Title: When I See you Again
Pairings: Mark/Lexie storyline with appearances by Meredith and Derek…and a surprise guest.
Warning: None
Summary: Mark and Lexie visiting Meredith in (17x10 – Breathe) while she is still in a coma in the land of the living. A little more Slexie that we had all been hoping for when this episode came out (or at least I had hoped for).
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters. They belong to the show and the fans of GA.
A/N: I hope you enjoy this re-do of the episode. I know they had some challenges with Chyler needing to be on green screen. I hope you enjoy this. I call it a one-shot…but if you read my stories…you know It's just never one post…ha ha! The beach scene will be a one shot…but I am taking you back before I take us forward.
Lucky for you…I am posting it all at one time. YAY!
About this Chapter:
Warning: None
A/N: This prologue title is after the song "Without You" by One Two
Prologue – Without You
Part I
Lexie stood in the middle of the woods, well aware her life and the life of her friends and loved ones were happening around her. It was frightening at first, knowing that as she stood there, her mouth moving, calling out to her loved ones—Mark specifically—everyone seemed to float and pass by her without even a fleeting glance in her direction.
Cristina, Meredith, and Mark were racing through the trees up ahead. She floated with them—it was the best way to put it—since she couldn't actually feel her feet moving. She could see the wind blowing the leaves in the trees, but yet she couldn't feel it. The sun was shinning bright, but she couldn't feel the warmth on her skin. She didn't feel much of anything.
As she approached the three of them in a circle, realization of what was happening smacked into her like a sucker punch to the soler plex. At first, it felt like she was a director on a movie set, watching the actors play out the scene while she watched on from above. Now, she realized she was the lead actress in the movie—only this wasn't a movie—but the reality of her life and apparently how it would end. There was not yelling cut on this scene.
As a doctor, she had always heard about stories from patients where they had claimed of an out of body experience, or they had been at the white light before they had been brought back to the land of the living after doctors like her had performed those life saving measures.
There was no logical or scientifical reason that could explain what was happening in front of her, yet even as it was happening—and she could see it with her own two eyes—there was still that bit of doubt in the pit of her stomach.
As she got closer to the scene, she was right behind Mark, Cristina to her left, and her sister Meredith to the right. Looking over Mark's shoulder, she saw the terrifying and inconceivable scene right before her very own eyes.
Her entire bottom half of her body was trapped underneath a large part of the aft of the plane. Outside of her upper right shoulder and chest being visible, her face was marred with blood and cuts all over. Her own blood was coming from her mouth and she watched herself gasping every few seconds for breath.
Lexie tore her eyes away from her body laying underneath the plane and looked down at herself. She was wearing her blue scrubs covered in dirt and grime, but it was also covered with her blood. She felt no pain, no injuries, as she watched on.
"Lexie!" Mark shouted.
Mark's hand reached out to check for her pulse. Her eyes were closed as she laid against the hard ground, the leaves and shrubs being the only support against her back taking the considerable weight from the heavy metal on top of her.
"I knew…you'd show up," she said between heaves, her words coming out clipped and shallow.
She did know that Mark would find her. He always found her, when she had needed him most. When her father had been in the hospital with his liver, the shooting at the hospital and the aftermath, anytime anything difficult happening to her, and now in what would she knew would be her final and most pivotal moment of her life.
"How is she?" Meredith asked, unable to look below or see past Mark.
"She's awake and responsive," he replied, turning back to her.
"I don't look good, Mer. I'm already out of my body…here and watching. I'm not going to make it," she added matter-of-factly.
"You're going to be ok. I'm going to get you out of there," he said, looking in the area around them.
"The first lie you ever told me," she said, her voice sounding like a whisper in the wind.
"How are you doing in there?" he asked, needing to know.
"I'm—I'm—great," she gasped, trying to lighten the situation with a joke.
"I can't bare the thought of you knowing I am going to die, Mark. So, now I am lying to you," she whispered, her arm reaching out to touch his shoulder. He didn't even flinch or feel her as she did it.
