One {Mark Sloan}

Without You

"I ... I've grown. I have, and, uh, I can be happy for the happy couple, right?"

Sitting in the Gantry, Renee was watching the surgery which Erica and Addison were supposed to be doing together but it seemed that Addison wasn't going to make it, Erica had to do everything alone. Christina over the few days was trying her best to impress Erica but it all went in vain as Erica refused to even listen to Christina or even have her on her service. Erica had successfully operated on the heart and placed it inside the body cavity and Mark's skin flap had beautifully covered the heart. Renee shook her head when Mark commented how he had made the skin flap like a god and how good it was, Mark had always had a knack for making or proving that he was god just because he was a plastics surgeon.

"Did you see how I made that amazing skin flap?" Mark asked happily after he got scrubbed out and found Renee grabbing a cup of coffee.

"Like a god," Renee mocked Mark who seemed to be oblivious to her mocking.

"Like a god," Mark said as they reach the elevator. Silence loomed over them as they waited for the elevator, he could see Mark waiting for her to say something but she instead chose to concentrate on her phone.

"How're you holding up?" Mark asked.

"You don't need to do that. I am fine. The breakup didn't hurt as much as I thought it would,"

"Perhaps you didn't care enough for the relationship," Mark shrugged as the elevator arrived.

"Perhaps," the door opened to Meredith, Rose, Addison and Derek all inside the elevator, Mark and Renee turned to each other barely able to contain the smile.

"I bet you wish you'd taken the stairs right about now."

"Addison thinks I'm gay,"

Callie stared at Renee waiting for an explanation, Renee who was reading the newspaper slowly folded it up and moved it aside waiting for an explanation, she knew that a rant was going to follow up. Addison, however much of a bitch she was, was always right about these things, she always had a sixth sense related to love and all the other crap which came with it.

"She thinks I like Erica. She thinks.....I....like Erica," Callie fretted as she walked to and fro in front of her.

"I am interested in men, I am interested in men. I can't be attracted to woman, it isn't right, it's wrong, so wrong,"

"It's not wrong, who told you that?"

"Everyone in my family says that they don't except the word gay. They even refuse to accept the word gay,"

"I think they are wrong, there's nothing wrong-"

"You are right but they are my parents, I just can't break any contact with them. What would you do if your parents didn't accept you?" Callie said not realising what she had said.

"Well, I would like to think they'd accept me," Renee smiled when her pager went off. Callie mentally kicked herself when Mark entered the Cafeteria and noticed her distress, he didn't know if he wanted to take on more problems than he wanted. The nurses had officially protested against him and have complained to the HR and now they have officially boycotted his surgeries.

"What's with you?" he asked as he sat down in Renee's previous spot.

"I asked Ren how would her parents feel if she was gay?"

"What?! She's not...gay, I think,"

"I know she's not. That's not the part, it's the part about her parents,"

"Renee's parents, that's something which she rarely talks about, even with me or Derek,"

"So it's a touchy topic?" Callie as she closed her eyes and cursed herself.

"Don't fret. I'll talk to her, I don't have anything to do, the nurses have boycotted my surgeries,"

Mark found Renee sitting on one of the waiting chairs completing her charts, she didn't look up when he sat down beside or perhaps she was ignoring him, it wouldn't matter, he found peace when he was with Renee, there was no reason for that. Even before they were dating, he would go to the library with her and they would work for hours and he wouldn't feel tired, Renee had that calming energy.

"The nurses boycotted my surgeries," he said. There was a slight break in her writing which didn't go unnoticed by Mark.

"Well, you did sleep with all of them,"

"They are acting as if I pressured  them or whatever we did was not consensual," Mark said, Renee put her charts away as he turned to look at him, he was looking at his hands which were folded in his lap.

"Look at me," Renee said as he refused to look at her. Renee crouched in front of him as she took his hands into hers and held them tightly, still he refused to look at her.

"Look at me, please," he obliged.

"You didn't pressure anybody, do you hear me? If the nurses want to act that they weren't attracted to you or won't accept the fact that they agreed to have sex with you, then it's on them. Not on you," Renee said softly but fiercely as she moved a piece of hair from his forehead.

"What if the protest continues? I can't do surgeries without the nurses,"

"Give it time, take a break,"

"Callie told me what happened in the cafeteria," Mark said after some time.

"About the parent's thing? It's nothing, there's no need to feel bad, I don't have parents, yes that made me go through many bad things but those things made me stronger and who I am," Renee smiled at him as she got up and picked up her charts. She patted him and started to walk away.

"Ren...." he called after her.

"Yeah,"

"I don't know what I would do without you,"

AN: So I changed some of the words because I think it's a sensitive issue. I hope it didn't offend anyone. If it did I am greatly and truly sorry.