Part Two: The Lady of Shalott

On either side the river lie

Long fields of barley and of rye

That clothe the world and meet the sky;

And through the field the road runs by

To many-towered Camelot;

And up and down the people go,

Gazing where the lilies blow

Round an Island there below,

The Island of Shalott.

Willows whiten, aspens quiver,

Little breezes dusk and shiver

Through the wave that runs for ever

By the Island in the river

Flowing down to Camelot,

Four gray walls, and four gray towers,

Overlook a space of flowers,

And the silent isle embowers

The Lady of Shalott…

Hmmm…How the heck did the rest of it go? Lexie thought, frustrated with her surprisingly faulty recollection…Don't I have an eidetic memory, for goodness sakes? Hmm… Where the heck am I? I wonder?…Lexie found herself surrounded by a thick layer of mists as far as her eyes could see…Am I in a…boat? What is this place? Hmm…An island?…Seriously?…I'm in a boat surrounded by fog near an island? Just like Elaine, huh? OK Grey, you've finally snapped, I see…You're bonkers, delirious…You've gone seriously cuckoo again, huh? Ha! Maybe Mark had to put me back in the psych ward…Mark…Mark, where are you?…No! I can't think about that now…Snap out of it, Grey!…Where was I? Hmm…the plane…There was a plane and…it…it…I can't think about this now! I…Huh?

Lexie's thoughts were interrupted by a flash of white light, and suddenly she found herself in the interior of a plane…Derek was trying to talk to her…Derek? "Lexie? Earth to Lexie! Dr. Grey!" Huh? "Are you finally with us, Dr. Grey?"…Yes?…"Good. We've arrived. Why don't you wake up Sleeping Beauty over there? We're gonna be late!", said Derek, pointing towards Mark, who seemed asleep, but somehow restless…Derek turned around and stepped off the plane.

Lexie looked at Mark…I guess we're in Boise. But I thought…No, I can't think about that now…What's wrong with Mark? He looks like hell! Hmm…I guess he's having a dream?…Something about trees? And, what? Birds? And helicopters? What?…Hmm...I'm glad, actually. I'm sure glad I'm not the only one who can't sleep…Blah! He's probably having a dream about a picnic with his precious Julia…Julia…Ha! I hate her…Sorry, but there it is…She's nice, but I hate her…"Thank you for your candor"…"Thank you for your candor"? I mean, who the heck even says that? Jeez! God damn you, Mark Sloan!

"Mark, the plane's here! We're in Boise…"

"Lex?"

"Mark, you were having some sort of dream...I heard you whimpering"

"Lexie?"...

"Cristina, she has a pulse! Start ACLS NOW!" Burke was shouting.

Who has a pulse?, Mark suddenly thought. Mer was OK, I guess…she looked OK. Cristina is obviously OK if she's doing ACLS on someone…Obviously not Derek or me…And Lexie is…she's…Lex…I…I can't think about that now…What is Burke even doing here?…So…Arizona?…No!…Oh no, Callie!…Poor Callie…

"Burke! Derek!…What's happening?"

"Mark, try not to talk, OK? You're in shock…"

"Arizona?"

"Well, truth be told, I'm in shock too, you know?"

"You're OK?" said Mark, incredulously.

"Yes? I think?"

"Why is Burke here?"

"Burke?"

"That voice…"

"You mean the FEMA surgeon guy?"

"Huh?"

"He's the head of the FEMA rescue team Owen and Boise Memorial put together…"

"Burke...He used to work in Seattle Grace…He was going to marry Cristina, but got cold feet at the end…"

"Seriously?"

"Yep…Uh…Arizona?"

"So I guess I'm not Robbins anymore, huh?"

"Please…"

"Yes?"

"Who has a pulse, who are they working on?"

"Mark, try to stay calm."

"Calm? Huh?"

"Eh…Lexie…she…Mark…they found her with a pulse; Burke found a pulse."

"No. I…she was dead. I saw it, she was dead, she died in front of me…dead…Lexie…"

"Mark, stay calm"

"Lex…" Mark whimpered

"Cristina and the guy you call Burke are working on her…"

Lexie is alive? Alive? He had just seen her, smelled her, made love to her…they were happy and…No…No! That was a foolish dream, a hallucination; just like this one…Dead. Mark cried bitterly. Arizona sighed in resignation.

Mark woke up in a pristine hospital room. It would appear he was back at Seattle Grace…"Mark?" He looked up; it was Teddy…

"It was touch and go for a while, but you're going to be just fine, Mark"

Fine? I'm never going to be fine. For a second, a fraction of an instant, I thought this was a horrible nightmare and I was back with Lexie…inside Lexie, smelling Lexie, laughing and dreaming with Lexie…But it was a lie. A foolhardy hope…Never, never, never…she was gone…dead and cold…like that dark dank hole where he had left her…and…

"Lexie is stable." said Teddy.