"Yeah? Good girl. We're gonna get you outta here, okay?"
"Okay," she replied her eyes staying with him.
"Another lie. I'm not getting out of this one, Mark."
She looked down at her hands, almost translucent like—prickling as the moments continued to tick by.
He grunted as he stood, Cristina and Meredith getting to their feet as well. He was masking his expression as he turned to them, facing away from her body. "She's tachycardic and short of breath," he panted, bent over, his hands on his knees.
"That means I'm dying. You all are amazing surgeons, and even you won't be able to save me this time," she said, looking back to her own body, watching as her face stared up into the metal coming to the same conclusion.
"We have to find Derek," came her sister's response.
She turned away from her body and to her sister. She understood that Meredith couldn't watch another of her loved ones die. The pain was already on her face. "Go Mer, go and save my brother. You can't help me here."
"Okay, you know what? We've got Lexie. So, go. Go find him. Go, go. Go try and find him," Cristina said.
Mark was holding his side. "We gotta get her outta there," his tone anxious and concerned once Meredith had left them.
"Your hurt, Mark. I'm already beyond help. You need to worry about you."
She sighed as he was determined to try save her anyway. Because her Mark would never leave her behind no matter how impossible the situation seemed to be.
Mark popped Cristina's arm back into the socket to attempt to try and lift the heavy object off of her. Even from the outside looking in, she knew their efforts would be unsuccessful only bringing more damage to their own injuries.
Lexie gasped greatly, a sob coming from her mouth, as Mark and Cristina grunted and tried over and over to unsuccessfully lift the massive metal off of her body.
"Lexie, run it down for me." Cristina said.
She gasped. "My legs and my pelvis are completely crushed. I can't f—feel my other arm, so I am not even sure if it's there anymore." She paused for another heave of air, tears coming from her eyes now. "And, uh, my chest feels like it's going to explode…so it's probably a massive…hemothorax," she replied.
"You see it too, Cristina. You know…there is no saving me from this."
Mark, grabbed hold of Cristina's good shoulder. "We gotta get her outta there. We gotta get the oxygen from the plane. Okay? And fluids. Fluids. She needs water bottles. And, uh, uh, the tubes, the oxygen tubes." He yanked on Cristina's arm to get her attention. "We can get her fluids. We can get her fluids, Okay? Go get 'EM." He pushed at her side. "Go. Go get 'EM. Go get 'EM." Cristina didn't budge. "Why aren't you doing anything?" His eyes wide, his voice panicked.
"I've never seen you not calm in an impossible situation," she said, coming to crouch next to his side. His frantic expression stayed on Cristina. Her hand came up to touch the side of his cheek. "You really do love me, don't you?"
"She…she knows it won't help," Lexie panted in response to his question.
"No. You are going to be fine," Mark said immediately, pointing his finger at her.
She came to stand next to him, her hand on his back. "I'm dying, Mark. I'm so sorry," she said, resting her head against his shoulder.
His voice broke. "Stop. You're gonna to be fine," he repeated. "Go! Get 'EM!" he shouted directing that at Cristina.
"Mark…"
Cristina's hand came to his shoulder and moved him aside as she came back to her. Lexie's breaths were getting shakier. Cristina pressed her lips together, tears escaping her eyes. "I'm gonna be right back," she said.
She looked at Cristina as she walked away from her body and Mark. "Good-bye, Cristina. I love you."
Mark was back at her side, laying on his chest, keeping her company until Cristina returned. "You're doing good," he encouraged.
She sat next to him; her legs crossed as if she was forming a pretzel. "Why did it take us so long to come back to each other? Me with Jackson. You with Julia."
"Mark…"
"Cristina's…Cristina's gonna be back any minute."
"It won't help. You have to accept this is it for us. You're going to lose me and I am going to have to leave you," she cried, her voice filled with pain, breaking with each word she uttered.
