A/N: Sooo… finally I'm able to post the next chapter. I'm sorry for the long breaks in between, and I can't promise it will change anytime soon, only that I'll try my best to post more often and I hope, I'll find the time.

Thanks for your comments – as always – and we're really happy that some of you are still up to know how this story goes on and eventually ends (even though we haven't yet found an end).

And now onto Chapter 72! =)

Mark Sloan POV:

Mark couldn't believe that this Gary-Guy really had the nerve to show up here. After all he had done. After all the trouble he had caused Jackson. Even though Mark clearly knew if it hadn't been him it would have been someone else. Drugs were easy to get your hands on nowadays, unfortunately, and if Jackson wanted some he would find them anywhere.

But it was still easy to blame Gary, since he had been the one providing drugs for Jackson.

If he was a real friend, if he really cared for Jackson, he would have tried to talk him out of using drugs.

Mark still knew so little about Jackson and his past. He hadn't expected to find out that this wasn't the first time Jackson was using drugs, but everyone had his past and he just prayed to god that they could come out of this.

That Jackson would survive and that they could get over this together.

He still loved him and he still wanted to be with him.

More than anything else in the world.

"If I ever see your face here again I'm calling the cops," Mark threatened Gary once he was finished with him, seeing the smirk on his face.

He was glad hat he was so calm right now or he would have decorated his face with a few more bruises. He could totally understand why Alex had attacked him, and he just hoped it wouldn't have consequences for Alex. He would definitely have his back in front of Owen.

"That's all any of you ever does, isn't it? Threaten people. Like you threatened Jackson," Gary said, causing Mark to take a step back.

"I never threatened Jackson. I love him, even though this is none of your business at all."

Mark turned around, away from him.

"Think whatever you want, but leave Jackson alone. This is the last warning."

And with those words he made his way towards the elevators, pressing the button and waiting for the doors to open.

This Gary guy was one of the last people Mark had expected to see in Jackson's room, and it still amazed him how he was even able to get in there. Was no one watching?

Usually, people were like a hawk when it came to Jackson. He was one of their own. He himself would have never let Gary near Jackson's room had he been there, but he couldn't. He felt like he had failed Jackson yet again.

Making his way to Jackson's room he walked inside, glad to find it empty.

He leaned down, placing a soft kiss on Jackson's forehead.

"I'm sorry, baby. I'm so sorry I wasn't here, but I promise you, he won't hurt you ever again, okay?"

Grabbing Jackson's hand, Mark stroked it gently, holding onto it for a couple of minutes.

"I need to get back to work... I wish I didn't have to, but I'll come back later... I love you," he whispered, and when he turned around, he jumped back in shock.

"What was that?" Catherine Avery asked, staring at him.

She seemed almost as shocked as Mark, and considering the fact that she obviously didn't know about Jackson and he Mark couldn't even blame her.

"How much have you heard?" Mark asked.

It was the first thing that came to his mind and he knew it was the exact wrong thing to say to a woman like Catherine Avery.

"Enough!" she said, crossing her arms above her chest.

"What did you mean you love my son? What's going on here? Aren't you his boss?"

"I... I am... sort of... Dr. Avery, listen, I... I didn't want you to find out like this... I mean... Jackson and I..." Mark stammered, biting his lower lip.

"Jackson and you what? There is nothing going on between the two of you. If my son was with someone he would have told me," Catherine gave back, literally shoving Mark to the side and sitting down on the chair next to Jackson's bed.

Her words hurt like hell, and somehow she was even right. At least a little bit.

Mark and Jackson hadn't been together anymore, so maybe Jackson hadn't seen any reason to tell her about them when there wasn't a "them" anymore.

"I... I'm sorry..." Mark said, looking at Jackson. He just wished Jackson would open his eyes and say something. Anything. Make his mother understand that things had been difficult but that they had - indeed - been in love.

"You better leave now. I'm sure you have work to do..." Catherine said, without even looking at Mark.

All Mark could do in this situation was nod.

He turned around and made his way out of the ICU and back to the plastics section, where he ran into Victor the moment he got out of the elevator.

