"Why would she tell him that?" Christina asked as her and Meredith sat at the foot of the stairs, coffee cups in their hands.

Meredith sighed and shook her head. "I don't know. I mean, Callie thinks that Sloan is completely blameless in everything that happened between him and Lexie,"

"Well that's because he's her best friend. That's how it works,"

"And Derek, I'm so annoyed with him! He knows how Lexie has been feeling for the past couple of weeks, then he didn't even have the nerve to tell me about Sloan and Masterson!"

"Do you tell Derek everything I tell you?" Meredith shook her head. "Okay then, there you have it, he's Derek's best friend," Christina made a face. "I don't see the appeal anyway. I mean, what is it about him that he has all these women feigning all over him? Dr. Masterson seemed to be very bright, like she had her head on straight, then to find out that she's married to…him,"

Meredith shrugged. "Maybe we don't get it because he's just not our type,"

Christina giggled, "Seeing everyone pining for him is almost like….you pining for Derek,"

"Shutup,"

"I mean, really. I didn't see the appeal there, either," she tried not to laugh. "But, he's your guy so I had to just put up with it,"

"Let me remind you who you've chosen," Meredith grinned.

Christina inhaled through her teeth. "I know, isn't he just the hottest thing you've ever seen?"

"Sure," Meredith laughed. "How'd it go earlier?"

"Great," she smiled brightly. "Oh my god, Mer,"

"What?"

"Look at my face!" she pointed to herself. "Look at this goofy smile! I have a tiny human growing inside me…and I'm happy about it!"

Meredith laughed. "I'm glad you're happy,"

"I never thought I would be. But, I'm excited,"

"Me too," Meredith stood to her feet with a smile. "I can't wait to point out to you what a great little mommy you're gonna be,"

"So," Christina raised an eyebrow. "Are you gonna tell Lexie that McSteamy's off the market?"

Meredith groaned. "I don't know. Should I?"

"I'm sure she'd rather hear it from you,"

Meredith sighed heavily. "I'm gonna go call Arizona, gotta check in on my baby girl," she couldn't help but smile as the words left her mouth.

"I'm sorry," Callie spoke softly, running her fingers through Mark's hair. She was sitting on the couch and he was laying down, his head across his lap.

"Seriously, Cal," he replied. "What am I supposed to say?"

"I don't know," she sighed. "It wasn't my place to tell you, though,"

"Obviously if you hadn't told me, I would have never known,"

"It just really upsets me when people give you a hard time over what you supposedly did to Lexie,"

"Oh come on, Callie. You know I wasn't always innocent. I didn't cheat on her, but my eyes wandered. She told me over and over that she wasn't ready for marriage or a baby, but I kept trying to push her. I tried to bring two babies into her life, not to mention a teenage daughter,"

"Mark," Callie scratched her head. "I know you weren't innocent, but how did she expect things to work out between the two of you if she wasn't willing to compromise? You guys dated three separate times, and she knew every time what you wanted out of life. Hell, look at me and Arizona. She didn't want a baby either, but then she realized that she loved me enough to want whatever I did,"

"I see what you're saying," Mark let out a small sigh. "I love Lexie,"

"I know you do," Callie looked down at him sympathetically.

"I can't do it though, Cal," he added. "I just can't stand anymore heartbreak from her,"

"I know," she nodded sadly.

"It's not like I set out to hurt her. When I went to New York she was more than happy with Avery. I tried, Cal, I fucking tried so hard to get her back,"

"I know you did," she replied. "But that's what I'm saying, you can't be the only one willing to change. It's not like we could just throw Sophia in a dumpster to make her happy,"

Derek entered the room. Mark jumped to his feet and Callie followed. Derek rubbed the back of his neck and sighed as Bailey moved to stand next to him.

"Well?" Mark looked to his friend, then down at Bailey.

"I was able to repair her spleen without any problems," Bailey responded. "I also stitched up some pretty bad cuts,"

"Shepherd," Callie whispered, seeing the distress on his face.

Derek looked up, tears in his eyes. "Mark, I went in to repair the bleeder, but there was more than one. It took a while, but I was able to cauterize all the bleeders. But, then the seizures started."

"Seizures?"

"The temporal lobe has a pretty significant tear, Mark,"

Mark rubbed his hand over his face and sighed. "What are you saying?"

Derek didn't respond, just looked at Callie.

"Derek!" Mark raised his voice, sternly.

"It doesn't look good," Derek quickly wiped a tear from his cheek. "I honestly don't think she is going to wake up,"

"What?" Mark's face fell. "Are you trying to tell me she's brain dead?" he choked back a sob.

"No," Derek replied. "She's not brain dead,"

"Derek," Callie sighed. "Please stop beating around the bush and give it to us straight,"

"She's not brain dead, she's in a coma," he repeated.

"We can't tell how much damage has been done to her brain," Bailey added.

"There's only a twenty percent chance that the temporal lobe can fuse back together. Even then, there's even a lesser chance that she'll remember any of us, let alone even remember who she is. All motor function could be gone, her brain might have even forgotten how to breathe," Derek rested his hands on his hips and sighed.

Derek looked at his best friend, searching his eyes. Mark gave him a look and turned away from the three of them. Derek recognized that look, though he has seen it only once before when Mark's mother had died. "Can you guys give us a minute?"

"Mark," Callie turned towards him.

"Callie," Derek called. "Get out,"

Callie made a face and moved out of the room with Bailey.

Derek locked the door and moved towards his friend, "I'm sorry,"

Mark turned around to face him, tears flowing freely down his face. He didn't say anything, just took a deep breath and fell to his knees in a fit of sobs. Derek knelt beside him and rested a hand on his shoulder, as tears started to fall from his own eyes. Mark turned and clutched his friend tightly, falling to pieces as Derek secured his arms around him.

