Well as the saying goes... all things must come to an end. To all my readers, you have been a wonderful audience; to all my reviewers... thank you for the positive feedback. Thank you all for making this story come alive!

Chapter 30: Just a Kiss Goodnight

Epilogue

Her heels echoed as she walked down the now modernized version of Grey Memorial Hospital until she reached the carpeted halls of the long term care wing. Slipping unnoticed past a few nurses sitting at the desk, she reaches room 2100 and quietly steps inside. Looking over to the elderly patient sleeping on the bed with machines quietly monitoring her vital signs, Doctor Lexie Grey walks over to the end of bed to read the PDA monitor which shows that the patient's organs were failing as the end stage Alzheimer's shut down her brain. Although scientists had discovered a cure 5 years ago, for patients in the early onset of the disease; they had not been able to reverse or cure those suffering through the later stages. It was assumed that as these last few patients died off one by one, then so would the last vestiges of the disease and it could finally be checked off the list as cured. Sighing sadly, she looks at all of the family photos surrounding the patient, in an attempt to keep her connected to her family before making her way to the side of the bed and leans down to put her hands on each side of the woman's temple. Focusing her healing ability, Lexie was able to temporarily mend some of the more damaged neural pathways, so that this woman could lucidly say goodbye to her family. Sitting down on the bed, she softly stroked the soft white hair until the woman's crystal blue eyes slowly opened and focused on her in recognition.

"L..L…Lexie?" she said hoarsely. Grabbing the water from the bed stand, Lexie held a straw to her sister's lips and watched her take a drink to sooth her dry throat.

"Hi, Meredith." She answered softly and puts the water away.

"Is it really you?" Meredith asks as her eyes tear up in happiness to see her sister again.

"Yeah, it's really me." Lexie says smiling back, and then takes Meredith's hand in hers.

"I missed you, every day." Meredith says entwining her fingers through Lexie's; afraid that if she lets go of her sister's hand, she'll disappear.

"Oh Mere, I've missed you as well. I'm sorry I couldn't come sooner to tell you the truth, but I needed to know before you…..go….what really happened the night I disappeared from the crash site." She watched Meredith's brow wrinkle in confusion, then proceeded to tell her of her life after she had been 'rescued' by the Cullen family and had become Allison Scott. She told about Mark's transformation, his 'faked' death, their marriage, and how they helped the sick or injured throughout the world, in the hopes that one day mankind would finally stop fighting each other, so that Doctors were no longer needed.

Meredith smiled indulgently, not really listening to Lexie's fantastic rambling tale of being 'saved' from death, all she cared about was that she could reach up to touch her sister's soft brown curls as a way to keep herself from leaving this happy moment.

This was different from the last time she had faced death, where she had been greeted by people she had tried to help; Denny Duquette, the man her friend Izzy had loved; Bonnie, the young woman impaled in a train crash; the Bomb squad guy, Dylan Young and even her mom's old scrub nurse, Nurse Fallon. In that experience, they were trying to get her to admit that she had wanted to die, so that she would fight harder to live…. And she had, through drowning, shootings, plane crashes, falling down a flight of stairs and more. But, in this moment of lucidity, with her beautiful sister sitting here by her side; Meredith now knew that her time to fight death was finally over and she had been given this opportunity to say goodbye not only to her family but also to the young woman that had been left behind in the woods 40 years ago.

"Lex, could you please come closer?" she asked and watched her lean over. Meredith smiled as the familiar scent of vanilla and cinnamon filled her with memories of the hugs they shared. Reaching up, she placed a withered and wrinkled hand on Lexie's smooth youthful face.

"I'm sorry I wasn't there for you at the end. It was my deepest regret throughout my life, that I never told you what you meant to me…..that I never told you how much I love you." She stopped for a moment as a ragged breath rattled in her fluid filled lungs. "You are my sister, Alexandra Caroline Grey and I will now and always… love you."

Smiling through her tears, Lexie gently pulled Meredith's hand away from her face and kissed her wrinkled palm.

"Now and Always, Meredith; I've always been proud to be your sister and the love I feel for you is forever." She says softly, and then turns her head slightly toward the voices of Meredith's approaching family. It was time to say goodbye. Leaning over, Lexie gives Meredith a gentle kiss on her forehead and whispers. "Goodbye Mere." Meredith smiles at the nickname and watches her sister walk toward the door.

"Goodbye Lex." She replies back and their eyes meet one last time when Lexie looks back at her over her shoulder, then in a blink of an eye she disappears.

Exiting the room, Lex quickly makes her way back down the hallway and nods politely to her adult nieces and nephew; Zola, Christopher and Lexa, as they walk by on their way toward Meredith's room with their respective families. She stops for a moment to watch them enter, then smiles when she hears one of them cry out happily, "Mom?!" when they realize that she is awake and lucid for the first time in months. Turning away from the family she had left behind; she completes her journey through the corridors of Grey Memorial Hospital and exits the building to find Mark patiently waiting for her.

Giving her a sad smile, he holds out his hand for her to take and leans down closer to give her a gentle kiss before whispering, "Love never ends, Lex, she knew this."

"I know," she whispers back, before looking toward the building behind them. "It's time to let go of the past and start looking to the future."

"Together?" he asks, lifting her hand up to his lips to kiss her knuckles.

"Oh yeah…. definitely together." She says giving him a brilliant smile.