chapter forty-six ━ it all fell down
( season eight, episodes twenty-three & twenty-four )

❝No... No, I—He's my brother.
I—I can't.❞

THE ATTENDINGS WERE all gathered in the conference as Owen wrote down all their fifth-year residents' names on the whiteboard. "Where are we with Avery?" he asked Mark.

"Holding offers from USC, Penn, Tulane, and Emory," he answered, setting down his paper. "Tulane and Emory are in love. They want him bad."

"Grey?"

Derek cleared his throat. "Uh—still between Boston and Seattle."

Owen sighed and looked at the man. "If I'm gonna lose one of my talented residents and my top neurosurgeon, I'd love a decision sooner than later."

"You and me both, Hunt," Derek agreed with a nod.

"Yang?"

Mark furrowed his brows. "Well, she didn't tell you?" he asked.

"Uh—Stanford and Columbia are playing hardball," Teddy said, preventing Owen from needing to explain their... marriage complications. "But I'm confident that we're still in the mix."

Arizona smiled and sat upright. "Well, Karev is staying," she told the group.

"And so is the other half of their peds duo and my ortho goddess," Callie added, looking up at Owen. "Happy to say that Ellie is staying in Seattle for her fellowship."

Owen nodded and put a checkmark next to Ellie and Alex's names; at least two were staying...

"Wait." Mark tilted his head and looked at Callie. "Ellie's staying? She didn't tell me that."

She shrugged. "Isn't a given?" she replied. "She loves it here; she's always said that. And it was between here and New York, but she wanted to stay closer to you. And Sofia."

Owen faced his surgeons. "If we're out this many surgeons, I'm gonna need to hire now, so let's get answers from our people as soon as possible. Thank you." The group began standing up to leave. "And let's not forget that we've agreed to assist Boise Memorial with their conjoined twin surgery, so make sure your teams are ready to leave from the lobby no later than ten o'clock tomorrow night."

They all nodded and started in the direction of their patients' rooms. "Hey, Ellie is the ortho surgeon on the case, right?" Mark asked Callie, hurrying up to her.

She nodded. "Yep. And I'm watching Sofia for those days," she replied. "She knows the procedure forwards and back. She's ready."

Meanwhile, at Meredith's house, the residents' celebrations were in full swing. Ellie and Jackson were standing in front of a very drunk April with identical confused expressions on their faces.

"So..." Ellie glanced at Jackson who shrugged. "We're not gonna talk about this?" she asked. "You lost your virginity at the boards? You? April Kepner? The one who said she was going to wait until marriage?"

April shrugged, losing her balance from all of the drinks she had had. "What's there to say?" she replied with a slur. "I was a virgin and now I'm not. And I'm not a board-certified surgeon. Oh!" Ellie jumped slightly at the exclamation from the redhead. "I love this song!"

She ran off further into the living room, bumping into other people and Alex moved to stand next to the couple. "Kepner's wasted," he said, stating the obvious. "That's a first."

"Someone needs to cut her off," Ellie voiced and Jackson and Alex both looked at her. She glanced back at them. "I didn't mean me!"

"You're the only one here who's sober," Jackson told her and she frowned, looking down at the drink he had in his hand. "I think you're the most equipped to handle her and her drunken state."

"You've been doing it for years," Alex added making her roll her eyes.

"Wait, wait, wait!" Cristina exclaimed, her phone ringing. "Music!" Meredith took hold of the stereo remote and turned off the sound just as the cardio resident brought her phone up to her ear. "This is Dr. Yang. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Well, that certainly gives me a lot to think about. Thank you so much for calling." She hung up the phone and looked around. "Mayo wants to give me a research lab. Guess who's back in the running?"

April raised her glass. "Whoo!" she cheered. "Yeah, Cristina!"

Ellie let out a reluctant breath and began walking towards her best friend when she felt her phone vibrate. "Wait, wait. Mer, music!" She obliged once more and Ellie answered the call. "Hello, this is Dr. Sloan. Mm-hmm. I see. Well, thank you for calling. I will definitely consider." She looked up. "That was also Mayo. Offering me an entire peds wing and a position as an ortho attending."

