It all began with that shoe on the wall, a shoe on the wall shouldn't be there at all.
Man, I should have quit this job and headed to the mountains. This day (and tomorrow most likely) is going to kick my ass.
Our sedation patient is wailing, crying her eyes out, and I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.
I have my rescheduled ESL lesson tonight, so no Mexican Wednesday, maybe no Lost. And UGH. What happened to life being a beach?
Oh well - I shall survive somehow. For now let me post the second to last fic in this ongoing GA series.
I promise next week I'm writing some J/S. I am. Maybe even some angsty, Sawyer telling Jack his sins action. :D
*
Title: Three Non-Goodbyes
Pairing: GA, George/Izzie
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.
Summary: It's just a push out the door, in the right direction.
Spoilers: Current canon, mere speculation for future eps. I've heard vague rumors that I'm building off of. But I really do know nothing. STILL - read at your own risk.
A/N: Second to last part. More angst but with a cliffhangery kinda fluff to come ending.
Previous parts:
Three Elevator Rides
Three Bedrooms
Three Secrets
- - -
In the end, he can't resist seeing her one more time.
George hesitates in the doorway, balled fist resting on the painted wood of Meredith's door. He shouldn't, but tomorrow she'll be at a new hospital, and today doesn't seem like that much to ask for.
Alex opens the door on the second knock.
"Hey." George says, having to clear his throat just to manage the clipped syllable. When Alex doesn't step out of the way, George knows he must look confused.
"You can't go in there, George." Alex states, stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind him. Making George step back in order to avoid being stepped on.
"Why not?"
Alex sits on the porch swing, the one that now rocks back and forth, back and forth, with a slight squeak in the silence.
"Because George - I don't know what the hell you've done to Izzie, but she's leaving. If you've come to stop her, by all means. But if you've come to make her cry some more - let's just go ahead and come to blows."
George shakes his head, hearing but refusing to listen to the words. He hates that Alex is right, that Alex seems to have risen up to fill the best friend role in Izzie's life.
It's a little ridiculous that he's feeling jealous and possessive of a woman he's basically run out of his life - but then George knows he's always been pretty irrational when it came to matters of the heart. "I can take you."
Alex's smile isn't amused. "Maybe. But you still aren't going in there."
When he thinks of the future, George pictures more moments like this. Time spent arguing with Alex, being there for Meredith, being made fun of by Cristina. He thinks of seeing Izzie's face across from him in the hospital cafeteria.
Tomorrow he's going to have all of the former and none of the latter and that is why saying goodbye seems so important.
He needs to see if he'll live through it.
"Then see if she will come out." George whispers, turning imploring eyes on Alex, hoping, just this once, they can see eye to eye. "Just give me that. Tell her I'm here and if she doesn't want to come down, I'll go."
It looks like that is about the last thing that Alex wants to do, but he sighs and gets up. Pausing only briefly at the door to turn around and open his mouth - like he has something to say.
But he doesn't. He lets it go. Leaving George to guess.
George crosses over to the spot Alex abandoned and waits. Waits, ears straining for footsteps. Waits, heart pounding half in fear they will come, and half that they won't.
He shouldn't have doubted her though, because the door opens eventually and Izzie slips out. She shouldn't look beautiful with circles under her eyes, wearing over-sized sweatpants, but she does.
"All packed?" He asks, just to have something to say, a place to start.
Izzie only nods and fold her arms around herself.
George suddenly realizes that he has no idea how to do this. "Iz I - I don't know- "
She sounds like she might cry, but her eyes are still dry when she stops him. "Let's not do this, George."
He can't help thinking that that idea, might have been a good one to have weeks ago. George can't help thinking that it's too late now.
Izzie doesn't come closer so George does the work. He bridges the distance that he's created. That Izzie is keeping up, probably for both their sake. "It's not like we will never see each other again. If we give it time we can -"
"George." Izzie somehow makes the name sound threatening.
But he has to touch her, just one last time. Just her arm, then her neck. Just the strands of her hair that have escaped her loose ponytail.
"It's just Mercy West." George says, but he's not sure who he needs to convince.
