"Dr. Sloan, do you mind telling me why you have not returned any of my calls. I have been wracking my brain researching this procedure and I think I'm on to something, but I need the help of a world class plastic surgeon," Dr. Bailey says.
"I've had things on my mind," he replies.
"Things? Things that prevent you from saving Lexie Grey's future? I thought you were in love with that girl!" Dr. Bailey says, giving Mark a questioning look.
"It's complicated," Mark says, putting his head in his hands.
"Listen. I hear all the gossip in this hospital, I just don't partake in it. I know you slept with Torres. But come on…you always sleep with Torres. She's like you're version of mac and cheese and fried chicken. Everyone needs that comfort food when things get rough," Dr. Bailey says.
"Comfort food?" Mark asks.
"I'm from the South. We do a lot of comfort food there. But the bottom line is that after a day of comfort food, you start to feel bloated and unhealthy and the next day, you go back to eating your healthy salads and grilled chicken and you feel better. Of course sometimes it takes a few tries before the weight falls back off, but you feel better when it does. Sloan…you need to get back on your healthy diet," Dr. Bailey says.
"Let me guess. Lexie is my salad?" he asks, with a weak smile.
Dr. Bailey nods. "And your salad is starting to look pretty wilted, so let's take a look at the plans I drew up here and you can see what I came up with," she says.
Mark takes Dr. Bailey's notes from her and looks them over. He shakes his head.
"What?" she asks, anxiously. "No good?"
"No. They're very good. It's just such a brutal procedure. I hate the idea of putting her through this," he says.
"Nobody's even talked to her about it. It IS the patient's choice, you know," Dr. Bailey says.
"Yes. It is. It certainly isn't mine," Mark says in a self deprecating tone.
"Do you want to explain it to her?" Dr. Bailey asks.
Mark shakes his head. "I have other things to talk to her about first. I can't just go in there and explain that we are going to torture her for weeks."
"Well, I'll make sure Stevens is well read on the procedure and I'll have her discuss the procedure with the patient and obtain consent to start the procedure or decline treatment," Dr. Bailey says.
"Lexie." Mark says.
"Pardon me?" Dr. Bailey asks, tilting her head.
"The PATIENT'S name is Lexie. Don't forget who she is," Mark says.
Dr. Bailey nods. "I won't, Dr. Sloan. She's your salad."
(Break)
Alex nibbles on Izzie's ear. "Why don't you come with me to the on call room. We can finish this there!" he says, seductively.
Izzie pushes him away. "I can't. I have to report to Dr. Bailey on this procedure. It's for Lexie and it's complicated. We have to grow tissue, and then there is a big process to stretch the tissue to fit different portions of her body. It's complex, and I don't fully understand it and I have to explain it to Lexie in an hour and get her consent," Izzie says.
"Why are you so freaked out here? I mean it's Lexie! It's not like she's some random patient who is going to fire questions at you," he asks.
Izzie narrows her eyes. "Have you met Lexie? We don't call her Lexapedia for no reason. She'll have a million questions and I want her to feel comfortable with all of this, and I need to get this right, so PLEASE! Stop coming on to me now because I won't be able to resist," she pleads.
"Then you better be ready when you get home because I'm going to be all over you!" Alex says.
(Break)
"Hi Izzie," Lexie says, barely looking up from her etch a sketch.
"So, how's the etch a sketching going?" Izzie says, cheerfully.
"My fingers are swollen and I'm having a little trouble with the angles. I'm also out of practice, but I'm getting my groove back. Thank you for asking," Lexie replies.
"Okay, at the risk of sounding like Cristina…I wasn't REALLY asking…I just…well…It's hard to ignore that thing…I don't really know how to talk to you when you won't look at me," Izzie admits.
"Maybe I'd start looking at you if you'd get that look off your face," Lexie snaps.
"What look?" Izzie asks, genuinely.
"The 'poor Lexie' look. The look that says 'Poor Lexie got burned in the fire and now Mark Sloan cheated on her. Poor Lexie!'" Lexie mimics.
"You're misinterpreting my look…" Izzie declares.
"Really? Then explain it to me," Lexie challenges.
"Okay, it's not a look of pity. Honestly, I feel really badly that you were burned, but we have plan here, and I think it's a good one. And if you'd stop playing with your toy long enough to hear it, I think yo'll agree. It is a look of sympathy. Sympathy for what you've been through medically, but also for what you're going through with Mark. I've had a lot of failed relationships and it hurts. I know. So yes. I feel bad for what you're going through because I'm your friend, but I don't pity you, because I know that you'll come out the other side of this," Izzie explains.
Lexie puts the etch a sketch down. "Okay. I'm sorry. I'm having a bad day," she says.
"No apologies necessary. Put down the etch a sketch. We're going to talk about your upcoming surgeries," Izzie says.