"Mark, hey. I was looking for you," Victor said, immediately catching on Mark's look.

"My god, what happened?"

"Nothing... everything..." Mark replied, looking down at the attending.

"Something wrong with your boyfriend?" Victor asked carefully, placing a hand on Mark's arm. "You can tell me... You know I'm listening if you wanna talk."

"I know..." Mark replied. "But I don't think I do... and besides... he's... he's not my boyfriend... When I told you I was still hung up on someone, I meant it. But we're not together anymore. And if I didn't know that before, I know it now. He... he hasn't even told his family about me... his mother..." The words just came out, without Mark being able to stop them.

"I'm... I'm so sorry..." Victor said, and when he pulled Mark into an embrace, Mark didn't hesitate for a single second.

He leaned against him and placed his chin on Victor's shoulder, closing his eyes for a moment.

"What if he doesn't wake up? What if the surgery won't work?"

"Hey, stop!" Victor said immediately, letting go enough of Mark so he could look him in the eye.

"Don't even think that. It's gonna work out and he will wake up again, okay? You can't lose faith right now. You can't give up on him."

"He's right." A voice sounded from behind and Mark twitched.

"Dr. Bailey."

He hadn't seen the woman in quite a while, most likely because she had been pretty stressed out with her 2nd wedding and the honeymoon, but now she obviously was back.

Making her way towards the two men, Bailey looked up at Mark.

"I can't believe what went down here in my hospital in my absence... two of my doctors are in hospital, both nearly died. Seriously, can't a woman enjoy her honeymoon without big dramas happening here?"

"Obviously not," Mark said with a sad smile. "Come here."

He hugged the woman for a moment, before looking at Victor.

"Dr. Bailey, this is Victor... Victor Whale... he's here to support me until Jackson... comes back..."

Raising an eyebrow, Bailey looked at him. "Chief Hunt obviously didn't waste any time to hire someone new."

"Nice to meet you, too" Victor said with a charming smile, and even though Bailey obviously had some reservations towards him - especially the young doctors were something like her babies after all - Mark could tell that her resistance was already disappearing.

"Miranda Bailey," she introduced herself to Victor.

"I hope you're enjoying your time here, because it won't last."

"I'm aware of that", Victor nodded. "I'm just here as long as I'm needed, and as soon as Dr. Avery is back, I'm gone, so don't worry, I'm not gonna steal away anyone's job."

"Good. And now if you'll excuse me, I'm gonna pay Kepner a visit."

And with those words she rounded the corner and was out of sight.

"I'm sorry," Mark apologized once she was out of ear sight.

"She's usually a very nice person."

"Don't worry," Victor replied. "I can take it... and besides, she's right, I'm only here temporary, so I probably shouldn't get too used to everything."

"Yeah." Mark nodded, but somehow feeling really guilty. Having Victor here felt good, and it made him feel a lot less miserable. But maybe there was a way to keep both of them once Jackson was back on tracks. But he didn't want to think about that right now.

"Let's get back to work, shall we?" he asked, taking the chart Victor grabbed from the counter and reached to him.

"What do we have?"

Two hours later the two of them made their way towards the cafeteria, and the first thing Mark noticed was Addison sitting there. Together with Holt.

Raising an eyebrow, he tilted his head.

What the hell was going on here?

When they moved closer, he could see Addison's hand was on Holt's arm and the whole situation looked kind of intimate. Almost like a date.

"Would you excuse me for a moment?" he asked, and when Victor nodded, Mark made his way towards their table.

When it came to Addison, his protective instinct kicked in full force, and he couldn't do a thing about it.

"What is going on here?" he asked immediately, once he was standing in front of them and had their attention. Beating around the bush had never worked for him anyways, so coming straight to the point would probably be for the best.

"We're having lunch?" Addison said, looking up at him. "What does it look like to you, Mark?"

"I don't know... you tell me..." Mark gave back.

"We've really just been having something to eat..." Michael replied. "But if you wanna know exactly, I had a discussion with Dr. Catherine Avery about tomorrow's surgery. You might be happy to hear she will be inside the OR during the surgery as well, so you have one more guard dog watching over me and taking care that I don't make a mistake..."

