Yay! Congrats guys! i somehow found internet and managed to get my story loaded and everything just because i was so excited to know what you thought of this chapter! i really like it so i was hoping you did too. Sorry if the formats screwy, i didnt have my nice microsoft, i had to type on a crummy notepad thingy on my laptop so it might not come out as nicely as the past chapters. Anyways, dont expect me to update a lot more lately because im still on vaca and dont have a good source but its very possible that i may again sometime! lol i cant live without my internet. i succesfully talked my parents into paying for a week of wifi:) Anyways heres your early present...i made it an extra long chapter just for all of you guys out there so please please leave reviews so i can read them off my email and feel good about myself:) cos im in hell here without my normal schedule (im not a good traveller) so this chapter is kinda split into three different parts because it jumps from chapters so it just made sense that way. alrighty! enjoy and thanks so much for your kindness so far! ;) oh and just tell me if theres any errors that dont make sense in the chapter and ill try and fix them
Chapter 16: Don't press your Luck
Mark went to the only place in the building right now that he could think of where he could be safe and wait for Lexie to be brought back at the same time...Her hospital room. It was completely empty now. Not a soul was inside the room. he snuck in and turned on the lights, making sure no one passing by saw him. He didn't want to draw any unwanted attention right now. He huddled into the corner between a chair and the sidetable which usually sits next to the hospital bed, but right now since the bed had been removed to rush Lexie to the scanner it stood alone. Mark crouched as much as he possibly could to hide himself in the little space. He curled into a ball with his legs pulled close to his chest and his head resting ontop of his knees as his mind flashed about a thousand different thoughts through his head. He wished he could shut his brain off and stop thinking so much. He just wanted the [ain to go away. He didn't know how many more friends and family members he could lose or come close to losing before he'd go mad. Well he was already mad. A sane and calm person doesn't just go and attack a bunch of people now do they? Not only could he feel the emotional pain though. He started to feel the throbbing in his hand and face as his body began to relax and the adrenaline wore off. Why the hell did I do that? He'd wondered. But then again it felt so good to beat up Thatcher that he almost didn't feel bad about the other guys. He'd lost it. He just lashed out from the anger and sadness that was overcoming him. I mean,it happens to the best of people right?
The sonofabitch should not have been up there; he should've been chained to the bed like the animal he was. Then again could he really be one to talk. He did go crazy and beat up three people and then flee the scene like a little baby. Would they understand his predicament though? Or would he be treeated like anyone else and be locked up in jail? He really hoped not. He wanted to be there for Lexie right now. From start to finish. He needed to be there for her to help her recover. After all she'd always been there for him in the past. She comforted him when Callie and Arizona had gotten in the car crash. even though she'd been dating Jackson at the time. She set it all aside to take care of him. Shouldn't he do the same? Because right now she was the one who was physically hurt. Which made it even worse. He felt even more need to help her. He just hoped for his life that no one would be pressing charges against him. He'd hurt them pretty bad so he woudn't be surprised if they did. He knew that he for sure broke one of the guys noses. The heavier white guy in his late twenties to early thirties. As for the tough black guy who was atleast an inch taller than him, he'd actually made cry and rock back and forth on the ground like a little kid who'd just fallen and scraped theeir knee. He'd really gotten him with the jab to the stomach. And Thatcher...He'd given the grand slam to. He'd definately given him a black eye and probably fracturing his cheek bone and broke open his lip. All he could remember was that there was a lot of blood. And then he saw the job he'd done. Thatcher's face had instantly swelled up like a balloon and was extremely red and bruised just from his slaps and punches. But it all happened so fast that he couldn't really recall all of the details.
