Mark sat up from the cot he'd slept on the night before and stretched before standing up and stepping over to Morgan's bed.

"You always had faith in me," he smiled down at her.

She shrugged. "I could see it in you," she replied.

They looked at each other for a few moments both lost in their own thoughts before Mark broke the silence.

"I need to get a shower." He looked down at his scrubs, "And probably some clean clothes, but I'll be back. Then, we can talk about what to do next. Okay?"

When Mark walked out of Morgan's room, he saw Nurse Judy on the computer at the nurse's station. Walking over, he rested an elbow on the counter until she looked up at him with a curious expression.

"Something you need, Dr. Sloan?"

"No…..I just wanted to thank you…..You know, for watching over Morgan last night."

"That girl's been through quite an ordeal." She said softly.

Mark shook his head in agreement. "Yes, she has….but she's going to be okay."

She reached to put a hand on his forearm as she smiled encouragingly. "Oh, I have no doubt about that, Dr. Sloan. You're one of the best….If not the best. She's lucky to have you."

Mark gave her a sad smile and shook his head before tilting his eyes back down, "I don't know how lucky she is to have me...but I know I was lucky to have her at one time." Mark had no idea why he had just divulged such personal information, but he could only assume it was because he was suffering from a severe lack of sleep.

He sighed before looking at her again. "Keep an eye on her for me, will you? I'm just going to take a shower, but I'll be back soon."

"I'll look after her," she assured him.

As Mark walked away, he looked over his shoulder as he thought about how she had covered him up with a blanket during one of her middle-of-the-night checks on Morgan. "Oh, and by the way, thanks for what you did for me, too…..Even though I know Dr. Torres probably put you up to it." he said with a cheeky grin.

She couldn't help but chuckle, "Anytime, my dear."

**************GA*****************GA**************GA

Callie gave a quick knock before walking into the shower room to forewarn anyone she was coming in. She and Mark were best friends and occasional 'sex buddies' when they weren't in their own relationships, so it wasn't out of the ordinary for her to walk in and have a conversation while he was in the shower. Not that anyone else's presence would have stopped her from going in anyway….This was too important….but she tried to avoid any awkward situations that could happen if anyone else was there. Fortunately, he was the only one there at present.

"Mark!" she spoke over the spray of the shower.

Mark heard Callie's voice in the middle of rinsing the shampoo out of his hair. He did a half-turn and continued to rinse.

"What's up?"

Callie's eyes had fire in them as she grabbed his towel and held it out to him.

"You need to get out. Now!"

He tried to blink the water out of his eyes as he asked again, "What do you mean? What's wrong?"

"He's here!"

Mark didn't understand. "Who's here?"

"That piece of crap, Jason Elliott," Callie replied.

She barely finished her sentence before Mark took the towel from her hands and started drying off. He wrapped it around his waist and Callie followed as he stalked towards his locker to get clean scrubs.

"He showed up downstairs demanding to know where she was. They saw the 'flag' on Morgan's online file and called security right away," Callie continued, "One of our security guys is actually standing outside Morgan's room, but I thought you might want to know."

"Damn right I do. Where is he?!" Mark growled.

Callie told him they were holding Elliott in one of the rooms commonly was used for private conferences with families where he would be detained until police arrived. Mark was still pulling on his scrub shirt when they walked out of the room. His fury grew with each step he took causing Callie to question whether it had been a good idea to tell him. She had never seen him so angry. When they got closer to the conference room, a man's voice could be heard yelling on the inside. They both knew it was most likely Jason Elliott.

Callie put a hand on Mark's arm to stop him briefly. "Don't do anything stupid, okay?"

Mark looked at her but refused to say anything in response. He opened the door where they found Elliott standing up and screaming at one of the security guards while he demanded to see Morgan. Mark wasted no time grabbing him by his shirt collar and pushing him up against a wall.

"What the hell?!" Jason screamed. "Who are you? What do you think you're doing?!"

Mark's voice was a low growl with barely controlled anger burning under the surface. Holding Jason in place, he got inches from his face, "I'm the doctor who's going to fix what you did to her! I'm also the man who's going to make sure you never lay a hand on her again, you son of a bitch! I swear to God, if you ever touch her again, there won't be a surgeon anywhere who will be able to fix you. Do I make myself clear?"

"Are you threatening me?" Jason tried to sound confident but Mark didn't miss the small quiver in his voice as he did so. Neither did Callie as a barely perceptible smile crossed her mouth.

"You're damn right I am!" Unable to resist any longer, Mark knocked him down with one well-placed punch to the jaw.

Jason tried to stand back up to reciprocate, but Mark was faster. He knelt down and pinned Jason in place before getting into his face again.

"Don't. Touch her. Again." He spat.

