flatline [m.s]

vii.

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most puzzles come down to one last missing piece of information. whether it's the answer to the medical mystery or the question to who you are or where you fit, it all comes down to that last piece.
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"what's on your mind, babe?" mark asks lia as she lies, silently on his chest in on call room three, evidently deep in thought.

"it's nothing," she shrugs as mark runs his fingers up and down her arm.

"tell me."

"i know you don't want people to know about us," she begins and he frowns, not liking where this conversation is heading. "but i want to tell callie. no one else. just callie."

"okay.. but what if she tells bailey, and bailey tells the chief?" he asks.

"why would bailey tell hunt?" lia asks, lifting her head to look at mark.

"if i say chief hunt, i mean hunt," mark explains. "but if i say the chief, i mean your dad."

"callie wouldn't tell anyone," lia reassures him. "i tell her everything, and it's killing me not being able to tell her about us. she was the only person in med school that didn't torment me for being so much younger than everyone else. she's my best friend."

"tell her then," mark says, straining his neck to reach down and kiss the gorgeous brunette. "but if it gets back to derek or webber-"

"it won't," lia giggles, cutting him off. he then rolls her over so that he's hovering above her before leaning down so their lips meet.

■ ■ ■

"i'm telling you this because you're my best friend," lia tells callie as they are sat together in the hospital cafeteria. "and i need you to know that you're the only person that will know, other than those involved."

"okay... i'm kinda scared," callie giggles. "but go on."

"i'm, um, kinda dating mark sloan," lia informs her before taking a sip from her bottle of water.

"mark sloan?" callie shouts, causing half the cafeteria to look in their direction, and lia to shoot her a filthy look. "sorry."

"yeah," lia shrugs.

"i thought you just slept with him that one time before you knew he was, well, mark sloan?"

"i did," lia says. "and i said it wasn't going to happen again. but then i got drunk and he was there, and come on- he's mark sloan. and i was so drunk that i took him back to my place."

"no way!" callie giggles. "did webber find him?"

"he thinks he heard me bring a guy home," lia explains. "but my mom stopped him from asking too much into it. i told my mom though- not who it was. i just told her that i brought a guy home."

"you're mom is the best. i could never tell my mom anything like that."

"i know, she the best," lia agrees. "anyway, since then i kept sleeping with him, just not at my house. and turns out; he's kind of sweet."

"kinda sweet? they're not two words i'd use to describe mark sloan," callie raises her brow and the two girls laugh. "how long has it been going on?"

"a couple of weeks."

"i thought you seemed awfully cheerful lately," callie giggles. "even for you."

"well, it's hard not to be cheerful when you're getting lots and lots of hot and sweaty sex."

"i wish i was," callie sighs. "i've not had any action since before hahn left."

"someone amazing will come along soon," lia reassures. "and when they do, i better be the first person you tell."

"you will be," callie grins. "am i the only one who knows about you and sloan?"

"yeah," lia nods. "derek knows about the first time we slept together, and let's just say he was not best pleased."

"really? what did he say?"

"nothing to me," she explains. "but he told mark to stay away, and that it better not happen again. i'm surprised he's so against it, being mark's best friend and all."

"how can i put this?" callie jokingly pretends to think hard. "mark is a whore. derek is like a big brother to you. he always has been. and guys don't like their whore best friends banging their little sisters. or their wives for that matter."

"do you think i should tell derek?" lia asks her friend for advice, ignoring the remark she made about mark's relationship with addison.

"are you kidding? that's almost as bad as telling webber!" callie says, and lia agrees with a nod.

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that's why the final piece to a jigsaw puzzle is so satisfying to place. unless of course, the piece doesn't quite fit.
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"hey," mark says, grabbing lia's arm as he passes her in the corridor and pulls her to one side. "have you told torres?"

"yeah, she called you a whore," lia laughs, but mark scowls. "but she's happy for me."

"do you feel better?" mark asks, brushing off the 'whore' remark.

"much better," she smiles. "now it feels real."

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that can make you wish you'd never open the puzzle in the first place.
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