𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 & 𝐛𝐞𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐟𝐮𝐥 [𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐤 𝐬𝐥𝐨𝐚𝐧]

freedom

freedom

"I'm turning over a new leaf."

"A new leaf?" Grace questioned Mark's statement. The nurse went around organizing charts, placing them in order on various shelves as Mark followed behind. She placed each chart one on a shelf before turning around, "What was wrong with the old one? Or the other side of the leaf or whatever?"

Mark stood on the other side of the nurses' station, "The old one wouldn't have had you as a girlfriend."

Grace froze in place, before placing, "Girlfriend, is that so?" He nodded as she finished placing the charts away. "Okay. So, turning over a new leaf? Interesting..." She grinned to herself, hiding her face in her shoulder. She turned back around facing him, "This isn't a new leaf."

Mark furrowed his brows in confusion as she continued, "You know how I know that?" He looked questioning her, "Because you're staring at my boobs right now." She turned away from him sitting down in a chair behind the nurses' station.

"Can you blame me?" 

—

The trauma room was... busy to say the least. A kid in dried cement. In a glob of dried cement. Grace walked through the doorway of the trauma room and to the room filled with surgeons moving over to Mark, "You do know I'm not an ER nurse, right?"

He smiled down at her, noticing her presence, "I think this is bigger than an ER nurse. Did you see him out there?"

She nodded slowly, crossing her arms across her chest, "Yes, yes, I saw the cement covered boy. A bit hard to miss." She looks around the room, "What's going on?" Before she can respond to shouting erupts, from Mark responding to something Dr. Hahn said. Then, every one of the surgeons fighting where to start. Dr. Webber pushes the door open and shouting at them.

The chaos in the room continued as Grace exited the room to check on the patient, Andrew, softly whimpering to himself as the firefighters around him stood stone-faced. "Hey," Grace catches his attention, placing her hand on his cement-covered shoulder. "You're going to be okay. Just take a deep breath. You're going to be okay."

The surgeons eventually came out of the room with a sort-of plan, Grace excused herself from the room for a surgery with Dr. Quaid. Like she said, she's not an ER nurse. 

—

Zibby rushed over to Grace the minute she exited the elevator. "Oh! My! God!" She gripped Grace's hands tightly, jumping up and down. "I have so much to tell you!" She shouted before returning to a calm tone, "And you clearly have some things to tell me." Her brown brows wiggling.

Grace sighed as Zibby and she began to walk down the hallway, 'You can go first."

"Okay!" She jumped up and down, "I was hoping you'd say that." Grace smiled cautiously at the girl and her sudden burst of energetic behavior. "Okay, okay, you know Ethan? Ethan Redmond from dermatology?" Grace slowly nodded recalling the doctor, "Well, you know I love people from derm because I love the smooth newborn baby soft skin they have. So, he asked me to go out with him after work and of course I accepted. And I'm going out on a real like date date for like the first time in forever. And, oh my god is he cute!"

Grace smiled widely, happy at her friend's excitement, "Aw. That's great, Z. I'm so happy for you. You know, because of how sad you've been over guys not calling you back and Ethan is super sweet." 

She was then caught off guard as she was captured in a hug by Zibby who squealed. "Okay, how about you and Mark? Oh, and what's up with this cement boy in the ER of been hearing about?"

"Well," Grace simply said, "cement boy was a little dumb, to say the least." The two rounded a corner then stopping in front of the nurses' station.

"And you and Mark?" She asked curiously standing up on her tippy toes. Grace hesitated to answer before Zibby said, "Look I know you're shy about stuff like this. Well, everything actually, but especially stuff like this, but just tell me if it's going good or not, G."

Grace directed her eyes down at the floor before peering up showing off her pearly white teeth, "We're...kind of, uh, dating, I guess."

"You guess?" Zibby exclaimed, punching the upper part of her arm.

Grace yelped in pain, holding her arm, "Ow! What was that for?"

"Well, are you dating or not?" Zibby's voice shrieked.

The blonde let go of the bruise already forming on her arm and moved them to her ears, "I'd answer the question if your voice wasn't killing dogs." Zibby rolled her eyes, staring directly into her soul hoping to find in answer there. "Okay," Grace gave in, "he called me his girlfriend this morning."

"What?!" Zibby screamed in shock, catching everyone's attention.

Her hands shot back up to ears, "My ears!"

"Sorry, sorry." The nurse muttered to Grace, "But excuse me, what?"

Grace raised her eyebrows, "He was talking about turning over a new leaf or something and said if he didn't he wouldn't have me as a girlfriend."

"What?!" Zibby shouted again, grabbing everyone's attention again.

Grace shushed her, "Calm down!"

"I can't, this is a guy who couldn't call me back in the morning, and yet, you're now his girlfriend." Zibby looked around the room as if she searched long enough she could find the answer in a corner somewhere. Still, the girl obviously was happy for her best friend's happiness

Grace leaned forward and jokingly asked, "You jealous?" She smiled as Zibby threw her arm around her giving her a friendly side hug.

"Oh, shut up, Grace Eloise Poulsen," Zibby replied. Earning her a simple eyeroll.

—

"You are such a liar!" Grace playfully slapped Mark's arm as the two walked out of the elevator's doors into the lobby.

"How?" He asked confused over her statement.

A shocked look covered Grace's face, "You talked all about 'Oh, I'm going to turn over a new leaf, oh.'" She attempted to imitate Mark, but just put on a weird, deep voice.

"I am!" He defended himself as the two exited the hospital into the parking lot. 

She stopped walking and stared at him, "Telling Callie sexually comments about her having sex with Erica is turning over a new leaf?"

Mark sighed as the two continued to walk to Grace's car, "Okay, fine." He sighed, "But it's not my fault if I made Callie realize her attraction to Erica."

Grace commented, "That seems to be your specialty."

He leaned down and before kissing her said, "Well, I did it with you." 

—

a/n: that's it for season 4 and I got a bit of a writer's block trying to come up with a good ending for this whole season, but I thought I'd save that for season 5. I've got plenty planned...so this is my version of a cliffhanger, okay that's fun!

a hint: the gif