Cristina cheered to her news just as Meredith turned the music back on and Jackson walked over to his girlfriend. "You've already made your decision," he said and she looked at him. "Why are you even taking calls?"

She shrugged. "Well, the more offers I get from other places, the more Robbins and Torres give me cool surgeries. Now—" She cleared her throat and handed him her Diet Coke. "—to try and wrangle the drunk best friend."

"Music!" April called out and it went silent once more. Ellie looked over at her. "Hello. Uh-huh, yes, this is she. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. Okay. Well—yes—thank you. Thank you. Um—thank you so much for the opportunity." She hung up her phone and paused. "UVA wants a board-certified surgeon so they pulled my offer." Ellie sighed. "Come on. Music. Come on, come on, music!" Meredith jumped at her shout. "Come on!"

Ellie looked back at her boyfriend. "I am not doing this alone."

☀️

ELLIE WAS LEAVING one of her patient's rooms when Alex hurried up to her, tickling her in the sides and she shrieked. "Hopkins wants me," he said before she could say anything and she paused. "Ellie, Hopkins wants me."

"You're kidding."

"No." He shook his head, a smile beginning to grow. "No, Hopkins wants me, Ellie."

"Oh!" Ellie tackled him in a hug making him stumble at the force of the embrace. "Congratulations, Alex! I'm so proud of you!"

"Thank you."

"Have you told Robbins yet?" she asked, pulling away. "I mean, she went there, I know she'd be so excited to hear this."

"Not yet," he replied. "You're the first person I've told. Well, except for Kepner, but that's because she was there when they called."

Ellie smiled at him. "I'm so proud of you, Alex. You deserve it. And more." He smiled back before going to find his attending. "Alex Karev is going to Hopkins... Who would've thought?"

She shrugged happily to herself and continued down the hallway toward the elevator. She stood next to Derek on her way to the cafeteria when Mark joined them and Derek looked at him.

"How's Julia?" he asked. "You impregnate her yet?"

Ellie paused and looked between her two brothers. "What? Wait—What? I went to San Francisco for two days and I miss this?"

"Julia wants a baby with Mark," Derek informed her and the blonde looked at her older brother.

"Really? Well... have you?"

"No," Mark replied with a sigh. "I was all ready to, but then Lexie... Oh, she told me she was in love with me."

Ellie grimaced. "Ooh."

Derek smiled. "What did you say?"

"I said, 'Thank you for your candor.'"

Ellie and Derek looked at each other in confusion. "'Thank you for your candor'?" the former repeated.

Mark shrugged. "What was I supposed to do?"

"Kiss her, you idiot!" she exclaimed, hitting him on the shoulder and he held his arm. "You're supposed to kiss her!"

He shook his head. "Julia's away on a conference. I'm not a cheater." Ellie and Derek stared back at him. "Usually," he amended. "Look, I owe it to the both of them to... I don't want to mess this one up, okay? Julia wants to give me everything I want. But I'm in love with Lexie... who doesn't want anything I want."

Ellie was about to reply when the elevator stopped and the doors opened, revealing Lexie. "Dr. Shepherd." She paused. "Dr. Sloan. Hi, Ellie."

"Lexie." Derek smiled at the brunette. "Come on in."

"Oh, uh—"

"Plenty of room," he added, shuffling Ellie closer to him to make a space between her and her brother.

"You know, actually, I was just gonna update you on the Boise doctors' bios, but since you're all here, I'm just gonna give it to you, and then that way, I can—" She turned around just as the doors closed and she sighed. "—leave."

She looked back at the group and stayed in front of them. "Talk to her," Ellie whispered to her brother, inching closer to him. Mark looked at Derek who nodded toward the brunette and he glanced back at her.

"Ellie, how come you didn't tell me you were staying in Seattle?" he asked, changing the subject and she frowned.

"I did."

"No, you didn't."

"Yes, I did!" she argued. "I can recite the day from memory if you really want me to. It was four days ago at 10:42 am and you were getting a coffee and a muffin in the lobby of the hospital. I walked up to you with Jackson and said, 'Hey, Mark, I have something to tell you.' And you said, 'Oh, yeah, what is it, sunshine?'" she mimicked Mark's voice, dropping her tone three octaves.

