A Second Chance

chapter twenty three

I watched Mark leave with Maddison they began talking and she was showing him the patients chart and my heart ached a little. I wish it was me.

Once I could no longer see them I left and headed off to the walkway balcony (the one with the giant windows). I stood and lent against the railing for a bit. The sun was setting and it was a beautiful sight.

"Hey aren't you supposed to be with Mark?" I was asked as Meredith approached me

"I was until the new girl Maddison said he had look at a patient"

Meredith looked annoyed "why didn't she ask Jackson?"

"That's what I said! And she said she was already with Mark"

Meredith rolled her eyes "I don't like her"

"Neither do I. Why aren't you with Derek?"

"He's just changing. Speaking of Derek" Meredith spoke as Derek joined us on the balcony

"Where's Mark?" Derek asked

I sighed and Meredith explained the situation. Derek had the same reaction as Meredith. He didn't like her either.

"You going to be home tonight Lex?" Mer asked

"I was supposed to stay at Marks but this consult is taking a lot longer than what  I was told. So probably" I spoke

Derek nodded "we will leave the door unlocked."

"Did you need us to stay?" Meredith asked

"No no you guys can go you don't need to stay. I'll probably leave in 30 minutes if I haven't been paged"

They both said their goodbyes and left. I then walked off and went to the change rooms. I changed out of my scrubs and into the clothes I was wearing in the morning I then grabbed my purse and walked down the the hospital foyer.

It had been and hour since Mark left with Maddison and I had 10 minutes left before I was going to leave. I sat in a chair and waited watching every employee, patient, and visitor that entered and exited the foyer hoping one of them was Mark but it never was.

Eventually I got a page from Mark asking for my location and I told him the foyer

Soon enough I heard a voice call out "I'm so sorry Lex"

I turned my head and saw Mark running towards me. I smiled seeing him so excited to see me. I stood up and my smile turned to a frown when I saw that Maddison was walking behind him.

I stood and glared at the two of them

"I'm sorry it was my fault I had to run Mark through all the surgeries for tomorrow" Maddison spoke

"I'm sure you didn't have too he is the attending and I'm pretty sure he knows what's going on in this hospital more than you" I spoke with an aggravated tone

"Look I'm only doing my job" she replied

"No you aren't doing your job. Your job is to take care of your own patients. You don't need Marks help you are an attending yourself and I'm sure you have experience."

"Lexie" Mark chimed in but I ignored him

"You didn't need to get Marks opinion for a patient today. You could have asked Jackson. You didn't need to run Mark through the patients surgeries for tomorrow as they are probably all his surgeries anyways." My voice got a little louder

"Lexie" she spoke and touched my hand

"No! My name is not Lexie too you. Only my friends can call me Lexie." I yelled

"Today was a special day for me. It was my first solo surgery ever and that is huge for an aspiring attending and Mark was going to celebrate with me after. Because he knows how big this is for me after everything." My voice began getting softer and tears started to fall

"All I wanted to do was spend the evening with Mark but you ruined that thank you Maddison."

She looked startled and slowly walked away. As she walked away she locked eyes with me and a smirk was plastered across her face. It was an evil smirk like she was glad this happened. My stomach turned and I knew immediately that something wasn't right. She purposely did this to me.

"Lex I'm so sorry I didn't mean for it to go on for so long" Mark spoke putting a strand of hair behind my ear and staring at me with a sorrow face.

"It's not your fault" I whimpered "you were just doing your job"

He pulled me into a hug "did you still want to celebrate?" He spoke into my ear

I shook my head "there's nothing to celebrate now"

"Yes there is Lex. Your first solo surgery!l he replied pulling me out of the hug

He placed both his hands on each one of my shoulders and looked me straight into the eye.

"We will celebrate tonight Lex, you know how amazing this is"

I nodded "if you want"

"Now wipe the tears away" he spoke wiping them away "I am all yours tonight nothing will get in our way"

I nodded again and pulled him into my arms. I wrapped them tightly around his chest

I was thinking about Maddison. I wasn't dumb I knew why she did this. She obviously wanted Mark. But I'm not up for playing high school games. I love Mark I really do. Should I bring my concern up with him or just leave it?

I don't know. But all I do know is that I don't want to fight I just want life to be simple with no drama but I can never seem to escape it.

———

Mark and I were back at his place. We were snuggled on the couch together watching a movie.

Mark had his legs out so they were resting on the coffee table and I was leaning into his right side with my legs bent on top of his.

I wanted to tell him my concern but I didn't want him to hate me for telling him. Or for him to think that I was over reacting. Maybe I shouldn't tell him.

I debated it in my head for a while and decided that I would tell him.

"Mark I have something to tell you" I spoke playing with my fingers

"What's up?" He replied looking down at my fingers

"Um when Maddison walked off after the argument tonight. She um sort of gave me an evil glare. Like she was happy things went wrong this afternoon"

Marks body language changed. He was more tense and began to sit up.

"Lexie I said you don't have anything to worry about" he replied wrapping his hands around mine

"I know Mark. It's not you I'm concerned about. I'm concerned about Maddison and what she intends to do."

I knew this was going to turn into an argument and i didn't want it too so quickly added "look I trust you Mark. I trust you more than anything in the world. I just don't trust her that's all I'm saying."

Mark thought about what I had said for a few minutes before he replied "alright, I'll keep my guard up"

We locked eyes again and I brushed a hand through his soft hair "thank you" I said with a smile

He smiled back. We spent for what felt like forever just staring into each others eyes. I brushed through his hair and he brushed through mine.

Eventually, Mark pulled me into his arms, he was lying up against the back of the couch and I was in front of him. He continued to brush my hair and I played with his hand until I fell asleep.