Peace Offering | PG | Grey's Anatomy
Title: Peace Offering
Prompt: Callie was upset about Izzie possibly dying. What happens when Callie hears that Izzie isn't eating and takes her something decent for lunch? Does Izzie get the chance to apologize? Does Callie seize the opportunity to make fun of Izzie's ring like Izzie made fun of hers?
Fandom: Callie/Izzie, Grey's Anatomy
Requested by: burningeden
Rating: PG
Word Count: 1091
Disclaimer: Not mine. Wish they were. Please don't sue.
Author's Note: Not going to lie…it's a bit difficult (and terrifying) to write Grey's fic for a Grey's fic Queen. I hope you like it, doll! This is set after the season 5 finale.
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The crinkle of the white paper bag pulled Callie from her thoughts and she stared at it, her eyes tracing its lines and creases. She knew its contents were only growing stale the longer she waited but found herself unable to disengage her backside from the cool step upon which she sat in the stairwell. She looked around as if she'd never seen it before. She wondered momentarily if the step upon which she sat were the one that dislocated George's arm all those years before. At the memory of her ex-husband and his wide, goofy smile, Callie's stomach constricted painfully and a wave of nausea rendered her momentarily breathless.
She couldn't believe, after only a week, that he was gone.
The tears, which had flowed freely in random spurts since the funeral, tingled once more at the corners of her eyes. She blinked them back, deciding in that moment that she would get through this encounter without shedding a tear. She needed to for the sake of her sanity and pride.
With a sigh, she grabbed the railing and hoisted herself to her feet. Each step that brought her closer to the oncology ward increased the anxious knot that twisted within her belly. Her sneakers squeaked loudly on the tiles beneath her feet.
It was too loud. Disconcerting.
She watched from several feet away as Izzie Stevens (or was it Karev now?) stared blankly at the wall.
Callie took a fortifying breath, closed the distance between the nurses' station and the room, and pulled open the door.
It took several moments for Izzie to focus on Callie standing in the doorway. When she turned her head, Callie's heart clenched. For a woman who was expected to recover, she looked as though she had one foot through death's door. Her cheeks were sallow and sunken, her eyes rimmed with red. The colorful scarf wrapped around her head appeared to mock the pale, sullen girl beneath.
"Hey you," Callie said, forcing a note of cheer into her voice. She could later thank Arizona for lending some of her optimistic exuberance.
"Hi." Izzie blinked. Her hand clenched around the knitting propped on her waist. There were only a few rows completed.
"How are you feeling today?"
"I've been better." She moved the knitting aside and Callie caught a glimpse at the plastic ring adorning her thin finger. Izzie caught her glance and twisted the rhinestone centerpiece to the inside of her hand, curled around a weak fist.
Memories assaulted her again; thoughts of the wedding in Vegas and the first day back at the hospital and the vitriolic comment from Izzie about her ring. Bile rose in her throat and she pushed it aside as she stepped further into the room.
"I heard you haven't been eating," Callie mentioned, sitting at one of the chairs beside the bed. She swung over the food tray and placed the white bag upon it.
"No appetite."
"I haven't had one either. I have to remind myself to eat most of the time."
Izzie nodded.
"I know this is kind of weird."
"Just a bit," Izzie deadpanned, looking away.
"He always wanted us to get along, to be friends," Callie said. Her throat burned. Izzie looked back at her, her eyes more red and puffy than before. "I didn't come here to make pretend that we're going to be best friends. I came here for George."
A tear rolled down Izzie's face, dipping into the slight concave of her cheek. She wiped it away. "It should have been me." The words were softly spoken, as if they leapt from her lips of their own accord, and the force of them implied that they'd been on her tongue for days.
"What?"
Izzie began to cry in earnest. "If one of us had to die, it should have been me. I've been dying for months now."
Callie flared her nostrils and tapped her foot, looking up at the ceiling. She willed herself not to cry, begged and pleaded for her eyes to hold back the tears. "You're not dying. You're here…you survived. You can't think like that."
"How can I not? All I do is think. I sit here by myself, day in and day out, thinking about my best friend dying and not even being able to go to his funeral. I think about how I never even got to say goodbye. I think about all the horrible things I did to him, with him, and how…" She began to sob, her body shaking harshly with each inhale and exhale. She convulsed, her once-pretty face broken and contorted by sadness.
"Izzie, you have to calm down," Callie said, placing a hand on Izzie's arm. "You're going to make yourself sick.
"I don't c-care anymore."
"I bet George cares."
"What would you know? You were only--"
"His wife, Izzie. You may have been his best friend, but I was still his wife and for a while, I knew everything about him. I needed him and loved him just like you did."
Her tears began to cease then as she blinked, considering Callie's words. "I've never been very nice to you, have I? Not even for his sake."
"No…you haven't." Callie shifted uncomfortably in her chair.
"I'm sorry," Izzie sniffled, wiping her nose with the back of her sleeve. "I'm so sorry for everything I did."
"Don't." Callie held up her hand. "Don't apologize to me. I'll never know if you really meant it or were only saying it because of the cancer or because George died."
"Isn't that why you're here? To hold me accountable?"
"I'm here because you haven't been eating, Izzie." Callie clutched at the bag, opened it, and pulled out two plastic containers, each holding an ornately decorated cupcake.
Izzie smiled then, her wet cheeks stretching and baring her teeth. Callie decided that she had never seen Izzie Stevens look more beautiful. "You're going to get my eating habits back under control with a cupcake?"
Callie smiled and shrugged, taking one cupcake out of its container and handing it to Izzie. "I figured it'd be good for a smile." She pulled out her own cupcake.
Izzie stared at it, turning it in her hand and examining the frosted flowers. She swiped at one green petal and licked her finger. She hummed in delight, her wet eyelashes fluttering closed for a moment, and then she held out the small dessert. "To George," she said.
Callie smiled, tapped her cupcake against Izzie's, and repeated, "To George."
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