Derek hangs up the phone and puts his head in his hands. He knows he needs to talk to Mark, but he also knows it is not going to be easy to break the news to him. He feels the weight of everyone's panic on his shoulders. He calmed Meredith down by promising he would get up there, but he knew that he wouldn't be going alone. He would be bringing his distraught best friend with him. Now he just had to bring himself to tell Mark that Lexie was stuck in a burning building.
Derek walks over to the on call room where Mark is laying on the bed sleeping. Derek feels like turning around and walking away, and letting his friend enjoy the rest of his slumber, but he knows he would just be postponing the inevitable. He shakes Mark's shoulder.
"Sloan, hey buddy… wake up,"
"Shepherd! What the hell! Isn't the first rule we tell interns is never to wake an attending unless someone is crashing?" Mark says, sitting up and rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah. And that's why I woke you…" Derek says.
"You're like the best neurosurgeon in the country. Now you want me to help you do CPR? Go take a first aid class! Let me sleep!" Mark complains.
"Mark. Listen to me. It's Lexie…" Derek says, gravely.
Mark's demeanor changes immediately. He sits up and stares at Derek. "Why do you look so serious. What's wrong with Lexie?" Mark asks, desperately.
Derek takes a deep breath. "There was a fire…at the psych hospital…a bad one. Meredith got out, but Lexie's still inside. I'm so sorry."
"Inside? Lexie? She's inside burning? What the hell, Shepherd? What's wrong with Meredith? She left her in there to die?" Mark explodes.
"Come on. We're going up there. We're going to take care of them. This isn't Meredith's fault. This isn't anyone's fault. We've just got to go get Lexie. Grab your things and meet me in the parking lot." Derek says, trying to stay calm.
Mark numbly follows Derek's instructions. As Mark walks away, Derek sees Callie down the hall and runs over to her. "Torres. Don't alarm anyone, but Lexie's in a burning building. Mark's a wreck. Stay with him until I get back. Help him get some things together so we can go up there…okay?" Derek says.
"Of course," Callie says. "What happened?" she asks, concerned.
Derek shakes his head. "Don't have time. I have to get moving."
(break)
Cristina holds her phone to her ear. "I just have to finish my charts and then I'm ready to go. Do you want me to grab dinner?"
"Sure. But I'm exhausted. It's been a long day. Can we go somewhere close and then just go home?" Owen asks.
"Sure," Cristina replies.
As she hangs up her phone, Derek rushes over to her.
"Cristina…I need your help," Derek says.
"Yeah…I've been telling you that for a while. Glad you're finally listening," Cristina replies.
"I've got to go to Meredith. I need you to call her every 15 minutes to make sure she's okay. I want to drive as quickly as humanly possible, so I can't call her as often as I need to." Derek says.
"What's wrong with Meredith?" Cristina asks.
"She and Lexie went to visit Sadie. There was a fire…" Derek says.
"A fire? Oh my god! Is Meredith okay? Did you talk to her?" she says.
"She got out. But Lexie…" Derek says.
Cristina picks up her cell phone again. "Owen. Meet me at your car now. Change of plans. We're going on a road trip."
Izzie and Alex walk over. "What's this I hear about a road trip? I love road trips!" Izzie says, brightly.
"Come on, Iz. I'm tired. No one's taking a road trip…" Alex says.
"Meredith and Lexie were visiting Sadie and there was a fire. Meredith got out, but Lexie's still in the building. We're worried about Meredith," Cristina says.
"Ummm…and Lexie… you know…the one in the burning building? C
ome on, Alex…we're going too. We'll ride with Cristina," she says.
"And Owen," Cristina says.
"No way. I'm not riding in a car with that guy," Alex says.
"Don't be a selfish ass. Get your things and meet me at the front of the hospital," she says.
Alex sighs and starts to protest but is silenced by a look from Izzie.
Derek looks at all of them and explodes. "This isn't spring break! Whatever you all decide, do it quickly! I need to get to Meredith!" he says and storms off.
Izzie, Alex and Cristina look at each other. "Come on. Owen's car is out front. Don't slow me down. I could have been halfway there already," Cristina says.
"So what's the problem with you and Owen?" Izzie whispers to Alex.
"He got pissed because I said that Sadie's stupid PTSD wasn't an excuse for holding Meredith at gunpoint. The guy's a little high strung," Alex says, dismissively.
"Alex!" Izzie scolds. "Owen was in both Gulf Wars. Half the people he knows probably suffer from PTSD. You better apologize as soon as we get to the car. That was seriously insensitive!"
"Whatever…" Alex replies, with a half smile.
(Break)
"He won't talk to me, Derek. I can't get him to say a word…" Callie says.
"Thanks, Torres. I got it from here. Thanks for staying until I got back," Derek says.
"Of course. I'll cover for you guys here. I'll do your charts and everything. Bailey said she'll help too," Callie promises.
"Thanks again. We'll call you on the way back. Come on, Sloan. We're gonna go bring Big and Little Grey home," Derek says, putting his hand on Mark's shoulder.
