Mark paced along the lobby waiting for Lexie to come out of the ladies' restroom. When she did Mark pounced on her. It was now or never. "Hey Lexie, can we talk?" he called over to her.
"Erm, Mark as much as I love talking to you I really need to go, I'm so tired. Can we do this tomorrow?"
"It's important Lex."
"Okay, what is it?"
Mark opened his mouth but nothing came out. He hadn't thought this part through. What was he going to say to the girl? Fuck. "Erm, you see, it's not easy to-" Before he could continue his beeper beeped. "Shit. I gotta go but we'll continue this later okay?" he said before running off to trauma.
"Sure." Lexie answered before making her way to the exit very confused.
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"What's happened?" Mark asked Hunt breathlessly after running all the way there.
"22 year-old-female was found knocked out in her apartment." He told him.
"Why was I called?" Mark asked. "Surely it should be Derek?"
"He was, he told Grey to page you and he went running off looking for you."
Before Mark could ask why, Derek appeared. "Oh thank god! Mark, it's Zoey!"
"What do you mean it's Zoey?"
"She's the 22-year-old-female that was found knocked out in her apartment!"
"What! Where did she go? Derek, tell me where she went!" Mark yelled.
"Grey and Yang took her to ICU." Hunt told him before Derek could answer him. "You two had better get down there. She's going to need you to fix her face and check her brain for any damage."
Mark and Derek looked at each other before simultaneously sprinting down in the direction of ICU.
They reached Zoey's room in record time where she was wired up to different machines to help keep her alive, all of which were beeping. "Oh my god." Mark said, mainly to himself but he was loud enough for Derek to hear, who looked over at him and saw how worried and upset he was. "Grey what's the situation?" Mark asked Meredith.
"She's stable at the moment but we won't know anything until we get an MRI scan, which we can't get until she wakes up, which could be any time." She explained to him.
"She will wake up though right?" Mark asked her with hope in his voice, giving Meredith the impression that she wasn't just a patient to Mark. She looked over at Derek who looked just as pained and worried as Mark did.
"There's no reason to say she won't wake up." She smiled although she didn't really understand why both men would be so worried about a patient.
Derek noticed the confusion in her face so he said, "She's a very good friend of ours, Mer."
Meredith nodded, not quite sure whether to believe it. She left the room so the two of them to comfort each other and stay close to their very good friend.
"What the hell happened to her?" Mark had never seen anyone he was close to in a situation like this.
Derek shook his head, blinking back the tears. "I don't know. The ambulance paramedics said they got an anonymous call out. By the time they got to her apartment, the front door was left wide open and they found her lying there."
"She will wake up won't she? Derek please tell me she'll wake up!" Mark was never one to cry and show his emotions but no one would have known as tears started to stream from his eyes. Derek looked over at him as he saw Mark collapse on the floor, knees bent with his head leaning on his knees and his arms over his head. He walked over and sat beside him. "Hey Mark, listen. I don't think it would be a good idea for you to be involved in this surgery – you're too involved with her."
Mark looked up at his friend sitting next to him. "I'm the only one who can fix her face." He said, his voice almost inaudible.
"Seattle Grace has managed without you before, I'm sure they can do it again for just one patient."
"No. I don't trust anyone else to do a good enough job." He said, looking over at the golden beauty that lay silently attached to machines.
"If I'm honest Mark, I don't think I'm going to be involved myself. If she needs surgery, I don't want to do it myself. If anything were to happen …I don't think I could ever forgive myself."
Mark looked back at his friend. "But you never turn down a job."
"Well I'm turning down this one and I really recommend you do the same."
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Two hours had passed and Zoey still hadn't woken up. Derek had left as he had to check on other patients but Mark had stayed in the same place and had refused to move until she had opened her eyes. There was a knock on the door and a strange man walked in through the door and walked over to the bed.
"Can I help you with something?" Mark asked the man using his cold tone of voice. He stood up and walked towards him.
"Oh sorry I didn't see you there." He said to Mark as he spun round in shock. "I just-just came to see Zoey." His voice was shaky and his fingers kept twitching as if he wasn't supposed to be there.
"Who are you?"
"Justin." He replied. "Is she going to be okay?"
Mark's body filled with rage. So this is the asshole who put her in here. "She doesn't need visitors right now. Please leave."
"Who are you to say she doesn't need visitors? She needs familiar voices around her so she can wake up."
"I am her doctor. She will wake up in her own time, familiar voices around her will not help." Mark spoke as calmly and slowly as he possibly could, despite wanting to strangle the man.