"Mark…"
"She's gonna be back, and we're gonna get you stabilized, and you're gonna be fine, okay? he said, ignoring her from trying to tell him what he knew.
"Mark…"
"Just a few minutes…okay? She'll be back any minute," he said, looking in the direction that Cristina had left.'
"Just stop and listen to me. I'm fading, Mark…and I want you to know, need you to pass along some important things."
Her face crumpled, as a fresh new wave of tears came down her eyes again. She took in another shaky breath. "Mark…I'm…I'm dying," she noted.
"What? No. No you're not," he argued back.
"I am. I'm so so sorry."
She panted, and then sobbed. "I am. Please…tell…Meredith that I love her. Ohh. That she was a good sister. Mm. Please, t—tell my dad…"
"You're not dying. You're going to be fine," he assured.
"I am."
"Hold my hand," she pleaded.
"No, I'm not doing that. Because you're not dying. You're going to be just fine. You're not going to die," he advised.
"Please. I need to feel your touch…just one more time."
"Hold my hand," she whispered
Mark refused. She watched as he wrestled with the fact that he wouldn't let this be it for them. Let her be taken away from him. He got back up one more time hoping that divine intervention would happen and he could magically lift the plane off her so he could treat her wounds and stabilize her.
He groaned loudly, his voice echoing in the wind as he failed to lift the plane again. His hand punched the metal with his fist, closing his eyes. He grabbed hold of her much smaller hand in his, bring his other hand around to wrap her completely in his strength. "I love you."
"I love you."
Her voice sounded so weak and strained as her gasps and heaves were worse by the second. She was close to taking her very last breath. "You don't have to say it…just because…I said it," she replied.
He shook his head, realizing he hadn't said it before now. "I do. I do. I love you," he said without any hesitation in his tone or expression. He had to make her understand this one last time…how much she meant to him. "I love you. I've always been in love with you. I will always be in love with you."
She smiled. "That was all I ever wanted. I just wanted you, Mark Sloan."
Her eyes went wide. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Which is why you have to stay alive," he repeated. "We—We—we're going to get married. You're going to make an amazing surgeon. We're going to have two or three kids," he went on to paint the picture. Her bottom lip fell open, and a look of elation crossed her features as she smiled at him.
"Why had I been so afraid to want those things with you. Now…I never will," she wept, for the life she could no longer have. The prickling feeling was now up her arms and to her shoulders. She was starting to feel cold all over.
"So...so…Sofia can have siblings," she gasped.
He smiled. "Yeah. A sister and two brothers," he confirmed.
"I hate this. I want that with you. I do."
She laughed. "That's nice."
"And were going to be happy, Lex. You and me." She gasped again, another tear coming from her eyes. "We're going to have the best life, Lexie. You and me. We're going to be so happy. So, you can't die, okay?"
"You always made me happy when we were together. I wish I had told you that more often. That and I love you," she cried.
She closed her eyes, as she continued to gasp, before blinking them open to look back at him. He could see the love there mirrored in his own expression.
Tears streamed down her eyes, as her whole body hummed, sounding like bees were buzzing all around her head. "Mark, I'm fading. I don't want to go. I'm scared. I don't want to be in any place without you in it."
"You can't die, because we're supposed to end up together." He exhaled, his own eyes starting to water now. "We're meant to be," he finished as he started to cry no longer being able to hold back anymore.
She smiled. One of her most perfect and beautiful smiles. "Meant to be," she repeated joyfully.
She swallowed. He saw the moment she took her last breath before her features completely relaxed. His entire face collapsed as his body racked with sobs at losing the woman he loved.
"We we're meant to be, Mark. Always."
He reached out, his hand coming to her mouth confirming no breathe was coming out. He closed her eyes, as more and more tears fell from his own eyes, as if a damn had just burst.
"I love you. I love you." He kissed her hand, crying, and repeating, "I love you." Over and over again.
She was fading out of existence now. "I will always be with you. Always."
