Pairings: Mark/Lexie with appearances by other the rest the Seattle Grace crew
Warning: T for now, may be updated in future chapters.
Summary: Mark regrets not telling Lexie how he feels about her as their plane plummets to the ground. Will they both make it out safe and sound? Will Mark be able to make Lexie his and prove to her he loves her?
Disclaimer: I do now own these characters. All rights go to Shonda Rhimes. Some scenes may be based off scenes that occurred in Grey's Anatomy.
Announcements: Thank you for the reviews and favorites. Please keep them coming!
Reunited
Mark heard commotion surrounding him, disturbing his peaceful sleep. He snapped his eyes open, realizing he was in the same position he had fallen asleep in, his hand still intertwined with Lexie's. "Is she okay?" Mark rasped. There was a nurse busying herself with Lexie's monitors. Nodding her head, the nurse replaced one of Lexie's IV bags.
"She's fine, no change. I was just switching out her fluids," the nurse explained, offering Mark a smile.
"Thank you," he replied, forcing a small smile back to the woman. With his free hand, Mark rubbed his eyes. The sun was streaming in through the windows. Mark glanced at the clock on the wall, calculating that he had been asleep for about seven hours. He couldn't believe that he was actually able to sleep. He was sleeping next to Lexie, though, and that always made him relax. Meredith and Derek began to stir in their chairs, the light from the room likely awakening them.
"How is she?" Meredith questioned, stretching as she stood up. She leaned forward and took Lexie's other hand, looking at her sister sadly.
"The nurse said she's the same," Mark replied, letting out a soft sigh. "The wait for her to wake up is killing me," he frowned, rubbing soothing circles on the back of her hand.
"I know, but she's healing. She'll be so happy to know that you were here with her," Meredith smiled, resting her other hand on the bed.
Owen and Richard slipped into the room a few minutes later, happy to see that the group, besides Lexie, was awake. "Good news. Lexie is stable enough so we will all be able to go home today," Owen reported, placed his hands on the end of the bed. "I heard your sister will be meeting us at Seattle Grace," he commented, looking over at Derek.
"Yes, Mark wanted the best for her. Unfortunately, I can't help her, but Amelia is almost as good as me," Derek replied halfheartedly, causing a slight chuckle from Mark.
"Ever the cocky one," Mark teased, though he was very grateful that Derek agreed to be in the OR if Lexie needed an additional surgery. Derek shot Mark a grin, standing to his feet. "I'm going to check in on Arizona before we head out," Derek stated, Meredith following suit with standing up.
"I'll check on Cristina," she murmured, following Owen and Derek out of the room. She and Owen began to have a conversation about the state of Cristina's mental health.
"We're going to sedate you before loading you onto the plane," Richard stated, walking over to Lexie's bedside. He glanced up at her monitors. "Her numbers are really good," he commented.
"I really don't want to be sedated, I want to be there for her. But I also don't want to be awake on a plane," Mark sighed, looking over at Richard.
"We'll be adding sedation to make sure she doesn't wake up on the plane. The last thing she needs is to wake up on the thing that almost killed her," the older man grumbled, resting his hand on Lexie's shoulder. Mark appreciated how attentive everyone was being to Lexie. He was also relieved that he would be able to be sedated on the ride home and not have to worry about not being there for Lexie if she were to wake up.
"Okay, thank you." Richard nodded and departed the room, just as Jackson and April made their way into Mark and Lexie's room. April waved at Mark, offering him a good morning.
"How was your night?" she asked, taking a seat on the chair beside Lexie.
"Slept through it," Mark replied. "Lex is stable, too," he informed the two, switching hands that were holding Lexie's. He inclined his bed so that he was sitting up, arching his back to stretch it.
April looked over at Jackson, tilting her head toward Mark as if to tell him that he needed to speak to Mark. Jackson shook his head tersely so that only the redhead would notice. April narrowed her eyes at Jackson, silently testing him to try and go against her. Sighing, Jackson looked at Mark and cleared his throat. "Uh, Dr. Sloan…," he began, shuffling to the end of Mark's bed. "When we were told about the accident, Dr. Hunt asked us to assist him with making some calls," he muttered, chewing the inside of his cheek.
"Spit it out, Avery," Mark muttered, raising his eyebrows expectantly.
Jackson's eyes flickered over to April's before moving back to Mark's. "Julia is waiting for you at Seattle Grace," he stated point blank, staring Mark in his eyes. The older man groaned, grimacing vividly.
"I don't want to see," he responded coldly, rubbing his thumb across Lexie's knuckles. "I-I need to talk to her and break up with her, but I can't think about anything other than Lexie waking up. Amelia will need to look at the scans, and I need to focus my complete attention on that."
Jackson nodded in understanding, looking over to April for some help. She shook her head, looking down at Lexie to stay out of this conversation.