Mark could hear the nervous tone in his voice, but for this he couldn't blame Michael.

"I didn't know that..."

"Yeah... well... and after I had to postpone our lunch-plans because Lewis had a few more questions, we're here now. I hope, that answers your question." Michael said sarcastically. "Not that this is any of your business, but I'm a nice guy, and so I reply when I get asked something."

Mark felt a slight anger inside of him.

"Addison is my business," he replied through gritted teeth, turning to the woman.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

He seriously needed to tell her to stay away from him. The way Addison looked at Holt couldn't mean anything good and slowly but surely his brain started connecting the dots.

Right after Addison arrived here she had told him about a guy she just met. A guy she was going to have a coffee date with.

What if this guy was Holt?

What if Addison had fallen for the guy?

'Please don't let it be Holt', Mark literally prayed in his thoughts, hoping that he had just misinterpreted the whole situation. He wanted the best for Addison, and he definitely didn't want her to get involved with a guy like him.

Addison Montgomery POV:

It was amazing how fast a relationship could change.

Just an hour ago Addison and Michael were friends. Sure, friends with an underlying sense of something more, but friends nonetheless. Now, after what had transpired in the man's office they were something more...something greater. The two sat at one of the cafeteria tables near the back of the lounge and as they talked Addison saw Holt smile more than she ever had in the weeks she knew him.

"This is nice" Michael said.

"Yes, it is" Addison responded and placing her hand on top of his the two were content to share a warm moment. That was until Mark Sloan needed to make his presence known.

The two men had come to a somewhat amicable state, but Addison knew that was mainly for the benefit of Jackson and if the man's well-being wasn't at stake they would probably still be at one another's throats.

"Can I talk to you for a moment?"

Addison took the opportunity to separate them and getting up she walked with Mark across the room.

"You and Holt, huh?"

"Me and Holt, what?" Addison asked as she tried to play dumb and the look from Mark told her that the man didn't believe it for a minute.

"Come on, Addie" he said "do you think I don't know that look you just had with him?" he leaned closer "you forget I was on the receiving end of it at one time"

"That was a long time ago" Addison responded.

"That doesn't mean it's changed in the slightest" he said "and if it was for anyone else I would tell you go for it, but not him Addison. Not Holt"

"I appreciate the concern Mark but-"

"No, Addie" Mark interrupted "don't brush this off as some kind of jealousy or misplaced anger. That man over there ruined a guy's life"

Addison bowed her head, it wasn't like she didn't understand where Mark was coming from, but Holt was more than the monster Mark believed him to be.

"Michael told me what he did" Addison said "and I don't agree with any of it, but he wants to make amends and how can I deny him that chance?"

"Easily" Mark told her "you drag him to Jackson's bedside and you make him take a good hard look" he took a quick glance at Holt who was doing his best to pretend not to listen "let him remember that before he decided to dole out some punishment for his dear friend Lewis Jackson had a job he loved, a man he loved, and friends that cared about him and now all Jackson has is a slim chance of surviving one more day while the man who all but ran him over himself is responsible for saving his life"

"You know Michael is Jackson's best shot" Addison said "he wants Jackson well just like the rest of us, probably even more"

"Just because I know it doesn't mean I like it, Addie" Mark told her "and his guilt does very little to make this situation any better. The man deserves nothing more than to spent the next 50 years of his life alone and miserable"

Addison wasn't here to watch Mark and Jackson fall in love, but seeing the raw emotion that Mark had letting her know he had never loved anyone like he loved Avery was enough to know that if Jackson did die tomorrow he would never love anyone like that again.

"We're just friends, Mark...I promise" It was a lie, but one Mark needed at the moment. When Jackson pulled through and got better Addison could tell him the truth. Not now, though. Mark couldn't handle the idea of losing another person he cared for to Holt.

"You swear?"

