Chapter 23: Living in the Moment

On his way to the Shepherd household the next morning, Mark began to wonder if volunteering to help Allison Scott was a good idea. When they had been officially introduced, he had been polite but went out of his way to avoid working with her due to the resemblance to Lexie. But after talking to her in the bar and then having that weird dream, he changed his routine and began to watch her work. That was when he began to notice the similarities between the two women; the little things, like how she pushed her hair behind her ears to unconsciously play with her earrings when deep in thought or hid in a storage closet to work on files. But once in a while something big popped up like watching her close a patient by using one of his signature stitches, he had taught only to Lexie Grey and Jackson Avery during their Residency. After that and watching her visit Susan Grey's grave, he had wanted to confront her for an explanation; but now he was beginning to wonder if his mind was twisting reality into seeing Allison as Lexie because he missed her so much.

Pulling into the driveway at 6 AM, he got out of his car and watched Allison step off the porch toward him.

"Good Morning Doctor Sloan." She said giving him a polite smile.

"Please call me Mark, we're not at the hospital, so why don't we forgo professional etiquette this weekend and go by our first names. Sound okay to you, Allison?" He asks giving her a flirty smile as he holds out his hand to take her backpack.

"Umm sounds good….Mark." She says stuttering slightly and hands it to him before getting into the car.

Putting her backpack in the trunk next his back, he closed it and got into his car. Taking a deep breath his heart jumped when he caught a whiff of warm vanilla from her perfume, another similarity between her and Lexie.

"So Allison, we've little bit of a ride, what would you like to talk about?" he asks and puts the car in gear to begin their trip.

A hour and half later, after doing basic Questions and Answers, they arrived at the outskirts of Forks and Allison let him know that she would need to visit with the Quileute Tribe's chief, before dropping her stuff off at the Cullen home. Going on to the reservation, Mark slowly made his way down the gravel road and was startled when he noticed several large dogs that looked like wolves watching them from the forest. Pulling up in front of a tiny home, he parked the car and was about to get out with Allison when she asked him to wait for her. He nodded and pulled out his phone to check his messages.

Getting out of the car, Allison wrinkled her nose at the musky scent of Wolves that came from the forest surrounding Sam Uley's house; she could sense many of them cautiously watching her. Going onto the porch she knocked on the door and was surprised when a beautiful, yet scarred woman opened the door.

"Hi I'm here to see Sam Uley…. Carlisle Cullen sent me." she asked nervously; Carlisle had said he would call Sam and let him know she was coming, but at the woman's serious expression she was wondering if he forgot.

"Come on in," the woman gestured before saying. "I'm Emily, Sam's wife." Walking into the living room, Allison heard a snarl, seconds before the back door flew open revealing a tall menacing Indian standing there wearing shorts. Then Sam's demeanor changed when he realized that he had met her before when she had first become a member of the Cullen family.

"You're that doctor, the Cullen's changed after being injured in a plane crash… Lexie Grey, right? " He asked and made a signal that she was okay to the large wolf standing outside the door.

"Yes, that's right, but it's Allison Scott now. My name was changed when I moved away five years ago. Didn't Carlisle call to let you know I was coming to work in the Clinic today?" she asked now reassured that they weren't going to rip her apart.

Sam shook his head yes before responding, "Yeah one of the younger members of the tribe picked up my phone and took a message for me when I was out cutting wood. But I'm starting to think he didn't listen to everything Carlisle said, because I'm pretty sure he would have warned us that the doctor covering the clinic today was a vampire." He at least looked embarrassed about the mix-up before walking over to wrap his arms around Emily. "So are you going to be able to be around humans, because there are people from outside the Rez that come to get medical treatment?"

"Sam, I've just spent the last five years doing my residency at a hospital in one of England's large metropolitan cities and I fix damaged human bodies every day. Trust me when I say, being around humans or their blood does not bother me. In fact, I can swear to you, that I've never tasted human blood the entire time I've been an Immortal." Allison assured him.

Now satisfied, that she was true to the Cullen "Vegan" lifestyle, he asked. "What about the guy in the car?

"That's Doctor Mark Sloan, he's human and he volunteered to help me at the clinic today." She answered before looking at her watch to see that it was almost 8:30 AM. "What time does the clinic normally open?"

"They open at 10 AM, but since word's gotten around that a Doctor was finally showing up, there will be people lining up at the door by 9:30 AM. So you've got enough time to drop off your stuff at the Cullen house, get your friend something to eat and get ready to be swamped." He said chuckling, "Don't worry, you've got some good help, you remember Sue and Leah Clearwater right?" He watched her shake her head yes and continued. "Well, Leah is the nurse and Sue is the receptionist who will keep the patient's organized."

"Oh, well that's a relief, I'm happy we won't be alone in this. But could you please let them know that I go by Allison Scott now, since Doctor Sloan is not aware of what I am?" she asked and watches him nod in agreement before making her way to the door. But before she can leave, Emily calls out for her to wait and rushes out from the kitchen to give Allison a small basket filled with fresh muffins about the size of a man's fist.

"Here these are for Doctor Sloan," she says smiling and then as Sam walks back into the kitchen to get his own breakfast, she quietly continues. "I'll be stopping by today for a checkup. I think I'm pregnant and I just want to make sure everything is okay."