She was gone.
Part II
Lexie had faded out of the crash finding herself at a beautiful and gorgeous beach. Her blue scrubs were gone, replaced with white pants and a white top. She no longer bore any blood or scratches.
She could feel the wind in her face. She could feel the sun on her skin. The sand beneath her toes as she listened to the waves crashing into the shore. She loved the beach, and now that she was here…she wondered why she hadn't tried to spend more time here when she had the chance.
She closed her eyes, soaking up all sea breeze. This was nice. This was better then what she just had to witness, what she had just come from back in the woods between Boise and Seattle.
"Even after all this time, you are still kind of awesome," said a voice she hadn't heard in a long time.
She opened her eyes, a smile stretching on her lips, before she turned to her friend. "I know," she said, giving her same answer from so long ago.
"Hey, Lexie."
"Hi, George," she said.
He smiled. "I hate to have to see you here."
She looked back out at the ocean. "Me too."
He tucked his hands in his pockets. "So, you and Mark Sloan. Can't say I saw that one coming."
She smiled wistfully. "Neither did I."
George sat down on the sand and patted the spot next to him. "Sit with me for a while."
She looked away from the ocean and back at him, before walking over to take a seat. When she sat down, she laid her head on his shoulder. "I was so angry with you when you died."
"I know."
"I was angrier with myself, that I just stopped being your friend, because at the time, you didn't like me back. I hated myself for it," she confessed.
"I know that too," he replied. "You shouldn't be, Lexie. I know we weren't friends as long as I was with Meredith or the others, but you really were one of the best friends I ever had. You got me through some pretty difficult times, and you never asked for anything in return."
"I'm sorry anyway."
"Don't be. Not anymore."
She lifted her head, watching another wave come in from the shore. "Am I dead?" she asked.
He nodded. "Yes."
She pursed her lips, her fingers tracing lines in the warm sand. "Not that I am not happy to see you, but why are you here instead of my mom or someone from my family?"
He stretched out his legs, leaning back on his elbows. "Because unlike your mom or other family members, you and I had unfinished business. You needed to let the guilt you carried around with you since my death go. I'm here to give you that peace," he answered.
"You're not going to disappear on me now, are you?"
He chuckled. "Boy, have I really missed you, Lexipedia." He paused. "I'm also here for another reason. To tell you what comes next."
She stopped drawing in the sand. "What? What comes next?"
"I have to send you back for just a little longer."
Her forehead creased. "Back where?"
"Back to check in on your old life. Your lucky in a way. Not all of us get to go back and visit our loved ones so soon after dying," he informed.
She brought her hands together, wiping the sand from her palms. "Why do I have to go back?"
"Because Mark is trying to give up without you. It's not his time…yet," he answered, slowly meeting her gaze.
"Mark…"
His name was like a stab to the heart. The feeling she once had when she had come to the beach was just ripped away. The feeling of Mark's loss in her life made her ache in ways she had never experienced before. Her death slammed into her again, his words, expressions, and emotions all coursing through her, threatening to knock her out.
"You learn to control those feelings over time," he said after a few moments of silence.
Her hand was on her heart, trying to claw the pain away. "Will it ever go away? Will the pain ever lessen?"
He blew out a breath. "Sometimes. It's different for each person. I never experienced a love like you had with Mark. Not with Izzie or even Callie. Some can't ever let it go, because letting it go means that with letting go the pain also means letting go how deeply you loved him as well."
"I guess I understand what they mean when they say, "it's better to have loved and lost then to never have loved at all,"" she mused.
"I guess," he agreed.
Her gaze wandered away back at the ocean in reflective thought. "I'll go back. He has Sofia, and Meredith is going to need him now more than ever…now that I am gone too."
"Meredith is strong. She loved you and feels your loss deeply. For Mark, he never has loved anyone as much as he has loved you. You two were truly soulmates. Hardly something we ever see once we leave our bodies and our old world."
Her smile was blissful. "So, we were meant to be."