He wondered if he should come out of hiding and apologize. But if he did would the cops be there on the spot waiting to cuff him and drag him away? He couldn't risk it. He couldn't risk not getting to see Lexie atleast one more time to know whether she was alive or not. He hated this. He didn't feel himself/ His mind didn't feel like his own. It felt like the mind of some mental patient down in the psych was really getting overwhelmed again nnow. His emotions and feelings were overpowering his body once again. He started to shake, and sweat but yet he had the chills, he was lightly hyperventilating as his breaths came in harsh wheezes. Hot tears streamed down his face as he tried to stay calm but it wasn't working the slightest bit. It felt like he was having a panic attack. Maybe he was. It was very possible with all the stress he was in right now. He needed help, but his legs wouldn't move. It was like his brain didn't have control over them anymore. They just stayed where they were, stiff and trembling. Luckily Meredith had very good timing though. She came running into the room. expecting Lexie to be there she called out her name but came to an abrupt hault as she realized that no one was in here. She was about to turn the other direction and sprint to find where her sister was when she heard a gasp of breath, almost like a cry, coming from under the chair. She stepped closer observing carefully to uncover what the mysterious noise was. It was then that she discovered what the curious sound was coming from. It was Mark Sloan. It didn't exactly look like Mark Sloan. It even took her a moment for it to click that it indeed was him. What was hiding under the chair looked more like a scared and frantic little boy. He was pulled into a ball to make him looked even smaller in fact. This was a sad sight to see. It shocked Meredith beyond comprehension. This guy, the guy with the awful reputation. The so-called 'man whore' with the tough guy, hard, grew up without a real family kind of guy was now huddled in a corner sobbing his eyes out over...a girl. A girl who he wasn't even with anymore and a girl who happened to be Meredith's sister. Thid was really the first time that Meredith had seen him so unrecognizable. Sure there were other moments that made her think different of him in a good way too but this...This was just extraordinarily mind-blowing to her. When Callie had almost died Mark was sad of course and he was scared and he cried...But he mostly kept it together and still held his asshole, man-whorish reputation. But now...That was completely disintegrating away before her very eyes. He looked so...Weak and wimpy and scared and fragile. He was too depressed maybe.
He looked nothing like Meredith knew him by. This was definately not easy on him. He was already getting a dirty stubble from a day without shaving. He looked grimey and grizzly. His eyes lacked personality and only showed sadness and pain in a glazed over gaze. His posture lagged and his shoulders were slouched down. His hair was messy and unkempt. His cheeks looked more sunken in than normal giving his face a general thin appearance. He just looked like a mess. A total wreck. The pallor of his skin was a waxy grey. Had he eaten or drank anything lately? She wondered. Cos it looked as if he'd dropped ten pounds in just 24 hours.
"Oh...Mark," Meredith said, surprised to see him here sitting all alone when Lexie wasn't even in the room. Suddenly she got a horrible feeling in the pit of her stomach. Had she...Died? Was that why Mark looked so sad and was sitting all by himself, crying? "What are you doing here? Oh...Oh God...Lexie, is she still in surgery?
Is she alright, Mark?"
"Yeah," Was all he said, not really answering her multiple questions clearly. He must be depressed. His head was still hung over, looking down aat the ground. He didn't even lift it to look up at the sound of Meredith's presence. He just kept his gaze on the tiled floor. It wasn't until Meredith walked closer that she noticed the many oozing, bloody cuts markig up his face and the huge blood stains covering his shirt and coating his arms and hands. Holy crap what happened to him? She wondered at first,
then she spoke up in a concerned and shocked, curious voice, "What the hell happened to you Mark?"
Mark moved his eyes a little to look at his shirt. He lifted it from his chest a little to get a better look at all of the dark crimson blood coagulating one of his favorite shirts. Ah screw the shirt, he thought to himself, You can get another shirt but you can't get another Lexie. "Not all of it's mine. Actually the majority of it isn't." He answered completely leaving out the whole rising action and climax to the story and skipping straight to the resolution without explaining what actually went down to cause the blood to be there. Meredith moved even closer to him, pushed away the chair just a sidge to the right and plopped down next to him. Mark realized that Meredith needed a little bit more background information to understand so he tried to further explain but he didn't to go through the full thing again...Nor did he even really know the full story so he made it short and sweet, getting straight to the point, "I...Well it's...complicated but your Dad showed up unexpectedly by Lexie's OR when me and Yang were walking by and I...
