[ when it rains, it pours ]
I woke up to Bailey shuffling to the room, checking Izzie's monitor, "Any changes overnight?"
"No," Cristina sighed.
George shot up when his pager went off, "I got surgery in ten minutes. Brandy will you keep me updated?"
"Yeah," I nodded.
"We should go," Meredith stood up, "It may be awhile."
Cristina and I nodded and stood up.
"Shepherd said she'd wake up by the morning. Is that all crap? What did he tell you?" Alex raised his voice, "What did he tell you?!"
"He said that it may be awhile," Meredith told him, then walked out.
"She's gonna wake up," Cristina squeezed his shoulder, then followed Meredith out.
"She's right. Izzie's tough," I told him, "I'll be back in a bit to check on her. Want me to bring you anything?"
Alex shook his head.
"Okay," I said softly before I joined Cristina outside.
"Look," Cristina pointed down the hall.
"What?" I asked, and looked over.
I saw Owen and George shake hands before Owen pulled him into a hug and gave him a pat on the back.
"That's strange," I frowned.
"Very," Cristina nodded.
••
"Hey George?" I called as I saw him walking down the hallway, in his normal clothes, "I thought you had surgery?"
"Hunt sent me home early," George said, "I'm-I'm joining the army."
"You're what?" My eyes widened, "Uh I-I don't know what to say."
"I know it's a lot to take in," George said, "I start tomorrow."
"I-I um uh happy for you. I really am, but are you sure about this? I mean this is a really big decision," I frowned.
"I'm 100% sure. Maybe not a hundred, but pretty close to it. I talked to Hunt about it and I'm sure it's the right thing," He said.
"George," I said, a tear sliding down my cheek, "I'm gonna miss you."
George pulled me into a hug, his arms wrapped tightly around me.
"I'm gonna miss you too. Like you said earlier, I'm your person and you're my person," George smiled.
"Right," I smiled, "You're my person."
"I should get going, I gotta visit my mom before," He motioned down the hall.
I nodded, "Alright good luck. Tell her I say hi."
"I will. I'll see you later tonight," George said, as we walked off.
"See you then," I smiled.
I decided that I should go check on Alex while I had a little bit of free time. Bailey wanted someone checking on Alex every once and a while. He was having a hard time with all that had happened in the past month.
"Hey!" I smiled, as I walked in the room, "You're awake!"
My smile quickly faded when I noticed the looks on Derek's, Cristina's, and Alex's face.
"Yeah, I am," She smiled, "And I'm tumor free!"
"Wow, that's great!" I went to the bedside and held her hand.
"So how'd the surgery go?" Izzie asked.
I furrowed my eyebrows and looked up at the three, my eyes filled with the look confusion.
"Why do your faces look like that? What happened?" Izzie asked.
"We got it all," Derek said.
"That's amazing. You are a hero, Derek Shepherd," Izzie smiled, "But you're all still making that face. What's wrong?"
"We just need to monitor your electrolytes," Cristina said.
"Okay," She nodded.
"Can we talk a moment, Dr.Shepherd?" Alex asked.
"Uh can you explain to me about uh you know?" I asked.
Derek frowned, "Yeah."
The three of us went out in the hall, leaving Cristina with Izzie.
"So she's not remembering anything?" I asked.
"She's like the woman, whose husband died, and we had to tell her every five minutes," Alex yelled.
"No, but that's not unusual after a surgery like this," Derek said, "It could be post-operative haze."
"Or it could be the bleeding from the procedure that fucked up her short term retention. Did you fuck up her brain?" Alex raised his voice.
"Karev," Alex sighed.
"Alex," I scolded him.
Derek looked down at his pager, "I'm sorry. I'll be back in a bit. Trauma."
"Ooh a trauma? Can I come with? Maybe Alex needs some alone time," I said.
"I am fine," He yelled.
Derek looked between Alex and I, "Yeah, come on."
"Yes!" I grinned, and followed behind Derek.
"You know what George told me this morning?"
"What's that?" Derek asked me.
