Season 2, Episode 18: Yesterday
Overall Episode Number: 27
Created by: Shonda Rhimes
/ / /
After careful consideration and many sleepless nights, here's what I've decided. There's no such thing as a grown up. We move on, we move out, we move away from our families and form our own. But the basic insecurities, the basic fears and all those old wounds just grow up with us. And just when we think that life and circumstance have forced us to truly, once and for all become an adult... your mother says something like that. Or worse. Something like that. We get bigger, we get taller, we get older. But for the most part, we're still a bunch of kids. Running around the playground trying desperately to fit in.
- Mackenzie Shepherd-Sloan
/ / /
Meredith is typing at a computer standing up at a nurses' station. A very very hot young man wearing a leather jacket comes up to her and peers over her shoulder.
His name?
Mark Sloan.
"Invasive non-cell. With a history of COPD," Mark observes. He shrugs. "That guy's pretty much a goner, huh?"
Meredith smiles. "Sensitivity. I like that in a stranger. Are you new here?"
"Visiting. Confounded by all the rain and it's only my first day in town," Mark answers.
"You get used to it." Meredith moves away from the computer and walks a few feet away.
Mark follows her. "Makes me wanna stay in bed all day."
Meredith smiles. "We just met and already you're talking about bed. Not very subtle."
Derek stands up, noticing Mark through the window of the adjacent office behind the nurses' station. Addison comes up the hallway and looks shocked.
Mark chuckles. "Subtle has never been my strong suit. So... do you ever go out with co-workers?"
Meredith smiles, "I um...make it a rule not to."
"Then I am so glad that I don't work here," Mark flirts.
"Are you hitting on me? In a hospital?" Merediths asks.
"Would that be wrong?"
"Meredith," Meredith introduces.
George is also looking through the window, annoyed.
Mark and Meredith shake hands. All of a sudden, Derek punches Mark really hard across the face. Mark falls to the ground.
Derek shakes his hand after punching Mark. "Aah!"
Meredith looks at Derek, stunned. "What the hell was that?!"
"That was Mark."
/ / /
In a conference room, where Derek is now sitting down. Addison puts an ice pack on it and Derek removes it. Richard is pacing around angrily. Addison sits a few chairs away from Derek.
"Punching out people on my surgical floor! My Head of Neurosurgery punching out people on my surgical floor!" Richard says angrily.
"Put the ice back on your hand," Addison tells Derek.
Derek growls. "My hand is fine!"
Richard looks at Derek, obviously angry. "Put the damn ice on your 2 million dollar a year hand!" Derek places the ice pack back on his hand. "Now, would someone tell me what the hell happened?"
Derek gives Addison a look. Addison sighs. "That was Mark."
"Who's Mark?" Richard asks, now calmer than he was a second ago.
Addison sighs. "He and Derek used to work together back in New York. Mark is Mackenzie's dad... and umm... they ah... We were all close friends. Until, Derek found us in bed together."
Richard is silent for a moment. He looks to Derek. "You put your weight behind it?"
Derek nods. "Yes sir."
Richard nods. "Well, alright then." He leaves.
Addison places her head in her hands.
"What the hell is he doing here?" Derek asks practically no one.
Addison sighs. "I have no idea."
Derek stood up in realization. "He's here to see Mackenzie."
/ / /
In a trauma room, where Meredith is cleaning up the large cut on Mark's face.
"Derek and I always did have the same taste in women."
"Excuse me?" Meredith questions.
Mark looks at Meredith knowingly. "You're Derek's lusty intern, right? Heard about you all the way back in New York. You're famous."
"Hmm, well I heard about you all the way here in Seattle, so I guess we have a lot in common."
Mark chuckles. "We're the dirty mistresses."
Meredith nods. "I suppose we are."
"My 400 dollar an hour shrink says that because behind this rugged and confident exterior, I'm self destructive and self loathing to an almost pathological degree."
