red_b_rackham | Word Repair is my new Hero

Thanks to the miraculous program entitled Word Repair, downloaded from the internet, I have saved most of my story and notes. *CHEER* There were random words and lines missing and mixed up, missing punctuation, weird symbols where there should've been dashes or dot-dot-dots, but all in all it was mostly salavaged.

Now, I wasn't going to give you guys anymore for a while, like until I was much farther along, but in celebration of not looing everything, I'm going to give just a little more: the beginning of chapter 2. Enjoy! And feedback very much wanted. :D

Chapter 2

George was at her side immediately, placing his hand on her arm. “Izzie, I’m so sorry.”

“I just talked to her… I just…” Izzie shook her head, reeling from the shock of the phone call. “Yesterday. I talked to her yesterday and she was fine.”

He guided her to the couch gently, afraid she was going to fall down at any moment. “What happened?” he asked.

“She had a heart attack,” she turned to him, her eyes wide and scared. “She was healthy. She ate right, she exercised… she tried the odd fad diet, but she was healthy. How does a healthy person have a heart attack and die out of the blue like that?”

“These things happen, Iz. Sometimes there’s no rhyme or reason.” He put his arm around her.

“She was fine. God, George, she was fine!” A tear slid down her cheek and she quickly brushed it away. She leaned forward, cradling her head in her hands.

George stayed beside her, his hand on her back. He knew her well enough to know that this was a time where words didn’t help. He just needed to be right there beside her and that was more comfort than anything else. He’d had the same feeling a couple years before when his father had gone into surgery and Izzie had come to simply hold his hand tight. No words, just her presence.

Finally when she stopped shaking and leaned back into his shoulder with a tear-stained face, he asked her quietly, “What are you going to do?”

She sniffled and used her sleeve to wipe her eyes. “Tomorrow after work I’ll call Uncle Rick and ask about funeral arrangements. And then I’ll go to Davenport for a few days and – ”

George was nodding along until the first part of her sentence caught up with him and he cut in incredulously, “Wait, after work? You’re not seriously still going to go back now, are you?’

“George, I’ve been waiting for this for months.” She was dead serious.

“But – you – your…” He sputtered and pulled his arm away from her, facing her properly. “Izzie, your mother just died. You can’t – you shouldn’t even be considering the idea of-of going back to work right now.”

“I’ve been gone for three months. And with this merger, I've got to get back in this and make sure my job is safe.”

“Look, the Chief - he’ll understand. You can’t go back now.”

“Yes I do, George. It’s been too long. I can’t let some Mercy Wester swoop in and steal my job just because I’m having a rough time.”

George gaped at her. “Do you even hear yourself right now? You had cancer and your mother died – ”

She stood up, drying her eyes completely and clearly shutting out his words.

He shut his mouth, finally recognizing what was going on. She was so like him in that way. Something that bothered them on a very deep level, they would push away and shove down inside, holding on tight and refusing to face it. Things would build on top of it until one day the emotions would boil over. The important thing was that he be nearby when she reached that breaking point and would finally face her mother’s death head-on. He grimly remembered the way he’d buried his feelings after his father’s death in a similar manner. He’d tried to use sex with Callie to numb the pain. Izzie was choosing to throw herself into work.

She still had her back to him so he rose from the couch and went to stand in front of her.

"Are you sure about this?"

She didn't respond for a few seconds than shook her head just slightly.

He gave her shoulder a squeeze. “See you tomorrow.”

Her eyes were watery and she pretended they weren’t. “Yeah, see you.”

~

Thank you for reading! This story is still very much in the editing and writing stages, so if you have any comments, suggestions, error alerts, etc, please leave me a comment. :D

~Red