S5 EP12

NORAH HAD A DESIRE OF dropping herself onto her bed at that very moment, which was thrilling beyond imaginable. Yet she was now behind the wheel, humming to the song on the radio as Mark dozed off on the passenger seat.

He opened his eyes curiously and realised that they were taking a different turn, away from her apartment. "Where are we going?" he asked.

"Meredith's."

He quirked a brow at her simple reply. "Why?"

"Because she's in a crisis," Norah muttered back, glancing at him before keeping her eyes back on the road.

"Crisis...?" he muttered before querying, "Did Derek propose or something?"

"Nah, Derek's mum is visiting tomorrow," she shrugged, not noticing Mark's widened eyes. "And Meredith needs help to-"

"Mrs Shepherd's coming?" he squeaked out, jerking straight up on the seat. "T-To Seattle-?!"

"Uh... yeah?" she threw him a confused look while the colour on his face drained. "So...?"

"So that woman practically raised me, taught me right from wrong," he deadpanned. "If she found out we were... Oh god, now she's gonna kill me before Derek does-why must she be here tomorrow?"

"Hold up, wind back a little," she put a hold to the panic in his eyes. "She raised you?"

"I was raised by parents who weren't very interested in having kids. They had friends, they had their lives... They weren't around much," he sighed, "Mrs Shepherd used to see how tired I was and made Derek bring me home, 'cause I was alone and needed a family."

"So we were two little kids that lacked care from our actual parents," she concluded, and he gave her a half-smile. "We are quite similar, huh?"

As they pulled up at the driveway, Meredith sprinted out right away; Cristina followed closely after her. Norah stepped out of the car and greeted them; Cristina cocked a brow at the other side of the car.

"I didn't know that you were babysitting tonight, sweetheart," she spoke, referring to the man who had just stepped out of the car. Mark scowled while the three residents chuckled.

❦ ❦ ❦

"DOES THIS HOUSE ALWAYS sound like a fucking frat party?" Timothy queried, leaning against the wall in the attic.

"They're cleaning the house for Dr Shepherd's mother," Lexie replied, moving aside on the mattress she was lying on. "Come lay next to me."

He got up from the cold floorboards and walked over, not before shrieking in fear and hitting his head against the ceiling. She stared at him worriedly as he held the back of his head, hissing in pain.

"What-"

"There's a spider!" he screeched, pointing at the bug that he almost stepped on.

"Y-You're afraid of... of a spider?" she questioned amusingly, but he backed away to the corner of the attic. She snorted at his reaction and squashed the bug, tossing it into a bin.

"It's dead now," she informed, but he still had a horrified look spread across his face. "Oh, Timmy, come on!"

❦

"YOU HAVE A GHOST IN THE attic?" Norah asked, looking upwards from her seat. The other residents glanced up, too, and they heard a loud shriek, followed by a thud.

"Probably Lexie moving some boxes or something," George replied with a shrug.

"Probably Lexie falling over some boxes or whatever," Alex corrected before turning to look at a very distressed-looking Meredith. "Ten bucks says she tanks in the first five minutes."

"I have faith in Death," Sadie disagreed, "She'll make a good impression."

"Mer's holding onto that bottle of tequila tighter than she did during the ferryboat accident," Norah pointed out, receiving disturbed looks from everyone else. "Not a fan of dark jokes? That's a pity."

They were all gathered in the living room; Norah sat on the other end of the couch where Meredith was sitting; her legs were over Mark's shoulders as he sat on the floor.

"Mer, don't listen to them," George voiced out, and Meredith snapped her head to him. "She'll love you."

"No. Mothers don't love me," Meredith shook her head, smiling anxiously at them, "Mothers like... I don't know, strong, tough and fierce-maybe? Norah?"

"Birthmother dropped me off in a basket," Norah shrugged as she took a swing off the beer, "Kinda like Easter." Mark turned his head backwards with narrowed eyes as she passed him the bottle of beer.

