LAST TIME ON CHANCES ARE
Burke arrived and moved to assist. "How long?" He asked.
"20 minutes," Alex answered as he kept doing compressions.
Addison looked up at Burke and swallowed. "We have to save her life. Please."
Burke nodded and stepped up. Alex kept doing compressions as the Cardio surgeon opened Dessa's chest.
~x~
Derek found Mark outside of Dessa's OR, head cradled between his bent knees and tears rolling down his cheeks. Mark lifted his head when he heard Derek sit down beside him. Mark wasn't sure what to make of the act of kindness.
"Addison's working on her," Derek said, "She's an amazing surgeon. She'll be fine."
"I didn't tell her that I love her…" Mark sighed. Derek let the man put his head on his shoulder and Derek provided comfort for Mark.
~x~
"Time of death…18:03."
~x~
Chances Are
Epilogue: Skyscraper
Note: The song is a cover done by Travis Ratledge. Enjoy!
~x~
Mark sat waiting, leaning against a wall near the OR that Dessa's fate was decided in; Derek had not moved since sitting down beside Mark and the two were waiting for any news. Mark was unable to function, unable to think about what this all meant because what if Dessa did die?
When Addison exited the OR, Mark jumped to his feet and Derek slowly stood, his eyes taking in his wife and knew instantly that there was no good news. Mark was still hopeful, needing to believe that Dessa was alive.
Addison swallowed thickly at the sight of Mark, not understanding straight away why he was so upset. "Mark? What's wrong?" Addison asked.
"I'm Dessa's Mark," he uttered. "Is she okay? Is Karev closing and bringing her up to her room?"
"Mark, maybe we should go somewhere else…" Addison said, trying to make the blow easier on him. She knew that if half of what Dessa had said was true, then Mark would be crushed.
Mark was confused by this. "Why? What's wrong?" And then his heart broke when he finally realized why Addison looked so defeated. "No…no! No….! She can't be dead! I didn't tell her I love her!"
And then Mark Sloan fell to his knees and began to weep for the woman he had lost.
~x~
It took both Addison and Derek to move Mark from the OR, to let the people from the morgue come to collect Dessa's body, and then it took Callie's help to get him to sit in the cafeteria, coffee sitting in front of him untouched. Callie sighed at the sight of her friend and moved over to Addison and Derek. "What do we do? He's broken up because of Dessa's death." Callie said.
Addison rubbed her forehead, hot chocolate in hand. "I should have been more convincing. I knew this was a possibility…"
"She obviously wanted to keep going, it wasn't your fault." Derek patted Addison's arm, trying to provide some comfort. He glanced over at Mark and sighed at the sight. "Does she have any other family?"
Addison nodded with a sad sigh. "I'll call her family now."
~x~
When Dessa's family arrived, Nurse Tyler paged Addison and she went to greet the soon-to-be grieving family. She found an older couple; the woman had grey hair that was styled in waves and warm brown eyes, her skin pale and wrinkled. The man had grey hair as well, though it was boarding on white with watery blue eyes. Beside the woman was a young woman who was talking into the phone, complaining about being called out to the hospital so late; she had long blonde hair that was down in waves and watery blue eyes. The other woman standing beside the man was tall and ready to take on the world, with dark brown hair and grey eyes.
The old woman approached Addison first. "Do you have any information about my daughter? Her name is Dessa Leanne Hart, she is 34 years old and we were told she'd be here by a woman named Doctor Addison Montgomery-Shepherd. But this doctor is nowhere to be found."
The woman's accent reminded Addison of Dessa. "Hello, I'm Doctor Montgomery-Shepherd. I'm sorry to keep you waiting."
The woman looked relieved to finally find Addison. "I'm her mother, Elizabeth. This is my husband, William, and these are our two other daughters: Hayden and Catherine." Elizabeth introduced her family. William and Catherine made their way over to hear more news about Dessa. Hayden kept talking on the phone, turning her back to the doctor.
"What has happened to my baby girl?" William asked, worry in his voice and his hand gripping onto a rosary.
Addison realized that Dessa really had told no one about her illness and now it was her job to tell her family. "Mrs. Hart, Mr. Hart, Ms. Hart….you may want to sit down." Addison began. The Hart family sat, Elizabeth's eyes widening with worry as she gripped onto her husband's hand that gripped onto the rosary. "I'm sorry to inform you of this but… Dessa had stage four cancer. She came to me hoping to get some answers and help, but her cancer had progressed further than we expected."
"Oh my baby…" Elizabeth began to weep, knowing what these words meant.
Addison continued, "Dessa passed away this afternoon."
William was silent as he held his sobbing wife. Catherine looked stunned by the news, unable to grasp the fact that her older sister was dead. Hayden, having finished her phone call, noticed her mother crying and walked over with confusion. "Mom, what's wrong?"
No one was able to repeat the news.
"I'm sorry for your loss." Addison said gently before she excused herself.
~x~
Even though it was against the rules, Mark was able to see Dessa's body in the morgue. He stood beside her, holding her cold hand and staring at her blank face with tears in his eyes. He couldn't believe that Dessa had left him, that she was forcing him to continue without her.
Mark leaned down and kissed her knuckles with a sigh. "I love you, Dessa. I wish I wasn't such an idiot and didn't notice the signs. I should have told you I loved you sooner."
As Mark grieved his dead girlfriend, William, Elizabeth, Catherine and Hayden arrived to see the body. Hayden, being the fierce woman she is, frowned upon seeing Mark holding her sister's hand.
"Who the hell are you?" Hayden demanded.
Mark lifted his head from Dessa's face. "Mark Sloan….I'm…I was Dessa's boyfriend…."