"I swear"

Mark pulled her in for a hug and gave a kiss to her temple "I know it sounds paranoid" he told her "but you deserve someone so much better than Michael Holt"

Addison hugged him back "Don't worry Mark" she whispered "it's all going to be okay"

Tyler Browning POV:

Tyler was making strides to the cafeteria when he saw Michael quickly exiting the place looking like an army of assassins was following him.

"Holt" Tyler said as he stood in front of the man "I need to talk to you"

Tyler's presence had obviously spooked the man and seeing the guy's fear Tyler couldn't pretend he didn't get a little thrill out of it.

"Wh-What is it?" Michael asked as he straightened himself up.

"I need to talk to you...in private" Tyler told him and nodded his head towards an empty conference room just to the left of them. "I'm really busy-" Michael started to say before Tyler cut him off.

"It's about Lewis" and making his way towards the room Michael waited a half a second before following him in and closing the door.

"He already came and talked to me" Michael said "I told him I would come and see you before I left"

"Not that" Tyler responded with a wave of his hand "things haven't been easy with him lately"

"They haven't been easy with any of us" Michael said and Tyler squinted his face up.

"I don't care about your problems, Holt" Tyler said "when it comes to you the only thing that concerns me is you doing a good job tomorrow"

Michael folded his arms and glared at Tyler "What do you want?"

"Lewis needs you" Tyler said.

"What's wrong?" Michael asked and the fear and concern in his voice made Tyler angry. It was irrational, but it was there.

Tyler wasn't going to tell him the complete truth. He and Alex had to work out a plan first. See how bad this thing with Lewis really was before they involved other people.

Still, Lewis needed support.

"His mother is here and she made it perfectly clear that she holds Lewis responsible for what happened" Tyler told him "add that to Lewis' own guilt and Mark's anger towards him and he's not doing very well"

"Well, he has you and Karev" Michael said as he looked down.

"Karev has April and the baby to worry about and I have Jackson" Tyler responded "we're trying our best, but he needs you"

Michael remained silent for a moment before speaking "He's made it clear he wants to wash his hands off me"

Rolling his eyes Tyler shook his head "We both know that was said out of anger" he said "I wish it were true, believe me I do, but he needs someone in his corner who has seen him at his worst and as much as I hate it, that's you"

"Don't you think I want to be there for him?" Michael asked "I've tried and tried, but he's closed me off"

"Then try harder" Tyler told him "break through whatever wall you have to, but be there for the guy you've called your best friend all these years. Be there for the guy who has treated you more like a brother than he has ever treated his own"

"I-I don't know how"

"Figure it out" Tyler told him and turned around to open the door "now I have to go check on Jackson. I'll see you in the morning" and with that he walked down the hall to finally get the visit he had missed earlier.

Addison Montgomery POV:

After her talk with Mark Addison had turned around only to find Michael had left. It was clear that he had heard the things Mark had said about him.

It hurt him. It had to.

Seeing him walk out of one of the conference rooms she rushed over "I'm sorry about Mark he-"

"Don't worry about it" he smiled sadly "it's not like that I didn't know the things he thought about me"

"He'll come around" she said "they all will"

Turning towards her Michael grabbed her hand gently "I know what happened in my office was a spur of the moment thing" he said "I never expected you to think we were going to be more"

His face only highlighted the sadness in his voice.

"I never said I didn't want more" she told Michael "telling Mark that was just something to ease his mind, but don't for a second think I don't want to explore this, Michael" she smiled "all of it"

The light had come back in his eyes "You mean it?"

"Of course I do" she said "tell you what, Henry is spending the night at Callie's, why don't I escort you home?"

"I'd like that" Michael told her "I'd like that a lot"

Gripping his hand firmly Addison led him out the front doors and once the two were out of sight from prying eyes Michael pulled her close and kissed the top of her head.

Once they reached his car Michael looked at her one final time "Are you sure about this?"

"Very sure"

And with that the two got in and when Michael pulled away from the hospital Addison looked over at him and smiled. This was what she wanted. He was what she deserved.

Michael Holt POV:

The whole drive to his apartment Michael couldn't get Tyler's words out of his head. He wasn't blind; he knew that Lewis was bad. Pretty bad. But he had no idea how to get to him again. He had no idea how to destroy the wall Lewis had built up around him. They used to be so close but he had destroyed it all. It would be pretty difficult to regain Lewis' trust, that much he knew, but he also knew that Lewis was worth fighting for.

