Meredith woke from her slumber to see Mark leaning against the door frame. He smiled at her before walking in and sitting in the chair beside her.

Meredith smiled, and reached for his hand, taking it in her own.

"Are you comfortable?" he asked, stroking the palm of her hand.

"Not really." she laughed "but these beds never are."

Meredith studied Marks face. He looked to be deep in thought.

"What's up?" she asked.

Mark just smiled and moved in his chair. Meredith's pain killers were wearing off, but she didn't want to let on to Mark that she was in pain, as it was he looked distracted.

"Nothing "he replied before shifting in his chair again.

"Mark, i know you." she told him. "There is something on your mind so tell me."

Mark shifted again and his face fell. "I should be here with you, not running back to back surgeries."

Meredith tried to push herself up, wincing a little from the pain. She tried to cover it. "It's ok, I'm not going anywhere." she told him, as she squeezed his hand.


Mark still didn't smile. "I won't get to see you all day."

Meredith studied his face; it was obvious that he was still worried about her. "When you can make it, I'll be here." she promised.

"Ok" he resigned; he studied her closely before moving in to kiss her.

"Now tell me the truth, how much pain are you really feeling today?"

"On a scale of one to ten?" she asked and he nodded.

"About an 8 sometimes a 9." he confessed.

Mark nodded again, "i will page Derek."

"Good" she nodded back, "i want to talk to him about my operation."

Mark looked at her funny. "Why?" he finally asked.

"Well I'm going to get him to walk me through It." she said with a smile. "I might as well learn from my whole experience."

Mark was amazed by Meredith, she never swayed from what she wanted and always soldiered on.

"Well i have to go, but I'll page Derek." he quickly said before giving her another kiss, and an 'i love you'.



He hadn't intended to drop in, he was just going to look in on her. Now he was running late for surgery.

Mark dashed down the hall, and saw Derek standing in front of the elevator. "Mer wants to see you." he called to him, as he ran past.

Derek looked at his friend and shrugged, deciding to go find out what was up with her.