Derek nodded. "Nice imitation," he said.

"Thank you." Ellie smiled while Mark glared at him. "'Yeah, the news is, I'm staying in Seattle for my fellowship. You're stuck with me, big brother.' The end."

Mark stared back at her before nodding. "Alright, then."

Suddenly, the doors opened and Ellie stood in the back as the other three tried to leave at the same time.

"Oh, sorry."

"Oh—uh—no."

Lexie sighed and moved to stand beside Ellie. "You guys go. I'm gonna stay."

"Oh, hey, Lexie, about that other thing," Mark said, holding the elevator doors open and Ellie glanced between the two. "Don't think I forgot what you said. I just need to ruminate on that..."

"Ah."

"You know? Run it up the old flagpole?"

She nodded. "Okay."

Ellie pressed her lips together when Mark gave a thumbs-up and let the doors close. "Well... that was the most awkward elevator ride I have ever been on."

"You're telling me..."

She wrapped her arms around her shoulders. "Let's go get some lunch, Lex. Try and take your mind off of all... that."

The two residents made their way to the cafeteria and, once they got their food, they joined their friends at a table.

"Oh, we can add spaghetti Wednesday to the list of things I'm not gonna miss about this place," Jackson said and Ellie looked at him.

"Are you kidding?" she asked. "There are worse things than that. Besides, Alex has already eaten six bowls."

Jackson followed her extended finger and it landed on Alex whose mouth was full of pasta. "True that."

"Hey, I hear Stanford has a farm-to-table chef," Meredith told Cristina who nodded in boredom. "You can text your order right from the OR."

"Well, I'll factor that in," she replied. "I still haven't made my decision."

"Well, it's gotta be Stanford," Meredith said. "Where else would you go?"

"I don't know!" she exclaimed. "I might stay. Everything's on the table."

Alex held up his fork. "She like-a the spaghetti, too," he said and Ellie chuckled at him.

"Tulane's got crawfish," Jackson pointed out and she looked at him. "I mean, that's a selling point. USC—I mean, what—what do they eat in LA?"

Ellie shrugged. "Souls."

Cristina glanced between them. "So since Ellie is staying here and if Avery goes to Tulane, what's gonna happen to you two?"

"Well, long distance until our fellowships are over, and then re-evaluate after that," she replied and Jackson nodded.

"And, who knows... I might stay," he added.

April's phone began ringing and she looked down at it. "2-1-2," she said, letting out a breath. "It's New York."

"Answer it," Cristina said.

She shook her head and leaned back in her seat. "Bad news is only bad news if you pick up the phone."

Cristina looked around and took her phone. "April Kepner speaking," she said, her voice becoming high-pitched.

Ellie sighed. "Cristina—"

"Oh, really?" she continued. "Okay. Okay. Oh, my gosh. Okay. No, no, no. No, thank you."

She set down the phone and April sat upright. "They—They didn't pull my offer?" she asked, her tone hopeful.

"Oh, no, they did," Cristina replied. "I just figured that's what you'd sound like in the face of rejection."

April slumped in her seat and Ellie wrapped her arms around her. "Hey, you want my fries, Apes?" Alex asked her, holding them up.

"Not if they're pity fries."

He shook his head. "No, they taste the same."

"Well, you still have Case Western and Seattle, right?" Ellie asked her and April glanced at her. "So, there's still hope."

Cristina cleared her throat. "Uh—so what does Sloan think about Tulane?" she asked Jackson, changing the subject. "The other Sloan."

Ellie smiled to herself. "I love that he's the other one for a change..."

Jackson chuckled softly at her. "He hasn't weighed in one way or the other," he replied. "There's something wrong with him." Lexie pressed her lips together and stood up, leaving the table. "I think he's disturbed or something."

"He just has a lot on his mind..." Ellie said, her eyes following Lexie out of the cafeteria.

April's phone rang once more and Cristina took hold of it. "2-1-6. Cleveland." She looked over at the redhead who was staring at the device.

"Maybe Case Western's offering loan assistance," Meredith suggested with a shrug.

