Thanks for the great repsone again guys! Just to clear things up, I'm from the UK and can only get updated with the season every Thursday, so the last episode I've seen was the one with the multiple kidney transplant…and where Derek gets the credit for his and Meredith's clinical trial. But I have seen odd episodes from later in season 5. So if there is any discrepancies between this story and the show… that's why. Thanks and enjoy.
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By the time Christina got to the observation room which overlooked O.R 5, Mark Sloan was about to slice through the delicate skin on his little sister's bruised throat. She looked around the gallery. She'd only ever seen it this full on one or two rare occasions; once during a very tricky and complicated procedure, and the other when a famous medical genius was under the knife. Everyone had clearly gathered just to watch man-whore-Mark operate on his long lost sister. It was a rare sight to see Mark Sloan compassionate, and the hospital was buzzing with various gossip regarding the situation. Christina spotted a seat next to Izzie, she started moving towards it at the same time as one of her interns. He obviously hadn't seen her coming. The foolish intern sat down. Christina stood over him, hands on her hips, she glared down. Slowly, the intern looked up, a look of horror forming on his face. All Christina had to do was to raise one delicately plucked eyebrow and she sent the intern running from the front from seat to cower in the corner. She sat down, chuffed with herself.
"You're mean!" Izzie pointed out, keeping her gaze at the operation room.
"I am not, I'm his superior!" Christina pointed out. She looked at Izzie's lap were an abundance of sweets, chips, cans of soda, and an apple were balanced. "You brought snacks?" She asked disbelievingly.
Izzie looked at her, like it was the sanest thing to do, "Of course. Want an apple-swizzler?"
"Do I?!" Christina reached out greedily and took two and started chomping.
Meredith leant forward from the other side of Izzie, "I have sherbet if you want some, and George has pretzels." Christina gratefully accepted the snacks and turned her attention back to the surgery.
"What are you doing here?" Christina asked. "I thought you and Lexipedia were scrubbing in?"
"Sloan banished us." Meredith explained simply
"Am I late?" Alex said breathlessly as he threw himself through the door. "Aw dam! He's already started. Did I miss much?" he asked perching on the arm rest of the chair at the end of the row, occupied by Lexie.
"He's only just started. How cool is this?" Izzie told him. He looked at her and rolled her eyes. "Candy bar?" She offered. He shrugged and took one. "How weird is it that he's operating on his sister? I mean who gets to do that?"
"It's even cooler that it's his long lost sister!" George added.
"Finding your long lost sister isn't that great you guys…" Meredith said in a moany voice.
"Hey!!!" Lexie complained. That hurt. She didn't know why Meredith had to keep making comments like that. As far as Lexie was concerned, they had gotten past that stage.
"Oh god… Sorry Lex!" Meredith apologised. "I didn't know you were there" Meredith pulled a face.
"That's worse!" Lexie stressed. "Just forget it Meredith." She sighed and tried to focus on the surgery, rather than the fit of hysterical laughter shared immaturely between Meredith and Christina down the other end of the row of seats. George snorted, joining in with the laughing too. Lexie shoved him, annoyed that her close friend was acting like a stupid kid. "Can we just be grown ups and watch the surgery, please?"
"So what's the story behind this kid?" Alex asked, dipping his hand in Lexie's bag of nuts and shoving them in his mouth. He continued, mouth half full, "I mean, it's domestic right? Who's the one doing the punching?"
"Maybe it's Sloan's secret life!" Christina speculated.
"Don't be stupid!" Lexie argued. Christina threw her a disgusted look, which caused Lexie to cower and then repeat herself, in a more respectful tone. "I mean, Dr Sloan isn't like that, he wouldn't beat her up then operate on her just for kicks!"
"Wouldn't he?" Alex asked coyly.
"NO." Came a stern and recognisable voice over the intercom. The interns all froze in their seats, not daring to move, speak or blink. "I take it none of you knew the intercom on?" Again, no one spoke. "Stevens."
"Yes sir?" Izzie answered in a high pitched voice. She hiccoughed.
"What do you think you're doing bringing food into the gallery?"
"I uh…."
"Get it out. Now!"
Izzie jumped up gathering the food and wrappers into her arms, and took the other interns food of them as she passed and ran out of the door.
