Disclaimer: I don't own anything except for a crazy mind.

A/N: Thank you for all the responses, alerts and favorites. I'm glad people are still interested in this. This didn't go as I had planned but I never particularly like planning in the first place. I hope it's okay, and as always let me know what you think! (:

Lexie watched as Mark calmly explained to Julia that surgery was required to fix the damage to her cheekbone. Metal plates would need to be inserted to fix the damaged bones. He then went on to explain how she would need a septoplasty to fix the damage to her sinuses, and nasal septum. Lexie watched as Julia's eyes filled with tears and her nails scratched along her hand harder.

"S-So, you can fix it, right?" Julia whispered, her breathing unsteady.

"You'll need a lot of surgery, but it can all be fixed," Mark replied confidently.

It all can be fixed, Lexie thought and she shook her head slightly. Mark may be able to fix the physical damage, but Lexie knew he wouldn't be able to fix the rest. The emotional damage, the internal pain that would never really go away – he couldn't fix that no matter how hard he tried.

Julia nodded slowly and looked at Lexie, noticing the younger woman's annoyed expression. "Dr. Grey? Is there…Is there anything else?"

Lexie's eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. "Oh, no. Sorry. No, Dr. Sloan is correct," Lexie said hurriedly. She forced herself to smile. "Everything will be alright."

Julia looked in between Mark and Lexie before speaking directly to Lexie. "So…He can fix it?"

"He definitely can," Lexie said reassuringly. "Don't worry, Miss. Greene." Lexie smiled at the woman, understanding the caution she had to constantly show. "You can trust Dr. Sloan."

Julia looked at Lexie, and her eyes narrowed slightly. She understood. From the way she was staring at her, her eyes warm and caring, from the tone of her voice, quiet and calm, Julia realized that she understood. She understood…She knew.

The panic was quick to rise in her body and Julia spoke quickly. "Dr. Sloan," Julia said, her voice suddenly very sharp. "When's my surgery?"

Mark looked at Julia curiously, noting the abrupt change in her voice. "In a few hours. Dr. Grey will move you up to the surgical ward soon."

Julia nodded, and then asked, "Has my boyfriend been contacted yet?"

Mark glanced at Lexie who somewhat reluctantly shook her head. He turned back to Julia and managed a slight smile. "We'll be sure to contact him as soon as possible."

"I want him here," Julia said sternly. "If I'm…I'm going in for all this surgery and, and he has to be here." She looked at Lexie, "You will contact him, won't you?"

No. Lexie smiled tightly at Julia and moved forward. "Yes, Miss. Greene," Lexie replied quietly. "Now, I just need you to get into your wheelchair, please."

"I'll leave you to it," Mark said as he watched carefully as Lexie glanced at him, her eyes showing him her upset over the situation. Shaking his head slightly, he left the room. If she couldn't realize that Julia was only doing what Lexie had done to him, then she would seriously need to take a look at her own life before she judged others.

Mark made a mental note to talk to her later.

"There we go," Lexie mumbled as she pulled the bed sheet over Julia's waist. She took a step back from the bed and looked around for a moment, before her hands landed on the handles of the wheelchair. "I'm going to put this away," she said, her smile wide and fake. After a moment she added, "Oh, and, and phone your boyfriend. Yes, I'll let him know s-straight away."

Before Julia had the time to respond, Lexie was out of the room. Her breath rushed out of her in a long sigh, and she attempted to clear her head. Phone the boyfriend, the boyfriend. The boyfriend that most probably put Julia in that hospital bed. Lexie frowned as she made her way over to the nurses' station. Maybe she was jumping to conclusions; Julia hadn't said it was her boyfriend, Lexie was only assuming. Assumptions are nowhere near facts, Lexie knew that.

But that didn't stop the emotion, the unexplained fear, which surfaced every time she saw Julia's distorted face. As her hand shook, Lexie flipped her way through Julia's chart, and her eyes narrowed when she found the series of digits she was looking for. Her hand hovered over the telephone, and suddenly Lexie found herself tapping in the numbers and listening to the dial tone.

"Hello?"

Rough, harsh, cold–Lexie felt a shiver run down her spine at the sound of his voice. Carefully, Lexie spoke. "Hello, is this Mr. Kaye?"

"Yes," he barked. "Who's this?"

"I-I'm Dr. Grey, from Seattle Grace Hospital. I'm sorry to inform you that your girlfriend, Miss. Julia Greene, has been involved in an accident. She's requested you be contacted immediately."

