A/N: So chapter five picks up immediately after chapter four ends. And, as much as I hate to be this person, come on, guys. I got like 6 reviews last chapter. I know more of you are reading this than that. More of you have subscribed to this than that. So please take five seconds and review! Otherwise I'm going to take that as meaning you think this fic isn't any good. Also, to be more positive, thanks to MusicWritesMyLife, BekaRoo, In-A-Parallel-World, LexieMcSteamy and Jime-GA-Lover for reviewing all the chapters! You guys are wonderful.

Aaaand that's enough from me. On with the story!

Chapter Five: Waiting

I looked into the room across the hall at Meredith and saw her cast was all finished up and the resident was about to leave. She looked out into the hall and said, "Come here." I looked over at Cristina, and for a second, wasn't sure which one of us she meant. Cristina gave me a look that said she clearly wasn't about to go anywhere, so I got up and walked over to Meredith.

"Hey," I said. It was all I could think to say.

"Hey," she said back. She leaned her head back into her pillow and yawned. I looked over at her IV and absently wondered what she was on. I didn't ask.

"Are you okay? Can I get you anything?" I asked. I looked over at Derek. "You?" I didn't really know exactly what I was doing. I knew I was speaking and I knew what I was saying but I felt like I was on autopilot. Suddenly, I felt very, very tired but at the same time, I knew I wouldn't actually be able to sleep. I was afraid to sleep.

"No," she shook her head. "I think I'm just going to try to sleep," she said. Her eyes were already starting to close. She fought to keep them open, but it didn't last for long. Derek leaned in and gave her a kiss. "I'll be back soon." She nodded, her eyes still closed. He walked out into the hall, leaving me alone with her. Carefully, so as not to wake her, I grabbed the blanket from the foot of the bed and pulled it up over her. "I'm glad you're okay," I whispered. She didn't hear me, of course, but I didn't need her to. I just needed to say it out loud. With things the way they were, I didn't think I'd be able to handle it if something particularly awful had happened to her too.

I walked out into the hall just in time to hear Derek saying, "Does anyone know anything about Mark? Has anyone said anything?" He looked over at me and I looked over at Jackson. Jackson shook his head. "Not really, no."

Derek hung his head for a second and I could see in that moment just how hard he was fighting to keep it all together. He raised his head a second later and said, "Then I'm going to go track down whoever is doing the surgery and get some answers out of them." He looked back at Meredith and almost smiled. Almost. "I'll tell you when I find out anything." He looked at me then he looked at Callie and, without saying anything else, walked off.

"I'm going to go get in on the surgery," Callie said abruptly.

Arizona got to her feet and walked over to Callie. Delicately, she put a hand on Callie's shoulder. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

"Oh, please." Callie rolled her eyes. "Rules or not, no way they're not going to need me on this. Who else are they going to get to do it? No way am I letting someone less talented than me fix up his bones. They'll do it wrong." She walked over to April, who, up to this point had been completely silent and looked entirely out of place. Callie grabbed Sofia and gave her a big kiss on the top of her head. "Okay, baby. Mommy's gotta go fix Daddy." She tried to say it with bravado, like she was making a joke, but there was a crack in her voice. She cleared her throat and blinked hard a few times but didn't say anything about it. No one else did either.

Arizona grabbed Sophia out of Callie's arms and said, "How about I walk up there with you?"

Callie nodded and they walked off arm in arm, Arizona holding Sofia against her hip with her other arm.

Cristina yawned and elbowed Owen in the ribs. His head was lolling back against the chair with his mouth open and he was drooling a little. She elbowed him again, this time adding a grunt and he woke up with a start. He looked frantic for a second before realizing that Cristina was still sitting on his lap. I'd almost forgotten they were there at all, they'd been so quiet. "I want to go home now," she said to him plainly. He nodded and covered his mouth to hide a yawn. She got to her feet and walked over to the doorway of Meredith's room. She smiled, just a little. Owen walked over to her quickly, like he was afraid to be separated from her for too long. Like she'd disappear into a puff of smoke if he wasn't touching her. He grabbed her hand in his and pulled her away from the door. She spun to face him and smiled. Without a word to anyone, they left.