"You okay?" Addison asked concerned, once he parked his car outside his apartment building.

Turning his head towards her, he nodded slightly.

"Yeah... as okay as I can be with everything that happened lately... there's just... a lot on my mind right now..."

"I understand that..." Grabbing his hand, Addison brought it to his lips and kissed the knuckles gently. "But that's why I'm here... that's why I think you need to shut off all those thoughts."

A smile appeared on her lips.

"You need to relax... you have a big surgery tomorrow, and it's important for you to let your mind rest for tonight... do some other things..."

Her free hand touched his thigh and started rubbing forth and backwards.

"Come on... I wanna see your apartment."

Swallowing hard, Michael nodded and when she let go of him, he got out of the car, waiting for her to join him, and then the two of them made their way across the street and inside the building.

Michael wasn't stupid, he knew exactly what Addison meant when she was literally telling him that he should get some distraction, and it wasn't like he didn't want her. He wanted her more than anything else in the world right now.

Still, he didn't think he should.

Didn't think he deserved any of this.

He had caused so much pain and trouble, and sleeping with her right now didn't feel right.

He needed to save Jackson first. Needed to make sure the kid was okay, before he could really give in to Addison completely.

Still, he didn't want to turn her down, so he decided he would just find ways to make her feel really good. After all it made him feel good, too. To see her like he had seen her in his office. She was beautiful, and he wanted to have that look on her face over and over again.

Getting into the elevator and pressing the right button, Michael felt Addison push him against the wall and then he felt her lips on his, responding to the kiss immediately and turning them around so she was the one pressed against the wall.

His hand travelled up and down her back and then downwards again when he reached the hem of her skirt, pushing it upwards just a little bit.

"You're driving me crazy..." he whispered into her ear while nibbling at her earlobe, hearing her moan softly.

"That was my intention..." she replied, holding onto him and pressing her whole body against his.

When the sound of the elevator announced that they had arrived at the right floor, he grabbed Addison's hand and pulled her out, towards his apartment door.

It took him quite a while to get the door unlocked because his hands were shaking so much, but when he finally did, he lifted her up, turning on the light and moving inside.

He kicked the door shut with his leg, carrying Addison to his bedroom and laying her down on the mattress, leaning over her and capturing her lips into another heated kiss.

He didn't waste any time, pushing her blazer out of the way and opening her blouse, before he let his tongue travel down her neck in between her breasts.

He pulled the fabric of her bra down enough so he could reach her nipples and started sucking on one of them, while he twisted the other one with his fingers, causing Addison to moan and coil up in pleasure.

Moving back just enough to look at her, he couldn't believe how beautiful she was. Her hair was already dishevelled, and she just laid there with her blazer and her blouse open but still on, her bra out of place and her skirt shoved upwards. He had never seen something so erotic and it turned him on more than he wanted.

The tent in his pants was hard to miss and Michael was sure Addison had felt his hard-on at her ankles when he was laying on top of her.

But this wasn't about him, it was about her.

Leaning back down, he once again captured one of her nipples with his mouth, while one of his hands was busy getting rid of her panties, pulling it down so she could kick it off, together with her shoes.

When Michael moved upwards again to kiss her, he kicked his own shoes off, alongside his socks, while his hand was already working at Addison's clit, rubbing it in slow circles hearing her moan into the kiss.

She was already pretty wet and Michael could tell that she wanted him, and god, how much he wanted her, too. But he didn't allow himself this pleasure. Instead, once again his lips moved downwards, licking at each of her nipples once again and then leaving a wet trail down her stomach until he reached the waistband of her skirt.

He shoved her skirt further upwards and then he sank down in between her legs, starting to suck at her clit while one of his fingers slit inside of her easily, followed by a second one shortly afterwards.