Meredith smirks. "Hey, we do have a lot in common."
"You know it's funny, Derek..." he turns to face Meredith but she grasps his face so he's staring straight so she clean the wound on his cheek. "Derek walks in on me naked with his wife actually in the throws, and he just turns around and walks away. But he sees me so much as talking to you and I'm on the ground bleeding. Interesting, don't you think?" Meredith doesn't respond. She places a towel on his shoulder and moves to start suturing his face. "What do you think you're doing?"
Meredith looks at him. "You need stitches."
"I know," Mark says. He holds up a mirror. "Hold the mirror."
Meredith gives him a look and hands him the surgical tools. She takes the mirror from him and stands in front of him so he can stitch it up himself.
/ / /
Cristina, Alex, Izzie and George are all watching from the nurses' station.
"Why is he suturing his own face?" George asks.
Cristina shrugs. "To turn me on."
"Cause he's Mark Sloan. He's, like, the go-to plastic surgeon on the East Coast." Alex answers.
George looks shocked. "That's the guy Addison was sleeping with? He's Mackenzie's dad!"
"You can't really blame her, can you? And you can't blame McDreamy, either." Izzie comments.
Cristina shakes her head. "No, not really."
"Yes you can." George argues.
Meredith comes up to them. "McSexy wants an x-ray to check for fractures and I think it's a bad idea if I take him."
George shakes his head. "Why? Why?"
"I'm on it," Alex volunteers. He leaves.
George looks at Meredith. "Why is it a bad idea?"
"McSexy?" Cristina questions.
Meredith shakes her head. "No."
"McYummy," Izzie supplies.
Meredith and Cristina shake their heads. "No."
Meredith gets an idea. "McSteamy."
Cristina smirks. "Oh there it is."
Izzie nods. "Yep," she chuckles.
They all look at Mark through the trauma room window.
"Uh, just, ah, choking back some McVomit." George comments cynically. He walks off.
George didn't understand how Meredith, Izzie, and Cristina could think that Mark Sloan was that attractive. But then again... Mark had good genes — and so did Derek. It was painfully obvious to see their incredible genes when looking at their daughter, and studying her facial features that were similar to both Derek and Mark.
"Why couldn't I be like McDreamy or McSteamy?"
/ / /
Derek pulls Mark into a linen closet when he sees him in a corridor.
Mark smirks. "You know, the last time you pulled me into a room, our daughter was conceived. I have to say... I never saw you as a submissive in bed, Derek. Honestly, it was kinky."
Derek growled. "Seriously? You're going to flirt with me now? God, you are a man-whore."
"Calm down, Derek. You know I like to push your buttons. Especially since I know how to push them just right."
Derek shook his head. "As pissed as I am that you're here... I'm also thankful that you're here. Have you seen Mackenzie since you got here?"
"No. This was supposed to be a surprise for her. You almost ruined it when you punched me in the face," Mark whined.
"Shut up, Mark. Look, she's missed you since we came out here. You know it, and I know it. So while you're here, you should spend more time with her. I want her to know that you're here... without it coming from the interns."
Mark raised an eyebrow and showed off his signature flirtatious smirk. "And how do you propose we do that, Derek?"
"I already have a plan in mind."
/ / /
Mackenzie came walking down the hallway as fast as she could when she got a page from Derek. She walked into a conference room, seeing her father.
"I got your page. What's wrong?!"
Derek smiled. "There's nothing wrong, angel."
Mackenzie looked confused. "But you paged me. 911. You know you don't do that — "
"Because I asked him to," Mark said from his hiding spot behind the door.
Mackenzie turned around with the biggest smile on her face. "Daddy!"
Mark didn't hesitate to hug Mackenzie back when she filled his arms. "Oh my God! Look at you. You've gotten so big! I missed you so much, sweetheart."
Mackenzie couldn't contain her excitement. "I missed you too! You didn't tell me you were coming to town."