Cristina held out the phone to her and she shook her head. "This is Kepner," she said, answering the phone. "Oh, yeah? Well, you know what? I am an awesome surgeon. And I would've rocked your stupid little program so it is your loss. Go to hell!"

☀️

ELLIE STOOD NEXT to Jackson as she and the other doctors who were being sent to Boise were preparing for their flight. She smiled in thanks to the nurse who held out her files to her while Jackson held her bag.

"You son of a bitch!" They both looked over when they heard Arizona's shout. "I had to hear it from Hunt? What, you couldn't even be man enough to tell me yourself?"

"Sweetie," Callie said, reaching out to her wife. "She's had a horrible day. I'm so s—"

"No!" Arizona shook off Callie's arm and continued to march toward Alex in anger. "You ungrateful crap dog!"

"It's Hopkins!" he exclaimed in response. "You went there. You of all people should know that!"

Jackson turned to look at Ellie, hearing Arizona's shouts that she was taking Alex's place on the plane. "Tell me where to go," he said and she furrowed her brows, looking back at him. "Just tell me where to go. Tulane or Seattle."

"I—" She let out a breath and cupped his cheek. "I can't make that decision for you. It's your future."

"No, it's our future," he countered and she pressed her lips together. "Yours and mine. I've waited too long to be with you for it to end because of a fellowship. But if you think I should go to Tulane, then I'll go there. But if you tell me to stay, I'll stay in a heartbeat."

Ellie glanced behind her at Derek and Meredith who were FaceTiming Zola before the flight. Her gaze shifted to Lexie and Mark—they were avoiding each other and their awkward conversation.

"Of course I want you to stay," she said, turning back to him. "More than anything, I want you to stay. But it has to be you who makes that decision. It can't be me. And whatever you decide... we'll make it work because I don't plan on this ending things for us. Because I—" Her blue eyes found his green ones. "I love you. And I—" She looked behind her at the group of surgeons. "I have to go. We're gonna miss our flight." She pulled him down to her by the collar and kissed him. "I'll call you when we land and I'll see you in a few days."

She held onto his hand for a moment before letting go and following her brother out of the hospital. She glanced back at Jackson and he looked at her.

"I love you, too!" he called out to her and she smiled at him before closing the door behind her.

☀️

ELLIE'S HEAD WAS pounding as she woke up and saw Mark hitting her in the stomach. She followed his hands and saw he was putting out the fire on her... shirt. She sat upright with a scream of pain as she looked around at her surroundings.

The wrecked plane; Arizona's screams; Cristina walking around frantically; Meredith checking her head for blood.

"Wh—What happened?" she asked Mark, looking back at him once the fire on her shirt had been put out and he let out a breath.

"We crashed," he replied as she tried to stand up only to fall once she had put pressure on her foot. "I think you broke your ankle."

"Help me up," she said, holding out her hand. He pulled her into a standing position and she stood on one foot with Mark taking a majority of her weight. She looked around and saw Cristina and Meredith walking toward them as Arizona kept screaming.

"Shut up!" Cristina snapped at her in frustration. "Shut up! Shut. Up!"

Ellie looked up at Mark. "Where's Derek?" she asked him. "And—And Lexie?"

"We don't know."

"Do you hear—Do you hear that sound?" Meredith asked and they looked at her. "Where is that sound coming off?"

Ellie paused, hearing a distant clicking sound—metal on metal. Arizona shakily pointed in that direction. "There," she said, her voice quivering. "It's coming from over there."

Concluding that Arizona could not be moved, she stayed with the plane and the pilot, Jerry, while the other four began searching for Lexie and Derek. Meredith kept shouting out for her sister and husband as Ellie hobbled beside her brother, trying her best to ignore the blistering pain in her ankle.

As they came into the clearing, they saw the back end of the plane and underneath it— "Lexie," Mark said, his face becoming pale.

He and Meredith hurried over to the brunette while Cristina helped Ellie down to the plane, trying her best not to injure the blonde any further.

"I knew you'd show up," Lexie said weakly, looking up at the four of them, and Ellie and Cristina shared a glance at her appearance.

"How is she?" Meredith asked Mark who was lying next to her.