"I'm going to sue you for assault!" Jason screamed as Mark stood up to leave.

"Be my guest," he scoffed before yanking open the door and walking out. He needed to get to Morgan….

He needed to know she was okay.

Before going after him, Callie spoke to the officer in the room, "He doesn't leave this room."

"I won't let him out of my site, Doc," he answered.

Callie walked out and jogged to catch up with Mark before he reached Morgan's room.

"You need to calm down before you go in there," she said. "She doesn't need to see you this upset."

Mark stopped and let out a big sigh before running a hand down his face in frustration. He turned to Callie, "You're right."

"Okay…..good….so deep breaths." Then, in an effort to ease the tension, she smiled at him, "Dude, you totally scared the crap out of him. Did you hear his voice shaking?"

Mark couldn't help but grin confidently, but it was only a few seconds before his face sobered again, "He can't get near her again, Callie. I swear to God, I don't know what I'll do if he ever touches her again. I don't think I've ever been that pissed."

"I understand." Callie couldn't help herself; She pulled him in for a hug and felt Mark hold on tightly. "Don't think about him anymore," she continued. "Morgan needs you right now."

***************GA*********************GA*******************GA

Mark walked into Morgan's room and found Derek talking to her. She laughed at something he said but then immediately winced at the pain it caused.

"Sorry," Derek said before noticing Mark in the room. "Hey, I was just telling Morgan that her latest scans look good. We're almost out of the most critical period and I have every confidence she won't suffer any lasting neurological problems."

Mark stepped towards the bed and grinned as Morgan moved her eyes to look at him. "That's good news. So how are you feeling?"

"Drugged," she giggled. "I don't know what you guys have been giving me, but I'm not feeling much of anything right now. Well, unless I laugh and then it hurts a little."

"You're doing great," Derek said as he put his hand on her shoulder. "I have a surgery in a little while, but I'll be back to check on you again later, okay?"

Morgan shook her head affirmatively. "Thanks, Derek."

After Derek left, Mark sat down beside her and took her hand. "I need to remove these bandages and look over your swelling. Hopefully, it won't be much longer before I can operate, okay?"

As if on cue, a nurse came in to help Mark as he began to gently remove some of them. Morgan couldn't read his expression very well to gauge how bad her injuries may be. She assumed it was because he had quite a bit of experience at this and could effectively mask what he was looking at. She had no doubt it was bad, though, and that frightened her to no end. She silently berated herself and the choice she'd make to follow Jason and confront him.

If only….

Mark sensed her breathing getting more rapid and he stopped what he was doing. "Hey. Are you okay?" His voice was calm and assured as he watched her.

Her lip quivered slightly. "How bad is it? Tell me the truth, Mark."

His expression didn't change as he looked her in the eyes. "The truth?"

"Please," she asked nervously even though she wasn't sure she wanted to hear what he had to say.

A soft smile crossed his lips. "The good news is I'm going to be able to schedule an OR and get you in today. You're going to be fine. In fact…..I'd say you're going to be better than fine."

"So….no scars?"

He reached his thumb up to stroke her cheek. "No scars. No one will know anything happened. I promise."

He saw her visibly relax as he stood up and prepared to schedule her surgery. It was then she noticed a cut and some redness on his knuckles. Her brows furrowed, "What happened?"

Mark didn't plan on telling her about Jason Elliott showing up at the hospital, so he tried to shrug it off. "It's nothing; Just a scratch."

It may have been fifteen years since they'd seen each other, but Morgan could still tell when he was holding something back. "Are you sure?"

Mark had never lied to her and he was finding he still couldn't do so; Especially when she was looking at him like she was at that moment. He let out a sigh.

"Jason showed up earlier wanting to see you, but Security stopped him."

She sat up in alarm. "Jason was here? In the hospital? But…"

Mark interrupted her, "By now, he should be in police custody and you shouldn't have to worry about it anymore. He won't get near you again, but I'm sure the detectives will be back here to ask you more questions soon. And you'll probably have to formally file charges against him."

She seemed to find some relief in knowing he had been arrested, but she was still concerned for Mark. He was avoiding answering her question, so she asked again. "And your hand?"

"Let's just say…..we had a discussion."

He saw her swallow nervously. "You saw Jason?!"

Mark nodded.

"So, what kind of 'discussion' did you have exactly?" She knew the answer, but needed to hear him confirm it.

"The kind where I told him I will kick his ass if he ever gets near you again. I'm pretty sure he got the message." Mark smirked.

Morgan was speechless. Mark had always been protective, but she wouldn't have expected him to still stand up for her.

"Okay," she said softly. "Well….um…thank you."

He leaned down to place a kiss on her forehead. "I told you everything is going to be okay, babe. Trust me."