screw' and 'placement' together and she wondered what Alex would think of the place in the basement where she used to live. She’d be showing that to him the following day. Every time he touched her it felt like the first time all over again. She chuckled a little behind her mask and pulled the tool away, relieved that the worst was over and the home stretch had finally arrived.
Glancing up, she saw that Izzie was staring at her. "You want to stitch him up?"
"Not really."
"Okay." Callie shrugged, picking up the tools needed to suture the incision. She adjusted the light and twisted a little, trying to pop her back. It finally worked and she moaned in relief. "Hurts so good."
"Having your legs bent in ways they do not go apparently agrees with you," Izzie told her, not bothering to keep her voice low. "Who knew?"
There were several sniggers in the room and Callie resolutely put the first stitch in. "I think it depends on the one doing the bending."
Izzie continued to glare at her. "You get that Alex is using you, right?"
"Thank you for your opinion, but since I didn’t ask for it I think you can safely assume that I don’t want it." Callie worked on the third stitch. The only outward hint of the aggravation she was beginning to feel was the way she twisted her head side to side, working on the rapidly building tension in her neck.
"It’s because you have money. You’re his sugar mama and nothing more."
"I do have a lot of money. So if that’s why he’s staying then he’ll never have a reason to go." The fifth and sixth stitch were thankfully silent.
On the seventh stitch, Izzie said, "You’re not his type."
Callie kept her eyes on her job. "That’s because I refuse to be a ‘type’."
"He will always want the cheerleader and you will always be the weird girl who doesn’t wash her hands."
Callie worked on the tenth stitch. "My hands will never be so dirty that they’re stained with someone else’s blood. You can’t wash that off. Ever."
Izzie snorted. "You love to go there. You love to bring up Denny every chance you get."
Callie looked at her. "And you love to prove how unprofessional you are every chance you get. Look around you, Dr. Stevens. We’re in an operating room. We have someone halfway open on the table and I’m trying like hell to do my job. So, can you please stop talking?"
"You’re actually calling me unprofessional? I’m sorry ... did I not walk in on sex earlier?"
"I’m sorry ... did you not make out with my soon to be ex-husband in the elevator?"
Someone coughed softly and Izzie stood a little taller, suddenly aware that every eye was on her. "Your soon to be ex-husband made out with *me*. He clearly wanted to feel what a normal woman felt like."
"You and normal? Not even distant cousins. Not even in the same zip code." Callie adjusted the light again, working on the remaining stitches. When she was finished, she took a step back and nodded at the anesthesiologist. "Dr. Jamison, nice job."
"Likewise, Dr. Torres." The man nodded his head.
Callie thanked the crew, told them they had done well, and pulled her gloves off. She walked to the scrub room, took off her surgical suit and put it into the trash. Despite the exchange of words, she was calm, cool, and collected. She would be willing to bet that Alex would give her a massage if she asked really nicely. She smiled as she thought about the possibilities and she was happily picturing it ...
Until Izzie Stevens followed her and said, "Alex likes you right now because you lost about two hundred pounds, but when you start eating again ... and you will ... he’ll drop your lard ass like the four ton weight that you are."
Callie sighed and shook her head. "You think that being pretty makes you perfect, but it doesn’t. You can be bone thin and in every centerfold on the planet, but your soul still looks like seven miles of bad road, Izzie. It’s ugly. And it’s so fat with vitriol and bitterness that it keeps getting wedged in the doorway and that’s why you can’t use it for anything other than cruelty."
"I’m not scared to kick your ass, Callie, but since I’m not tiny like Meredith I’m sure you won’t go there."
"If you fight like you save lives then I’m not really worried." Callie turned on her heel and walked into the hallway. She pulled her scrub cap off and that was when Izzie made her move.
The blond dug her hand into the single braid that Sydney had fashioned on the back of Callie’s head and yanked her backwards. Callie turned and Izzie slapped her as hard as she could. There were several gasps, mostly from Dr. Bailey and Chief Webber who were standing ten feet away. Callie caught Izzie’s arm and said, "I’ll give you that one, Stevens, but if you swing again it’s on. Consider that a warning."
Izzie yanked off her stethoscope and used it like a whip. The round metal end caught Callie just under the eye. She saw stars for a second and felt blood roll down her face, but she smiled through the pain. "God, I was *so* hoping you were as stupid as I always suspected."
Callie punched her and Izzie’s cap fell off from the force of the blow. Izzie staggered back and ran her hand over her mouth, feeling her split lip. With a shriek, she flung herself at Callie who used the momentum of the younger woman’s body to send her crashing into the wall. Izzie stumbled and Callie stuck her foot out, tripping her. The blond fell to her stomach and grunted when Callie kicked her in the ribs.
"Stop that!" Webber cried, rushing forward and pulling Izzie to her feet. "Stop it now!"
Izzie launched herself at Callie again and Callie was ready. She hit her twice, one fist to her face and one to her gut. Izzie latched onto her black hair in an apparent attempt to rip it from her skull in retaliation. There were more shouts and then Mark, Webber, and Alex were trying to get the women apart. The men only succeeded in knocking them to the ground and Callie was easily the dominant one since Izzie’s only concern was scalping her. Callie got in one last lick and there was an audible pop.