"That's the whole point of a surprise, kiddo. You're not supposed to know. Did you like your surprise?"
Mackenzie planted a kiss on Mark's cheek. "Are you kidding me?! You're here in Seattle; I love my surprise!"
When Mackenzie hugged him again, Mark sent Derek a meaningful yet grateful look. It took all of Derek's willpower to not get emotional about his ex-best friend being in Seattle. He was willing to be civil for their daughter's sake.
But seeing Mark again... it brought back a lot of feelings for Derek. Anger, hurt, sadness, heartache, love.
Yes, you heard right. Once upon a time, Derek Shepherd was in love with Mark Sloan.
However, that's a story for another time.
/ / /
Mark and Derek are in Richard's office, where the arguing is going down about a particular case.
"That is not the point!" Derek shouts angrily.
Mark is equally as angry. "The point is that the kid wants his face fixed!"
"The point is you wanna get published!" Derek yells.
"Well yeah and I'm guessing your Chief of Surgery does, too. You know how the press love a good before and after shot, Richard." Mark says.
Richard looks at Mark, clearly annoyed. "Call me Dr. Webber."
Derek looks smug.
Richard looks at Derek. "Derek, out of friendship to you, I would very much like to say no to this... jackass. But as Chief..."
Derek shakes his head. "Please don't say it."
Richard looks at the plastic surgeon. "Dr. Sloan if you can get the parents to sign a consent form..."
Mark nods. "Round two goes to the jackass."
/ / /
Addison is walking down a hallway. Derek comes up in the opposite direction closely followed by Mark. They all stop when they see each other. Derek instantly turns around and walks away. Addison moves to walk away and Mark chases after her. "Oh come on, you're not even a little bit happy to see me?"
Addison glares at him. "Go home! Whatever it is you came here to do, just drop it and leave."
"Hey we all make mistakes Addison. All 3 of us..."
Addison tries to interrupt. "Mark."
Mark continues ignoring Addison, "but somehow, somehow I lost my daughter, best friend and the woman I loved."
Addison tenses. "Please don't say that."
Mark sighs. "He doesn't know how we felt." Addison looks away. "He doesn't know you stayed with me after he left? How do you expect to work out a marriage if you can't even be honest with him?"
"Why are you here?"
"For two reasons. To see my daughter, and to bring you home. I miss you, Addison," Mark tells her.
"I'm in love with my husband, Mark. And I'm not leaving Seattle when I'm just getting back into Mackenzie's life."
"But he's not in love with you," Mark states. Addison looks down. "He's in love with that intern and he's not even trying to hide it. Why would even want to stick around for that?"
Addison looks at him and then walks away. Oh, how painfully right Mark Sloan was. But there was another reason why Mark had come to Seattle. Something that didn't have to do with Addison or Mackenzie.
Mark wanted to see if his feelings for Derek Shepherd had resurfaced after almost 15 years.
Despite what happened with Addison, Mark loved Derek deeply. Hell, it's evident that he loves Derek because if he didn't, Mackenzie probably wouldn't have been born.
"Damn it. I'm still in love with my best friend and his wife."
/ / /
Mark walks up to Mackenzie, who's sat at a nurse's station.
"I was thinking that you and I could get some lunch together. Something you might be up for?"
Mackenzie looks up with a smile. "There's a lot of decent food here. It all depends on what's available."
"Mack, sweetie, you misunderstood me. I want to take you on one of our daddy/daughter dates. I want to catch up and spend some time with you. Is that something you want to do?" Mark asks.
Mackenzie breaks out into an even bigger smile. "Yes! I'd love to have a daddy/daughter date. But you're gonna have to convince Papa, and he's not too happy with you."
"So I've noticed." Mark said sarcastically, motioning to the cut on his face. "Don't worry about your father; he might hate me, but he loves you more than he hates me. If I talk to him about having a daddy/daughter date with you, he'll be a bit easier to talk to."