guess i just couldn't control myself. I lashed out ant him and beat up the two guards watching him in the process as well. Long story short, I fled the scene and i've been hiding here ever since. I'm afraid they'll arrest me...For assault or something. I can't go to jail right now...I have to be here for Lexie...I still love her Meredith. So much. It hurts sometimes. Being with Julia, i thought that would make it easier...I thought i wouldn't have such strong feelings for Lexie anymore but they've gotten even worse." He spoke from his heart with Meredith squeezing his shoulder sympathetically, listening intently to him and actually caring about the things he was saying, "I just went through this last year with Callie and my own kid...But i...I hate to...No i can't. I hate to admit this...I...i think i'm more scared right now. I think i care ven more right now. It's messed up i know. I can't explain it...i just do," He finished crying with each of the painful words coming from his mouth.
"You love her Mark. Don't feel bad about caring. Don't feel bad about loving her. Don't feel bad about choosing her over someone else. Because if it came to it...i would choose Derek. I might even chose him over Cristina. I probably would. And in my opinion Lexie, she's the best thing that could've ever happened to you. And i could see it...
I could see how she changed you so much...In so many different ways. She made you a better man. And i velieve she made you want to become a better man. You wanted to change for her. I don't think she realized then just how much you wanted to change for her. You wanted to have a marriage, and a family and a life with her. She wants those things too. I'm sure. She just was young and oblivious and she wasn't ready. But she's growing up. She's becoming a woman. She's not a little girl anymore. She's gonna be thirty and she might think that she's still too young...but she's not. Life is short. It is. I know it best. I've seen so much death in my life. Sometimes its hard to get a grip on whats reality and whats just pretend, but us surgeons we know it at hand. Because we dealwith reality every day. We try to beat the odds but they're odds for a reason. Because they do happen...a lot. More than we'd like. But we've come to face that people die...All the time. They git sick, or they get hit by a bus or they or they just grow too old. Life isn't forever, it has to end sometime. And we can prolong that...But we can't stop it." Meredith went on with a long and probably pointless speech to try and open Mark's eyes.
"She's your sister, how are you holding up?" Mark inquired, avoiding just about everything meredith said and trying to change the subject, as he turned and looked at Meredith.
"Better than you i guess," She offered as an answer, "But i'm scared too. And i feel guilty...A little shallow too." Mark made a strange face which told Meredith that she needed to elaborate for him to understand what she meant. "When she first came to Seattle grace i hate her...For no good reason other than the fact that she was my father's biological daughter. I resented her for being the daughter that he chose to stay with and have a long, happy perfect family with you know? But i mean...Now look at the situation. She's lying on an operating table because our father hit her with a bottle...And if i were the daughter he'd chose... That could've been me. And all this time i'd wished that i could go back and make my dad stay but would it have just turned out with him assaulting me instead in return? It just makes me feel guilty. And i still feel guilt for being so mean to her when we first met. I tried so hard not to like her but she was just too damned good at changing my mind about her. She'd always come and say something corny that eventually won me over. Like...She told me these five little things. She said something about hating apples, and liking math, playing the trombone, being amazing at an etch-a-sketch. And at the end she said...So thats five things that i hope will make it harder for you to hate me. It was those little thingsthat really made me like 's such a sweet girl. I love her dearly now. I'd do anything to keep her here. i don't want to lose her now. She's my friend now. We have a relationship that i always hoped to have with my 'hypothetical sister that i dreamed of growing up. I would take a bullet for that girl...And i almost did. Well for all of them...The Chief, Derek, Cristina, Avery, Hunt, April. I tried to keep them from all getting shot by Gary Clark. He was there to specifically kill Derek, Webber and Lexie for killing his wife. But i offered my life, i volunteered for him to shoot me instead so i could save them all. its just scary...She could've died that day too. Coming face to face with Clark like that...If the SWAT guy hadn't been there to shoot Gary Clark she'd probably gotten shot too."
"What?" Mark suddenly came to life and asked with a hint off anger and confusion and hurt in his face.
"Wha... You didn't know? Lexie never told you?" Meredith asked.
"No...She never said a thing. It was when she went out to get the supplies for Karev? My God. I can't believe..."