"Lexie? Lexie is dead…dead"

"Nope. That Preston Burke guy from FEMA and Cristina worked on her after finding a pulse…"

"I'm hallucinating again…"

"Again? No, Mark, No!"

"She's dead"

"No."

"No?" said Mark, finally with some faint hope.

"You have to understand, she had severe internal injuries, which we've stabilized, for the most part. We had to concentrate on keeping her alive and preserving what was essential, so out went the unessential organs: cholecystectomy, appendectomy and splenectomy were all done. She lost both her legs with compartment syndrome and severe crush injuries and she lost her left arm…but…we managed to save her pelvis and her pelvic organs… her bowel is intact, and her kidneys are working…liver looks OK… and her spine! her spine is intact, not severed. Her right arm is fine. She didn't have any severe injuries above her T10 spinal level...Her heart and her lungs are fine, fine and strong; it's what kept her alive"

"She's alive." Mark sighed.

"Yes."

"Thank you…" Mark was overwhelmed.

"Thank everyone! Everyone was in there! Owen, me, Bailey, Cristina, Webber, Callie and that Burke guy. He's very good, you know. Karev, Jackson and Meredith threatened to beat down the door of the OR, so that we would let them in...Even Derek! He of the broken, bleeding hand...heh...but obviously they couldn't have possibly been in there…Mark…I…I have to go…"

"Why?"

"I don't work here anymore…I know…Crazy! Owen flew me down here with emergency privileges so I could work on you guys both…"

"Can…Can I see her?" said Mark in a small voice.

"Are you crazy?" said Derek, now entering the room, "perhaps in two or three weeks; when you're well enough to get out of that bed…"

The days had passed for Mark in excruciatingly slow fashion…But finally he was looking at her…So frail, so vulnerable, so thin, so pale…Mark thought for an agonizing instant that she was dead, but then he exhaled a sigh of relief after noticing that she was breathing fine on her own. It was then he noticed the figure of Thatcher Grey, sitting beside Lexie's bed…

"Mr. Grey?"

"Um?"

"Mr. Grey?"

"Ah! Hmm. Lexie's guy, right? Yes? You were her boyfriend?"

"Yes…"

"I heard you had it bad in the accident…I'm sorry"

"I…I thought she was…I tried to help her…I…"

"Please, don't worry, er, Mark? Right?"

"I should have known she was alive! I…I left her there! I left her in that dark hole!"

"It's not your fault…"

"The hell it isn't! I…"

Lexie's lips began to quiver and move…

"Lex?"

"Honey?"

Lexie spoke haltingly…

"Mark…"

"Lex?"

"Honey?"

"What. Was. That?"

"Huh?"

"You practically raped me!"

"Huh?"

"Honey?"

"What about Julia?"…Lexie was restless…"Oh shut up, you pig!"…"You're lucky, old man"…"Finally! I'm a certified Neuro God!"..."Well, are we getting hitched, or what?"..."Mark, where did everyone go?"..."Mark?"…I'm scared…I'm falling back, I need to hold on...hold on…Mark…Mark…Mark!…I...I...am...

"There she weaves by night and day, a magic web with colours gay, she has heard a whisper say, a curse is on her if she stay, to look down to Camelot…"

"It's Tennyson"

"What?"

"Tennyson, her favorite poet…whenever she was scared, whenever she felt lost, she began to quote him, Heh. She knew his entire poems by heart by the time she was ten. She has an eidetic memory, you know? She was such a foolish, romantic girl as a child! I guess she still is…"

"But in her web she still delights, to weave the mirror's magic sights, for often through the silent nights, or when the moon was overhead, came two young lovers lately wed; "I'm half-sick of shadows" said the Lady of Shalott…"

Lexie stopped, and sighed happily. Mark held her hand. Lexie woke up with a start.

"Dad?"

"Lexie honey?"

"Dad!"

"Lex!"

"Hi! I…I…I think there was…there's been an accident, huh?"

"Yes honey. don't you remember?"

"Nope. I remember I was in a plane…I…I have a headache…Where…Where is Meredith?"

"I'll get her, I'll be right back, hon."

"Lex" said Mark

"Yes?" said Lexie in a puzzled voice

"I love you."

"Who are you?" Lexie's eyes were somewhat unfocused…"Ah! Dr. Sloan? Dr. Sloan, yes?"

Mark looked at Lexie, somewhat dumbfounded.

"Dr. Sloan, why are you holding my hand?"