Meredith shook her head. "Okay... Then, mothers love bright and bubbly and happy and..." she trailed off as a blonde entered the living room, "Izzie! Mothers love Izzie."

"They do," the blonde agreed, holding a basket of cleaning products in her hand, "Mothers do love Izzie."

She looked to her side-where nobody was-and smiled; Norah found it weird but decided to brush it off since she was halfway through her third bottle of beer.

"Uh, I stashed all the tequila, took the condoms out of the cookie jar..."

"You guys keep condoms i-in the cookie jar?" Mark looked disturbed. He stared at the group of residents, yet all of them looked at him like he was the insane one. The residents merely shrugged back at him, and he frowned in concern.

"I also replaced all your trashy magazines with issues of Annals of Surgery," Izzie resumed, and Meredith nodded thankfully at her. The former suddenly frowned and sniffed the air. "Does it smell musty in here?"

"My mom's house smells like peppermint," George offered, "It's homey."

"I have scented candles in my apartment," Norah added. "Which... most of you already knew."

"My house isn't homey?" Meredith shrieked, looking at everyone for urgent replies.

"I was raised in a hell hole," Alex shrugged, "This place is a palace."

"Why isn't my house homey, George? Norah?"

"I can't explain-it's just a feeling!"

"Well, Izzie can't fix a feeling!"

"Mer's freaking out," Norah spoke, "Somebody say something."

"Rebecca peed on that couch cushion," Alex admitted, and everyone turned their attention to him.

Sadie look horrified. "I've been sleeping there for weeks..."

"Thanks, Alex," Meredith spoke hesitantly, "You're a... good friend."

"You're welcome. Keep drinking."

Meredith took another swing off her bottle of tequila, trying to drown away her fear and worry. Norah stared at her, amused; Mark held her legs as he leaned his head against her knee.

"Honestly, I think you two are very sweet," Izzie commented at the pair.

Meredith nodded in agreement. "But I think I should warn you, Mark, Derek's car just arrived outside."

Mark snapped his head to her before quickly scrambling up from the floor; the others in the room watched him, breaking into laughs. He placed a kiss on Norah's neck before he rushed out of the house.

"Dude, why are you hiding your relationship from Shepherd?" Alex asked.

"Because Norah is his genius student," Meredith replied instead, "And Mark is... the guy who screwed his ex-wife before."

"Yeah, good point," Norah nodded in agreement, snickering while the man scurried out of the house. "Ooh-have I told you lot that Derek threatened Mark the other day?"

❦

MARK CAREFULLY CLOSED the front door behind him, his heart racing. Just as he was about to hurry off the front porch, Derek had walked to the house with a puzzled look on his face.

"Mark?"

"Hey, there you are!" Mark grinned nervously, feeling his heart bounce off the planet. "W-Wanna grab a drink?"

Derek stared at him confusingly. "It's four in the morning."

"You're right. I should've called first," Mark stated while he slowly retreated, "Hey, I hear your mom's coming into town. Good times."

Before Derek could speak up again, Mark had fled the house. The former stared at his friend with furrowed brows, baffled but curious about the man's behaviour.

❦ ❦ ❦

DEREK WAS TALKING TO his mother, who had just arrived in the hospital. The two were sharing a chat and discussing some attractions in Seattle when Mrs Shepherd noticed a familiar face walking in their direction.

"Is that Mark Sloan?" she asked, her face lighting up, "Mark Sloan!"

Upon hearing his name, Mark walked over to the woman with an odd look on his face. "Mrs Shepherd! You look great!" he stopped briefly before checking his pager; his eyes were hiding a small amount of panic.

"Oh, damn. We'll catch up later?" He quickly hurried off, leaving the woman to stare at him confusedly.

❦

NORAH APPROACHED THE nurses' station, where Izzie was standing. She followed the blonde's gaze to where the mother-and-son pair were chatting.

Derek had introduced Meredith to his mother with a wide grin on his face; the woman returned the smile to Meredith, who looked petrified.

"Who's that lady touching Meredith?" Cristina asked as she walked up to them.