Next Mark turned his attention on Alex Karev. "Karev!"
"Yes sir!" Alex answered, a hint of fear in his voice.
"Don't you dare say things like that about me again. Understand? Get out of there!" Mark ordered. He glanced up to watch Alex stumble off his seat and run out the room. He put the scalpel down. "Grey."
Meredith stood up. "Yes Dr Sloan?"
"An apology to Little Grey is in order."
"Yes sir…" Meredith replied, humbly. She looked at Lexie, tilted her head and apologised quietly.
"Can't hear you Grey," Sloan sang.
"I'm sorry Dr Grey!" Meredith said louder as she stormed out of the room.
"Yang." He said as Meredith fled. Christina was already on her feet, anticipating her judgement. "You're not the new Nazi. You're not Burke's right hand girl anymore…."
"N-no Sir…" Christina replied clasping her hands together trying to ignore the jibe at her fiancé who had left her at the altar. "I'm going!" She added before Mark had chance to throw her out.
Lexie stood now, waiting to be dismissed too. Mark simply picked up the scalpel and began working again. She didn't know whether to sit or stand, so opted for leaning against the glass. Mark looked up at her again after a while and caught her eye. He winked at her.
Lexie felt her heart do a flip. Her pulse increased and her chest suddenly went tight. It still surprised her how, even after all these months that that one little action can made her heart leap and have such fickle reactions. Her pressed a hand to her cheek and felt the warmth of her face. She was blushing, and grinning like a Cheshire cat. Suddenly she felt wrong. She couldn't be happy, and smiling at a time like this. She sat down but then looked back at Mark. How couldn't she be smiling she asked herself. Look at him! She thought his perfect face, with the right amount of stubble and that perfect little moustache. And that hair. Oh I love running my fingers through his hair. She closed her eyes and imagined herself caressing his smooth, toned torso and kissing each bit she could reach.
A steady beeping noise pulled her out from her dreams. She looked down into the OR and saw Sloan and nurses hurrying about. Ellie was bleeding. Something had torn. Lexie stood up and pressed her hands to the glass, watching in great anticipation.
"No dam it, NO!" She heard Mark yell through the intercom. "Come on Ellie. Fight!"
"Dr Sloan. Her heart's stopped." Nurse Rose announced.
No! Lexie gasped feeling entirely helpless.
Mark was saying nothing. There was now a eerie silence engulfing the room apart from one long steady beep coming from her heart machine. Suddenly Mark turned and thumped Ellie hard, just over her heart. The room gasped but said nothing. There was silence for an incredibly long three seconds and then.
Beep. Beep. Beep.
"BP's rising!" A nurse called.
"She's breathing!" Another announced.
Lexie saw Mark's shoulder fall, relaxing slightly. "Good girl" he said. "Well done. Thank you everyone." The nurses in the room, and Dr Bailey nodded in acknowledgement. "Let's finish this off shall we? Dr Grey. Will you please go find my mother and tell her we should be out in half an hour." Lexie nodded and left in pursuit of Mrs Sloan-Jacobs.
* * *
"Mrs Sloan-Jacobs?" Lexie asked, approaching a dainty women who was looking very concerned at her cup of what smelt like chicken soup. She looked up and nodded, eyes looking sad and wary. "Your daughter should be out of surgery in a little while. About half an hour." Lexie smiled, hoping to relax the clearly worried mother.
"How long do you think it will be until I can take her home?" She asked.
"I wouldn't like to guess really.. anywhere around a week." Lexie suggested, there were so many factors that contributed to her discharge date. Besides, she doubted Mark would want to let her go home to their step-dad.
"A week?" She squeaked. "We can't stay that long. She needs to be home. We need to be home, tomorrow..." Her hands started to tremble.
Lexie sat down beside her and put an arm on her back. "Your daughter has had major surgery, she wont be home tomorrow ma'am." She explained.
"You don't understand…."
"Your husband doesn't know you're here." Lexie stated. Mark's mother nodded. "Can you not tell him you're at your mothers, or a friends?"
"My parents died a few years ago. I don't really have many friends here."
"How about just saying Ellie is at a friend's house? Or a school field trip?" Lexie suggested, wracking her brains for ideas.