He watches as Izzie's eyes close and a look of pain settles on her face. He knows he is waiting for the tears, waiting on them like a farmer might look for rain.
He shouldn't, but he feels disappointed when she just takes a deep breath and tilts her head down.
"Sure." George hears her say, but he doesn't see her lips move. All he gets is the top of her head. "I'll see you around."
When Izzie pulls away, George doesn't try to stop her.
When she takes the long way around him and reaches for the door, it almost seems preferable to "Goodbye."
- - -
He walks into the hotel room that would be home, and feels too numb to fake a smile. He busies himself with everything but the woman he's sharing the small space with. The mail, a plate of fruit left by room service, a pile of fresh washed scrubs.
George doesn't meet Callie's eyes until she demands it.
"George, look at me."
She's sitting on the bed, fully dressed. It's so off from her normal routine of coming off a long shift and instantly going for her comfortable PJ's that George takes it as a warning.
She's got something to say. Something he probably won't want to hear.
Callie looks like she's about to tell him to sit down. Like she's about to tell him his dad is dead, or he's lost his best friend, or she's pregnant - but George already knows all those things, so he tells himself not to worry and remains standing.
"I cheated on you too."
The words are so closely followed by the beginnings of a desperate sobbing that George almost thinks he heard wrong. He's staring, watching the crystalline tears form and start a slow slide down red cheeks and it almost doesn't make sense. "What?"
Callie stands on shaking feet and George finds his way to the couch. "George, please. Hear me out. I was mad and you - you left. You said you could never get someone as incredible as precious Izzie Stevens and I was hurt."
Things start clicking but George still can't break his silence. He should feel betrayed - but all he feels is calm. He should feel something - at Callie's tears. Should be listening and responding and doing something - but he feels paralyzed.
She is still talking, blaming him in the same breath she asks for forgiveness. And all George can hear is Izzie telling him she didn't love him. All he can see is Izzie walking away, proving that she must.
In the end, it's all perfectly clear. "The baby isn't mine."
George watches, waits for her to confirm or deny. The nod he finally gets is more than he can stand. "I've got to get to work."
It's one of those useless statements that you make when your brain can't process anything beyond the here and now. Yesterday, it might have fit in their normal conversation but today it just doesn't work.
George doesn't say it. Maybe because "goodbye" seems too simple and he knows tomorrow will be just as complicated.
He doesn't say it, but George feels it with the slam of the door.
- - -
Izzie is supposed to be there. It's her last day of work. But when George asks Bailey where Izzie is assigned - she tells him "Nowhere."
"She doesn't work here anymore O'Malley. Pay attention."
George jumps in front of Bailey when she goes to enter the clinic and receives a scowl for his effort. "She doesn't start until next week."
Bailey rolls her eyes in her typical "I don't have time for this made up drama O'Malley. Move it or lose it" way and it takes all his strength to stand his ground.
She bats him away with her clipboard and quickly moves to a stack of charts waiting on her perusal. "Her flight got bumped up. Take it up with United."
"Flight?" George asks, "She's just going to Mercy."
This time he gets the "George you are an idiot" glare. "O'Malley. I really resent the fact that you are forcing me to do this. You children, and your screwed up little lives have this uncanny ability to ruin my day."
George knows that Bailey isn't finished just because she pauses for a moment to put her hand on her hip.
"I didn't want you transferring to an inferior program. You think I just let Dr. Stevens? You think I'd want any of you to do anything that might jeopardize your future careers, and God help me for caring, your future happiness? I only let Stevens go because I was convinced that she'd be better off getting a new start as far away from all the trouble she's been through this last year."
He must be getting used to chaos, because it only takes George a minute to understand. "Where? Where did she go?"
Bailey doesn't fight him. She doesn't even try. She just points him toward the door and tells him it doesn't matter because Izzie is "not there yet."
"And don't kill yourself getting to the airport." She yells after him, and George hears the order clearly.
The small wave she gives him when he screams his thanks back, isn't her seal of approval, but George thinks it's enough. It's a push out the door, her "Bye-bye, get out, fix this."
Whether he should or shouldn't, that is exactly what George wants to do. Because in the end, he doesn't want this to end at all.