"Derek's mom," Izzie replied.

"Huh," Cristina snorted, "That's why Mer looks so weird."

"She does not look weird," Izzie claimed, "Okay, I've got it under control. Mer is doing... great."

Norah narrowed her eyes at her friend standing in a notably awkward position. "Mer looks like she's gonna wet herself, Iz," she stated bluntly. "And what's with that sky-high ponytail? That looks... awful."

"It looks nice on her!" Izzie defended, but the two other residents were not agreeing on it.

The brunette slyly fished out her phone from her pocket before snapping a picture of Meredith in the sky-high ponytail; Cristina snickered at her idea while Izzie shook her head at the both of them.

"Dr Yang, you mind checking in on some of my post-ops? ER's swamped with traumas," Owen asked behind Cristina, who quickly turned around to face him. The latter took the charts handed to her, already opening the first one. "Also, would you like to go on a date with me?"

Norah and Izzie snapped their heads away from the awkward introduction group to the attending and resident pair, who had instantly become twice as interesting; Owen avoided their surprised stares.

"I'm sorry?" Cristina blinked, not quite trusting what she had just heard.

"A date," Owen confirmed firmly, his eyes looking around to make sure no one else was overhearing their conversation. "You said not to play hot and cold with you, so, um... I'll pick you up around eight."

Cristina was frozen in surprise, stammering about her words. "Cristina will definitely be there by eight, Dr Hunt," Norah spoke up, sending the attending a reassuring smile.

"Oh, and make sure Mr Kenner in room 2212 gets that enema," Owen added before he turned around, "He's been holding on to it for days." Cristina had never hurried to the enema that quickly than ever.

Izzie looked towards her right-at an empty space, again-and chuckled. People who walked by would say that she was crazy, but Norah was purely worried. "Who're you talking to?" she asked.

"What? Oh, no. Nobody," Izzie chuckled nervously, "No one." Without another word, she quickly walked away.

Huh, odd...

❦ ❦ ❦

"MARK?"

The plastic surgeon turned around stiffly to face the woman he had been trying to avoid. "Mrs Shepherd." His head was lowered, and his posture slanted; his demeanour of a little boy overtook his usual confident self.

"You've been avoiding me."

"Whaaat? No..." he claimed, crossing his arms on his waist.

"You have the same guilty look on your face as you did when you were ten-years-old, and put Derek's favourite frog in the microwave," she stated.

Mark had the look of a sheepish child on his face. His eyes fixed on hers, a glint of shame catching his face. His voice came out small and defenceless, "I never pressed start."

Mrs Shepherd was about to give him a lecture, just as she did when he was still a child sleeping over at their home. She sighed and decided against it, taking a step closer to the man who she practically raised like a son. "What's going on?"

He hesitated a moment, shifting his posture from one leg to another. "I'm in love with her," he confessed, lowering his eyes to the floor.

Her eyebrows shot up at once. "Oh, Mark, not again!" she scolded, "How could you?"

"No-no! Not Meredith. God-no!" he denied at once, and Mrs Shepherd looked slightly relieved. "Derek's favourite student, m-the little genius," he spoke again, "We're dating, actually. We're serious."

She lifted her head and scanned around the cafeteria packed with people. "Well, which one is she?"

Mark glanced over his shoulder and immediately found Norah sitting with the other residents near the side of the cafeteria. She had a large smile on her face, most likely laughing from a joke since everyone was cracking up on their table.

"The one smiling brightly near the windows," he pointed out, "Beautiful, really-ah, she's the one peeling the crusts off her sandwich."

Mrs Shepherd squinted at the brunette and thought hard. "Isn't that Dr... Lawrence?" she cocked a brow at Mark, who blinked in shock. "She's from Derek's private practice back in New York. I remember speaking to her once. She's a nice girl."

"Derek specifically warned me to not fall for her," he added with the same guilty look on his face; she raised a brow at him.

"And why does Derek get to have an opinion on who you date, Mark?"

"He doesn't," Mark claimed before his little boy voice resurfaced, "But he gets scary..."

