The next morning they didn't talk much. Mark didn't really know what to do or say to make Lexie feel better. He decided with giving her time instead. Pushing her could make more damage.
Today Mark and Derek were going to talk to the chief and get more information about the mission.
And then they would share the news with their colleagues during the staff meeting.
Mark and Lexie walked into the hospital and made their separate ways without a word.
Lexie went to the Resident's locker room to change into scrubs and Mark went to find Derek.
"Hey, Lexie." Meredith greeted when Lexie entered the locker room.
"Hey." Lexie answered, not meeting Meredith's eyes.
"I guess Mark told you?" Meredith asked.
"He did." Lexie said as she opened her locker and started changing into scrubs.
"How do you feel about it?" Meredith approached the subject carefully. She knew that her little sister was happy with Mark and that he meant a lot to her. Meredith didn't know how Lexie had reacted to the news.
"How do you think I feel? I'm pissed. But at the same time I'm proud that he is doing something this meaningful. But I'm scared, Meredith. What if they die out there? It's not exactly a safe environment." Lexie exclaimed, looking at her older sister, moving her arms around to make a point. "How are you handling this so well? Derek is leaving too, you know."
"Handling it well? Are you kidding? I freaked out when he told me! But as you said, it's something meaningful and I think they should go. We can only pray that they come back alive. Which I'm certain they will." Meredith said.
"I'm sorry, Meredith. I'm just scared of what might happen out there." Lexie said and put on her scrub top.
"It's okay, Lex. At least we got each other. We'll get through this together." Meredith said with a loving smile.
"I know." Lexie said and returned the smile.
"Ready to make this official?" Chief Webber asked outside the conference room where the Attendings held their daily staff meeting.
"I guess so." Derek answered, looking at Mark for confirmation.
"Let's do this." Mark said, meeting Derek's eyes.
They entered the room where the rest of the attendings, Teddy Altman, Arizona Robbins, Owen Hunt, Callie Torres and Miranda Bailey, already had taken a seat. Mark sat down beside Callie and Derek took a seat between Bailey and Owen.
"Good morning." Webber greeted with a smile.
"Good morning, Chief." They responded almost in unison.
"Before we start the meeting, I have some news to share. Well, me, Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Sloan, more exactly." Webber said as he sat down, looking at Derek and Mark before continuing.
"A few days ago I received a phone call from Doctors Without Borders. Two of the doctors that were going to Libya suddenly were prevented for some unknown reason. I was asked if I had two surgeons that could take their places. And I thought that Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Sloan were perfect for the job." Webber announced, every now and then looking at Derek and Mark. "And they accepted the offer." Webber finished.
The room was quiet for a moment before Callie broke the silence.
"How long will they be gone?" She asked.
"We don't really know exactly. But probably 5 to 6 months." Webber answered.
"It could be longer." Derek added.
"When do you leave?" Owen asked.
"Next Wednesday." Derek answered.
"What about substitute doctors? We will need attendings." Bailey said.
"I will start applying for substitutes this afternoon." Webber answered. "Anymore questions regarding this?" Webber asked. His staff shook their head no. "Okay then. So. What do we got for today?"
"You haven't said a word to each other all morning?" Meredith asked as she walked through the hallway.
"No." Lexie answered, looking down at the floor.
"Why? You can't just stop talking!"
"I just… Don't know what to say." Lexie said.
"Well, not talking is not healthy for your relationship. And you live together so you will have to talk to him eventually." Meredith explained.
"I know, I know." Lexie answered. Her sister was right. Not talk to her boyfriend wouldn't solve anything.
They stopped briefly as Meredith's pager began to beep.
"The E.R. Sorry, Lex. I have to go." Meredith said.
"It's okay. I have some patients to check on, anyway." Lexie said with a knowing look. "See you later."
"See you later, sis." Meredith said and started walking towards the E.R. "Talk to him!" She called out before she rounded the corner.
Lexie smiled at her sisters way before she headed towards her first patients room. Maybe that little kid could cheer her up.
"Mark!" Callie called after him when they left the conference room.
"Hey Cal." Mark greeted as she walked up to him.
"So… You're leaving." She stated.
"I am." Mark confirmed.
"How did Lexie take the news?" Callie asked as they kept walking, nowhere in particular.
"Not well. We haven't talked since last night." Mark answered. "I'm giving her time."
"That's probably good. She'll talk when she's ready." Calle said knowingly.
"I hope that will be soon, 'cause I can't take it when she's upset." Mark said.
"I'm sure it will, Mark. She loves you." Callie said, putting a hand on his shoulder. She knew he was struggling with this. "You know what we should do?" She asked, an idea forming in her head.
"What?" He asked, looking up at her.
"We should throw a going away party. You know, just for our closest friends. Something to take our minds of the fact that you guys are leaving us for 6 freaking months." Callie said with a encouraging smile.
"That's not a bad idea. Talk to Derek about it. His house is big enough for a party." Mark said, mirroring Callie's smile.
"Good idea! I'll go talk to him right now. See you later." Callie said, patting Mark's back before she left. The party was a great idea. Hopefully Lexie would agree.
Mark went to the nurses station to grab a few charts. He had patients to check on. First stop for the day: Lewis Anderson.
Lexie stood outside Lewis' room. She knew she had to put her personal problems aside. So she closed her eyes, took a deep breath and counted to five. She opened her eyes and put on her 'doctor face' before she entered the room.
"Hey Lewis. How are you today?" She asked with a smile.
