Meredith wakes up in Derek's arms and frantically jumps out of the bed in the on call room. "Oh my god! I can't believe you let me sleep that long! I have to check on Lexie! She's been by herself for…" Meredith rants.

Derek grabs her and pulls her into a hug. "Relax. Mark is with Lexie and at about 3am he took a nap and Izzie stayed with her for a few hours. She's doing well," he says.

Meredith shakes her head. "No! You don't understand! I promised I'd be with her every step of the way! I promised her! Then I fainted. I was useless to her. I was supposed to be there for her and I wasn't! I have to get there! You don't understand. I failed her! I failed her like I always fail everyone!" Meredith continues to rant.

Derek kisses her and she pushes him away. "You don't understand…you're perfect. I'm all screwed up and now I screwed my sister up. I'll see you later," she says, running out of the room.

When she arrives at Lexie's room, Lexie is fast asleep. Mark stands up as soon as he sees her. "Thank god you're here! I have surgery in an hour. Luckily, it's just a simple nose job so I can do it in my sleep because I literally will be operating in my sleep," he says.

"Mark…I'm really sorry. I promised I would be there for the whole thing and then I…I don't know…I…it was so bad…I just fainted and I…I'm just sorry I left you alone in there…and that I left Lexie alone. I just totally screwed up. I'm so sorry," she says.

Mark puts his hand on Meredith's shoulder. "Lexie was not alone. Do you know how amazing those friends of yours were? Wait until Lexie tells you what Izzie and Cristina did for her in there? They were the best medicine anyone could have asked for. You can't even imagine. So don't feel bad for a moment. Lexie was far from alone. And the good news is that the procedure is working," he says.

"Thanks Mark," Meredith says, as she sits down and waits for Lexie to wake up.

Lexie begins to stir as Meredith sits quietly and waits. When she opens her eyes, Meredith smiles sheepishly. "How are you feeling?" she asks.

"I've been better," Lexie admits. "I can't believe I have to do that again two more times…but Mark says that the extremities are not as bad as the torso, so next time shouldn't be quite as bad." She pauses and then asks, "How are YOU feeling?"

"Much better than I was feeling in the O.R." Meredith admits. "You know, I never understood the rule about not treating your family, or being in the O.R. with a family member. I always just thought that if you were a good doctor you could just treat it as another case…I guess that was because I didn't have any family. When I saw you…and you were…and…I just couldn't…and everything went black…and…" Meredith is surprised by how emotional she feels and at the fact that her voice keeps catching. She takes a breath and tries to steady herself.

"It's okay, Mer. No offense, but it was almost easier not having you there," Lexie says.

"Really?" Meredith asks.

Lexie nods. "Yes. I kept looking at you thinking how awful it would be in the situations were reversed. How I'd never be able to sit there with you while you went through anything like that without freaking out. It almost made me grateful that I was in my shoes and not your shoes…"

Meredith stares at her in disbelief. "You're something else, Little Sister," she says.

"Thanks…I think. I mean, I think that's a compliment. It is…right?" Lexie asks.

"It is. So, how are things with Mark? Are you getting past the whole Callie thing?" Meredith asks.

Lexie sighs. "I think so. I mean, right now, I have no choice. I mean, I need him desperately right now. He's saving my life…and I want to forgive him…but do you think he can ever be a one woman kind of guy? I don't know…" Lexie wonders.

"People can change, Lexie. Look at me. Look at you," Meredith says.

"You have changed a lot. You're actually nice to me now," Lexie says, with a smile.

"You've changed a lot too, you know…" Meredith says.

"Me? How?" Lexie asks.

"You're not pathetic anymore. Just a few months ago you were doing thinks like reading my diary and following me around not caring how mean I was to you. Now you've helped me through my own attempted murder and the death of a friend and survived a fire and then the procedure and…well…you've come a long way," Meredith says, proud of her sister.

"Thanks," Lexie says, shyly.

Izzie walks into Lexie's room unannounced and smiles at Meredith and Lexie. "I'm just here to check the area. I think Dr. Sloan is going to attach the graft later if everything looks good. And don't worry. That's a very minor and quick procedure that you probably won't even feel after what you've been through," Izzie says.

Lexie smiles back. "Thanks Izzie. And thank you for your stellar performance in there after Mer passed out."

Izzie laughs. "It was the least I could do," she says.

"What stellar performance?" Meredith asks.

"Izzie and Cristina took over your job as cheerleader. But they were so much better at it. They actually did a cheer for me, but then Cristina tripped and fell on the floor and I actually forgot about everything else for two seconds. It was just what I needed," Lexie says.

"Cristina did a cheer? And I missed it?" Meredith asks.

"What can I say? You picked a lousy time to pass out," Izzie says shrugging her shoulders with a smile.

Izzie undresses Lexie's wounds and Meredith winces. She realizes that she is not reacting as she would as a doctor. These wounds would not bother her if this were any other patient. She would be able to identify and treat them. She would be able to remain detached. However, at this moment, Meredith turns her head away and avoids looking at the area for too long. As she lurks behind Izzie, she asks, "What do you think? Is it healing well?" she realizes that she is acting like a family member.