"She's awake and responsive," he told them as Ellie sat down on the ground against the plane and looked over at them. "How are you doing in there?"

"I'm—I'm great."

Mark looked up at them. "She's tachycardic and short of breath," he informed them.

"We have to find Derek," Meredith reminded the group and Ellie let out a breath, nodding slowly.

"Okay," she said, standing up despite her ankle screaming at her not to. "You go find my brother and I'll help your sister, okay?"

Meredith looked back at her and nodded. She took a large stick and began walking in the other direction. Mark glanced at his sister.

"We gotta get her out of there."

She nodded and looked at Cristina who was holding her shoulder. "Pop it back in," she told the ortho resident. "Pop it back in."

"It's gonna hurt like hell," she replied, touching the shoulder and Cristina instantly grimaced in pain. "On three. One, two—" She pushed firmly and Cristina cried out from the force. "Element of surprise—it helps."

With her arm a bit more mobile than before, Cristina and Mark attempted to lift the plane off of Lexie while Ellie—and her broken ankle that prevented her from standing for very long with much pressure—leaned down to keep an eye on Lexie.

"Again!" Mark called out after the first attempt failed. "One, two, three."

Lexie gasped out. "Run it down for me, Lex," Ellie said, looking at her.

"My legs and my pelvis are crushed," she replied and Ellie looked back at Cristina who wore an identical expression on her face. "And I can't f—feel my other arm, so I'm not sure it's even there anymore. And—uh—my chest feels like it's gonna explode, so it's probably a massive... hermothorax."

"Oh, oh, we—we gotta—we gotta get the oxygen from the plane," Mark said, leaning back down. "Okay? And fluids. Fluids. She needs water bottles. And uh—uh—the tubes—the oxygen tubes. We can get her fluids. We can get her fluids, okay? Go get 'em. Go. Go get 'em."

Ellie swallowed the growing lump in her throat. "Mark—"

"Why aren't you doing anything?" he asked Cristina, interrupting his sister.

"They..." Lexie gasped out, struggling for air. "They know it won't help."

Mark shook his head in denial. "No. No. You are gonna be fine. Stop. You're gonna be fine. Go! Get 'em!"

"Cristina," Ellie said, her voice breaking at the end. She looked at the blonde who nodded. "Just go. Go."

She nodded and leaned down to Lexie, tears in her eyes. "I'm gonna be right back."

☀️

"HUNT!" JACKSON CALLED out to the chief and he turned around. "Have you heard from anybody from Boise at all? Ellie said she'd call when they landed, but I haven't gotten anything yet. And all of my calls are going to voicemail."

He shook his head. "I haven't," he replied. "Maybe she just forgot on the way to the hospital. They would've landed already. They could just be in surgery."

"Could you just check?" Jackson asked. "Please? Ellie doesn't forget things like that."

Owen sighed and nodded. "Okay. I'll let you know if I hear anything."

Meanwhile, in the woods, Mark was still talking to Lexie who continued to struggle to breathe. "You're doing good."

"Mark..."

"Cristina's..." he continued as though he was trying to convince himself more than her. "Cristina's gonna be back any minute."

"Mark..."

"She's gonna be back, and we're gonna get you stabilized, and you're gonna be fine, okay?"

Ellie leaned her head back against the plane as the tears that had threatened to spill for so long fell down her cheeks steadily.

"Mark..."

"Just a few minutes, okay?" he told Lexie and Ellie glanced at them. "She'll be back any minute."

"Mark," Lexie said again and he finally looked at her. "I'm... I'm dying..."

"What?" He shook his head. "No, you're not."

Lexie nodded tearfully. "Mm-hmm. I am. Please... tell... tell Meredith that I love her. And that she's a good sister. Please t—tell my dad..."

"You're not dying," Mark said, standing up. "You're gonna be fine."

"Hold my hand."

Ellie looked away as Mark shook his head. "I'm not holding your hand because you're not dying," he told her.

"H—Hold my hand."

"No!" he said again and Ellie let out a shaky breath. "You're not dying. Do you hear me? You don't die today."

The blonde sighed when she saw her brother attempt to lift the plane off of Lexie once more. "Mark..." He looked at her and she nodded to the brunette. "Hold her hand."

