Helena was still to deep in her thought, Meredith's friends waiting outside of her room. They still hadn't gotten any updates, after Derek and Helena had brought the hypothermic girl to the hospital. Suddenly, Addison came through the doors behind her. "It's not good."
"Is she still cyanotic? What's her initial temp? What is taking so long?" Cristina bombarded the woman with questions.
"Dr. Yang! It's not good. They're doing everything they can." The redhead muttered, looking over to her friend, still glued against the wall, who seemed zoned out. "You should maybe, huh... prepare yourselves." At that, she left, Alex walking behind her.
Helena pressed her back against the wall even tighter. She'd always retreated into herself, into her mind, when she felt that her surroundings were too overwhelming. Today, she was practically hoping to merge with the walls, hoping to disappear, as she alienated herself from the situation around her.
"Prepare ourselves? That's what we tell families before we call time of death..." Cristina scoffed.
"She's gonna be ok." Izzie told them.
"Sometimes, you're wrong." George whispered.
"Uh, no. I'm... I'm not doing this." The Asian woman turned to leave.
"She's not coming back. Cristina's not coming back, not until they say she's ok or... or they..." Helena spoke up for the first time since her friend had arrived, her voice rasp and broken. Her throat turned into a knot towards the end of her sentence, the girl physically unable to continue.
"She's gonna survive this. She's gonna survive this, she's gonna survive this, she's gonna survive this..." Izzie muttered to herself, under her breath, like a prayer.
——
As Callie and Bailey came through the door, Helena was yet to move, her mind somewhere but the present.
"Callie, I'm putting you in charge of my interns. Just put them to work, anywhere but here." George and Izzie began complaining, as their resident stopped them. "You're concerned, I understand, but there was been a disaster and there is work to be done." The woman's eyes fell on Helena, still to move or speak. "Lena?"
"She hasn't... she's not speaking. Or moving, really, for the matter.." Izzie told the resident.
"Ok, hum, except for Campos then. She's in no condition to work." Bailey told Callie, turning to leave.
"Alright, they need bodies down in the clinic. Go down there." Callie told the interns, who left. Suddenly, Helena felt a hand on her shoulder, jumping slightly. "Lena?" She asked, her voice now soft. "Are you ok?" At that the Helena's eyes filled with tears once more, the girl looking down at the floor and shaking her head. "Do you want me to get anyone, so you don't have to be alone?"
"Mark, please." Her voice was rasp and broken.
"Ok. Ok, then, I'll get you Mark."
——
As Callie and Helena approached the plastics attending at a nurses station, the man having just gotten back from talking to Derek, he looked up.
"Oh, hi, Lee!" He greeted. However, once he noticed the expression on the girl's face, his expression turned into one of worry. "Callie?"
"She's not speaking and Bailey didn't want her working in this state. She's been zoning out a lot too. I asked her if she wanted someone's company and she asked for you." The older woman explained.
At the sight before him, Mark's heart broke. Helena looked like an empty shell, almost in a transe like state, the bags under her eyes dark. "Ok. Ok, come here, Lee." He whispered to her, guiding her to a nearby chair. "I've got her, don't worry." He turned to Callie.
Mark's presence made Helena feel safe and, in this time of uncertainty, that's all she needed. As he sat down next to her, his stance was protective, though he almost seemed afraid to touch her.
At the sight, Callie furrowed her brows. Helena had told her before about her attraction to Mark and, for what she could see, the felling might be mutual.
——
Later, Helena still sat on the same chair, still quiet. As Mark's surgery had finished, he brought her a cereal bar and a bottle of water, which she took, still quiet. The attending sat next to her, wrapped in the silence of that floor and staring at the girl, his eyes soft. He and Helena had become friend's and, from what he could tell, the intern was generally happy. However, in that moment, he realized that, with how broken she seemed, she must have gone through her fair share of past trauma.
After taking just a sip of the beverage, not a single bite from the food, the intern spoke up, her voice rasp from the previous silence. "She was... she was so cold. Meredith was so cold and pale... she must have been underwater for a while. When... when Derek pulled her out, she looked like a corpse. I though... I though she was already gone. She was so cold." A couple tears ran down her face for the first time since she had sat down, Mark looking at her with compassion. "I remember my father's funeral, I reached for his hand as I cried over his casket. She... she was just as cold."
At that, Mark pulled her head gently to rest on his shoulder, feeling the fresh her hair. He dwelled in the smell, the mixture of a tea and mint bringing him peace. They sat like that for a second, before the intern spoke up again. "Thank you, Mark."
"It's ok, sweetheart. I've got you. I've got you..." The man reassured her, the two sitting in silence for what felt like an eternity.
Suddenly, the brunette's pager went off, and she halfheartedly took a look at it. Her face brightened, life coming back to her eyes, as she processed the information. "It's... Mark, it's Meredith!" She took her head of off his shoulder. "It's Meredith, she woke up!" The girl got up in a jump, turning to run down the hallway. "She's ok." Just as she was about the turn the corner, she ran back to the man, giving him a tight hug. Mark was taken aback at the sudden move, letting out a laugh as he returned the hug. "Thank you, Mark. Thank you." She let him go and ran down the hallway again.
Mark Sloan wasn't one to catch feelings, wasn't one to get butterflies over something as innocent as a hug. But as the girl's arms wrapped around his neck, all he could think about was how he wished the display of affection lasted for ever.
——
As Helena reached the room, she found Cristina already with Meredith, crying as she held her face.
"Meredith! Oh god, you're ok. You're ok." Helena held her friend's hand as she cried.
"I'm getting married to Burke!" Cristina let out, the small intern looking up. "Not that that should be anywhere in your list of thoughts right now but just in case you... slip in the hall later or... you two are the only ones I wanted to tell." Meredith cried too, looking down at her friends.
"Thank you for not dying, Mer. But, for the record, if you scare me like that again I will be the one who kills you." Helena sighed, whipping her tears away.
"I won't. I won't do it again, I promise." The blond held her friend's hand tighter.
"Oh, and you are getting married!" The brunette shot up, hugging her engaged friend. "Oh, we're ok. We're all ok..." Helena began crying once more. "We're ok."
"Then why are you crying, Baby Einstein?" Cristina nudged her playfully.
"I just... I'm just relieved. And... I don't know, just... stop being mean! You know you freaked out too." Helena teased her back.
"Wait, Cristina freaked out?" Meredith asked, amused.
"Yeah, she went to the dollar store and bought everything she could find, then she went to Joe's and got drunk." The short intern giggled.
"Wait, wait, wait. You didn't speak the whole day,, Baby Einstein, you didn't get to laugh at me."
The three friends sat and talked for the whole night, about everything and nothing, reveling in the moment I'm which everything seemed to be ok.
——
After Meredith was admitted for the night, Derek visited her, as Addison and Mark watched from outside the room.
"I saw you and Helena earlier." Addison told the man. "You can't sleep with her. You know that, don't you?"
The man looked down at his shoes, somewhat hurt. "I know, I know I can't." He told the truth. He didn't want to just sleep with Helena, he wanted a relationship.
"But I've also seen how you look at her." She smiled up at him. "I've never seen you look at anyone like that, not even me. Just... be careful, ok, Mark? Lena's a sweet girl, a smart, innocent girl. I mean, I've yet to meet someone who doesn't like her. Believe me, you don't wanna be the guy who broke Helena Campos' heart so just... be careful."
——
Word count: 1505
AN:
I know this chapter was kind of short, but I genuinely loved the Helena and Mark's moments. My little heart just melted at how she looked to him comfort.