"I'm sure you can use that Sloan charm to get him to say yes, Dad. You're Mark Sloan; you can do just about anything."
/ / /
Mark is apprehensive when he sees Derek down the hall, the neurosurgeon's back to him. He looks at his daughter, who gives him a 'do it for me' look. He nods to himself and begins walking up to his ex-best friend/first male lover.
"I need to talk to you."
Derek rolls his eyes and turns around, facing Mark. "There's nothing to talk about, Mark."
"Actually, there is. Look, be an ass to me later — I'm talking to you as a parent, not the guy who screwed your wife," Mark tells him.
"I don't see much of a difference, but go on."
"I figured since I'm in town, I could take my daughter out to lunch. Have a daddy/daughter lunch date. You said it yourself, Derek. I need to spend more time with Mackenzie. I know you hate me, but you can't tell me you'd deny our daughter the chance to hang out with me since I'm here," Mark states.
Derek looks over Mark's shoulder, gazing at their daughter. In all honesty, Mark was right. No matter how much Derek hated him, he wouldn't deny Mackenzie the opportunity to spend some quality time together with her dad.
"Alright. But just know that I'm saying this as a parent, not your friend. You better behave."
Mark smirks. "You're talking to me, Derek. I'll be on my best behavior, Scouts' honor."
Derek raises an eyebrow as Mark walks away. "You were never in Scouts."
/ / /
Mackenzie and Mark sit in a booth at the Rhimes Café, which wasn't too far from the hospital. Mackenzie sips on her water, trying to escape the tension between her and her dad.
Mark clears his throat. "So... how do you like Seattle?"
"It's not as busy as New York, but then again, I live in a trailer in the woods. It's not that bad once you get used to it."
"And how's school going? Your grades good?" Mark inquires.
Mackenzie nods. "My grades are good." She shifts a little in her seat. "Dad, why didn't you come and visit me sooner? You had plenty of opportunities — especially when there were two instances where I almost died. Why did you decide to visit now?"
Mark reaches over the table and grabs her hand. "Baby girl, you know I love you more than anything in this world. I'm sorry I wasn't there for you when you needed me the most. When your father told me about your asthma attack and ruptured appendix, I almost booked the first flight out here. But I chickened out, because I didn't want to upset him. I didn't want to show up unannounced and unwanted. I let you down because I was afraid of what your father would think. Makes me lame, doesn't it?"
"Daddy... you shouldn't have been afraid. And you're not lame, either. You didn't let me down. You did what you thought was best, and I'm not angry at you for doing that. You're here now; that counts for something, doesn't it?" Mackenzie says.
Mark quickly dries his misty eyes. "It does count for something. I love you so much, sweetheart. I don't deserve to have a daughter who's as sweet, understanding, and compassionate as you. Come give your old man a hug."
Mackenzie smiles as she sits next to Mark, hugging him.
"How many times do I have to tell you that you're not old, Dad?"
/ / /
Meredith is sitting in an office behind the nurses' station where she is putting the tapes Chuck made into envelopes. Derek comes up to her. "You've given up surgery to go into clerical work?"
Meredith looks up. "I'm fulfilling a patient's dying wish to send hate mail to everyone he's ever met."
"Ah. Right now, I understand the impulse."
Meredith nods. "Me too. Why do people cheat?"
Derek sighs. "That's a good question."
Meredith looks at Derek curiously. "Why do you think she cheated on you? Were you different then? Were you a bad husband?"
He is silent for a bit. "I was, ah..." he sighs and sits down next to her. "I was just a little absent. Not that that's an excuse for her."
"Do you think things would have been different if you and Addison had a kid? If you gave Mackenzie a sibling?"
"Do I think she wouldn't have cheated?" Derek questions. He shakes his head. "I don't know." They just look at each other for a bit.
