Rebecca Pope



Rebecca Pope (also known as "Ava") was a patient from a ferry-related accident. She was brought to Seattle Grace where she bonded with Alex but later left when she recovered her memories. She reappeared in season 4 and although they loved each other when she slits her wrists and almost dies, Alex is forced to have her transferred to a psychiatric facility.

Season 2
Dr. Alex Karev found a semi-conscious pregnant woman crushed under a cement pylon, suffering from several severe injuries, after the ferry accident. Upon arrival at Seattle Grace, the Jane Doe was submitted to a battery of tests and surgeries to evaluate her condition and that of her baby, as well as treat her injuries. Eventually, Dr. Mark Sloan presented Jane Doe with options for her facial reconstruction; Alex helped her with the decision by assigning each face a name and identity. Jane Doe chose the face Alex called "Ava", and adopted the moniker for herself following the surgery. Due to his involvement with her rescue and medical care, Ava developed a close friendship with Alex Karev, who helped her through an emergency c-section to deliver her daughter after Ava developed pre-eclampsia. Dr. Derek Shepherd operated to resolve some bleeding in Ava's brain; during the surgery, it was discovered that Ava could speak four languages (English, Spanish, German, and French). The surgery also held a chance that "Ava" would regain her memory, but it failed to do so immediately; however, several days later, "Ava" woke up with her memory completely restored, but pretended to still suffer from amnesia to avoid returning to her life and unhappy marriage. After Alex realized she had regained her memory, he tried to convince her to tell the authorities so that her family could be located; although she initially refused, she eventually confessed that her real name was Rebecca Pope. This finally led her husband, Jeff Pope, to reunite with her, and though Rebecca pleaded with Alex to "give me a reason to stay", he refuses and tells her to stay with the better guy, only to regret his decision later, but it was too late: Rebecca and her daughter have left with Jeff, leaving Alex to stare at an empty room.

Season 4
Rebecca reappears in Episode 5 of Season Four: "Haunt You Everyday". Rebecca explains to Alex that in her town at Halloween, all the mothers dress up. She confesses that the only person she would want to be was Ava. Alex kisses Rebecca and the two proceed to an On-Call Room. Alex makes a move to have sex, but Rebecca stops him, telling him he's a 'chicken' and 'didn't come looking for her'. She tells him that she 'had to come looking for him'. The two eventually have sex, and Rebecca alludes to the fact she no longer loves her husband. Elizabeth Reaser was nominated Outstanding Guest Actress In A Drama Series at the 2007 Emmy Awards for her role on the show. A while later, in Episodes 9 and 10 of the fourth season ("Crash Into Me, Parts 1 and 2"), Rebecca returns to see Alex. She invites him to have coffee, but he turns her down due to a surgery. Rebecca begs him to let her watch it, and she dresses as a medical student to have Alex sneak her into the gallery, where Lexie meets her and finds out about Alex's "other girlfriend," and both Izzie and Mark discover her. Alex is suspended from the O.R. for two weeks and later in his bedroom as Rebecca kisses him, he yells at her, telling her that she is only at Seattle Grace "to play dress up" and that she should go back to her life so he could get on with his. However, after this angry speech he continues to kiss her and it is implied that they sleep together. About six weeks later in episode 13 "Piece of My Heart," Rebecca comes back to Seattle Grace once again with news for Alex--she is pregnant. Alex is reluctant at first to have anything to do with her or the baby, but eventually he accepts it and excitedly begins to build a new life for him, the baby, and Rebecca, who left in episode 14 to tell her husband she is leaving him. However, Izzie discovers that she is not actually pregnant, and although Alex refuses to believe this she and Mark discover that there may be a deeper problem--Rebecca momentarily forgot that she already had a baby, and she asked for a breat enhancement surgery, saying her face did not match her body, which could stem from trauma due to her extensive facial reconstruction surgery and the stress from the ferry accident. Alex eventually sees that Rebecca indeed is not pregnant, and becomes slightly worried when she doesn't hear him and instead insists that she lost the baby. He takes her home and decides to take care of her, disregarding Izzie's observations that Rebecca "isn't looking very good." In the season finale, "Freedom," Rebecca has sunken into depression since learing that "she lost the baby" and Alex is adamant that he can take care of her. However, when he is in another room she attempts to cut her wrists with a kitchen knife. Alex brings her to the ER and gets even angrier at Izzie when she tries to get Rebecca a psych consult so she can be admitted. Izzie finally stands her ground and gets Rebecca a psych consult. Later Alex calls Jeff Pope and discovers that a month ago he took the baby girl and left Rebecca. He also discovers from the psych ward that Rebecca has underlying borderline personality disorder. He relays this information to her and regrettedly tells her that she will have to be transferred to a psychiatric facility. Rebecca tearily tells him that she had tried to "be better" for him, and that she had wanted to be someone he could depend on; she apologized for not being able to become that person.