𝖋𝖎𝖛𝖊

A marriage
means to compromise,
to have and to hold.
You know the drill.

"Hey Alex," I called, catching up to the resident that was heading into the clinic. "Have you seen Shepherd? I need a consult."

  Alex stopped in his tracks, looking up from his clipboard into the clinic in front of us. His facial expression didn't change but the look in his eye made it clear something was wrong. I looked forward, my eyes immediately focusing on the short haired blonde on the other side of the room, standing with Cristina and Meredith.

A marriage
means to stay loyal and truthful to
one person for the rest of your life.

  Alex stared at Izzie for a moment before turning around and walking off, me quickly following behind him. Should I say something? I definitely shouldn't say something.

"I don't want to talk about it," he warned.

"I know."

We all know these things, right?
So how come, it is so damn hard
to follow through?

  I made my way down the hall with Callie and Mark, stopping in front of Dr. Bailey.

"Hey, is your trauma patient stable for skin grafting?"

"The one with the pancreatic duct rupture," Callie added.

"I'm scrubbing in on that right?" I whispered to Mark who chuckled lightly.

"Miranda." We all turned our heads at the uncommon voice, watching as the chief's wife headed over to us.

"Oh, Adele," Bailey greeted. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I sent the chief into surgery. Do you want me to..."

"What I want is for you to tell me the truth," Mrs. Webber paused for a moment. "Are you having an affair with my husband?"

  Ignoring my jaw drop, Mark's head tilt, and Callie's very confused face, Bailey watched Adele closely.

"I am not having an affair with your husband."

"I saw the way you handled him just now."

"I did not handle him," Bailey laughed. "I j—There was no handle—we work together."

  Like that's stopped any of us before.

"You spend every waking moment together. You finish each other's sentences. You read each other's minds. You're more married to that man than I am."

"Yeah, but that's just because they're husband and work-wife," Callie explained, stepping forward towards the two.

"Excuse me?"

"The chief's your work-husband, and you're his work-wife. You look out for each other. You take care of each other. There's nothing wrong with it," Callie continued. "It's like me and Sloan. Or Brady and Karev."

"Excuse me?" Mark asked, looking hurt.

"Nobody's talking to you," she held up her hand. "He's my work-husband, but he has a girlfriend, and I have a girlfriend, but there's nothing going on between us."

"I mean, there was at one point..." Mark clarified.

"You're not helping."

"Neither one of you are helping," Bailey snapped. "Adele, I promise you, there is nothing going on."

"Something is going on, because he hasn't been in his bed all week."

"What?"

"Really?" Sloan hummed, earning an elbow from me.

"The last time he acted like this...disappearing, sleeping at the hospital every night...He was with Ellis Grey. He may not be having an affair with you..."

"He's not. I promise you. I promise you, he's not," Bailey assured her.

  Adele looked at each one of us for a moment before nodding slowly. "Okay. But wife-wife to work-wife, someone is this hospital is sleeping with our husband."

"So how do you like your present?" Meredith asked, referring to the cardio goddess Owen brought from Baghdad.

"Oh, private Benjamin over there?" Cristina looked at the attendings behind us. "Owen said she would surprise me. Well, guess what? Surprise!" She sang. "She doesn't know how to do surgery."

"Leave her alone. It's her first day," Alex said, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Why are you defending her? She went to state school."

"So did I," he gave her an icy stare.

"Well, she's skinny and blonde."

"So's Mer," Alex pointed out.

"So am I," I pouted.

"Well, she's annoying," Cristina added.

"So are you."

"Where is your wife, by the way?"

"I..." Meredith tried so desperately to change the subject. "What did you say to Owen?"

"Oh, that she's gotta go. I mean, he knows how important this is to me. I need someone who's gonna take me to the next level. And he brings me, like, this desert storm Barbie who hasn't seen the inside of an OR in, like, ten years? I mean, if this is what he thinks of my talent, then I'm—I—I gotta break up with him." Cristina finished her rant and turned back to Alex as he started to laugh.