"Surgeries? As in more than one?" Lexie asks.
"Yes. Surgeries, as in about 5 or 6, depending on how the grafting takes after we grow the tissue samples. Basically, what we have to do is take a sample of skin from someone. It is easiest to grow if it's a relative, but it doesn't have to be. We figured we could use Meredith…you know…half sister is good enough. Once we have a small tissue sample, we attach it to your body. It's best to start with a small body part, like a foot or a hand or something. Then, the hard part comes. Once it grafts, we have to stretch it. That involves some small surgical procedures where we insert tissue expanders to stretch the skin," Izzie explains.
"It doesn't sound so bad…" Lexie says.
"The actual surgery isn't so bad. It's just that while the skin is expanding in between surgeries, well…it can be uncomfortable." Izzie explains.
"Okay. Fair enough. Compared to what I felt like when I came in here, I think I can handle it," Lexie says, optimistically.
Izzie thinks for a moment. Should she tell Lexie that the pain of the tissue expansion would be much worse than the pain of her original burns? She worries that Lexie might not actually do it, so she simply says, "The only thing is, you can't take any medication while undergoing this treatment. No pain killers or anything."
"Like I said, after the pain I had coming in here, I can live with that," Lexie says.
Izzie guiltily changes the subject.
"Cristina and I saw Callie," she says.
"And?" Lexie asks.
"We made her so uncomfortable that she left her own O.R.! Then from what I heard, Meredith gave it to her good! I wouldn't be surprised if she asked for a transfer!" Izzie says, gleefully.
Lexie smiles. "Am I totally evil if I'm happy?" she asks.
Izzie smiles back. "No. You're human."
(Break)
"Why aren't you talking?" Meredith asks.
"I'm tired," Derek replies.
"You're not tired. You slept 10 hours last night. What's wrong?" Meredith asks.
Derek doesn't answer.
"You know, you can call Mark and see how he's doing. He's hurting and he needs you. You're his person," Meredith says.
"No I can't. There is right and there's wrong. I can't condone wrong. What he and Callie did was wrong." Derek explains.
"You see everything as black and white," Meredith says.
"Yeah…I do." Derek admits.
"Can I ask you something?" Meredith asks.
"Sure," Derek replies.
"Did you mean it when you said that you'd never forgive Mark for sleeping with Addison?" Meredith asks.
"He slept with my wife," Derek replies.
"Because if he hadn't slept with Addison, you wouldn't have left her and you never would have met me in the bar…and then…well…we wouldn't be here," Meredith says, looking away.
Derek takes her face in his hands. "Why are you asking me this?"
"Because I need to know I wasn't your second choice…" Meredith admits.
Derek holds her face and kisses her lips gently. "You are not my second choice. You are my home," he says, firmly.
"Call Mark," Meredith says, kissing him back.
"Nope." Derek replies.
(Break)
Callie sits next to Mark in the on call room.
"I'm sorry," she says.
"Me too," Mark replies.
"No. I should have stopped it. You were drunker than me. I'm really sorry. I know you really care about her," Callie says.
"Why do we sleep together?" Mark asks.
"I know why I do it. I just don't know why you do," Callie says.
"Why do you do it?" Mark asks.
"Have you ever looked around this hospital? Have you seen what all the women here look like? Meredith, and Cristina are like a size 2 on a bloated day. Izzie is a supermodel, Lexie's perfect looking all the time! Miranda looks like a normal person, but she's brilliant and never makes a mistake. I'm not perfect. I'm not gorgeous, I'm just a damn good orthopedic surgeon, so at the end of the day, I'm the slightly chubby girl who breaks bones and has no real close friends other than you. I've made myself a laughingstock and I don't know…I just don't feel good anymore…" Callie admits.
Mark turns to her. "You sleep with me because you don't think you're attractive or smart?" he asks.
Callie looks away and is mortified that she has tears in her eyes.
"Calliope Torres, look at me," Mark says, gently.
Callie looks at him and wills the tears that cloud her vision not to fall.
"After this conversation, we are never going to sleep together again, but I want you to know something. You are beautiful. You are one of the most attractive women I have ever been with. You are smart, funny and real, and I have never met anyone like you," Mark says, staring intensely at her.
"Thank you," Callie says, feeling her throat tighten. She takes a few deep breaths, and when she trusts her voice, she says, "Why do you do it?"
"Pretty much for similar reasons. Derek's the good guy. I'm just the guy who's hot enough to make woman want him for that. I've never actually been good at relationships. I'm good at screwing them up," Mark admits.
"Maybe we need to help each other. I'm going to help you stay in a committed relationship with Lexie," Callie says.
"And I'm going to help you find a relationship with someone who's good enough for you. None of this O'Malley crap!" Mark says.
Callie smiles. "I have to go. There's something I have to do," she says.