"I'm sorry i thought you knew. I thought she would've already told you before...Maybe she was trying to protect you," Meredith apologized.
"I just can't chose. i can't decide Meredith. My heart...it screams Lexie, it tells me to be with here but then my head keeps getting in the way and itsays that i need to let her go once and for all, so she can be free from me to find a better man who'll treat her right and make her unconventionally happy. A guy that won't hurt her as much as i have,"
Mark expressed his feelings on the topic.
"What makes you think you aren't that man?" "I've just hurt her so many times. I don't want to do that to her anymore. I don't want her to be driven crazy by me everyday to the point where she can't have normal relationships with other guys. To the point where she has to cry herself to sleep at night. To the point where she can't focus on her work when i'm around. I can't have shouldn't have to give up her dream life to settle for a guy like me. I'm already complicated enough. She doesn't need that in her life,"
"How would being with the man she loves be settling? She loves you...You love her. Isn't that all that should matter?" Meredith said, sounding rather sophisticated and smart.
"We just never work out together. I always have to screw it up for us. I pushed her too fast. I tried too hard. And i keep having illegitimate children popping up on me. How can i be the better man when i'm such a horrible person...I was horrible to her. I left her behind. I made her feel like she was nothing. I chose Sloane Sloan over her. Why the hell did i do that? The girl didn't even like me. And then she wouldn't even let me adopt my own grandson. I wish i could re-write my life and change all the mistakes i've made. It'd take a lot of ink to fix all the errors i have made." He said sadly.
"You tried to be a good Dad and so what. Sure that was a mistake but how could you have known. You had paternal instincts on the brain...Don't beat yourself up about that. It's in the past...it's over. And Lexie...She loves you anyways. Even after all those things. She'll never stop loving you either. Why go on with life being apart and worrying about silly things and doubts when you could be together and forget about the rest...And just be happy." Meredith tried to give him his answer as she backed it up with a gentle and playful bump to the shoulder to cheer him up and reassure him. he gave her a little smile and stretched his legs out, laying them flat on the cold ground now.
There was an awkward pause of silence between the two where all that could be heard was eachother's breathing and the ocassionally ring of the telephone or voice of a person passing by the room they were in. Meredith turned away from gazzing out the opened door and went back to staring into Mark's blue eyes. "Now...How about we get those nasty cuts of yours cleaned up so that you can look nice when they bring Lexie back?" She put her hand ontop of his which were laying in his lap and gave him a grin. He smiled once again and agreed. So Meredith got up and went to find a supply closest so that she could get him stitched up on her own and keep him away from everyone else until he got to see Lexie again.
************************
"Ow dammit!" one of the guards, which was the tall and tough bad-ass looking black man who originally came from the Bronx before he'd moved out west cried out with a lingering New York accent as Richard Webber injected the long needle was into the cut on his face which had been put there by Mark Sloan.
"Sorry," Webber apologized, "It hurts now but you'll be crying tears of joy when you have no permanent damage done to your face tissue. I probably don't have the most gentle hands for this job either, it's just that our head of Plastics happens to be the man who gave you these battle wounds so i can't exactly call him to handle you guys,"
"That damned sonofabitch is toast. Once i get my hands on him i swear to God...He'll be sorry he ever did this to me. I've been a security guard sixteen years now. Ever since i was twenty years old...not once did someone disrespect me in such a way. Even back when i lived in New York." He rambled angrily, feeling more defeated and embarassed than anything.
"Atleast you didn't get fricking Hulk smashed in the nose!" The other guy, a blond and hefty twenty something year old lifted his head up from laying back on the stretcher and removed the gauze pad from his nose to talk. Then he plopped back down, grunting and making a loud noise from his weight.
"Really...never? Not even a little bit? You mean to tell me some boys never roughed you up on the streets of the Bronx? You were awful lucky then." Richard said sarcastically not believing that he was telling the truth.
"Sure...A little bit but i worked there when i was young. Only for the first three years of my career. I've been here ever since...And while i was here the worst i ever got was a loogie spat at me by some cranky old woman." He answered. Webber gave a chuckle of laughter, as did the guard.
