A/N~ Aaah sorry I tried to post this earlier and didn't work? anyways,*tornado warning siren*

Part Ten

"You'd do that for me?" Lexie asks, as soon as Mark brings up the idea, her eyes brighter than Mark's seen them in weeks, despite the chemo fog in her brain.

"Of course," Mark smiles.

Lexie's smile vanishes for a brief second, and she loses eye contact with Mark. "This wasn't supposed to be how we make a baby," she says quietly.

Mark sighs, and nods. "I know," he answers her quietly. "But, it's okay." He leans in and kisses her forehead. Underneath her thinning bangs, he feels the heat from her fever, it's gotta be about 102. "Mark, do you think we'll ever get a chance to use the embryos? It'd be a waste if we didn't, right?"

"We'll use the embryos one day," Mark reassures her. "When you're better. Or, you know, if you decide you don't want me, you could use them. I just don't want you to miss out on this chance."

"I'm not arguing," Lexie smiles. "We're gonna do it. I just want to make sure you're okay with the idea that…"

"You're not dying, Lexie," Mark says shorty. "I'm not even entertaining the possibility."

Lexie smiles. "I appreciate the optimism. And thanks, for doing this."

...

Mark hears Lexie screaming from down the hall at 6 AM. It takes him back to doing his psych rotation during med school, to be honest.

"What's going on?" Mark asks a nurse, who comes out of Lexie's room with a look of disdain on her face.

"Beware," the nurse sighs. "She's having a day."

"She's having a day?" Mark repeats. "What kind of a day?"

"All neurological patients have them, unfortunately," the nurse nods. "Just be patient with her. It's not the Lexie you know that's talking today, it's her tumour."

Mark sighs. "Alright, I see. Thank you for warning me."

"Hey, sourpuss," he grins, jokingly. As soon as the words come out of his mouth, he realizes they might've been a mistake.

Lexie pouts. "Hi, Mark."

"It's a good day outside, and in here," Mark nods. "I was just downstairs. Derek's operating on a huge glioblastoma today, and there's a huge cardio case that Yang's working on with Altman, and there's a trauma, and…"

"What's the point in telling me all the stuff that's going on downstairs when I'm stuck up here?" Lexie asks bitterly.

"I just thought you'd like to know," Mark shrugs.

"Well I don't care," Lexie argues.

"Alright, fine," Mark settles. "So, what would you like to talk about?"

"Can we not talk?" Lexie asks.

Mark nods. "If that's what you'd like, alright."

"Can I ask you why you're angry?" Mark asks tentatively, after a couple moments of silence.

"Oh, I don't know," Lexie sighs sarcastically. "I could be downstairs, I could be assisting Derek with that glioblastoma right now. I could be working on that cardio case, with Yang and Altman, or the trauma, or I could be… I could be doing a lot of things, that's the point! But instead, I'm stuck here, with my damn tumour! I'm stuck here, in this bed, hyped up on enough anti-nausea drugs for a damn horse, and, and, and, and… I'm sick, and I'm gross, and I'm ugly, and my head hurts, and…"

Mark puts a finger on her lips to shut her up. "First of all, you are not gross or ugly, not at all. And, one day you'll be back downstairs, and there will be another glioblastoma, another cardio case, another trauma. Until then though, you can't change the fact that you're up here with your tumour, so you can't dwell on it. Learn to accept the things you can't change."

"That's the AA motto," Lexie replies stubbornly. "And I don't care if I can't change it, I can still be angry about it! Or are you gonna try and tell me how to feel now, because I do not need that right now I've already got a damn tumour in my brain I don't need you in there too!"

Mark sighs. He's not in the mood for this today and she probably just needs some time to cool down. "Alright, I won't be in your brain. I won't be in here either. I'll see you later." And with that, he heads back downstairs.

"Did you just come from seeing Lexie?" Meredith asks, as soon as he gets off the elevator. "I was just on my way up."

"I wouldn't," Mark advises.

"Why? Is she okay?" Mer asks, slightly concerned.

"Oh, physically she's fine, but she's being a bitch, quite honestly," he admits with a dark chuckle. "The doctors say it's a neurological thing, that she doesn't mean to be mean, but regardless, she's being mean."

Mer shakes her head. "I'm still going to see her," she argues, getting onto the elevator.

"How you feeling?" Meredith asks, sauntering into her sister's room and opening the curtains, to let the sunlight in.

Lexie squints against the sudden light. "I could be better," she mutters.

"Guess what?" Mer smiles, sitting down on the end of the bed, hoping her happy demeanor will rub off on her sister.

"Derek's got a glioblastoma?" Lexie sighs. "I know."

"Well, yes," Mer says hesitantly, "but that wasn't what I was gonna say… I was going to say, I convinced Derek to help me shave my head tonight." She smiles nervously. She's more than willing to do it for her sister, she knew Lexie would do the same for her, but it was sort of nerve wracking.

The reaction Meredith gets is not the one she was expecting. "Why would you do that?" Lexie asks.

Mer chuckles, trying hide her confusion. "Lexie, we talked about this the other night, remember? Did you think I was kidding?"

"I hoped you were," Lexie says, furrowing her eyebrows. "Why would you deliberately make yourself uglier? For the time being, you're the pretty Grey sister."

"Lexie," Mer says, trying to snap her out of whatever tumour-induced funk she's in. "I'm doing it for you," she says forcefully, "Because you're my sister, and I love you, and I don't want you to feel alone."

"I am alone!" Lexie argues. "Just because you shave your head doesn't mean you understand what I'm going through!"

"It's the most I can do, Lexie!" Mer says, raising her voice. "I know it's not much, I get that, but it's what I have to offer."

"Well don't, I don't want your pity!"

"It's not pity," Mer says, her voice low, after a few minutes. "You know it's not pity." Somewhere, Lexie does know, and Mer realizes that. She just has to keep telling herself that this was not her sister talking right now, not the sister that she had this discussion with the other night. It was the tumour talking, she saw it in patients all the time. It was a lot more jarring when it was her own sister. "I have surgery, I'll see you later," she mumbles, exiting her sister's room. she didn't want to talk to the tumour.

"And how'd it go?" Mark asks, upon Meredith's return to the surgical floor.

"You warned me," Mer nods. "Maybe I should've listened."

"You should've listened to Mark, what?" Cristina butts in, coming up from behind Mer.

"Yeah," Meredith mumbles in agreement. "It's about Lexie. Her tumour's talking today and making her mean."

"Mean like me?" Cristina asks, clicking her pen.

"Exactly like you," Mark answers gruffly.

"I'm gonna go see her, talk some sense into her," Cristina suggests.

"Don't say we didn't warn you," Mark and Meredith call, as Cristina heads for the elevator.