Thrusting inside of her with a strong force while he was still licking and sucking her clit seemed to drive Addison crazy, judging by the way she fisted his hair and the sounds she was making and Michael wanted nothing more than to be inside of her. Resisting got more and more difficult with each passing second, but again he pushed his own craving for her aside and just gave without taking. This was about her and he wanted... needed to make her feel special.

Lewis Avery POV:

Lewis was just on his way to Michael to talk to him once more about tomorrow, when he saw Tyler come out of his office. Surprised, he watched him making his way towards the elevators - most likely to see Jackson - and waited for a couple more moments. He was just about to head towards his office when he saw him come out, and only a mere seconds later he saw Addison approach him.

A small sigh left his lips.

The two of them looked pretty close and watching them made Lewis realize once more what he had lost.

Tyler.

Tyler had been there for him today. More than he ever expected him to be. Still, they weren't a couple anymore. They were not even friends most likely.

To see him all the time and not being able to hold his hand or touch him or kiss him broke his heart.

He didn't want to lose him completely and the mere thought was unbearable.

He needed to talk to him again. Just once. Tell him one more time what he meant to him.

Waiting until Addison and Michael were gone, Lewis made his way towards the elevators and got out when he reached the floor of the ICU.

He made his way towards Jackson's room and when he looked inside he saw Tyler sitting there, looking at him and obviously talking to him.

He didn't want to eavesdrop or anything like that, so he knocked at the glass, causing Tyler to twitch, before he turned around to look at him.

Making his way inside of the room, Lewis moved towards Tyler, stopping behind the chair he was sitting on and looking down at Jackson.

"How is he?"

"Unchanged... but I don't think that's going to be any different before the surgery..." Tyler looked sad, broken even, and Lewis almost couldn't bear to see him like that.

"I'm so... so sorry, Tyler... that... because of me you have to go through this... all of this... if I had just kept my distance none of it would have ever happened... Jackson could be happy... you could be happy... without me..."

Biting his lower lip, Lewis turned away because he felt his eyes burning.

"God, how I wish I could trade places with him... how I wish I could lay there instead of him..."

"Me too!" Catherine Avery's voice came from the doorway, and when Lewis looked up, he saw despisement in her eyes. "I can't believe you did that to him. I was always afraid Jackson would end up like his father... and now it seems like all my fears are coming true..."

"Mom, I'm... I'm sorry... I don't know how often I have to repeat that..." Lewis didn't want to let his feeling overwhelm him once again, but he couldn't change how he felt.

"Stop crying like a whiney baby. You're an Avery. Compose yourself." Catherine said, moving towards Lewis. "Have you learned nothing from me?"

Her words hurt like someone twisted the knife that was already stuck inside of Lewis' heart over and over again and he just wanted her to understand that this whole situation wasn't easy for him either. That he was suffering, too. But right now Jackson seemed to be the all she cared about.

"I'm not the only one that made mistakes, mom!" Lewis blurted out, because he couldn't hold back his feelings any longer.

Staring at him Catherine Avery took a step towards him.

"You're not talking to me like this, do you understand?" she literally shouted. "I love Jackson, he's my son, and even though I know I've made mistakes... I've at least tried to make some of it better over the past couple of years... and I was damn proud of the things he achieved here."

She moved to the other side of the bed Tyler wasn't standing at right now, leaning down and kissing Jackson on the forehead, literally ignoring that Tyler was even here and without so much as looking at Lewis anymore.

"I better leave..." Lewis said, a part of him hoping that his mother would be holding him back, but the opposite happened.

"You better do. You've done enough damage for one lifetime," she said.

Wiping his eyes, Lewis gave Tyler one last look, before making his way out of the room and sitting down on the nearest bench standing in the hallway, trying to compose himself. He was pretty sure things were beyond repair as they were right now, and probably it would be for the best if he just disappeared. Let everyone live their lives without him.

Standing up, Lewis wasn't even aware what he was doing or where he was going, until he was at the hospital roof, making his way towards the edge and just standing there staring down. He had never noticed how high this building was, until now. If he jumped it would just be over. People could be happy again and he would probably have his peace. He felt so alone right now. More than ever before in his whole life and standing there, looking at the ceiling made him realize that once again. He had lost everything.