Our sedation patient is wailing, crying her eyes out, and I'm not sure how much more of this I can take.
I have my rescheduled ESL lesson tonight, so no Mexican Wednesday, maybe no Lost. And UGH. What happened to life being a beach?
Oh well - I shall survive somehow. For now let me post the second to last fic in this ongoing GA series.
I promise next week I'm writing some J/S. I am. Maybe even some angsty, Sawyer telling Jack his sins action. :D
*
Title: Three Non-Goodbyes
Pairing: GA, George/Izzie
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters, I am only responsible for their fictional corruption.
Summary: It's just a push out the door, in the right direction.
Spoilers: Current canon, mere speculation for future eps. I've heard vague rumors that I'm building off of. But I really do know nothing. STILL - read at your own risk.
A/N: Second to last part. More angst but with a cliffhangery kinda fluff to come ending.
Previous parts:
Three Elevator Rides
Three Bedrooms
Three Secrets
- - -
In the end, he can't resist seeing her one more time.
George hesitates in the doorway, balled fist resting on the painted wood of Meredith's door. He shouldn't, but tomorrow she'll be at a new hospital, and today doesn't seem like that much to ask for.
Alex opens the door on the second knock.
"Hey." George says, having to clear his throat just to manage the clipped syllable. When Alex doesn't step out of the way, George knows he must look confused.
"You can't go in there, George." Alex states, stepping onto the porch and closing the door behind him. Making George step back in order to avoid being stepped on.
"Why not?"
Alex sits on the porch swing, the one that now rocks back and forth, back and forth, with a slight squeak in the silence.
"Because George - I don't know what the hell you've done to Izzie, but she's leaving. If you've come to stop her, by all means. But if you've come to make her cry some more - let's just go ahead and come to blows."
George shakes his head, hearing but refusing to listen to the words. He hates that Alex is right, that Alex seems to have risen up to fill the best friend role in Izzie's life.
It's a little ridiculous that he's feeling jealous and possessive of a woman he's basically run out of his life - but then George knows he's always been pretty irrational when it came to matters of the heart. "I can take you."
Alex's smile isn't amused. "Maybe. But you still aren't going in there."
When he thinks of the future, George pictures more moments like this. Time spent arguing with Alex, being there for Meredith, being made fun of by Cristina. He thinks of seeing Izzie's face across from him in the hospital cafeteria.
Tomorrow he's going to have all of the former and none of the latter and that is why saying goodbye seems so important.
He needs to see if he'll live through it.
"Then see if she will come out." George whispers, turning imploring eyes on Alex, hoping, just this once, they can see eye to eye. "Just give me that. Tell her I'm here and if she doesn't want to come down, I'll go."
It looks like that is about the last thing that Alex wants to do, but he sighs and gets up. Pausing only briefly at the door to turn around and open his mouth - like he has something to say.
But he doesn't. He lets it go. Leaving George to guess.
George crosses over to the spot Alex abandoned and waits. Waits, ears straining for footsteps. Waits, heart pounding half in fear they will come, and half that they won't.
He shouldn't have doubted her though, because the door opens eventually and Izzie slips out. She shouldn't look beautiful with circles under her eyes, wearing over-sized sweatpants, but she does.
"All packed?" He asks, just to have something to say, a place to start.
Izzie only nods and fold her arms around herself.
George suddenly realizes that he has no idea how to do this. "Iz I - I don't know- "
She sounds like she might cry, but her eyes are still dry when she stops him. "Let's not do this, George."
He can't help thinking that that idea, might have been a good one to have weeks ago. George can't help thinking that it's too late now.
Izzie doesn't come closer so George does the work. He bridges the distance that he's created. That Izzie is keeping up, probably for both their sake. "It's not like we will never see each other again. If we give it time we can -"
"George." Izzie somehow makes the name sound threatening.
But he has to touch her, just one last time. Just her arm, then her neck. Just the strands of her hair that have escaped her loose ponytail.
"It's just Mercy West." George says, but he's not sure who he needs to convince.