Mrs Shepherd smacked the back of the man's head like he was a little boy again; Mark grimaced as he looked back towards Norah's direction.

Even across the cafeteria, a look at her managed to warm him from the inside. Warm and fuzzy; the corner of his mouth lifted without him realising-but it did not go unnoticed by Mrs Shepherd.

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH FELT A PIERCING stare over her shoulder as she handed the chart in her hand back to the nurse with a 'thank you'. She turned to her side, surprised to see Mrs Shepherd, whose eyes fixed on her.

"Mrs Shepherd! How are you?" she greeted brightly as the woman walked up to her, "Um, do you want me to page Der-"

Before she could finish her sentence, Mrs Shepherd had her hands pressed on either side of her cheeks. Norah stared back at the fierce brown eyes, her mind running with confusion and... more confusion.

"I know we've met before, but are you a good girl?" Mrs Shepherd asked.

"Am I-huh?"

"A good girl," she repeated. "I don't mean perfect, I mean... relatively speaking. Are you?"

"I, uh... I'd like to think that I am," Norah blurted out.

"How many sexual partners have you had?" Mrs Shepherd asked, and the resident blinked at her sudden randomness of a question. "I won't judge."

"I-um..." Norah stammered, "Respectfully, I'm not gonna answer that..."

Mrs Shepherd narrowed her eyes at the young resident. "Criminal record?"

Oh, wow. This will be fun to tell.

"Assault. I was locked up for one night, too," Norah admitted. Mrs Shepherd took a step back, her intense eyes narrowing at the resident. "The bloke was harassing me and my brother. I did what I had to," Norah quickly explained.

She lifted a grin on her face, knowing that the older woman agreed with her point. "Now, I don't suppose you can tell me..." Mrs Shepherd started, "...where the gift shop is?

"Ah. First floor, east wing," she replied, "I can show you there." The pair started to walk towards the elevators, and Norah silently let out a breath of relief.

"I remember you from New York," Mrs Shepherd stated, and Norah nodded with a smile. "Derek always had good words about you," the older woman shared, "You were his favourite."

The resident grinned proudly to herself. "Now his second favourite, ma'am," she stated as they entered the elevators. She pushed the button that had '1' engraved on it and stepped back.

As she watched the numbers descend on the display, she bravely took a guess. "But you're questioning me because of Mark."

The older woman nodded approvingly at the resident. "Smart girl," she stated, "Mark did mention that you were his little genius."

Norah raised a brow at her words, turning to look at Mrs Shepherd, whose then fierce- and strict-looking face had now changed to a loving and friendly one.

She chuckled, "Poor boy thought I didn't hear him saying my instead of the."

Warm and fuzzy, Norah smirked to herself.

❦ ❦ ❦

S5 EP13

THREE VERY SLEEPY INTERNS stood outside the on-call room, their eyes screaming to close. The moans and grunts coming inside the room made them want to break down the door-but they were too tired to do so.

Kirian grumbled, "Don't even... Is it..."

"Locked? You bet," Jace informed with a yawn.

"Sleeping or...?" The laughter coming from inside made the Kirian roll his eyes. "For the love of god..."

"Seriously, this is ridiculous," Nina grumbled before pounding on the door, "Excuse us! We need sleep!"

Suddenly, a loud scream coming from inside made their eyes widen. They looked at each other, their eyebrows knitted into one.

"That's not a good noise."

"That's a bad noise."

"That's a really bad noise."

They fled the scene immediately.

❦

MARK WAS STILL YELLING in agony inside the on-call room; Norah had tumbled down to the floor, staring at him-or more specifically, his-wide-eyed, full with shock.

"Holy crap-oh my god! A-Are you okay?"

"Do I look okay?!"

"I-I-It's... bent, i-in the middle-Mark, I-I think I broke your... wow," she panicked, "Holy fuckery-"

"Get Torres!" he pleaded, the veins on his foreheads popping out as sweat covered his head. "Go-!"