"its true," He finished, "And it was wwhen i was twenty five. I still had my big frizzy afro before i turned to the shaved look that i have now," He smoothed down his nearly hairless head that just had a small layer of fuzzy hair.
Just then Chief Hunt began walking towards them. "Hey Richard...They're transporting Lexie from the surgical room just about now. I left a little early when Shepherd and Torres were finishing things up because a scrub nurse came in to warn me about...a fight that went down outside of the OR? Is that correct...What happened? She said Mark Sloan and you and Cristina were there for sure." He walked up to Richard and said.
Cristina looked up from bandaging the blond guy's nose at the sound of her name.
"Who are the patients?" Hunt asked. "What is their connection? Why the heck would Mark want to hurt them? I don't think i understand," Hunt said in confusion trying to gather the information he was lacking.
"Patients are Melvin Brickman, 36 year old African American male , and Ronald Burk, 28 year old caucasian male. They were both the guards in charge of watching Thatcher because the police officers couldn't sit around and wait any longer so they left it to them. Thatcher got the worst of it. I already finished cleaning him up, he's behind the curtain." Richard informed.
"Well where the hell is Mark then?" Hunt demanded.
Both Richard and Cristina were silent. Richard clenched his jaw and gathered his thoughts, forcing the strength to come out with it, "We don't know. He took off after he attacked the three gentlemen. We haven't seen him since. No one has. We have people looking out for him. His under our radar right now. I think he got scared after realizing what he did and he's probably staying down low right now...he doesn't want to get into trouble...he just wants to see Lexie," Webber concluded.
"he probably found a clueless nurse to take advantage of so he could get his lacerations stitched up," Cristina said rather heartlessly, but meaning it as a joke.
"What was that dudes problem anyways?" Ronald, or 'Ronnie" as he'd asked to be called suddenly asked. "I get that he was angry but why'd he take it out on us?"
Both Hunt, Webber and Cristina stopped to look at him. "he almost lost his...person," Cristina said. "She's not his girlfriend anymore but he still loves her and all that sappy crap that would make a killer romance movie. They're soulmates or whatever and now she's half dead and he was feeling really terrible and guilty and mega depressed and that all turned to anger so he beat the living crap outta you to make himself feel better," Yang announced in her usual sarcastic tone and gave a fake smile to the guy.
"Not exactly but she basically got it right." Webber corrected,"He almost lost the love of his life to that fool you were watching over so he wanted revenge but you two got in the way so he took it out on you too. He just snapped. It happens to the best of us. It wasn't his fault. He's proabbly very sorry he did it though,"
"Well isn't that great. I'm glad you think that," Melvin suddenly changed his state of mind and tone to one of anger, "But honestly i don't care what you think. I care about that asshole jumping on top of me and almost killing me. What makes you think he's sorry? Because to me, i think he's sitting real comfy somewhere in this hospital maniacally laughing about how he got to beat some guys to a pulp."
Cristina gave him a weird disgustful glare before walking away to finish charts sos he could go see Lexie and find Meredith. Hunt was also about to leave but first he said, "I'm going to go see how Lexie is doing now, you wanna come with me?" To Webber, who was still staring hatefully at the patient.
"yeah...i don't think i can stay here much longer without pulling a Mark Sloan," The former Chief said, making a reference to Mark attacking the guys. As he turned to walk with Hunt.
Melvin screamed after him, "He assaulted me! That is against the law and I will be pressing charges!"
"Don't press your luck!" Webber fired back without even facing the man and stormed off with Hunt to go see Lexie.
Derek, Callie, Bailey and a few other people from the surgical team slowly and very carefully pushed Lexie's bed back into the room as to not disturb and awake the patient by a harsh, bumpy transport. All of them were startled to see Meredith and Mark already inside the room. They both looked up as Derek whispered, "Mark...What the?" inquiring about the fact that he was beat up, bloody and bruised and Meredith was stitching up his hand. There was a mess of supllies around the floor from Meredith trying her best to fix him up on her own. He was sitting in one of the chairs that were next to where Lexie's bed had once been, as Meredith kneeled beside him and stitched carefully on his good, surgery hand as they called. Without that hand working properly he'd be useless as a surgeon.
