You Promised | Mark Sloan ✓

AU│without him

If only she knew that would be the last time she saw him safe and healthy, staring at her with those lusty blue eyes she lost herself in-perhaps she would have stayed for just a moment longer.

❦ ❦ ❦

S8 EP24

"COULD SOMEONE PLEASE mercy kill me, so I don't have to go to this thing?" April ranted as she entered the residents' locker room, carrying sets of dry-cleaning in her hand.

"You do me, I'll do you," Alex offered grimly.

"Better leave me a bullet. Hell if I'm going alone," Jackson added. None of them was particularly looking forward to the residents' dinner Webber had planned for them.

"Yang and Grey skipped town at the perfect time."

"Oh, no, they will be back in time for the dinner," April stated, "Because I had to pick up their stupid dry cleaning and dig through their stupid closets for their stupid heels, all the while babysitting Mer's stupid kid." She sighed before shaking her head, "She's not stupid... She's actually adorable."

Norah was sitting on the bench in the middle of the room, tapping her foot against the floor. She had her phone in her hand, and she was staring at the last few messages she had sent-all were still unread.

"Still no answer?" Jackson asked.

"Nope. Not Mark, not Tim, either," she sighed before putting her phone back into her pocket. "I'm overthinking it, right? I mean, we're all medical personnel. There could be a ton of ways that the conjoined twins had a medical emergency, yeah?"

"They could've had to go straight into surgery right when they landed," Alex offered as he put his arms through his white coat. "Conjoined twins could have many issues."

"And the surgery got prolonged because something went wrong with the twins," Jackson added convincingly, "Until-" His words got cut off as he quickly brought the bin under her face, just in time as she retched out her breakfast.

"Are you okay?" he questioned, rubbing her back. "You're seriously over-worrying, Norah."

Alex, however, had a different idea. "You and Sloan are really getting to it, huh?" he snorted. "Your son's six months old, and you're already trying for another child?"

His initial slyness of making a joke out to balance their crappy morning, instead, made her face drain in colour. April quirked a brow at the brunette, who froze at her spot as the three other residents stared at Alex.

"Oh my fucks." She headed to the sink to rinse her mouth, her head filled with every possible thought. Could she...?

She did not utter another word as she sped out of the locker room, leaving three wordless residents to ponder upon her wellbeing.

The chills never went away, though.

❦

MARK STAGGERED ON HIS steps with a hand on his chest. He was panting while trying to search for the others from the plane.

The only thought in his mind was how Norah would be feeling when she never received a text from him.

How long has it been? He did not know.

He lifted his hand in front of his face when he saw a glaring light-a reflection from something... metal. Squinting hardly, he made out the faint figure of one part of the crashed aeroplane. A wave of relief surged through him when he saw the light blue scrubs slowly growing bigger at his every heavy step.