Round Two

"I thought you didn't like shopping?"

Meredith continued walking beside Alex as he pushed the cart.

He shrugged. "I don't; not really."

Meredith gave him a quizzical look.

"Addison threatened me."

She chuckled, "Enough said."

Alex watched as Meredith attempted to put things in the cart, each time stopping her and doing it himself.

"I'm not an in-"

"Yes Mer," he smirked, "we all know. Just let me be all protective, okay?"

Meredith nodded and let him carry the groceries to the car. Twenty minutes later they were sitting in the living room, her feet propped in his lap while they stared past the television set.

"Did we forget anything?"

Alex looked over towards Meredith. "What do you mean?"

"For Mark," she continued. "Did we forget anything he needed?"

Alex shook his head.

Moments later he softly squeezed her leg. "You're a good wife and you'll be a good mom."


"You know, this ain't gonna be pretty."

Christina shifted and continued to flip through the magazine, unfazed. "You already aren't pretty, so I don't see how much worse it could get."

Mark winced as the needle went in and another round of the treatment began. Christina looked up, almost wanting to reassure him and see if he was okay.

Stupid question.

She thought better of it. A few minutes passed. "Need anything McSteamy?"

Mark still had his eyes closed. "Nope. I'm good," he replied weakly.

Christina saw patients like this all the time, only now it was her best friend's husband. She leaned back into the chair and absentmindedly flipped through the magazine, 'reading' it in record time. She decided to flip through it again.

"You know, there are other magazines Yang."

Christina scoffed, "I happen to like this one very much, thank you."

Fifteen minutes later the session was over. When Mark didn't move, Christina walked slowly over.

"Mark?"

"Hmm?"

"We can go now."

He nodded. "I know that; my body doesn't."

The two stayed silent for a few moments. When he was ready, she helped him to the car. He soon began to doze off.

"Sloan."

"Yang."

"You'll be okay, you know."

Mark smiled despite the discomfort he was in. He never heard her voice so soft before.

"I know."


Two weeks later…

"It's official Iz, I'm fat!"

Izzie laughed at her friend who was currently trying on clothes. She had to admit, Meredith was a little big for such a small person to begin with.

"You're pregnant Mer, there's a difference."

Meredith put her clothes back on and paid for the items she found flattering. They made their way back to the center of the mall. It was the day before Meredith's birthday. Addison, Grace, Izzie, and Christina were taking her out for the day. The boys were with Mark, at the house watching the game while he 'rested' on the couch.

When Izzie and Meredith got their food they returned to their table to find the rest of the gang.

"Have enough food Mer?" Grace quipped.

Meredith sent a playful death glare while Addison came to her vocal defense. "Hey, she's pregnant. Granted, she's the biggest seven-month mom I've ever seen, so she's huge, but that just means she gets to eat more.'

Meredith threw a french fry at Addison who playfully swatted it away.

Christina took a bite of her burger. "So, what's next?"

Izzie pulled out a piece of paper. Addison looked at her confused. "And that is?"

Izzie smiled and showed it first to Addison, then to everyone else. "This is the list of what we're going to do today."

Christina and Addison groaned, Grace clapped, and Meredith continued eating.

"You're not surprised?" Christina asked.

Meredith shook her head no. "It's Izzie."


Two hours later the women arrived at the Sloan house, all of them except Meredith holding bags. Derek was the first one up. He helped Meredith to sit beside Mark.

She smiled in thanks. Derek returned the smile and sat back down, earning looks from the guys.

"What? I helped." Grace gave him a look that immediately made him rise again.

Preston and Alex joined Derek and helped the ladies with their bags. When everyone was settled, the attention went back to the game. Mark was the only male seemingly not paying attention. Meredith was leaning into him.

He spoke softly so that only they could hear. "So, how was the trip?"

Meredith didn't bother to open her eyes. "It was good. How's the game?"

"I don't know, kind of been in and out."

Meredith nodded. "Where are the lovebirds?"

"Still at work I guess. George hasn't called here; I don't think Lexie has either." Mark shifted a little. "So, about your birthday tomorrow."

"Nothing Mark."

"What?"

"Don't do anything, don't get me anything, and don't ask anyone else to help you get me anything or do something, got it?"

"Mer-"

"Nope, the only thing I want from you is your promise to keep fighting and to fall asleep in your arms tomorrow. Nothing else; that's special enough."

Mark didn't trust his voice. Instead, he nodded and kissed the top of her head. Satisfied that he would follow her request, she let herself drift off to sleep, allowing the other tenants to let themselves out after the game.


Meredith woke up on the couch, in the exact same place she remembered, her arm draped around her husband. She smiled when she tried to move and the heaviness of his arm wouldn't allow her. Knowing he always woke up first, she chuckled when she managed to move his arm away, only to have it fall straight across her chest.

"Look Mark, I know they're enticing, all pregnant and plump and what-not, but if you could just-"

She was not looking up at her husband and noticed his pale complexion and the dried blood around his nose.

"Mark?"

When she didn't get a response, she began to panic and checked his vitals. She then grabbed her cell phone from the coffee table and dialed 911.

"Stay with me baby."

She ignored the slight pain in her stomach and did everything she could possibly do to awake him. It wasn't long before the paramedics showed up.


Meredith was clammy and sitting on one of the waiting chairs. This was how Christina and the others found her.

"Mer?"

She looked up slowly, her eyes holding all the torment she had inside. "It's my birthday."

Christina took a seat beside her, her heart breaking for her best friend. "I know."

"It was never supposed to be like this Christina. We were happy, married, in love, healthy. This, this is not the happily ever-after."

No one had to respond as Meredith rose and Derek approached. He gave a sad smile, all the more uncomfortable that he wasn't delivering the impending news to strangers, but to his family.

He wasn't going to sugar-coat, for all their sakes, but particularly Meredith's.

"We have to operate, now."

Meredith nodded, not at all surprised. The same surgery was only scheduled for two days later, so she knew there wasn't a greater risk from moving up the surgery.

"Why did he, um…"

"We don't know Mer, but it looks like when we the radiation shrunk the mass, it rotated a bit."

Meredith sat down as Derek continued. "We need your permi-"

"You have it," she finished, looking him straight in the eye. "You do everything you need to do to save my husband and this baby's father."

Feeling the added pressure of the situation, Derek nodded and squeezed her hand, walking away with more of a burden then he walked in with.

They all waited. Some were on-call, others were working, but they were there when they could be. It was the least they could do.


a/n: Go ahead, throw the stones! I'm horrible, but the inspiration was gone, but I'm bored at work again, so hopefully we'll wrap this up in the next couple of chapters. Thanks for all the faithfuls and newbies who encouraged me to continue!