"Have you even talked to Izzie yet I mean, has anyone talked to her?"

"You know what? No one's allowed to talk about Izzie while I eat," he hissed.

"Am I the only one concerned here?"

  Alex slammed his food down and scooted his chair back, standing up and taking his tray elsewhere.

"Yes," I slammed my water down on the table. "She left us. We can't worry about someone that obviously doesn't give a shit about us." I pushed myself out of my seat, grabbing my things and leaving the area.

"So you know what? I can't forgive you either."

  The faint words came from the OR gallery I was making my way into. As I got to the door, Alex was storming out, leaving Izzie sitting there alone.

"He cares so much," I began, my voice starting out calm. "All he ever did was try to make you happy and you left him. You left us. I'm glad you're okay Izzie, but I hope you're not hoping for a welcome home party because I sure as hell won't be attending."

  Izzie turned her head, opening her mouth to speak but I was already turning around to leave.

"Is there a specific reason I was paged?" I asked the nurse at the reception desk sweetly. "I'm not working in the clinic today."

"A patient. She won't let anyone examine her but you. Bed three."

  I pursued my lips, making my way over to the curtain covered bed. That's strange.

  I pulled the fabric to the side, every positive emotion hitting me at once when I saw my Seattle deprived best friend.

"W-what are you doing here, Mel," I giggled uncomfortably. "Are you hurt?" I grabbed my stethoscope in a panic but Melanie's hand shushed me away.

"I'm fine." She sprang up from the bed, wrapping her arms around me tightly. "I'm amazing actually. How are you? Are you seeing anybody? How's Arizona?"

"Okay slow down," I lightly pushed her back onto the hospital bed. "I thought you were in Colorado."

"I was," she sighed happily, her black curls bouncing lightly. "And then this happened."

I gawked at the hand she held in front of me. "Three carats, Autumn. Three. That can, like, feed three whole horses."

I chuckled lightly. Or a couple homeless shelters for a year.

"That's amazing, Mel," I sighed, my smile wide. "Please tell me you didn't fly all the way out here just to tell me. I'm not that special." Slipping on a pair of gloves, I began doing a routine check up on my friend.

"Well that was the next thing I was going to tell you. But I said I'm not sick."

"I have to look like I'm doing my job, don't I?" I grinned, setting my stethoscope back around my neck.

"Anyway, we're moving," she sighed.

"To Seattle?" I exclaimed.

"Los Angeles," she frowned. "It's too rainy here."

"That's like a three hour flight, Melanie!"

"I know!" She emphasized.

"Anyway, I heard there's a bar across the street. Do you want to go to the bar? I think my coffee is starting to wear off. You know what happens when my coffee wears off," she rambled quickly.

"I think your caffeine levels are just fine," I joked. "I can't leave now. I'm working."

"Well, I am not," she hummed, stepping to the ground and skipping out of the clinic.

"Mel, you need to sign some-" My voice faded when the glass door shut behind her. "Paperwork."

"Goodnight," I sang, waving to Callie and Arizona as they entered their apartment and I made my way up to mine. I should probably call Melanie.

  My keys jangling in the lock, I twisted the doorknob, kicking the door open as I dialed her number on my phone.

"Hiya!"

  Completely startled, my phone flipped out of my hand, hitting the floor with a thud. With wide eyes and rapid breathing, I looked up at the raven haired girl that sat with her legs kicked up on my coffee table.

"How," I dragged. "Did you get in here?"

"I've known you since what, high school? It didn't take long to find the key under the doormat."

"I don't understand what you're doing in my apartment," I rubbed my temple lightly, nowhere near as annoyed I would be if it were absolutely anyone else.

  Melanie furrowed her brows. "You act like I have a hotel," she snorted. "Come on. Shots." She slammed two shot glasses that came from nowhere onto the table and pulled out a bottle of liquor from her purse with a bright smile.

"Oh, how I've missed you."

"SHOTS!"