Izzie screamed and clutched her jaw.
"People will thank me for that when it keeps your big mouth wired shut for a while!" Callie yelled as Alex physically lifted her and pinned her against the wall.
Webber helped Izzie to her feet again and shouted, "What the hell is wrong with you two? I have never in my life! Dr. Bailey, take Stevens to X-ray. Dr. Sloan, take Torres to trauma and check her face." He looked at Izzie, then Callie. "And then the two of you get out of this hospital for the rest of the day! I want you both in my office at nine in the morning to discuss disciplinary actions. Which will be severe!"
Dr. Jamison and several of the surgical crew had come out. Jamison pulled off his mask and said, "Dr. Stevens was goading Dr. Torres throughout the entire surgery. Callie begged her to be professional and she refused. And Stevens threw the first punch. This was clearly self defense."
Reva, one of the oldest scrub nurse’s employed at Seattle Grace, nodded her agreement and lifted a gnarled hand, pointing at Izzie. "I’m surprised she didn’t slit you from groin to gullet, little missy! The things you said to her! Mexicans cut people!"
"I’m *not* a Mexican!" Callie said, her hand over her cheek.
Richard took a deep breath and said, "Okay, fine. I want everyone who was in the OR to go to my office and wait for me. I’ll talk to you one at a time." He turned to Izzie and Callie again. "My other orders still stand. Go get yourselves cleaned up, get the hell out of here, and come back in the morning without your scrubs! I don’t think you’ll need them for a while!"
*~*~*~*~*~
"It’s actually not that bad," Mark said, squeezing a syringe full of water over the small laceration on Callie’s cheek. "Two stitches should do it."
"Then don’t numb it."
"Yeah, right," Mark replied, shaking his head. "I don’t want you to punch *me*. Helluva right hook, Torres."
"Why do you always have to one up me?" Addison snapped, her arms over her chest as she watched from the corner of the room. "And why do you have to do it when I’m not there to see it!? I knew I should have gone back and smacked her again at Meredith’s house! Did she actually hit you with her stethoscope?"
Callie nodded and Mark gripped her chin, telling her to be still. Alex took the ice pack off her hand and felt her knuckles. "Ow, crap!"
"Nothing feels broken, but we should probably get a -"
"Nothing *is* broken," Callie replied, hissing when Mark began to numb her face. "Except her jaw."
"What did she say to you anyway?" Alex asked.
Callie squeezed her eyes shut as the medication burned. "That you only want me for my money. That you’re going to stop hanging around with me when I start eating again because I’m a lard ass who weighs two tons and that I’m not your type because you only like cheerleaders. Oh, and that I’m unprofessional."
Alex sat down beside her on the stretcher. "And you let a bunch of lies get you in this much trouble?"
"No. I was walking away from her. I was *fine*." She opened her eyes and glanced at Alex. "I’m still fine because I know better."
He grinned at her and took her hand, gently kissing it. "Good."
Mark worked quickly. When he was finished, he wrote her a prescription for mild pain medication, assuring her that she’d probably need it that night and the following day. Callie accepted the papers as Dr. Bailey appeared in the doorway. "How are you feeling?" she asked.
"Fine."
"She was the one in the wrong. The Chief knows that. We saw it." Bailey folded her arms across her chest. "And Sydney Heron is the worst Chief Resident to ever walk the face of the earth. She should have known better than to put you two together. Why did you agree to do it?"
"Because *I* can be professional and I mistakenly assumed that she could do the same."
"Hello?" Addison said. "Denny Duquette. LVAD-gate. The only thing professional about Stevens is the street corner she keeps hot during her down time."
"Nicely phrased, young Jedi." Callie smiled at her friend. "You’ll be a knight in no time."
"If I go break her nose will that win me knighthood?"
"No, it will not!" Bailey snapped. "Y’all fools are gonna give the Chief a stroke. And not the Chief that needs to have a stroke!"
"How’s Izzie?" Alex asked. "Is she okay?"
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Callie took her hand from his and got to her feet. She listened as Bailey told him that the fracture in Stevens’ jaw would not require surgery or her jaw to be wired shut, but she’d be on a liquid diet for a while. Callie signed her discharge papers and then heard Alex ask if he could take off early.
After a pit stop to pick up their things, they walked to the car in silence. Alex caught her arm at the back of it, the way he had done that morning when he danced and sang to her. "Do you get that the only reason I asked about her is because I wanted you to know that you got the upper hand?"
"She’s your friend. I know that. You’ll have to forgive me if that doesn’t really thrill me because the last person who said she was a friend-"
"Hey!" He tightened his grip and forced her to look at him. "Don’t ever compare me to him again. Ever."
"Alex, did you have feelings for her? When you were with her?"
"No. I didn’t know what love was until I met you. I’m pretty sure I made that clear already." He rubbed just under the bandage on her face. "So don’t worry. I won’t be talking to her anymore."
"I’m not giving you that ultimatum. I just don’t have to like it."