He watches as Izzie's eyes close and a look of pain settles on her face. He knows he is waiting for the tears, waiting on them like a farmer might look for rain.
He shouldn't, but he feels disappointed when she just takes a deep breath and tilts her head down.
"Sure." George hears her say, but he doesn't see her lips move. All he gets is the top of her head. "I'll see you around."
When Izzie pulls away, George doesn't try to stop her.
When she takes the long way around him and reaches for the door, it almost seems preferable to "Goodbye."
- - -
He walks into the hotel room that would be home, and feels too numb to fake a smile. He busies himself with everything but the woman he's sharing the small space with. The mail, a plate of fruit left by room service, a pile of fresh washed scrubs.
George doesn't meet Callie's eyes until she demands it.
"George, look at me."
She's sitting on the bed, fully dressed. It's so off from her normal routine of coming off a long shift and instantly going for her comfortable PJ's that George takes it as a warning.
She's got something to say. Something he probably won't want to hear.
Callie looks like she's about to tell him to sit down. Like she's about to tell him his dad is dead, or he's lost his best friend, or she's pregnant - but George already knows all those things, so he tells himself not to worry and remains standing.
"I cheated on you too."
The words are so closely followed by the beginnings of a desperate sobbing that George almost thinks he heard wrong. He's staring, watching the crystalline tears form and start a slow slide down red cheeks and it almost doesn't make sense. "What?"
Callie stands on shaking feet and George finds his way to the couch. "George, please. Hear me out. I was mad and you - you left. You said you could never get someone as incredible as precious Izzie Stevens and I was hurt."
Things start clicking but George still can't break his silence. He should feel betrayed - but all he feels is calm. He should feel something - at Callie's tears. Should be listening and responding and doing something - but he feels paralyzed.
She is still talking, blaming him in the same breath she asks for forgiveness. And all George can hear is Izzie telling him she didn't love him. All he can see is Izzie walking away, proving that she must.
In the end, it's all perfectly clear. "The baby isn't mine."
George watches, waits for her to confirm or deny. The nod he finally gets is more than he can stand. "I've got to get to work."
It's one of those useless statements that you make when your brain can't process anything beyond the here and now. Yesterday, it might have fit in their normal conversation but today it just doesn't work.
George doesn't say it. Maybe because "goodbye" seems too simple and he knows tomorrow will be just as complicated.
He doesn't say it, but George feels it with the slam of the door.
- - -
Izzie is supposed to be there. It's her last day of work. But when George asks Bailey where Izzie is assigned - she tells him "Nowhere."
"She doesn't work here anymore O'Malley. Pay attention."
George jumps in front of Bailey when she goes to enter the clinic and receives a scowl for his effort. "She doesn't start until next week."
Bailey rolls her eyes in her typical "I don't have time for this made up drama O'Malley. Move it or lose it" way and it takes all his strength to stand his ground.
She bats him away with her clipboard and quickly moves to a stack of charts waiting on her perusal. "Her flight got bumped up. Take it up with United."
"Flight?" George asks, "She's just going to Mercy."
This time he gets the "George you are an idiot" glare. "O'Malley. I really resent the fact that you are forcing me to do this. You children, and your screwed up little lives have this uncanny ability to ruin my day."
George knows that Bailey isn't finished just because she pauses for a moment to put her hand on her hip.
"I didn't want you transferring to an inferior program. You think I just let Dr. Stevens? You think I'd want any of you to do anything that might jeopardize your future careers, and God help me for caring, your future happiness? I only let Stevens go because I was convinced that she'd be better off getting a new start as far away from all the trouble she's been through this last year."
He must be getting used to chaos, because it only takes George a minute to understand. "Where? Where did she go?"
Bailey doesn't fight him. She doesn't even try. She just points him toward the door and tells him it doesn't matter because Izzie is "not there yet."
"And don't kill yourself getting to the airport." She yells after him, and George hears the order clearly.
The small wave she gives him when he screams his thanks back, isn't her seal of approval, but George thinks it's enough. It's a push out the door, her "Bye-bye, get out, fix this."
Whether he should or shouldn't, that is exactly what George wants to do. Because in the end, he doesn't want this to end at all.