Mark was awake and alive, but he could barely speak or breathe.
In the examination room
When Derek came, Meredith and Lexie both looked at him with terrified looks. Derek's face was pale and sad.
"Oh god, he died, didn't he?", Lexie said sobbing.
"No Lexie. He is alive and awake.", Derek replied to her
"So why are you so pale and worried?", Meredith asked her husband. She was really worried about him. She knew how much Derek loves Mark. They are best friends and grew up together, just like brothers.
"We are still not sure that Mark is going to make it. His heart is very weak and will probably get weaker and weaker over time."
"What?", Lexie asked him worriedly.
"I'm so sorry, Lexie."
Derek couldn't take it anymore. He wasn't a doctor now. He was a friend, a family member , and Meredith and Lexie knew that.
"I'm going to take Zola and Sofia home. Callie and Arizona are going to stay here all night."
Lexie and Meredith nodded, and Derek left. A few minutes later, Owen came in.
"Hey Lexie. I just came to check on you."
"I'm fine. Can I please see him?", Lexie asked him.
"I'm so sorry Lexie, but I don't think that Mark can handle this right now..."
"So he thinks I'm still dead..."
"I'm sorry."
"No! He has to know that I still alive!"
"Lexie, is heart is still very weak. I'm not sure telling him now is the best idea."
"You told me yourself! If he is going to die, I want to talk to him!", Lexie knew he is going to be ok, but she didn't want to waste more time. She wanted to tell him that she loves him and that he has to fight for her and for their future together.
"Lexie, we are trying to save him."
"No! You are not! Lying to him won't help. Maybe if he will knows that i'm alive, it will give him a reason to fight!"
"I'm sorry Lexie, he can't know for know", Owen said as he left the room.
"This is all my fault!", said Lexie, trying to fight her tears.
"What? What are you talking about?"
"He wanted to be with me. That's why he is dying, and when he will die and realize I am alive he will be all alone!"
Meredith hugged Lexie tightly.
"Lexie, it because he loves you, he can't live without you, and now, he doesn't have to. He knows you are alive. He just need some time to recover."
Near the nurses station
"We have to tell him!", Callie demanded.
"You are not his doctors. You are his friend, and you don't think clearly. Cristina saw him she will tell you that I'm right.", Owen told her.
"That enough! I don't care anymore! You are kidding me, right? Do you think you are protecting Mark? You don't! I understand you feel guilty for putting us on that plane, and you don't want to feel like you killed Mark. But if there is something I realized after this plane crash, it is that life is so short. I'm going to tell him Lexie is alive, and I don't care. Mark doesn't need a doctor. He has enough doctors. He needs a friend, and a friend would have told him that. We all know how grief affects the heart. If he dies, it will break Lexie; you weren't in the woods, so you have no idea how broken he was,", Derek told them.
"What's going on here?" Arizona asked as she came. She just finished her meeting and didn't know anything.
"Mark is awake, and they don't tell him Lexie is alive.", Callie told her wife, obviously angry.
"No! He told me that Lexie was waiting for him. He wanted to die only because he thought Lexie was dead. Bring her right now! My daughter needs her father!"
Just then, Cristina came with Mark's test results.
"I got the results! Like I thought, he has a serious heart infection, but we can operate on him."
In the waiting room
Callie, Arizona, Derek, Cristina, Meredith and Lexie set in the waiting room.
They didn't let Cristina operate. Owen was scared it would trigger her, and Meredith agreed with him.
"He is going to be ok, right?", Callie asked her friends.
"He has to be", Derek told her.
Only Lexie just sat there and didn't say a word since they took Mark for surgery.
"If this idiot intern will punch his heart, I swear I will make his life to a living hell.", Cristina said.
"Cristina, please stop it.", Callie asked her.
"No, I won't, I operated on him in the woods, I should have operated on him in this surgery!"
"You want to go back to the woods again? Because operating on him will make you feel like you do!", Meredith told her.
"That's enough! Derek yelled at them.
"Where is Lexie?", Meredith asked, searching for her sister.
"I think I know where she is" ,Callie told them and stood up.
"No, I will go talk to her.", Arizona said, knowing exactly where Lexie is.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, I'm 100% sure."
In the daycare
Lexie was exactly where Callie and Arizona thought she was. At the daycare, playing with Zola and Sofia.
The girls were her peanut butter cups. Well, they didn't replace them, but they did help. Every time Lexie was scared, upset, worried, or angry, she went to see them.
Sofia already loved Lexie deeply, and Lexie adored Sofia. They have gotten really close since the plane crash.
"Hey, Lexie."
Lexie saw Arizona and smiled at her. The little girl scrawled over to her mother. Arizona picked her up and said, "Hey little girl, did you miss your mommy? Well, your mommy missed you too."
"I can't wait so see Mark's reaction when he realizes you are alive, and that Sofia loves you more than she loves him.", Arizona told Lexie.
"Sofia has Mark smile"
"Yes, she does.", said Arizona while looking at her daughter.
"When Mark told me Callie was pregnant, I got so angry. I told him I'm not ready for kids and then he gets Callie pregnant. I was wondering for a while if they planned it. It felt like he was moving on without me."