He shook his head. "With Mark Sloan. I just can't believe it…"
"Hey," she exclaimed pushing him on the shoulder, making him lose his balance.
He wiped the sand off his legs and hands and stood. She followed suit, but when she stood, she was back in her blue scrubs.
"Just remember, they can't see or hear you. He'll think he feels your presence, and who knows…with you two—maybe he could—but make sure he stays…for now."
"Will I ever get to see you again?"
He smiled. "I've been around you, even if you didn't always see me. We'll cross paths again, Lexipedia. I'm sorry it had to be your time."
"Me too." She stepped forward and pulled him into a hug. In that moment she felt the peace that he had mentioned he was there to give. She could finally let that guilt she had been carrying around go. "Thank you, George."
He pulled back. "Go. Be just as awesome here, as you were there."
She blinked, and George was gone. When she closed her eyes, the sounds of the water against the shore faded, and she knew she was no longer on the beach anymore.
Part III
She was back at the crash site. She was back by her body. She stood there for a second, just staring at herself wondering how someone has young as her with a life ahead of herself would end this way.
She shook those thoughts away, remembering why George had told her she had to come back. Back to reliving the pain. Meredith was on her hands and knees crying over the fact that she was gone. It made her heart break that she didn't get to tell her before she had passed.
"I love you, Mer. I'm ok," she said, first putting her hand on her shoulder, even if she couldn't feel it.
Cristina sat next to her, completely crushed and defeated.
"I know, Yang, I didn't want you to have to lose another colleague. Another friend," she breathed.
She turned her head to the very reason why she was here. She had to prepare herself for a minute, because when she had taken her last breath, she had processed the fact that she wouldn't see him again. That she wouldn't really get the chance to say more "I love you," more touches, and just more conversations that she had missed between them.
Her heart shattered, seeing his back against the plane. His knees were up to his stomach, his left hand holding on to her lifeless one. George had been right. His gaze was focused out on the wide-open space, but he looked lifeless. Her Mark was already fading away and seemed gone.
"Because Mark is trying to give up without you. It's not his time…yet," George said.
His face was what made not only her heart break, but her soul ache to want to hold and touch him. The pain was written all over his face. He looked crushed. He stared out into the open with an unflappable calm, but she could see the storm brewing behind his eyes.
She crouched down next to him, the back of her fingers grazing against his cheek.
"You have to hang on, Mark. I love you. I miss you more than you can know…but it's not your time yet." She had to collect herself knowing that was true and sad. She was going to miss him more that he knew. "I'll always love you. I'll always miss you."
She stayed with him, just sitting there in the silence…even as Cristina and Meredith had to take off to find Derek. She talked to him even when he couldn't hear her. George had said that he wouldn't be able to hear or see her, but she was hoping that their strong connection before she had passed would lend her a hand here.
"Derek will be ok. Meredith, Cristina, and Arizona will be ok. You will be ok," she said.
She sighed, when Derek asked and had found out about her death. His glance over in their direction, the sadness and despair he felt for his best friend. Cristina's anger started up again, yelling at Mark for not helping. She marched over, shouting for him to get up. Cristina realized in the moment what she hadn't noticed before.
Mark was suffering from cardiac tamponade. He was trying to let go, and she had been sent here to keep that from happening. She couldn't let that happen. As Cristina laid him down on the ground, she stayed by his side.
"You're the best at this Cristina, do it. Save him," she said.
They worked as a team, finding a tube amongst the wreckage, to drain the fluid. Mark's head lauded to the side. She maneuvered so she was at the top of his head, both her hands holding to each side. She held back her sobs and tears at the pain on his face as he cried out in agony.
"Keep fighting, Mark. Keep fighting."
It was later in the evening, and her family still hadn't been rescued. Arizona had found out about her death, and the reason for Mark's sudden change in his health status. He was propped on a pillow on her lap, as she watched over him while they hoped and prayed, they would be rescued.
