Chapter 11:

When Hunt and Webber arrived Torres, Shepherd, Sloan, Bailey and a nurse were all in the room already.

"How is she? I just heard?" Webber whispered into Shepherd's ear, trying not to cause a huge commotion.

Derek just made a humph noise and gave a little shake of his head, not really answering but gesturing in a way that was enough to tell Richard that it wasn't too good.

Torres was adjusting Lexie's arm and examining the damage in the process. She had a real studious look upon her face. She was focused and she was dedicated. Of course, it was her best friend's soul mate as they'd say. Mark was still in a bawling stage. He'd moved from his seat so Torres could get to the injured arm and was now on the other side of the bed, sitting in the corner staring at Callie as she did her job. His face was slumped into a depressed look and he was covering his mouth with a balled first.

"Do you have a plan?" Webber asked Shepherd.

"I've got nothing. Absolutely nothing. I'm so far behind. I haven't even taken her for scans yet. I don't know what I was thinking…I wasn't. I can't think straight because I'm so stressed out and exhausted. I could be risking her permanent brain damage Richard. My own sister because I didn't work fast enough." He whispered angrily. Richard could see the guilt in his face as Shepherd turned his view from Lexie and looked Webber straight in the eyes. His face was full of disdain for himself. He was taking this on himself too much.

"Chief Hunt would you mind checking the patient please?" Derek suddenly yelled.

Hunt nodded and walked all the way into the room towards the bed at an ambling pace. He took his hands out of his pockets when he reached the bed to examine Lexie. Bailey stepped forward to help him remove the drapery from her body. He then flipped up her gown to observe the surgical wounds. He moved his hands over her abdomen feeling the incision line. He could feel a little bit of swelling, it seemed to be a bit inflamed but that was normal. What worried him was that there was some blood in the bandages. That could mean that there were post-surgical complications.

"A little swollen and pink, but that's as expected. There's some bleeding I think we should monitor that. Let's rebandage so we can tell if the bleeding continues." Hunt informed affirmatively.

"Alright, Torres you're up." Derek called out.

"The arm is still very fragile. Try not to move it at all or else it could dislocate the shoulder again. I'd like to get her elbow fixed but I don't think it'll be a problem if we wait so that she can get her strength back." Callie reported as she set a caring hand on Lexie's leg. She then moved to check the legs and her eyebrows lowered. "Bailey was…Was er foot this swollen when you last checked?"

Bailey stepped forward and took a look. "Not at all Dr. Torres."

"Dammit. It's an edema."

Lexie had been very quiet through all of this.

"How you feeling Lexie?" Derek asked.

"My…Head hur…hurts…A lot. And the room, it's like its spinning. I just feel really tired and sluggish…And I feel like…Like I'm gonna…Oh…Oh no…Ma…Mark…bucket." She covered her mouth and pointed at a pail on the side table. Mark quickly grabbed the pink, plastic pail and held it in front of her. She grabbed onto it and Mark held back her hair as she heaved into the bin. After she was done Mark moved it away. Lexie wiped her mouth and Mark handed her a small cup of water with a bendy straw. She sipped at it to get the rancid taste out of her mouth.

"We need to transport her now!" Derek said to the group of surgeons. Get her to the CT scanner and…We may even need an MRI. NOW! MOVE PEOPLE!" Derek clapped his hands to get people rolling.

Bailey , Torres and Hunt and Webber all disconnected Lexie from her machines and got the bed moving down towards the scanner. Derek stood with Mark.

"Lexie…It's me Richard Webber," Richard spoke as he put his hand on her shoulder so she could tell where he was, "Just stay with us alright. Try to stay awake. I know you're tired but try to fight through it. We're going to make you better alright?"

"Ok," She responded in a sleepy tone, her lips hanging open and her eyes half closed.

They moved the bed outside of the room and started down the hallway. Derek helped Mark walk. His emotions were still getting the best of him. His whole body was trembling. He held his hands up to his mouth and Derek could see how bad he was shaking. He was moving slowly and at one point he stopped dead in his tracks. Everyone watched them with curiosity. Most people knew them. They were attending. They were the highest power in the hospital. Mark Sloan had a different reputation around the people though. And to see him in this state was shocking to most people.

"Mark," Derek put his hand on his back. "It's ok,"

"No…No it's not," Mark cried, "Don't…Don't let her die Derek."

Derek shook his head, "I won't. I swear I won't. I'm gonna do EVERYTHING I can. EVERYTHING. And after I do everything I'll do even more. I'll do whatever it takes. She's gonna be alright. I hope she will at least. We all hope. And I really think she will though. She's got everybody's prayers…" But before Derek finish his speech to his panic-stricken friend Yang came up behind them. She grabbed a hold of Derek's wrist and said, "Hey Derek, how is she doing? I'm free to help if you need it," She said with concern and care.

"Yeah we could use you. She's getting scanned right now. You can come down if you'd like." Derek informed.

"Of course. Whatever I can do to help."

So the three walked together all the way to the scanner. Bailey, Torres, Hunt and Webber had already gotten Lexie into the device.

