Hey guys! How has life been? I hope you are all doing well. Anyway without further ado, here is the very next installment of my dive in the Slexie universe. Please be advised that while the medicine may not be accurate, it works for a storyline purpose. ENJOY!

"I need this taken to the Hemotology lab now." Lexie handed a plastic bag to her intern. "And have them put a rush on it."

"But they put a rush on..."

"On everything?" She finished. "Yeah, I know, but I can't operate until I get those results and if she needs the operation then it can't wait so, go."

The nervous intern turned and jogged out of the ER. Lexie turned to her patient.

"We're going to take care of you, okay? I'll be back as soon as I can." She told her, as she pulled the curtain to give her some privacy.

Lexie stood at the admit counter, busily scribbling notes in her patient's chart. It had been a long day and she really wasn't feeling her best. She wasn't anymore tired than usual. Pregnancy took a lot out of her but she had pretty much gotten used to it. Her back ached, she peed every other minute, and her feet began to swell, causing her to switch from her Nikes to her cushy Ugg boots. As she finished her signature and handed the chart to the nurse, she started to look a little strange.

"Dr. Grey?" Nurse Olivia asked. "Are you okay?"

"Umm...yeah." Lexie shook her head. "I just need a minute."

"Are you sure?"

She stood in silence for a minute before responding. "On second thought, page someone. I can't breathe." She said, gasping for air.

Olivia rushed to place an oxygen mask on her and had her lay on a gurney in station two, before she rushed to the phone to page the on-call attending. A few minutes later, Dr. Hunt came through the doors.

"What happened?" Dr. Hunt asked.

"I don't know." Olivia explained. "She was standing there, charting and she was breathing kinda heavy. It just got worse and she was gasping for air."

"Have you been exerting yourself more than usual, Lex?" He asked her.

She shook her head.

"What about asthma?" He asked her.

She shook her head again.

"Okay. Let's get an x-ray and a chest CT. I wanna see her lungs and get a look at her chest films and don't send an intern." He handed a clipboard to Olivia as she ran off. "Dr. Grey, consider yourself admitted."

"Dr. Bailey." Dr. Hunt jogged to catch up to her in the hall.

"No. I am going home. I have not been home with him for days. Do you know what he did on Tuesday? Shoved a raisin up his nose. A raisin!"

"Dr. Bailey, I need your assistance on this case. I need the most precise and detailed surgeon there is and that's you." He explained.

"I appreciate all that's coming out of your mouth as you suck up to me, but hear me when I say this: I am going home!" Miranda said with finality as she stepped into the elevator.

Owen placed his hand on the doors, stopping them from closing. "It's Lexie Grey."

Miranda stood and stared at him with a scowl, Owen only blinked in return. "Damn it!" She snapped, storming out of the elevator.

Dr. Bailey pulled back the trauma curtain to reveal a wheezing Lexie breathing from an oxygen mask.

"What happened?"

"I...was charting." Lexie tried.

"Not you." She cut her off, turning to Olivia. "You! What happened?"

"She was breathing heavily and I asked if she was okay and I guess it got worse, because she asked me to page you."

"No asthma or allergies?" She asked.

Lexie shook her head. "Just eggs."

"And you haven't had any?"

"Just a banana and some water." She answered between breaths.

"Okay. Has she gone to Radiology for x-rays yet?"

"No, ma'am." Olivia replied.

"Take her. Now. Tell them I said she is emergent and to not wait." She signed the chart. "Page me when you have the scans and I will let Meredith and Mark know what's going on."

"But..." Lexie tried.

"No. You stop trying to talk and just breathe." Miranda snapped. "Besides, arguing won't do you any good."

After a quick trip to the x-ray lab, Lexie was being wheeled into a room when Mark joined her. He immediately grabbed her hand and kissed it.

"Baby, what happened?" He asked, clearly panicked.

"Atelectasis." Dr. Bailey stated, walking in. "One of your lungs has completely collapsed. It looks like the patch we put on it in your initial surgery, after your accident, didn't hold."

"So...what do we do?" She asked, placing the mask back on.

"We can go in and try to repair it." Miranda said, looking at the ground.

"What do you mean try?" Mark asked. "Bailey."

"The surgery is extremely complicated and dangerous. Your pregnancy does add an extra risk. With you being so far along, we will have to wait until you deliver or perform an emergency C-section if anything should go wrong."

"But I'm only seven months." Lexie looked worried. "How long will I last without surgery?"

Dr. Bailey just stood there.

"Truth." Lexie glared at her.

"Maybe a week. Two at the most."

Mark let out a huge breath and grasped at his fiance's hand. "A week?"

"If we are going to operate, we need to do it quickly. Your breathing is only going to get more labored and we may have to put you on a ventilator." Miranda explained.

"No." She stated, simply. "No surgery. If I can last another week then my baby will have a better shot at survival."

"No, Lexie." Mark tried.

"I'm okay." She smiled, weakly. "I'll be okay. As long as you take good care of our boy. Remind him who I am everyday."

"Stop." He began to tear up. "She'll have the surgery."

"No...I won't." She told Bailey. "Find a neonatal surgeon. The best. So my baby can live."

"I'll make some calls." Bailey left the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Mark asked. "You have to have this surgery."

"I have to do what's best for my son." She explained. "If I can give him and extra week to help him survive then that's what I am going to do."

"They can perform an emergency C-section if anything goes wrong. He will be fine either way, please." He began to beg.

"We don't know that. He is too underdeveloped right now. I need to give him as long as I can. I can't be selfish about this, Mark, and neither can you."

"Lexie." Mark sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "I can't lose you. I won't make it alone."

"You won't be alone." She smiled. "You're gonna have a beautiful son. The very best part of me. I won't be gone. Not really."

"You know that's not the same." He cried. "Have the surgery. Do it for me."

"Mark."

"Just this one thing." He begged. "I just got you back. I can't lose you now."

"Maybe this is how it's supposed to happen." Lexie held his hand tight. "Maybe I wasn't supposed to come back to you to stay, but maybe I was supposed to come back to you for this baby."

"No. That's not true." Mark argued. "I need you here. I can't raise a baby alone. Have the surgery."

"I can't take that risk." She said, causing Mark to sigh in defeat. "Not with what Bailey just said. If you can find me someone better than Bailey that says otherwise then we can talk, but until then, my decision is final."

Mark sat by Lexie's side, holding her hand until she finally fell asleep. He kept wondering to himself when he would wake up from this nightmare. That's what it had to be. A nightmare. He couldn't make sense of the madness he was being put through. He had already come far too close to losing Lexie once, he couldn't imagine going through that again. However, he felt like he was fighting a losing battle, having an arguement that was getting nowhere. He loved her and he loved their child equally and didn't want to lose either one of them. The question was: How could he convince Lexie that she could have the surgery? Mark walked out into the hallway to grab a cup of coffee, pulling out his phone and dialing frantically.

"Derek?" He spoke. "Do you have Addison's number? I need to talk to her now."

There you have it. Will Lexie have the surgery or will she try to sacrifice herself for her unborn child? I hope to have the next chapter up extremely soon. Until then, please read and review. Thanks for all the continued love and support! XOXO