"He's joining the army. The army!" I shook my head, "And I don't know what to think. I mean I want to be proud of him, but I'm also scared, and I think that he shouldn't do it. I mean, what if something bad happens to him? Even if not, George's my person, and he'll be like 10,000 miles away. I don't know what to do."
"That's a lot to take in," Derek said, opening the door to the trauma room, I followed him.
"Woah," I gasped.
"What do we got?" Derek asked.
"We got roadkill," Mark responded.
"You mind? He jumped in front of bus to save a stranger," Owen said, "He's a hero."
"Can you fix the arm?" Callie asked.
"His fingers are already blue. If it's gonna happen it's gotta be in the next few hours," Mark said.
I looked over at the crowded trauma room, overwhelmed, "Dr.Hunt do you have anywhere for me or?"
"I think we're okay, Dr.Dixon. We'll page you if we need you," Owen said.
"Right," I sighed.
"Dixon, will you check on Stevens and Karev?" Derek asked me.
"Sure thing," I nodded, then made my way out of the trauma room.
Looking at that man lying on the table, almost dead, made me think, if I was in that situation. Could I do it? Jump in front of a bus to save a stranger? I wanted to tell myself, of course I could, without hesitation, but that wasn't the case. I don't think I could've done it. I was a coward.
"What's all this?" I asked, when I got to Izzie's room. Colored papers hung up everywhere.
"It's helping her remember. I wrote down everything she needs to know," Alex said.
"Wait, what's-what's happening?" Izzie asked.
"Read the signs," Alex said, hanging up another.
"Shepherd got the tumor," Izzie started to read, "He did? The whole thing?"
"Yep, keep reading," Alex said.
"There was a bleed but he got it under control. Your memory's crap, and we're monitoring the electrolytes in your kidneys. You keep asking for lime jello, but it's disgusting," Izzie read, "Lime jello does sound good."
"You don't like it though," Alex shook his head, "You think it's gross."
"Oh," Izzie frowned.
"Lime jello is the best kind, this hospital just ruins all good foods," I shook my head, "Speaking of food, you should get something to eat."
"I'm fine," Alex shook his head.
"When was the last time you ate?" I asked.
"I don't know," Alex shrugged.
"Iz do you mind if we go eat quick?" I asked her.
"Not at all, go on. You need to eat," Izzie told her.
"Fine," Alex muttered.
••
"Izzie retaining any information?" Meredith asked.
"No," Alex groaned and sat down.
"At six p.m. your idiotic colleague, George O'Malley will be out of surgery," Bailey said.
"At six p.m. you will be standing outside the O.R. hall, ready to give an intervention," Callie said.
"What polite company might call an intervention. I don't know if that might involve whooping people on the behind with a belt," Bailey said.
"Wait, wait, George did drugs? First the army now this? How serious? Meth? Heroin? Fentanyl? I mean I'd be happy to help him. I know a few things about that," I rambled, "But George left awhile ago."
"No not drugs," Bailey shook her head.
"What do you mean he left?" Callie asked.
"Owen sent him home. He's joining the army tomorrow," I said.
"He's what?" Cristina asked.
"O'Malley, joining the army?" Alex said, "He's the guy who gets killed."
"He's the guy who gets killed cleaning his own gun," Cristina said.
"Oh my god, George couldn't even shoot a turkey!" I shouted.
"Well how are we supposed to tell him not to go?" Callie asked.
"We're all planning to go over to Mer's for dinner tonight, to celebrate Izzie's tumor gone. We could do it then," I suggested.
"Okay," Bailey nodded, "Grey and Dixon, you're going to coax him back in as the loving friend, Yang, you're going to use logic and reason to point out the idiocy of his ways. Stevens will use her sad, "I have cancer" eyes. And if none of that works, Karev, you'll pull out your "I was raised out by the trash can" roots and beat the crap out of him."
Alex smiled and nodded at the chance to beat someone up, "Six O'Clock."
"Six O'Clock," Callied nodded, before her and Bailey walked away.
••
"Hey," I greeted Mark as I saw him at the nurse's station.
"Hi," He said, a look of surprise on his face.
"So uh John Doe, you're doing work on his arm later, right?" I asked.
"That's right," He nodded.
