Breathe

7: If I just lay here.

The interns were put on probation. Nobly, but also quite stupidly, no-one came forward about the LVAD wire incident, which apparently nearly killed him.

As well as this, the chief's niece had been found out to have cancer. Or, more precisely, her cancer had returned, so in order to not miss her prom, they were made to turn the hospital into a prom venue. It was chaotic, but it was a sweet act of humanity towards the girl.
"I was voted queen at my prom." I said, eating with the interns.
"Really?! That's so cool!" Izzie smiled. Meredith mumbled in agreement, and George smiled at me.
"If you need help, I can help. I'm cooped up all day inside my room, so anything you need, please tell me." I smiled, and they thanked me for the offer. I helped decorate around the place, putting banners and bunting here and there. I realised that I didn't have a dress, but Meredith said that I could borrow one of hers. It was a beautiful nude-pink one, unlike the blue one I had worn to my real prom. It was a little big on me, so Meredith gave me a safety pin, but it still looked nice.

I went back to Meredith's house with her, and she did my makeup for me. Izzie did our hair, with mine into a beautiful bun, and Meredith's hair in gentle waves. She had this beautiful black dress on, and we went together whilst Izzie had George come over to help her choose a dress. I walked into the transformed hospital, looking in awe as the place I had called home for a month had become a prom palace. Derek was staring at us from across the room, but for some reason, I knew that that had something to do with how Meredith was looking, and not me. Derek was such an idiot, I'd heard all the stories. I didn't get how he could have been so stupid. Alex was drooling over Meredith, as most other guys were, including Mark. All the girls stared at us- well, not us, but Meredith- with envy in their eyes, and I grabbed Meredith's hand and took her to the punch.

"You and Derek have something great. Granted, you aren't soulmates, but you have something amazing and you can't just waste it. I know he chose Addison over you and that must have hurt like a bitch, but go get him. He's the love of your life." I hissed, as Finn approached us. She smiled at me and went to greet him.
"Finn, I don't believe you've met my sister Lexie." She said, introducing us. I smiled and shook his hand. I went to go find someone to dance with, but I wound up alone. Whitney Houston's classic, I wanna dance with somebody, came on and I was sat at a table on my own. Mark towered over me, looking handsome in his suit. I never doubted he would.

"Hey, Mark." I smiled, getting up to talk to him. He wore his usual smirk.
"Little Grey." He held his hand out and I took it. "You look great. I'm pretty sure I saw some guys drooling over you. Karev included." He whispered, taking my right hand and putting his right hand on my waist. I laughed and my eyes searched the room for Alex, who was still looking at me.
"I'm sure they were looking at Meredith more than me, but thanks for the compliment." I said, giggling as he twirled me around.
"That may be true, but I wasn't looking at her." He whispered, dipping me slowly. I bit my lip and felt a blush travelling through my cheeks. "I'm not trying to hit on you, or anything, because we're friends, but you really do look great." He said, earnestly. I blushed and stuttered out a 'thank you'.

We danced a little while longer, keeping a friendly distance, as some of the couples started to get closer and closer. We danced through Beyoncé and Jamelia, and other various R&B artists. Kanye West came on and I rapped along to all the lyrics on the stage with Alex, George, Izzie and Cristina. Meredith was leaving the room, and I saw Derek chase after her. I was half tempted to go and see what was going on, but I let it be. Addison went to dance with Mark, and they both looked at me whilst talking to each other. I stumbled on my lyrics and Alex asked me if I was okay. I nodded and hiccuped, the alcohol I had just downed going straight to my head. Breathe (2AM) came on, and I sang along, alone on stage. At the end, everyone cheered and gave me a round of applause. I bowed and stumbled off stage, being caught by 2 strong arms. I smiled ruefully and looked up, expecting to be thanking Alex. It was Mark.

"Thanks, Mark!" I cried out, throwing my arms around his neck and kissing him. He looked at me shocked, and I laughed. "You're in love with Addison, Mark. It didn't mean anything, don't worry. See?" I said, taking the next guy by the neck and kissing him. It was George, poor thing. Alex came up to me and started to dance with me as Yeah!, by Usher, came on. We both rapped to it and I sang along and I didn't really know what we were doing, but I didn't care (mostly because I was drunk). A few slower Coldplay, Snow Patrol, U2 and The Police songs came on, and we carried on dancing together, until George ran up to Alex and told him there was an emergency. We exchanged an alarmed glance, as he grabbed my wrist and we ran out, following George to a place I knew all too well. It was Denny's room.

When we walked in, I could tell from the atmosphere, that something wasn't right. In fact, something was very, very wrong. Cristina was staring at Izzie, in her pink dress, with her arms wrapped around Denny, who was pale and wasn't breathing. I gasped, and threw my hand over my mouth as I ran outside to throw up. I had a full on panic attack, thinking about my best friend who was now dead. And that wasn't a thought I didn't want to be having. With every breath in, every blink of my eyes, I saw Denny. He was there, lying in bed and laughing with me. Or at me. I said some pretty stupid stuff sometimes.

He was there holding my hand as I cried, and he was there, subtly challenging me to eat some fatty foods. And I had gained weight thanks to him- heck, I had nearly gained a kilo. And now? Now he was lying dead in Izzie's arms. I ran to the nearest ladies' room and tried to clear myself up a little, but I couldn't stop crying and my hands were trembling and my vision was all blurry from the tears that were still falling. At least I managed to clear up the snot a little and I thanked God that I was wearing waterproof mascara, although I realised that it would have probably smudged anyway, seeing as I was crying so much.

When I ran outside, I bumped into someone, although I couldn't really be bothered to deal with whoever it was, so I ran off. When they asked me if I was okay, I nodded, recognising the voice. "Lexie, you're really bad at hiding your emotions. Not to mention, you're crying." He said, soothing me with the world famous McDreamy voice. My face crumpled as I started sobbing, throwing myself into his arms. He rubbed my back and somehow managed to calm me down, walking me over to the bridge that passed above everyone. I looked down at the room, all the people laughing and dancing, and it made me think of Denny. Naturally, I started crying again and tried to run off before Derek could see me, but I tripped and fell onto my hands and knees. I panted and heaved and lay on the floor sobbing uncontrollably. It was awful, and my heart felt like it had been torn slightly in the middle. Only a little, though.