5.10

Cristina and Izzie sat on a bench outside of the hospital's ER, the floor still damp from the night rain that had just stopped.

"Sometimes we fail, but that's not always the case." Cristina told the blond.

"Cristina, I know." The blond nodded.

"I told Alex and Bailey. And they're telling Meredith and George. And then George is gonna tell Helena because he knows how to comfort her." The Asian woman informed.

"Cristina..." Izzie sighed.

"No, I couldn't do my job! I think you came to me for help and that's what I did. Because sometimes we win, Izzie. And I want you to fight. For whatever that's worth, I want you to fight." She told her, the blond getting teary eyed.

Ever since Izzie found out she has cancer, she'd tried to ignore it. She just wanted to go about her life, do her work and not tell anyone about it. She was even considering not getting treatment. Izzie hadn't yet found how to face her disease.

"Thank you." The other resident breathed out in relief.

Inside the hospital, Helena finished up on some charting, heading to the locker room. Once she arrived, she undid her pony tail, running her hands through her hair that was now free.

As she sat down on a bench to take off her hospital shoes, George came into the room.

"Oh, hi, Georgie. Lexie, Mark and I are going to Joe's, wanna come?" She asked with a soft smile. However, once she looked up and saw tears in the boy's eyes, her smile faded as she scrunched up her brows in worry. Her voice softening and her hands stopping untying her sneakers, she questioned. "Georgie? What's wrong?"

As the boy swallowed, he sat next to her on the bench. "Lena, Izzie... Izzie has cancer."

"I... what?" Helena scoffed, almost as if her brain couldn't register the information.

"Izzie has stage 4 metastatic melanoma. It has spread to her brain." George told her, the girl's eyes roaming his face as tears grew in her eyes.

"No, that's... that's not... she can't..." The short girl let out, a knot forming in her throat. George took her hand, squeezing it tight as she spoke. "Oh, god!... Georgie, she was... she was acting weird." Helena let out a tear falling down her face as her lower lip trembled. "I noticed something was off and I... and I didn't do anything. I thought Alex had it and I... I don't go anything! Oh, god, Georgie." The girl cried, tears running down her face.

At that, George took her into a tight hug, shushing her as the girl cried. "It's not your fault, Lena. It's not your fault, you couldn't have know."

"But I-I should have known better." She sobbed into his chest, the boy now crying as well. "I should have known better, I should have... I should have t-taken care of her. I'm supposed to take care of you, and I didn't do anything. I convinced myself it was nothing and I... I didn't do anything." Helena cried, her tears staining the boy's scrub top as the boy's tears fell of her hair.

Izzie Stevens and Helena Campos weren't the best of friends and they certainly didn't have the smoothest relationship. Still, Helena felt the duty and responsibility to protect the blond, to make sure she was safe. The girl was with Izzie every day and she didn't act upon her suspicions. And, as such, she felt as though she had failed her, as though this was her fault too.

——

As Helena and Mark slept soundly, a sound of a phone beeping went off, making both doctors wake up.

Mumbling, Helena reassured him. "I got it, honey." As she checked the number that had called her, the girl furrowed her brows, hurrying to pick up the call. "Cristina, is everting ok? It's three am..."

As Mark looked at the girl, he simply saw her eyes widen as the girl listened to the voice on the other end of the line.

"Callie? He...?" Helena asked, angrily, getting up from the bed. "Ok, I'm coming over, be there in five."

As she put the phone down, quickly putting on some jeans, the man asked her. "What's wrong, doll?"

"I-I... it was Callie. I think Owen choked Cristina or something, I didn't really understand her." The girl muttered, pulling on a sweatshirt.

At that, Mark got up from the bed, too, hurrying to get dressed as Helena got her bag, grabbing her phone as she made another call.

"Meredith? I know, I know it's early." The girl spoke on the phone as her boyfriend grabbed the hotel key, the two walking out the door. "But we have to go to Cristina's, Callie called me in tears saying Owen chocked her or something...I-I don't know, I'll meet you there. Bye."

The couple got to the apartment almost at the same time as Meredith, finding the door already unlocked. Once they entered, they found Callie yelling at Owen, Helena sharing a look with Meredith.

"Mark..." The short girl whispered, the man nodding and approaching Owen, proceeding to do the same as Callie and blocking the man's passage to the bathroom, where Cristina had locked herself.

Knocking at the door, Meredith spoke through it. "Cristina, it's me and Lena."

At the lack of an answer, the brunette insisted. "Cristina, please let us in."

As the door was unlocked from within, Meredith and Helena entered the bathroom to find Cristina looking at herself in the mirror.

"Cristina, what's going on?" The short girl asked, her voice soft and full of worry.

"Owen was out there upset, Callie was screaming..." Meredith added.