"I’m not going to be friends with anyone who badmouths you. It’s not gonna happen, because if she can’t respect you then she can’t respect me." He kissed her. "I’m not George. I know exactly what I want, how I feel, and that you’re the only thing I need."
"Friends are important."
"Family is more important and that’s what you are to me."
"That’s the best thing you could have said." She smiled at him. "You really think I had the upper hand in the fight?"
"Baby, you kicked her ass. It was unbelievable."
"I really did try to avoid it. I tried so hard to take the high road. I didn’t want this to happen."
"You’re not sorry it did, though."
"Therapy? Two hundred and fifty an hour. Making Izzie Stevens bleed? Priceless."
Alex laughed and opened her car door. "Your parents will *love* the stitches."
"I’ll tell them that I fell."
"Nope." He leaned into the car and fastened her seat belt, then kissed her. "You’ll tell the truth because lies *always* catch up to you."
*~*~*~*~*~
Izzie was lying on her bed, gazing at the ceiling when someone knocked on her door. With great effort she called out for whoever it was to come in. Her jaw was about thirteen shades of blue and so swollen that she looked like she had golf balls stuffed in her cheek. The swelling caused the split on her lip to pull apart every time she attempted to speak and she was rewarded with fresh blood dripping into her mouth for her efforts. Grabbing a tissue, she held it to her mouth and watched George walk into the room carrying a bowl.
"Tomato soup," he told her, setting it on the bedside table. "It’s very hot so let it cool."
She nodded and sat up. "Thanks."
"You hit her with your stethoscope. You could have damaged her eye or -"
"I know."
"You could have really hurt her and I don’t like that one damn bit." He handed her the icepack he had prepared earlier and watched her press it against her face. "I never realized just how cruel you can be."
Izzie simply gazed at him, saying nothing.
"You were *mean* to her when you first met her and it had nothing to do with you having romantic feelings for me, Izzie. You were with Denny at the time and you were *happy*. I couldn’t believe that a girl like Callie would want me and you talked her down every chance you got. You’re partially to blame for the fact that I didn’t throw caution to the wind and give her one hundred percent of me because you planted all that doubt. You made me think that I had to choose between the two of you. You shouldn’t have done that and you shouldn’t be going after her about Alex, either. Leave her alone. Just leave her alone and let her be happy because-"
"I caught them having sex today."
George closed his eyes, rubbing his fingers over them as if to prevent the mental image that was invariably coming. Neither spoke for a while. George eventually looked at her again and said, "Cristina was right. The people we want have found each other because of what we did to them. You left Alex to be with Denny and I ruined my marriage to be with you. We hurt them and now we’re the ones who have to hurt."
Izzie brushed away a tear. "He told her he loved her. I heard it. He never said that to me. At least not while -"
"Did she say it back?" he asked softly and his hands fisted in her bedspread while he awaited the answer.
"I don’t know. I yelled and ran out of the room."
He put his head in his hands. "Callie needs to hear it from someone and regardless of whether he really means it or if it’s all just a game ... she still needs to hear it. Now and not later." He took a deep breath. "Because later rarely comes."
Izzie reached out and put her hand on his arm. "I’m sorry that I ruined your marriage."
"I ruined my marriage. You murdered it."
"I wasn’t the only one in this bed, George. Granted, I was a little more sober than you, but it took both of us to do what we did."
"I’m not just talking about the sex, Izzie. I’m talking about the fact that you caused every single argument that I ever had with her. And I defended you when I shouldn’t have. Today showed me that. You hate her and you don’t even know why. Do you?"
"She reminds me of a girl who lived in the trailer park with me. She was big and hateful and -"
"I bet that girl wouldn’t have cooked for you when Denny died." George shook his head. "Don’t punish people for what other people do. If we don’t take anything at all out of the mess we’re in ... let’s take that. And responsibility for our own part in what’s happened."
Izzie watched him stand and took the bowl of soup he handed her. It was still smoking a little so she set it on her lap and glanced up at him. "You really did love her, didn’t you?"
"Yeah."
"I thought she was just a rebound."
"Well, it’s not like I went out of my way to show how I felt. I didn’t show anyone. She was certainly the last to know."
"Do you still love her?"
"I always will."
"Maybe you should fight for her. Tell her how you feel."
"No."
"Why not, George?"
He ran a hand through his hair. "Because I want her to be happy. And not once in my life have I managed to make her feel that way."
Izzie sipped the soup through a straw and grimaced. "I may have hit her with my stethoscope, but I really think her fist was deadlier."
George smiled. It was a sad, bittersweet smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes. "I may not have gotten to know much about her, but I did see a Karate suit in her closet with a third degree black belt. You’re lucky she didn’t break out her inner Jackie Chan."
"I really am sorry for what I did to her. And to you."
"Then learn from it. And don’t do the same thing to Alex." He leaned down and kissed her on the forehead. Picking up her bottle of pain meds, he held one out to her and said, "Get some sleep, Iz."
She nodded and watched him walk from the room. She finished off the soup, took the pill, and curled onto her side. There was a huge difference between George and Alex. George had never told her that he was in love with her.
But Alex certainly had.
And only a fool would ignore that.
*~*~*~*~*~