Mark didn't look like he wanted to talk. At first he opened his mouth to speak but then closed it again and looked back down at his hand as Meredith finished off her stitch. "He got into a little miunderstanding with Thatcher and two other guys," Meredith answered for Mark,purposely leaving out most of the details and understating the events of the entire ordeal.
"Oh God Mark, what did you do now?' Derek inquired with feeling as he stepped away form the bed, and let the others handle moving her inside, so that he could speak to the two of them. Mark completely ignored this remark from Shepherd as well. there were other things on his mind. As they wheeled Lexie in Mark abruptly stood from the seat, making a loud screech with the chair legs. She was alive. That was enough for him right now. It was assuring enough to him to bring a small ounce of joy to relieve his heart attack and overabundant misery. He didn't even let Meredith finish cleaning his injuries before he was back at Lexie's side. He was as faithful to her as a hound dog.
"How about we save the small talk for later?" Meredith said to Derek from her kneeling position on the floor.
Derek nodded and then turned to watch them reattach Lexie to all of her machines. Mark already holding her hand again, crying more joyful tears then before but still he was worried...She might not make it just because she survived the surgery. He knew that. He ever so gently ran his fingers over the large gauze wrap covering her incision spot on her head. This triggered the waterfalls for him.
Derek, Bailey and Torres then proceeded to take a step back and remain a respectable distance so they could let Mark and Merdith get the first chance to be with her. As Meredith walked to her sister and slumped down next to Mark, rubbing her sister's leg and conversing ligthly with Mark, Derek observed from the doorway where he Bailey and Torres were all standing in a row. He knew this moment wouldn't last. When she woke up...If she woke up, it wouldn't be this simple. Their lives were all about to get exponentially harder now...
"I wasn't quick enough," Derek said out loud, but only loud enough for the two women standing next to him to hear. "I didn't move quick enough...I waited too long to get to the scans.I don't know where my mind was. It's like i didn't think at all this whole time. All of my decisions were wrong and stupid. I should have rushed things. I should have opened her up a long time ago. i could've risked her any number of things. Permanent vision or hearing loss...She's already had seizures. I mean what the hell was I doing today? I didn't do anything right, i didn't act like a surgeon...i acted like a scared brother...Which i am but i should've have showed it in my work...In all honesty...The brain could've been compromised."
Both Bailey and Callie gave him the 'raised eyebrow' look. But Callie let Bailey do the talking first, "You didn't do anything wrong Shepherd okay...You were scared...And tired...We all are. It's been a long day for us and we stayed past our shifts for this which makes us even more tired. You slipped up, but you didn't kill her... You saved that girl. She's gonna wake up. We all know it. Making mistakes is a human thing Derek. Just remember that. You weren't prepared for this...None of us could've been. You did the best you could..." She assured his self-image and gave him a pat on the back to comfort him for feeling weak as a surgeon and worrying about Lexie's state of being.
"Yeah and sometimes your best isn't enough but with you Shepherd... i don't think so. Your worst is enough to save a patient. You're really good at what you do. You're good enough to correct a little intracranial pressure, come on now." Callie said in a high voice.
"I don't think you understand...That's my sister-in-law right there in that bed," Shepherd suddenly turned his calm mood to one of anger, but still stayed relatively quiet as he spoke his rage. "That girl right there is the only contact my wife has with her own biological family. Lexie is special. She has helped Meredith in ways that Meredith hasn't even realized. She's weakened the commitment and family issues that Meredith had before. She has contributed to bringing Meredith out of her dark stage. She has made Meredith learn how to love because she does love Lexie. I can see it. She cares very deeply about that girl. Not only is she that though, she's also my best-friends ex-girlfriend...Whom he obviously still loves. If we lose her they'll...I don't even know, but they'll be devastated and heartbroken. I can't let that happen. I like her. I enjoy being around her. SHe's a fun and light person. She's easy to talk to. She was a promising student. I had hoped to train her to major in neurosurgery. Now she's the one needeing neurosurgery. She's beyond smart; dedicated, hard-working, sympathetic and caring. She's perfect for neuro. I hadn't told her anything yet because i didn't want her getting cocky...Now, she might never get the chance. She might not come out of this her normal self. Everyone is depending on me. Do you know how many people are depending on me to make her better?"