"It wouldn't work…He makes the decisions. She would have told him. He'd ring the school…"
Lexie gnawed on the inside of her lip. "Have you thought about just leaving him, and letting him get over it?" She realised it was the wrong thing to say when Mrs Sloan-Jacobs looked up horrified. "…I'm sorry… I shouldn't have…."
"I cant leave him. He loves us. We love him…"
"I know ma'am, all I meant was…maybe it would be better….for Ellie…to be away from him."
"He didn't do anything…she was mugged…" Sloan's mothers voice was breaking and faltered at the end of her sentence. Tears filled her grey eyes and trickled down her pale face. She caught them on the back of her hand and wiped them away.
"I'm sorry" Lexie tried again, "I was just trying to help… I thought that…."
"Well don't… please… I'm sorry, you seem like a nice girl Dr Grey, but you don't understand…so stop trying to."
Lexie understood where she was coming from. She decided to try one last tactic. "My mom died." She stated. When Mrs Sloan-Jacobs looked up at her, her face confused Lexie continued. She pushed the sleeves of her grey scrubs up, passed her elbow to display a fading ring of bruises around her wrist. "My dad didn't take it very well. Thought drinking was the way to get over it. Turns out, drinking and grief doesn't mix well." Mrs Sloan-Jacobs face was now full of attention, and also surprise. "I didn't want to leave home, he's my dad after all. But I realised I had to get out, or he could end up really hurting me."
"Why did you let him?" She asked quietly, her voice low and soft.
"What? Hurt me? Because I love him. Because He needed me, something to rant his rage at. I believed eventually he would get over it." Lexie shrugged and rolls her sleeves back down.
"But…you seem so… happy?"
"I am." Lexie smiled. "I've never been happier since I left that house, of course I feel sad, and guilty about my dad, and I miss him and my mom…but I'm better now. I have friends, work, a life…a sort of boyfriend. Life doesn't have to be just that. Bruises fade. Ellie's bruises and marks will fade. She needs a fresh start to begin healing the internal bruises and marks. And in my opinion, if I was allowed to voice my opinion on matters such as this, she wont get that chance living with your husband ma'am. Meaning no disrespect." Lexie smiled at her and touched her hand. "I'll go see how they are doing, and come and find you when she's out of surgery. Ok?" She stood up and started walking away.
"Dr Grey?" Came Mrs Sloan-Jacobs voice as she walked away. Lexie stopped and turned around. "She wasn't mugged." Her voice sounded resigned.
"I know."
A few minutes later, Lexie entered the scrub room, where Mark was scrubbing down. The operation had obviously finished and Ellie would be on her way to recovery, if she wasn't already there.
"Hey…" Lexie said standing beside him. He grunted in response. "How'd it go?"
"Other than the bleed earlier, all fine."
"So she'll be ok?" Lexie asked holding the bin open for him as he threw his mask inside.
"As long as she gets away from that Bastard!" Mark snapped. "How's my mother?"
"Worried."
"Of course." Mark dried his hand with a paper towel and leant against the side of the wash basin. "I don't know what to do here Little Grey."
"It's Lexie."
"I know. Little Grey sticks easier though" An edge of a smile crept up onto his face, then he quickly sobered. "I don't know how to talk to her…I keep making small talk… the weather.. the paint on the wall, that kind of thing. What do I say?"
"I'm probably not the best person to ask…"
"But you were the first one to speak to Meredith when you found her…" Mark said.
"Yes… but we all know how well that went down, don't we." Lexie sighed leaning against the wash basin close to him.
"Point taken." He rubbed his swollen eyes with his thumb and forefinger.
"My suggestion…take it slow…talk about neutral things, her likes her dislikes, your likes and dislikes…and maybe avoid talking about your Step dad." She recommended. Mark nodded in agreement. "It's not going to be easy Mark…I mean Dr Sloan." She smiled nervously as his hand brushed hers. Quickly she moved her hand out of the way.