"This is exactly how I felt.״
"But you still stayed. You probably think I'm awful."
"What? No. Lexie,I always liked you. I think I didn't want a baby because I was scared. I am a pediatric surgeon. All the sick children are coming to me, and it feels great to save them, but I also get to see the parents when they get the sad news. I already feel bad for the patient, and I had a hard time getting over some of them, so as a parent, I couldn't deal with it. I love Callie, and when she told me she was pregnant, I was angry that Mark was the father. But you are young, Lexie, and you weren't ready for this."
"Thank you, Arizona.", Lexie smiled at her.
"I'm so happy Mark has you, and that now we have you."
"I'm happy I have all of you too."
Arizona started to laugh.
"What?"
"I talked to Mark, in the woods about him and now he should stay alive after you died, and now I am encouraging you..."
Lexie started to laugh with Arizona, but they stopped when they remembered that they still had to come back to their friends.
"Maybe we could take them to the waiting room? I think Callie, Derek and Meredith will be happy for some support."
In the waiting room
Arizona and Lexie took the girls and brought them to the waiting room. They were greeted by Derek, Callie, and Meredith that seemed happy to see their kids.
Finally, Mark's surgeon came to them.
Lexie couldn't tell if he was happy or sad. She tried to relax, but she couldn't, not until Mark is fine."
"Mark Sloan?"
"Yes?", Callie stood up.
"The surgery went well. He is going to wake up in a few hours. We are expecting for a full recovery."
"Thank you so much", Callie told him and happily hugging her wife.
Lexie could finally breathe again. Mark is going to fine and they are going to have a lot of mini Grey Sloan babies walking around.
"Can I please see him?", Lexie asked.
"Lexie, you know we can't tell him about you until tomorrow, after we are sure it's safe."
"I know. I just- I just want to see him. Please.", she begged.
"Normally, Cristina would tease her for begging her, but she knew that this wasn't a normal situation, and that she should let her see Mark.
"I don't see any reason you can't."
"Thank you Cristina", Lexie told her and went to see Mark.
In Mark's room
"Hey Mark. I missed you. You are going to be okay. You have to be okay. In a few hours you are going to wake up and see that I am alive. We can get married and have those boys and a girl, and we are going to be very happy, like you told me in the woods."
Meredith remembered the shooting and how scared she was when she thought that she was going to lose Derek. She also knew that for Lexie, it wasn't a day, it was weeks. Meredith didn't know what to say to Lexie, because she was scared too. If Mark died, Lexie would never be the same. Meredith knew that.
"Lexie, we have to go. You know you can't be here when Mark wakes up."
"I love you Mark, I have to go but I'll see you later."
Lexie kissed his hand for the last time, and left his room with Meredith.
A few hours later, Near Mark's room
"I can't believe he is awake and talking" ,Callie said with excitement.
"He made an inappropriate comment to a nurse" ,Derek told her.
"How long do you think he has after Lexie finds out?"
"Not much. Can you please tell Meredith that he's awake? I have to do something first."
Derek went, and Callie kept looking at Mark, until Owen came.
"This is amazing. I have never seen a patient recover that fast from surgery", Owen told her.
"I know. This is a miracle. I can't believe this is happening."
In Mark's room
"Seriously Avery, you have to find someone!"
"I don't have to-"
"You are a good looking guy and a brilliant surgeon, of course you have to!"
"Actually, there is someone..."
"Did you tell them?"
"No but-"
"If you love someone, you tell them. Even if you're scared that it's not the right thing. Even if you're scared that it'll cause problems. Even if you're scared that it will burn your life to the ground, you say it, and you say it loud and you go from there."
Mark was silent for a moment, but then he continued talking.
"Avery, it's too late for me, but you still have the chance to do it."
"Mark, it still not too late to-"
He was stopped by Addison that seemed really happy to see that her old friend is fine.
"Mark!!! I can't believe that you finally woke up", Addison said, running over to him and hugging him.
"Can someone let me finish my sentence for once???", Jackson told them.
"Easy, redhead, I am still healing. What are you doing here?"
"I heard about the plane crash. I came here with Amelia for Derek, but I couldn't leave until I knew you were ok."
"Have you met my kid yet?", He asked Addison. He was so proud of his daughter.
"Yes. Sofia is beautiful, Mark.", Addison told him.
"Avery, where is my kid? I want to see Sofia.", Mark said as he looked at Jackson.
"I can't bring a baby to ICU."
"No, but you can sneak one."
"I can't do that Mark, you will see her later.", Jackson told him
"Really, Avery? After all what did I do for you?"
"Jackson, wait, I have to talk to you for a second." Addison and Jackson left Mark's room so they could talk.
"Where is Lexie? He has to see her. I can't just tell Mark 'I can't find your dead ex girlfriend'. We have to bring her here."
"I know. But we have to be patient.", Jackson told her.
After the two left, Mark was in his own thoughts. He was thinking about Lexie, of course.
Life without Lexie isn't life. He has Sofia, and he's so grateful for her, but she will be fine with her mothers. She will miss him but she will be ok.