Mark follows Derek without a word. Derek leads him to the car where they sit in silence as Derek programs the GPS system to 347 State Street.
As they get on the road, Derek turns to Mark. "Mark…we're going to bring her home. I promise you. We're going to find her," Derek says.
Mark looks Derek in the eyes. "Please. Don't let me down, man," he says.
"I won't. " Derek promises.
(Break)
Owen gets behind the wheel of the car. Alex climbs into the driver's seat next to him.
"That's Cristina's seat," Owen says.
"Well she can have it at the next stop. Listen…I wanted to talk to you about something…" Alex says.
"The leg amputation went fine," Owen says.
"It's not that. I'm sorry about what I said about Post Traumatic Stress Disorder. I was wrong. I know it's real and that you must know a lot of people with it, from the army and all. Sometimes I'm a jerk just to be a jerk, but anyway…I'm sorry," Alex says.
Owen doesn't speak for a second. When he does, he says, "Sometimes I'm a jerk just to be a jerk too. Sometimes being a jerk is just so easy."
"Yeah…it is," Alex says.
"Yeah…" Owen says, keeping his eyes on the road.
The car is quiet for a few minutes.
Cristina turns to Izzie. "I hope Meredith is alright."
Izzie turns sharply back to her. "Meredith is fine! She's outside the building. It's Lexie who's in there. Why aren't you worried about that?" she snaps.
"I am. You know how we ask the patients to rate their pain on a scale of 1-10? Well, Meredith lives life every day at an 8. If anything happens to Lexie…well…I don't want her pain number to get any higher," Cristina explains.
Izzie softens. "Me either. I hope they're both okay."
(Break)
Meredith runs over to a fireman standing outside talking on a walkie talkie.
"Have they found a girl in there? She's in her 20s and she has straight brown hair. She's petite and she was in the bathroom when the fire started. Has anyone found her? She's my sister and…"
"Lady, there are a lot of people in there. We're doing the best we can," he says.
"The best you can? I'm a doctor. I know what that means," she says.
"Then you know that the odds aren't good. I'm sorry miss, but I've got to get in there. I'll try to find your sister and all the other people trapped in there…but you have to know…" he says, sadly.
Meredith doesn't answer. She just stares helplessly at the door of the burning building for what feels like hours. After an unbearable amount of time, Sadie emerges carrying Lexie over her shoulder. Meredith doesn't recognize them immediately. Both of them are covered in soot. Sadie places Lexie on the ground and collapses next to her and begins to vomit blood.
Meredith collapses next to them and sobs. "Oh my god. You're here! Sadie! Let me help you!" she says, pulling her hair back from her face as she continues to wretch. Meredith instantly sees the signs of severe smoke inhalation. "Help!" she calls.
A paramedic comes over. "I'm a doctor!" Meredith announces.
"Then you know that she's vomiting tissue," he says, shaking his head.
Meredith knows what that means. She holds Sadie's hand and says, "Thank you…for saving my sister. You said you wanted to do something big…something that made up for…well….this is it, Sadie. You saved Lexie's life," Meredith says.
"Thank you, Meredith," Sadie whispers, her breathing labored.
"For what?" Meredith asks.
"For forgiving me…" Sadie says as her eyes close, and her breath slows and finally stops.
Meredith strokes Sadie's hair. "I'm so sorry, Sadie," she whispers and then places Sadie's hand down and turns to Lexie, gasping when she sees her. She is unconscious, but breathing. Her entire face is covered in third degree burns and she is barely recognizable. Meredith knows that the damage is horrific and that Lexie's condition is critical. She tries to get someone's attention to get her some help, but she is frozen to the spot where her sister is laying. She looks at Lexie's hand and sees a small, thin gold bracelet that she recognizes as belonging to her sister. It is the only identifiable part of Lexie who currently looks like something out of a horror movie.
…September 5th. Lexie Gray is an intern here now! Can my life get any worse? TO make matters even more disastrous, she seems to want to get to know me. How can I explain it to her any more clearly? She is a reminder of everything I never had. I'm never going to want to get to know her. Never! In fact, everything about her repulses me. Especially her skin. I look at her perfect, milky white skin on her face and I want to slash it with a scalpel so she'll be damaged. Damaged like me. I want to cause her pain so she'll lose that stupid Pollyanna grin on her face and be as screwed up as the rest of us. I even hate her hair. Sometimes, when we are sitting in conferences, I find myself fantasizing about holding her down and shaving her head. And despite the fact that I don't have a kind word to say to her, and certainly don't have a kind thought to think about her, she keeps coming back for more. She even brought me coffee today. What she didn't seem to realize was that as she handed it to me, I had to fight the urge to throw it on her so that she would suffer 2nd degree burns. How am I going to face her every day?...
Meredith hears the words from her diary play like a record in her head. She looks at Lexie and feels the weight of the meaning of her words on her shoulders pulling her to the ground. "I never meant it. I never meant it, Lexie…you have to believe me. I never meant any of it," Meredith whispers to her sister.