(Break)
"Lexie! I need to talk to you!" Callie says, bursting through the door.
Lexie's heart skips a beat as she sees Callie standing in the doorway.
"What do you want?" Lexie asks, tiredly.
"I want to apologize, and fix things. I want to make things right," Callie says, sitting down in a chair next to Lexie's bed.
"Can you make it so my boyfriend wasn't naked in your bed the other night? Because if you can't, I don't think you can fix anything," Lexie says.
Callie sighs. "You're mad. I know. But Mark and I screwed up. We're screwed up people. He's a man whore, and I'm…well…I guess I'm just a whore."
Lexie is surprised by Callie's assessment of the situation and doesn't know what to say other than, "Yeah. I guess you deserve each other."
"No, Lexie…that's where you're wrong. Mark loves you. He's not that person anymore. He was at Joe's. We were talking about how much he cared about you. I took advantage of him. He was drunk. I was drunk. It shouldn't have happened the way that it did, but it was my fault…not his. I should have stopped it. I knew he'd regret it…but well…I should have stopped it…" Callie says.
Lexie glares at her. "But you didn't. You didn't stop it, and he didn't stop it, which means that no one actually cared enough to stop it. Everyone wanted to do the right thing, but no one did it. It's okay, Callie. I know what I look like now. Mark should be with someone beautiful and undamaged. Someone like you. It's fine. I'm learning to accept my future…but don't come in here with stories about how no one meant for it to happen…It happened…and I'm sad about it. I'm allowed to grieve for my lost life…okay?" she says, coldly and distantly.
"Beautiful and undamaged? Lexie…with burns covering almost 100% of your body you are more beautiful and less damaged than I'll ever be. Your scars aren't your fault. Mark and I…we make our own mistakes…and then we have to live with them. We scar ourselves. He loves you. I promised him I'd help him be the man he wants to be for you…and I screwed up. Please…give him another chance. Please…" Callie pleads.
The door opens before Lexie can answer and Meredith steps into the room and glares at Callie.
"Get out of my sister's room before I…" Meredith doesn't finish her thought because if she is honest with herself she doesn't really have a threat.
"It's okay, Mer. Callie was just apologizing, and I was just telling her that no amount of apologizing changes what happened," Lexie says, calmly.
"Look…you never have to forgive me if you don't want to. But if you could forgive Mark…well…that's what matters," Callie says.
Lexie laughs bitterly. "Yeah…he hasn't even come to apologize to me himself. Tell your friend that apologizing through your other woman is really bad form," she says.
The door opens again. "Ummm…could you two leave us alone for a few minutes?" Mark asks, as he sits down next to Lexie.
Callie nods and steps outside. Meredith looks at Lexie. Who nods. "It's okay, Mer," she whispers.
Meredith smiles briefly at Mark as she steps into the hallway and stands next to Callie who is leaning against the door.
"You know…I've been the other woman too…" Meredith says.
Callie stares at her without saying anything.
"And I remember when Addison was classy about everything with Derek and I, it made me feel even worse," Meredith points out.
Callie continues to stare at her.
"I don't know what brought Mark to the point where he's ready to face what he did, but if it was you, thank you," Meredith continues.
"You're welcome," Callie says, simply.
"Until I see them back together, I still wouldn't come to your execution," Meredith says.
"You already missed it," Callie says.
Meredith looks at her quizzically.
"I had Izzie and Cristina with me on a surgery. They did a pretty good job. Let's just say it was more like the chair than lethal injection," Callie explains.
(Break)
Mark takes Lexie's hand. "Hey beautiful," he says.
"Stop calling me that," she says, looking away.
"Did Izzie talk to you about the procedure?" he asks, awkwardly avoiding the elephant in the room.
"I'm not mad at you," she says.
"You're not?" he asks.
"No. I get it. You deserve a normal life. A life with a girl who isn't scarred and disfigured and all that. You deserve a girl like Callie. I just can't believe you didn't have the decency to break up with me before sleeping with her. I mean, you told me you loved me. Doesn't that word mean anything to you, Mark?" she asks.
"Can I tell you a secret?" he asks.
"I guess. But I should warn you…I'm not very good at keeping them," Lexie admits.
"You're the first girl I ever told that I loved her," Mark says.
"Really?" Lexie says, smiling against her own will.
"Really…and I kind of freaked out. I don't know…I just freaked," he says, shamefully.
"I'm your first love?" she asks.
"You're it, baby," he says.
Lexie smiles and squeezes his hand.
"So here's the thing…" Mark says. "I'm experienced in certain areas. Very experienced. And very proficient. I'm kind of like a god in those areas. But in other areas, I'll probably screw up, and I need you to keep my head on straight."
"So you're Meredith and I'll be your Derek?" Lexie asks.
"I guess so…" Mark says, smiling.
"Okay…" Lexie says, squeezing his hand.