So I finally had the inspiration to finish writing this chapter! And so here it is. I'm sorry it took me so long to update it, and I can say that I have no clue when the next chapter will be out. I'm going away for college in a couple of weeks, so I don't know how often I'll be writing. I'll try to write at night, or while I'm studying, but can't guarantee anything. I will definitely finish this story - just not entirely sure when. Anyway, enjoy! And thanks to everyone who's reading this - that means a lot to me. :)

Chapter Three

Lexie slowly opens her eyes but closes them quickly once the light hits them. An intense wave of pain tears through her head as she lay in the hospital bed. Confused at the pain she's feeling, she forces her eyes to open again and glances around the room. Meredith is hovering over her, continuously stroking her hair and giving her looks of sympathy. In the chair beside the bed sits Mark Sloan, who's also giving her that same sympathetic look. And standing at the end of the bed is Doctor Shepherd, his deep blue eyes staring down at her in sympathy as well.

"What - What's going on? Why are you all staring at me like that?" The brunette worriedly asks, not understanding what's happening to her. Another strong pain wipes through her, she squeezes her eyes shut until it finally passes. The pain comes as shock to her, she can't exactly remember why she's in the hospital or what's the matter with her head. "Did I fall and hit my head? It really hurts."

Hearing how confused her sister was, Meredith began to worry even deeper for her. She gently bends down to press a soothing kiss to her forehead while grabbing a hold of one of her hands, "Lex, you just had a major brain operation. That's why your head hurts so terribly." Stroking her sister's hand, she stares over at her husband - not wanting to be the bearer of bad news. She couldn't be the one to tell Lexie how close to death she was.

Doctor Shepherd gave a quick glance to his wife before turning to face Lexie - his face showing the outmost sympathy. He absolutely loathed telling his patients bad news, even more so to his own sister-in-law. Taking a deep breath he opened his mouth to speak, "Well, unfortunately, the surgery did not go as planned. It turns out your tumor is even bigger than what the scans were showing - it takes up your entire brain, almost. I'm so sorry Lexie - I really thought I'd be able to get it all out, but it's just too big. And I didn't want to risk causing any permanent damage; so what we're going to do now is add a dose of chemotherapy to your treatment along with continuing the radiation. We'll give that a few weeks before we go back in and try to remove it."

The dark haired woman scrunched her face up in confusion. What on earth was all this talk about brain surgery and tumors? Lexie Grey surely didn't have a brain tumor. She would be the first to know if she did. Shaking her head, she looked from her sister to Derek, "What the hell are you guys talking about? I think I would know if I had a brain tumor - and I sure as hell don't remember having an operation." Just the thought of having cancer makes her feel uncomfortable - she couldn't end up gravely ill when she only began her first year as a surgical intern.

Meredith's worry grows as she peers over at Derek. Why is her sister not able to remember that she's sick with cancer? Had her husband permanently damage a part of her brain? She hopes whatever the problem is that it's only a temporary thing or if it's not that Derek can somehow fix it. "Derek - can I talk to you out in the hall for a minute?" Her voice is a bit shaky as she gently bends down to kiss Lexie's forehead. After, she quickly walks out of the room and yanks her husband with her.

She closes the door so that Lexie can't hear their conversation. Her blue eyes are filled with a deep concern as she stares up at her husband - desperate to know exactly what's going on with her sister. "Tell me what's wrong with Lex - why is she having memory troubles? Did you damage part of her brain?" Meredith pleadingly looks into his eyes - anxiously waiting to hear what's caused this to happen.

"Nice to know that my own wife thinks poorly of my surgical skills," Derek lightly starts, but quickly turns his tone to a more serious one as he pulls his wife in for a comforting embrace, "No I didn't do a thing to damage her brain - the tumor was a lot bigger than what I saw on the scans. And that complicated her surgery immensely. I could only remove a small portion of the tumor, and I'm going to have to go back in to get the rest once we can get it to shrink some more. The tumor is most likely causing her memory loss along with the fact that she's still coming out of the anesthesia. I'm sure once that wears off, she'll be a little more herself. For right now, we'll just have to wait and see how she does. Don't push her, Mer - she'll remember what she can."


Hours pass and Lexie was getting tired of lying around in the bed all day. She swung her legs over to the floor but once she stood up, a strong wave of nausea hit her. A sharp pain ran through her head, having her double over with her hands covering her mouth. The worst combination of symptoms she's ever experienced. And of course she just happens to be alone during it - Meredith had to run Zola to daycare and Mark was called in for an emergency surgery.