That left me, Alex, Jackson and April sitting in the hall. "Umm... uh... um..." April mumbled. I looked over at her and couldn't help but wonder what exactly she had to say. "Umm..." She looked over at me with these big, sad puppy dog eyes and I couldn't help but sneer at her. I did not want to be pitied right now. "Uh, Lexie, umm..." she stammered. Jackson nudged her with his shoulder and she stopped talking. He said, "Do you need anything?" I could see how tired he was, how tired she was. They'd never say so themselves, but I could tell how desperately they just wanted to find a bed somewhere and lay down in it. Probably together. But unless I told them to they'd stay here all night.

So I shook my head and said, "Go home."

Jackson made a face. "What? No. I'm not leaving you here alone right now."

I turned to face him and looked directly at him. "Please, just go home. I'll be fine. I'll text you if anything happens."

Jackson opened his mouth to argue when I scowled at him and pointed towards the end of the hall. He paused a moment, trying to decide if he should do what I said or not, so I pointed again. "Please. Go."

"Fine. But only because you're so adamant about it." He got to his feet and April followed. She still had her fingers intertwined with his. "We'll see you tomorrow, okay?" she said as they walked away. I just shrugged. I knew it wasn't true, but at this point I was feeling so twisted and turned around that I wasn't entirely sure I'd still be here tomorrow.

That left me and Alex sitting alone in the hallway. Apparently today was just my day for spending time alone with ex-boyfriends. Or, well, whatever it was me and Alex had been.

As soon as Jackson and April were out of earshot, Alex moved over so he was sitting right next to me. "Liar." He had this grim look on his face. I didn't like it.

"Okay, what?"

"You're too nice. And you're not fine. Or if you are, well, then I'd be even more concerned for you."

"You don't have to watch me, you know." I looked down at my shoes. Anything to avoid the pitying look I was sure Alex was giving me.

He reached out and put a hand on my knee. "Yes, I do," he said quietly. "And don't bring it up again, okay? I know I'm an ass, but I'm not so much of an ass that I'd leave you completely alone right now."

And that was when I finally lost it. I'd barely been holding it together to that point, but for whatever reason that exact second was my breaking point. All the walls came crashing down and I lost it. I started to cry, softly at first with big, fat tears running down my face but soon I started to sob and shake like I'd lost all control of my body. The only thing I had any control over was not screaming. I pursed my lips together to keep the sound from getting out. Some part of me knew that this was a hospital and I should at least try not to make that much noise. There were people trying to sleep. People trying to rest. I should try not to scream. I had to settle for muttering curses instead.

"Cry all you want, but I'm still not going anywhere," he said, trying to make a joke. He tried to smile, but it came out all wrong. Too many sharp angles. "But I have to warn you, I'm really no good with crying women." That just made me cry more.

"Come on," he said gruffly. He grabbed me by the arm and dragged me away. I didn't pay much attention to where until we got there. He'd dragged me down to the beds in the hall in the basement. I crawled up onto one of the beds and curled myself up into a ball. I made a point of taking up as little space as I possibly could. Like maybe if I took up almost no space at all I would cease to exist and I wouldn't have to feel like this anymore. Alex got on the bed and sat behind me. He pushed my hair out of my face and started gently rubbing my back.

He didn't lie to me, didn't try to tell me it would all be alright, he didn't say anything. He just sat there and rubbed my back as I cried.

A/N: Here is the teaser for the next chapter!

I just stood there for a moment after that, shocked into complete silence. What exactly had just happened? Had I just agreed to be friends with someone? Thinking about it, I couldn't remember the last real friend I'd had. I had Meredith and Derek, sure, but that wasn't the same. They were family. But outside of work and my family, I hadn't had much of a social life in a long time. I'd just gotten so caught up in work and then things with Jackson, and then he and I broke up and then...

I felt a surge of nausea as my brain turned back to the unavoidable topic. Mark. He had to be alright. He just had to be. If he wasn't, someone would have told me about it by now, right? But... what if they just hadn't been able to find me? I looked around and noticed for the first time how completely, absolutely deserted the basement was. Maybe nobody had been able to find me. I'd lost my phone in the crash and Alex had his but it wasn't like anyone would call him about Mark and nobody but nobody would have expected Alex to be with me and...

I shook my head. I'd get a shower later. First and most importantly, I had to find someone who knew something. I had to know one way or another. I put a hand over my mouth as a wave of nausea hit me. And then I'd find a garbage can and throw up into it.