"Do you think I could scrub in? I'm sick of babysitting Alex and Izzie, cause honestly they don't really need me there. Cristina's already on her case, and she's doing fine."
"Excuse me," A woman with short red hair walked up to us, her arm in a sling. I recognized her as the woman from the bus accident, "Who is George?"
I furrowed my eyebrows together, and looked at her in confusion.
"Everyone's running around saying that John Doe, that he's George, but who is George?"
"Oh my god," I whispered, my eyes widened and my stomach dropped. I looked over to Mark and then took off running towards his room. I stopped at the elevator and frantically pressed the button, "Hurry!" I screamed at the elevator, before pounding on the door, "Damn it!"
I gave up on the elevators and ran over to the stairs. I swung open the door and sprinted up the stairs. Once I reached the floor he was on, I opened the door and ran down the hall to his room. Meredith, Owen, and Derek stood outside.
"It's not true is it?" I asked, tears in my eyes, "That isn't George? Someone made a mistake."
"He wrote "007" and then squeezed my hand," Meredith said.
"That-that could mean anything," I shook my head, Mark joining us, "I just talked to George not that long ago."
"When did you talk to him?" Owen asked, "If you talked to him after he was brought in."
"Uh," I closed my eyes trying to think, "It was around ten maybe? He was on his way out. When was John Doe brought in?"
"Let me check his chart," Meredith paged through the chart.
"It can't be George, he wouldn't have taken the bus, he drove today didn't he?" I asked
"He was brought in at ten twenty," Meredith said, softly, "I drove George today."
I looked between the three of them, Derek rubbing his neck with his hand. I didn't know what to do. There was no way that could be George.
"The O.R.'s ready Dr.Hunt," A nurse approached us.
Owen thanked the nurse and walked off.
"Wait, no that's not George. Look how big his feet are. He's not that tall," I shook my head.
"We need to get him into surgery. Page Torres," Owen said.
"Wait, George has a mole shaped like Texas on his pinky," I said, "Let me check."
"Make it quick," Hunt said.
I reluctantly walked into the room and made my way to his bed, "Sir, I'm just gonna look at your hand quick," I picked up his hand and looked at his pinky. There it was the mole. The mole shaped like Texas.
I gasped, "Oh my god. George!"
Owen, Mark, and Meredith walked in ready to take him to surgery.
"It's George," I choked, "It's George."
"O'Malley, we're gonna get you through this," Owen said, "You just need to keep fighting. You're doing great. Just don't stop fighting."
"You heard him George," I said, walking with them as they wheeled him out, "Don't go please. I need you here. We all do. I can't live without my person. You're my person, and I'm your person. I need you. I love you George O'Malley. You're my best friend, and you're not gonna die. Not today okay?"
I took my hand in his, he gave it a small squeeze, "Don't let him die," I said once we had reached the O.R. floor.
"We won't," Owen shook his head.
"I'm gonna hold his hand the whole time," Meredith said.
"Please don't let him die. I'm not ready to say goodbye," Tears filled my eyes, as they wheeled him away.
••
I wiped the tears from my eyes as I walked up to Izzie's room, "He's not gonna die. He's not gonna die. He's not gonna die," I repeated to myself.
I took a deep breath in and calmed myself before I walked back into Izzie's room, I wasn't going to tell them about George. Not yet, at least.
"Hey," I forced a smile.
"Hi," Izzie smiled.
"How are you feeling?" I asked.
"Okay," She shrugged, "I've been better."
"Yeah," I chuckled, taking a seat next to her, "Where's Alex?"
"He left. Earlier he basically marched in here and told me us being in a relationship was the worst thing that could've ever happened to him," Izzie sighed, "And he's debating wether to smother me with a pillow or inject me with morphine to kill me."
"Where's that written down?" I asked her, looking around the room.
"What?" She asked.
"I don't see it on paper, did you remember all of that? On your own?" I asked.
"I remembered it all my own," Izzie laughed.
"Oh my god," I smiled, "That's uh great! Let me find Alex and Cristina."
I ran out of the room and spotted Alex outside down the hall, "Alex! Alex!"
"What?" He asked, clearly frustrated.
