A/N: Seriously, have I said recently that you all are awesome for leaving reviews? Well, you are!

For those of you who were upset with how Charlotte was treating Addison, I give you a chapter that puts Charlotte King firmly in her place. Plus, some pretty cute Meredith/Mark interaction. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: Here's a surprise for everyone...I still don't own Grey's! Let's just say this disclaimer applies to all further chapters in perpetuity. I'm tired of writing this every other chapter.

Meredith spent the next two hours drifting in and out of consciousness. Addison sat beside her, unwilling to leave for even a moment. She couldn't risk Meredith waking up alone, without a familiar face to comfort her.

Finally, the doors to the room opened and Charlotte King walked in.

"How the hell did you do it, Montgomery?"

"Excuse me?"

"Mark Sloan. He's here, on his way up now. How the hell did you get the number one plastic surgeon in the country to drop everything for this girl?"

"She's his friend, Charlotte. Maybe you had one at some point? You know, someone who actually cares about you for you, and not because of your position?"

"Addison?" Charlotte and Addison turned their heads to find three very anxious looking surgeons hovering at the door, still in their Seattle Grace scrubs and lab coats, having not bothered to waste time changing before their flight.

"Mark," Addison breathed a sigh of relief. "Charlotte King, this is Mark Sloan. Mark, meet Charlotte King, chief of staff here at St. Ambrose."

"Dr. Sloan, it's a pleasure to have you here. I know our surgical staff is thrilled to be working with you. It's going to be a real delight for them, and we hope you'll enjoy your stay here. If there is anything at all we can do to make your visit better, be sure to let one of the nurses know," Charlotte turned on the charm, obviously trying to impress the renowned surgeon in the hopes of convincing him to stay for longer than just this case.

Addison couldn't help but chuckle at the nurse comment.

"Dr. King," Mark nodded, before continuing harshly, "I'm happy to be able to help, for Meredith's sake. In the future, however, I had better not hear you talking about the fact that one of my closest friends is currently fighting for her life, not to mention facing a long and painful rehabilitation process, as though it were some sort of cause for celebration. And unless you can miraculously make her able to get up and come home to Seattle fully healed, I don't think anything you do will make my time here more enjoyable."

With that, Mark entered the room, gave Addison a quick hug and took over her place by Meredith's bedside, while Addison moved towards the door to make the rest of the introductions.

"Dr. King, this is Dr. Cristina Yang. Dr. Yang is a surgical resident at Seattle Grace, and holds Meredith's medical power of attorney."

"Dr. Yang," Charlotte nodded, still dumbstruck by Mark Sloan's rebuke.

"Dr. King," Cristina replied just as coldly, having almost immediately determined that she did not want anything to do with the woman despite her position of power.

Addison then turned to Lexie. "And you must be Lexie, correct? I'm Addison Montgomery," Addison smiled sadly as she extended her hand. "I wish we were meeting under better circumstances."

"Thank you, Dr. Montgomery," Lexie replied.

"Charlotte, this is Dr. Lexie Grey, Meredith's sister."

"Dr. Grey, I'm very sorry about your sister," Charlotte smiled, reverting to damage control mode.

"I'll bet you are," Lexie scoffed. "Can we sit with her?"

"Of course, Dr. Grey. I'll let her attending know that you are here, and he'll be in to talk with you shortly," Charlotte replied as she quickly left the room.

"Chief, you have to let us go to Los Angeles!" Izzie was practically begging by the time the office had been cleared of other surgeons.

"Dr. Stevens, I understand your desire to rush to her side, but it would accomplish nothing. At this point, she's barely conscious. My understanding is that by tonight they plan to place her in a medically induced coma to reduce the pain from her upcoming surgeries. She won't know you are there even if you do go."

"Sir, you can't just expect us to sit around and do nothing!" George exclaimed.

"No, Dr. O'Malley, I do not expect you to sit around doing nothing, I expect you to do your jobs. I expect you to be professional and focused during your surgeries and your interactions with your patients. We're already going to be short one resident and one intern, not to mention our top plastic surgeon, I can't have us short any more."

"Yeah, why did Yang get to go, sir? I mean, I get that she's her person, but we're her friends too!" Alex asked the chief.

"Dr. Yang holds Meredith's medical power of attorney. She had to be there to give consent for Meredith's surgeries. I also sent Lexie because she is a blood relative," the chief explained.

