A Beautiful Day To Save Lives - Jackson Avery

Chapter Three

Ophelia flew around the corner, blue converse screeching on the floor. She flung herself around the glass door and collapsed into a chair next to his bed. "Mark, Mark, common, wake up," she muttered, grasping his hand, clutching onto it tightly. She never should have gone to the fucking bar. She should have stayed here. She should have been with him. "Wake up!" she said again, squeezing his hand tightly. Jackson stood behind her, placing his hands gently on her shaking shoulders. The glass doors slid open, and in walked Richard Weber, raising an eyebrow towards Avery. Flustered, Jackson stepped away from the Sloan girl.

"Ophelia," Weber said gently, standing beside her. "Mark has fallen back into a coma state. Before this happened, he finished signing...his paperwork..." He said slowly, handing her a clipboard as he did so.

Ophelia took the clipboard and slowly looked over it, her fingers tracing over her brother's inked signatures on several different lines which stated his medical wishes. Her eyes stopped on the one which read that after 30 days, if there was no sign of improvement, that he be taken off life support. A lump formed in her throat. "It doesn't matter," she choked out. "We won't have to wait 30 days. He will be fine again, I know it. We're family, I can tell."

"I'm sure he will, Ophelia, I'm sure he will," Richard said, looking over at Jackson and giving a small shake of his head. It really did not look good, not even slightly. But, all they could do now was wait.

Ophelia spent every day and night by his bed. Meredith came by and sat with her. She didn't talk. She didn't try and make her talk. She just sat, brought her food, made her eat, and would leave. Jackson stayed his distance, and clearly felt awkward after the bar and everything which had happened. Ophelia didn't much want to talk to him anyways. If he had never agreed to take her to that bar...if they hadn't had those shots..maybe she would have been here.

And the days passed. With every day, Ophelia lost more and more hope that Mark would wake up. On the 28th day, Weber took her aside. "You're not going to like what I'm about to say, but I'm going to say it." He began, and Ophelia was already furrowing her brow. "Even if Mark does wake up tomorrow, we're going to have a position open here at Seattle Grace, even if only temporarily. I would like to offer it to you, if you'll take it. Jackson will be in charge, but you two would work as a team. I've seen your work, Mark has raved about you. Even if your hands could only do half of what he did, you would be a gift to this hospital."

Ophelia was surprised, and the shock must have played on her pale face. Out of habit, she instantly reached up to wrap a strand of her deep brown hair around her index finger, a nervous tick she had always had.

"You don't have to decide right away," Richard continued. "Give it the next few days, we will see what happens, and you can let me know your final decision."

Ophelia nodded. "Thank you," she managed to get out, "For the opportunity. I will let you know within the next few days." Could she really take her brother's position? Would he want her to? Would he be upset if he woke up and she was working by Avery, where he usually stood? "I need to..I need to get back to Mark now."

When she sat back beside him, the room was empty. Looking around, she sat beside Mark and took his hand once more. It was warm, soft, like it always had been. "Mark, are you listening?" She asked softly. Since he had gone into the coma, she hadn't actually spoken to him. She couldn't bring herself to do so. But now, she couldn't stop herself. "I hope you are. Feels like you are, feels like we're talking over the phone like we do every Wednesday night," she smirked, kissing the back of his hand.

"Richard offered me a job...your job. Here, in Seattle. I think, when you come back, he'll let me stay, too." She said, brushing back his soft grey hair. "Just think. The plastics posse. Now a three man team. All here at Seattle Grace. Would you like that?" She smiled down at her elder brother. "Think of how much trouble it would be having two Sloan's right here in this hospital? God it'd be an uproar. But we would have so much fun." She felt the tears brimming at her eyes and she reached up, wiping them away before they could fall. "I might take it Mark, I really might. But I want it to be okay with you. I need to hear you say it, so please wake up.Wake up and tell me we're still the posse." She wiped vigorously at the tears, flicking them off her cheeks.

Suddenly, she heard shuffling and looked up at the door, where Jackson stood, leaning against the frame, just watching her. Her cheeks flamed red. "What are you doing here?" She asked, almost angrily, embarrassed.

"Nothing, nothing, I just came to check up on Mark, I didn't," he trailed off, pressing his lips together. "I didn't want to interrupt your moment. You haven't..." he paused again, stepping into the room and moving to the chair beside him. "I haven't seen you talk to him since he went into the coma. I didn't want you to stop on my account. It's good, for you, and for him." He looked down at his hands, his cheeks just the slightest hint of pink. Or was she just imagining that?

"Well, we're all done talking now. I've said everything I've needed to say," she said stubbornly, crossing her arms over her chest. She was not about to let Jackson hear all her personal stories she wanted to share with her brother. And it was none of his business knowing she was about to get a job there. Maybe. Unless she said no. She could always run home till NYC if things went badly. Her hand reflexively went to her hair to curl a strand around her finger.

"There's only two days left..." Jackson said quietly, looking at Mark. His friend, his mentor. This was the fucking worst. He glanced over at Lia. There was a lot of Mark in her, from what she'd seen of her sparky attitude, to her eyes.

"Don't you think I know that?" Ophelia said with a frown, glowering over at Jackson. "It's fine. He's got two days to wake back up. Which he will. I can feel it."

"I believe you," Jackson said with a smile, but she could tell he was lying.

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Two days later at 5pm, she found herself with her head buried in the blankets of his bed, sobbing, as his life support was removed. Callie was there. Derek was there. And they all waited. It felt like Lia's entire heart was being ripped right out of her chest. A part of her was going missing with him slowly leaving them. It was the worst agony she had ever felt. And when his monitor finally gave a slow beep, signaling his heart had stopped pumping, Ophelia tore out of the room, sprinting past Jackson, past Mer, past everyone, until she was out of the building, and she just kept running. She ran and ran until she reached his apartment building and until she was in his room and until she buried her face in his blankets and surrounded herself with the smell of her brother. Nothing was going to be okay again.