He let out a breath and lay down, taking Lexie's hand in his. "I love you," he said.

She shook her head. "You don't have to say it just because I said it."

"I do," he insisted and Ellie rubbed her nose. "I love you. I love you. I've always been in love with you. I will always be in love with you."

"Yeah?"

Mark nodded. "Yeah. Which is why you have to stay alive. We—We—We're gonna get married. And you're gonna make an amazing surgeon. And we're gonna have two or three kids."

"So... Sof...fia can... have... siblings."

"Yeah. A sister and two brothers."

Lexie laughed and Ellie's heart broke in two; she loved Lexie's laugh. "That's nice."

"And... we're gonna be happy, Lex... you and me," Mark continued, stroking her brown hair. "We're gonna have the best life, Lexie, you and me. We're gonna be so happy. So you can't die, okay? You can't die, because we're supposed to end up together. We're meant to be."

Lexie smiled weakly at his words. "Meant to be."

Ellie looked over when she heard silence and saw Mark crumble at Lexie's lifeless body. She slowly crawled over to the two and carefully closed Lexie's eyes before laying a hand on Mark's shoulder. She glanced behind her when she heard footsteps and saw Meredith and Cristina coming over with supplies in their arms.

"I'm sorry, Meredith," she said sadly. "I'm so sorry..."

☀️

MEREDITH AND CRISTINA had finally found Derek with an injured hand that was a sickening color. After they brought him back to where Ellie and Mark were, the ortho resident squirted alcohol on his hand.

"Ah!" he groaned and she winced. "Son of a—damn it!"

"I'm sorry," she said, looking at him. "I'm sorry."

He looked back at her. "Where's Lexie?" he asked and she paused. His face fell and shook his head. "No." She nodded towards Mark who was still holding onto Lexie's hand, staring out into space. Derek followed her gaze and he sighed.

"Let's just keep it together, okay?"

"Ellie, loosen the tourniquet a little bit," he said and she frowned.

"You'll bleed to death."

"I need to save my hand," he told her.

"Well, I'm trying to save your life!" she countered.

"Oh!" Ellie looked over at Cristina who had been digging through their luggage in an attempt to find any kind of supplies they could use. "Safety pin. Safety pin!"

She nodded. "Bring that. And bring a t-shirt or bandana, too."

"Got it. Got it."

Ellie covered the safety pin in alcohol and looked at the man she thought of as a brother. "Okay, I have to close the wound," she said to him. "So, Derek, this is going to hurt. A lot."

"What's the t-shirt for?" Meredith asked her.

She nodded at the man. "He's going to scream," she answered simply. "A lot. So don't freak out when he eventually passes out." Cristina stuffed the t-shirt into Derek's mouth and Ellie let out a breath. "I'm sorry."

Derek's muffled screams filled her eardrums as she pierced his skin with the safety pin. Meredith's pleas followed shortly after.

"Please pass out. Please pass out. Please pass out..."

As soon as he was unconscious, Ellie left Derek with Meredith before going with Cristina to dig through all of the supplies she had brought. "Matches!" she exclaimed, holding up the box. "Fire. We can build a fire."

Cristina nodded. "Yeah," she agreed. "Mark. We need—We need to start a fire. Mark. Mark." Ellie glanced up at the resident who was walking toward her brother. "You have to help."

Meredith stood up. "I—I'll figure out how to get it started."

"No, no," Cristina argued, shaking her head. "You know what? He doesn't get to do this. He doesn't get to stop helping. I'm sorry he lost Lexie, but she was your sister and you're still helping. He has to help because the sky is falling, Mark!"

Derek stirred awake. "Cristina—"

"No, no, no!" she said again in frustration. "You know, if there's one thing that I've learned with all the—the bombs and guns to my head and—and the buses running down my friends is that I am interested in dying. I want to get out of here, and I want to go home. And everyone has to help. Not just Ellie and Mer. Mark, get up! Get up and help, Mark. Get up." Cristina paused as she shoved him and he fell over. "Mark? Mark?" Ellie looked up. "Mark. Please. Please be okay. Mark. Oh, crap. Ellie!"

