𝐁𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐄 ━ derek shepherd

005. ━ mark sloan

season three // episode four
[ mark sloan ]

𝐀𝐁𝐁𝐘 𝐅𝐈𝐍𝐈𝐒𝐇𝐄𝐃 𝐏𝐔𝐋𝐋𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐁𝐀𝐂𝐊 𝐓𝐇𝐄 long locks of her sister's hair, setting them into two french braids. "Now..." She held out hair ties to her sister. "What color do you want today, snowball?"

"Purple," Anabel replied and Abby obliged, tying off the ends of the braids with purple hair ties. When she finished, she squeezed her sister's shoulder and kissed the top of her head.

"I have to go to work," she said softly. "But I'll be back tomorrow, okay? I love you."

"I love you, too."

Abby turned in the doorway of the room and watched as her sister turned the TV on. She brought up her favorite, the same movie since she was ten, and immediately quoted along with it. As she closed the door, she glanced at the photos that lined the dresser. One in particular caught her eye.

When Aiden was nine years old, Abby had managed to sneak in a picture of him, one of the few photographs where he was without his twin sister.

With a sigh, and one more glance at the photo, she closed the door behind her and started toward the exit when Shiela stopped her. "Oh, Abby, I'm so glad I caught you?"

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head. "Not at all," she replied. "But Anabel has been asking for Adam recently." Abby felt her heart drop to her stomach. "Usually she only asks for you and Aiden, but yesterday she started talking about the older brother that she never sees anymore. Can I ask why he hasn't been by to visit her?"

Abby let out a breath. "How much do you know about Anabel's injury?"

"However much you wanted us to know," Shiela answered. "Whatever is in her file."

Abby nodded and cleared her throat. "When, um... on Aiden and Anabel's tenth birthday, they were in a severe car crash. Aiden... he died on impact from the angle at which the car hit the lamppost; he wasn't wearing a seatbelt which is a whole other thing. But Anabel... she hit her head on some of the stray debris from the crash. At the hospital afterward, her doctors told me that her brain function was still there, but it's been deteriorating since that day. So, essentially, she gets older but her brain remains ten — the day of the crash, specifically. But sometimes she remembers what I've told her. And as for why Adam hasn't visited her, it's all a part of the agreement of his plea deal. How he was able to be released early."

"Plea deal?" she repeated. "Released early?"

Abby's pager went off and she looked down at it. "I'm sorry, I have to go," she said, looking back at the receptionist. "But the bottom line is, Adam is not allowed to see Anabel. If he does, he will be arrested."

"And if Adam were to show up?" Shiela asked and Abby glanced back at her. "What do we do?"

"You call the police and then me," she said. "In that order."