"How ya feelin'," Alex smiled as he entered Lexie's room.

Lexie looked away from the window where she was watching the sun rise. "Sore," she sighed.

"Sucks to be you," he sat on the edge of her bed and pulled a handful of peanut butter cups out of the pocket of his lab coat. "I thought these would make you feel better,"

Lexie smiled. "Awww, you care,"

"No," he grinned. "I pretend to. Big difference,"

Lexie rolled her eyes and slightly giggled. "It doesn't suck to be me, cause I have morphine,"

"Freakin' drug addict," he teased.

"Hey, April came to see me earlier. She told me what you did for Meredith and Derek,"

"Eh," he shrugged. "I only helped a little girl be with the parents she deserves,"

"That's awesome though," she smiled, popping a candy into her mouth. "Very sweet,"

"Thanks," he laid next to her, opening his own candy. "Whatcha watchin'?"

Lexie handed him the remote to the TV in her room. "I was watching some old ER reruns,"

"You're such a girl," he flipped through the channels. "We need to talk to the board. We need porn,"

"Porn?" Lexie laughed. "That's real nice. I can just imagine some little kid in peds waking up in the morning and flipping through channels in search of cartoons,"

"Okay, well that wouldn't be good," he chuckled along with her. "Maybe we can get it for just staff lounges,"

"Well, isn't this cozy," Christina said as she and Meredith entered the room.

"Good morning, sister," Lexie grinned.

"Good morning," Meredith smiled warmly. "Karev, she's recovering from surgery, do not try to get in her pants,"

"I figured I should since Sloan isn't going to any time soon," Alex laughed.

Lexie used what strength she could muster and smacked him upside the head. "You're such a jerk,"

"Oh, you love me," he got up and planted a sloppy wet kiss on her cheek. "I have rounds,"

"Bye," Lexie rolled her eyes at him as he left the room. "Ugh, I'm gonna hurt him someday,"

"Evil spawns don't feel pain," Christina picked Lexie's chart up and started thumbing through it.

"Why are you looking at my chart? I'm not a cardio case,"

"Um, did I say you were?" Christina looked at her. "I'm looking because I'm nosey,"

"You feeling okay?" Meredith asked

"I'm a little sore. Groggy," Lexie replied. "But, I'm okay,"

"Good," Meredith pulled the sheets back and inspected her stitches.

"Don't you and Derek have to sign paperwork on Zola today?"

"Yeah, I called Janet and explained to her what was going on. She's going to meet us here this afternoon instead,"

"Oh," Lexie nodded, "Hey, how's Dr. Masterson?"

"You mean Mrs. Sloan?" Christina whispered in a fake cough, causing Meredith to shoot her a warning look.

"Your stitches look pretty good," Meredith stated. "How's the pain?"

"Eh, about a 5, hurts the most when I try to move," Lexie replied. "You didn't answer my question, how's Dr. Masterson? Did she make it?"

Meredith sighed and made a face. "She's in a coma,"

"Oh no,"

"Her temporal lobe has a tear in it," Christina added. "Doesn't look good. I heard a couple of the interns in the lounge talking about it, they said they're just waiting for the family to pull the plug,"

"I didn't know she had family here,"

Meredith looked at Christina, obviously not knowing what to say. "Lexie, we need to talk…"

"Yeah?"

"It's about Sloan…"

"Where is Mark? I haven't seen him? He better plan on pulling some of his god-like work and fixing the huge scar that's gonna be on my stomach," she laughed. "Plus, he was trying to tell me something lastnight, but we got interrupted,"

"Lex, look-"

"Oh Jesus Christ," Christina rolled her eyes. "Would you two quit with the cute sister crap and get it over with, Meredith?"

"Get what over with?" Lexie raised an eyebrow.

"Sloan and Masterson," Christina replied. "They're married. They got married right before he came back from New York, but they didn't have the guts to tell anyone,"

Lexie's eyes widened as she looked at Meredith. "What the hell?"

"That must suck so bad," Jackson leaned against the nurse's station, arms crossed over his chest, looking into Becca's hospital room. Mark sat beside her, holding her hand.

"I've been there," Alex replied. "There's not many things in this world that are as hard as having to sit there and wonder if the woman you love is gonna make it or not,"

"Between that and wondering if you're gonna get your kid back, those are the two shittiest situations in the world," Derek added as he scribbled something down in Becca's chart, then looked up at Alex. "Thank you, by the way,"

Alex simply nodded with a smile in return.

"Is it true," Jackson spoke up. "Sloan and her seriously got married right before he came back from New York?"

"Two days before," Derek replied.

"Wow,"

"When's he gonna pull the plug?" Alex asked, sipping from his coffee cup.

Derek sighed and looked at him, shaking his head.

"What?"

"I'm gonna walk away," Derek closed the chart.

"Why?" Alex raised an eyebrow. "It was just a question,"

"Look, I just wish you'd think before you speak sometimes. I remember when that was you in there, holding Izzie's hand, praying that she'd wake up. No one said things like what you just said," Derek explained. "Try not to say such stupid shit,"

Alex swallowed hard, "You're right, I'm sorry,"

"Becca may not mean much to you, but she means something to Mark. We've known her for over 15 years. For him, she's always been the one that got away. For me, she's always been the perfect echo of honesty,"

"For me, she's the sister I never had," A female voice said softly.

Alex and Derek turned around to find Addison, tears in her eyes. She stood in a pair of jeans, boots, and a loose sweater wrapped tightly around her.

Derek forced a smile. "Hi, Addy," he moved to give her a hug.

Addison looked over his shoulder, catching a glimpse of her friend. Tubes and wires coming from every direction. She moved from Derek's arms toward the window, offering Mark a sympathetic look.