"I get it. I do. But she made it pretty clear she was waiting there until you got back. She's concerned about you," Jackson stated, frowning in Mark's direction. Mark groaned, pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Can you buy me a bit of time? Tell her Torres needs to examine me or something. Just buy me some time so I can hear what the next step is for Lexie," Mark pleaded. He really, really did not want to see Julia when he got back to the hospital. Clearly he needed to end things with her. There would never be a good time to do that, he knew that. Julia was going to be angry, hurt, and confused. While she never explicitly asked Mark about his feelings for Lexie, he was sure that Julia assumed he was completely over her. Any regular person would be over their ex before starting another relationship. They certainly wouldn't still be in love with their ex. Mark wasn't regular. He and Lexie weren't normal. They belonged together regardless of how many obstacles life tried to throw at them. Lexie was the love of his life.
"Okay, yeah, I'll do what I can," Jackson responded, nodding his head in agreement. Owen and Richard came into the room, with Owen going toward Lexie and Richard to Mark.
"The plane is ready. Bailey is with Meredith and Derek, and we're going to sedate Cristina and Arizona," Owen explained, glancing over to April. "Are you able to take care of these two and get them to the plane?" He questioned, tapping his foot anxiously against the ground. April nodded, standing up to follow Owen to the nurse's desk to get the sedatives. Richard exited the room along with the other two. Jackson went to look at Lexie's monitors, unhooking her from the ones that would not be taken with her on the plane.
Mark turned on his side, squeezing Lexie's hand. "We're getting ready to leave, Lex. When you wake up, we'll be home. I love you so much," he whispered, raising her hand to place a gentle kiss against it. He sat back on his bed, waiting for April to return. When she did, she handed Jackson one of the sedatives. April applied it to Lexie's IV while Jackson went over to Mark.
"Ready?" He asked, preparing to give it to his mentor.
"Yes," Mark nodded, keeping his hand wrapped around Lexie's. Moments after Jackson had applied the sedatives, Mark was out cold. April moved between the beds, removing Mark's hand from Lexie's. She placed the plastic surgeon's hand against his stomach before turning back to Lexie. April did a glance over all Lexie's wires and monitors to ensure everything was ready to go.
"Let's go," she said, beginning to wheel Lexie out of the room. Jackson followed immediately behind with Mark, pushing the bed in front of him. They each took a separate elevator up to the helipad, rolling the beds onto the plane. April placed Lexie's bed in front of Meredith's, with Mark's being locked into place in front of Derek's. Cristina and Arizona were the closest to the cockpit, with Arizona being above Derek and Cristina being above Meredith. Owen took a seat beside Cristina while Bailey and Webber were seated near Arizona. April and Jackson had a seat at the foot of Lexie's bed, which April was grateful for. This way, she and Jackson could keep a close eye on Lexie's stats, and, if needed, intervene immediately. The plane began to takeoff, unbeknownst to the surgeons who endured being trapped in the woods.
Owen had been in constant communication with Callie about Arizona's injuries. The more Owen told her, the more anxious she became. She needed the blonde here now so that she could assess her leg to determine what the best plan of care was. Owen had also informed her about the other surgeons' injuries, explaining that Derek would need a consultation immediately for his hand. Julia was still waiting with Callie. The two women had basically been camped out in Owen's office since he had left. Callie left every few hours to go and visit Sofia, but other than that, she had been glued to the office. Callie received a call the morning after Owen and the rest of the group left, informing her that they were boarding a plane and on their way home. Callie exhaled a sigh of relief, glancing over toward Julia. Julia had an expectant look on her face, waiting to hear what the Latina had to say. "They're on their way," she breathed, putting her hands into her coat pockets.
"That's excellent news. How's Mark?" Julia asked, folding her hands together. She had worried about Mark since she heard about the accident. According to Callie, Mark's injuries were minor, which provided her with some comfort. However, she just wanted to see him and let him know that she was here. She couldn't imagine what it was like for Mark to be alone through this, without her there with him.
"I didn't get an update. But Hunt said that he was doing well last night, so I'm sure he's fine," Callie responded, offering the woman a reassuring smile. Callie thought that Julie was great for Mark. She was stable, kind, smart, and not annoying like one of his exes. However, Callie knew that Mark still cared deeply about Lexie and knew that he was likely worried sick over her injuries. Callie wasn't updated as to the extent of Lexie's injuries, but she knew that the resident was in bad shape.
"Where are they?" a brunette asked, barging into the Chief of Surgery's office, dropping her bags on the floor. She was breathless and had bags under her eyes. Callie immediately recognized her as Amelia Shepherd. Assuming that she was there to support Derek, Callie went over and offered the girl a hug. She had met her a couple of times in the past when she had come to visit.
"On their way," Callie replied, letting out a small sigh. "Dr. Hunt said that Derek wouldn't be operated on at Boise. He wanted to come here to see what I could for him. Apparently he didn't like the prognosis that the doctors there gave him," she explained.
"What?" Amelia asked, confused. She knew that Derek was in the crash, but didn't know what his injuries were.
"Aren't you here to offer support for Derek?" Callie asked, now confused herself.