She hurried over as best as she could and looked down at her brother who was turning into an unnatural color in the face.

"We have to drain his pericardial sac and relieve the pressure, or—or..." Cristina said before hesitating.

"Or what?"

She looked at Ellie who was holding her gaze. "Or his heart will stop."

"With what?" Derek asked, laying a hand on Ellie's shoulder before she knelt next to her brother. "We don't have an 18-gauge spinal needle."

Cristina shrugged. "I don't know."

Derek walked over to the supplies once more and began sifting through it. "Okay, I got it," he said, holding a bottle in his hand. "Okay. Hold this." He handed it to Cristina. "Take the top off."

"Why?"

"Use that right there," he replied, nodding to the straw on the cap and her eyes widened. "Use the tube."

"Brilliant. Brilliant. Okay, this will work." Cristina held out the tube to Meredith who sanitized it with hand sanitizer before looking down at her arm which was in a makeshift sling. "I only have one arm, I can't do it." She looked up. "Ellie..."

She shook her head. "No... No, I—He's my brother. I—I can't."

"You have to," she replied. "Mer's hands are shaking too much and Derek can't do it. It has to be you."

Ellie bit the inside of her cheeks before nodding and kneeling beside her brother. She let her hand glide across his face.

"Okay," she whispered. "Okay. Knife." She took the knife from Derek and Cristina sprayed it to sanitize it. As she began to cut, Mark groaned and tears filled her eyes at the sound though she quickly blinked them away. "Okay. Needle."

"Here," Cristina said, handing her the tool. "Here you go. Alright, Mark. Try not to move."

Derek held him down firmly with Meredith. "Easy, Mark. It's okay. Don't move. It's gonna be okay."

"Aim for his left shoulder, Ellie," Cristina told her.

"Wait." Ellie looked at Derek. "Don't puncture his heart."

She stared back at him. "Thank you for the kind reminder that I could puncture my big brother's heart while holding a knife."

"Sorry."

Ellie looked back down and pushed the tube through his chest. "Deeper!" She followed Cristina's direction and Mark groaned out in pain. "Good. Excellent. That's it. Great."

Derek nodded. "Very good. It's gonna be okay."

"Just let it drain into here," Cristina said, holding a bag to the end of the tube.

"Oh, you did it," Derek told Ellie, kissing her hair as she leaned into him. She looked back at Mark. "You got it."

☀️

ONCE THEY HAD returned to Arizona and the wrecked plane, she sat down beside her and laid Mark down in front of her. She gently placed his head in her lap and began stroking his hair in an effort to keep herself calm.

"Hey, they don't know where we are," Jerry, the pilot, told them after a helicopter passed over them without noticing them. "They don't know where we are. It's because the transmitter's probably been damaged in the crash. If the transmitter's damaged..."

"We could be here for days," Derek finished.

"Yeah."

Mark gasped out and Ellie looked down at him. "Mark?"

"I shoulda said it earlier..." he whispered and looked at her. "That I loved her. I shoulda said it earlier."

"She knew," she replied quietly. "All girls know."

"She didn't know. She didn't know."

Ellie pressed her lips together. "You listen to me, Mark Sloan, you're coming back with us. And you're going to see your daughter again and you're going to watch her grow up. If not for yourself, then do it for Sofia. Do it for me. For us. Please."

"Lexie's waiting for me," he told her. "I'll be okay."

She shook her head. "But I won't be okay, Mark. Sofia and Callie, they're waiting for you to come home. Okay? You—You're going to give me away at my wedding and be Uncle Mark to my kids. You're gonna watch Sofia grow up. Okay?"

"Okay."

She nodded. "Okay..."

☀️

"YOU PAGED?" JACKSON asked, knocking on the door to the conference room. Owen looked up from his phone. "Any news?"

He let out a breath. "I got a message from Boise Memorial a few hours ago," he replied. "I didn't check my messages until now."

"And?"

Owen met his gaze. "They never made it to Boise," he said and Jackson paused, looking back at him.

"Well, if they didn't make it to Boise... Where the hell are they?" Owen stayed silent and Jackson raised his eyebrows. "Hunt?"

"I don't know."

☀️

━ author's note:

I'm sorry...