Elizabeth frowned through her tears as well. "Dessa never told us she had a boyfriend…She didn't even tell us she had broken up with Brian."
William rubbed his wife's back before turning back to Mark. "We would like some time alone with our daughter." He said firmly.
Mark, sensing that he wasn't going to win this battle, nodded and backed off. He walked out of the morgue and held in his tears.
~x~
Three days later, Mark stood beside Callie, gripping onto her hand while waiting for Derek and Addison to appear. They were going to the service, and the others had come to support Mark. Callie hated seeing Mark so upset, especially when she was used to seeing him so filled with life.
"I don't think I'm ready to say goodbye to her Callie…" Mark whispered.
Callie squeezed his hand, "I don't think anyone would. But she's in a better place now."
Mark nodded his head, feeling so defeated. "Her parents asked me to say a few words."
"That's nice of them." Callie smiled gently.
"But I don't know what to say. What do I say about the woman who was the love of my life and I only knew her for a few short weeks? What do I say about the woman I saw myself marrying and living the rest of my life out with? What do I say about the woman who didn't tell me she was dying and took on this battle all alone?" Mark asked his voice cracking. He had never shown so much emotion to others like he was now. But Dessa was something else, she was this fire that brought Mark back to life and believed in him.
Callie hugged her friend. "You say what you feel in your heart. This isn't to help anyone else, though it should be a little. This is about you saying goodbye to Dessa."
"I wish she wasn't dead."
Once Derek and Addison found them, they all went inside and took their seats near the front, which had their names on the chairs. Mark was the closest to the casket, where Dessa lay in a black dress and done up so she looked like she was asleep. It was open and Mark knew he should go up there to say something to her.
But, Dessa's sisters Catherine and Hayden were there at the moment, clinching onto each other as they said their goodbyes. Catherine placed a letter inside beside Dessa and Hayden simply kissed her hand and placed her fingers on Dessa's forehead.
"Was I supposed to bring something?" Mark gulped, seeing as others had small gifts to leave in the casket.
"You didn't have to." Callie reassured him, sitting right beside him. Addison was on Callie's other side and Derek at the end. Mark knew exactly what he wanted to leave in Dessa's casket and had been carrying it around since a few days before her death.
Finally, it was Mark's turn. He stood up and walked up to the casket. Callie stood beside him, offering her support the best way she could. Mark walked up to the casket and smiled at the sight of Dessa. She looked asleep, with her eyes closed and her long black hair brushed and in a braid. He nodded to Callie, letting her go sit down.
He was able to do this on his own.
"I can't believe she didn't tell anyone."
Mark turned his head, finding Lucky standing there with a tissue crimpled in her hand. He wanted to ask Lucky to go, to give him his turn alone with his dead girlfriend.
"I hate that I didn't realize the signs. I was so focused on me and Brian that I forgot to make sure she was okay. She dropped small hints, you know. Pushing me to live with Brian? She didn't want me to see her suffering." Lucky said tearfully. She stepped forward and placed a small box filled with small things. "This box is filled with small stuff from our childhood together. Bracelets, pictures, notes about boys…" Lucky sniffled. "I'm going to miss you Dee, please be happy wherever you end up." She kissed her friend's cheek and then went to sit down with her fiancée.
Now somewhat alone, Mark turned to Dessa. He reached into her casket and grabbed her left hand. "I was going to ask you this on our next date…but you went and died." He laughed weakly. "I don't want any other girl to have it, okay?"
He placed the ring on her finger, and then he leaned down to kiss her lips one last time. Once he pulled back, he wiped his eyes awkwardly.
"It was my grandma's so keep it safe. If you see her in heaven, tell her Mark says hi and tell her that you're my everything. She'll take care of you." Mark promised. One last look and then Mark returned to Callie, his chest heavy with emotion.
~x~
"Dessa was more than I could have ever hoped to have in a woman. She was funny, kind, sweet…she worked with kids; she made sure they were always first. Hell, she did that with everyone. She didn't tell anyone about her cancer because she was worried it'd burden them." Mark said, standing at the front of the room, glazing at the casket that had his Dessa inside. "She waltzed into my life like a breath of fresh air. Even in her darkest hour, she still cared about others. I know I'm rambling but it's true. Dessa was my ray of sunshine, the light at the end of the dark hall. I wish I could have had longer with her, like some of you. I want years upon years with her; I want a family with that dog and house. I talked to her about it once, as a funny little joke because why wouldn't we imagine what our lives would be like? She wanted three children, two boys and a girl, with a golden retriever named Buddy from Air Bud, and a one story house with three bedrooms. She said she hated stairs."
People laughed weakly at the joke. It was true, Dessa hated stairs.
Mark wiped his eyes. "I wanted to give her all of this and more. If I could have, I would have taken the sun, moon and stars and given them all to her… Hell, if she asked me to, I would have cut out my own heart for her. And maybe it sounds crazy how fast I fell for her, but our love was written in the stars. The story just ended a little sooner than we would have liked but some people in our lives are meant only to stay for so long. Dessa I love you and I will never forget you." He moved over to the casket, kissed his hand and set it on it. "I'm sorry that I didn't say it sooner or as often as I should have, but I know you knew how I felt. You had to have."
~x~
The End
~x~
I hope you enjoyed the journey. *heart*
REVIEWS:
TheSilverWolff: I'm sorry that I broke your heart, but I've had this scene in my head since the beginning. I did drop some hints that this was going to happen. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this short journey with Dark! *heart*
Please review everyone, I'd love to hear your thoughts.
Xoxo,
Nerdy