"And Mark?" Derek asked. "Richard, I love her! If you were going to send an attending, it should have been me! For God's sake, why Mark of all people?"

"Well, Dr. Shepherd, this may come as a shock to you, but not every decision I make revolves around your personal life," the chief replied, clearly annoyed. "I do on occasion make decisions based on what is best for a patient. Dr. Sloan has gone to Los Angeles because he is the best plastic surgeon in the country, and beginning tomorrow he will be performing a series of complicated skin grafts to treat the burns Meredith suffered in the crash. The injuries were such that no one at St. Ambrose was qualified to treat them. Since they were going to be calling in an outside consult anyway, they eagerly agreed the suggestion that Dr. Sloan assist on the case."

"But sir, we can't just leave her alone down there!" Izzie protested.

"Dr. Stevens, did you not hear a word I just said? Dr. Sloan will be treating her, so she will be receiving the best care possible, not to mention the fact that she will have her sister and Dr. Yang by her side. From the moment she was identified this morning, she hasn't been alone. I know for a fact Addison hasn't left her side all day, and probably won't until Lexie and Cristina arrive this evening."

"Did you just say…" Alex began, but was interrupted by Derek.

"Addison is with her??"

When Meredith opened her eyes again, she was surprised to see a new familiar face at her side.

"Well hello there. How's my favorite dirty mistress today?"

"Haven't you heard…I'm the jilted woman now, remember?" Meredith tried to laugh, but found the pain too much.

"Nope. Hate to break it to you, but you'll always be a dirty mistress to me," Mark said, smiling softly at Meredith.

"Although," he continued, this time with a mischevious smile, "if it makes the jilted woman feel any better, I'm pretty sure your sister broke the jilter's nose this morning."

"What?" Meredith asked, slightly stunned.

"Lexie punched Derek out. I didn't stick around long enough for a damage report, but if experience serves me, I'd bet good money she broke his nose. Knocked him right off his feet."

Meredith laughed slightly. "Somebody better take a picture for me. I want to see."

"I'll have someone get right on that," Mark laughed.

"Hey Mark?"

"Yeah Meredith?"

"How bad are my burns? I mean, they hurt like hell, but will I…you know, will there be a lot of scarring?"

"Look, Meredith, I'm not going to lie. I'm going to do the best I can, but some scarring is going to be unavoidable. The good news is, most of it will probably be confined to your torso and parts of your lower body, so it will be easily concealable without excessive clothing. You might not want to run around in a bikini, but we'll probably be able to get you to sleeveless dresses. Maybe even a v-neck if you play your cards right." Mark grinned at her.

"Leave it to a dirty mistress to make it all about skimpy clothes. What about my face, Mark?"

"Your face will be fine, I'll make sure of that. Your burns were less severe there anyway. There may be some minor scarring around your jawline, but I'll try to keep it light enough that you can cover it with concealer. I am the best, after all."

She smiled as best she could. "Thank you, Mark. Not just for coming, but for not lying to me."

"Anytime. Us dirty mistresses, we have to stick together, right?"

"Right."

"And you know, Meredith, since I'm going to be in there anyway, all you have to do is say the word if you want anything else…you know, boob job, face lift, whatever…I'll do it on the house, I promise."

"Shut it, McSteamy. I may be stuck in this hospital bed, but that doesn't mean I can't have Cristina kick your ass. Or maybe Lexie. Apparently she's quite good with her fists; I'm sure you could set your own nose, right?"

Mark laughed.

"What do you mean, Addison has been with her all day? You're telling me my ex-wife has been sitting with her, my ex-best friend gets to treat her, and I'm not even allowed to be in the same state?" Derek asked, furious at the chief.

"Derek, calm down and have a seat. There's no reason to be so angry. You should be thanking Addison, if you really want to know. She's the only reason we even know where Meredith is. Up until this morning, Meredith was a Jane Doe, and she probably would have stayed that way, too, if Addison hadn't come across her this morning while visiting a patient. And you have no right to be angry, Derek, because as far as I've heard, the only ex-anything Meredith has right now is you."

"But…"

"No buts! Why do I always feel like I'm running a kindergarten and not a world-class surgical facility!" Richard sighed as he ran his fingers through his graying hair.