Justin relaxed and stopped twitching his fingers - he couldn't be bothered to play the concerned boyfriend anymore. "And what a fine job you're doing – sitting there, on the floor," he said cockily observing his tear stained face. "Crying. Now could you please get me her real doctor?"
Mark clenched his fists in the pocket of his white coat. "I am her real doctor. I'm head of plastics."
"Right well when she wants a boob job I'll give you a ring. Get me a real doctor."
"You want a real doctor? Sure, I'll just page Dr. Shepherd, Head of Neurology – that's the brain in case you were wondering." Mark took his pager out and sent Derek a message telling him to get to ICU ASAP who arrived within minutes of receiving the page.
"What's happened? Did she wake up? Who's this guy?" Derek rambled on.
Ignoring Derek, Mark turned to Justin. "Could you follow me outside please?" and nodded to Derek to follow them. All three of them left Zoey's room and stood outside where Mark spoke up. "Dr. Shepherd, this is Justin. He wanted to talk to Zoey's real doctor." Derek and Mark looked at each other as if they were reading each other's mind.
"What can I do you for sir?" Derek asked Justin eventually.
"I just want to know if she's okay."
"In what relation are you to the patient sir?" Derek asked him, using all the power of authority he could master.
"I'm her boyfriend."
"Thanks that's all I needed to know." Derek said before swinging his arm back and forth making contact with his nose and sending him flying.
"Whoa! Nice!" Mark said laughing at the scene that had arisen before him. "Your hand okay?"
"No … but it was worth it." Derek said, clenching and stretching his hand in pain.
Justin, not one to give up so easily, stood up and went storming towards Derek. "What the fuck's your problem!" before he could get to Derek, Mark was ready and waiting and threw a punch which caught Justin off guard.
"I am suing this hospital!" he growled. This was heard by Richard Webber, the Chief of Surgery who just happened to walk by at that moment.
"What seems to be the problem? Sloan, Shepherd, why are you holding your fists like that?" he asked, noticing both Mark and Derek both clutching their hands in pain.
"Who the fuck are you?"
"I'm Dr. Webber, chief of surgery but if you want to continue this conversation I would appreciate some respect and none of that language." Richard said using the voice that always scared the interns. "Unless you want to be thrown out of this hospital." He added.
"Fine. All I wanted was some information about my girlfriend who was brought in earlier today. I asked him –" Justin said pointing to Derek. "And all the response I got was being punched in the face. Then the other one decided to join in."
Richard looked over at the two men, face of fury. "MY OFFICE NOW!" he barked at them.
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Inside Richard was chewing off the two men's ears. "What were you thinking? What gave you the right to do that? You'll be lucky if he doesn't sue!"
"Chief you don't understand. That man should be no where near Zoey Heart." Mark started.
"And why not? He's her boyfriend; he deserves to be by her side. How would you like it if something had happened to Lexie and instead of getting information you just get sucker punched?" Mark slumped back in his chair and said nothing. "That's what I thought. And the same goes to you Derek."
"Chief, Zoey is a very close friend of mine, I was doing her a favour." Derek explained.
"How is punching her boyfriend in the middle of my hospital doing her a favour?" Richard demanded to know.
Derek and Mark looked at each other and nodded. "He beats her up sir." Derek told him. "He hits her, kicks her, the lot. He's put her in here before and I'm quite convinced he's the reason why she's in ICU not waking up any time soon."
Mark felt his heart sink after Derek said that. He couldn't bare the thought of Zoey not waking up.
Richard looked at Derek. "Are you absolutely sure?"
"Chief, she told me herself. Derek told me the last time she was here but she told me herself last night." Mark spoke quietly.
Derek shot him a look that said I didn't know that as Richard asked, "How did she tell you last night?"
"She was in my hotel room last night. Don't worry, nothing happened." He said, mainly aiming it at Derek. "We have a history together and if I'm honest, I really, really don't want that asshole in the same room as her."
"Are you telling me that you knew she was being beaten up by her boyfriend and withheld this information from the police?"
"Sir, we couldn't do anything unless she was willing to comply. It's our word against hers and if she says otherwise, they're not going to listen to a word we say." Derek explained.
"Derek has tried to get her to leave him many times but she just says she loves him and refused to leave him." Mark added on.
Richard nodded as Mark's beeper went off. "Sorry chief but I have to go. I got a 911 from ICU." He explained as he jumped up and headed towards the door.
"Hang on Mark, I'm coming with you." Derek called after him. "Sorry chief."
The two men ran off towards ICU where they could hear screams and cries that was unmistakably Zoey. "MARK! HELP ME!"