"Sorry…"
"Don't be" Lexie said softly, placing her hand back down next to his. His fingers slowly wrapped themselves around her soft smooth fingers. They gazed into one another's eyes. She had to tilt her head back in order to see him fully. He ran a hand through her silky hair and enjoyed the light fragrance her hair produced. She smelt so good, like flowers and sweet things. He couldn't place the smell. Gently he stroked the nape of her neck, causing Lexie to shiver a little, but allowed for them to step closer to one another. Blood rushed to her face as she felt his hand grip the back of her neck. Her heart pace quickened as she realised he was bending down too kiss her. Eagerly she tilted her head up to meet him and closed her eyes, anticipating the warmth of his lips. He pressed his lips to hers and felt butterflies in his stomach, he had never experienced that feeling with any other girl, woman than Lexie. She made him feel good, and young, rather than the man whore his reputation described him to be. As their kiss deepened, Lexie slipped her arms up between them and locked them around his neck, Mark reached out with his other hand, and pressed it against her lower back, pushing their bodies closer together. He loved the feeling of Lexie pressed against him.
Stood outside the door were Derek and Meredith. "Why is Sloan kissing Little Grey?" She asked Derek. "I told you to tell him to keep Little Sloan out of Little Grey!" She moaned to him, appalled.
"I did tell him." Derek argued. "But since when does he listen to me?" He knocked on the door. "Sorry," he said, semi grinning as the two tore apart as though they had been electrocuted. "Was I interrupting something? Shouldn't you be in the clinic Dr Grey?"
"Uh yes sir!" Lexie said quickly. "I was just…"
"Oh I know what you were just." Derek commented. He nodded towards the clinic.
"Yes sir," she answered, embarrassed at being caught kissing her boss in the scrubs room. "Dr Sloan." She nodded, then left, flustered.
Derek looked at his life long friend and shook his head. "Little Sloan has not entered Little Grey!" Sloan told him raising his arms.
"Ahuh. You'd better keep it that way."
"Big Sloan on the other hand…" Mark continued, drying his hand with a paper towel and throwing it in the direction of a bin.
"Mark..!"
Outside, Meredith caught up with Lexie. "The apple doesn't fall far from the tree them, eh?" She said.
"I don't know what you mean." Lexie retorted, eyes keeping straight ahead.
"Kissing you're attending in scrubs room. Seriously Lexie, pick a new gig, one Grey has already been there, done that…"
"Thanks for the advice" Lexie replied, still facing forward.
"Listen to me Lexie. Mark Sloan is bad news. He's McSteamy for a reason…He's slept with…"
"More than half the staff here. I know Meredith."
"Good. I don't want you getting hurt."
Lexie stopped mid stride, totally shocked. "You don't?"
"Of course not!" Meredith confirmed putting her hands on her hips and looking around for eaves droppers.
"Why?"
"You're Little Grey." Meredith smiled and walked off, leaving Lexie, mouth open staring after her sister.
***
Mark was leaning against the wall in his sisters room, and was switching between watching the clock, and watching her sleep. He was convinced she should have woken by now. He'd checked her vitals and nothing seemed wrong so far, but it was still early days. He sighed and picked up her chart and scanned the information on there. It was pointless as he already knew it off by heart from the other 10 times he had read it, it just gave him something to do. He looked at his sister and sighed again. Looking out the window of the solo room he saw Lexie leaning on the desk watching him. She smiled and waved a subtly. He smiled back. Dr Bailey spotted Lexie doing nothing, and quickly hustled her away. She stopped and turned in Sloan's direction, shook her head and moved on. He chuckled lightly.
A little moan escaped Ellie's mouth, drawing his attention back to her. Her eyes were groggy, but open. She was awake. "Hey!" he said softly coming closer to her. "How are you feeling?"
"Sore" She whispered. "Mom?"
"She's just gone to get a coffee, she'll be back in a minute. Ellie nodded.
Mark sat on her bed and moved her loose hair from her face. "I did you're stitches perfectly" he told her "no one will ever know they were there." She smiled in appreciation. Mark poured her half a glass of water and helped her sip it. "You can have all the sorbet and ice cream you want, milkshakes too. All your food is going to be liquid for a few weeks" he told her. "The staff here will look after you better than anyone else. I've told them you are a priority" Ellie didn't seem to pleased with this, but secretly appreciated the thought.
"What are you doing here?"
A voice came from the doorway. Mark Sloan didn't need to turn round to know who it was.