I sincerely apologize for the extremely long wait. Life has funny things to throw at you, especially when you have things to be done. I have to say that last week's episode was amazing. Mark carrying Lexie into the hospital was perfect. I cannot wait for the next episode. Until then, here is the next chapter. I hope you all are ready for this. Thanks again for the unconditional support and incredible patience.

Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me. All brilliance goes to Shonda Rhimes and ABC.

"Mr. Reynolds in 3246 needs Bolus injections twice a day in his IV and Ms. Barker in 3120 gets a little jumpy if she sees people walking by her room, so when you can, close her door." Lexie said, as she signed her charts over to Alex. "Also be sure to watch Mr. Grant in 3052. He's been sneaking down the hall to see Mrs. Laramie and her husband is starting to get annoyed."

"I got it, Grey." Alex said with his traditional scoff and a roll of his eyes. "Isn't Sloan wondering where you are?"

"He has the night off." She said, handing the last chart over. "I'm leaving now, I promise. If you have any problems, don't hesitate to call, okay?"

"Yeah, yeah. Get out of here." He replied with a wave of his hand.

Lexie hurried to the residents' locker room where she changed her clothes and tried her best to get the smell of her day off of her. It was a quarter after 9:00 when Lexie finally made her way to the lobby and to the parking lot.

"Are you a doctor?" She heard a voice from behind her ask.

Lexie turned around quickly. "Are you a patient here?"

"I'm looking for a doctor." The young man stated.

"Okay. If you go right through those double doors, a nurse will help you find a doctor." She explained. "I'm actually on my way out."

"I'm looking for a Dr. Sloan." He continued. "Do you know where I might find him?"

"He isn't working today." Lexie replied. "Can I give him a message for you?"

"Yeah." He stated, with a step forward. "You can give him this."

Lexie felt his fist collide with her face and in that instant it was like everything was in slow motion. Like a really bad dream she couldn't seem to wake up from. In a matter of seconds she felt herself hit the ground and the man's foot, kicking her repeatedly in the abdomen. All she could do was close her eyes and pray to whatever God she could think of, that it would end. That he would get tired or bored and walk away. After what felt like an eternity of the same painful blows to her face and body, she noticed he had stopped. Terrified, she continued to lay there as her assailant towered over her.

"You tell Dr. Sloan that he's lucky it wasn't him I found tonight." He told her. "If I see him, he's a dead man, you understand."

After sufficing a small wimper, she heard footsteps and assumed he had left. She couldn't bring herself to get up, she couldn't bring herself to move a finger. All she could do was lay there and hope that she might disappear.

*ONE HOUR LATER*

"Meredith, I told you, Zola is fine." Derek said, into his cell phone as he walked out of the hospital, heading for his car. "A bump on the head does not mean she has a bleed. You should know this, Mer."

"Derek, she hit it hard." Meredith protested.

"I will check when I get home, if it will make you stop."

"I love you." Meredith answered, pleased.

"I love you, too." Derek said, hanging up.

He was almost to his car when he saw Lexie's lifeless body sprawled on the pavement. It was like the wind had been knocked out of him. He dropped his satchel and rushed to her side.

"Oh, God! Lexie!" He nearly shouted, trying to find a pulse. It was there, faint but existant. "Lexie, can you hear me?"

Lexie groaned and lightly began to cough.

"Shhh. Come on, we've got to go get you some help." Derek began to lift her, shocked by what had happened to his little sister-in-law. "It's going to be okay. Do you hear me?"

"Derek?" Lexie managed to choke out softly.

"Yeah, Little Grey." He responded. "It's me."

"I'm- I'm cold." She said, through chattering teeth.

"Shhh. We're getting you help." He said, bursting through the hospital doors. "I need help over here!"

Mark had finished putting the rest of Haley's toys in the bin when he finally sat down. It was going on 10:30 and Lexie was still nowhere to be found. At first, he brushed it off as a simple case of forgetfulness or getting held up at work, but now, as much as he hated to admit it, he was growing worried. He heard the phone rang and he quickly ran to grab it, hoping it wouldn't wake his daughter in the next room.

"Hello?" Mark answered.

"Hey. It's me."

"Meredith?"

"Yeah." She continued. "Is Derek over there? He called and said he was heading home about half an hour ago and he still isn't here."

"No. He hasn't called or come by." Mark paused. "Have you heard from Lexie?"

"Lexie?" Meredith asked, confused.

"Yeah. I'm sure it's nothing, but she is running late and I thought you might have heard something." Mark said.

"No. I'm sorry." She replied.

"Thanks. If I hear from Derek, I'll have him call you." Mark assured her.

"Great. If I see Lexie, I'll have her do the same."

"Thank you so much." He said.

"Goodnight." Meredith said, hanging up.

"I want X-rays, a chest CT, head and abdominal series, and I want an MRI. I need to know if there's internal bleeding." Derek ordered.

"Dr. Shepherd." He heard April say behind him. "Dr. Hunt is on his way down."

"I got this, Kepner." Derek said, continuing to work.

"Derek." Owen said. "Step away. I'll take over."

"I said I have it!" He snapped.

"Shepherd, back up. Now!" Owen ordered, causing Derek to turn to him. "I am going to do everything I can. You should let Meredith know."

Derek nodded and slowly walked to the waiting room. He sighed, rubbing his hands on his face and then dragging them through his hair. He hated doing it, but he knew he had to. He picked up the phone and slowly dialed.

"Hey man, it's me. You should get up here." Derek paused. "It's Lexie."

Twenty minutes later, Meredith and Mark walked through the double doors, both sharing the same look of fear and panic.

"Where is she?" Meredith asked.

"Owen is running some tests." Derek said, taking her into a hug. "Where's Zola?"

"Callie is keeping her and Haley." She answered.

"What the hell happened?" Mark asked, completely lost.

"Nobody knows. I found her in the parking lot and she could barely get a word out. Someone beat the crap out of her." Derek said, trembling on every word.

"Someone hit her?" Mark asked, unbelievably.

"Mark, it was bad." Derek said.

They all stood together when they saw Owen come into the waiting room.

"How is she?" Mark practically jumped.

"She is awake." Owen began to explain. "She has a fractured wrist and a minor concussion. Other than that, it's just bumps and bruises."

"Oh, thank God." Mark said, relieved.

"You can see her." Owen said, gesturing to the hall.

"Hey." Lexie tried with as much enthusiasm as she could muster.

"Baby, what happened?"

"He just came out of nowhere." She began.

"Who?" Mark asked.

"Your patient." Lexie said. "He told me he was looking for you and I told him I could take a message and he just started hitting me."

"Shhh." Mark said, stroking her hair.

"He said you were lucky he didn't find you." Lexie said, sniffling.

"It should have been."

"Don't say that." Lexie tried.

"No." Mark interrupted. "Look at you. Look at what this creep did to you and you honestly want me to sit here and do nothing?"

"Yes."

"No!" He fired back. " He is not going to get away with this. If he wants to kick my ass, fine, but no one lays a hand on my wife and gets away with it okay?"

"Stop." She said, trying to calm him down. "Come here. I'm not going anywhere and the police will find him. Just promise me you'll stay out of it and let them do their job."

"Fine." He said, hugging her. "I love you, you know that?"

"I always suspected it."

Well, there you go. I hope you enjoyed it and I hope it was worth the wait. I fought with myself for a while about taking the story this way and I think it will make things a little more interesting. I promise to update soon. Happy Valentine's Day and I hope everyone enjoys Thursday's episode of Grey's!