Mark gasped, snapping Arizona out of her sleepiness. "Mark?"
His voice was low, raspy. "I shoulda said it earlier…that I loved her. I shoulda said it earlier," he answered contritely.
Arizona licked her lips, her own emotions getting the best of her. "She…she knew. I think she knew."
"I did know, Mark."
"She didn't know," he pressed. "She didn't know," he repeated, blinking as he looked back at his friend.
"Mark…Mark, hold on. I need you—I need you to hold on." Arizona pleaded.
"You have to hold on, Mark. They need you here."
"You'll be okay. You don't need me. You take care of our girls," he breathed.
"No. Shut up. Shut up. Do you hear me? Shut up," Arizona replied.
"They love you just as much, Mark."
"Lexie's waiting for me. I'll be okay," he whispered.
"I will wait forever for you." She wiped a tear from her eye. "But they need you right now."
"No! Mark Sloan, no!" Her voice was breaking as she stroked his hair. "Hey! No. Sofia is waiting for you, and Callie is waiting for you, and I am waiting for you. We're gonna go home together, okay?"
"Yes, you will," she said. She moved on the other side of Mark, placing her hands on his shoulders and chest. "I love you…but for now, you have to stay."
He closed his eyes and inhaled deeply, before exhaling. "Okay," he said.
"Okay."
For now, her job was done.
Lexie had spent her next few days back on the beach, now that Mark and the rest of her friends and family had been rescued, and he had been alert and awake.
She had an opportunity to check-in on her father and his much younger girlfriend. He had been doing good and still sober. She had worried that after he had found out about her tragic death, that might send him back to the bottle, but she had been glad that his new girlfriend was by his side to keep his sobriety.
She couldn't help herself in going back to check on Mark. She kept telling herself it would be just one last time—for now—but that pull that George had mentioned when it came to their souls being connected, it was harder the longer she was away from him.
She had found Julia in his room. She had told him that she had tried to fly out to Boise to see him. They wouldn't let her back because she hadn't been family. Even though she and Julia might have been enemies in the sense that they loved the same man—she felt bad for the woman that had loved him, but never really had him.
She stood just inside the door, feeling slightly bad that she was infringing on their moment. As much as it killed her to watch him with her, she was gone now, and he was still living. She wanted him to be happy, and if he couldn't be with her, then he deserved someone who would make him happy. Give him something to look forward too.
"I'm sorry, it's not fair," he breathed out. "You don't deserve…" his voice trailed off, his eyes closing as he thought about what he would say. Julia's expression bore one of concern. He exhaled. "You deserve better."
"Shh. Stop it. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere, Mark." She smiled, her eyes lighting up. "I love you," she declared.
Lexie closed her eyes. She turned to walk out of the room, because she knew she wouldn't be able to hear Mark say the words back. Not now. Not even if it was needed to keep him going.
He let out a long, agonizing breath. "I love Lexie," he replied. "Loved," he corrected. "I'm sorry."
She turned back around. "I love you, too. And…it's still love," she said, breaking into a grin.
George had come to see her again. Told her the news that made her heart clench again. Mark had slipped into a coma. She couldn't understand it. She had left him in the woods after they had been rescued and he was going to be fine. They were all fine. He was in the hospital—awake—joking with Derek like they had always used too.
Mark had made it clear in his directive that he was to be given thirty days. If no activity, they were supposed to let him go. She was once again tasked to get it back to the land of the living. It still wasn't his time. She felt for him…her heart broke for him, knowing that all he wanted was to be with her again. It was all she wanted too.
Meant to be.
There she was. Back at her home—Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital walking the familiar halls, while everyone else passed around her—their lives still moving forward. Always moving forward.
George had told her about the surge. About how he had woken up and they thought all would be good, that he had finally come to terms that he was going to have to move on. Then, he went back into the coma.
It was the thirtieth day, and per his directive, all life support measures would be removed if he hadn't woken up. She had felt like a failure trying everything she could to get him to fight and wake back up—to no avail.