Derek then turned from looking at Mark, Meredith and the unconscious form of Lexie to look Miranda in the eyes.
"Ok lets try to think positively here Shepherd," Callie butted in with her bosy and firm hand, "Negativity is the last thing we need here. Yes we're all scared. This is very scary but she's alive. We'll just have to take that for now and have something to be thankful for because that girl is still alive, she isn't dead yet so stop acting like she is and think some damned positive thoughts.
She's going to wake up and she's going to come out of this fine, okay? This is just the stress talking for you Derek. You're just stressing out,"
"Of course i'm stressing out," Derek cut into her sentence, "Just like how we were all stressing out over you when you were in the same position. Don't tell me to think something that isn't true. There is no positive side to this story Torres." Derek said sounding extremely selfish.
"Ok Shepherd we need to step out. You're getting loud. We don't want to disturb them. C'mon." Torres lead, pushing Derek towards the doorway.
"No...I'm fine. I'm sorry. Its just...Where the hell are Webber and Hunt...And Yang?" Derek replied, barely listening to what she was saying and avoiding her suggestion.
"I'm not sure." Callied answered him, "They all stepped out during the surgery. Didn't you notice? I think there was a problem in the pit or ER or something that they all needed to help handle. That's not important right now though. Let's go in the hallway and finish. We don't want to wake Lexie before she's ready," Callie said very caring and gently, almost motherly. "She needs all the rest she can get so her brain can heal Shepherd. You know that." Bailey added.
"I know but Meredith needs Yang in here. I think she'd be better if Cristina was with here right now. They're eachothers person or something. They work out their problems together."
Callie looked gingerly at both Mark and Meredith who were still sitting next to eachother. Then she responded to Shepherd with a smile, "I think she's just fine with who she's got,"
Derek finally realized it too. He returned her smile with a hint of laughter as he watched the two bonding over their hurt loved one. They'd always gotten along but they'd never really gotten to know each other much so they'd never become good friends. Now they looked as if they'd been BFFs all their life. They were comforting each other and talking through their tears. It was a sight to see. "They make a good support system for each other," Derek admitted.
Shepherd finally gave in and whirled around on his heels to exit the room. Torres and Bailey automatically followed to do the same thing but Shepherd was suddenly stopped by a raving Richard Webber. He appeared out of no where and stopped right on top of Derek so that he couldn't even move one step forward without running into the man. Richard looked insane. There was a light glaze of sweat shining on his forehead. He was all jumpy and rambunctious; his eyes moving in every which direction as if he were searching for someone. His voice come out at 100 mph, "How is she doing? Is she awake yet? How's Meredith too? Is she doing okay with all this? I had to leave the surgery so suddenly that i wasn't sure if it turned out okay. Is everything good? You got everything covered right?" He questioned so many different things at once that it overwhelmed Derek and he couldn't even get an answer out.
He kept his dreary look on as he responded with a calmly stated, " No she hasn't woken up. it'll take some time. We just transported her here a few minutes ago... The surgery was a success but there's no way of telling if it completely corrected everything until she gets up again. Now..keep calm, i know you're freaking out, i just was too. Can you lower your voice?"
"Of course. Sorry. I'm just not myself lately. This is just adding to it." Webber apologized empathetically. But as Webber looked past Shepherd into the room through the window he immediately stopped his sentence and the three watched as his face dropped into a frown. Callie and Bailey had stepped off to the side where Hunt had joined them as he casually walked up without saying anything and stood.
"Is that Mark Sloan in there?" Webber yelled with frustration.