In pain and alone, Lexie forced herself to stand up. She grabbed her IV pole to help steady herself, carefully making her way into the bathroom. Turning the faucet on she lets the water heat up some before splashing it onto her face. The heat of the water seems to calm her nausea, but does nothing to take away the stabbing pain she's experiencing. It's so intense that all she can do is stand there - she feels as if she's being consumed by it. If she even tries to take one step forward the stabbing sensation gets stronger.

The sound of her room's door opening brings a feeling of relief to Lexie. Someone is here and can help her get back to the bed. She tries to move closer to the doorway of the bathroom but the pain intensifies and she ends up falling to the ground with a loud yelp. A sob escapes her as she clutches her head with her hands, hoping to somehow stop the pain. She feels as if someone's sliced into her scalp and ripped the skin off, layer by layer. Total agony is what she's in right now.

Fortunately Lexie's cries were heard and in came a very worried Meredith. She knelt down beside the clearly hurting brunette, gently scooping her into her arms. "Lex, what were you doing out of bed? You can't be getting out of it without someone here to help you - you just had major brain surgery!" Meredith exclaims, her tone full of concern for her younger sister. She carefully carries her back to the bed, laying her back in it and kissing her forehead softly. Sadly she stares down at her while anxiously waiting for her to answer.

"I - wait, why are you being nice to me? Last time we talked, you said you rather ignore me and pretend I don't exist. So why have things suddenly changed?" Lexie has to squeeze her eyes shut to help ease the pain. Yet, she's also surprised to see that her half-sister is actually interested in her well being - the last thing she remembers was being told how unwanted she was in Meredith's life. So to have her here now utterly confused her.

Meredith's blue eyes fill with empathy as she bends down to gently caress the younger woman's cheek. It breaks her heart that her sister has to deal with memory loss on top of her fatal disease. "We made up a while ago, Lex. You just can't remember right now because of the operation," she softly says, running a hand through her sister's long hair. She wishes there was some way to bring back those precious memories the two made, but she knew there was nothing else to do except wait and see. "I love you so much, Lex, and I'm sorry for being such a terrible sister to you. But I'm here now and I won't leave you, I mean that."

Wide eyes, Lexie's expression turns into one of confusion. It makes her mad to know that she can't remember so many important things that have been going on in her life. She stares up at Meredith, searching her face for any hints of lies but all that showed was sincerity. "I just - I want to remember. I don't get it - any of this, why do I have brain cancer? And you're acting like a real sister now...And apparently Mark Sloan is in love with me! Why am I not able to remember any of it?! All these wonderful things - not the cancer part - are happening and I can't even remember that." She speaks, her tone a bit edgy as she hits her hand against the side of her bed.

To see her sister angry, the dirty-blonde doctor sits beside her and gently grabs her hand. She strokes the hand softly with her thumb, tracing circles around it. "Calm down, Lexie. It's only temporary the memory loss - you'll remember again soon. Why don't you try to sleep? You look exhausted, sweetie, and it's only been a few hours since your surgery," she lovingly strokes her sister's hair, giving a soothing kiss to her head.


It's nearly six in the evening when Lexie wakes up again. This time her head seems to be working a bit better and her memories aren't as fuzzy. She glances around the room and sees her sister asleep in the chair - she smiles to herself. It warms her heart at how much her older sister cares for her and how their relationship only continues to grow more and more every day. Having her sister with her during such a rough time in her life really helps her to cope.

Several minutes later Meredith's eyes pop open and she immediately stares over at Lexie. She gets up from the chair and rushes to her side, gently wrapping her in a hug. "Sleep well, Lex?" She asks, her eyes worriedly glancing down at the brunette woman. Seeing some color back in Lexie's face definitely brings a bout of relief to her.

A smile appears on the other's face as she slowly nods her head. "Did he get the entire tumor out?" Lexie asks in an innocent tone - so innocent that it causes a tiny pang in Meredith's heart. She watches the expression on her older sister's face, trying to decipher what she might be hiding. She hopes to hear good news - to hear that Doctor Shepherd was able to entirely remove the tumor, that she would live out her life cancer free.

"You remember?" Meredith happily asks, smiling sadly at the younger woman when she nods her head. Sighing, she presses a motherly kiss to her cheek while stroking soft circles around her back. It pained her to have to ruin Lexie's mood by telling her how deadly the tumor is and how much suffering she has yet to do. "Well, Lex...Derek wasn't able to remove all of it - when he went in, the tumor seemed to take up your entire brain. He said that your treatment will have to be changed in order to aggressively shrink this tumor - he's gonna put you on chemotherapy along with the radiation. After a couple weeks of that, he's going to go back in and hopefully he'll be able to remove the entire thing. I'm so sorry, Lex - I know this isn't the news you wanted to hear, I hate having to tell you this. But I promise you - we will not stop until that tumor is gone. You will not die, Lexie."

