A Glimpse

"Meredith!" His voice became rushed, eagerly awaiting any kind of response. Wasting no time, he checked for a pulse. He was relieved when he found one. With not enough light to assess the situation, he carefully checked for broken bones and lifted her up. He brought her upstairs and placed her on the bed, turning on the light.

For a moment, he wished he hadn't. She was covered in small amounts of blood, cuts and scraps littering her body much like the trash littered the lawn. Her skirt was soiled. To his relief, it was only dirt.

"Mer?"

Still no answer.

"Meredith?"

He sighed, grateful that she was okay. He went to the bathroom and brought supplies out to clean her up a bit, opting not to put any bandages on as she would most likely want to shower in the morning. He was grateful they had the day. She was going to need it.

Mark gently covered her with a sheet and watched her sleep for awhile. When he was sure that she was still breathing and that she would be okay, he got up and turned off the light, ready to exit. He gave another look and was suddenly reminded of his college days, one in particular. His freshman year saw an unfortunate event, one where a girl down the hall from him had alcohol poisoning and no one knew it. She didn't wake up the next day.

He wasn't sure if that was his excuse or if he just wanted to lie next to her, but he was going to stick with the excuse. Addison was the only person he could be content with by just lying with; it scared him. Giving way to desire and a shell of protectiveness, he grabbed the throw blanket from her chair and lied down next to her. After a few minutes of staring, it wasn't hard to fall asleep.

Meredith woke up the next morning, greeted early by a Mr. Hammer and Mrs. Nausea. She held her hand to her head, willing the headache that only seemed to grow with her level of alertness. It was a good two minutes before she saw the pills and glass of water by her bed; it was another three before she noticed a warm body next to her.

She jumped out of bed and instantly regretted the sudden rush that encouraged the throbbing in her temples. "Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh."

Mark stirred as he turned to face her. "Well, I don't usually get that response the morning after, but I think I like it."

Meredith, still in shock, began to shake her head slowly from side to side. "No, no, no. We…this didn't happen. We couldn't. I mean, I know I was drunk, but you're his…and we're…no…right?"

Mark chuckled at her rambling. It never got old. "Grey?"

"Yeah?" she responded, still wary and confused.

He motioned to the bed, "Look at the sheets. You were under, I'm on top." He began to take of his blanket when she looked away. "Relax Grey; I'm still fully clothed, see?"

She nodded. She slowly looked at herself. "And so am I."

He chuckled, slowly rising, "Yes, and so are you. I promise," he held his hands up, "Nothing happened; well, besides you passing out at your own party."

She nodded, convinced but still trying to process what happened. She looked at her arms and legs, suddenly aware of the cuts and bruises. "Where exactly did I pass out?"

"In your rose bushes. It's a miracle you didn't take an eye out."

She took a seat at her vanity, still looking at the bed. Okay, so maybe she was looking at its occupant.

Mark got up and swung his legs over the bed, sitting down. "So, you kind of scared me last night."

"Before, or after I passed out?" she nervously chuckled.

"After; I didn't get here until everyone else was passed out or gone. You know, you could've been, you know…"

Meredith tried to search his face and gestures for the answer. After a few seconds, she got it. "Oh. Yeah; didn't think about that. Well, at least we're all okay, right?"

He ran hand through his hair, his sign of relief or frustration. Normally, he wouldn't mess up his hair. He didn't mind it at the moment; he'd already slept on it.

"Right." He smirked and got up, kissing her on the forehead. "I'm going to wash up and go make some breakfast; you need a shower."

"Gee, thanks."

"No problem."

"He's in our kitchen."

"He's in our kitchen, cooking," George added, agreeing with Izzie.

"I can hear you."

The two took some aspirin and sat at the nook, observing as if they were in the gallery watching a surgery. Amused by his audience, Mark showed off a bit, cracking the eggs effortlessly and flipping the pancakes perfectly.

Twenty minutes later, everything was done and the four were eating Mark's creation.

"I don't think I've ever seen such a round pancake," Izzie marveled, highly impressed.

Meredith giggled, "Is there anything else we should know about you?"

Mark smirked, "I think you'll just have to wait and see."

Izzie and George shared a look, observing the interaction between the two surgeons, friends, whatever.

"Umm, Grace said she'd be back after breakfast," George offered.

She took a bite of her food. "Cool. I wonder who it was with."

Another look between best friends was shared, this one of apprehension. "It, was, uh…Derek."

Meredith looked at Izzie who looked at Mark and George who all looked at Meredith as she dropped her fork.

"Uh, Mer?" Mark said, grabbing her shoulder.

A grin spread across her face. "I'm so good. It hasn't even been eight hours and they're going to breakfast!" She happily took another bite of food, receiving confused stares in the process.