Norah hurriedly shrugged on her scrubs and ran out of the room, leaving Mark to whimper in pain.

❦ ❦ ❦

NORAH TAPPED HER FEET anxiously against the floor as she paced back and forth. She nearly slapped Timothy, who approached her, but he ducked right in time.

"Hey...?"

"Go away."

"Oh. What's up?" he questioned. "You look fucking stressed. Like... I-left-a-scalpel-in-a-patient's-chest stress."

"None of your concern, Tim," she brushed him off and resumed her pacing.

She finally stopped at her spot when she saw Callie walking towards her in the corridor. She ran up to the senior resident and physically turned her back to the direction where she came from.

"Norah-I need to go to the pit! I got a 9-1-1 page!" Callie protested.

"I paged you," Norah stated urgently, "It's Mark."

"Mark's hurt?" Callie questioned, finally taking steps as she got dragged by the brunette.

"What's wrong with Sloan?" Timothy nosily asked from behind as he caught up to them.

"Yes-well, kinda?" Norah stated, ignoring her brother's presence; Callie narrowed her. "Don't make a face. But uh, his... his-um-pride is broken, you know what I mean? His..."

Timothy raised a brow curiously. "How did he break his... pride?"

Callie paused abruptly at her spot, shoving the chart in her hand to the younger Lawrence sibling before turning to the older one. "You're kidding, right?" she let out a weak chuckle.

Norah returned it with a dead-serious expression, shaking her head anxiously; Timothy felt a sting of pain down his body and stared at his sister in horror.

"Okay... This is worse than I-left-a-scalpel-in-a-patient's-chest stress," he muttered before clapping Norah on the back. "Bravo."

❦ ❦ ❦

OWEN SHOOK HIS HEAD with a painful look on his face. "Yeah, that's a penile fracture," he confirmed.

Mark groaned, exhaling in pain. "Oh, I'm gonna kill myself..."

"We should operate, then you kill yourself," Owen suggested.

"Can you do it?" Callie asked the trauma surgeon.

"Him? No!" Mark disagreed, "He's a meatballer."

"He is meticulous, and he'll keep his mouth shut," Callie snapped at the injured man.

"I've done operations like this before," Owen assured, "It's not that complicated."

"Guys run into this problem on the battlefield, do they?"

"I don't think you and I should talk about how guys run into this," Owen stated amusingly. "Line up an OR. We need to get in fast, or you risk permanent damage."

"Oh, god! No permanent damage, please," Mark whimpered, still gasping at the pain.

Norah pushed herself off the wall when the attending and senior resident stepped out of the room; the former looked startled while the latter looked impressed. She gave them a brief smile before poking her head into the room.

As long as you don't act awkward, the person who'll be awkward in this situation wouldn't be you, she chanted in her head.

"No, Laurie, go away," Mark gasped, "I don't want you to see me like this."

"But I uh, kinda made you like... that?"

"I'm saying please, here," he shook his head lightly, staring at her, who had her eyebrows knitted together in concern. "Please?"

Norah stammered on her words before finally sighing and leaving the room.

❦ ❦ ❦

"NORAH!" DEREK CALLED out as he caught up to the resident. He frowned at the sweat on her forehead, "You look... stressed, disturbed, and-"

"Well, you don't," Norah cut him off, changing the subject instantly. "You look happy and cheerful, which... I didn't see on your face for a few days now."

Derek smile grew on his face as he reached into the pocket in his white coat. Norah peeked at it curiously as he pulled out a dark velvet box. He opened it and revealed a diamond ring sitting in the middle of it.

"Whoa, Derek," her eyes widened, "I know I told you to date me before, but I'd thought that we'd start with a drink or dinner-"

"Oh, cut it," he rolled his eyes at her with a grin. "I'm gonna propose to Meredith soon," he informed, the grin on his face not near fading, "I'm looking for an opinion on whether I should have the setting redone more modern. Do you think Meredith will like it?"

Norah blinked, "I mean, did you ask Cristina?"

He sighed, "They're still fighting. And Cristina asked me to ask someone else."