"Oh Shepherd!" Bailey called as she spotted him and hand-motioned him to come into the booth.

"Callie, can you come stay with Mark?" Derek called.

"Of course," She replied and walked out to sit with him.

"The results are coming up now," Bailey pointed at the screen.

Bailey handed him the x-rays right away. Yang flipped on the light board and Derek put them up to it.

He examined them for only a few seconds and then he ripped them off and threw them on the floor.

"What's wrong?" Yang asked.

"Shit," Derek muttered under his breath…."Shit," He repeated. Then his volume escalated, "SHIT!" and then Derek pushed all the stuff off the desk. It clattered to the floor making a loud ruckus, alarming everyone.

"I am an idiot. AN IDIOT," He continued yelling.

"Shepherd please," Bailey tried to calm him. He was out of breath by now and his face was beat red.

"It's a cerebral contusion. I should've known. I should have known," Derek kicked the leg of the desk now. "Book an OR now! I need to get in there and relieve the intracranial pressure before it leads to brain herniation."

Bailey picked up the phone and started dialing. Richard and Hunt moved to pull Lexie out of the machine and get her onto a stretcher.

Derek and Yang walked out as well.

"Derek what the hell's happening?" Mark stood up from where he and Torres were sitting on the floor.

"I…It's uh….She has a contusion. I'm gonna fix it right now. We're going into surgery right now."

Lexie was put on the stretcher. Her body was limp and she was only half-conscious. She opened her eyes a little though and called out, "Mark,"

Mark rushed to her side and put his hand on her forehead. She was burning up and there was a warm film of sweat clinging to her skin. "Yes. What is it Little Grey?"

"Kiss me,"

"What?"

"One last kiss,"

"No...You're not dying. There's no last ok? You're going to make it. Shepherd's gonna fix your brain okay? Don't give up," He kissed her hand as he cried.

"I know…Just for safety," She smiled. Her face was so pale and her lips were so sickly that they had a blue undertone to them. Her eyes wandered in every direction because she still couldn't see.

"Right. Just in case," He said, and so he leaned in over the stretcher and kissed her. He held her smooth cheek and kissed her. Her lips were so dry and she was too weak to give much of a kiss back so he pulled away. She smiled, looking drowsy as her eyes slowly opened and closed.

"Thank you," She whispered under her breath.

"Don't mention it," Mark smiled and laughed through his tears.

Bailey got off the phone and Derek rushed over to her. They lightly conversed about their plans for the surgery, Yang, Torres and Hunt all joining in.

"I might as well fix the arm while I'm in there," Torres announced.

Mark knelt down beside Lexie, holding her hand.

"I'll be waiting for you Lexie. I'll be right outside the OR when you come out of your surgery. So you'd better not die on me,"

She gave a grin as a response but she could barely stay awake. Mark's voice seemed so far away even though he was right next to her. And her head. God her head hurt so badly. It was like a migraine times ten. Her ears were ringing and it felt like someone was squeezing her head together. Suddenly Lexie's eyes widened. Mark lifted his head and watched her carefully. She suddenly looked confused. She turned her head to the side and then said, "Where…I…can't see anything. Who turned off the lights?"

"Lexie?" Mark tried to calm her.

"Huh...Reee…Yaaa," She made gibberish sounds as she looked at Mark. Her eyes were as wide as a horse's. And she was breathing so heavily that Mark could see the rapid rising and falling of her chest. She was starting to hyperventilate when suddenly she gave a weird twitch and then her eyes rolled back and she was shaking. No she as convulsing. Her arms and legs and neck. Everywhere. She was having a seizure. Mark tried to hold her body down. She was making weird gasping noises with each convulsion.

"Shepherd! She's seizing," Mark screamed turning around to call for help from the surgeons having a chit-chat circle.

As they all saw what was going on all hell broke leash. Everyone ran to the stretcher yelling, screaming, bickering and trying to all work at the same time.

Suddenly Lexie lurched forward and then fell back. Her eyes closed and her mouth hung open.

"Oh god she's crashing!" Callie screamed as she pushed Mark away to get to her.

"Get a crash cart here now!" Bailey exclaimed a command into the air. A nearby nurse answered to her request thankfully.

"Oh god the wound is opening. She's started to bleed. I need gauze to stop it." Hunt then informed. The crash cart was brought and ready. Derek brought it closer. Hunt grabbed the paddles. They rolled her onto her side, put the board down and charged the defibrillator.

"Hands off," Derek called out. Everyone took a step back and kept their hands up. Hunt put the paddles onto her and released the charge. The shock lifted Lexie's small body up entirely.

"I've got a heartbeat," He announced. That was good, it only took one shock, that meant wasn' too weak. She could've just crashed from the seizure.

Everyone gave a laugh of hysteria from happiness that she was stabile again. Mark stood behind them all, staring madly as he put his hands on the top of his head.

"Let's move now. OR 4, go!" Derek screeched above the noise level. Callie grabbed Mark, who was in a complete daze and literally pulled him with her to get him to move. Everyone else grabbed onto the stretcher and pushed her towards their destination. IT was only a matter of time now. They had to work fast if they wanted to keep this girl alive.