Tears replaced the smile as Lexie digested the terrible news. Her heart felt heavy at the realization that she may not survive - her tumor is even worse than she and everyone else thought, the scans had deceived them all. The room began to spin as she try to thing of how to respond. She exhaustedly looked up at her sister, eyes filled with an unusual darkness. "I don't - I don't want chemotherapy. That stuff is brutal, please don't make go through that. If radiation hasn't worked, why would that work? This tumor is gonna be the death of me, Mer...And I - I don't want to die," Lexie cries out, hopelessly reaching out for her older sister.

Meredith quickly scoops the distraught woman into her arms, feeling her own eyes water with tears. She gently lays Lexie's head against her chest while running her hand up and down her back, in an effort to soothe her. "You're not dying, Lex! You're gonna be fine, I promise. But you have to have the chemotherapy - that's the only way to shrink this tumor. I know it's going to make you feel worse, but I'll be here to help you through it and I'm sure Mark will be as well. We'll take care of you, sweetie," she softly says, kissing the top of Lexie's head while giving her a reassuring smile. "How about we go for a short walk? Need to keep you from getting blood clots, Lex."

Slowly nodding and wiping at her tears, Lexie tries to stand up but the minute she does a sharp pain rips through her body. She has to hold onto Meredith in order to steady herself. Feeling the older woman's envelope around her, she relaxes and can feel the pain start to subside some. She lifts her head to stare up at her sister, "I love you - you're such a great sister, Mer." She wraps her own arms around the dark blonde in a comforting embrace. Having her sister there during such a tragic time makes all the difference.


Meredith gently and slowly guided Lexie down the hall. She had one arm wrapped around her shoulder - to keep her from falling - and the other arm she used to pull her sister's IV pole, not wanting her to have to worry about such a heavy thing. Since she felt the brunette to be doing so well she decided to extend their walk down to the cafeteria. It was only another hallway away so she figured that shouldn't be too hard or painful for the woman.

Once they made it into the cafeteria, Meredith found a table and carefully helped Lexie to sit down - who was pale and clearly out of breath at this point. She gently kissed the top of her head, stroking her hair softly, "Deep breaths, Lex. I'm gonna go get you a water, you need to sit for a while. I think I may have pushed you a little too much today - I'm sorry! I'll be right back, just relax." She quickly hurries to the line to purchase a bottle of water for her sister.

While Lexie sits alone, waiting for her sister to come back, she sees Mark coming over to the table. A smile lights up her face as he takes a seat beside her, pulling her into his strong arms. She looks up at him, her brown eyes sparkling, and wraps her arms around his neck. "You're Mark Sloan," she gently says, stroking his cheek with her knuckles. "My memory's back." Smiling, she cups the cheeks that she'd been stroking and plants a tender kiss to his lips.

Mark pulls her closer, gently stroking her back. "Glad to hear it, Lexie! But let's take things slow, today's only the first day after a major brain operation. You need to be careful, sweetie," he firmly says, yet a loving expression on his face as he stares into her eyes. He holds her close, inwardly exploding with joy at the fact that she remembers him. He lovingly kisses the top of her head right as Meredith comes back to the table, causing him to mentally slap himself.

"Ah I see you've got yourself a visitor, Lex," Meredith says in a bit of a sour tone as she hands the brunette her water. She sits down across from the two, giving a sharp stare to Doctor Sloan. Even though she had already made it very clear to him not to hurt her sister, she still wasn't too fond of him hanging all over her. She knew that she shouldn't be that way - especially since Mark seems to make Lexie happy - but she still can only think of him as the 'Manwhore' who sleeps around with whatever women he can find. "Lexie's already exhausted from the walk, so don't tire her out anymore, Sloan."

Lexie could feel her cheeks flush red as she goes to take a sip of the water, which felt great on her throat - she hadn't had anything to drink in over twelve hours. She looks over at her sister, sighing, "Mer, he's not gonna do anything. Please be civil; he's not a bad person." The brunette pleads, staring warmly into her older sister's blue eyes. When she sees the other slightly shrug and give her a half-smile, she smiles as well.

Feeling a bit awkward, Mark gets up to leave, "It's fine, Lexie. I gotta get back to work anyway, I just thought to check on you - I'm happy your memory's back, that's wonderful. I'll drop by your room tomorrow afternoon, my schedules not too crazy tomorrow so we can spend a bit more time together." He gently presses a kiss to Lexie's lips, stroking her hair lovingly. "I love you, Lex," he whispers so only she can hear, smiling warmly. Once he releases her, he gives a small wave to Meredith - who's staring daggers at him - and then he quickly heads back to work.