Mark comes up to the doorway. "Alright man Jake's ready to roll." Derek looks annoyed at Mark. "I'm sorry, did I interrupt something?"
"No it's fine," Meredith interjects.
Meredith and Derek both get up and leave through different doors.
/ / /
Derek is entering an empty elevator, dressed to go home. Mackenzie is with him. Addison quickly stops the doors from closing and hops on the elevator as well.
Addison looks to her husband. "Hey."
"Hey."
"I haven't seen you two all day," Addison says.
Mackenzie looks at Addison. "I was with Dad for most of the day."
"I didn't want to see you today." Derek tells her.
"It's not my fault he showed up, Derek." Addison states.
Derek sighs. "I know."
The doors open on a new floor, revealing Mark. Mark steps in and Derek and Addison step to the side. Mackenzie goes to stand next to Mark. Mark hits a button
"Don't beat yourself up."
Derek sighs. "I'm taking the stairs. Come on, sweetheart," he beckons his daughter.
Mackenzie kisses Mark on the cheek and mutters a soft 'goodbye' before Derek walks out of the elevator. She walks out with him.
Just before the doors close, Mark holds them open. "Oh come on." Derek stops and turns around. "How come you can forgive her but not me?"
Derek fumes. "I didn't forgive her and with you, I have no obligation to try!" He walks away with Mackenzie and the doors close.
Addison leans back against the wall, looking upset and tired.
Mark talks to her in a quiet voice. "Your marriage is over, Addison. All you have to do is admit it." He walks up close to her. "And you can come back home with me." Addison stares at him. "I'm going to the bar across the street," he says and gently brushes his hand against Addison's face. "Meet me there."
He gets off the elevator, leaving Addison looking very torn and upset.
/ / /
The ride home for Derek and Mackenzie is silent and tense.
When they arrive at the trailer, they get ready for bed in silence.
When Mackenzie knows that Derek is done getting ready for bed, she walks past a sleeping Doc and goes to lay down with her father for a while.
Derek turns his head in Mackenzie's direction, seeing her lying next to him. He wants to say something, but no words come out.
Mackenzie looks at him, a knowing look in her eyes. The same pair of blue eyes she got from both Derek and Mark. "Thank you for trying to be civil with him today. I know it was hard for you to do."
"I only did that for you, honey. I know how much it would've killed you to see us fight. I didn't want to put you through another night where you had to watch me fight back and forth with your dad. I love you so much, baby girl."
"I love you too, Papa." Mackenzie says and lays her head on his chest, just above his heart. "Do you think Dad will come back to Seattle one day? I'd like to see him again."
Derek kisses his daughter's head. "I don't think he'll come back to Seattle. I know for a fact he'll come back to Seattle. Why would he want to stay away from his only child?"
"I just don't want to go almost another year without seeing him. I love him and I miss him already," Mackenzie admits.
"I know you do, sweetheart. I miss him, too. I miss the way things used to be. And I'm sad that things will never go back to the way they used to be. But we make do with what we have. That's all part of growing up."
Both Mackenzie and Derek knew that somehow, someway... Mark Sloan would return to Seattle in a big way.
/ / /
I've heard it's possible to grow up. I've just never met anyone who's actually done it. Without parents to defy we break the rules we make for ourselves. We throw tantrums when things don't go our way. We whisper secrets with our best friends in the dark. We look for comfort where we can find it. And we hope. Against all logic. Against all experience. Like children, we never give up hope.
- Mackenzie Shepherd-Sloan
/ / /
3765 words
Next Update: What Have I Done To Deserve This?
*I really hope I did this chapter justice. I was originally planning on Meredith having this monologue, but it's Mark's introduction chapter, so I wanted Mackenzie to have it. I wanted to be vague about Derek and Mark's past relationship, so I could save the actual story for 'Oh, the Guilt.' How'd I do writing the dynamic between Mark and Mackenzie?*
Published: 3/03/2021