"You mean you intentionally introduced them to each other?" Mark asked.

She nodded.

"Are you crazy?" Izzie inquired.

She shook her head no. They still weren't quite sure she was okay. She put down her fork.

"Look guys, Derek and I decided to be friends. Friends help each other out. Who better to hook my ex and my good friend up than me, who know each of them personally?"

George nodded, not sure if she was in denial or purely genuine; either case scared him. "Okay, if that's what you want."

Six hours, three pizzas, a gallon of ice-cream and five six-packs later, Izzie, George, Mark, Meredith, Grace, and Derek were watching the credits roll by for Dr. Strangelove.

"Okay, that was one of the best movies I've ever seen."

"I agree with George," Mark said, "definitely one to own."

Izzie shook her head, "I don't know. It was funny and entertaining, but I don't know about it being one of the best."

Derek finished his last bite of pizza, "I thought it was good."

Grace and Meredith smiled at each other. Meredith spoke first, "You have to take it into context, especially considering when it was made and the social commentary."

Grace nodded, adding, "Everyone should see it. It may not be the best, but it's definitely part of history."

Derek laughed, "Okay, those were really weak reasons as to why it's one of your favorite films."

Receiving death glares from the two women, he put his hands up.

"Okay," Grace conceded, "we just like it."

Meredith added, "it's funny. Sometimes you just need a good laugh. Plus it was the first movie we ever saw together in college. It stuck."

Mark looked at the articles they'd consume. He looked at Meredith, "How's your hangover?"

She smiled, "Non-existent. Beer and greasy food do miracles."

"Well, I better go," Mark said, attempting to stand up. Everyone had left or gone to bed. He and Meredith were watching TV.

Meredith, reluctant to give up her footrest, got up to join him. "Okay, see you tomorrow?"

He kissed her cheek. "That you will."

She closed the door and paused, quickly wiping away the grin that followed his departure.

"

A few days had passed and Mark and Meredith began to grow closer. They individually and slowly came to the realization that they could (and maybe did) like each other. Not willing to jeopardize or lose their relationship, both remained silent. They voiced their feelings to no one.

They didn't need to. Their closeness obvious to anyone with eyes raised the hospital pool to closer dates, betting that they would get together before Christina's wedding. Even Christina placed her bet.

The two had just finished lunch when Meredith was paged. Mark stayed behind as he grabbed a dessert before heading back to check on his patients.

"Who paged Debbie?"

The nurse smiled warily at Meredith. She cautiously pointed behind Meredith. Smile still in tact, Meredith turned to see the source of Debbie's silence. It was her half-sister, Lexi Grey.

Meredith's smile faded as she fought to keep it from doing so. She regained her composure and made her way to one of the beautiful offspring of her father, Thatcher, or whatever she called him. I have to get a new name for him.

"Lexi."

The woman looked just as tentative as her. "Meredith." She fidgeted for a while. "Um, is there some place we could talk?"

Meredith nodded, "Sure. Let's go to the terrace."

The woman followed Meredith to the terrace and put her purse and coat down, pacing. "There's a couple of things you need to know."

Meredith nodded. She kept telling herself that things were not going to get worse. She was wrong.

"Um, I'm sorry about, my Da-, Dad and Molly. He was just angry."

Meredith cut her off. "It's okay; he's made our relationship clear." 'Or lack thereof.'

"And, just as a heads up, so you don't think I'm doing it out of spite, I've decided to do my internship here, at Seattle Grace."

Meredith gulped, trying to find the words.

"Um, okay, that's great. Congratulations." She plastered on a smile. "Your father must be proud." It was beginning to get harder to speak. Her eyes watered. She kept them at bay.

"About him; there's one more thing. He's here."

Meredith tensed, her body not quite sure what to do next. "Oh. Well, I wouldn't mention that you spoke with me if I were you." She gave a brief nod, turning to walk away.

"No, he's here, in the hospital."

Meredith still didn't turn back. "Why?"

"He's dying."

She came to the swift realization that she just wasn't going to find those words.

A/N: Remember…it's moving along quickly! It'll be finished by mid-next week, so only about four chapter left (if that). Also, I know this is short, but since I probably won't be posting tomorrow I will post another chapter later today. It will be longer!

Imtweetybird, km157, D.D: Thank you! Hope you enjoy!

Yasmine2388, frenchnavygirl: Just a drunken fall! Lol. Yeah, Mer being 'raped' just didn't go with my story! (Plus, that stuff is really hard to write for me. People who do that are evil!)

Surgery-Girl: Hope you liked this MerMark! I'm sure you know there's more to come!

KB22: Lol…you got it! Passed out