𝙎𝙋𝘼𝙍𝙆𝙎; 𝙢𝙖𝙧𝙠 𝙨𝙡𝙤𝙖𝙣

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"I should talk to him?" Mark exclaimed and walked away.

"Well, I will also try to talk to him." Natalie called out, but Mark had already left annoyed.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

Mark had enough that day of hearing about Derek all the time. He also had enough of not operating because of him, so she asked Natalie to give him a shot so he go through the day. "You realise, that as a doctor, I'm not recommending this, right?" Natalie told him. "Also as your girlfriend, that sounds like we're 15." She cringed a bit, so she tried again. "Also as Natalie, I am not recommending this." She warned him.

"I need to get through my surgeries today." Mark explained. 

"Oh, you're gonna get through them, you're just gonna be in a world of hurt later." She informed him, like he didn't already now. The only reason Callie wasn't giving him the shot was because he wouldn't hear the end of it. But Natalie was more patient with him now. So he was taking advantage of it while it lasted. 

Natalie injected the shot in his hand, Mark asked her about Derek's replacement. "You heard of a Dr. Nelson in neuro?"

Natalie paused for a second to think. And then she remembered him. "Oh, yeah. Shadow Shepherd. That's not very nice. I don't like calling him that."

"Shadow Shepherd?" Mark repeated. 

"Yeah." Natalie confirmed. "He's actually a solid surgeon, but sort of the J.V. player to Derek's varsity, the, uh, b-team, to Derek's a, the bricklayer to Derek's architect."

"I get it." Mark cut her off annoyed. "Just 'cause the guy doesn't publish fancy clinical trials or take on flashy surgery or have creepy, perfect hair, he's less of a man?" Mark grumbled. 

"Your hair's perfect." Natalie smiled at him. 

"I wasn't talking about myself."

"Okay. But your hair is perfect, I really like running my fingers through it." She did exactly as she said. Mark softly smiled as she caressed his hair. "And you are a great surgeon. And you don't have to prove it, okay? So take it easy today, please." 

"Okay." Mark mumbled, just because he was too hypnotised by her eyes and the way she was looking at him and the way he felt as her fingers were still dancing in his hair. 

"Okay." She repeated with a smile and gave him a short but sweet kiss. And after a very long time, she showed someone her soft side. And she loved every moment of it.

☾ ⋆*･ﾟ:⋆*･ﾟ:⠀ *⋆.*:･ﾟ .: ⋆*･ﾟ: .⋆

When Natalie found out that Derek was in the hospital, for a meeting with the lawyers about the case, she didn't waste a moment to find him. She didn't ignore the fact that she was mad at him. She had been mad at him since the moment she found out that he asked Mark to stay away from her. And she didn't do well with people that tried to interfere in her life that much. And then she was mad at him for picking up a fight with Mark. But she was also really worried, because despite all that he was still her friend. 

So she went to check up on him. She found him sitting alone in the conference room. He was dressed up with a suit. But the professional look, didn't really disguise how he was feeling.  "How'd it go with the lawyers?" She asked him. She stayed on the doorway, keeping some distance between the two of them.