Vanessa woke up slowly before looking around groggily and rubbing her eyes to adjust them to the light. She looked down and noticed Mark's arm draped across her stomach lazily as the thin sheets covered their bodies.
She smiled to herself as she sat up more in the bed and Mark's arm fell down to her thighs. The movement woke him from his slumber and he moved his head to face her as he spread his hand out on her thigh and rubbed it gently.
"Morning." She smiled down at him as he stayed laying down, looking up at her.
"Morning." He breathed, using his grip on her leg to pull her back down into the bed more and rolled on top of her, pressing his lips to hers passionately. Vanessa ran her hands through his hair as he moved his lips down to her collarbone, pressing open mouthed kisses on the skin there.
"Mark, we have work."
"No." He groaned, bringing his kisses up her neck and hovering over her face as they looked into each other's eyes.
"Come on, the kids are probably awake."
"Let them be awake." He mumbled as he began kissing her again.
"Mark."
"That's what I like to hear." He joked and Vanessa rolled her eyes as she pecked Mark on the lips quickly before rolling away from under him and using the sheet to cover her body as she walked to the bathroom.
"We're married - you can lose the sheet." Mark pointed out and Vanessa turned her head to look at him innocently as she dropped the sheet from around her body and walked into the bathroom to take a shower.
Mark groaned as he flopped back down onto the bed and closed his eyes, savouring the image that had just been presented to him.
***
"Alright, first day back since Caroline was born." Derek smiled as he met Mark and Vanessa at the doors of the hospital.
"Yup." Vanessa breathed as Mark squeezed her hand that he was holding.
"She'll be fine." He assured her.
"I know, it's just weird that I won't be with her all the time."
"You can visit her." Derek suggested and Vanessa nodded her head but her face looked unconvinced.
"I miss them - I'm used to being home with them."
"The kids are fine. We'll visit them during lunch, alright?" Mark proposed and Vanessa looked over at him as she nodded her head, smiling slightly.
"Okay." She breathed.
"Right," Derek walked in front of them, stopping them from walking, "Get to work, both of you."
Vanessa and Mark chuckled before stepping past Derek and pecking each other on the lips quickly before going their separate ways to their separate patients that they had been given.
***
Vanessa stormed out of the scrub room and wiped her eyes gently as she allowed the door to slam behind her and she found her way to the stairwell where nobody could walk in on her as her breathing came out in short puffs and she ran her fingers through her hair.
She had just lost the sweetest little boy who needed a heart transplant and it didn't go as planned. Her patient coded on the table and she tried everything that she could to save him but he died anyways and she didn't know how to deal with it.
It was her first loss in a while and she had forgotten the pain of losing patients and it wasn't something that she ever wanted to come back to.
She leaned on the railing and looked at the floor as she tried to calm herself down enough to walk out of the stairwell and toward where she knew she needed to be.
Once she found herself in the nursery, Amelia and Charlie rushed to her, completely oblivious to the tears slowly making their way down her face as she picked both of them up and held them in her arms. She walked over to where Caroline was asleep in her crib and kept her eyes fixed on her daughter, reminding herself that she was there as she held her other children close to her chest.
"Okay, baby." Vanessa cooed as she set Charlie and Amelia down, allowing them to run off and play with their friends as she clung to the edges of Caroline's crib and squeezed her eyes shut, waiting for the wave of panic to wash away.
"V?" She turned her head and breathed in shakily when she saw Alex stood there.
"I-I lost the little boy and I just needed the-the confirmation th-that-" Vanessa was moving her hand around in small gestures as she started to hyperventilate and Alex walked closer to her, supporting her arms and shielding her from the kids in the room.
"Okay, this is okay. You're okay and the children are okay. That boy wasn't them and they're playing over there, see?" Alex soothed as he pointed to the corner where Charlie and Amelia were building with blocks together, laughing and having fun.
"Yeah." Vanessa breathed, taking her eyes away from her children and looking down to the floor as she tried to keep her breathing steady. Suddenly, Alex's hands left her arms and were quickly replaced by a much bigger, steadier pair of hands and Vanessa took a deep breath in as she looked up at Mark before looking down again.
"Alright, breathe." He soothed, running his hands up and down her arms calmingly. Vanessa breathed deliberately, trying to calm her breathing down as Mark pulled her up into his arms and she nestled her head in his neck as her breathing slowed and Mark rubbed small circles into her back.
"Daddy!" The twins yelled as they noticed their father standing in the nursery. They bombarded his legs and Vanessa pulled herself away from Mark so that he could pick the twins up himself. She wiped her eyes as she watched Mark talk to their children happily, something she always loved to see.
"You okay?" Alex asked, standing next to her and watching Mark as well.
"Yeah, just hits harder when you have kids of your own." She sniffed, making sure there were no more tears on her cheeks.
Alex just wrapped his arm around her shoulders and Mark walked away with the twins and began to play with the blocks with them.
***
"Hey." Vanessa smiled as she stepped into the elevator that Owen was currently in.
"Hi." He smiled but he seemed to be off in a separate world so Vanessa didn't say anything else, just stood in the elevator with him as he thought.
When the elevator opened on Owen's floor, he walked out, sending Vanessa a small smile before disappearing again and Vanessa scoffed, smiling fondly.
"What a weirdo." She mumbled to herself as the doors closed again and she was alone in the elevator.
But she found herself also lost in thought, thoughts about her sister. Her and Megan had always been very close and they knew each other inside and out and recently, Vanessa had been getting the feeling that Megan - or a piece of Megan - was coming home.
