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Denny Duquette was just another patient at Seattle Grace until he caught the eye of Isobel Stevens. Though she was casually sleeping with Alex Karev at the time, she couldn't help but notice this handsome and witty man. Isobel found herself talking with Denny more and more and becoming increasingly attached to his case. He desperately needed a new heart, he wold surely die without one and probably die even with a new one. 
Her fondness for him grew until she was very in love with him. She snuck around with only her fellow interns knowing about their relationship. They covered for her while she sat in his room and kissed and cuddled. She stayed late nights just to be in the room with him. He even started to get better for a litte while, but he still needed a heart. Denny loved her immensely and finally asked her to be his wife. She accepted, but with him needing a heart so badly she was starting to get very worried that their love could never be. In a desperate attempt to get Denny's name higher on an impossibly long list of people needing heart transplants, Izzie took matters into her own hands. A heart came available that matched Denny's criteria and she decided to cut his L-VAD wire, knowing that it would put him in a terminal state and he'd get the heart. It worked and Denny got his new heart, things looked like they were going to be okay and her superiors were none the wiser. The hospital was having a special prom night for one teen patient unable to attend her own prom. They all got dressed up and ready to go. Izzie promised to show Denny her dress. She excitedly went to see him and when she reached his room, something terrible had happened. Denny's new heart had failed him and Izzie was there to see it. Try as they might, they could not revive him. Izzie could do nothing, but lie with him in her prom dress sobbing over his dead body. 
The truth was out. Miranda Bailey and Richard Webber were brought up to speed on the whole situation. Something had to be done about it. Isobel was given a vacation and was removed from her priveledges at Seattle Grace. She was not allowed to set foot in those doors. It didn't matter, though. Izzie was so crushed, all she could do was lie on the floor at Meredith's home and cry. It was ages before she began eating and talking to anyone. It was tragic and tore Izzie to pieces. To make matters more complicated, Denny was quite wealthy and left her a large sum of money which she had no idea what to do with. Eventually, as she got better, she was allowed back at Seattle Grace on a probationary basis. She was not allowed to be with patients unsupervised until she could prove to the Cheif that she was ready and would never get attached to a patient like that again. In the process of returning and learning to be a surgeon again, she saw an opportunity that offered her a solution of what to do with the money Denny left her. She donated it to the hospital to fund a clinic for Miranda Bailey, who really wanted it to happen. The clinic was named the Denny Duquette Memorial Clinic after him. It seemed Isobel was adjusting back to life without him. She moved forward and found herself once again in the arms of Alex Karev. All was well until a heart patient came into the hospital - the patient who was supposed to get the heart that Izzie stole for Denny. It was too much for her. She began to see Denny. See him watching her in everything she did. In time, Denny began to talk to her, follow her around and plead with her to touch him. She knew it was madness- only crazy people talked to ghosts. Try as she might, she couldn't shake him and she could no longer ignore him either. She reached out to him, touched him and magically he was real to her again. Things are starting to get weird for Izzie. She has this man in her life that no one else can see, but she talks with him, walks with him and eventually begins to have incredible sex with him. Still, she's falling for Alex, too and he's alive and he's in love with her. So Izzie decides to have both. She tells Alex about Denny. The full extent of it doesn't bother Alex, though. He knows that he's alive and that Denny can't be. He's willing to share her if she needs that to get over Denny. Denny couldn't be more jealous. Though he doesn't like it, he also can't do anything about it and wants Izzie to be happy. As time goes on, there's no denying that Denny is dead. Izzie begins to realize that her relationship with Denny is not feasible. She can't go on dates with him, she can never meet his mother or have babies or other things that real couples do as their relationship progresses. She talks to him about it and he asks, "Izzie Stevens, are you breaking up with me?" She admits that she is. Before he lets her go entirely, he waits until she is gone and tries to talk to Alex, but can't get through. Still, even with Izzie wanting him gone, he hasn't left and he finally begins to get Izzie to try to figure out why. He's been repeating to her, "I'm here for you," and she thought that meant that he wanted them to be together. He can't leave, though, until she's figured out what that really means. He's here for her, to get her, to bring her with him. Izzie is dying. When she realizes this, she is very angry at Denny. Angry that he led her on and let her think he was there to be with her. Angry that he waited so long, maybe too long to tell her, and she tells him to leave her. He doesn't know if he'll be able to come back, but he kisses her goodbye and leaves all the same. His heaven to be with her has been her hell - tortured that she couldn't have the man she wanted and that he kept such important information from her. Related Articles: Season 5: Who Gets the Solo Surgery (episode 10) Reality or Fantasy (episode 9) Izzie's Haunting (episode 8) Denny's Heart (episode 7) |
