Zoey wiped away a tear that had snuck out of her eye. She hadn't thought about that day when Mark had left her in the restaurant, crying her eyes out. She looked at Lexie and smiled weakly. She hadn't said a word for about five minutes after Zoey had stopped talking. She just sat there stunned. "S-sorry, I've er, I've got to- got to go." Lexie stuttered quietly. She got up and left Zoey to her thoughts which is the last thing she wanted to do as she seemed genuinely upset about the whole situation but Lexie had to get out of there. She wondered down to the nurses' station and handed back Zoey's charts. She stood there leaning on her hand with her elbow on the desk and started tapping her fingers. She wasn't sure how long she and Mark had been sneaking around together but she was pretty sure it was a lot more than a month and he had never bought her an expensive diamond necklace. The most she ever got was a hot coffee from the machine in the cafeteria, if she was lucky. Derek didn't even know they were together. Derek, Mark's best friend, didn't even know Mark was seeing her. She knew it was because Meredith didn't want them to be together but as far as she was concerned, it shouldn't matter what Meredith thought; Derek should know whom his best friend is seeing. Her thoughts were interrupted but her pager beeping. She saw it was Dr. Torres, obviously wanting to know the latest on Zoey Heart. She stood up straight and started to walk off to find Torres when she saw Mark Sloan walking towards her. She knew it had nothing to do with her but she felt really bad for Zoey. That whole situation was totally messed up. It was clear to her that he didn't like her as much as he was in to her and took a rational decision to let it remain like that. No way did she want to get in deeper if he was just going up and leave at the first sign of trouble. She turned around and started to walk off in the opposite direction.
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Mark saw Lexie stand up and walk towards him. His smile got wider as he started to approach but slowly faded in to a puzzled look when she turned around when she noticed. He quickened his pace and it wasn't long before he had managed to catch up with her.
"Hey Lex, fancy meeting me in the On-Call room later?" he smirked knowing that would get a reaction. He was right; it did get a reaction but not the one he was hoping for.
"Of course that's all you'd want. It's lunch in public and necklace's with Zoey but me it's just an On-Call room in privacy." She wished she hadn't said anything, not in the middle of the surgical floor but it had really bothered her.
Mark stared at her in disbelief. He knew what she was talking about and he just wondered how she knew, although he didn't need to for very long. He opened the nearest supply closet and pushed Lexie in. He locked the door and turned the light on so he could see her.
"Oh so you're swapping On-Call rooms for supply closets now, if you ask me that's a step-down." Lexie said sarcastically.
Ignoring her comment, Mark asked her the inevitable. "What has Zoey told you?"
Lexie said nothing and looked at him. His face was sincere and questioning. She sighed. "Everything."
"Everything?"
"Yes everything."
Mark looked at her. She saw pain in her eyes and wondered exactly what everything was. "Baby, you need to be more specific. Can you do that please?"
"Don't patronize me, Mark, and not don't call me baby. I am not your baby."
It hurt Mark to hear her say that. He cared so much for the young intern and he hated that they had to keep "them" a secret. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to sound patronizing Lex. Can you please just tell me what you know?"
"You just left her in that restaurant, Mark. You left her in tears and let a complete stranger comfort her. Is that what you're going to do when you and me start to get a bit tough. Is this why you refuse to tell Derek?"
"Lexie, you know why I can't tell Derek."
"That's not the point!" She said, starting to raise her voice. "The point is that you ran away when it started to get difficult. You bought her a diamond necklace Mark, the one she had her eye on, the one that was worth the expense because just seeing her face light up made it worth while." Lexie quoted what Zoey had told her.
Mark's heart tightened. He thought back to that day, before he found out the truth. Her face was a picture of delight when she opened that box and it brought him absolute happiness to see her like that. He remembered thinking that he wanted to buy her things all the time just to see the beautiful smile light up her face. He looked back at Lexie who had the look of hurt across her face. "Lexie that was five years ago."
"It may have been five years ago Mark, but doesn't mean she's over it and by the look on your face, I'd say you're not over it – over her." Lexie blinked back the tears that were threatening to leak out. "Please tell me I'm wrong." Please let me be wrong, I like him so much, hell I love him! She thought.
"Lexie, I-" He started but didn't finish because Lexie said, "Yeah, that's what I thought." She swallowed the lump in her throat that had quickly formed, pushed past him, unlocked the door and ran out to find Torres. Mark called out to her but she ignored him and shut the door on her way out. Mark sighed. The truth was that no, he wasn't over her. He had thought about that day he left her in the restaurant, her tear-stained face and the lady with her arm over her. Every time he thought about it, he regretted ever walking out that door. He wished that he could turn back time so he could run over to her and tell her that it he was an idiot and how sorry he was. He sighed again and ran a hand over his hair. Five years had passed and he had a long filled apology and an explanation as to why he acted like a total ass was due.
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Mark stopped outside Zoey's room. It had taken a lot of courage for him to get to this stage, all he had to do next was walk in and talk to her. Before he opened the door, Derek stopped him. "I wouldn't go in there, Mark. She's pretty pissed at you seeing as you forgot who she was." He warned him.
Mark looked at him with sorry eyes. "I know I've messed up but that's why I need to talk to her. I need to tell her how sorry I am."
"Mark, that girl has been through a lot without your help so the last thing she needs is to start opening old wounds."
"Like what? Derek, tell me what's been going on."
Derek sighed. He was sure she would appreciate him telling Mark about Justin beating her but he knew deep down that she'd see why he did so. Maybe Mark could convince her to leave the bastard. "Her boyfriend beats her up Mark. That's why she's here." He informed him quietly. "It isn't the first time she's ended up in hospital either. So if you're going to talk to her, be careful about what you say." Derek told him before walking off to prep for his next surgery. Mark took a look at her through the door. She was just as beautiful as he remembered, maybe even more so. He was shocked at what Derek had told him. He wondered how anyone could hurt so much as a hair on her head. He surprised himself as he felt anger build up at the very thought. He took a deep breath to calm down before walking in to the room.
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Zoey looked up as she heard the door open, expecting it to be Derek to check up on her, so imagine her utter shock to see the plastic surgeon staring right back at her. "Zoey we need to talk."