He didn't even wait for an answer before pushing his way past Derek to get inside the room. "Mark, what the hell are you doing in here? Hiding? Did you think you could just hide and it would make all of your problems go away? well it won't. I've got a very angry injured man down in the ER ready to press charges against you. Now, do you really want that? I would think you'd rather stay here with Lexie but if you want to be a damned fool then go right ahead but i thought I'd be the better man because i didn't want to see your sorry-ass thrown in jail for this. I have the whole hospital searching for you. I've been trying to get to you before the police could. If i don't fix this problem soon that man will for sure be calling them on you. And I understand your pain right now so I want to help you but you can't even help yourself."
Mark watched Webber as he ranted angrily and held back his anger. He held in the frustration he felt momentarily because of this man and just took it. He took everything that Richard had to say without interrupting. He didn't let a single word slip past his lips until Webber finished talking. Meredith stood behind Mark moving her eyes from one person to the next with a disturbed facial expression.
"I was gonna come find you. I swear. I just needed to see her first is all. I needed to hold her hand again and know that she was alright before i faced the consequences for my actions." Mark answered apologetically to explain himself.
Derek came stomping into the room with his angry face on and yelled at Webber, "Richard get out of this room right now. Don't you dare disturb my patient who is trying to recover and her loved ones that are trying to cope with this. If you can't handle yourself then get the hell out and don't come back,"
Richard looked defeated and didn't reply to Shepherd. Instead he put his hands on his hips and looked around the room while biting his lip. Then he turned back to Mark and said in a less audible tone than before, "You'd better follow me. I was just trying to help you out. You dug your own grave, now you can lay down in it or you can cover it up. Make your choice. But your time is limited so make it fast Sloan. I'm tired of the things you people put me through." He then pushed his way back out of the room, walking through Hunt, Torres and Bailey who'd gathered in the doorway to left without even waiting for Mark or giving him a chance to catch up with him. He just expected him to go with him. He knew that it would be the right decision. But Mark didn't want to follow him. He didn't want to leave Lexie's beside. Especially not right now. He didn't want to be away from her in case something happened. What is she woke up while he was away? Or even worse...What if she were to...Die? He pushed all the overwhelming thoughts out of his head and stood up, unsteadily from the nerves that were making his body shake.
Meredith helped him the best she could and walked him to the door, both avoiding the eye contact of their colleagues as they walked past them. Mark stopped Meredith as soon as they were outside and held her by her shoulders to keep her from moving anymore. "Wait," He said and then looked up at her from down on the grounf where his eyes had previously been glancing. "Stay here. Lexie needs atleast one of us to be with her right now...i wish it could be me but since it can't you have to. But please,
if she wakes up...The second she does send someone to get me RIGHT AWAY, ok?"
"Yes...Okay. Of course,: Meredith confirmed. Mark let go of her arms but Meredith stood in the same position like a statue. Derek walked out and squeezed her shoulder to help relieve her tension. But before Mark could leave Meredith called after him to wait. She ran up to him and hugged him. They held each other in a consoling embrace for a moment and Meredith whispered, "Good luck." into his ear. He closed his eyes and thanked her.
Then Hunt walked up to Mark andwhispered to him, "The patient is Melivin Brickman. He's the tough-looking guy originally from Brooklyn or somewher in New York. He'll be a challenge. He's pretty stubborn and seemed a little heartless. In the ER, bed 12. Cristina should still be there if you need extra help. Good luck Mark."He gently slapped his shoulderblade and then returned to his place inside the room. Callie and Bailey both gave Mark reassuring nods from the doorway and Callie even offered a warming smile. Mark exhaled and then sucked in a deep breath, swiveled around and began his journey in the other direction,
END OF CHAPT. 16
expectations for the next chapter: Well of course there will be Mar's big showdown with the stubborn guard. Will he be able to talk himself out of this one though? or will he spend his night in jail? Lexie for sure will wake up but her status i cannot yet disclose...You'll have to read to find out. I will try and incorporate some more heartfelt mer/lex and adorable slexie scenes. This might be the chapter where Julia and Mark have their first confrontation as well. Not sure on that yet. Thats about all i can sya but i know that one slexie scene will relate to a famous happening from season five. Youll just have to wait and see it though! :) thanks for your kindness and leave me all of your thought! i love to hear them.