"What'd you go off on Izzie for?" I asked.
"Oh don't start-Wait, how do you know?" He asked.
"She told me," I said.
"What?" Alex asked, running into her room, "You remember?"
"Pillow or morphine," Izzie said.
"Oh my god," Alex smiled.
"I just paged Cristina," I said, looking at my pager, "She'll be up and you can tell her the news."
"Thanks Brandy," Izzie smiled.
"I'm so sorry," Alex said pulling her into a hug.
"What'd you page for?" Cristina asked.
"Exciting news," I smiled.
"What's that?" She asked.
"Well-" My smile quickly faded as the monitor started to beep.
"Izzie?" Alex shook her, "Yang! Dixon!"
The two of us ran into the room.
"Page Bailey! Page the chief! Page Shepherd!" Yang yelled.
"Already on it," I said pulling out my pager.
"Izzie look at me!" Alex yelled, laying her down, "Iz!"
"Alex come here," I said, pulling him away.
"What happened? Is it her brain?" Bailey ran in with Webber.
"No it's hyperkalemia. We couldn't control the arrhythmias," Cristina told them.
"Hand me an intubation tray," Alex said.
"Alex," Cristina sighed, "She signed a D.N.R., in case this happened."
"I don't give a crap what she did. Get me an intubation tray," Alex said.
"It's not what she wants," Cristina shook her head.
"I don't care! Get me a crash cart!" Alex yelled, then started to do compressions.
"Karev, if she-" Bailey started.
"Look at her! Get me a crash cart!" Alex yelled.
"Oh, screw the DNR," Webber said, "Give me those paddles, now!"
"Yang, take over compressions! Karev get away!" Bailey demanded.
"Alex," I said as I pulled him off of Izzie, "Alex."
He started to sob as I pulled him away, "Iz," He choked. I held onto Alex as we watched it all unfold.
"Clear!" Webber yelled, as he got ready to shock her.
Nothing.
"Charge to 360," he said, "Clear!"
He shocked her again, but it was too late. She was gone. Alex's sobbing grew louder, as he realized Izzie was gone.
"Again, charge to-" Webber started.
"Sir," Bailey interrupted him, "It's time to call-It's time."
"No I can-" Webber started, refusing to give up.
"14:37," I called it, before storming out of the room.
••
I sat in the stairwell, with my face in my hands, sobbing. Izzie was dead. Izzie Stevens was dead. George got hit by a bus and was in surgery. He could die. George could die. I started to cry harder. This all had to be a dream. This wasn't happening.
I hesitantly looked up when I heard the door open. I saw Mark standing there.
"You're done with surgery?" I asked, "You can't give me bad news cause I already lost one of my best friends, right in front of me. Izzie died, right in front of me. So no bad news please."
"Brandy," He said softly. He had the look on his face. The look when we tell our patient's families that their loved ones had died. That they were gone.
"No," I shook my head, "No. No. No."
"They did everything that they could," Mark said.
"No! Just stop! Please!" I started to sob.
"We can go see him if you want," He said.
I nodded.
He took my hand and led me down to the ICU. I stopped outside his room and looked in. His body was lifeless and still unrecognizable. I slowly walked in and sat down next to him.
I took his hand in mine and held it. "George. You're so unbelievably brave. I'm so proud of you. I'm gonna miss you. You're in a better place now. I love you. I love you so much. You'll always be my person. Also don't you ever forget about me, 'cause you know I'll never forget you. You're my person and I'll never forget you, George O'Malley. Pinky promise." I wrapped my pinky around his and shook it. Just like we always had done.
I sat up from his bed and walked out of the ICU. Mark was waiting outside for me.
"He's gone," I said, my eyes full of tears.
••
"Mark," I sighed, as the two of us sat in front of George's cubby, "I need to tell you something. If I've learned anything today, it's that life is so damn short, and if you wanna tell someone something then you should. The thing is, I miss you. I miss us. I like you a lot, more than just sex. I know today has just been a shitty day, but I can't wait another day."
Mark leaned in and planted his lips on mine.