"Well, yes and no. Derek called me for Lexie," Amelia reported, crossing her arms in confusion. "Mark wanted Derek to operate, but he can't because she's family, and he said that he can't operate because of his hand. So, Mark asked Derek to have me fly out in case we need to go in and operate on her again," she explained, furrowing her brows.
"Mark wanted you?" Julie piped in, a frown appearing on her lips. Why did Mark care so much about what surgeon operated on Lexie? She wasn't sure the extent of Lexie's injuries, but she also didn't understand why some other attending at this hospital couldn't operate on Lexie.
Amelia's head whipped toward the other voice, cocking her head to the side. "I'm sorry, who are you?" she questioned curiously.
"Julia, Mark's girlfriend," Julia explained, crossing her arms to hug herself. Amelia let out a small, forced laugh quickly realizing that neither one of these doctors were told that she was coming. She also found it strangely amusing that Mark was dating another woman while still clearly being in love with Lexie.
"Ookay," Amelia replied, turning back to Callie. "So Derek refused an operation?" she asked, wanting to get the subject off Mark and Lexie as she could see this was going to be a tense subject.
"Yeah. The breaks in his hand look bad," Callie explained, going over to the computer to pull up the scans that were sent to her. Amelia took a look at them, heaving a small sigh.
"They do. Will you be able to fix them and get his hand back to full function?" Amelia questioned, biting her bottom lip. Her brother was the person she looked up to the most. She knew how important operating was to him. If he was no longer able to do that, she didn't know how he would be able to live with himself.
"I'm going to try my best," Callie assured her, standing up straight. "We should get down to the ER, let everyone else know what's going on and get them up to speed and prepared," Callie said, walking toward the door. Amelia and Julia followed Callie, as the other doctors were paged down to the pit.
"Okay, everyone, listen up," Callie began, calling everyone's attention to her. "There's been a situation with our doctors that were on their way to Boise…" she said, explaining what had happened. She said that they needed to be prepared for the arrival of the doctors, and prepare themselves for what they were about to see. Callie didn't know what the doctors would look like or what shape they were in. She, herself, was worried.
Alex Karev was the only doctor at Seattle Grace up on the helipad as the plane landed. They just needed one additional doctor to help wheel the injured ones downstairs. Alex rushed toward the plane as soon as it landed, climbing up. "You get Arizona," April smiled sadly, knowing of the fight that the two of them had right before the plane had taken off to Boise. Alex nodded, shuffling to the back of the plane. Arizona was still sedated, though she was starting to wake up. April took Lexie's bed, being the first one off the plane and down to the ER. Jackson followed with Mark, wheeling him into a trauma room as soon as they were in the ER. Bailey had Meredith, who was waking up. Relief washed over at the familiarity, glad that she was back at her hospital. Richard wheeled Derek down, setting him up in a room. Alex followed with Arizona, rolling her into a room where Callie was waiting. Finally, Owen took Cristina, who had been restrained, as he was unsure how she would act toward the other doctors.
Mark had woken up as he was being transported downstairs. He started to look around, realizing that they were back at Seattle Grace. Once he was settled into his room, Jackson let him know that he was going to hold off Julia for as long as he could. Richard entered into Mark's room, ready to perform his own exam on the plastic surgeon. "We're going to get you a scan once Lexie is done. I don't think you have any injuries we need to be concerned about, but we want to make sure before we officially discharge you," the older doctor explained. Mark nodded his head.
"How is she?" he asked, feeling like a broken record. Mark felt like he kept asking everyone how Lexie was doing. He wanted to be the one next to her so he didn't need to constantly ask how she was.
"Amelia is looking over her right now. They sent her up for a CT, so you're next," Richard explained, setting his hand against Mark's shoulder. "She's looking good. We just don't know what the extent of her brain injuries are," he reported, offering Mark a smile. A few minutes later, Jackson came back into the room and wheeled Mark up to the CT.
"She's adamant on seeing you as soon as you're downstairs," Jackson muttered, helping Mark get on bed for his scan. He sighed lightly, nodding his head.
"Alright, I'll speak to her. Can you go find out what Amelia sees on the scans?" he asked, as the bed was moved into the tube.
"Yeah," Jackson called, racing through the hospital to find Amelia. Amelia told him that she thought Lexie looked stable for now, and at this time, there was no need to go back in and operate. She would keep an eye on the internal bleeding and get scans every few hours. Jackson quickly walked back to the CT area, finding that Mark was just getting done with the scan. Mark looked over at Jackson, waiting for his response. "Dr. Shepherd said that Lexie's scans look good. She's going to keep an eye on it, but at this time, no operation is needed," Jackson reported, placing his hands on the rails of the bed by Mark's head.
"Thanks, Avery," Mark replied, running his hand over his face. Now he was going to have to deal with Julia. He wasn't nervous at all, he just really wasn't looking forward to the crying that was bound to happen. Despite the fact that he loved Lexie, he knew Julia didn't deserve the news that she was about to receive. Jackson got Mark set up in his room, and Julia immediately rushed in.
"Mark," she breathed, rushing over to his bedside and took his hand in hers. Mark's jaw tensed, and he looked over at the girl.
"We need to talk."