A/N:

So this chapter is kind of short but I think I got to the point I wanted to get to here, which is what's important. After all, I'm doing my best to portray this as realistically as possible and that means I must look after the quality not the quantity. Again, I apologize for the typos and grammatical errors. And again, thank you all for the amazing feedback. It's a real boost for me and helps me write more! Also, as I seemed to forget this, I don't own Grey's Anatomy cause if I did, Slexie would be still alive. However, I don't - but I do own the plot of this story so yeah. Enjoy this chapter!~

It was official – Lexie Grey was past the critical part of the recovery. She was moved into her own patient room earlier that day. When Lexie was given some peace and quiet to think about all that happened, Lexie realized she had just been given another chance. Injuries like Lexie's should have been fatal – as a matter of fact, she should have been dead now.

But Lexie knew why she was still alive. She was alive for Mark.

Each word he'd said back when she was crushed beneath the plane debris echoed in her mind, silencing all sounds and noises around her as she stared at him when she woke up. It was like she'd found the will to survive – to survive for him. Mark's presence there was mainly the reason she fought against her injuries, refusing to succumb to the pain that she was feeling at the time.

That pain…it was such a long time ago. Lexie remembered that the most painful thing she'd felt at all in her life was that one time when she accidently put her hand against the water boiler when she was eight. However, when she thought back to it now, it almost felt like a needle had poked her, compared to being crushed. And Lexie wasn't joking when she'd told Cristina she was crushed from the waist down. Turns out, Callie had to put some real effort to put her legs back together. Five surgeries. Five freaking surgeries. If only that could count as OR hours to record down in her fifth year record.

Lexie had refused to take any medications to help her sleep anymore; she wanted to sleep on her own. But whenever she closed her eyes, the crash replayed before her eyes. So keeping her eyes closed was almost impossible.

Lexie blinked slowly and moved her head sideways, looking down at Mark who was still sound asleep, holding her hand. She smiled briefly, he looked so peaceful. Lexie could easily recall when he'd jolt awake, glance around nervously before he'd comfort himself with Lexie's hand in his and go back to sleep. However, she needed him to share the same comfort with her. "Mark?" She whispered slowly and squeezed his fingers gently. It didn't take much effort to wake him up, because his eyes had fluttered open quickly and he moved to the edge of his seat, his free hand caressing her cheek gently, "Hey…are you in pain?" He asked with a frown, glancing around.

Lexie shook her head gently and tugged at his hand, "No…not really." She answered him and pursed her lips, "Mark?" She started again and he turned to look at her. "We're alive." She repeated again, the first words she'd said after she woke up. Mark couldn't help but smile at her, "We are. You're a fighter, Little Grey."

Lexie smiled at him, "I fought for you." Lexie admitted. Mark blinked once as he stared at her, "I fought for you, Mark. I wanted to live because I wanted to be with you." Lexie mumbled quietly and Mark let out a small sigh as he got up and moved into the bed, wrapping one arm gently around her as he brought his lips to her forehead, and then rested his forehead against hers. Lexie peered up at him through her lashes and let out a brief sigh as well, a content sigh. The feel of his arms around her was extraordinarily soothing, perfect. Like his arms were made for her to fit in, like a jigsaw puzzle.

"I don't know what I would have done without you." Mark muttered as he frowned briefly, "I was terrified, Lex. And the only time I recall being terrified was when Derek got shot. Because then I knew I may lose someone…important. But when I thought I may lose you…I'm nothing without you, Lexie." Mark closed his eyes momentarily, reveling the feel of her in his arms, her warmth, her skin. Lexie stared up at him in concern before she looked down and closed her eyes as well. "I love you." She whispered and she could feel Mark's smile as he press a soft kiss to her lips, "And I love you."

Lexie nodded slowly, "Don't..go, okay." Lexie muttered as she buried her face against his chest and Mark nodded slowly, wrapping his other arm around her to keep her secured so she wouldn't move out of his hold and disturb her limbs in cast. He sighed briefly and held her close. As he too started drifting too sleep, a little less restless then it usually was for him lately.

"Mark?"

Mark squinted and looked over his shoulder at Callie who smiled at him, "Rise and shine. Come on, wake up your girlfriend…it's time to remove her cast." Callie wriggled her brows and clapped once excitedly. Mark shook his head as a brief chuckle left his lips, "Somebody got laid this morning." He breathed out as he moved slowly. Callie slapped his arm, "Sex doesn't always lead to a good mood, you know. There's..there's uh, goodbye sex. And angry sex. And none of these are combinations for a good mood."

"But none of these are what you had this morning." Mark snickered once before he heard Lexie moan, "What are you people talking about?" She muttered and scowled. Mark and Callie exchanged guilty looks and laughed. "Sorry, sweetheart." Mark muttered recalcitrantly and pressed his lips to her temple, "You heard the lady. It's time to get rid of these ugly white casts." Mark mused as he slowly climbed out of the hospital. Lexie lifted her brows and looked up at Callie momentarily before she let out a huge sigh and nodded slowly.

"I need to brush my teeth. You too, you have bad morning breath." Lexie muttered as she wrapped her good arm around Mark's neck, who easily pick her up and placed her in the wheelchair. Mark rolled his eyes and scoffed, "I do not."