"Okay, I'll see you later and we'll run some tests. Thanks for the muffins, Mark will love them!" She said giving Emily a warm smile before making her way outside to Mark's car and getting inside.

"Wow, those look and smell amazing!" Mark exclaimed upon seeing the basket of muffins.

"They're a gift from the chief's wife, Emily. Why don't we stop in town to pick up some coffee and then we can head to my family's home to eat? Chief Uley said, the clinic normally doesn't open till 10 AM, but since they haven't had a Doctor visit in a month, people will be arriving early. So we've got about an hour before we need to be there."

Mark nodded his head in agreement as he put his car in gear. "Will that give me enough time to find a motel room for the night?

"Actually, I was going to ask if you'd like to stay with me at the house." Allison said looking over to Mark before continuing. "I mean it would be silly for you to rent a room for the night when there's plenty of room for both of us….of course I'm not sure how much furniture is left so we might have to sleep on the floor, but we'll get it figured out." Realizing that she was rambling for the first time in five years she stopped and watched him pull his eyes away from the road to look at her.

"That sounds good, Allison. As for the sleeping arrangements, we'll make it up as we go." He said in a low sexy voice that sent a tingling sensation through her body, then he smiled and returned his eyes to the road. Once in town, they stopped at a local coffee shop to pick up a bone dry cappuccino and Latte before she directed him out to the Cullen home.

"Wow, this place is gorgeous!" exclaimed Mark as he got out of his car and pulled out their bags before looking at the Cullen home surrounded by the lush green forest.

"Let me show around." Allison offered and put in the security code to open the door. Following Allison inside, she gave him the grand tour, which showed that her family had left a few pieces of furniture including a couch in the living room, a bed in Edward's old room and the kitchen table with its chairs.

"This place is amazing. Are they going to put it on the market since they've moved to Montana?" He asks, thinking that this would be a great place to come if he ever wanted to get out of Seattle for a while.

"I'm not sure. I know that until Carlisle is satisfied with the new doctor he has hired to cover the clinic; he plans to visit for the next few months, so he'll keep the house until then. But I could give him your number if he decides to sell it." She answered.

"Sounds good." He said before looking down at his watch. "Hey we better eat real quick so we can make it to the clinic on time."

"Actually, Emily made me taste test a few of them at her house, so I'm not hungry. You go ahead and eat while I get cleaned up." She said quickly making up an excuse to avoid eating and grabbed her bag to head up to Edwards's room. After closing the door, she leaned against it and closed her eyes.

'Oh my God…this was such a bad idea.' She thought to herself. 'Being around him is driving me nuts!

15 minutes later they arrived at the clinic where Allison introduced Mark to Sue and Leah Clearwater, who showed quickly showed them around before they began seeing the first patients. The next few hours flew by as the doctors saw a steady stream of patients that came in for various ailments that ranged from an infected cut to walking pneumonia, finally around 1 PM, Sue took off to pick up sandwiches from the local diner.

Now finished up with her last patient for the morning, Allison made her way outside and could see Billy Black sitting in his wheel chair by a picnic table. Making her way over to him, she reintroduced herself and began to ask about Jacob and Reneesmee; when she suddenly became aware that someone was sneaking up on her seconds before she felt powerful arms wrap themselves around her waist and lift her off the ground to give her a hug.

"Lexie!" Seth exclaimed, excited to finally see the young doctor he had met five years ago.

Relaxing now that she knew she wasn't being attacked, Allison smiled and hugged the tall, muscular teenager back before she realized that he had just shouted out her real name. Nervously looking back toward the clinic, she sighed in relief to see that Mark had yet to come outside and had not heard Seth. Now back on the ground, she could see that Seth towered over her and had turned into a handsome young man.

"Seth, Oh my gosh look at you! What is your mom feeding you? Bears?" she asked giving him an affectionate smile.

"Nah…it's a wolf thing." He shrugged sheepishly, now embarrassed that he had picked up the young doctor he had a crush on ever since he had met her. "It's really good to see you again, Lexie. I've missed you." He said softly.

"It's good to see you to Seth, but could you do me a favor and not call me Lexie. I go by Allison now and the other doctor that came with me only knows me by that name."

"Sure… I'll try to remember that." He replied and then they began talking about what courses he was taking in college since he had decided to become a Doctor.

Unbeknownst to everyone outside, Mark Sloan had been finishing up his patient's file and had opened the window just before Allison had gone outside. When he had looked out the window minutes later he had noticed her smiling down at a man in a wheelchair and couldn't stop his curiosity from getting the best of him. So he had stood hidden behind the curtains to watch their interaction for a moment and was about to head outside, when he saw a large young man sneak over to pick her up for a hug. While she had yelped in surprise at being picked up; he was caught by surprise when the young man had yelled out the name "Lexie" instead of "Allison". Moving away from the window, he leaned against the examining table trying to control his breathing, while his mind raced as everything began to click into place; somehow Lexie Grey had survived the plane crash and become Allison Scott!

Ahh now we're getting to the good part! I know once again it's ended with a cliff hanger, but I promise to get the next chapter out soon... or at least I'm going to try, but between work and getting everything packed for a family vacation in a few weeks...well you know how it is.

As for all of my reviewers, I would just like to say you are all wonderful and thank you so much! You make writing this story so much easier!