"It hurts a little bit. And it's itchy at the same time." Lewis said.
"It's good that it's itchy. It means it's healing the way it's supposed to. I'm just gonna take a quick look to check okay?" Lexie said as she started to remove the patch.
The wound was still red. But that was to be expected. it had only been around 24 hours since the surgery. It should heal nicely.
"It looks good. Dr. Sloan did a fine job." Lexie said after a quick exam.
"When can he go home?" Lewis' mom asked.
"Probably in a few days. I think Dr. Sloan would like to keep him here at least one more night for observation." Lexie explained.
"That sounds about right, Dr. Grey." Mark said as he entered the room.
"Dr. Sloan" Lexie greeted, not meeting his eyes. She hadn't realized he was entering the room. For a minute she had forgot that Lewis was his patient too and that she probably would have to face him.
"Would you like to present?" Mark asked. If she wasn't willing to talk to him personally she should at least talk to him professionally. After all, he was her teacher and not only her boyfriend.
"Lewis Anderson, 6 years old. Post-op day 1 for skin grafting due to a burn after a hot water incident." Lexie presented, smiling at Lewis.
"Further treatment?"
"Keep an eye on the graft to make sure it heals properly and change the dressing two to three times a day." Lexie answered.
"Sounds good, Dr. Grey." Mark said. Lexie was gonna become an excellent doctor. He just knew it.
"Okay. I have other patients to check on. But I'll be back later. And remember, no scratching." Lexie said with a smile before she left the room. She headed towards the nurses station to get her other patient's chart and she could feel Mark's presence behind her all the way.
"Mr. Wayne's chart, please." She requested as she approached the counter. She leered at Mark who was making some notes in Lewis' chart. She received the requested chart and made some notes as well. They were quiet for a moment before Lexie finally decided to break the silence.
"So… I suppose you told the rest of the attendings at the meeting this morning." She said, trying not to sound too harsh.
"Yeah, we did." Mark answered, his attention on his writing.
"So it's official now…" Lexie stated as she put her pen in her coat pocket.
"It is." Mark confirmed as he finished up the chart and handed it to Olivia. "Look, Lexie. I don't know what to say or do to make you feel better about this." He said and looked at her pleadingly.
Lexie knew Mark so well, and she knew that he really felt guilty about this. Now she felt so stupid and childish for treating him this way, not talking to him. It wasn't fair to him.
"You don't have to do or say anything. You made a decision and I'm so proud of you for doing this. I really am. I just need a little time to process, that's all." She answered, meeting his eyes.
"So you're not mad at me?" He asked, a little surprised.
"No, of course not! I could never be mad at you. Not for this at least." She said, moving a little closer to him. "I'm sorry if I made you think that."
"You don't have to apologize for anything. I on the other hand do. I'm sorry this was so fast forward. I wish it wasn't." He said, looking down at the floor. He still felt guilty. And she noticed that.
"Mark. Look at me." She said, moving her hand to his cheek.
He took a breath before meeting her eyes again.
"I love you." She said and caressed his cheek with her thumb.
"I love you too." He said and leaned in to kiss her.
"Hey! Guess what!" Callie exclaimed happily as she approached to the kissing couple.
"What?" Mark said, breaking the kiss but kept his attention on Lexie.
"I talked to Derek. And he agreed to have the party at his house!" Callie was almost jumping with excitement. Like a kid on Christmas morning.
"What party?" Lexie asked, looking between Mark and Callie.
"Callie thought that we should have a party before we leave. Like a going away party." Mark explained and regretted not bringing it up earlier.
"Oh." Lexie was a little taken aback but quickly adjusted to the idea. "Sounds like a good idea." She said, managing out a small smile.
"Maybe we could have it the night before you leave? Like a last goodbye?" Callie suggested.
"Sure, why not?" Mark responded and looked at Lexie. Wondering what she was thinking.
"Great. We'll talk more about it later. Right now I have a surgery. See you for lunch?" Callie asked Mark.
"Sounds good to me." He responded, patting her shoulder.
"Great. And you know you're of course welcome to join us, Little Grey" Callie said to Lexie.
"I know. Thanks." Lexie answered with a smile.
"See you later then." Callie said as she left.
"A going away party, huh?" Lexie asked.
"Yeah. Sorry. I forgot to mention that." Mark said, scratching the back of his head awkwardly.
"No, it's okay. It's a great idea actually. I just thought that I would have you to myself your last night home." Lexie said a little sad.
"You will. It's only the evening you will have to share me." He said jokingly. "And besides. The plane doesn't departure 'til 1 o'clock pm. So we will have the night and the morning to ourselves." He added, winking.
For the first time that day, Lexie actually laughed. Somehow, no matter how upset she was, Mark always managed to make her laugh.
"Well, I better get going, I have a cranioplasty with Derek before lunch. See you." Mark said before kissing her goodbye.
"See you" Lexie said as he walked away.
A big weight had left her shoulders. She and Mark had made up. No one was mad at the other. They had talked about it and she felt so much better. Now she just had to process the fact that he was leaving in 8 days. In that moment, she decided to stop feeling sad about it and instead start to enjoy the last days she had with him. With that, she grabbed some charts and went on to do her work.
AN: First of all. Thank you so much for the reviews and response to the first chapter. I actually hadn't counted on that. It makes me so happy and I really want to keep this story going. Hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was a little shorter and it was a lot of dialog. But I wanted to get it out for you. And from now on I will update once a week.
Next chapter will feature a pretty big incident. Can you guess what? :)