"I'm the one getting kissed here. You do." Lexie argued back and flashed a sheepish grin, before she looked up at Callie. She patted Lexie's shoulder once, "I'll be in procedure room two." Mark waved Callie off, who rolled her eyes and left the room. Mark wheeled Lexie into the bathroom and held her up so she could brush her teeth and washed face. He helped her back into the wheelchair and brushed his teeth as well. It's been some kind of a routine ever since Lexie woke – only recently after all was she allowed to move out of the bed, and she wasn't at all moving – but it was Mark carrying her into the wheelchair and then back to the bed.

Mark pulled Lexie's hair up in a ponytail and smiled down at her when she looked up at him, then looked down solemnly. "Your arm is going to be fine, and you'll be able to do all those little braids that I can't even manage to do." Mark mused and nodded once. Lexie took a deep breath and nodded slowly, and let him wheel her out of the room.

As they got in the procedure room, Lexie was surprised to see Meredith and Derek standing there. "Hey!...What are you guys doing here?" Lexie lifted a brow and flickered her gaze between them nervously. Meredith shrugged and smiled casually, "We're your support system." She answered briefly and Lexie smiled. Mark and Derek helped prop Lexie on the bed whilst Callie laid out her legs straight. "I'm going to need you to hold still, Lexie, okay?"

Lexie nodded once and blinked once as Callie started the cast saw. Lexie knew the blade only vibrated, and didn't spin. But the sight of it alone made Lexie close her eyes and look away. Sadly, she couldn't tune out the blade as it spun against the cast. But when her legs were free and Lexie fluttered her eyes open, Mark helped her sit up as Callie slowly unwrapped the lining around her legs. It had been…a long time since Lexie had seen her legs – she almost felt like she didn't have them anymore. But she could see her own flesh, scarred at some points from the repair surgeries, but they were there. Lexie didn't even realize she was crying until Mark reached down and wiped away her tears, "Hey…the scars will fade. I could…work on them myself if you want me to. You know I can make them disappear. Don't…don't cry.."

"I'm not crying because of the scars." Lexie breathed out quickly and shook her head before she looked up at Mark, "These are…my legs." Lexie blinked furiously, "I haven't seen them in weeks. I…Thought I'd never see them again. And I was…under this…huge piece of metal, and now…" Lexie pursed her lips and took a deep breath, before she let out a weak laugh of joy. Meredith stepped beside Lexie and wrapped her arms around her shoulder. Derek sighed and smiled as he patted Mark's shoulder, "Mark, you need a shower." Derek mused, and Mark threw him a dirty look over his shoulder. Derek shrugged innocently and squeezed his shoulder once before he left the room. Mark reluctantly followed, leaving the two sisters behind.

"Now, I don't need to tell you what and what not to do. You know you're going to find difficulty with moving them and you should still stay down before you even consider physical therapy. But," Callie stuck up recent X-Rays to trace her hand over Lexie's bones. "See that? That's the metal plate holding your tibia together. And if you look closely, you can see that….your tibia healed. There are no more fractures anymore. Your bones are healed, and my work here is completely done." Callie smiled at Lexie. Meredith looked down at Lexie before she held the younger Grey closer to her. Callie slowly left the room for the two Greys.

"I hate Chinese food." Meredith whispered and Lexie lifted a brow as she looked up at Meredith, "You told me you hated apples, so I hate Chinese food. I'm American. I shouldn't be eating Chinese food." Meredith mused and looked down at Lexie, who smiled at her. "You hate Chinese food." Lexie nodded slowly and wrapped her good arm around Meredith as they were locked in yet another sisterly embrace.

"I'm…happy you made it, Lexie." Meredith whispered as she pulled away, "I really do love you. You're my only family. My only Grey family, that is. And I don't want to lose you. Okay?" Meredith explained to her and Lexie nodded briefly, "I really do love you too, Mer." Lexie answered with a small smile, "We pulled through a plane crash. I think we're an unstoppable force now." Lexie rolled her eyes a little. "We're going to rule this hospital one day." Meredith agreed once before she held her fist out, and Lexie bumped her fist against Meredith's before they started laughing.

"What are you girls laughing about?" Derek asked as he walked in, this time, holding Zola's hand – who trudged behind him in her heavy, little toddler steps. Lexie grinned broadly when she saw her niece, "Hey Zozo!" Lexie exclaimed as Derek picked her up and sat down beside Lexie. Since Lexie only had function of one arm and she couldn't exactly move to sit Zola on her lap, she settled for playing with her as she stood on Derek's lap. "How's my little niece doing? Did you miss me? Huh?" Lexie cooed quietly as Zola grabbed her nose. "Okay, I'll take that as a yes." Lexie laughed.

"Come on, we'll take Aunt Lexie back to her room, and we'll play with her there." Derek muttered as he picked up Zola again and Meredith moved to help Lexie back into the wheelchair. When Lexie tried to wriggle her toes, they barely twitched, and that only made her frown. She could feel her legs, just couldn't move them. When Derek saw her frowning at her feet, he started to comfort her, "You're going to need physical therapy before you could do that." He said and smiled when she looked up at him, "You know the protocol, Lexie."

Lexie sighed, because she did. She did know. She knew that she will not be walking again like she normally does for months. She knew she'll need sessions of practice. It was a long road. A road of a thousand miles.