She couldn't place her finger on it but she knew, she just knew, that someone or something that would remind her of Megan - or maybe even Megan herself - was going to show up and she didn't know whether to be excited or scared.
She thought about her sisters fiance, Nathan Riggs, and how he used to be one of her best friends. She had no idea of the full story of what happened to him and Megan, she only knew pieces like the cheating for example.
For all she knew, Nathan was dead as well.
The elevator doors opened again and Vanessa stepped out of them but stayed stood in front of the elevator. The feeling was so strong and she knew that whatever it was that was coming, was coming soon.
***
Vanessa and Amelia were sitting in the nursery and Mark and Charlie were downstairs, cooking dinner together. Vanessa was reading through a book with Amelia and Amelia moved her head to look up at her.
"Mommy?"
"Yeah, Amy?"
"What's my middle name?"
"Why, honey?"
"I heard somebody talking about a middle name. What is mine?"
"It's Megan." Vanessa smiled down at her and Amelia shuffled in Vanessa's lap.
"Why is it Megan?"
"Because you know your uncle Owen?" Vanessa asked and Amelia nodded enthusiastically, "Well, he's my brother - like Charlie is your brother, right?" Amelia nodded again, "And we have another sister, just like Caroline. But she's... she's like playing hide and seek and we can't find her."
"Where did she go?"
"We don't know, baby. But I hope we can find her someday."
"Do we call her aunt Megan?"
"Yeah, yeah we can call her aunt Megan."
Mark and Charlie called up the stairs that dinner was ready and Vanessa picked up Amelia off of her lap and carried her down the stairs and into the dining room where Mark had plated the food and set it down on the table. Vanessa placed Amelia on her chair as Charlie climbed up into his own chair and Mark and Vanessa sat next to each other opposite the three children - Caroline was in her high chair.
"Daddy?" Amelia called out and Mark looked up from his plate.
"What's up?"
"Did you know that my middle name is Megan?" She asked, a playful glint in her eyes and Mark gasped.
"Really?"
"Yup."
"What's my middle name?" Charlie asked and Mark moved his gaze over to him.
"It's Derek, like uncle Derek."
"I like that name." Charlie mumbled as he shovelled some green beans into his mouth with his hands.
The family ate together, having small conversations with each other as they all sat together and enjoyed the company, all completely happy.
***
Vanessa and Mark were laying down in their bed after having put the children to sleep and Mark turned to face her, moving from his laying on his back to laying on his side.
"What happened today?" He asked, his voice quiet as he reached over and run his fingers across her cheek, sending tingles through her whole body.
"I lost a patient and it just made me think about losing the kids." She admitted, looking down at the mattress before looking back up at him.
"Nothing's gonna happen to the kids." Mark whispered, shuffling closer to her in the bed.
"All it takes is one accident and...it's happened before."
"It's not gonna happen again." He promised, pulling her into his arms as she burrowed her face into his chest, breathing in his cologne.
"I'm just scared, all the time." She breathed and Mark held her closer, pressing a tender kiss to her hair.
"I know, I know." He soothed as he stroked the lengths of her hair before turning over slightly to turn the lamp off as the room was engulfed in darkness. He turned back and wrapped his arms back around her securely as she moved into a slightly more comfortable position.
"There's nothing to be scared of, all that bad stuff is behind us now." He assured her and she just moved further into his arms.
"If you say so." She mumbled and he pulled her closer to him, wrapping his arms further around her.
"I do." He placed another kiss to her head and kept his face in that position as they both fell asleep in each other's arms.
***
Vanessa groaned as her phone rang on her bedside table. She rubbed her eyes and picked it up quickly, trying not to wake Mark beside her who was obviously still asleep.
"Look, if you need something, you should just page me. This is my personal number and I-"
"Nessa. I'm coming to Seattle."
"Wha-Wh- Nathan?"
"Yeah, I'm coming to Seattle with a kid and I'm hoping you know the plastic surgeon that works at your hospital."
"Which one?"
"The good one."
"Well, I don't know which one you think is the good one but it's either my best friend or my husband so..."
"'Lot's changed, huh?"
"Yeah, it has."
"I'll see you, right? When I get there? You're not gonna yell at me or hit me or something?"
"Oh no, I'm going to yell and hit you but then we'll be fine."
"Okay," He chuckled, "See you soon."
"Nathan?"
"Yeah."
"It was good to hear from you."
"You too, Ness. You too."
Vanessa took the phone away from her ear and she placed it back on the night stand but she stayed sat up, processing the conversation that she had just had. Someone who, a couple of hours ago, she wasn't even sure was alive was coming to Seattle.
"Who was that?" Mark groggily asked, leaning an arm over his eyes as he moved onto his back.
"Oh, did I wake you?"
"A little bit."
"I'm sorry, baby." Vanessa placed a kiss to his lips before crawling back down into the covers and allowing Mark to wrap his arms around her waist, cuddling her from behind.
"Who was it?" He asked again, his voice sleepy.
"I'll explain it to you in the morning."
"Mm, okay." Mark nestled his face in her hair and Vanessa placed her hands over his on her waist. The pair fell asleep again, thanking God that Caroline was such a heavy sleeper.
*********************************************************
A/N: So as you can see, I'm introducing Nathan
Sorry this update is long overdue - it's been hard to find the motivation for writing this story lately but I'm slowly getting more excited about it
i also did not (guess what) proofread
Thanks for reading :)