I pulled away, "I want to do this the right way this time. Take me on a date. No sex. We go get a couple drinks and then you drive me home and maybe we kiss if I think it goes well, then you go home. Also it isn't a secret. You need to tell Derek. Deal?"
"Deal" He said, "But I have to ask one thing. O'Malley he wasn't much, but Torres, Stevens, and Grey, what did they see? Was he, uh, you know, hung?"
I snorted at hearing what came out of his mouth, "God, I don't know. George-George was something though. He was so thoughtful and caring, and he gave his life for that woman. That incredibly annoying woman. She was just a stranger, and he saved her life, at the expense of his. That was just what kind of person he was."
"Now he's gone and so is Izzie. God, it's not fair. She had to sign that stupid D.N.R. Everything went fine. All of her surgeries, went fine. She was getting her memory back and then the next second, she's dead. Gone. It's not fair. It's not fair," I shook my head.
"Let me drive you home," He said.
"I can't go home," I sighed, "I'm just gonna stay here tonight."
"Are you sure?" He asked, "It's not a problem."
"Yeah," I nodded.
"Do you want me to stay with you?" He asked me.
I nodded.
••
"When I asked you two to come with me I was hoping you two would be a little more helpful," Izzie shook her head.
"We are being helpful," I shrugged, George and I sitting in the cart as Izzie pushed it, "I've given you loads of recommendations for food."
"Not good food," Izzie sighed, "We need real food to cook with."
"Well it would be a lot easier if George hadn't lost the grocery list," I kicked him.
"Ow!" He groaned, "I'm sorry it was an accident!"
"Well it's making it a lot harder to shop," Izzie groaned, "It doesn't help either that you two are acting like children. I feel like I'm your mother."
"Mom!" I whined, "Mom! I need to go to the bathroom!"
"Mom! I want to go home!" George cried, joining me in mocking Izzie.
"Stop it! People are staring!" Izzie scolded us.
"Mommy, please don't yell at us," George said.
"Don't yell mommy!"
"Remind me to never bring you two anywhere, ever again."
=
As soon as I opened my eyes, I quickly shot up, forgetting the fact I was in a bunk bed, "Ow! Shit!" I grabbed my forehead and swore as I hit my head on the bed above us.
"Are you okay? What happened?" Mark asked.
"I just had a-a dream and then I woke up and sat up. I forgot where I was and I hit my head on the bed, but I need to check on Izzie. She got some of her memory back earlier. I wanna see how she's doing," I said, getting out of the bed.
"Brandy, Izzie's-Izzie's not here," He said.
"Oh," I frowned, "Right I forgot for a second."
"Let me look at your head."
"It's fine. I'm just gonna go back to sleep," I said, sliding back into the bed.
"I'll go get you an icepack," He said, slipping out of the bed.
"No, you don't need to. I'm fine," I groaned as he slipped out of the room.
I laid back in the bed and sighed. I was expecting to wake up and have everything turn out to be a dream. George didn't join the army and Izzie had never even gotten cancer in the first place, but I didn't wake up from it. It was reality. Something I'd have to live with. Forever.
I started to think about my last conversation with George and Izzie. I didn't expect either one to be our last. It made me think, maybe if I hadn't stopped and talked to George in the hallway, he would've gotten home before the bus came. Maybe if I had paid more attention to Izzie I could've stopped it before it happened. I started to sob. It was all my fault. They both died because of me.
••
I'm sorry. That's the first thing I'm gonna say. I cried while writing this. I didn't really want to kill off George or Izzie, but George it had to be done. I think after this there wasn't much room for George. I think it was also time for Izzie and gave a good twist. A horrible, sad one but a good one. So again I'm sorry.
But it looks like Brandy and Mark are finally making headway! Sorry it's taken so long, but I wanted to build it up, and I also suck at updating.
Thank you to everyone who has been reading and putting up with some of my awful chapters, and long hiatuses between uploading. Thanks for voting and commenting. It really means a lot! I hope you enjoyed! I've really enjoyed writing this book so far and have a lot of plans for it. Once again thank you. 😄💓
((Thought I'd share this because you know
I could be Shonda. It could be a lot worse
so please forgive me. Okay that's it thanks))