There was pause on the other line, long, purposely delayed. And then, "Fine."

Lexie pulled the telephone away from her ear and looked at it as if it had formed another head. Fine? She just told him his girlfriend was in hospital and all he had to say was fine? Rage bubbled through her veins and Lexie slammed the phone down. Was that all he could say? He didn't even ask how she was doing, how serious it was. He showed no emotion and the realization made Lexie want to throw up.

Glancing up, Lexie stared down the hallway, contemplating going back into Julia's room. Maybe if she talked to her, got the truth from her, then maybe…maybe she wouldn't let him in. Maybe if she told someone else, she would stop seeing him. Maybe she could help her. Save her.

But she wasn't a shrink. She could only help Julia's injuries – the physical side. That was it. It was fine, acceptable, but it was hard to let go of the thought. She was right in front of her, here…how could she not do anything?

Mark.

Suddenly, he came into her mind, invaded her once again. He didn't want her to do anything, he had warned her, tried to stop her. But she needed to talk to someone. She needed to express herself and he was the right person. He would always be the right person.

Quickly, Lexie moved in search of him. He would know what to do. He always knew what to do, what to say. It wasn't long before she found him standing in front of the O.R board, his face the epitome of annoyance. Cautiously, Lexie approached him, quietly clearing her throat. "Mark?"

Mark. For once, he wasn't Dr. Sloan. It was clear she needed to talk about something unrelated to work. Although he knew this, he couldn't slip past the annoyance that was flowing through him. Instead of talking quietly, enquiring what she wanted, he instead barked, "Did you know they cancelled my surgeries?"

"Er…What?"

"My surgeries," he replied tensely. "Two people cancelled on me. All I have is Greene's case now." He shook his head, "I'm the best damned surgeon around."

Immediately, she rushed to assure him. "Of course you are. They…They might just not feel comfortable in having surgery right now. I'm sure maybe, maybe they'll change their mind. People, people change their minds all the time."

He nodded tersely and finally looked down at her. "At least Miss. Greene hasn't refused surgery."

"Yeah…Lucky," Lexie said quietly. After a moment, she added, "We need to talk."

Lexie held her breath as Mark stared at her, his face void of emotion. And then, "Okay."

Glancing over her shoulder, Lexie nervously played with her watch. "Can we…Go somewhere else?"

When he placed his hand on her elbow and slowly guided her down the hall, Lexie felt her heart leap into her throat. This was him showing he cared. It all felt too much, these little touches, these moments where it was just them and when it was clear he didn't care if someone could catch them. Maybe she shouldn't talk to him, he would only get angry. She knew he didn't support her on this, and probably never would, but she couldn't keep this from him.

Entering the small on-call room, Lexie pulled away from him and moved to stand next to the bed, her hands wrung together. "Okay," she said. "Okay. I-I know you don't approve and I know you don't agree with me on this, and I know I-I was mean to you early, and snappy, and just generally mean to you, and you know, I'm s-sorry for that because you know, I-I would never intentionally be that mean or aggressive or–"

"Grey," he interrupted. A small smile tainted his lips. "Use fewer words."

Lexie laughed nervously and started to nod her head. "Yeah, right…Okay." She shifted so that she could place her hands on her hips. "Let me start again."

Mark nodded and drawled, "Okay…"

"Julia. I-I-I'm concerned about Julia."

His eyes narrowed – he knew where this was going. "Are you concerned about her surgeries?"

Lexie sighed and her hands dropped from her hip. "No," she replied softly.

"Then, are you concerned about her care?"

"No…Yes. Actually…" Lexie sighed and scratched her forehead. "I'm concerned about her after care."

Mark crossed his arms over his chest and nodded, indicating that she should continue. Lexie bit into her bottom lip and suddenly, her hands were flying as she tried desperately to make him understand her worries. "I-I'm concerned she won't have access to sufficient after care. After the surgeries she's going through, she needs to be looked after to avoid things, to avoid infections. We both know a patient can't do that themselves, and that they would need an adequate support system if we're going to go through with such intensive surgery."

"I'm sure her boyfriend can supply that care."

Lexie shook her head furiously. "No, no, I don't agree."

"Why not?"

Her hands were flying again. "Because," she stressed. Suddenly, she exploded. "Because he's the one that did that to her! He's the reason why she's in that bed and, and how can he provide care to her if he just wants to do it again? We can't send her home to that…to that monster!"