Sighing and left with a tingly sensation, Lexie stares over at the dirty-blonde. A glowing smile is on her face - her body feels warm all over, and she knows that's because of Mark. He always makes her feel so warm and fuzzy inside; he makes her forget about the agonizing pain she's in. "Hey Mer? Can I ask you something?" She takes another sip of the water in front of her, not taking her eyes off of her sister.

Seeing how happy her sister is, Meredith finds herself smiling as well. She nods, "Of course you can, sweetie." She peers lovingly over at Lexie, who seems to be glowing from how ecstatic she is. And seeing that makes her realize that Mark is the reason for it - he is the one to make her younger sister light up, even in her most vulnerable time.

"How did you know you were in love with Derek?" Lexie asks, looking curiously at the older woman. She's never really dated before, and her mother passed away before she could even talk to her about what it's like to be in love. And obviously her father would be of no help in such a situation - he's too occupied drinking himself to death. So what better than to ask her older sister, who happens to be married?

Meredith laughs slightly, not too shocked by the question. And thinking back on how she met her husband, she can't help but laugh even more. "Well, I don't know - he just, every time I looked at him I could feel my heart beating faster. And no matter how many times we pushed each other away, we always wound up back together - which to me means that he's my soulmate and I am destined to be with him," she smiles, happy at the way her life turned out. She had a wonderful, loving husband, a beautiful daughter, and of course, she had Lexie.

The brunette nods, and realizes that she might be falling in love with Mark Sloan. Every time she's with him, her body becomes warm and tingly - her heart swells with love when she's near him. Dreamily sighing, she looks back up at her sister and smiles, "I think I may be in love with Mark."


That night Lexie lay in the bed unable to fall asleep. She stares up at the ceiling, worried about what tomorrow will bring. Just an hour ago, Derek Shepherd had told her that she'd be starting her first round of chemotherapy in the morning and she couldn't be any more nervous for it. It scared her to realize that not only will radiation be put through her body, but now so will poison. And it's not as if that was a guarantee to work. Her tumor could still be the size it is now in two weeks. If that's the case then her chances of surviving are slim to none.

She closes her eyes in an effort to allow sleep to overcome her, but it doesn't. Frustrated she lets out a loud grunt. Before Lexie can do anything else, she sees the door slowly open and in comes her sister. She smiles softly, at least someone will be here to keep her company during an episode of insomnia. "What're you doing here so late, Mer?" The brunette gently questions, but is beyond thankful to have her sister there with her.

Closing the door behind her, Meredith slowly approaches her sister's bed and softly looks down at her. She reaches down to lovingly stroke the other's hair, a sadness evident in her blue eyes. "Thought you could use the company, Lex. You shouldn't be alone, not your first night after such a major operation," her voice is gentle as she peers at Lexie, who can tell that there's something else that needs to be said. Sighing, the dark blonde pulls her into her arms and sits down in the chair beside the bed, "I love you so much, Lex, and I hate that I have to be the one to tell you this but I figure it might be easier coming from your sister... Derek talked to Mark earlier, and well - apparently he's been offered a position at another hospital, in New York, and he's accepted it. He said he's only taking the job because his mother lives down there and he wants to be closer to her - I'm so sorry, Lexie; I know you really like him and how happy he makes you. I'm so sorry." She hates to see the pain in her sister's eyes which only makes her hold her tighter, stroking her hair lovingly.

Lexie shakes her head furiously as tears swarm out of her eyes. Why would he take a job all the way across the country, especially after telling her that he loves her? Was that all a lie? She starts hyperventilate from how hard she's crying which causes pain to shoot through her head, and now she's holding her hands over it as she screams in agony. She felt as though her life was collapsing in on her - the one person she loved and who seemed to be the only one to help her pain will be 3,000 miles away.

"Shh, calm down Lex," Meredith softly soothes into her ear, stroking her back gently. She holds her close, rocking her back and forth in an effort to stop the pain. "It's gonna be okay, sweetie. But you have to calm down, you're gonna make yourself hurt even more," she whispers, running a gentle hand through her hair. She's angry with Mark for being the cause of the agony her sister is clearly in right now - why would he leave her, especially right after a major surgery? She shakes her head, vowing to make his life miserable up until the day he leaves for New York. "I'm here for you, Lex. I'll take care of you and help you through all of it, I promise. I love you so much - you're gonna be just fine, sweetheart." Gently, Meredith presses a kiss to the top of Lexie's head as she finally lulls her to sleep.