Chapter 14: Everything will be alright
Cristina didn't want to do this. She wasn't generally a very comforting person. She was more of a suck it up you loser kind of person when it came to it. She didn't like conversations about feelings and she really didn't like handling other people's emotions, especially those of people who weren't her friends. And Mark Sloan…Mark Sloan was not a man she considered her friend. Sure they were colleagues, he was Derek's best friend and he had been in a relationship with Lexie but that did not make them anywhere close to be friends. But unfortunately this was not the time for her to be thinking about herself. She had to for once put herself aside and think about someone else. Mark was hurting right now and he needed a friend to be at his side…To help him through this and to show him that things will turn out okay. Since all of his closest friends were busy trying to save Lexie's life she would have to suffice.
She entered the gallery and saw him. He was now sitting down again, anxiously watching the surgery while resting his chin in his hands. He was very shaky and you could automatically see how nervous he was. He was rocking back and forth slightly and had a slouched over posture. He looked extremely exhausted and his emotions were out of control.
Cristina stepped in and sat beside him, not saying anything, not even looking at him. She wanted him to make the first move. And he did. He turned his view a smidge to acknowledge her presence and almost immediately started crying.
Cristina patted and rubbed his back to provide some sympathy and care to the wreck of a man who was hunched over even more now, covering his face in his hands.
"It's okay. Let it out. You don't need to hold it in. Don't be afraid to cry. All of us have been crying today. No one is judging you for showing your emotions because it just means that you deeply care about her…And we all knew that already." Cristina coaxed.
Mark lifted his head. His eyes red and puffy from the stinging tears and his mouth slowly quivering with his words, "Yang…She's the love of my life. I've tried…I've tried to not love her but it just doesn't work. I wanted to let her go this time so that she could be with a better man who'd treat her right and wouldn't go knocking up his best friend….A man like Avery. He was good for her. I just wanted her to be happy…Without me. Because I don't make her happy, I just keep making her more and more miserable. I want her to be free from me but I made her love me so much that now she can't be with anyone else. And I don't want to be with anyone else either but she deserves more, so I let her go and she just keeps coming back. Like when you try to let your dog lose, and he shows up at your porch the next morning, wagging his tail and barking for you to let him inside. But now…Now she…She might die. I mean she could really die. I could lose her for good," Mark started to cry so hard that he couldn't keep speaking.
Cristina then grabbed him in a big hug. He rested on her shoulder and wept as squeezed him tight and patted his back. "Shepherd is great at what he does…He's not going to let her slip away. He has to make her better….Has to. And you better know that you are a good guy. Don't underestimate yourself and don't make these assumptions that you aren't right for her and that you aren't what she needs. She needs you. She can't function right without you. She broke up with Jackson because you were all she could think of, and Jackson knew that so he dumped her. She never stopped loving you. You are a part of her. She can't get rid of that part. She got angry and scared so she walked away. You shouldn't hold her hostage to that though because she feels bad. Really bad. She feels stupid for ever doing it because she's right back to where she started, living with the fact that she can't have you and loving you silently every single day wondering if you felt the same. She still wants to be with you. But she doesn't what to break-up what you and Julia have. She wouldn't admit it but…She'd give up everything for you."
Mark looked into Cristina's eyes. He could tell that she really meant what she had just said.
"C'mon, they'll be finished with the surgery soon. Let's go down so we can be there waiting for her when they bring her out." Cristina coaxed some more, standing up and holding out her hand for him to take so she could help him up. He reached out and took the offer and Cristina pulled him up to his feet. She put her arm on his back as they walked and continued to talk.
"Everything will be alright. I know that a lot of people have been saying that but I mean it." Cristina assured.
(Expect some pretty sweet action in the next chapter involving Thatcher and Mark. I bet you can guess what'll go down )