Izzie smiles reassuringly. "Yes. It looks exactly as it should. I'll let Dr. Sloan double check, but it looks like you're going to get your graft today," she says.

Lexie fights the urge to fall asleep. The stress of the past few weeks has caught up to her and the immense pain of her body takes so much energy to cope with that she is constantly tired. Izzie sees her eyes fighting to stay open and says, "You should rest. Get some sleep. Most interns would kill for as much sleep as you can get right now, so don't waste it!"

"Thanks," Lexie says.

"Wait up, Iz. I'll come with you. Sleep tight, Lexie," Meredith says, kissing her sister's forehead maternally.

Izzie and Meredith walk down the hall silently until Meredith says, "Thank you."

"You already thanked me for being a good friend to Lexie and I already told you it was unnecessary. I like your sister," Izzie says.

"I meant for being a good friend to me. You were there for me in the O.R. I appreciate that. I didn't think this would be so hard. I'm good at this…I'm a good doctor. I don't get too attached. I can handle anything! But then it was Lexie and I…" Meredith's voice trails off.

"And it was horrible. That was your sister. I don't know how anyone can reconcile that. Someone had to be there for you…I'm glad I could do it," Izzie says.

"Well thanks," Meredith says.

Cristina comes over and Izzie says, "I better go find Mark. He wants to get that graft done. I'll see you guys later," she says.

Meredith stares at Cristina with a knowing smile. "You did a cheer for Lexie…" she says.

Cristina scowls. "Izzie made me," she replies.

"Izzie Stevens does not MAKE Cristina Yang do anything…You did a cheer. Thank you," Meredith says.

"You're welcome. How are you feeling?" Cristina asks.

"Mortified. I fainted in the O.R." Meredith says.

"You did. But if it makes you feel any better, Owen and I both closed our eyes in the gallery. We couldn't watch. You made it longer than I thought you would," Cristina says.

"Yeah…I saw Derek's face up there. He was waiting for me to freak out. I tried not to…but..then…well…I don't have to tell you. You were there," Meredith says.

"How is she?" Cristina asks.

"She's tough. A lot tougher than I thought she was. It's kind of unnerving. I mean if I have to have a sister, I assumed she'd at least be weaker than me. But she's not…" Meredith says.

"Yeah. That's true. She's never fainted in an O.R." Cristina says, with a smirk.

"Shut up!" Meredith replies.

"Should I go say hi to her or is that weird?" Cristina asks.

"Go. I think she'd like that," Meredith says.

(Break)

Derek sees Mark leave Lexie's room.

"Hey. How's she doing?" he asks.

Mark nods. "Pretty well. I am going to attach the graft tonight and if all is well, we'll be ready to start the extremities tomorrow," Mark says.

"Good. I'm glad it's working," Derek says.

Mark laughs. "No you're not. If I pull this off, I get published…and that kicks your clinical trial's ass!" he says.

"Nah…my clinical trial was groundbreaking…I'm not worried," Derek says with a confident smirk.

"Yes you are," Mark says, walking away.

"Not worried about that…maybe about other things…but not that…" Derek says.

Mark smiles knowingly. "I'm with you there, brother," he replies.

(Break)

Derek waits until he leaves and then walks into Lexie's room. "How are you feeling?" he asks.

"I'm okay. Thanks for coming by," Lexie says.

"Hey…we're going to be family one day. How could I not come by?" Derek smiles.

"Is that because you're going to marry Meredith and she's my sister, or because Mark is going to marry me and you're like his brother? Oh wow! I can't believe I just said that. It's way too soon for me to think about marriage…isn't it? Especially with Mark Sloan. Can we just pretend I didn't say that?" Lexie says.

"Mark will marry you…when he's ready. I've never seen him like this with someone. He really loves you," Derek says. "And yes…I will marry Meredith, when she's ready," he adds.

"Do you think she's ready?" Lexie asks.

Derek smiles. "Your sister is complicated," he says.

"How do you always know how to handle her? I mean, I told Mark I would be his Derek and he could be my Meredith…but I don't know…I mean…it's hard always worrying that he's going to panic and want out of the relationship. Aren't you scared all the time?" Lexie asks.

Derek shakes his head. "I used to be. But what you have to remember is how hard it is for a guy like Mark or a girl like Meredith to get to this point. You have to know if they've let themselves fall in love they aren't going back. It took so much for them to get there. They may stumble, but as long as you help them up, they won't fall," he explains.

"I'm glad my sister has you," Lexie says.

"And I'm glad my brother has you," Derek replies.

"You'll tell me if you're ever going to propose…right?" Lexie asks.

"Nope. You'd tell her in 10 seconds flat," Derek says before adding, "Get some rest, Little Grey."

(Break)

"Stevens. I need your help," Mark says.

"Me? Really?" Izzie says, looking surprised.

"Yes. We're doing the arms and legs tomorrow and then we'll do the face the day after that. I want you to scrub in. And not just as a cheerleader," Mark says.

"Really? Wow! I'm honored. But I thought you wanted to do the whole thing yourself…I thought with Lexie being your girlfriend and all…you wouldn't let someone learn on her…" Izzie wonders outloud.

"You're going to learn on a whole bunch of dummies first. And I have my reasons. If you can keep a secret, I'll explain in the lab. Hurry up!" Mark says.