Five years ago he had only his job, that was his safe place when he could help people without screwing things up. But now, now he has Callie, Arizona, Sofia and Lexie... at least he had Lexie.
Mark was afraid from the moment Meredith will come to visit him. It's his fault that her little sister is dead. Lexie is dead because of his cowardice.
He should have told her that he loved her. Maybe if he did, she would be alive right now. Mark really missed Lexie. Her smile, her face, her smell. Everything about her was perfect. Even when she was angry, she was cute. He thought if he should be with Lexie or be here with Callie, Derek, Arizona and of course, Sofia.
At some point Mark realized that he had no choice. He couldn't live without her and he can't change that, like he couldn't stop loving her.
He just wanted to do one more thing: to see his little girl for the last time.
Mark also knew that his friends can't accept the fact that he is dying, so he can't tell them that.
They didn't let him to see Sofia. "You will see her later." Mark knew it was because they didn't want to let go. It gave them hope. So, Mark decided to sneak out and see Sofia without anybody's knowing. He was weak, and he knew that, but he also knew that as time pass he will become weaker and he was afraid that he will not be able to see Sofia.
If Mark had heard about a patient that sneaks out of the ICU, he would have told you he is crazy. But Mark wasn't crazy, he was a father that just wanted to see his daughter for the last time. Sofia deserved this. Mark deserved this.
The ICU was full of doctors and nurses. After all, it was the most critical department. Most of the doctors and the nurses already knew him, and those are not, know that he isn't supposed to be walking around the hospital.
Mark had an idea and he paged Jackson for that.
"Mark, I already told you, I can't bring Sofia."
"I know you want to see Sofia and you probably paged me for a stupid plan, but you failed Sloan, and now I am going to make sure that you won't leave this room."
"I don't like you anymore, Avery"
Near the nurses station
"Hey Jackson, how is Mark?", April asked him.
"He is awake and worse than ever."
"Oh god, Jackson I'm so sorry."
"Oh no, I just meant that he is really annoying.", Jackson said awkwardly.
"So, he is fine?"
"Yes"
"Did he already see Lexie? How was it??"
"They wanted to make sure he is strong enough before they are telling him she is alive."
"So , he doesn't know? Poor Lexie... Can you imagine what is like to be in the woods for four days without food or water, thinking your friend and colleague is dead."
"That must be awful."
"So, how was you day?"
Everyone could see the tension between those two.
"It was... good..."
"Nice. So I have to go... visit Mark again.", Jackson told April and then left.
April saw Lexie as Jackson left.
"Seriously? When are you going to do something about this?", Lexie asked April.
"About what?"
"You don't know what is going to happen. You should tell him. I was afraid too but I don't regret for telling Mark that I love him."
"You told Mark that you loved him?"
"Yes, a few days before the crash. I had a whole awkward speech. After I told him he told me 'thank you for you candour' and then left with Julia."
"What? So why I should tell him?"
"Mark was afraid. At least I hope he was. I am thinking maybe he told me that he loves me only because I was dying. But there is only a one way to find out. I am ready to take this risk. Are you?"
In the on call room
Lexie was exhausted, so she decided to go to the on call room and try to get some sleep.
She couldn't sleep. She was so tired but she couldn't stop thinking about Mark.
After a few hours of trying to sleep, Derek came in.
"How is Mark?", Lexie asked Derek.
"He is fine. His vitals looks really good. He is going to be fine."
"Thanks god", Lexie breathed with a big sigh of relief.
"His recovery is better we expected."
"So...", Lexie said happily
"Yes, you can see him Lexie."
"Really?", Lexie said with a big excitement in her eyes.
"You stay here until I'll page you. I have to talk to him first. He is going to be really confused."
"Really, Derek? Why can't I just wait outside his room?"
"Lexie..."
"OK, but then he is mine for all the day."
"Deal"
In Mark's room
"Mark, I have to talk to you about Lexie."
"I don't want to talk about her.", Mark demanded with tears falling from his eyes.
"She told me I have to fight but I have no reason to fight. Lexie is dead and I don't want to talk about her."
"Mark, you want to, believe me."
"Did you hear what I said? I don't what to talk about her!", Mark was screaming now. Talking about her would make it harder for him.
"If you don't want to hear it from me, you can hear it from her..."
"Derek what are you talking-"
He stopped when he saw her.
Lexie couldn't stay in the on call room. She promised Derek, but she just couldn't. When she heard she screams, she couldn't take it anymore. She was scared, so scared but she just wanted to be in his arms and tell him she's alive, but what if he just felt guilty? Maybe he didn't love her, and just wanted to tell her nice things in her last moments. Well, there is only to find out. When she got closer to the room, she saw Derek, he wasn't angry. He told her with his eyes that she can come in.
When she came in, her eyes met with Mark's eyes.
He was so shocked. Well he thought she was dead. He didn't say anything and just looked at her with a terrified look.
He looked better. So much better than the last time she saw him. He looked... alive. Lexie was finally able to see his eyes. She missed those eyes. The eyes that were full of empty a few minutes ago, but now were full of joy.