"So I'm your... rebound? Interesting..." she narrowed her eyes at him with a smirk. "Honestly? I think it's perfect. It's beautiful, it's amazing. I think Mer will love it."

"Really? You think so?"

She glared at him. "Don't ask me a second time if you wanted my opinion."

"It was my mother's," he mentioned, "So it is... very meaningful."

Norah smiled at the bright look on the attending's face. "Your mother is an intimidating woman," she stated.

"Oh, you've talked to her yesterday?"

Crap-probably should not have said that.

"Yeah... Uh, she was... finding her way to the gift shop," she replied.

Derek nodded at her hesitant smile. She was about to turn away when he stopped her. "Wait, have you seen Mark?" he asked, and she snapped her head back to him. "I haven't seen him all day."

Yes, I've definitely seen him. I even broke his pe-

"No, I uh, haven't... actually," she answered instead, giving him an awkward chuckle.

Derek narrowed his eyes at her curiously as he watched her slowly retreating, similar to when Mark was leaving his house at four in the morning.

"But I will... tell him you're um... looking for him?" she offered.

"Yeah, I might need him to help me set up the proposal..." he trailed off, "Hey, you should help me, too. I need a woman's perspective on this."

"Yup, sure. Text me, I'll be there."

❦ ❦ ❦

CALLIE WALKED OUT OF Mark's patient room, closing the door gently behind her. She walked up to the resident, who was tapping her foot nervously, leaning against the wall. Norah rushed up to her as soon as she saw the senior resident heading in her direction.

"How's Mark?" she queried.

"He's doing well."

"And how's his..."

"His pride will be well, too," Callie nodded. "Just avoid extreme activities for a while, you know?" Norah nodded with the best smile she could put on. "And really, Norah-wow."

The younger resident scratched her head before scrambling off towards Mark's room. She watched the ashamed and hollow look on his face through the windows, not knowing whether it was the best thing to think that she felt sorry for him.

She pressed down on the door handle and entered the room; his gaze shifted from the empty ceiling to her, but at that moment, he would very much prefer to continue staring at the ceiling lifelessly.

"Please go away, Norah," he sighed.

"Nuh-uh. Not now, not today," she stated, "Probably not ever."

Her words made him feel slightly more alive than before. His gaze followed her as she locked the door after her and drew the blinds in the room. As much as he wanted her out, he needed her beside him.

"Look, I know you don't want me to see you like this," she sighed while walking to the side of his bed, "And I'm sorry that I broke your... you know... But you're not getting rid of me so easily. We're complicated together, right?"

He stared at her for a long time, taking in the features on her face. The crease on her forehead from furrowing her brows at him, the pair of hazels sending him an apologetic and worried look, and the lips-

Oh, how could he possibly resist her? He would never be able to get rid of her even if he forced himself to.

"Kiss me?" he spoke, "I can't sit up right now, and I wanna kiss you so badly." Her eyebrows raised at his request, more relieved that he was no longer trying to shoo her away. "Pleeeease?"

Damn those bloody puppy-dog eyes.

She leaned down to him and caught his lips, her hand reaching to his face while he held her neck. Short and soft, yet warm and passionate; she pulled back, and a smile was on his lips. Those weary blue eyes stared back at her like she was the one single thing he ever truly desired.

"Budge up," she told him, and he raised a brow at her. "Scoot over."

She walked over to the other side of the bed while he shifted slightly to his right. His arm was ready to wrap around her as she climbed onto the bed next to him.

"Will this bed break with both of us on it?" she queried innocently.

"The one in the on-call room almost did," he replied with a smirk and she snorted.

"Derek asked for us, by the way."

"Huh?"

"He needs us to help him. He's planning to propose."

"Oh, that's great! Good for him." There was a long pause before he sighed, "We should really tell him soon."

"We should."

As she snuggled herself close to him, he placed a soft kiss on her head before closing his eyes. She stared at the small clock by the nightstand, focusing on the soft ticking sound.

Tick... tock... tick... tock...