He shook his head. Did she not know he felt the same every time he thought about her leaving to go home to Thatcher? Quietly, he replied, "You don't know that."

Lexie shook her head and felt like stamping her feet in annoyance. "I do!"

"And what evidence supports your theory?"

Lexie faltered. "I-I…I haven't got evidence, evidence. But…I'm going with my gut."

He shook his head. "Your gut can't make decisions for you."

"Dr. Hunt encourages us to go with our gut feelings," she replied and caused him to snort. She shook her head before he could make a comment about the man. Instead she walked forwards and carefully took his hand in hers. "I need you to understand," she whispered.

Mark looked down at their intertwined hands and felt a tug on his heart. He wanted to agree with her, he wanted more than anything to comfort her, but he couldn't. It was frustrating that she didn't realize Julia was only acting the way Lexie previously had. "I understand," he replied. He softly ran his thumb over her skin and gently said, "But I don't think you understand."

Lexie frowned. "What do you mean?"

"Lexie…" He shook his head and raised his eyes to the ceiling. His desperation was clear when he spoke next, "Don't you realize Julia is you?"

"Wh-Wh…What?"

The hurt reflected clearly in her voice, the confusion was smeared on her angelic features. Mark sighed and led her over to sit on the bed. Their hands were clasped in between their bodies. "You can't see it," he said, his voice low. "You don't want to see that Julia's denial…It's what you did."

Lexie shook her head, "I never–"

"No, Little Grey. You did."

Lexie tried to open her mouth to speak but it felt as if her jaw was wired shut. Had she been in denial? Lexie didn't know but she trusted Mark. Though it surprised her, she trusted him and maybe he was right. Maybe Julia was acting like she had…But Mark had helped her. Why couldn't she do the same for Julia?

Before she had the chance to form words, Mark was continuing in his deep voice. "You denied the causes of your injuries. You were anxious and you wouldn't admit something was wrong. You…You can't help Julia because she doesn't know she needs help. She'll figure it out. Eventually…Like you did. She'll get through this, like you did."

He sighed slightly and his hand tightened around hers. "You're stronger than you think, Lexie," he murmured. "You were able to tell someone. She will too. Until then all we can do is hope she finds the strength she needs."

He fell quiet and Lexie turned to face him. Her eyes roamed over his features and before she realized what she was doing, her fingers were stroking the side of his face, her head slightly tilted. She smiled shyly when he turned his head to look at her, his eyes showing the emotion he felt. If she tried to search for words to explain the feelings that ran through her, Lexie knew words would fail her. The look of honesty, pure sincerity, made Lexie feel…She couldn't place a word to it.

And suddenly, she felt the shift between them.

It was instant.

One moment she was gently running her slender fingers over his skin, enjoying the feel of him, enjoying the knowledge that he cared enough about her to tell her the truth in this situation. The next moment, her knee was in contact with his, his thigh against hers. He released her hand and settled his onto her waist. Her fingers slowed and his eyes darkened. Her head was tilted, his lowered. His face relaxed, hers tensed in anticipation.

And then, it happened.

The physical shift, the pull between them, which caused her lips to come into contact with his.

Raw, passionate, his hair scraped against her tender skin. Lexie clutched onto either side of his face, eager to take possession, and tried to force herself closer to him. Her chest came into contact with his and Lexie moaned into his mouth at the feel of his hands threaded through her hair. This was what she wanted, the need, the want, everything felt so right.

Desperate for air, Lexie slowly dragged her lips away from his, making sure to keep her lips resting against his as she panted for oxygen. "Mark…" Her voice sounded distant and she rushed to keep up with the thoughts running through her mind. "I…This…" She laughed slightly and brought her hand up to touch the side of his face. "I don't know…"

He placed his hand over hers and smiled against her lips. "I know."

As she slowly pulled away from him, Lexie rubbed her thumb against his cheek. She smiled but managed to frown slightly. "We can do this, right?"

He didn't even have to think about it. "We can do anything we want, Lexie." He pulled her hand away from his face and brought it to his lips, his smile barely contained as he kissed her knuckles. "We can do these surgeries and we can manage this case."

"And…And the rest?"

He leaned in and gently brushed his lips against hers. Leaning back, he sighed and smiled. "We can do anything, Lexie." The look in his eyes spoke volumes, almost showing the disbelief–the pure, unashamed amazement–he felt because someone as perfect as her was actually sitting in front of him.

"We can do this," he whispered. "Together. We can do this."