Callie had been in earlier in the day, telling him all about the procedure she was going to do to ensure that Derek's hand would get back to full functionality. She smiled, seeing her brother-in-law walking into the room. She missed Derek. They wanted to honor his wishes, but knowing that he had seven hours until his directive, they kept coming in hoping that might change things.
Jackson had stopped by to review all of their plastic cases they had been working on prior to the flight and when he had returned and woken up. Even in Mark's comatose state, Jackson still pushed himself to be better, do better. It was one of things that Mark did best. Made you want to be a better surgeon.
"You taught me a lot," Jack said, his voice wavering. "I really know what I am doing now…so…I'm good. Plastics posse will live on. Because, I can take it from here," he said, his eyes filling with tears.
"Mark would be so proud of you, Jackson. I am so proud of you," she said, as he turned and walked out of the room.
Lexie looked back at the clock. It was ten minutes until five o'clock. "George, please, I need you," Lexie said, as she stood in Mark's room. "George!" she cried when he hadn't appeared.
"You didn't fail," George said, suddenly appearing next to her.
"Why isn't he waking up?" she asked.
George sighed. "Things change."
She turned to him, her brows snapping together. "What do you mean things change?"
"I mean, in about ten minutes…Mark is going to be searching for you. It looks like you won't have to wait forever," he answered.
She turned back to Mark. "He's…he's…"
George stuck his hands in his pockets. "Sometimes we get to choose, and sometimes we don't. You and I…we didn't get to choose. In a way, Mark does." He turned to her, his lip quirking upwards. "He doesn't want you to have to wait. Nor, does he want to have to wait to be with you again."
"But…but…"
"It's your turn now, Lexie."
His voice sounded like a whisper in the wind before, it and he faded away. Callie, Derek, and Richard walked into his room a moment later standing beside his bed. Richard went through the next steps and what would happen from here. She looked at their devastated faces, and decided to give them their final moments with Mark. She turned, and left to stand watch outside of his room.
Richard turned off his ventilator, removing the tubes from his mouth. They had sedated him with morphine so he wouldn't feel what was happening, or any pain for that matter.
Callie sat towards his right side, holding his hand, while his best friend—and brother—sat on his left. Jackson and Richard continued to sit outside of his room in the waiting chairs. Her sister, Meredith, had come and she had missed her having seen her again. Missed talking to her and seeing her, but Meredith was unable to sit and watch another of her loved ones dying.
She missed her Seattle Grace family. A smile at seeing Miranda and Ben outside the room, and even Alex stopping by to at least pay his respects—in his own way before he left Seattle Grace for good.
Lexie turned back to Mark's room. She had been standing there for a while, and she would wait forever. Her eyes glanced up, when his machine monitoring his pulse started to beat a little faster. From fifty-four to now thirty-two…she knew it would be any minute. He was leaving this world behind and stepping into hers.
Then the monitor emitting the continuous flatline tone. Callie's head dropping to his arm, and Derek's hand on his shoulder.
Her breath caught. Suddenly, it was like her entire body tingled, and she felt like her stomach was dropping—the same kind of feeling she remembered when she used to ride a really high roller-coaster as it plummeted to the ground.
She closed her eyes, a smile on her lips before she turned to her left. In the hallway, stood Mark Sloan, and he was looking back at her with and expression that could be summed up in one word—finally.
"Hey Lex," his velvety rich voice echoed in their hallway. "Sorry, to have kept you waiting."
Their family and loved ones were still around in their various stages of grief, but in that moment, they all faded into existence.
"I would have waited forever," she stated.
He smiled, and it lit up his whole face. They were together. Again. She lifted out her hand, and he enclosed his hand in hers to take, wrapping his warm fingers around hers.
"Where too?" he asked.
"To forever," she replied. "We have forever."
A/N: Had to take you back before we could move forward. This was an extra little bonus for you. Hope you enjoyed.